Tag: self-care

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Choosing the direction we will take

Lunar New Year celebration

Happy Lunar New Year! February 1st marks the beginning of the Year of the Tiger. I have such fond memories of the extraordinary New Year celebrations when I lived in Shanghai: spectacular fireworks rang out at midnight around the city as far as the eye could see; on New Year’s Day there were lion dances and parades, delicious smells wafting from every kitchen I passed. Lunar New Year celebrations last for 15 days, culminating in the Lantern Festival on the first full moon of the New Year. Thinking back to those days makes me smile and brings a lightness to my heart that I’ve not felt in a while.

If there’s one thing I know to be true about myself, it’s that I love to travel and explore. I long to immerse myself in new places and cultures. Exploring somewhere new makes my spirit soar, it makes my soul sing.

Last year presented me with a number of challenges. The last time I shared my musings with you, I wrote about some unexpected health problems, and these remain my constant companion. In the past, I could always rely on travel to boost my spirits, to lift whatever weight I’d been carrying physically, mentally, and emotionally. While I gratefully received rejuvenation from some camping and a cottage sojourn, there remained a heaviness I simply couldn’t shake. I know I’m far from alone in this feeling: throughout the pandemic, a mental health crisis has been growing, and it’s shown us how vitally important it is to take care of ourselves, to prioritise our health and wellbeing if we hope to be of any use to our loved ones, and to the world around us.

Sometimes the way forward is to expand and grow, and sometimes what we really need is to retreat inside our shells to rest and regroup.  My heart told me to choose the latter path. For much of the last year, I’ve focused my attention on my small community of dedicated students, offering nourishing practices and weekly writings that resonated with my own journey and experience. As we welcome this New Year, I thought I’d share some of these musings from the last few months.

On gratitude:

“Taking time throughout the day to pause and reflect on the blessings in your life serves as a powerful reminder that, no matter what trouble might be brewing, we are indeed blessed.  Even on those days when challenges are many and blessings seem few, we can give thanks simply for waking up when so many others around the world did not. That’s not to say that gratitude asks us to forget about our pain and suffering; however, it can help us temper that suffering with goodness, with joy, with kindness and love.”

On the importance of self-care:

“Rest should be a topic of great importance at any time, but I think the stress and uncertainty of the last 2 years has brought it screaming to the forefront as part of the larger discussion of mental health and self-care.  For too long we’ve written off our self-care needs as indulgence and luxury.  We couldn’t be further from the truth. I see the effects of stress and strain in those I love; I see their burnout clear as day. I feel it in myself too and I know that the only way I can provide the support my loved ones need is if I take care of my own health and wellbeing.  It’s as simple as that – simple, yes, but not always easy… just like our journey with yoga and mindfulness.”

On our need to be ‘productive’:

“Productivity is something that’s often on our minds, whether consciously or unconsciously. As human beings, we’ve been conditioned to believe that we must always be doing something, and that our doing must be leading us towards a goal or achievement. For me, an example that comes to mind is the internal chatter that occurs when I’m feeling under the weather: I have to convince myself to rest, I have to talk myself into slowing down and setting aside the to-do list, and I try to catch myself each time that negative little voice inside says, ‘don’t stop now, push through, it’s not that bad, you should get more done.’

Why is rest not seen as productive? Why is sitting on my back step watching the sunrise not productive? Why is answering an email tomorrow so I can go for a walk in the sunshine today not productive? Much as we try to fight it, we are mortal beings who live a finite amount of time. We have no idea when the end will come, but when it does, I suspect most of us will still have a few things left on our to-do lists. So how can we learn to accept that fact and enjoy the time we have while we have it?”

