This is the post excerpt.
Yoga tonight at Pitsford village hall, 7pm.
I’m achey, I’m tired, I’m sleepy….but I know as soon as I stand on my yoga mat all that will drop away and the real me can shine 😊
‘Yoga isn’t about executing the poses perfectly, or having the perfect balance, Yoga is about connecting with yourself…’
Amen
See you on the mat 💗💗💗
Among the many strings on my bow, Reiki stands out as the most obvious that brought dramatic change to my life. When you are ‘attuned’ to Reiki and start to offer it to others you start to see how interconnected we all are and how profoundly we can affect each other. I often talk about Reiki in my Yoga classes, and I offer it as a shared group healing in some, too. It brings calmness and inner peace as well as benefitting the physical body. It’s a funny thing to explain if you haven’t experienced it, so I thought I’d share a recent client’s journey. This is her story (name changed):
A few months ago Pat shared with me that she had been to see her ex husband. She is in her 70s and they divorced many years ago, but he’d been on her mind. He was, sadly, very poorly, which she hadn’t been fully aware of, and didn’t know her. The following week, he passed away and Pat was both relieved (for seeing him) and devastated.
I saw a drastic change in her: she has been a regular Yoga client for the last couple of years and I like her very much. She’s bubbly, funny and open minded. An ex-nurse, she’s very compassionate about others and often puts their needs above her own. After the death of her ex, she became tearful at most sessions, was ore withdrawn and showed signs of high anxiety: picking at her hands and her clothes and losing the thread of her conversations half way through regularly. I was very concerned and spoke to her after a class. She told me she had loved this man very, very much and had waited 35 years for him to return to her, despite knowing he’d moved on, remarried and started a new life.
Getting things off her chest seemed to help, and I told her she could call me any time she fancied a chat, just to ensure she knew people were there for her at this trying time, if nothing else. Pat was very grateful, but then shared with me some alarming information: when her husband had left her all those years ago, she’d suffered a breakdown and experienced mental trauma. She’d heard voices encouraging her to ‘leave this life’ and was frightened to be left alone. These symptoms were resurfacing and she felt she was losing control. I urged her to go to the doctor and get medical advice.
Later that day, Pat rang me. She shared with me that she’d been to the doctors immediately, with a friend, and they had given her medication, advice and a counselling appointment had been scheduled. Relieved, I told her she’d done the right thing and thanked her for calling to tell me as I’d been very concerned. She then went on to say that she had asked the doctor if he knew of ‘Reiki’ and whether he thought it might help her. Quite rightly, the GP said it wouldn’t necessarily ‘fix’ things for her, but that anything that gave her a sense of ‘taking charge’ of the situation, that might relax her and help her general well being would be of benefit. He said he knew nothing about Reiki but if she felt compelled to give it a go, he would encourage her to try it. Pat asked me what my thoughts were and whether I felt it might help.
I’m well trained in Reiki and have a lot of varying experience in how it can make clients feel better, but I had never treated anyone with such extreme symptoms of trauma and so I was cautious in my response. I told her it was definitely to be thought of as a tool for relaxation first, especially given her circumstances, that it should never replace medical advice and treatment, but that I would be happy to work with her if she thought it felt right. She did and so we booked a course of four treatments, to begin the following week after her yoga class.
What transpired was one of the most beautiful Reiki stories I have to share with anyone interested in its benefits. Reiki has its own consciousness – bear with this if you’re sceptical! – and gives each person receiving it just as much as they need, in whichever way might help them the most. Think of it as a spring clean for all the layers of yourself. It will gently release anything not serving you – be that emotional, physical or spiritual. Pat’s first session was extremely gentle and peaceful – there was lots of mutual experience for the both of us: shared visions of warm light, pastel colours behind the eyes and a feeling of well being flooding through our bodies. Afterwards her face looked less etched with grief, she was more coherent and she visibly relaxed. She thanked me and said she would probably take a nap that afternoon.
The next week she was more like her usual self. She’d had her counselling session and booked another, praising the counsellor they’d assigned her for her warmth and understanding. They’d mutually agreed some mindfulness techniques for Pat to try when anxiety ‘hit’ again, and she felt happy that they tied I with the teachings she’d received in my yoga classes and as follow ups I’d supplied after the Reiki. We began our next session with Pat eager and excited to see what happened now. This second session the Reiki felt ‘deeper’. It seemed to travel mostly to her heart, where a lot of old grief was held, and I ‘saw’ it being released, like ribbons and bubbles. Her solar plexus, too, took a lot of the energy and there was a lot of blue light – symbolic of the throat chakra and being able to express ourselves. I sensed ‘someone’ was with us, a female vibe, and afterwards when I described it Pat said she thought it was probably her mother and that she, too sensed her around a lot at the moment. She shared some memories of her childhood and said she felt very much ‘at peace’ between the Reiki and other help she was receiving. Again, her face looked more relaxed and she said she was sleeping much better and the strange voices had disappeared.
