Nurturing Inner Wellbeing

The Scream - Edvard Munch

I always knew that yoga was good for me.  On the mat I felt better, more at peace, more centered. Something was calling me, a yearning if you like, and on the mat I had glimpses of that for which I yearned.

But in between times I could still find myself screaming like a banshee, reacting to the vicissitudes of life. Oh, I might have been a lot worse without the time on the mat, but why oh why could I not maintain that equanimity in between times?

So the question arose: What did I do on the mat that was not happening in everyday life? Of those elements, what could I take into everyday life?

There are many elements. Here are a few lessons from the mat that can be simply applied in everyday life. Let me know if they work for you.

1. Somatic experience
On the mat during the practice of hatha yoga we are paying close attention to the felt sense of the body. In everyday life I discovered I was no longer paying attention. In meditation the mind also settles much faster if we begin to explore somatic experience. Try it now. Close your eyes and just start to feel the body, the sensations of the body. Start in one corner, perhaps in the mouth, perhaps in the feet, and begin to explore the sensation of your body. Then after spending some time in this exploration of sensation of the body, observe what has happened to thought.

More recently, and through my explorations of iRest^® Yoga Nidra, I have also started to recognise that all emotions, thoughts beliefs, in fact almost everything that comprises this personality that was sometimes a screaming banshee, all of it is a somatic sensation. This has been a break through recognition. By bringing somatic awareness into everyday life I can feel as sensation all the things that make me react, before I react. Sometimes I choose to let that move through and be expressed, but only if it is not distructive. Early warning systems, great to have on your side.

2. Attention to the breath
Breathing in raise your arms, breathing out lower and fold your body into a deep forward bend.... on the mat my teachers were always drawing my attention to the flow of my breath and encouraging me to flow with the breath in movement. And lying in savasana, or sitting in meditation, again, follow the breath, notice the breath.

I assure you, when screaming like a banshee I was not paying attention to the breath.

When my kids were young I made my own discovery, that when the kids were going crazy and I was going crazy, all I had to do was to remember to sing. We would all calm down. Of course! Singing requires attention to the breath.

Slowly over years of practice, and again further nurtured through Yoga Nidra, my perpetual awareness of the breath has increased, and heh presto, it too is an early warning system. If anxiety arises it always drives the breath upwards, away from the belly and into the chest. Anxiety always subsides if you can bring the breath down into the belly. Brilliant! Another tool for equanimity.

3. Intention
I remember my teachers inviting us to formulate our intention for our practice (often called "sankalpa" in yoga), and to repeat it several times as a simple affirmation. Yearning to be at peace, my affirmation quickly settled to be two words "Still Centre".

Often on the mat I would be totally in the still centre.

Do you think I was remembering those words when having an emotional breakdown?

Once.

Sobbing in bed, unable to sleep, for some reason it arose, and I used it as a mantra, over and over, and I slept and awoke refreshed.

Gradually I began to realise that there is enormous power in our self talk, and if that talk is a constant put down then we will believe that and our way of dealing with life will reflect that.

I began to practise positive affirmations.  But have you eve done that thing where you repeat an positive affirmation, and there is a voice in your head contradicts it?

When that happens, notice how it feels (coming back to somatic awareness), and then try on the positive affirmation, and ask yourself, if this were true right now, what would that feel like.

Intention can be in the form of a resolve for whatever you are doing, this yoga practice, this task, this day. But there is another intention which is more like my still centre mantra, which is an expression of that yearning that keeps you coming back to the mat in any case. When you have identified that one it will be so harmonious that the mind will not undermine it.  It is true, and it is pure and it is an expression of that yearning, which is, for who you truly are.

4. Welcoming
Honestly, I did not get this until I began to really seriously delve into iRest Yoga Nidra. Welcoming uncomfortable sensations did not appeal to me. However it is a wonderful truth worth discovering for yourself. If you stop regarding the sensations and emotions that arise as either good or bad, but as signposts that could point you either towards greater integration or away from a state of grace, depending on what you do when they arise, and begin to welcome them as signposts to grace, their power starts to drop away.

