Y101: Gentle Yoga for Deep Rest, Hamstring and Shoulder Opening
In last week’s episode I shared how to practice yoga as a moving meditation. How to maintain awareness of breath and bandhas while flowing through postures. In today's practice you can let all that go.
It's important to be able to engage in postures AND it's important to be able to rest and let go.
If we hold too firm with too much effort we will burn out. If we're too loose too often we will feel ungrounded and uncentered. We need both, in balance.
I have mentioned before that the foundation of everything I teach is in the sutra "Stirha Sukha Asana." We are always moving between the opposites of effort and ease, movement and stillness. Today's class is all about emphasizing more of the sukha qualities. More stillness. More ease. Finding deep rest.
I used to buy into the western concepts of hard work. That the only way to grow and find success in life was to DO more and achieve more. Until I watched one of my close friends become one of the most successful people I know. In all aspects of his life; personal, professional, marital, financial. He is doing great. And I've watched him create this while prioritizing rest every bit as much as work. He has prioritized self care, time off and therapeutic work at a level that matched his strong work ethic.
The interesting thing is he used to consider himself a workaholic. After years of this he reached a point of burn out and knew something had to change. He is not a yoga. He's open to yoga, but has a hard time with meditation. He has found practices that work for him, but he doesn't know about these concepts I'm sharing - and he doesn't need to. His intuition knew he needed more rest, play and time off and his overworking was not sustainable.
I love my work and am grateful to get to share something I love in teaching yoga. Some days it's hard for me to put the work down. I have had moments of overwhelm and burnout and not listening to my body's signals to rest. Those were the times I was most likely to get sick. Most likely to be irritable. Most likely to slip into activities to distract, numb and avoid my feelings.
Meanwhile, my friend would be turning off his phone and inviting me to a movie night with homemade nachos. After seeing this play out a few times and watching his life continue to improve, I started to do the same. Now I work fewer hours, but with more focus. I have more time off, and it's more intentional. I enjoy date nights, time off and things that help me recharge like massage and acupuncture. I also have times of strong activity, exercise and focused work. I find I work best when I have both. These things have helped me find a better balance in my life and, by any measure, I am more in alignment than ever before.
My intention with today's practice is that you get to enjoy some time for your own deep rest. To recharge. To recenter. And to carry this out into your week - to notice where you may have too much effort and could use more ease. To notice where you might want to add a movie night or a self care day to your schedule. To feel more in alignment with what matters most to you. We do these practices to experience of that quality - so that it becomes easier to find it outside of practice.
In next week’s episode I will build on these concepts in a Hatha practice. I will share how to embodying the Sukha / feminine / receptive principles in Hatha Yoga.
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