The following two sessions we held followed a similar pattern: colours, lots of healing for her heart, throat and solar plexus but in the last session there was also a lot around her left hip. Hips signify our ability to move forward, to keep going – physically and emotionally. Pat said she’d had a bad left hip for some years and was surprised to find that an ‘added extra’ of the Reiki healing was that it now felt a little easier and less stiff each morning. In our last session she shared that she’d felt my hands on her hips all the way through, despite knowing I regularly moved my hands between different parts of her body and energy field.
All of this, for those of you who have experienced Reiki, and those who give it, will come as no real surprise. So far, so regular in Reiki terms, you might think! But, the real reason for this post and why I felt this was such an enlightening and powerful few sessions was this next fact: Pat shared with me two weeks into our course that she had suddenly felt the inclination to go on an online dating site. Like many people of her generation, Pat didn’t feel particularly adept at navigating the internet, but she trusted her instinct and persevered, finding a ‘silver surfers’ site that helped her create a profile, upload a picture and write to a few fellow users. Within a week of going on it she had ‘met’ someone who, like her, had suffered great loss and been alone for a long time. They mutually shared a love of various hobbies and interests and had the same goal in mind in utilising the site: to simply be themselves with someone they could call a friend and enjoy a little romance every now and then to ‘lighten’ their lives.
To say I was thrilled on receiving this, shyly delivered, information from Pat is an understatement! We discussed it at length and she says she feels very strongly that her counselling, new medication and support network have all helped her overcome what could have become a spiralling into despair that she might not have recovered from. But the hope, the self belief and the knowledge that she was ok, and would continue to be so for some time to come, that, she believes – as do I – came from her experience with Reiki.
Reiki can be sent ‘at distance’. I offer half an hour and one hour sessions like this. Contact me for more information.
Heard of chair yoga? Think it sounds a bit odd? You’re not alone! Chair yoga is the term given to what looks like gentle exercise for those unable to access floor based exercise, but which, when led by a qualified tutor, can give you all the benefits of mat based yoga too. How? Well, in the same way yoga and Pilates are similar, but not the same, the key component is breath work, or pranayama.
In Yoga, the breath is accessed, focussed upon and utilised to bring more oxygen to the bloodstream, brain and bodily systems and also to help us connect with Prana, the life force energy which flows through every living thing. Deliberate and systematic exercises are engaged with to open the lungs, deepen the breath, lengthen the exhale and, ultimately, to soothe our nervous system. Over time, with practise and focus, this becomes meditative in nature and benefits the participant mentally, emotionally and spiritually too.
So what do we do? Well, in my classes we always have a theme, in exactly the same way we do in floor based sessions. I discuss, for example, the energy centres of the body (known as Chakras), or focus on an affirmation, a festival or the current season – anything goes! We all sit on or in a chair, usually in a circle to promote inclusion and a sense of community and we begin by tuning into our body, feet up, with slow movement, isolating toes, ankles, knees, hips, tummy, hands, shoulders and face. Then we practice my favoured breathing technique: the three part breath. This centres the participants and aids a sense of peace which we build upon as the session progresses.
Then, according to our focus we begin to use the breath to lift and stretch different parts of our body to lengthen, strengthen and promote flexibility. Sometimes we hold ‘poses’, adapted from the traditional ‘asanas’ and sometimes we stand up, bodies permitting, and utilise the chairs for support. Whatever we do, I ensure all parts of the body are used, and encourage the ethos ‘a little bit of movement is better than no movement at all’ alongside the mantra ‘listen to your body’ – my groups all know that if something hurts, is uncomfortable or just doesn’t feel right that day, they can give themselves permission to simply leave it out. Comfort and enjoyment are paramount, or there’s no point!
I attend care centres, offices and nursing homes and teach people with little to no mobility as well as those who are simply older, or larger, and not so fond of getting up and down from the floor. I’ve helped people with paralysis attain more movement in their ‘good limbs’ as well as some, more miraculously, in the ‘bad’ ones. We focus a lot on mindfulness and paying attention to what our bodies need and enjoy and the feedback I receive is hugely rewarding.
Some people attend a weekly public class I run, every Wednesday at 11:30 in the Pastures,Kingsthorpe, and they represent a wide range of needs and abilities. We have people 50+ attending, up to 85! Some have experienced ‘regular’ yoga and have missed it now they’re unable to access the mat. Some are completely new to yoga and attend due to mental health issues and a need to do something soothing. Some recent comments I’ve received are:
‘We’re so lucky to have you, what we do here is marvellous…’
‘My GP can’t believe how much this is benefitting me!’
‘My balance is so much better, it can only be the yoga!’
So, if you’re curious, if you think it could benefit you and help you return to exercise, maintain your mobility or soothe a hectic mind, come along! We’d love to see you! Likewise, if you work in a care facility and believe Chair yoga would benefit your clients, call me to discuss my rates. You’ll be astonished at how beneficial these classes are. Namaste!
