Monday night Happy Hour Yoga has a new, slightly later start time. From Monday 17 August, class begins at 5:45. Drop in welcome with pre registration so come along and give it a try! Full timetable and venue details at http://www.yogawell.biz/class-timetable.html
In classes last week, I noticed students exploring within the poses and making discoveries, finding new space. So we stay with this theme and work with different asanas.
If we keep knocking on the same closed door, sometimes we have to turn away from it and find another way in. Then maybe we can open that door from the inside. Notice, challenge, change. Play in your poses. Shake it up. Keep a light heart and have some fun! In our practice as in our lives, we can sometimes feel compressed; no space to move, our breath feels constricted. So we explore ways to make some space.
I recently was reminded of a very insightful comment: yoga is not about using the body to get into the pose: it is about using the pose to get into the body. So the pose is just a tool, a device to make us notice, to learn about our bodies but also our minds and our emotions. We can use a pose to explore this idea of finding space. Take Trikonasana for example. Often, a student will have their lower waist contracted, more a lateral bend than parallel to the floor- their lower hip and armpit are moving toward each other rather than away. Where can they find the space to lengthen the bottom waist? Well, that depends on where the resistance is coming from, and it is likely not in the waist! Our awareness needs to move away from this area as we explore making changes elsewhere. So what happens if the front knee is well bent- is there now more room to lengthen through the side body? What about changing the distance of the back foot (closer, further): any difference? Now try pressing through the front foot to drive the lower hip away toward the back of the mat whilst anchoring through the back foot to energise along the spine to the crown of the head: direct the armpit and all along that lower waist in the direction of the front of the mat. Can you feel more stretch and length: more space between each of those lower ribs? Space in a target area can be created by decreasing the depth of the pose in other areas. Once your body and mind is able to connect with this feeling of openness and length, then you can think about gradually deepening other areas, aware of when that space starts diminishing, stopping at that point and working there with the breath. When the body gets accustomed to it, there may be the potential to move a little deeper again- maybe today, maybe next time. So too if we feel hemmed in by our thoughts or emotions, we can be aware of it, and move our awareness away from it to somewhere else that helps us. This may be focusing on the breath, or a peaceful image, or a positive and affirming thought that opens us up again. Notice, challenge, change. Find a way to make some space. Inspiration this week comes via Meditations from the Mat by Rolf Gates, day 199 to be precise! He shares thoughts day by day for a year in this gem of a book, arranged around the eight limbs of yoga. On this day, he observes the differences between a young, “fit”, new student vs. a much older but seasoned practitioner. The latter has developed efficiency and economy of movement- work is directed only where it is needed, no energy diverted into sustaining the ego, nor fighting one’s physicality (and I would add, gravity). Just surrender into the flow of life, to feel the connection. Trust, breathe, smile.
As more and more hours on my mat pile up, I begin to feel and know some of those qualities in my own practice at certain times. For me they still come and go, as does my dedication to my own personal practice. But like a beacon, they beckon me to stay on the path and persevere, just to experience the joy if it- and to carry that with me off the mat. This I wish for you too. A few comments and conversations this week have pulled me back to the Yoga Sutras, and in particular to Sutra 1.9 where the mind state of vikalpa (translated as fantasy / imagination) is discussed. This is one of the fluctuating mind states that can obscure clear thinking and a clear mind.
Creative imagination can serve a useful purpose: we can often connect these thoughts to our life and gain insight. But I think this sutra refers more to speculation, when our mind runs away with itself and we imagine unhelpful things that do not have a basis in reality or we have exaggerated and distorted the connection to reality. This hinders our understanding of ourselves and others. Here are a couple of related articles. http://yoginiinreallife.com/2015/03/17/yoga-sutra-sessions-from-fantasy-to-reality-the-power-of-seeing-the-truth/ and https://yogainternational.com/article/view/yoga-sutra-1-8-1-9-translation-and-commentary The first article describes well how our subjective thought process can lead us to believe that we have let ourselves and others down. Yet when we unpick the thought process, as in the article example, there is so much assumption and negative judgement that simply does not need to be there. Once we make ourselves aware of this and challenge our own thinking, then we have the power to transform it. Observe, challenge, change: it is possible, moment by moment, if we invite it in. We start this week’s classes reflecting on the area of focus students chose for themselves last week. Did they bring any inner judgements about this area, any unhelpful inner dialogue? How were they challenged and what changes did they make? This week students are again encouraged to play within a pose- make small adjustments, notice what feels different, keep what is helpful, and get rid of what isn’t. Observe, challenge, change, moment by moment. Continuing with the theme of being present in the moment, this week students begin by choosing their own area of focus that resonates with them, and then try to maintain awareness with it throughout their practice.