On finding contentment:

“…a teaching I recently enjoyed from Frank Ostaseski [is to] welcome everything, push away nothing.  Welcome everything, push away nothing.  Like many mindfulness teachings, it sounds so simple, yet I think we can all agree that it’s anything but easy. It’s human nature to gravitate towards what feels good and recoil from what doesn’t. We seek out pleasure and avoid pain and suffering at all costs. In asana practice, we can easily settle into a pose that feels good and familiar, but what about the poses that challenge us, that feel uncomfortable, that bring us to our edge physically, mentally, or emotionally? How do we find the same sense of ease and contentment in those poses? Welcome everything, push away nothing.” 

On World Kindness Day:

“When someone shows us kindness, we feel our spirits lift, and we’re much more inclined to share that feeling with others we encounter. Someone returns an item that fell out of your pocket and you’re surprised, grateful, happy; in that moment you become fully present and aware of the kindness another has shown you. That warm feeling inside comes from a little shot of serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphins – the body’s natural mood boosters – and it stays with you as you continue on your way, perhaps opening a door for someone or helping them carry a heavy package to their car. As you pass the kindness on, the warm feeling in you continues because sharing kindness is as good for us as receiving it.  Start today with a little act of kindness towards yourself and see how it makes you feel. Then as you move through the day and encounter others, share a smile, offer a compliment, hold open a door, buy someone a coffee. As Aesop wrote: ‘No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted’.”

On how we choose to move through the world:

“We learn myriad lessons on the mat. New insights appear each time we arrive, each time we pay attention, each time we open our awareness and allow the lessons to penetrate the layers of bias and expectation and resistance we’ve built up over time. As human beings it is our nature to form opinions, to make judgments, to set goals. Yet our practice teaches us over and over again that everything changes, nothing remains as it is, no two breaths or sensations or moments in time are the same. Each time we exhale, we expect that an inhale will follow – but are we guaranteed that next inhale? Are we guaranteed the next moment in time…or only this one?

…a favourite quote, one I’ve shared with you many times over the years: ‘Happiness is not given to us, nor is misery imposed. At every moment we are at a crossroads and must choose the direction we will take.’ ~Matthieu Ricard