Don’t you just hate change? You’re all comfy and cosy and know what’s going on and then BANG, a change cannon goes off and ruins everything. Stupid change, messing up the steady, the familiar, the old.
No? Me neither! I LOVE change. I think it stems from association: I’d often get home from school as a kid and find the living room was ‘the other way round’ My mum would shrug as my dad tutted and fussed, ‘I fancied a change’ she’d say. I grew to learn this usually preceded some event or other – a change of season, Christmas, guests coming to stay. And that was exciting!
As a character I’m naturally quite rebellious. (Quietly so – I’m not quite an anarchist) I find going against the status quo exciting and exhilarating and uplifting. Change, in my world, really is as good – if not better than – a rest.
It’s why I love teaching yoga so much. Never two classes the same, never the same results for people, or turn out OF people. Every day is different, nothing is predictable and every time I stand on my mat in front of the beautiful souls who’ve joined me, I know things could go in any direction at any moment!
This week I’ve been standing in a different spot to teach. And boy has that upset some folk! The simple act of facing a different direction in class has a powerful impact on the attendees, the teacher, the energy of the session and even the poses. Some people forget their left from right, simply because they’re now having to think about which is which, rather than mechanically placing their body on their mat. For some, it’s more about a feeling of anxiousness creeping in as they fight their mind to accept this new world of change. Yes, I’m still just referring to turning the other way on your mat. I’ve also taught ‘standing to lying down’ which is a reversal of my usual vinyasa. This, too, has evoked some consternation, a little confusion.
We’re kind of hardwired to avoid change. It keeps us safe. ‘Better the devil you know’ has to be one of the strangest statements we use to state our absolute aversion to changing things up! Even if the situation is a ‘devil’, if you know it, it’s still better than change and the unknown? I don’t think so! Change is also hardwired in our physicality. Reading this, you haven’t noticed your body changing, but it has. And again. And then, too. Change is a constant, ever moving, ever flowing thing. We can either allow it, or kick against it. Kicking anything, in my book, takes it out of you.
I’m not suggesting apathy. Far from it!(see the bit about a rebellious nature) But sometimes, when we kick against lots of little changes, or we make it a habit to fear change, we create more resistance in our minds and bodies than is good for us. In yoga, if a pose feels challenging, there are two choices: relax and let go or pull back slightly. No yoga teacher ever said ‘that’s right, hold it, hold it, feel the burn! Push through that pain barrier!’ and with good reason: it’s simply not the best thing for your body or mind to behave like that.
So once again, yoga represents life and how best to handle it. In times of great change we often feel huge stress and resistance. Some of the most miserable times of my life have involved me pushing and battling against inevitable changes. Did the path alter? Nope. Did I feel worse? Yup. When we relax and let go of tension, we’re better able to see all angles, each avenue, every potential move we can make to improve our lot. Ultimately, this is what life is all about, because without change there can be no progress, no evolution. Life would be a pretty dull thing if everything stayed the same, right? So embrace change! Go get a new hair colour, drive a new way to work, try that class you’ve always fancied. Once you let change in, the more fun you’ll have and the better you’ll feel.
Trust. It’s a big subject. Every aspect of our lives involves some element of it: our relationships, friendships & working lives most predominantly, perhaps. What about the food we eat? The medicines we take? The help we seek from professionals? We have to trust that what we’re told is ‘good for us’ really is. And we have to trust ourselves to make the right choices once we have our information. And what about the bigger things in life, the things we take for granted nearly every day? That the sun will come up each day, that we will continue to breathe in and out, that after winter we will have spring?
I’ve been chatting to my groups this week about the topic of trust and it brings up a lot of variation in people’s reactions to it! Some have said that, with regard to the sun rising each day, we’re actually talking about fact, truth, reality and these require no trust. Others have pointed out that at some point, our trust that we’ll continue to breathe again will be broken, so ‘trusting’ it as an action is a waste of time. Some of the older members of my classes have saddened at the mention of trust, having dealt perhaps with broken trust in their past, so the subject is a touchy one. It is, then, as personal a subject as you could hope to explore. And as a Yogi, I’m a big fan of the personal!
The topic of trust has arisen because, without warning, I’ve found myself needing to surrender to it myself recently in my personal life. A new relationship has presented itself and subjects of past misdemeanours and their consequences have been threaded into our initial stages of communication and commitment to each other. I don’t shy away from much, but this has tested my mettle somewhat! I’m very happy to say, the person in question is one of much compassion and honesty himself, so the conversations have been positive ones with happy outcomes. However, they’ve unsurprisingly led to me feeling vulnerable and a little untrusting in these delicate early stages.
So what is trust? How do we do it and what does it have to do with Yoga? Well, as always, it has an awful lot to do with it, and I’ll come to that shortly. The first question, though, is rather more tricky to answer.
