 We've just finished another term of classes and start on a new journey next week. While each class stands on its own merits, the accumulative journey holds so much potential.
At the start of this term of classes with me, I invited you into a few challenging poses. Our hips grumbled and the new sensations invited us to inquire into exactly what did we think we were doing!? We gently persisted and encouraged our hips and legs to carefully try again each class. They got the hang of it and listened and responded. And by the end, this week, they are stronger, more mobile, more stable, and yes, our hips are happier and healthier (and so are we). It took a few weeks for the kinks to unfold. For the familiarity in the poses to enable us to work skillfully with what our body would find helpful, and for the nervous system to allow the poses to take a more full expression once safety was established. The sequence unfolded over the weeks. The breath was able to settle and come into the foreground. Perhaps we discovered our breath potential a little more with the pyramid breathing and the rhythmic counting. As we turn towards the next term, and I put together the jigsaw of pieces that will become our focus for the next few weeks, I find it so helpful to listen to the feedback after class. The challenges, the gains, the insights that yoga has inspired for you. And to build on that. For those who enjoyed the challenge of Warrior 2 or the Half Moon balance, or the grounding of the pyramid breathing, the library has our end of term practice recording to maintain and continue this work. Do carry on if you feel it is a direction that you are benefitting from. Enjoy your yoga and look forward to more explorations next week.
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 Life can throw us so much stuff sometimes.
At the moment one of my kids is having a hard time. I wouldn't trade being a teenager again for anything, I've done my time, and he is doing his 100%. He is doing his teenage job of figuring himself out and facing some demons, and as his mum, I need to show up and be there for him as best I can. This is as much my yoga practice as when I step on my mat each morning. It is on me to keep calm because he can't yet. I need to tune in, to him and to me, to really listen to what is going on, so that I can keep regulated in the face of his teenage 'moments'. I need to practice patience, not over think what is happening or take any of it personally. To bounce back quickly, not be judgemental about what is going on and keep showing up moment by moment with my full presence and heart. To hold it all lightly and enjoy the moments even when they seem tough. And keep taking care of myself during the rough rides that are part of growing up. We do all of this in the microcosm of our mat practice, breath by breath, moment by moment, and we bring it with us into each day to help us show up as best we can. My mat based yoga practice is part of my self care. Nurturing myself and restoring equilibrium and balance. It is also essential maintenance for my body and mind, to ensure I'm staying as well as possible during challenging times. Not just taking care of myself, but also investing in preventing future problems emerging, physically, mentally and emotionally. It is challenging but who ever thought parenting was going to be easy? I just need to do what I can to make sure I am up for the challenge. But my yoga is also something much greater than self care and much more than essential maintenance... There are 3 ways you could view your practice: 1) Do you view yoga as 'self-care'? That thing we do when we feel stressed, stiff, immobile, in need of some nurture or emotional rebalancing. It is this, and more. 2) Do you see it as 'essential maintenance'? A bit more fundamental than self care. The oiling of the creaky bits, increasing the fluidity of whole body and mind suppleness. The clearing out of the accumulated grind and freeing the breath. The regular maintenance routine that helps us operate in the way we like to and help prevents things going awry too far. Yoga is this and more. 3) Do you see yoga as a way to connect to something more fundamental than either of these? Yoga can bring us to a place where nothing needs fixing, maintaining, or improving. Where we are able to let go of the need to change anything. Improving tight hamstrings wouldn't make any difference to how whole and connected you feel to yourself and others and how a sense of joy and contentment isn't improved by touching your toes or achieving your most focused practice state. The aches don't matter when the peace you are seeking is found. And it can continue to be found, felt and enjoyed throughout the moments of the day once you know what your looking for and the best route there - even in the face of a meltdown. Yoga does all three of these brilliantly. It is easy to be satisfied with the first one, and the second one, they are great to do and we should do them, regularly. But the third one, a little more subtle, is where the real power and joy of yoga can be found, no matter what the level of challenge life may be throwing our way. Enjoy your yoga.  I love the feedback I get about yoga. I got this wonderful email last week about the two-week yoga challenge that launched a couple of weeks ago in the online library:
"I just wanted to say how much I’m enjoying the 2 week yoga practice. I’m aiming for daily and achieving alternate days so far! Feeling good for it. Really helpful and inspiring." Another student told me yesterday he has managed to ward of impending shoulder surgery, as his regular practice has done enough. He has been keeping up a regular practice since the January 30-day challenge and it has been well worth it! What I love about these stories, is that they have done this for themselves. They have made it to their mats, found the impetus to keep it up, and discovered that the benefits far outweigh the 10-20 minutes each day that it takes. The recordings were the seed of a starting point to get them going. The led classes at the studio help to keep up the motivation, refine the practice and bring in the reminders of how to practice that are so helpful once you are familiar with the basics. Yoga can be so simple once it gets your attention. The hard part is competing with so much noise in our lives: constant distraction and entertainment, phones, marketing and consumerism, busy lives, and false narratives that tell us that simplicity isn't as good as complexity and that everything should feel hard or it isn't 'doing' anything'. I feel fortunate to have discovered a simple and accessible approach to yoga. It's emphasis is on 'little and often' at home with inspiration via 1:1 support or through your weekly group class. The approach manages to side-step the gymnastic forms of yoga and saves you years of getting lost in perfecting the postures without looking further at what is available from moving and breathing well. With consistent practice of this simple yet powerful yoga, you'll discover the distracting noise of life and the aches and pains drop further away. Gratitude for simplicity, and the recognition of a more subtle joy comes into the foreground. The practice of yoga helps you discover this, and helps it stay around for longer until it becomes your default way of travelling through the ups and downs of life. Of course I think that everyone should do yoga. I know they won't as it is doesn't appeal to everyone (they don't know what they are missing!). But if you know about it, and you know how good it is for you, and you know how brilliant you feel when you've done it, but then you don't do it... Make sure you get to your mat this weekend. |
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Princes Place, Bishopston Just off Gloucester Road Bristol BS7 8NP |
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