They may have something in mind, but suggestions include: breath control; release of tension in a specific area (e.g. face, neck, shoulders); grounding; noticing how muscles are working in an area of the body (e.g. abdominals, back, legs, arms); or perhaps mind related (e.g. focus, attitude). We can sometimes try to spread our efforts and attention too wide and can feel no progress is being made. So the challenge this week is to narrow it down to more fully experience it: what do we feel, how does it change in different situations, how do we adapt, what have we learned? We aim to sustain interest and curiosity in our chosen area: we engage with it rather than fight it or ignore it, and perhaps begin to understand how to transform it. Applying this away from the controlled environment of the yoga class can prove a challenge. As they say, yoga is not easy. So bring some positive energy and a kind heart to your endeavours as you experiment with new ways to engage with each moment. Play with it, and see what happens. I recently read an interview (http://www.bangor.ac.uk/mindfulness/documents/23823-Bangor-CMRPNewsletterAmended_Prood_1.pdf page 18) with a mindfulness teacher living with a life limiting cancer. She shares a personal mantra that she has been working with: ‘whatever happens, let it happen’, ‘wherever it goes, let it go’, ‘there is no purpose [beyond this moment]’. Your instinct may be to balk at this, as it can sound passive and defeatist.
But reading her reflections on this, I think it acts as a much needed reminder that we continually need to draw ourselves back to the right now i.e. this moment and be fully present within it. We can then LET it happen, so fulfil the potential the moment offers now we are in it. We then have the power to engage with it and transform it rather than fight it or ignore it. So we direct our energy in this way and then release ourselves from speculation of future outcomes that divert our attention away from the next moment and the next. Our purpose lies in the now and what we choose to do with it. Sometimes this involves planning our future efforts to realise our visions, one moment at a time. On our mats, we can consider how to stay engaged with every breath of our practice. We may become aware of energy diverted into wrestling with a pose and then begin to let it go to transform our experience. We can then open our field of vision and find countless ways to connect more fully to it. So find a purpose in each breath, let it happen, and then let it go. All sorts of things can throw us out of our sense of comfort, and the weather is no exception! This can affect our energy, mood, appetite, sense of concentration, etc (there is a reason a siesta is popular in hot climates!). So if you are struggling with the hot temps, reflect on whether you are trying to carry on as you would in cooler times and “soldier through”. Perhaps you need to acknowledge the messages your body is giving you, and invite some temporary alterations to your lifestyle. Simple changes could include better hydration, smaller portions and lighter foods. Clothing choice is also important for comfort. You could even fill a spray bottle with water to mist yourself throughout the day! Where possible, work schedules could be altered to give you a rest in the heat of the day and shift work to cooler hours.
Our yoga practice can also change with the weather. We can pursue gentler, more restorative practices, and Pranayama such as Sitali to cool and refresh us. Accommodations- on and off the mat- should reflect your connection with your body and mind and how best to nurture healthy balance. Be well! This week we explored aspects of the final Klesha. Abhinivesha describes a sense of fear- of change or uncertainty, of being judged, of things coming to an end. When our lives feel they are turning upside down, we naturally can feel fearful, and grip on to get our bearings.
So balances and inversions seemed ripe for exploring in classes this week. There may be valid and healthy reasons to avoid or limit turning ourselves upside down, so again, the important point is to ensure your behaviours and decisions are guiding you in a helpful direction. Normally we avoid placing ourselves in situations that expose us to fear. But by doing so, we can learn to be that observer of ourselves, to better understand what is driving the response in us. Are our fears helpful or are they holding us back? Can we name what we are afraid of, what would happen if the fear was realised, what we could alter slightly to be able to move forward with a better sense of security? Be firm yet gentle, cultivate the soft inner smile as you give forth your best efforts and let go of the outcome. We breathe, we move; we work, we rest; we let it in and then we let it go. Fear not: stay present with your practice, be inquisitive, and enjoy it! Last week’s theme discussed the Kleshas of Raga (attachment) and Dvesah (avoidance), which distract us from understanding the source of these feelings. Like the ivy growing, it hides what is happening deep within us. But facing up to our habitual unhelpful patterns can take a lot of courage and patience...which is why we are reminded to be very kind and gentle to ourselves. A calm and clear mind is needed.
We explore in yoga the interweaving of body, mind and spirit. We can impact mind and spirit through the body. We know we can help do this with our breath. But we can do it in other ways too. So this week, we explore in our practice bringing a gentle inner smile to the face. Just by altering our facial expression a little, we can invite a sense of calm in the mind, a lifting of our spirits and a softening of our resistance. This gets especially challenging to remember when we get into more strenuous asanas, but this is where it really pays dividends and helps to avoid tension creeping into the body and mind. So go on and give us a smile! |
AuthorRuth is a yoga therapist and yoga teacher based in Cheltenham, UK. She emphasises yoga as a tool for well-being, for individuals and in her classes, in person or via zoom. Archives
October 2023
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