Trust, I’ve come to see, is really a smaller version of belief. If we trust something, or someone, we believe in it, or them. We make a choice to see the possibility in the situation for a best possible outcome. Often times, the exact opposite choice or alternative, is presented at the very same time, and so undoubtedly, as I have experienced first hand, we feel vulnerable. In all vulnerability, though, comes possibility for change. We don’t move forward without it. We don’t experience the new without it. We don’t evolve without it. So trust is essential, not only for leading a less anxious life, but also to make other aspects of life better for ourselves, to progress. Trusting means letting go, releasing our resistance, our fear, and having faith that our choices are right for us. There is a lovely quote I found on the subject that says: ‘Trusting you is my decision. Proving me right is your choice.’ Yes, trust may involve risk, but without it, we lead a very small life.
Yoga, as always, reflects this aspect of life beautifully. When you attend a class you trust the teacher. You trust they know which poses to show you, to teach you to take on, to pull back from. You trust your instinct that Yoga will benefit you. You trust the person who recommended it to you. And, last but most importantly, you trust your body to do what you ask of it. This trust in your body begins, quietly, subtley and gradually, to lead you to trust your inner self too. How often have you felt ‘too tired’ or ‘too stressed’ for Yoga class? And if you go on those occasions, how often do you leave feeling better? More settled and more like yourself again? Yoga transforms us, physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. As it becomes a larger part of your life, you come to believe in it, wholeheartedly as a means to heal what needs to be healed and to move you into a place of peace. If that doesn’t define the best of us when we let go, trust and believe, I don’t know what does!
Trusting, ultimately, is all about the next step we take. Some of those steps require a summoning of trust, others need hardly any effort at all. When we learn to trust, actively and fully and to believe in our Inner Guidance and its wisdom, that’s when the magic happens. The beauty of it, too, is how personal trust is. What I choose to trust in someone may not ring true as trustworthy for someone else. The decisions we all make reflect our circumstance, our experience and our current position. But trust me, once you let yourself trust the process behind all of those things, you’ll reap the rewards, just like you do from going to Yoga class on those colder, less appealing nights. You’ll connect to others, to new situations, new perspectives and, ultimately, to yourself.
Try This:
affirm to yourself as you do your pranayama practice (breathing exercises) ‘I breathe in trust’. Let the words flow in with your breath and measure how they settle for you. Over time, (even in the ten minutes you give to this) you might notice a change in the phrasing. It might become ‘I allow myself to trust’ or ‘I am now able to trust’ or ‘I trust and let go’. Your subconscious voice (Inner Guidance) will start to lift to the surface to tell you what will help you most in that moment. Then go about your day and see what appears for you requiring trust. You’ll be amazed at how many times a day you put your faith in yourself, in others and in life itself. Enjoy the feeling of connection that brings!
It’s almost here, the summer solstice 2019 and, regardless of your religion, chances are, the energies this powerful time of year bring in are already resonating with you.
It stands to reason, really. The sun is our source of life on the planet: without its light we would die. Our ancestors revered, even worshipped it, for this very reason, and that cultural influence still permeates spiritual doctrines and practices today. So solstice appreciation need not be seen as strictly pagan in nature. As Earth dwellers we could all do with showing some love to the fiery ball in the sky that makes things grow and keeps us alive!
Think ‘light’ and associations, for you, might simply be practical in nature: day time, opposite of dark, torches, bulbs, lack of heaviness, even. In literary and spiritual terms, though, the symbology is more profound: good over evil, light hearted, the light of the world, shedding light on a subject, the light of God. The references are many.
In Hatha yoga we bring balance to our bodies (minds and souls too!) with poses and sequences which energise and soothe by turns. The classes we attend are usually formatted cyclically and will stimulate the ‘fire/sun/masculine’ (Ha) or ‘water/moon/feminine’ (Tha) energies that reside within each of us and all we do. The aim is to cleanse the body and energetic systems ready for meditation. If you’re lucky, you might even get to experience ‘enLIGHTenment’!
Solstice, when translated means Sol-Sun Stice-stillness, as it’s the day in the calendar when the sun appears to stay where it is. Energetically speaking, it offers an opportunity for reflection, pause and clarity before we embark on the second half of our year.
This year, 2019, though, is particularly potent. We are in the midst of much change, upheaval and renewal. Look to the world stages, politics and new social norms and you’ll see what I mean. On the one and, we have challenging leaders who seem ego led, ill informed about what the masses want and policies and directions being upheld which strike us as preposterous, even dangerous. Then we have the rapid shifts in acceptance of, for example, the transgender community and self expression being applauded and celebrated whatever the agenda. Huge dichotomies, then! Major opposites of push and pull in motion.
It’s possible you’re feeling these things on a personal level too: realisations, old patterns resurfacing, break ups, things leaving we think we’d rather have stay, drama and upheaval. And the truth is, that’s a scary lot to deal with! Fear not, however, because the darkness and low level energy these things may be lifting up for you will serve a higher purpose, possibly not understood until year’s end or beyond, but there will be positivity and light from all the work we have done to lift it up and out. After dark there is dawn!