While so much in life is beyond our control, we can choose how we respond to what arises. We can choose to be open-minded and curious; we can choose to be angry and sullen; we can choose to accept and learn from challenges; we can choose to resist and shout at the rain. It’s all a matter of perspective and how we choose to navigate the changing world around us.”

~~~

Maybe a few of my words resonate with you, reflecting some of your own experiences of the past year. How are you choosing to move through the world? Is this a time when it feels good to expand and grow, or is your heart asking you to slow down, to rest, to stop some of the doing and allow yourself to simply be?

Last week the world lost one of its shining lights, the wise and beautiful soul of Thich Nhat Hanh. Often called the father of mindfulness, his book Peace is Every Step was my first introduction to this practice, my first step on a lifelong journey exploring his teachings of compassion and love for all beings. With a new year upon us, I leave you with these wise words from Thich Nhat Hanh:

“Waking up this morning, I smile. Twenty-four brand new hours are before me. I vow to live fully each moment, and to look at all beings with eyes of compassion.”

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The best way out is always through

Resilient tree growing through a fence
A resilient tree shows us the way through

Resilience. That’s what comes to mind each day as I pass this tree on my walks around the neighbourhood. Resilience in the face of suffering. Perseverance in the midst of pain. 

You might have seen this unusual tree in the photos I shared on Instagram last week as we saw yet another stay-at-home order announced. I offered it as a reminder that we have within us the strength to overcome whatever challenges stand in our way, to make it through to the other side – we need only find a way to connect to it.

Sometimes the challenges we encounter are of our own making, and sometimes they’re beyond our control, arriving seemingly out of nowhere – like this fence. We could be going about our business, this tree was simply growing in the forest, and suddenly something stops us in our tracks. To be honest, I’ve found myself in that very situation in recent months: stopped in my tracks by unexpected health problems. In the face of challenge, in the face of pain and suffering, how do we connect with our inner strength and resilience and harness its power to guide us safely through?

For me, this connection comes through mindfulness, which of course, can take many shapes and forms. Asana and pranayama, the postures and breathwork of yoga, help me release tension and create space in body and mind so that I can open my awareness to signals arising within. Meditation deepens my practice of svadhyaya (self-study) and santosha (contentment) as I observe, notice, embrace my experience without judgment or attachment, with lovingkindness and compassion. I invite mindfulness into my favourite everyday activities – gardening, baking, walking in nature. I give thanks for the many blessings in my life, without glossing over the fact that I’ve lost my job, that I’m struggling with health issues, that I’m tired of being stuck at home in lockdown. I remind myself of the vital importance of self-love, self-care, self-compassion, and self-acceptance. Connecting to the present moment through these practices fosters in me a deeper connection to myself, a greater awareness of who I am beneath all the mental busyness, beneath the self-doubt, the pain, the expectations and uncertainties.

In his poem A Servant to Servants, Robert Frost wrote that “the best way out is always through” and I believe that’s just what mindfulness teaches us. We learn to welcome the present moment exactly as it is – its joy and its pain, its triumph and its sorrow. We learn to practice acceptance of what is rather than fear of what might be or regret for what was. We take it day by day, moment by moment, breath by breath. We make our way through the challenges, fueled by strength and resilience we’ve cultivated within, and like this extraordinary tree, we keep reaching our branches to the sky.

Tree branches reaching to the sky
Branches reaching to the sky
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Amongst the trees

Communing with the trees
Go Among Trees and Sit Still - Wendell Berry

I go among trees and sit still
All my stirring becomes quiet
Around me like circles on water.
My tasks lie in their places
Where I left them, asleep like cattle.

Then what I am afraid of comes.
I live for a while in its sight.
When I fear in it leaves it,
And the fear of it leaves me.
It sings, and I hear its song.

I’ve just returned from a week-long road trip – camping among the trees, beneath starry skies, beside crystal-clear rivers and lakes. Spending time in nature is healing on every level for me, even more so when I’m exploring somewhere new. As I let go of my daily routines and commitments, I feel lighter, freer, more connected to my deeper self and to the present moment. My busy mind becomes quieter and more spacious. Days seem to move at a leisurely pace and I welcome what each moment brings. I release the need to always be doing and allow myself to simply be. When I can relax into being, when I can bask in stillness, I’m able to experience the world around me and the world within me with curiosity and open awareness.

