Month: May 2021

May

2021

What does conscious living mean? An exploration.

Living consciously, with awareness, means being mindful enough to be able to recognise the impact we’re having on ourselves, the world and those around us.

Living consciously takes deep awareness.

And acceptance.

It requires us to show up for shit that’s uncomfortable, hard and sometimes downright ugly.

It also requires us to show up for what’s joyful and not fight the ease in life which we are so prone to do when addicted to stress and drama.

Living consciously requires us to show up for ourselves.

To celebrate hard.

To take radical responsibility.

It’s attempting to live without judgement.

In deep acceptance.

It’s leading by example.

Inspiring simply by being who we are and believing in the best people have to offer, in their capabilities and capacity to thrive and offer their gifts.

Conscious living means giving a shit.

And acting like it.

It means doing our best to create meaning through presence and awareness. By paying attention, listening.

It means honing our mindfulness skills so we can be present.

Sitting in radical responsibility for all that is ours.

Witnessing others in all that is theirs.

It’s more than this too.

More that I can’t express right now.

The more will come. Just not today. Look out for another chapter.

May

2021

Mindfulness. This moment.

I lay in bed and listen.

I can hear the soft rhythmic breath of the person bedside me.

I focus on just it for a moment.

I stretch my hearing further and found the birds outside.

Many different types of birds singing their early morning songs.

I hear the soft hum of traffic

the louder motor of a motorbike moving fast

I heard the flump of the heater igniting

and the soft movement of air through the vents

and then there was more air

it makes a rushing sound.

I feel the bed beneath me.

The softness that cocoons me

and the firmness that supports me.

I feel the weight of the covers over me

they come to my shoulders

the warmth encasing my body

and the cool on my face.

There’s a pillow beneath my face.

It’s soft.

The side of my cheek is pressed into it

I can feel my earring digging into my ear

my hair spilling over neck.

My legs are folded against and around each other.

I can tell the difference between the different items of clothing on my skin.

Some are firmer than others. Some a little firmer than others.

I notice my body.

I feel tension in my knee where I’ve got an injury

and tightness in my mid back on one side.

There’s a light something I can’t quite describe in words in my lower belly.

There’s an openness through my chest and my upper abdomen.

My breath comes easily

naturally

softly

my ribs expand and contract with my breath

the top of my belly does too.

I shift my focus to stay on the breath, to be with the body, to try and keep noticing the sounds at the same time.

I think a thought that wonders what time it is

I notice the thought is there

and remembering I’m practising mindfulness

so I simply accept its presence

and return to the breath.

I notice a thought about getting ready for the day

kids to school

lunches.

It all happens at once in my mind, hours of morning are this one moment, this one thought

and I notice again that I’m not in the present moment.

So again, I accept that a thought has come

and return to the breath and the noticing.

I do this many more times,

bringing myself back to here.

To now.

Before the person next to me wakes.

Their movements

and the change in their breath

are part of my deepening awareness.

I watch them seek me out.

Watch them reach for me.

We connect.

I feel the extra warmth from this body.

The change in pressure where our bodies are connected.

I feel their breath gracing my chin ever so often.

I keep listening to the birds

and the gentle hum of traffic.

The heater.

I hear the coffee machine come on

I notice the thought that comes with that.

I’m thinking about how the coffee machine has a timer attached to it so it turns itself on.

It’s set for 630am.

And now I know the time.

But again, thoughts.

So I come back

to the breath

and do my best

to lengthen the space inbetween.

May

2021

What Yoga Isn’t

In my yoga classes I spend a lot of time talking about what yoga is.
Sometimes I think it’s also helpful to think about what yoga isn’t.

I think this is particularly important when yoga is a practice from an ancient culture that is increasingly making its way into western culture. There needs to be some way to make it palatable to the general public, without actually losing the essence of what it really is.

That can be a tricky balance.

So here’s what yoga isn’t:

It’s not exercise per se. Sure we are moving our bodies when do asanas. However, yoga in its essence is not the asanas, that’s just one ‘limb’ and has a greater purpose.
Yoga is not about how flexible you are. The number one concern I hear from students is that they’re not flexible. Particularly with the increase of images of hypermobile people in yoga poses on Instagram, we have a strong concept that yoga requires flexibility. However, yoga is about working with the body as it is each day.
Yoga isn’t fancy labels and gear. Yep, I own some of those too, so there’s no judgement here. The point is that yoga doesn’t care if we come in our daggy old sweats or a $150 leggings. If anything, going back to the principles of ahimsa, choosing yoga clothes that would cause no harm would be in alignment with yogic philosophy. If we break that down then you might look for things that are made ethically, to the people who make them and the planet, ensuring they’re not releasing micro-plastics.
Yoga isn’t picking your toes or thinking about what you’re having for dinner.
Yoga isn’t just coming to the mat
Yoga doesn’t care whether you’ve done your hair and makeup
Yoga isn’t interested in your mood
Yoga doesn’t care about the size and shape of your body
Yoga doesn’t have anything to do with whether you can get into this pose or that
Nor does it have anything to do with whether you’re a good person or not (Well….I do yoga, so I’m ok)

What yoga is, is a tool.

It’s a tool in your toolbox to support you to live an intentional life and balance the equivalent of qi, which in yogic traditions is called prana and be able to reach samadi (enlightenment – and what this is in our modern world is certainly worthy of another post). And this particular tool uses postures, focus, self control and values as guiding principles.

I think sometimes we forget that.

Ultimately, most of us in the developed world aren’t ‘following’ yoga, but are more ‘going to’ yoga. It’s something we do that takes us out of our normal life and gives us a reset.

I invite you explore the place of yoga in your life. How do you see it? How does it fit in? What do you use it for? What are you wanting from yoga? Is there something you need to change to deepen your yoga practice and make it more than just about the mat and exercise?