Tender

We should be very tender with our grief, I think.

We ought to nurture it for the small, fragile thing it is, that holds all of our weight and memory and possibility.

We all have our griefs, all of us. They tell us what we have loved and they remind us of who we were once and the things we have had to let go of as we made our way through life.

We can grieve for someone lost, for parts of ourselves that faded or died, for a future that we thought we would have, for the person we will never be.

Grief whispers quietly of our most secret sorrows and shows us how to be gentle, with ourselves, with others.

Grief does not rage or fight, it does not shout or throw itself about. Grief is what lies beneath.

Grief is the smooth pebble of our knowing, that we keep in our pocket and stroke from time to time. It brings the parts of us that were lost back to being, holds them close, speaks their names.

A life without grief is a life without love, without care, without tenderness. We have all met the ones who run away from their grieving selves, but truly it takes up such a lot of energy and every time they turn around there it still is. Inescapable.

I don’t want my grief to be a hidden, frightening thing. I want my grief to stand as a testament to who they were, to who I was, to what I have lost and to what I still have.

We should be very tender with our grief, I think. It is a precious thing.

20 Minutes to Change your Day

I once met a man called Hugh who did a lot of yoga. 

We were on a yoga weekend and ended up sitting next to each other at lunch; apropos of nothing I commented that on the days I practised yoga, the day seemed then to roll out more evenly and beautifully afterwards, as if there was all the time in the world for everything (as opposed to that horrible, I'm-never-going-to-have-enough-time-for-all-I-need-to-get-done-today feeling that has become the default setting for too many of us). 

Without missing a beat he replied that yoga makes you realise the things that matter and the things that don't, so that after you have practised, you don't waste time on the small stuff.  You breathe more deeply, you take more time, you trust more that everything will get done in its own right time.  

I'm not sure that I had put two and two together before and made this realisation, but it was so obvious when he said it and of course, he is absolutely right.  Yoga reframes your day, and when you have practised regularly for long enough, it reframes your life.  Yoga helps you to acknowledge what is important and to leave aside the other stuff.  It teaches you to live with your brain fully engaged with whatever it is you are doing and that helps you to do things better, more successfully, more easily.  You rush less and make fewer silly mistakes.  You deepen the quality of the attention given to any situation and this improves both the way you perform in that situation and your experience of it.

Try to remember that the days when you feel that you have no time for yoga, are likely to be the days that you need yoga the most.

Commit to the idea that it is within your power to take 20 minutes out of your day for yoga and thereby to make your whole day better.

Many days put together become a life.

Prescription for Peace

Yoga is your prescription for a peaceful life. Take twice daily.

It turns out that what the yogis of old discovered through practice and observation, medicine has now validated with scientific evidence: yoga is good for you.

We all contain four hormones that contribute to our sense of ease, peace, health and contentment and yoga done the right way can stimulate them all.

1. DOPAMINE- Dopamine is responsible for feelings of pleasure, satisfaction and motivation.

   How does yoga increase dopamine? Achievement stimulates dopamine, so completing the goal of rolling out your mat and doing some yoga makes you feel good. Yoga helps you sleep well too, which increases your dopamine levels. Exercise, meditation and breathing practice all increase your dopmaine levels.

   If you are struggling with motivation, you could have low dopamine levels, but DOING yoga will stimulate dopamine and therefore improve your motivation. A virtuous circle, so just begin. Call friends and ask them to hold you to account if you can’t get yourself motivated, or check in with our Oak Tree Yoga community who are always on hand to support and encourage you.

2. SEROTONIN- Serotonin is a crucial chemical for increasing mood and decreasing anxiety. Researchers have found a clear connection between low serotonin levels and increases in depression, anxiety, and other mental health challenges. Besides being helpful for mental health, serotonin also improves digestion, sleep, and bone health.

   How does yoga increase serotonin? Serotonin is stimulated by exercise and by managing stress. Yoga gives you both benefits in one practice. A mindful walk in nature will also help - listen to something inpsiring as you walk, or go in silence (don’t make a call, or check your texts when you’re out, or you’ll fail to stimulate serotonin. If you can’t stop yourself from looking, leave your phone at home)

3. ENDORPHINS - Endorphins are released during pleasurable activities such as exercise, massage, eating and sex. Endorphins help relieve pain, reduce stress and improve your sense of well-being.

   How does yoga increase endorphins? Yoga is exercise, yoga makes you smile, yoga helps you breathe well and all of these things stimulate endorphins. Lying in savasana at the end of class feeling peaceful, content, renewed?? You’re enjoying the feeling of endorphins swimming about in your bloodstream.

4. OXYTOCIN - Oxytocin is typically linked to warm, fuzzy feelings and shown in some research to lower stress and anxiety. Oxytocin has the power to regulate our emotional responses and pro-social behaviors, including trust, empathy, positive memories and positive communication. Thanks to oxytocin, we get a warm, tranquil feeling whenever we're with the people we care about.

   How does yoga increase oxytocin? The positive feelings generated by coming together with like-minded folks to practice stimulates oxytocin . The way you hold yourself kindly during your yoga practice and the more positive feelings you generate towards yourself, your family and friends and the world in general are also caused by stimulating oxytocin. You can even stimulate oxytocin in your body by hugging yourself, so the kind of yoga we do, where movement is gentle, breath is deep and the physical self is felt and nurtured is all good for stimulating oxytocin.

Poor motivation? Depression, sadness, anxiety? Low mood, negative mind set, feelings of overwhelm? We ALL experience these things from time to time to a greater or lesser extent. Forgive yourself for being a lovely, normal human. Embrace yourself, ask friends to help keep you motivated, just BE on your mat (it doesn’t matter too much what you do when you get there… can you see now, how just lying there and listening to your teacher’s voice will sometimes be all that your body needs to stimulate all of these helpful hormones?)

Be kind, do yoga.

Namaste x