In our busy lives today, we are always moving, mentally and/or physically. A common belief seems to be that if we’re not moving, we’re not productive; if we’re not achieving or succeeding or earning or accumulating anything, it’s wasted time. Yet with all that ‘movement’, with all our focus on meeting external demands and expectations, we neglect to maintain the very framework that supports our movement – our mind and body. Without health and well-being in our mind and body, this constant movement will eventually come screeching to a halt whether we want it to or not.

If you follow me on Instagram, you might have noticed a few posts recently about September being self-care month (sidebar: you can also access my Instagram posts here on my website on the Photos page). Self-care has always been a topic that’s close to my heart as a yoga and meditation teacher: I believe that through our practices we cultivate strength, resilience, compassion, and equanimity within us, and we can then share those qualities with our loved ones, our colleagues, our community. As the saying goes, you can’t pour from an empty cup; if we are running on empty, we have nothing to support ourselves and nothing to give to others. Self-care isn’t a selfish act; it’s a vital component of healthy living.

Self-care can take myriad forms but, for me, a good place to start is in stillness. When we spend time in stillness we allow our mind and body to rest. When we spend time in stillness our awareness opens, our senses come alive, and we can engage with the world around and within us in a way that releases expectation and judgment, in a way that lets us be curious about ourselves and our moment-to-moment experience. When we make time for stillness, we’re able to reflect within and determine what it is we truly need to nourish our mind and body.

We can invite stillness into our everyday life in many ways, and one of my favourites is to find stillness in nature – sitting lakeside listening to the loons calling, on a beach serenaded by ocean waves, in a forest surrounded by towering trees, their canopies swaying in the breeze. A growing body of research shows that spending time in nature has significant benefits for our mental and physical health. In Japan, the practice of shinrin-yoku or forest bathing became popular in the 1980s as a way to unplug from the busyness of daily life and find healing in nature through mindful forest walking. Researchers have even found that evergreen trees release a high concentration of phytoncides, airborne essential oils that provide a natural immunity boost. As is so often the case with mindful practices, Western science is now proving what we practitioners have known for some time: that spending time in nature just feels good on every level, and that sense of healing and nourishment we experience has long-lasting benefits for our mental, physical and emotional well-being.

In honour of Self-Care September, what new habits can you invite into your daily routine that will nourish and restore you? In what ways can you fill your own cup – with self-love, compassion, acceptance, equanimity – replenishing your inner reserves so that you can care for yourself and for those around you? Make time for stillness. Make time for reflection on what your mind and body need to remain strong and resilient. Make time to spend in nature, whether far from the city streets or in your neighbourhood park. As Wendell Berry wisely advises, let’s go among trees and sit still.

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Make Lemonade

Crocuses making the most of spring sunshine

As we all practice physical distancing and stay at home as much as possible, doing our part to stem the COVID-19 tide, we are presented with a unique opportunity – a chance to shift our usual way of being and thinking and doing, a chance to explore new ideas and new ways to move through our days.

Spending time at home can mean more time on our meditation cushion or yoga mat, more time in the kitchen cooking our favourite recipes and trying new ones, more time relaxing with a good book or movie. We can take up a new hobby or revisit an old one. We can sit outside in the yard and make some vitamin D on a sunny day. We can dig in our gardens, organise our closets, deep clean neglected areas of the house, do some home repairs or projects we’ve been putting on hold until we had more time. 

In case you are looking for a few ways to explore and connect virtually with the world outside, here are just a few of the many ideas available – in addition to surfing through YouTube, Netflix, TED Talks, etc., which have some great finds as well, of course.

Explore culture and history around the world

Check out Google Arts and Culture to peruse the collections of 2500 museums around the world, as well as cultural sites, landmarks, historical events and more: https://artsandculture.google.com/

Other virtual museum tours direct from the source:

Take in a musical performance

Take a course to learn a new language or skill 

You can find a vast array of classes available online, including free and low-cost options. Check local (and not so local) colleges and universities – some are offering free online courses right now.  Other options with a wide variety of classes include:

Connect virtually with the natural world

