When life is terrifically hectic it feels like everything is spinning out of control. This outer chaos in the world is often reflected by an inner chaos in the mind. With chaos comes uncertainty and a stressful sense of being out of control.
Yoga
This is where yoga can help, it puts us back in the driving seat, making choices of how we posture, emotionally, physically as well as mentally, it also affects how we breath which in turn affects how we feel. Yoga brings us face to face with ourself and our dilemmas. This can be quite daunting but when we begin to approach yoga there comes with it a sense of Acceptance. So acceptance comes not just with Attitude but also by us taking Action, on a different path.
Beginners Mind
You may have heard the phrase Beginners Mind in class. These are the teachings of shoshin. This term is widely credited to Zen Buddhist Shunryu Suzuki. He tells us if we drop our preconceptions and expectations and empty our mind of all we think, all we know, we create space for new perceptions and viewpoints.
So each time we come to yoga with Beginners Mind we start afresh, with a blank canvas. Free of the past or expectations we create a new experience. A Beginners Mind is free, open to anything, offering many possibilities whereas the Mind of an Expert is fixed, closed.
Beginners Mind is a practice. Firstly we learn there are no shouldn'ts, mustn'ts, can’ts, wont’s or have to’s to follow, there are simply invitations to explore the Beginners Mind. practice we keep coming back to, again and again.
iRest Yoga Nidra
In yoga one of the most powerful practices to bring about change, as it balances the right and left hemisphere of the brain, is Yoga Nidra. Read more about iRest Yoga Nidra.
There are so many different approaches to Yoga Nidra, it is very user friendly and may be adopted as well as adapted for all life experiences and situations. For simplicity, we may start our practice with a body scan meditation which you may do for yourself or with your teacher in class or via the all familiar on line apps and downloads.
A body scan establishes trust, develops awareness and most importantly helps us prioritise and notice the wisdom and intelligence of the body. We notice how much this matters and find that, if we listen, the body too can make decisions. More on this on a future Blog on Interoception.
A body scan helps calm and slow all the busyness down. It is also good jumping off point, leading to a more active yoga practice with postures to heighten concentration, build strength and resilience, occupying the mind so it doesn’t get caught up in momentary distractions.
iRest may form the foundation of a yoga practice and features in all workshops and most classes.
If you wish to know or experience more try one of Kathryn's 90 min classes click 90 min classes
1815-1945 Tythe Barn, Pondtail Road, Horsham, RH12 5EZ
1100-1230 Friends Meeting House, Worthing Road, Horsham RH12 1SL
Resources: Richard Miller Phd, iRest Yoga Nidra for PTSD
Sasha Bates, Yoga Saved my Life