Instant Peace...

In one of my previous blogs, I mentioned I returned to yoga this year; once again pursuing the ancient spiritual science, incorporating mind, body and spirit.

Yoga is the journey of the self, through the self, to the self – The Bhagavad Gita.

Sounds pretty deep and insightful, doesn't it? And it is! It's an amazing process of stilling the natural upheaval of thoughts and restlessness of the body. Yoga is about going within.

Last time I actively pursued this practice, it was in a beautiful, suitable venue, close to the ocean. The atmosphere was serenely fitting, incorporating earth colors accentuated by dimmed lighting. Soft, but powerful repetitive music hummed in the background and the temperature of the room was just right.

Each week I would front up, ready to 'go within', and execute the yoga postures role modelled to the class as best I could. However, while I was balancing on one leg, or 'pretzeling' my body, my mind was busy planning my shopping list or guessing what time high tide was in the morning, and pondering over when would be a good time to turn the water pump on for the cattle troughs!

Nearing the end of the class, after I had usefully planned the following day, it was time for Savasana (corpse pose), which is a restorative pose consisting of lying down on the floor and relaxing your muscles. While Savasana requires no physical effort, it can be one of the most difficult yoga poses to master. 

 

'Students will find they either fall asleep, go into a dreamy state or otherwise find their mind thinking and planning for such mundane things as the grocery shopping, or worrying about work'.

Well, I'd already mentally completed my shopping list, so I skipped that bit and fell straight to sleep, (and upon waking, hoped I didn't embarrass myself by snoring). This happened every single week, however I found it to be a wonderful (guilt-free) rest; one I immensely enjoyed. The most uncomfortable part of the whole yoga experience was having to pick myself up off the floor at the end of each session and dragging myself home, especially during the cold South Gippsland winters…..

So five years on, I'm once again a keen participant of a yoga class; a different one, with a different teacher, and a somewhat different me. I actually do go 'within' now, as opposed to planning my shopping list. I do feel a stillness as I focus on my poses and imagine how my body, as a whole, is working its magic to create the particular postures. I even find myself in a subtle meditative state during my practice, or often I'm dizzy (in a good way), as I feel my body releasing pent up energies. By the time I'm walking (more like floating) out the door after a one and a half hour session, I always feel like I have just experienced a full-body massage, which is so nurturing and gratifying.

However the most profound simple act (one which I have always taken for granted), is my breath! Conscious breathing, taught within the yoga framework, is so powerful. Before each yoga pose, and sometimes at the completion, we start with our hands in prayer position, resting on our sternum, and focussing on our heart (centre) area. Through the nose, we breathe a few deep breaths in and out...and we are centred. In fact, 'we are centred immediately'. I find this astounding.

I now finally understand when, many times throughout my journey, I was encouraged to breathe during anxious times. It's our breath that transports us to the quiet place within (our centre), where time stands still and all is well. The ancient yogis taught that learning to control the breath can assist in regulating and calming the mind and that proper breathing enhances focus, concentration, relaxation, and energy.

So each time, as we go about our daily lives and feel off balance, anxious, upset, confused, nervous or even craving an unwanted addiction we have let go of, we can instantly become centred and brought back into 'the now', where there is no turbulence, no upheaval. All we need do is take some deep breaths, especially if we close our eyes and focus on our heart centre, and we immediately find peace, bringing ourselves back to the starting line, before the overwhelm. It's that simple!

So, I will continue on my enjoyable and inspiring yoga quest, reaping the many physical, mindful and spiritual benefits, while I will also remind myself to consciously breathe often as I go about my day, reducing mental noise of agitation, distractions and self-doubt.

I also need to continue to work on mastering the Savasana pose, as I still to this day find myself falling into a beautiful, deep sleep during the end phase of the yoga class.

This, I imagine, may take some time to perfect, as I'm not sure if I want to let my guilt-free nap go just yet. : )