Yoga news

For some the Christmas season is a time for being with family and for celebrating, however for others it can be an overwhelming time, you may find you want or indeed need to give yourself the gift of self-care. With lots of images of ‘the perfect family’ and ‘abundance’ it’s easy to imagine how overwhelming this could become. It may be a time of remembering those who are no longer with you, and for others a time of great stress and anguish as you attempt to meet the demands and expectations of those around you

So throughout the hustle and bustle of this Christmas period give yourself the gift of self-care. These do not have to be big and overt actions, instead think small… Very often it is the smallest of actions that can cultivate a bigger impact. Here are just a few ideas you could try;

Finding a short period of time to sit quietly. Self-care can be as simple as taking a few minutes to stop, sit, and breathe. Whether we’re able to find a free 3 minutes or 30 minutes to take a break, it can make a world of difference for our well-being. This isn’t about sitting and meditating but simply sitting and reflecting if nothing else but to allow our bodies and our minds to decompress and unwind.

Care for the body is an equally important part of the equation. Having good sleep hygiene, a 10 minute yoga practice in your own home, going for a 20 minute walk and drinking plenty of water can help offset the indulging associated with the Christmas holidays.

Make room for all types of feelings. It’s common for this time of year to bring up feelings of sadness, stress, anxiety, grief, loneliness and overwhelm. Making space for all of your emotions is essential., not only for this season but throughout the year.  Should these emotions arise, we might choose to sit with them as an act of self-care and as a way of truly and authentically acknowledging ourselves. 

Practice the art of letting go of expectations. This may be the biggest act of holiday self-care we can give ourselves which is to work on letting go of the standards and expectations we so often set for ourselves (and others) at this time of year. When we sit with the mind, we are sitting with the present moment, we are sitting with life as it unfolds, without guarantee and in doing so  training the mind to be okay with uncertainty and letting go of any ideals or expectations that can often serve only to ‘trip us up’. 

Give the gift of time and self-care to another person. The Christmas Holidays can hold lots of financial expectations and desires to give the latest ‘new thing’ to loved ones. Perhaps this year consider giving the gift of time and self-care to loved ones. This might by a voucher towards a massage, a pre-paid Yoga class or an offer to walk your friends’ children to school for a week. People have busy lives and just a small amount of carving out time for those around you who are also stressed and overwhelmed might be the thing they need more of rather than another Christmas gift that will get lost in the back of a cupboard.

If you are looking for some space and time to care for yourself and or others please check out the dates and times for Yoga over this festive period – Wednesday 18th December at Stratton Village Hall 8-9pm, Thursday 19th December at Daglingworth Village Hall 6.15-7.30pm (this will be a 75 minute session of Yoga Nidra) and  Monday 30th December at Preston Village Hall 10.15-11.15am for 60 minutes of restorative stretching, breathing and resting. These sessions are £10 per person and space is limited so if you would like to book a space on either one of these sessions please contact me directly

Yoga news

Patanjali defines the state of yoga as ‘cessation of identification with the fluctuations of mind’. He says through practice and non-attachment we will be able to stop identifying with our thoughts and be able to see the true reality of who we are. Be comfortable with yourself.

So how do we do this? We can start right here, get comfy and come to a seated position. Find some space in your body and allow your mind to fill with thoughts and then sit with these thoughts. Take a note of your reaction and then let it go, then take another note of your next reaction and once again let that go. After time what is not useful to you anymore will perhaps fall away and what is useful will return. Eventually you may start to see your true self rather than this collection of all the things that run wild in your mind, often these are the unhelpful stories and narratives that so often do not serve us well.

What is needed to sit with something difficult is ‘non-attachment’ or detachment. It’s facing something (even positive) and not becoming attached so that it comes to be part of the way you see or define yourself.

There is only one asana and this is the relationship with yourself, becoming comfortable with yourself, with your body and your mind is the work!

Yoga news

Good Vibes can come with just one daily yoga practice… Feeling annoyed, frustrated and maybe even angry? Maybe it is obvious to say that all of these emotions are valid. Perhaps it’s really hard to ‘sit with’ emotions that land on the ‘negative end’ of the emotion spectrum? Whatever your relationship to your self and your emotions it’s worth taking the time to explore this and if you can, sit with it.  

Toxic Positivity describes the act of avoiding, suppressing, or rejecting negative emotions or experiences. This may take the form of denying your own or others emotions and although sometimes necessary to set aside negative emotions, doing so long term can be very unhelpful and harmful to your health. 