5. Inner wellbeing
So we come to cultivating inner wellbeing. From a place of inner wellbeing, welcoming becomes easier. When on the mat, in movement practice, in meditation, in Yoga Nidra, we practise contacting, truly feeling, inner wellbeing, and the more we practise, the more we can also call upon it in daily life.

If you are interested to know more about these practises, and bringing your yoga high into daily life, keep exploring yoga with a good teacher. At Yoga Spirit Studios you will find classes to explore wellbeing in movement, in meditation and in iRest Yoga Nidra. Come home to your True Self, which is equanimity itself.

Honouring your cycle

by guest writer Sallie Richards

Cat

As a woman, yoga practitioner and teacher I have always adapted my practice and life as much as possible around my menses, to suit my energy levels, my emotional and physical state and use the time for inward reflection. But it has dawned on me recently, especially after attending a weekend workshop at Yoga Spirit by Ana Davis, that I may not always make it clear in class that students too can adapt their practice to suit where they are in their cycle. I know that I always encourage people to work in a way that is respectful of their whole self, but this also applies to menstruation. For example, there are some poses that we recommend not to do whilst menstruating so as not to work against the natural flow of Apana (downward flowing energy). Some people may be avoiding class altogether at this time, when some gentle practice may actually be the best thing for them, helping to alleviate cramps and lower back tension, restore energy, tune awareness inward and nurture and support oneself with loving kindness both on and off the mat, in readiness to begin their cycle again.

Cow

Acknowledging and honouring your menses may lead you to appreciate how your cycle connects you to the world and nature around you. Or as Judith Lasater so beautifully phrases it “Like our foremothers we can turn to our bodies to experience our connection to nature. We have our monthly menstrual cycle to show us the way. Far from being a “curse”, menstruation can be a quiet reflective period – a time for each woman to honour the miracle of her body’s potential for renewal.” “Relax and Renew”, Judith Lasater.

Below I have outlined why a practice at this time may be of benefit to you, also some poses to avoid and poses to embrace and some images of some classic poses that may help to relax you and restore your energy. Yoga and simple breathing techniques (pranayama) can bring a sense of stability to your emotions. Always remembering if you are practicing yoga in the first three days of your menstrual period, it is important to rest as much as needed. If you feel comfortable to, please let the teacher know before the class as they will be able to recommend poses to help relieve cramps and fatigue.

Forward virasana

A women’s menstrual cycle is governed by hormones. The hormonal changes that occur during menstruation can affect the way we feel in many different ways, a few examples are changes of energy levels, bloating, cramping and a general heightened sensitivity. These changes may affect the way we would want to practice our yoga. Hormonal changes can also affect the way we feel mentally and emotionally which may also lead us to alter our approach to practice.

Aside from adapting your practice to accommodate these changes, you may choose to adapt your yoga practice to harmonise with these cyclic changes, to support your natural rhythms and nurture your body, mind and spirit. Using a regular consistent practice to support improved health and wellbeing.

Baddha konasana

Therefore, in following what we always recommend here at the studio “to listen to your own body", practicing yoga whilst menstruating could be just what you need to feel better and release some cramping. If you are attending an ongoing class however, there are a few things that you should keep in mind so that you work with the natural flow of energy in the body and support yourself at this more inward and reflective time.

If you have any questions please feel free to approach any of the teachers at Yoga Spirit Studios. For more information and detailed sequences to practice with we have some copies of a book by Ana Davis called The Dark Moon – Nurturing yoga for healthy menstruation for sale in the ‘yoga shop’ in our foyer. 

Essentials for practicing during menstruation

Practice movements that create softness and space in the belly. It is a suggestion to avoid poses that will put pressure on any area that is already feeling tender. Instead of a strong physical practice, focus on conserving energy, giving space to the abdomen region and nurturing not only the body but mind and spirit too. If any practice is done at all, restorative postures may be the preferred choice for the first few days of flow, slowly building back to a regular practice as the energy returns and the flow stops.

Benefits of a gentle practice whilst menstruating.

• Calms the mind.
• Opens the abdomen.
• Can ease cramps.
• Can assist in releasing the menstrual flow.
• Can help balance hormonal shifts.
• Soothes the nervous system.
• Restores energy levels/ reduces fatigue.