So this solstice, this pause in the sky, is a perfect time to set your intentions and get your cleanse on! Maybe go out in nature more, be mindful in the smaller things you do/say/think and look to the positive aspect of any situation you find yourself in. Yoga always brings me peace, of course, whatever the energetic ‘weather’, so maybe try it yourself and see if it’s the same for you. It will, at the very least, ground you and help you deal with the shake ups happening all around us.
On 21st June set aside five minutes and simply breathe. Everything is working out. The sun shines on. You are alive and have your very own internal light to offer the world. Go shine it.
You’ve probably heard of PMA (positive mental attitude)? And it’s likely you’ll know the phrase ‘mindset’? And, with the herald of a New Year, you’re possibly sick of the term ‘resolution’?! What does this have to do with yoga? Well, pretty much everything, in truth!
The purpose of Yoga is to incorporate several key elements, which enable us to break down the layers of the outer, ‘chatty’, mind to achieve connection with our more intuitive self. This allows us to reach a state of Bliss and to lead a more compassionate, balanced life. Most classes you will attend incorporate Asana (the postures), Pranayama (the breath work) and a little Dharana (introspective focus), without you needing to understand them too deeply to appreciate what they do for you. When you leave Yoga you generally feel blissed out, right? Which is what keeps us going back! But can you say at exactly what point that happens? No, me neither! The chances are, however, that a little of your intention played a part.
Yoga is a great mirror for life. Many of the recommendations your teacher offers regularly in class could be taken off the mat and applied to life for an easier ride! How many times have you heard the phrase “just relax”, or “ease into it”, or – my favourite – “don’t forget to breathe”?! When we apply these gems in situations of stress or dis-ease, we can bring about a much more positive mind set for ourselves and relieve the tension. Jut like when we’re faced with a more challenging pose. We use phrases like ‘take a breath’ or ‘take time out’ regularly in highly charged moments, so we instinctively know the power of switching our focus to bring about healing.
So, what if you step onto your mat with just such intentions? What if before you even ground a toe or stretch a leg, you set yourself an intention to match how good you know you’ll be feeling in about an hour’s time? What if, in doing this, you amplify that good feeling and, therefore, benefit yourself even more? And what if you could raise that amplification by simply repeating your intention, over and over again? I’m happy to tell you, this is exactly what will happen! You can call it intention setting, positive mindset, positive mental attitude, affirmation or optimism, but in Yoga and meditation it’s referred to as Mantra.
A mantra was traditionally given to a student by their teacher to aid their focus in meditation. The more well known might be the Buddhist chants ‘Nam Myoho Renge Kyo’ or ‘Om Mani Padme Hum’ or the Hindu chant ‘Om Namah Shivaya’. But we don’t need to look to our teacher for a mantra. (The likelihood is, you’ve already got a few of your own you use without thinking: ‘just keep going’ when things get tough, ‘you can do this’, when you feel nervous, ‘come on, come on’ when you need a little extra energy or speed?) A mantra or intention we set for ourselves, based on what it is we feel in any given moment, gives us great power to alter our mindset and achieve better relaxation, focus and health. And, just like most medical professionals will tell you, prevention is often better than cure. So setting that intention at the start of each yoga session will help build the momentum of its power when used over time. The extra good news is, if you’re one of those people who ‘drifts off’ in class and starts thinking about the gas bill, or what the kids are up to, or whether you can really hold this pose a second longer…..we’ve all been there!….then utilising your intention in the more traditional Mantra way, repeating it over and over, will keep realigning you to your purpose on the mat and drown out all that ‘white noise’.
Intention really is everything, in Yoga and in life. With a positive mindset we can achieve and overcome anything. It just takes practise. And after a while, it will become a habit that will help reshape your life in any way you desire.
Try this:
Every yoga class I teach has a theme. I run around twelve yoga sessions a week and, for my own mental well being, it helps me if there’s a commonality between them all. I might focus on a chakra a week, say, or maybe the Warrior poses. Sometimes it’s a colour. Sometimes it’s a feeling.
This week, inspired by the little things in life which have been making me smile, and maybe because it’s Christmas, I’ve chosen Joy as my theme.
The ability to find joy in the most mundane of tasks sets us up for success. To practise it might depend on several factors: who you’re with, where you are or what you’re doing. It might go deeper than that and be more about the chemicals in your body – I’m talking hormones, or seratonin, rather than alcohol or other alternatives! – and your overall mood. Finding joy is easier in some situations than others and easier for some people to reach than for others.
But joy is incremental. There’s ‘meh’, then there’s ‘I’m good’. There’s ‘I feel great’ and then ‘I’m wonderful’. It’s rarer to reply to a “how are you?” with an ‘I’m elated! Ecstatic! Euphoric!’ but they’re only a little bit further along the same scale, if you look carefully. Think of how we use the word at Christmas: generally we wish people joy meaning a feeling of warmth, good humour or upliftment. So although achieving euphoria is wonderful, joy needn’t be that extreme and, therefore, not that hard to find.