Satya (truthfulness) as described in the Yoga Sutra, guides us to think, speak, and act with integrity, communicating things as they actually are, not as we wish them to be.  Practicing this requires us to stay open to truth in the present moment, as it reveals itself. Complete honesty with ourselves requires us to create a little bit of space, stillness and some slowing-down of the mind.  

With one daily practice we help unidentify with our irrational thoughts  firstly take a very deep breath and then take some time observing each thought as it arises, like clouds in the sky, watching these thoughts as they go by and choosing to not get tangled into said thought allowing us to create our own good vibes.

Not easy for sure, but arguably healthier than denying yourself the opportunity to experience all of yourself, the good parts, the fun parts and the tricky parts.

Yoga news

Yoga tip I, like many others at times practice yoga in my bedroom and especially in the winter months often start with wearing the fluffiest and comfiest socks I can find. Aside from maximum comfort they are completely impractical! 

Within a class setting there are often many thoughts rapid cycling, thoughts like ‘am I going to be able to do this? Will I look silly?’ And more relevant to this post ‘My feet are…..’ usually followed by a list of negative adjectives.

But here’s the yoga tip, socks interfere with a physical and a spiritual grounding. Yoga is about energy and connection, our feet draw energy upwards from the earth and downwards. According to yoga philosophy, we have chakras (or energy centres) that represent different qualities and characteristics within us. When we practise barefoot, one of the primary chakras called the muladhara (root chakra) which sits at the base of the spine is activated, and it’s this energy centre that helps create and sustain a sense of belonging and confidence. 

With around 200,000 nerve endings in each foot this is a very sensitive part of the body. So, let’s ditch the socks, ego and ‘hang-ups’ and maximise our grounding, balance and sensory input.

growandglow_yogawithsam

Yoga news

The Upanishads described Five Kośas (layers) of our existence which range from the densest part of our being (physical body), to the most vast and subtle (inner joy/peace). Annamaya-kosha consists of our physical-material body, Āsana (physical posture) and a healthy diet helps to keep this physical layer in good working order so we can experience life through our bodies with ease. Pranamaya-kosha which surrounds and penetrates the physical body is influenced and fuelled by prāṇa (life force) absorbed through the breath and food. The practice of prāṇāyāma (breathing) helps to keep energy flowing freely, which in turn affects and influences the health of the physical body. The Manomaya-kosha consists of the thinking mind and emotions. The thoughts and emotions we experience affect the energy flow in and around us, which in turn affect our energetic and physical health. By becoming aware of our thoughts, judgements, and emotions as they arise, abide and dissolve through the practice of sense-withdrawal (pratyahara) and one-pointed concentration can help us to make space to all of our thoughts and emotions without pushing them away enhancing the overall state of our wellbeing.

Vijnanamaya-kosha is our inner knowing and wisdom.  Through the process of āsana, prāṇāyāma, dhārana and meditation, the mind starts to still and in this moment is free from the influence of thoughts, emotions and experience.

Beyond this and yet comprising them all is Anandamaya-kosha (bliss sheath). This is the aspect of our being which we recognise as a deep inner peace, free from our thoughts, emotions, energy and body, and yet at the same time embracing them all. 

Like Dorothy in Oz, Lucy in Narnia, Alice in Wonderland and Boo in Monster Inc…. a door is sometimes more than what it first seems! Every doorway offers a potential passage to a new experience, perspective and is just waiting to be discovered! In yoga, physical postures (asana) is what many people come for and in this respect could be seen as the ‘doorway’ and the start of a deeper passage and journey into self discovery offering a new perspective on the self and the world around you.

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Yoga news

At the end of this January I will be venturing to Northern India moving from west to east and to the Bay of Bengal, Kolkata/Calcutta.

Calcutta, is the Anglicized version of the Bengali name Kalikata. In 2001 the government of West Bengal decided to officially change its capital city’s name to Kolkata to reflect its original Bengali pronunciation. 

According to some, Kalikata is derived from the Bengali word Kalikshetra, meaning “Ground of (the goddess) Kali.” Others say the city’s name derives from the location of its original settlement on the bank of a canal (khal).

The Indian goddess Kali is said to embody the power of creation and destruction in one entity, Kali is Mother Nature, nurturing, creating, and devouring all at once. 

This is all to say there will be no yoga from Thursday 26th January 2023. We will be back in action from Wednesday 21st February @ Stratton Village Hall and Thursday 22nd February @ Daglinworth Village Hall.