Hi lovely you,
Do you have 6 minutes to spend with me today? I can almost guarantee you will feel calmer, more focused and grounded for it.
Find an easy comfortable seat, turn off any distractions, press play then close your eyes & enjoy!
xxx
After a long absence from my “blog” (it’s hardly a blog though seeing as I haven’t written since 2017!! oh dear!) I have decided to start writing short weekly posts about aspects of yoga that I am sharing in my classes but also want to share with you here, little thought offerings. Some weeks they will be based on the physical alignment, maybe particular poses, some weeks they will look at yoga philosophy, other weeks the breath, and probably everything in between too. They will be short, easy to read and digest snippets that I hope you enjoy reading and learning about :) so here goes….!
This week I wanted to talk a little bit about how we should practice yoga asana, which is a pretty big question to answer in a short snippet, but there is a surprisingly simple answer from the ‘Yoga Sutras’ written by the sage Patanjali over 2000 years ago (although we have no exact date of writing). The ‘Yoga Sutras’ is a collection of 196 aphorisms (An aphorism is a brief sentence or phrase that expresses an opinion or makes a statement of wisdom) on the theory & practice of yoga. Of these 196 sutras, just 3 sutras relate to the physical practice of yoga.
Just 3!! That is less than 2% of the whole text.
Of those 3, one in particular strikes me, which is sutra 2.46 :
What does steadiness & ease mean? I like to think of it as being rooted & steady in whatever physical shape we might be in, as well as finding a sense of ease in this shape, in the breath, and in the mind. Ease through the breath, the body and the mind. This sounds easy right? But finding steadiness in some of the shapes we go into can already be a challenge, so ease on top of this can feel very far away. However, we can think of the mind as a muscle too and with our practice we can slowly start to train this muscle.
Each time we come back to this awareness, we strengthen this muscle so that the sense of ease becomes more natural both on the mat, and then also off the mat too.
Next time you step onto your mat, see if you can find this sense of steadiness in your practice. Good ways that help me notice if I am steady and at ease are to ask myself the following questions:
Hope you enjoyed this little snippet from my world of yoga, please feel free to comment with any thoughts this might have brought up for you!
Every once in a while, in the middle of work, family, lover, dinners, parties, picnics, studies and gym time your body might begin to feel a little run down, a sure sign that you need some good old rest!
If we can learn to listen to our bodies messages with respect and love, your body will tell you when you need rest. Our bodies are much smarter than we think we are! Feeling exhausted, un-inspired, run-down, fluey, achey, headachey are all signs from your body to tell you to REST. A lot of the time in our modern lifestyles we push through these messages from our body, leading us to become more fatigued and for the symptoms to spread deeper into our body perhaps causing even more harm.
We need to change our attitude to rest, and realise that it is OK to rest when we need it! Listening to your body's messages with love and respect is one of the most important parts of yoga - never mind doing a headstand. There is no need to feel guilty about needing to rest when your body needs it.
Not only is it important to take a day once in a while to rest (I promise you the world will not stop just because you are taking this rest) and I know any mothers out there are probably thinking "as if I could ever take a day of rest! but even take an hour, or half an hour or 5 minutes whatever you can, and whenever you can! Not only is it important to rest, but it is also important to use this time of rest wisely.
What is rest? A lot of the time you might think woohoo a day of rest, I'm going to stay in bed sleep all day and watch my favourite series in between sleep. Although this might be physically resting your body, it has been proven that modern technology (think ipads, phones, laptops - anything emitting an electromagnetic field (EMFs)) can cause the following side effects include headaches, dizziness, sleep disorders, benign tumours, dementia and Alzheimer's (this article has a lot more info on EMF's and the damage they cause us and how we can reduce this potential damage). So the sleep that you are getting in between watching the latest 'House of Cards' episode might not be the truly restful sleep that your body needs.
I really believe that mental stress and exhaustion also has a very physical effect on our bodies, and is much of the reason why we do feel so run down. So when we do rest, why do we neglect to rest our minds too? Remember that your body and mind are intrinsically connected. Watching a series or movie is hardly resting for our minds, and as mentioned above it means the sleep we do have may not be the healing sleep that we need.
Take care of yourself
xx
Our breath: Probably the most vital process of the body. It influences the activities of each & every cell and is intimately linked with the performance of the brain. It also clears energy blockages in our nadis or energy channels. The breath is also closely linked to our mental state - when we get angry or anxious we may become short of breath but rhythmic, deep and slow respiration can help bring back a calm & content state of mind.
Nadi Shodhana is a simple form of alternate nostril breathing which is great for both beginners & advanced students.
Bring your right hand up in front of the face and extend your index finger and thumb allowing the other fingers the rest.
Take your index finger to your eyebrow centre and rest it here gently. Now you will use your thumb to close your right nostril & your second finger to alternately close your left nostril.
Begin by closing your right nostril gently with your thumb, and inhale in through the left nostril. The breath should be slow, steady and full but not forced.
When you have reached the end of your inhale, close the left nostril with the second finger and open the right nostril to fully exhale with a slow & steady breath.
Inhale in through the right nostril, & then switch to exhale through the left. That is one full round of the breath.
Inhale through the left, & switch to exhale out of the right. Inhale through the right & switch to exhale out of the left. Remember we always switch nostrils on an exhale if you get confused.
Keep going for 5-10 rounds, and increase your rounds of breath as you begin to feel more comfortable with the breath.
Nadi Shodhana can be practised at any time of day, but it is best to practice on an empty stomach. Remember to keep the breath slow, easy (never forcing it), and full and try to keep your inhales & exhales the same length (ie breathe in for a count of 4, and out for a count of 4).