Studies have shown that just looking at images of nature can invite the same sense of peace and calm into our mind and body that a walk in the forest can.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium has live cams that connect you to the wonder of the ocean from the comfort of your own home. From sea otters to sharks, jellies to penguins, there are 10 different cams to enjoy throughout the day. In addition, they offer guided meditations (‘Medit-Oceans’) every day on Instagram, which are then added to the huge library of videos on their YouTube channel. https://www.montereybayaquarium.org/animals/live-cams

For more live cam entertainment, there are a number of zoos around the world that invite you behind the scenes to connect with their inhabitants, including the San Diego Zoo, the Melbourne Zoo & Werribee Open Range Zoo, and the Dublin Zoo.

World Wildlife Fund’s Natural Habitat Adventures is offering a Daily Dose of Nature. At 1pm Mountain Time every Monday through Friday you can enjoy webinars presented by guides from around the world. https://www.nathab.com/traveler-resources/webinars/

Manage stress & build resilience through mindfulness

Mindfulness teacher Tara Brach has put together a wonderful collection of short talks and guided meditations to support us in this uncertain time, as well as a guided half-day retreat: https://www.tarabrach.com/pandemic/

Tricycle is offering a series of free live-stream meditations with beloved teachers like Jack Kornfield, Pema Chödrön, Sharon Salzberg and more: https://tricycle.org/trikedaily/online-meditation/

Mindful magazine has created a collection of online resources to help us find calm and cultivate resilience: https://www.mindful.org/free-mindfulness-resources-for-calm-during-covid-outbreak/

This is just a handful of ideas that will hopefully provide some inspiration and support. As you navigate the days ahead, take the time to be attentive to the needs of your mind and body. Invite some mindful movement into every day, connect with your breath and the sensations in your body, notice your thoughts and emotions and welcome them in with kindness and compassion. While we naturally want to stay informed of developments at home and around the world, balance your news consumption with things that are positive, uplifting, creative, and inspiring – both online and off. 

I leave you with an offering of Metta, lovingkindness:

May you be healthy
May you be safe
May you be peaceful
May you live with ease. 

May all beings be healthy
May all beings be safe
May all beings be peaceful
May all beings live with ease.
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Anytime, Anywhere

Castelo dos Mouros ~ Sintra, Portugal

I am deeply grateful for my yoga and meditation practice. For many years my practice has helped me navigate choppy seas, find calm amidst the chaos, weather storms of all manner. My practice serves me well during times of joy and triumph too, of course; however, when the path ahead is murky or filled with obstacles, my practice gives me the strength to take the next step and move forward.

We find ourselves at such a place on our path now. We strain to see what lies ahead, but we are venturing into new territory and we do not know exactly where this path will lead. Now more than ever I think we should turn to our practice to calm our worries, soothe our spirits, nourish our minds and bodies, so that we may be strong and resilient in the face of unknown challenges to come.

The beautiful thing about mindfulness practices like yoga and meditation is that we can invite them into our daily life anytime, anywhere. Much as we might wish we could be sitting by a quiet lakeside to meditate, or practicing yoga asana overlooking the ocean beneath swaying palms, more often than not we are simply going about our daily routine at home and work. When we consider creating a home practice, we might be discouraged by thinking that we need to have a dedicated space or special equipment or props. Again, while it would be wonderful to have an entire room for our practice and a collection of blocks and bolsters, blankets and zafus, we can use the space and the everyday items we have on hand anywhere we go.

Need to create a supportive seat for meditation? Sit at the edge of a chair so your feet can rest fully on the floor, or use a couch cushion or folded towel or blanket to sit on, perhaps with your back against a wall. Tuck yourself into an out-of-the-way corner if you can, and simply connect with what arises in your experience moment by moment – the sounds in the room, the temperature of the air on your skin, the sensations in your body, the rise and fall of your breath. You can set a timer on your phone and place it just out of sight, or count your inhales and exhales from one to 30 and back down again, or perhaps simply sit and breathe and notice for any period of time that resonates with you. No special tools, equipment or room needed – just an open mind and a willingness to welcome your experience, whatever it may be.

