Life is
wonderful. Very busy but life is good.
I feel that my family is complete and I am so
grateful for that. Daily life can
certainly be hectic. At times it feels
that routine things are squeezed into each day.
By the time the list of tasks has been completed it feels there is
little time to spend on myself, members of my extended family and friends. Aha Oho, but then I stop and breathe and
create space. At times I manage to spend
those 5 minutes at the beginning of the day and I can certainly notice the
space that is then created for the rest of the day. Those few moments of clarity makes a big
difference to how I can then deal with the activities of the day. Sometimes it seems impossible to take that time in the
morning when juggling feeds, nappies and questions from a very inquisitive
little girl, then the evening when “the kids” (it feels so funny yet so
satisfying to say that) have gone to bed then that is when I take time for
myself. Needless to say there have not
been many opportunities to take an hour out of my day to practice my
asana. Instead I work with what I have
and consciously practice asana when I can perhaps a Virabhadrasana (warrior)
pose here and there. I integrate tree
pose, or whatever I feel I need, into my every day. Squeezing them in between
the ‘routine tasks’.
Technically
you can be practicing yoga at any moment in your life. Yoga is not just about
Asana, the poses we do on our mat. Yoga is awareness – conscious living. There is no denying that Practicing Yoga Asana
makes me feel good. However lets take a brief look at the 8 Limbs of Yoga...
Things
you can do:
Yamas
– these are restraints that we apply to our every day.
Ahimsa – non harming – Physically but
also by word and thought.
Satya – non lying
Asteya – non stealing
Brahmacharya – conserve and not waste energy on things that do not
serve our purpose
Aparigraha – non hoarding
Niyamas
– observances we can include into our daily life
Soucha – cleanliness
Santosha – contentment
Tapas – zeal for Yoga
Svadyaya – self study, really
looking at yourself. Take action and learn things on your own.
Ishvarapranidhana - surrender
Asana
– poses, a regular practice is the ideal however whenever you can is perfect.
Pranayama
– breathing. Being conscious of your
breath, lengthening deepening. For me right
now a perfect practice when nursing.
Pratyahara
– withdrawal of the senses.
Things
that happen to you:
Dhyana
– state of meditation
Samadhi
– state of oneness
So
you can see there are many things that you can integrate into your everyday. I
will visit many of these over the coming newsletters however for now I hope you
can get a small understanding from some of the examples I have given.
My
practice has evolved. Instead of giving
myself a hard time that I am not on the mat as much as I was even 12 weeks ago,
I am content and grateful for what I have and what I am learning every day. I
know that as a busy mum I may not get the opportunity to sink myself into an
hour of Asana practice, so I stretch when I can, consciously breathe in those
brief moments and practice Bhakti (Devotional) Yoga by lighting a candle or
chanting whenever I can. I invite you to take a step back and observe your Yoga
practice. Make Yoga easy for yourself.
Listen to your body and your mind and integrate what you need into your every
day.
Wednesday Catton
class 9:30-11am
Firstly Thank
You to Hannah for covering classes thus far and congratulations on her
physiotherapists position.
Welcome to
Joss for and thank you for covering
classes in July. Please take the
opportunity to delve into your Asana practice before the summer break. Joss will be teaching classes 17, 24 and 31
July.
" ‘Bhava
Yoga’. Bhava means 'To Be' in the sense that an actor or dancer feels and
becomes their role. It includes flowing sequences of postures to get your body
and energy moving, as well as postures held to release deeper tensions. Unlike
other approaches to yoga posture Bhava Yoga
does more than pay attention to alignment and sequence, it also sees the whole
posture and what the posture imitates (e.g. a Cobra raising up, or a Hare
grazing) and captures the feeling of that pose to give mental and emotional
strength and flexibility too."
Monday Inner
Space 7:30pm
The lovely
Anya will be teaching 15, 22 and 29 July.
Take the opportunity to delve into your Asana practice before the summer
break.
Anya is also
offering the following workshop:
Sunday 28th July - Opening the chest and heart area
By opening the
chest we can improve our breathing.
By opening the
heart we allow emotions to flow.
The effect is a free flow of energy and clarity of mind.
Time : 10.30am
- 1.30pm
Place :
Norwich Buddhist Centre
14 Bank Street
NR2 4SE
Norwich
All Levels
Cost : £16 / £15
Book by e-mail
: kontestacja@yahoo.com , mob. 07982452159
, tel.01603 219412
More details on : http://kontestacja.wix.com/anya-yoga
Holidays
can become as hectic as our daily lives, for some maybe more so as we try to
squeeze in many attractions. As we
approach the summer holidays let us try and take time for rest, time for
relaxing and reflecting.
Hari Om xxxx