Supta Baddha konasana

• Helps with the process of surrendering to your body’s needs.

Practices to embrace:

• Supta Baddha Konasana, Baddha Konasana, Upavista Konasana are all wonderful poses for opening the abdomen region.
• Restorative poses gently replenishing energy levels
• Gentle/Nurturing forward bends
• Cat/cow pose for easing lower back pain, cramps and congestion.
• Forward Virasana, both supported and unsupported, releases lower
  back tension and very nurturing.
• Deep relaxation. 

Savasana

Practices to Avoid whilst menstruating:

• Compressing or putting pressure on the abdomen and breasts. E.g.  Closed twists and prone poses
• Abdominal strengthening work or Uddiyana Bandha (strong abdominal contraction)
• Strong/unsupported back bends.
• Inversion are not recommended at all as it disrupts the natural flow of the menses. A pose is considered inverted if the uterus, or lower abdominal region, is higher than the heart.
• Demanding standing poses which will deplete already low energy levels.

Recommended Reading:

‘Relax and Renew’, Judith Lasater.

‘The Woman's Book of Yoga & Health’, Linda Sparrowe and Patricia Walden 

‘Ayurveda for Women’, Dr Robert E. Svoboda.

‘Yoga Mind Body & Spirit – A return to wholeness’ Donna Farhi.

"Yoga a gem for Women", Geeta S. Iyengar

Images sourced from pocketyoga.com

The Power of Intention

"You are what your deep driving desire is"

These lines from the Upanishads have always held great resonance for me.

As I am turning my thoughts toward teaching a new course "The Power of Intention" a four week exploration of the intention components of iRest® Yoga Nidra, the ancient upanishadic words are repeating in my mind.

They continue (Eknath Eashwaran translation):

"As your desire is, so is your will;
As your will is, so is your deed;
As your deed is, so is your destiny."

So powerful is the way that we shape and frame our intentions, that we are advised and should take care in their framing. How does the mind interact with our intention? Is it undermining us with its constant chatter, its accumulated baggage of beliefs about ourselves. One way I find that iRest is so wonderfully powerful is that we are handed the tools to deal with all of this, and the tools to constantly refine our intention as well until we know it is the quintessential beacon to guide our lives.

Of course, iRest Yoga Nidra is not the only system to have recognised that intention is so powerful.

Lewis Carroll put it this way: "If you don't know where you are going, any road will take you there." And in another version "If you don't know where you are going you will probably end up somewhere else" (sometimes attributed to  Dr Laurence J. Peter of Peter Principle fame, and sometimes to former American pro baseballer 'Yogi' Berra whose full name is Lawrence Peter Berra - I am going with the baseballer).

The point is, that without goals you are aimless, wandering around in circles, and ending up in meaninglessness. But a goal, intention or heartfelt desire, leads you on.

If however you are framing desires or goals or intentions without skill, they may be as useless as not having any. If I frame my intention "I want to be happy" this is nothing more than a feeling state of not being complete.  It is fed directly from a self-belief that might be stated out as "I am not good enough" and it will serve as a reinforcing feedback loop to that self-belief.

A more powerful intention would be framed as an affirmation "I am complete and happy just as I am".

Through meditation and paying careful attention to how the Intention arises from our deepest states, the Intention is honed like steel in a fire until it is recognised as resonating deeply. When you find that resonance your "deep driving desire" changes no more. It will shape your will, and your action and your destiny.

Meeting emotions in your practice

This article was first published in the Yoga Spirit Studios monthly e-letter "On the Mat"

"Yoga is meant to make you feel good, right? So how come I can't stop sobbing into my mat today? I don't even know why, there is no reason for this sadness."

If this has ever been you, take heart, you are not alone.

Ninety-nine times out of one hundred we get on the mat, enjoy some stretching and meditation, and afterwards feel relaxed and happy. But once in awhile something else happens. There may be unexplained tears, agitation, anxiety or perhaps even anger. Sometimes the effect emerges later, in vivid dreams, or the urge to cry while waiting for the traffic lights to change.