If you practice yoga asana, there are plenty of items around the house or hotel room we can use to support our practice. Need a mat? Try using a large bath or beach towel. Need some support beneath your seat for a forward fold? A firm cushion or folded blanket or towel is ideal. Want to recline on a bolster for some gentle heart opening and restoration? Use a couch cushion or two, wrap a bed pillow in a large towel, or fold several towels or blankets in long rectangles and stack them with a little staggered edge to support your lower back as you recline. In fact, towels and blankets can be rolled and folded in so many ways, they are the perfect all-purpose prop for any practice. And of course, there are plenty of ways to invite mindful movement into your body without the need for any props at all.

Building a portable practice might seem daunting at first, but it is an opportunity to be creative, to explore different options and ideas, to listen to the needs of your mind and body and respond with just the right practice for that moment. Simply standing in Mountain Pose, inhaling to extend the arms overhead and exhaling to release them by your sides a few times can invigorate the mind and body and ground you in the present moment. Sometimes finding a comfortable seat for meditation can be challenging, especially if you are experiencing pain, an injury or illness; instead, try lying on your back with knees bent and soles of the feet on the floor, inviting a sense of deep rest and ease as you connect with your breath and the sensations that arise within. Each of us has unique needs and they are changing continually. To truly serve those needs, we must stay connected to the wisdom that lies within us and respond with kindness, compassion and acceptance.

With the COVID-19 pandemic, the advice we are hearing on a daily basis is that to stay healthy, we must stay home, as much as we can. Joining a community meditation or attending a public yoga class is simply not an option at the moment. There is so much uncertainty, so much fear and confusion, so much stress and anxiety as we grapple with this unprecedented crisis, yet within our practice there is hope and healing. Through our practice, we can find a place of calm amidst the chaos, we can navigate our way to a safe harbour, we can harness the power of mindful awareness and compassion and lovingkindness to come home to ourselves. Let this be an opportunity to create and discover new ways to explore mindfulness in your everyday life, no matter where you find yourself.

Take refuge in your practice and let it help you cultivate peace and equanimity as we weather this storm together. Stay healthy, stay safe, stay home.

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Renew, restore, rejuvenate

When we think of “the three Rs”, what usually comes to mind is the guiding philosophy we learned to lessen our impact on the environment: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.  However, I think it’s time that we also heed another three-R refrain, one that reminds us of the importance of caring for ourselves: Renew, Restore, Rejuvenate.  It is vital to our overall well-being that we take time to replenish our reserves, refresh our perspective, and revive our senses (three more Rs!), so that we can live fully each moment from a place of balance and deep connection.

Self-care can be a very personal ritual – what nourishes one person might not have the same effect on another.  Our mindfulness practice can assist in finding what works best by helping us attune to how we feel and respond to different things.  I have previously written about noticing simple joys in your daily life – the little things that light you up inside, whether it is warm clothes from the dryer, the smell of fresh baked cookies, sinking into a hot bath after a long day.  Creating a routine around our simple joys can help us cultivate a sense of calm, contentment, and ease within, a welcome respite from any stress or anxiety that may be weighing upon us.  When we reconnect with what lights us up, what gives us joy, it brings us closer to ourselves – it brings us home.

For me, my practice has taught me that in addition to welcoming simple joys into each day, what nourishes me most deeply is to explore – a new neighbourhood, a new city, a new culture, a new perspective.  Like all of us, I have my favourite routines, things I do and places I go, and while I seek to invite a beginner’s mind to all of it, there are times when I need something truly different to renew my energy, restore my faith, and rejuvenate my soul.  What I find especially nourishing is travel – it is travel that inspires me, replenishes my inner well, and connects me to my deepest self while also connecting me to the world.  What inspires you? What ignites your inner fire? What draws you out of your comfort zone and encourages you to look with new eyes?

Yoga and meditation offer us an opportunity to play with the edges of our comfort zone.  We can challenge our balance, our strength, our focus. We can try new poses and techniques with open curiosity rather than attachment to a particular outcome.  We can use the power of our practice to explore our physical body, our mental and emotional responses, our sensory experience of each movement, each breath, and each moment.  What we learn in our practice can inform how we live our lives off the mat and cushion – it can help us open our hearts and minds to explore what lies both within and beyond our comfort zone, refreshing our perspective and renewing our connection to our deepest self and to the world around us.

