Dear Listeners,
No matter how much I think about doing these posts in advance, I wind up writing and recording the day before or the day I post them. As I mentioned in previous posts, I get inspired by something from the week and synthesize it with other notable movements. I can't pretend the (self imposed) deadline doesn’t help, it does.
This week's meditation is inspired by an Iyengar class I took this week but speaks to the palpable loneness, defeat or despair I’ve encountered. I've been practicing yoga for a long time, a few decades, but don't be too impressed by that because I'm still somewhat of an intermediate practitioner. I've primarily practiced hatha and vinyasa in the pre-pandemic years (decades) while maintaining a light relationship to Iyengar. B.K.S. Iyengar's 'Light on Yoga' was the first book I purchased over 30 years ago, and the most recent copy I picked up again to reference details in poses (because all my stuff is in storage!).
At the onset of the pandemic I had a few personal events collide, a perfect storm that left me reglularly wiped out in a way that wasn’t usual for me. Yin yoga was a practice I picked up to slowly nourish my parasympathetic nervous system as I did barely beginners yoga. While I attended to my health (medically) and radically changed my diet, I practiced yin regularly even if only 5 or 10minutes in a day! Now, I cannot sing enough praise for yin yoga, because the way it helped me nourish myself back to a restful place. Yin helps insomnia, anxiety, digestive issues, chronic stress and trauma, to name a few issues, and you don’t need to invest in props- just use cushions, towels or pillows. It’s so low key you barely get off the floor. I still weave yin into my practice and often suggest my patients to give it a try if they seek to do something on their own to find peace of mind. I think we underestimate the stress associated with the national/global churning in the news- whether it be about politics, war, inflation, employment trends, food availability, illnesses...
Iyengar is another style I began to practice more regularly during the pandemic, mostly because I could practice an open class in a beginner's way, and the same class in an intermediate way depending on how I was doing. Iyengar uses a many props to meet the body where it’s at, yet the detailed instruction seemed to coax the attention while IN the pose. Todays meditation is inspired by the teacher who spoke about spreading one’s consciousness within the body. Though I’m not teaching an asana practice in this pod, I'm suggesting an opening of awareness to your self, within your self, opening to a space within, to your vitality and a stillness within- so that your consciousness has more room to roam, grow and expand within.
Thank you for your interest, here in the US and across nations. It is humbling. Feel free to share this podcast with anyone who might need a lift, these posts come from a place of service to help you navigate these unfolding times.
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