Have you heard of Ahimsa? 

Yoga is a breath-centred practice. It means that breath needs to be our main focus and needs to lead our practice.

But how often do we forget about breath during our yoga practice (and our life)? How often do we sacrifice our breath so we can push our body to do a pose or movement?

That’s where Ahimsa comes in. Ahimsa is the principle of non-harming and it is the essence of all yoga practice. 

Buddha was adamant that we should never mistreat or abuse our bodies. That we should always treat our bodies with kindness, friendliness and respect. 

And we can use our breath to help us bring the principle of Ahimsa to our practice and our daily life. Breath helps us return to our body so that we can deeply listen to it and therefore learn ways to best care for it.

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This is why slowing down in our practice can bring us back to our breath…

There is so much fun doing a faster and challenging practice. I know very well the joy of moving my body and feeling strong and supple. The sense of achievement that comes with it is unmistakable.

And I also know how it feels in my body when I slow down and move my body with focus on following my breath. It becomes a meditation movement and an inner enquiry. I feel strong and present but also very connected within, very calm and at ease.

It’s all about our intention and what we want to focus on. And that choice is very personal.

Life is movement, breath is movement…

When we start bringing Ahimsa into our practice and our whole body and breath – we start living from this space of embodiment. We include our whole body in everything – all our decisions, our relationships, our wellness habits and our work.

With our practice we realise that there is even movement in stillness. And as our awareness deepens further we can also begin to see for ourselves how there is stillness in the midst of movement.

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So here is a little meditation on breath and body…

Sit down comfortably.
Bring your awareness to the sensations of support underneath you.
Then bring your awareness to your breath.

Aware of an in-breath as an in-breath, I breathe in.
Aware of an out-breath as an out-breath, I breathe out.

Breathing in a long breath, I am aware of breathing in a long breath.
Breathing out a long breath, I am aware of breathing out a long breath.

Breathing in a short breath, I am aware of breathing in a short breath.
Breathing out a short breath, I am aware of breathing out a short breath.

Breathing in I am aware of my whole body.
Breathing out I am aware of my whole body.

Breathing in, I calm my whole body.
Breathing out, I calm my whole body.

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So next time you start your practice…

… set your intention to practice with the principle of Ahimsa. Connect with your breath and allow it to lead you. Include your whole body in your movement and stillness.

And enjoy being alive!

with love and gratitude

Aneta x

∞

‘To relax is not to collapse, but simply to undo tension. This tension has been accumulated in the body and in the mind by years of forceful education. Tension is the result of will, effort and prejudice.’ Vanda Scaravelli

It’s so interesting how we approach yoga and meditation. I often have conversations with students about lack of time in their daily schedule for their practice. I think it comes from a simple misunderstanding of what our practice is.

We were trained to achieve, to struggle daily in the effort of reaching clear goals – in our work, in education and in sports. There is always somebody we are in competition with, even if they are an imaginary person somewhere out there in the world. We are encouraged to ‘give it our best’, to ‘push through our limits’, and to ‘keep going no matter what’. This way of thinking and behaving has become unconscious and automatic for most of us.

Then we show up in a yoga class and we bring that approach to our practice on a mat. After all it works for us in our daily lives so it should work here! Only that it doesn’t work for us. The evidence is in the levels of stress and anxiety we are all struggling with, the tiredness and exhaustion experienced by many, and the high level of anti-depressant medication prescribed by GPs.

For me the strongest evidence is in our yoga sessions where I observe students not able to settle down or relax and feel very disconnected from their breath and body.

But what does it mean to relax? How can we shift from our constant ‘doing’ to relaxing?

In my first job in substance misuse services over 15 years ago I learned a useful abbreviation: HALT, which means STOP in German. It asks you to pause when you feel:

H – hungry

A – angry

L – lonely

T – tired

It’s about coming back to basics and take small steps to self-care. How many of us run around feeling hungry but not taking time to eat? How many of us feel angry or lonely but not able to express those feelings or seek support from others? How many of us are exhausted but keep pushing through?

Of course we can do it for a period of time – push our body and mind and be able to cope with a lot of pressure – and sometimes it’s necessary. But at some point something has got to give – and always it will be our body or mind.

As we are going into the season of giving – let’s start with ourselves. Give yourself a gift of self-care – time to relax and self-soothe, time for your body and mind to re-adjust and nourish, time to rest and let go of tension. Take some time to move your body and connect with your breath. Allow yourself to finish the year with gratitude for your life and enter New Year with a renewed energy in your body and clarity in your mind.

And if you would like some support with making changes in your life in 2017 you might be interested in “90 Days to Re-boot Your Body and Mind’ one-to-one programme I will be running in New Year.

Namaste

Aneta