The process to renew, restore, and rejuvenate is a continuous one. If we cultivate a deeper awareness of how we feel physically, mentally and spiritually, we can better provide the support we need to maintain our health and well-being.  Self-care occurs every single day. Let us embrace our simple joys and the contentment they bring.  Let us welcome new perspectives as we refresh our view of the world.  Let us pause to bask in the present moment and explore all its possibilities.

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The two arrows

When we welcome mindful practices like yoga and meditation into our lives, we learn about the myriad benefits they can bring.  We might feel them physically: less pain, more energy, softness, strength.  We might feel them on a mental or emotional level: less stress and anxiety, greater ease and calm.  Pay attention to the present moment, and all of these benefits can unfold for us.  It sounds so simple, and yet I am often reminded that ‘simple’ does not make it ‘easy’.

When we practice mindfulness, we seek to pay attention to the present moment in an open and receptive way, without judgment or attachment.  However, as human beings we unconsciously form judgments about all that we experience – good, bad, pleasant, unpleasant, happy, sad, the list goes on.  Mindfulness does not stop the judgments altogether, but it makes us aware of them when they arise, and more importantly, it teaches us to release our attachment to those judgments; we learn to accept what arises just as it is without attaching a story to it, without getting carried away from the present moment in that story.  Again, this sounds simple enough on the surface, but learning to release our attachment to the narratives we create can be very challenging, especially when those narratives come from deep-seated places and experiences within us.

When our attention rests fully in the present, we are witness to all that arises in that moment. For example, when we attend to sensation in the body, we begin to notice that sensations ebb and flow moment by moment – an itchiness here, a tingling there, warmth on my back, coldness in my feet.  When we attend to the breath we might notice that inhales and exhales differ in length and breadth and depth, and the breath moves differently in different areas of the body.  When we attend to our thoughts we might notice more busyness some days than others, or that certain thoughts come back again and again, and others seem to appear out of nowhere.  As we deepen our practice of mindfulness, we notice more and more about each moment’s experience, and we cultivate the ability to do so with less and less attachment.

In the Buddhist tradition, it is said that the root of all suffering is attachment.  We are attached to the desire to have (craving what is good, pleasant, happy) and the desire to not have (aversion to what is bad, unpleasant, sad).  We get attached to our judgments and perceptions of people and places and things.  When something arises in our experience, two things can happen: we can react automatically based on these preconceived notions that we have developed over our lifetime, or we can respond from a different place, a place that is open and receptive, a place of compassion and equanimity.  If we respond from this place, we can view the experience through a different lens and observe its nuances without those old judgments colouring our perception and causing us suffering.

When we sit down to meditate and we open our awareness to the changing experience of each moment, at some point we will inevitably be confronted by the suffering of our judgments and attachments.  We attend to the sensations in our body and a sharp pain arises.  Most of us would naturally feel an aversion to the pain; we might also attach a unique story to this particular pain – a story about an injury or illness, a story about something stressful, a story that makes us feel fearful of this pain.  There is a Buddhist parable about two arrows, and the first arrow is this initial sharp pain.  After we have been struck by this first arrow, would we intentionally shoot ourselves with a second arrow?  Of course not – and yet we do this through our unconscious reaction to the pain and our attachment to the story we create around it.  It is this reaction that is the second arrow of suffering, and while we cannot always control the first arrow, we can definitely work on stopping the second one – or at least reduce its impact.

The first arrow could appear in our practice as a physical sensation, as a mental or emotional sensation, or perhaps as something we perceive as energetic or spiritual.  We practice mindfulness so that we can cultivate resources like compassion, lovingkindness, acceptance, and equanimity.  We often think of directing these resources to our loved ones and those in the world around us, but it is vitally important that we also direct them towards ourselves.  When the first arrow strikes, we call upon these resources to help us respond consciously in a balanced way.  We feel that sharp pain – or deep loss, betrayal, anxiety, humiliation – and we reach into our heart and tap into our compassion and lovingkindness.  We sit with the pain and we accept it as part of this moment’s experience.  We resist the stories that want to attach themselves to the pain and carry us away from the experience of it.

