What's Good For You

Multiple studies have made the physical benefits of yoga very clear - if you do it regularly, you will see improvement in balance, flexibility, strength, cardiovascular health and muscle tone. 

But to describe it in purely physical terms is to miss out on yoga philosophy, the purpose of which is to connect our physical, psychological, emotional, spiritual and energetic selves so that we no longer feel fractured inside as we move through life.

Because yoga reduces anxiety and stress, it also helps us to overcome a whole suite of other issues that stress makes worse (and which in turn are stress-causing): arthritis, poor digestion, broken sleep, auto-immune diseases, migraine headaches.

It's simpler to say that yoga just makes everything better.

I really hope you find your way to your mat this week. There really is something for everyone our Yogi’s Library now and as the Bhagavad Gita tells us:

“On this path effort never goes to waste, and there is no failure. Even a little effort toward spiritual awareness will protect you from the greatest fear.”

Lots of love to you.
Sarah xx

Maintaining Equilibrium

Living in balance feels good and brings good.

When doing balances in yoga, the body makes constant micro-adjustments to achieve equilibrium. Being in balance is not a static state of perfection, it is an ever-shifting flow. Maintaining equlibrium in life is just the same.

Life is a smörgåsbord of events, emotions and demands. Any honest monk or nun will tell you that even those who withdraw from normal life experience this same turmoil every single day. There’s no escape from the reality of being human.

The cure is not self-recrimination as you lose your temper, burn out, fall ill, feel hopeless, can’t sleep, worry, overeat, forget to eat, become anxious, overfill your day again …
<<Fill in the blank here - you know the things that await you when you lose your balance in life>>

The cure is paying attention.

Learn how to pay attention and you’ll notice when you’ve been pulled out of balance. Then you can introduce counterpose - the simple things that bring you back towards composure and poise, health and steadiness.

And oh, it doesn’t matter how many times you lose your balance in life if the result is that you are always finding new and better ways to restore it.

Radical Self Care

Self care is not what we’ve been sold.

We do not do self care to make ourselves into better humans, or so that we have more to give. We do it simply because we are worth taking care of.

We are often urged to do self care because an empty pot fills no cups, as if the only reason for caring for ourselves is so that we can be more for other people.

But self care is more radical than this. It is looking after yourself because you are thing of great beauty and intrinsic value. You are worth taking care of before you even get up in the morning, or do anything for anyone. Your value is not to be measured by how much you have to give, any more than a tree’s value is how much shade it gives on a hot day.

You care for your beloveds because you love them and you want them to be well, not so that they will have more to give, or be better humans. Now do this for yourself.

Care for yourself truly. It is good for you and you too have needs that want to be met. Do it with joy and without needing to explain it to anyone else.

See what happens then in your one beautiful life.