YOGA ON AND OFF THE MAT
TBY BLOG
musings on yoga for every day living
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Every time you breathed your way through a long uncomfortable hold in chair pose, you’ve been practicing for this! 😂 You have what you need to skillfully navigate 🗺 uncertainty: the power of your attention, the control of your breath, and your ability to ground yourself. The trick is to remember to use those skills.
Trauma = stress + loss of agency. A fight or flight response with no chance to discharge and return to normal. No control. I like to imagine a wave that never had the chance to crash to shore. 🌊 Some serious pent-up energy. So yes, there is much beyond our control in terms of mitigating the larger crisis. And also- there is so much you can choose to do! Discharge the stress with some bursts of energy. My niece and I had a “shake break” yesterday (courtesy of her 3rd grade teacher 🙌🏼) and shook all of our limbs one at a time. Then full body shake. Try it right now if you like! Or: jump rope, jumping jacks, foot stomping, run up and down your stairs. Shake it off. 💃💃💃 Other options you can choose for yourself: Reach out to friends. Choose to celebrate the movement and health of your body! Take a long slow exhale (or 10). Appreciate the miracle of your lungs. Choose to go slower and feel into the stuff you might often avoid. Choose to cook yourself a delicious meal and then savor it. Choose to not consume so much news. Your response won’t always be perfect. Mine is a disaster at times. This is practice. This is yoga. #attention #yogaoffthemat#yogapractice #anxiety#yogaforanxiety #breathwork#thisisyoga #fightorflight #vagusnerve#yogaeverydamnday #yogaeveryday#omathome #yogaforlife
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Pratyahara. One of the eight limbs of the ashtanga yoga practice as outlined in the Yoga Sutra. Richard Freeman offers this literal translation of “Do not eat, do not consume” in The Mirror of Yoga, and it’s the perfect translation for #selfcaresunday in the midst of the madness of the current time. 🐢How to practice? Think of a turtle drawing into its shell. 🙈🙉Shut off the TV. Stop scrolling. Spend some time not consuming outside information and sit in the quiet. Close your eyes if that feels safe. 🐢This quiet may allow a closer look at your own internal world: the way your mind works, the thoughts you spend time on, how your mind/body system responds to those thoughts. And: the thoughts or patterns you might be subconsciously blocking with outside distraction.
How does your system respond to quiet vs. the constant barrage of bad news? 🐢If you’re very revved up- anxious, fidgety, emotionally overwhelmed- movement can help calm the system enough to be able to sit quietly. This could be a walk, a run, yoga- anything to burn off a little steam before turning inward. 🏃🏻♀️ 🧘🏽♂️ 🏊🏽♂️ 🐢Sometimes the absence of all the noise feels like sweet relief. Sometimes it feels challenging or painful. Deep abdominal breathing can help navigate the rough spots. #pratyahara #yogasutras #quiet#turninward #selfcare #mentalbreak#anxietyawareness #anxietyrelief#widenthewindow #vagusnerve #yoga#yogaeverydamnday #yogaeveryday#yogaforeverybody #pranayama |
About this blogThis blog, together with the occasional newsletter, will be an active space to share thoughts about yoga on and off the mat. Please let me know what you like and what you'd like to see more of. And as always, thank you for the gift of teaching! Archives
November 2024
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