Mindfulness is not an easy practice when we start to peel back the layers of our experience, but it is one that is full of rewards and enduring benefits.  Mindfulness helps us come home to ourselves, to create a place within us that is warm and welcoming and compassionate and accepting of all the many facets of who we are.  Indian spiritual leader Osho reminded us: “Drop the idea of becoming someone because you are already a masterpiece. You cannot be improved. You have only to come to it, to know it, to realise it.” Mindfulness helps us find our way to this realisation, recognising our innate wisdom and beauty and letting it guide us in the way we treat ourselves, others, and the world around us.

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Sweet surrender

Savasana is one of the most challenging poses in our asana practice.  It is also one of the most rewarding, and the most necessary.  We lie down, our body relaxes, our breath slows, and our attention withdraws from the external world.  It sounds so simple, and yet this beautiful, healing repose runs counter to everything that has come to characterise modern life.  Our minds are busy and we fill our days with ever-growing to do lists.  We are constantly climbing the dizzying heights of our expectations; each time we reach a summit, we seek out the next peak and begin our climb anew.  What if, instead of always climbing to the sky, we lay down upon the earth and paused to welcome stillness?  What if, instead of always ‘doing’, we embraced the present moment and took the time to simply be?

Savasana is Sanskrit for corpse pose. Visionary teacher BKS Iyengar often ended his classes with two words of instruction: be dead.  To truly absorb and integrate all the benefits of our asana practice, we must surrender fully to stillness.  We must let go of our need to be constantly in motion, to be always thinking and doing and moving forward towards something.  In stillness lies profound beauty and healing, kindness and wisdom.  In stillness we come home to ourselves; we recharge, refocus, and remember that we are already enough exactly as we are.

Savasana is one of the extraordinary gifts of our yoga practice, and it is one that we should invite off the mat and into our daily life.  As autumn arrives, the natural world around us is in transition, letting go of summer blooms and preparing for a long winter’s sleep.  Our physical and energetic bodies naturally crave this same sense of letting go and finding rest.  However, our busy minds try to divert us from this course, continuing the climb to the sky.  If we could release our attachment to those busy thoughts and let ourselves be guided by our intuition, we would find that what serves us best in fall is reconnecting to the peace and stillness of the earth.

As the temperature cools and the days grow shorter, attune to the innate wisdom that lies within you.  Relax your grip on the busyness of your mind.  Release yourself from doing and take time to simply be.  Lie down, let go, and feel the earth support your weight. Sink into that nurturing support and let yourself find the sweet surrender of Savasana.

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Autumn reflections

Each new season brings change; whether subtle or profound, we are all affected by the changing nature of the world around us. In autumn, we see shorter days and cooler temperatures. Depending on where we live, there might be a riot of colour to signal its arrival, one last hurrah before the natural world settles into slumber.

The needs of our minds and bodies also change with each new season. After the expansive, external energy that the heat of summer brings, we find ourselves drawing inward as fall arrives. We feather our nests and get cozy, we nourish our bodies with warming foods made from the bounty of fall’s harvest.  This is a time for introspection, for gazing within and connecting to our heart and to our intuition.  All of the answers to our biggest, most pressing life questions lie within us, but we rarely take the time to listen openly and honestly to our inner guides.

Let autumn be a time to embark upon an inward journey.  Mine the depths of your soul with compassion and lovingkindness and see what treasures you uncover. With open-hearted awareness, attune to the subtle rhythms of your body and your breath, as you dive deep inside to connect to the wisdom that lies within.

Autumn is a time for nourishing food, nourishing practices, nourishing community with friends and loved ones. We shore up our inner resources to support us during the dark and cold of winter that lies ahead. A vital part of our autumn ritual is also adequate time alone and in stillness to attend to the needs of our mind, our body, and our spirit. We take this time to reflect on how these needs may be changing and how we can best respond to them; we reflect on what is serving us well in our life, and what it is time to release.  In autumn, we can let go of what no longer serves and supports us, and we can make space for new experiences and ideas that will help us to learn and grow on our path.

What practices can you invite into your fall routine that will nourish you deeply and allow you to explore your inner landscape? Make time for yourself. Make time for stillness and quiet. Make time for healing and for letting go. Welcome spaciousness into your heart and your mind, making room for love, for gratitude, and for possibility.