I love teaching yoga. I then talk a lot about feeling.
My enthusiasm accelerates with every new student who wants to learn and understand how one can transform the shapes that a lot of people identify as yoga, into the state of being that one can consider “yoga”.
Based on what I know after having practiced and taught yoga for 20 years, just making shapes won’t bring you the experience of yoga.
The breath
I love it when people are dedicating time, effort and energy (in all forms) and invest into the exploration of how exactly they can move their body. You can make yourself feel better by changing your energy, resolve stiffness, soften tight and hard areas and, in doing so, make space for your breathing to deepen.
Yes, I am saying you are making space for your breathing to deepen. I am not saying you breath deeper intentionally. Once the breath naturally deepens, the mind is slowing down and the body gets calmer. The door to relaxation and balance is then wide open. (I dedicated a previous blog post to this, click here.)
Embodiment is the key
I oftentimes integrate accessible verbal explanation about nervous system responses. I can back up this information with good examples based on my personal yoga (healing) journey. If you continue practicing regularly and consistently you eventually will embody what you learned and understood. It is the comprehension of the potential of the (yoga posture) shapes and the fine-tuning into the response of the nervous, hormonal, digestive, immune and cardiovascular system.
From thinking to feeling
A client recently shared with me that she felt fragmented and stuck in a state of despair and anxiety caused by multiplying stressors. I could relate to what she was describing as I had felt desperate and anxious many, many times in my life. A yoga practice dedicated to putting yourself back together, feel and reconnect, can bring you a sense of being whole and okay as you are.
You cannot think your way out of the darkness, you have to feel your way out.
THINKING IS FOR THE MIND. FEELING IS FOR THE BODY.
Don’t forget your body on your healing journey!