If the mind were a theatre of the future, I’d have front row tickets. Heck, as a seasoned visitor, they’d give me the VIP box.
Forget the past, it’s the future I’m finding myself wrapped in…from the virtually decorated nursery to my baby’s first steps. I am not saying we should not feel free to dream about what lies ahead. But when it starts consume the majority of this moment, it can become a bit of a headache!
When it comes to the common list of the world’s top ten most stressful things, I realized that I am on my way to ticking off two of those culprits. Not only is the kidney bean in my belly now en route to becoming a large bell pepper, we are also in the process of trying to sell our home and buy a new one. Between pregnancy and houses, if you could look inside my head right now it would probably resemble the picture on the right…
For the last few weeks, I don’t think I have had a split nano second between my thoughts, let alone a full moment spent in the present. (The present? Sorry, can’t be there right now, too much to plan!) The wild horses of my mind have literally busted out of the fields and are running amuck…how the hell do I reign the beasts in?
I was teaching a Vinyasa class a while ago and building up to one of our peak poses, Bird of Paradise (check out my pregnant one pictured…probably won’t be busting that one out in a few weeks!) If you are blessed with flexible hamstrings and open shoulders then you are probably up for the challenge, otherwise this is one bird that might not even get off the ground.
So what do you do when you can’t get there? Criticise yourself? Give up? Silently curse your extra bendy neighbour? Why not take a leaf out of one of my student’s books and have a laugh trying, find your own edge, and give it your own label…in his case, Peking Duck! Despite being surrounded by females, this well-built guy is never afraid to accept where he is at in his yoga practice, and his level of Bird of Paradise, self titled Peking Duck, is the perfect example! It is also a great reminder that right we are now is right where we need to be.
Take one Mac Book Pro, mix in one drinking yoghurt and what have you got? A recipe for disaster to the tune of about 700 quids worth of damage (almost the cost of this new one that I gingerly type on now, liquids well out of arm’s reach.) Yes, this is just one of the things that has happened to me over the last two months (the flying lasagne is another story). Happily, though, you won’t find me crying over spilt yoghurt. The reason? I am 14 weeks pregnant, and frankly, life is pretty good!
I’ve known I was pregnant from about 4 weeks in and every day since finding that plus sign on the stick has been a journey. Even from this very early stage, I was amazed at how I could feel the subtle changes in my body…the ache of a couple of things upfront getting a little larger, the strange tightness in my lower belly, the roller coaster of emotions, the pregnancy clumsiness and the constant urge to pee! Then week six kicks in and I wake up feeling like I am on the Titanic. The ever-present nausea takes centre stage, ramping its way up as the weeks progress, and generally making life miserable.
I often get asked what music I play in class and where I got it from. I have a few playlists that I rotate around, and my collection keeps growing! There is nothing like some great music to get the prana pumping!
Here is a 60 minute playlist that I put together for this year’s Yoga Fest…a sprinkling a sanskrit tunes and chilled out beats.
When it comes to the next yama on yoga’s list – Asteya or non stealing– it all seems pretty clear cut. After all, we have probably had this drummed into us from an early age. Hopefully we are not in the habit of doing our weekly shop and scooting out without paying! But what if I told you there could be more to it than that?
Picture the scene…your friend rocks up to Starbucks sporting possibly THE most hideous outfit you have ever seen. Not only does it cling for dear life to all the wrong places, it looks suspiciously like something the cat might bring home.
When asked what you think of said ensemble, do you say…
a. “This is possibly the ugliest thing I have ever seen you in and it does nothing for your muffin tops.”
b. “It’s GORGEOUS!”
c. “To be honest, I am not sure the style really suits you. Do you still have the receipt?”
While answer A may be the whole truth and answer B a total lie, answer C may be the closest thing to yoga’s notion of the truth. In my last blog we embarked on Pantajali’s list of yamas. The second one of those little moral codes is satya – truthfulness.
It’s only yoga…so why do we constantly beat ourselves up on our mats? Whether it is judging our bodies, comparing our practice to someone else’s or forcing our limbs into something they are not ready for, our mat can often become a battleground of sweat, pain and judgement! It got me thinking, how often do we forget that yoga is more than just physical?
When it comes to the practice of yoga postures or asana, we can get caught up in the notion that this is the only tool in the yoga box. In fact, asana is the third rung on the ladder of what is known as the eight limbs of yoga. This path to enlightenment was laid down in Pantajali’s Yoga Sutras a long time before we ever had funky yoga clothing and studios. As one of the founding fathers of yoga, Pantajali was a guy who knew what he was talking about. Before we even get into the physical, he highlighted two things we should tackle – the yamas and the niyamas. I like to think of them as yoga’s little moral and ethical codes, and over the next few weeks we will take a look at each one and how they can relate to our yoga and life.