Coming into the body
Yoga is a somatic practice. This means that it takes us into deep mindfulness of our body. This is true across the range of yoga practices, whether you are practicing asana, or mindfulness meditation or breath awareness. We quieten, listen and sense into everything that is here, and the medium for this experiencing is our senses, the felt sense of the body and how it manifests as our inner and outer environments.

Emotions are not concepts. Emotions are felt senses in our body.  So it is no wonder that as we start to sensitize ourselves to somatic awareness, we will encounter emotions.

Samskaras - the deposits of the past

In Indian and yoga philosophy we understand that past actions, desires and experiences create impressions on the mind/body that are stored and affect future actions and ways of responding to future situations. These are called samskaras.

The samskaras form a lens through which we process all experience. This can be useful, but only up to a point. Just as a stored memory of pain associated with hot  informs us not to touch things that are hot again, so deeply and unconsciously stored samskaras inform our responses to the world and in so doing they may be protective.

But there are limitations. As we become more Conscious, as we develop our awareness and move ourselves through our practice towards  body/mind/spirit integration, the lens of the samskaras are clouding our true experience. 

Then our practice itself will begin to invite a shedding of the samskaras.

Truly meeting ourselves

Meeting ourselves in sensation, we will meet all of the old stored emotions associated with a lifetime of accumulated experience. All the things we have tried to push away, being unwilling to face them, are stored up in these samskaras, or in other words as buried emotion.  They may also be manifesting as muscle tensions, pain, psychological disturbance or illness.

When we start to turn the light of our yoga practice on what is really here, it is necessary to prepare ourselves to welcome the emotions that arise from time to time.

Let well-being support you

It is possible to welcome the emotions that arise if we ground ourselves in a sense of well-being and allow it to support us. In iRest® Yoga Nidra we call this the Inner Resource. 

Remember a time and place when everything was safe and secure, all was well with the world. If you cannot find such a memory, construct it with your imagination. Use all of your senses to help to build this place of security in your mind. Notice how the sense of safety and security feels in your body.

Practice building this Inner Resource often and be aware of the felt sense of well-being in your body. The more you practice it the faster you will be able to locate this sense of well-being in your body.  You may even be able to find it without going through the pathway of memory and image. Get to know it and reassure yourself that it is always there for you.

Next time the difficult emotions arise, can you be an openness of welcoming , allowing it to unfold in its own amazing beauty, allowing yourself to simultaneously be supported by your Inner Resource.

Being able to meet and greet the emotions that emerge on the mat, without pushing them away or being fearful of them, soon you will find they lose their power over you, and you have let go of that samskara and come a little closer to your true self. 

Surrender

Could surrender be the next big step in your yoga practice?

Remember the Niyamas?  They are the second limb of the eight laid out by Patanjali in the Yoga Sutras. The Niyamas are the personal observances such as purity, contentment, diligence, and introspection. The fifth Niyama is "Ishwara Pranidhana".

Ishwara is often translated as "God" but is more of a concept with a wide range of meanings depending on the philosophical underpinning of its use. It could be translated as Higher Self. Depending on belief, faith or lack of it, the word Ishwara may be challenging for some.

Then there is "prandhana". Layered with meanings of devotion, dedication, respectful attention, the word often is translated as "surrender".

The English word surrender may seem to render us weak. Vanquished armies surrender, the loser surrenders. Is Patanjali asking me to be a loser? It is possible that the whole concept of surrender does not sit easily with us, especially for individualistic Westerners in a culture that makes dominance a virtue. I might think that if I surrender I will become a door mat, and the I that is doing that thinking rebels against that.  This is the ego-I at work.

Furthermore, "surrender to God" might really be a step too far!

Surrender is the ultimate act of letting go of our ego. Love is surrender. Think of a time when you were consciously loving, filled with love for another. Love places the other ahead of oneself, and as such it is devotion, dedication, respectful attention and surrender. The ego-I that does not wish to be a door mat has no place in a heart filled with love.

Patanjali points us to surrender to "Ishwara" as this is the path to move beyond that ego-I that stands in the way of our unification and wholeness with the ground of our Being. It doesn't really matter how we conceive of Ishwara - for some it will be Jesus, for others Mother Mary, or God, for others an Earth Mother, or Siva ... that which resonates with the individual is what is important.