Bring to mind a person you know who brings you, or has done in the past, a sense joy. What is it/was it about them that triggered that in you? Their smile? Their kindness? Their support? Think of an activity which brought joy to you. Was it because it was thrilling? Or peaceful? Did you feel awe, or was it more like contentment? The chances are you’ll have many examples of all these examples. And, just thinking of those moments may well have just given you a glow of joy.
I’ve felt utter joy whale watching in New Zealand and again hearing my nephew tell me he loves me. I’ve felt joy walking through a country lane listening to bird song and I’ve experienced it doing yoga. Joy isn’t a fixed entity, assigned to just one experience, nor does it quite feel the same every time. There are probably as many ways to find and feel joy as there are people on the planet.
Take a walk and make it your intention to look for joyful things and you’ll spot some. One of my favourite things to do is take a walk out in nature and I find joy pretty much everywhere I look. I love front doors and roof tops. I derive great pleasure looking up at the sky. I also feel great satisfaction when I start to create: sewing or collaging, painting or writing all bring me great joy. Some days, just getting an extra five minutes in bed is where my joy is at, or the view from my window as I wash up the dishes. As you get better at looking for joy in the every day you’ll start to realise you feel joyful more often than you perhaps thought.
The key, in living joyfully, or at least in welcoming more joy into your experience, then, is to pay attention to how things make you feel. What colours do you prefer? How do you choose to spend your weekend? What foods are your favourite? From here you can start to direct yourself to the more joyful from a pair of choices. If faced with two options which seem equally dry or limiting, find the essence of joy within them: you have a bill to pay and an appointment to make. Which will allow you to take a walk and spot some aspects of joy? Which will bring you relief from worry quickest? Or which allows you to talk to someone you find interesting or attractive?
Use ‘joy finding’ like a game and watch all aspects of your life improve. You’ll interact better, feel more upbeat, relax more fully and deal with stress far more effectively. And if it proves elusive….there’s always yoga! For me, that’s always a direct line to joyful experience.
There are many yoga poses which express joy in their physicality, dancer, or Lord of the Dance, is my favourite. Try this:
1) stand firmly grounded with both feet rooted to earth
2) put all your weight into your right leg
3) hover your left foot from the ground and start the bend the knee, taking hold of the foot in your left hand if you’re able
4) pull the left foot and leg out behind you, leaning forward a little, but lifting up through the ribs and chest
5) when you feel steady and have an arch in your back, raise your right hand up in front of you, palm facing in, gingers directed up to the sky
6) slowly lower your arm, release the bent leg and come back to standing. Repeat to the opposite side then stand with eyes closed and notice any sensations in your body, or subtle shift in your mood.
When I hear the word ‘retreat’ I instantly think of a holiday. A time to kick back, relax and leave the busy-ness of everyday life behind me. The literal meaning is slightly more negative in its connotation, though. To retreat is to appear defeated, to be forced to withdraw and/or escape. We say and hear things in common parlance like “I bid a hasty retreat!” or “the shares in that company retreated and they went bust”. When you break it down, however, at it’s core is the very positive word ‘treat’. To re-treat, then, must surely be a fantastic thing! You’ve been treated and now you’re getting another one! So, as always, it’s our use of the word, our intention behind it, that has altered our perception.
Thankfully, with the rise of Yoga as a more mainstream means of connection to the Divine, to ourselves and to our bodies, you may, like me, hear ‘retreat’ and think of peace, tranquility and time and space to reflect. This is what I wanted to offer on the first retreat I offered earlier this summer and my starting point was place. Where in the world did I feel settled, at peace, at home? Where, too, did I feel inspired, creative and energised? Where did I know well enough to feel confident in sharing it with my attendees? There is one small town on the south coast of England that provided the answer: Shaldon, in Devon. I’ve been countless times, in childhood and into adulthood. I’ve travelled there with loved ones, friends and alone. And every time it rejuvenates me.
I set about looking for a property that would offer space, light and comfort and found The Curlews, set up the hill from Shaldon, but only a short walk away and offering the best panoramic views of the area. I booked it, there and then, possibly rashly, but I just knew this was something I wanted to do. I was extremely excited! I made mock food orders online to see how much the food budget should be. I set about inviting regulars in my yoga classes by emailing images of the place I was providing and soon, people started enquiring about prices and room configurations and Shaldon itself. Within a month I’d confirmed four of seven places. Within two months I had fully booked it. Now all I had to do was ensure everyone had a wonderful trip!
