Yogic Philosophy of the Week - Dhyana - meditation
I was talking with a dear friend in England this week about meditation being my medication for anxiety and she mentioned how she just finds it so hard to sit there and breathe. Just to focus on breathing. That she feels she needs to have the perfect set up with soft lighting and so on. I totally got what she meant. I too struggled with meditation at the beginning - it’s such a strange thing to start doing if we haven’t grown up doing it. There are so many different kinds of meditation - there’s loving kindness, breath awareness, body scan, visualisation and so on - you could try a different one out every day for a week and then when you find one that you like - you can start your beautiful journey into the Self. A mantra we’ve been using in class this week is So Hum. So we say ‘So’ silently on inhalation and we say ‘Hum’ silently on exhalation. The ‘So’ lasts as long as you’re breathing in and the ‘Hum’ lasts as long as you’re breathing out. Random (and sometimes irrational) thoughts will pop up - that’s how our brains function with its constant whirr of thoughts - label the thought with ‘work’, ‘friends’, ‘tonight’ - whatever the thought is associated with, then let it go and go back to the breath and the mantra. Sit somewhere comfortable and somewhere you won’t be disturbed. Breathe deeply and fully and close your eyes or soften your gaze. You can set an alarm on your phone for five minutes meditating to start with - it’s just five minutes out of your whole day. Oooh I have a tip - sometimes I’ll just tell people I’m going for a power nap when really I’m going to my bedroom to meditate - it’s just easier that way sometimes. Meditating is totally worth it - I promise you. Let me know how you get on.
Pose of the Week - One-Legged Chair pose
In my last class this week at Practice Yoga we made a beautiful Human Christmas Wreath! Say what?! We first did the One-Legged Chair pose on each side individually. It’s a great pose to stretch out our hips - our hips get very minimal movement in our ‘chair culture’ and as a consequence our hips are very tight. Flexible hips means a better sense of balance - and therefore less chance of falling over. So practising this pose is perfect preparation for all the upcoming Christmas and NYE parties…! Remember to use your stomach muscles, don’t arch or round your back or overextend your knees. This pose can be tricky so use a wall to support you OR better still - create a Human Christmas Wreath with your friends, family or framily all in a circle and your arms are on each other for support - SO fun!