Whether we are on the mat or in daily life, the fifth niyama invites us to dedicate all action and all inaction to that higher force, so that we can shift that ego-I out of the way and transform our lives into an congruous flow of love and wholeness.

When you are next on the mat practising yoga, could you surrender, to the breath, to release, to the felt sense of the shape you are adopting? Could you surrender thoughts to sensation, sensation to just being?

How to catch a monkey

• Take a coconut and drill a hole in it just big enough for a monkey's open hand to fit through.
• Tie the coconut down to the ground
• Put something inside the coconut that the monkey will find irresistible, such as peanuts or banana
• Wait

The monkey will soon come along and reach inside the coconut to grab the delight inside. But with his fist firmly around the treat he is unable to draw his hand back out. The monkey is most reluctant to let go of the treat and remains trapped!

This simple method of catching the monkey is a parable for our own suffering. Our attachment keeps us trapped in the condition of suffering.  Just as the monkey would only need to let go of the bait to be free, all we need to do is to release our attachment.

The Buddha gave the three causes of suffering to be attachment, anger and ignorance.

Patanjali, who wrote the "Yoga Sutras" lists five causes: ignorance (of our true nature); our ego, which defines us as many things, but blinds us to our true self; attachment, like the monkey; aversion or resistance, which is the flip side of attachment; and, fear of death. 

We are advised by the sages to still the mind. I suspect that this is even harder for modern people in the information age to do than it was before the endless barrage of electronically conveyed visual sand mental stimulation. 

I have noticed that when people come to meditation courses quietening the mind is often one of their motivations, yet when people sign up for asana classes relaxation, flexibility, strength and fitness are more often the reasons given. It doesn't matter really. 

If we learn the techniques of meditation we learn techniques to still the mind. It will however be challenging.

In a movement based asana practice, we may first engage in the outward sensations of the body, and the mind may be challenged initially to connect with the body, to discover a sense of its place in space. We may be confronted by limitations of the body. Yet the more we practice, the more we familiarise with the poses of yoga, the more we begin to turn inward, and the practice becomes a moving meditation. In the end we do begin to open to ourselves, to the possibility of discovering our true nature.

Qi Gong - Is it Chinese yoga?

In some ways Qi Gong sounds very much like yoga.

It has a diverse set of practices that coordinate body, breath and mind. Practices include moving and static meditation, massage, chanting, and sound meditation. Movements might be dynamic with slow flowing movements or passive, meditations with inner movement of the breath. Some practices emphasize static postures held for long periods of time.

With roots in ancient Chinese culture dating back more than 4,000 years, Qi Gong is practised for health and long life, as meditation, and to enhance skills in martial arts.

Qi Gong has many different lineages although in modern times attempts have been made to draw them together. Influences range from Dao and Confucius, to Buddhist strands that would have brought influences from the sub-continent of India, home of yoga.

Traditionally, knowledge about Qi Gong was passed from adept master to student in elite unbroken lineages, typically with secretive and esoteric traditions of training and oral transmission - just like yoga!

The name literally translates as "life energy cultivation". The concept of "qi" or "chi" is similar to the yogic concept of "prana", that is, it is a life-force energy, and like prana, qi flows throughout everything. Health, longevity and spiritual advancement depend upon free flowing and masterfully controlled qi.

The movements themselves may be very different from those we know in yoga, but the practices are somatic, with great mindfulness of the felt sense of the body. The breath also has a place of high importance in Qi Gong. Meditation and relaxation as a pathway to wellbeing are also important. So yogis will certainly find an affinity with the practice.

At Yoga Spirit Studios we remain curious about all somatic practices and pathways to wellbeing, so we were very pleased that a teacher of Qi Gong could come to the studio to teach some Qi Gong.

Secret Elements Qi Gong combines these ancient roots with the modern knowledge of kinesiology and psychology. According to Secret Elements co-founder and trainer Sascha Wagener the system is easy and can be learned by anyone.  It can be practised standing, seated or even lying. The secret to the power of these movements is in developing a deeper awareness of the body moving, and the process deepens with each practice. (Still sounds like yoga?)

This can benefit anyone, if you are recovering from illness, ageing, an athlete or a business person, anyone," says Sascha.