I asked my guests what, from a list, they’d prefer to learn about and planned workshops around their interests. I planned two yoga sessions a day – sun salutations for the morning, with variations to expand their knowledge, and some ‘regular’ Hatha classes based on their needs (someone wanted to learn better ‘balance’ for example). I planned little gift bags and practised my menu – yes, I was cooking for everyone too! As the weeks went by, the group started to ask about each other and someone kindly offered to organise a Saturday get together. We met in a local vegan cafe and chatted about why we were attending, what we knew of Devon, who was giving who a lift and so on. Things felt like they were getting very real!
My intention, was to offer a nurturing and peaceful environment in which people could explore what they most needed next in life. A place to respond to the call of their heart, to get some rest and, most importantly, treat themselves to some nourishment, however that might best present itself for them. I drew up a timetable (once a teacher, always a teacher…) of workshops and classes on offer and sent it out as our ‘itinerary’ prior to the weekend. I made it very clear that these were ‘drop in if you feel like it’ sessions, but I’m pleased to say, everyone did pretty much everything and the weekend flowed beautifully.
So, was the weekend a success? Did people leave nourished and expanded and renewed? I most certainly did! I learned that women are extraordinarily healing, naturally, no matter what their background and views on the subject and a group of them, all interacting and engaging with the purpose of self nourishment, somehow expands to nourish the group. I learned, or rather re-learned, that Shaldon holds an energy for me which is profoundly soothing and regenerative and that I need to be able to afford to live there one day, or at least visit as often as I possibly can! And, finally, I learned that taking a retreat is something everyone should do at least once in their lives, be it to meditate, to paint, to dance or sing or sit in nature: whatever moves your soul will heal you. Below are some of the wonderful comments received from my guests. If it looks like something you’d like to join me for in the near future, contact me via my website contact page for more information!
Namaste
‘Jo you are an excellent Yoga teacher! I loved the retreat. You and all the participants were such an inspiration! I loved all the things that we did from yoga on the lawn to the early morning meditation and I especially loved the food! Your cooking was YUM! I would definitely would love to be involved in your next retreat.. it was well worth it!’
‘I loved the workshops, classes and connecting. The (tarot) reading was spookily accurate! A beautiful experience with beautiful people, thank you so much, Jo’
‘A big thank you, Jo, for putting together such a wonderful retreat, in so many ways. It has given me a deeper understanding of Yoga, meditation and natural healing so I can lead a calmer life.’
‘The retreat was a wonderful, enlightening journey. The beautiful mix of yoga, meditation, food and company has been a life-changing experience. It gives you time to concentrate on yourself and work through things.’
A central practise in any Yoga session, be it on your own or in a larger group, is pranayama (from the sanskrit prana: breath and yama: restraint). This focus on the breath is, essentially, what makes Yoga, Yoga and not, say, gymnastics or a simply physical discipline. As we inhale we energise the body and prepare for movement, as we exhale we sink into the new shape we’re asking of our body and relax.
Prana is translated linguistically as breath, but actually has a more profound meaning: that of ‘life giving energy’. Whilst this is technically true of our breath, and the oxygen it contains, Prana is far more than gases and air. It has its own consciousness and connects us to the whole of the universe. It has similar connotations as the Chinese ‘Chi’ and Japanese ‘Ki’ and is fundamental in Yoga both during physical movement and during meditation. Have you heard your Yoga teacher say ‘breathe to the right leg’? or ‘take the breath along the spine’? At first, it sounds like they don’t know their anatomy from their physiology, but as you get deeper into your Yoga, phrases like this make more and more sense. Why? Because Prana knows what it’s doing and knows where it’s going!
When we bring ourselves to the Yoga mat we come to it for all manner of reasons. Most of my students attend classes for one of three reasons: they’re stressed or anxious, they have a bad back or they have been recommended to attend a gentle exercise class to improve their health. After their first class, I often witness people leaving with a ‘blissed out’ expression on their faces and an air of someone who has, literally, ‘seen the light’. By the third or fourth class, hungry for more of this amazing elixir they start to ask me shy questions: “why do I feel so good after Yoga?” “How come I fall asleep here, on the hard floor, but not at home, in bed?” “Why does nothing seem to matter so much after Yoga, what is it that makes me stop worrying?”
The answer, of course, to all of these questions (and possibly any and all you could put to your Yoga teacher) is: Prana. When we engage with our breath truly magical things start to happen. As I often tell my students: you could sit for an hour trying a variety of pranayama techniques and still call the class a Yoga one. Contained within our breath is the subtle combination required to keep our entire planet alive! It’s no coincidence that as we breathe out, we nourish plant life, and vice versa. Mother Nature has ensured the recycling of one species’ breath is to the benefit of the others’. Earth keeps going because we breathe. What a wonderful idea! It’s the very thing we have in common with all other animals and each and every person we encounter: the breath. It’s what we are.
When you come to your mat, then, recognise what it is you’re offering yourself: some space to breathe. As you bend and stretch and extend and curl that amazing body you were born with, you’re creating space inside yourself. Those legs get lengthened, that spine gets realigned, your hips get more mobile. Why? Because you’re opening them up and allowing them some room. The magic happens when you incorporate your breath with those movements. As you open the channels in your body and you breathe deeper, Prana can flow around you with more ease and it will start to affect how you feel. Do Yoga more often and it will start to affect how you look, too. Do it every day and you’ll start to heal in ways you didn’t think possible.
Try This:
1 Sit comfortably with a straight back & take some deep, Yogic breaths
2 Close your eyes and put your awareness just below your navel – maybe imagine a patch or pool of light there
3 Inhale slowly and deeply and draw a line of this light up to the base of your throat. Exhale slowly and allow it to flood back down/through your body
4 Repeat for as long as you like and notice how you feel.
5 Now, add a sound, inside your head, to the inhale: ‘So’ and draw the sound all the way up with the light, to the throat (do silently to yourself). With the exhale add the sound, inside your head, ‘Hum’ and ensure the sound lasts as long as the breath.
6 Do for as long as you feel able and then gently open your eyes. Tap your feet on the floor, stretch and yawn, drink a glass of water and move slowly until you feel ‘grounded’. Notice how you feel. Can be repeated every day as part of your meditation practice.
I recently had the opportunity to experience what it might be like to live with pain in the body. I was going through a fairly stressful time, transitioning from running a business with a partner, to running a separate one alone, and I did something to my neck. It happened as I slept (a common issue, apparently) and I literally woke up not being able to see any which way but forwards! It really, really hurt. A couple of trips to a chiropractor later and, thankfully, the mobility issue was rectified. He assured me my Yoga practice wouldn’t suffer and I could continue as normal.
However, unused to pain and nervous of doing it again, I lessened the physical demonstration aspect of my teaching for a week and focussed more on ensuring my Yogis were aligned correctly.
The week all this took place, I was due to teach my classes about Ajna – the Third Eye Chakra. This governs the energies of insight, intuition and imagination. Focus and balance are key themes in any Yoga class aiming to stimulate and align the third eye and exercises in visualisation are useful, too. The element associated with Ajna is light. Particularly interesting as it’s physical centre is the Pineal Gland, our physical receptor for the cycles of light in a day and season. The pineal gland produces melatonin, which regulates sleep patterns, which are somewhat dependent, instinctively speaking, on light. Ajna also governs our sight. This includes ‘inner sight’, or ‘the mind’s eye’ in common parlance, and our metaphorical ability to see the truth of situations.
Inspired my my physical rest period and eager, as always, to share a different facet of Yoga practice with my classes, I researched the Mudra associated with the Third Eye Chakra. Here it is:
The idea of a Mudra is to redirect energy in the body. There are Mudras for every Chakra and, quite possibly, every ailment you might experience too! Mudras are commonly used in meditation alongside chanting of mantras. The commonest we use in the West is the prayer mudra (who remembers school assemblies: hands together, bow your heads and the school prayer, or Lord’s Prayer would follow. No? Just me?) which is commonly also used in the East as a greeting. It’s a sign of servility and submission, or respect.
Mudra translates as ‘seal’ or ‘mark’ and they can involve the whole body (Yogic Asanas – postures – could be described as Mudras as they redirect your energy, too). They heal, soothe and connect the practitioner to higher energies, enhancing meditation and cleansing the energy channels of the body for a higher, lighter vibration. If used regularly, this can permanently elevate the energy of the person. Think of them as electrical switches, sending the energy along a new wire.
Try This:
After a Yogic ‘warm up’ bring the body to a low lunge with right knee bent and left leg stretched back.
Bring the torso upright, weight bearing on the back knee and front foot and through the groin.
Bring the hands to the Mudra for Ajna (as above) by touching the second knuckles of the index, ring and little fingers and leaving the middle fingers touching but pointing upwards.
Gently rest the thumb tips to the forehead
Repeat with the left leg leading.
So, how does all this relate to my bad neck? Well, when I returned from the chiropractor I was mobile again, in the neck, but still suffering spasms of nerve pain down my arm and into my back. Loathe to use the painkillers and gels recommended, I meditated on it. My practice with Ajna several times that week meant I was lead quickly in my mind’s eye to try listening to a meditation mantra for pain ( find it here: YouTube Maha Mrityunjaya Mantra @174Hz for healing pain relief) which really, really helped. For about an hour. The next day, inspired further by my journey into the world of Mudras, I combined listening to the mantra with holding my hands in a mudra for neck pain I’d found online (see below) known as the Vayu Mudra. Day three and I’m pain free! I feel like a huge weight has been lifted from my neck and shoulder and the relief I feel is sublime.
It would be reticent of me to compare my trapped nerve to the trials some bodies experience, and suggest mudras offer a ‘cure’, I know that, but my personal experience means I will definitely be visiting them more often from now on and don’t hesitate to recommend that you try them, too, if only to see if they work for your body.
Left: Vayu Mudra – try it for neck pain
yoga for all 