Breathing + meditation.

Breathing and meditation. Calming our mind. Soothing the nervous system. Nourishing our Souls.

In our Monthly Membership I recently asked if you had specific requests for our classes many of you replied: breathing and meditation. The nervous system. Anxiety…

I know it’s ongoing… the dealing with major life events. The past couple of years has for so many reasons changed life. In some parts improved it perhaps and in other ways challenged it. And then there are all the other events that happen… redundancies, break ups, moving, illness, long-term illness or injuries, bereavement, grief, changes in relationships and work environment.

The list goes on.

Sometimes it’s challenging to find the positives. Even the changing seasons can be a challenge. How can we embrace that winter is coming? The shorter days, the darkness.

And perhaps it is the darkness we need to befriend. Not just winter but the darkness of our emotions. The shadows of our being.

It would be “spiritual bypass” to pretend that all is love and light. That we can “positive think” our way through challenging times. 

Sometimes we need to sit with the anger, the sadness, the raw and devastating grief, the overwhelm, anxieties and fears. 

Because those feelings are in our body. Its the wired head space, the shallow breathing, the heat in our chest and face, the lump in throat, the heaviness and breaking heart, the feeling of being punched in the solar plexus, the heaviness and tightness in our wombspace and pelvis. 

So we sit with the feelings, we acknowledge them. Sometimes we need to sit deeply with them and just be. Be crying, shouting, sad. Sometimes we need to act them out. Maybe we need to breathe them. Move them through shaking, dancing, spontaneous movement, regulated aligned yoga flow or yoga poses. 

Some thoughts we just need to acknowledge. We observe them in our minds. Then let them go. Another thought comes and we acknowledge it - and we let it go. Like watching the clouds on the sky. The waves of the ocean.

And so we can be in our body with all our emotions moving through our yoga practice. Breathing and find ways to connect and move our breath that helps our minds. We might even find a place of being still, in contemplation or meditation. 

Whether your meditation is a seated meditation, comes through movement, breathing, painting, walking, knitting… the meditation can be that point where we offer our mind a rest. A bit of peace. So that we can digest all the sense impressions we get. Including all the emotions we find challenging. 

And if the thoughts keep popping up it ok. We acknowledge the thoughts and, if appropriate, we let them go (because we can always come back to them). We are not forcing or pushing them away. We let them arrive and let them go. 

Or perhaps we start to focus on a sound, a mantra. Or a sensation or visualisation. Or simply our breath. 

And for a moment perhaps we find peace and balance. Even if it’s just for that one breath.

On Monday the 28th of November 6pm we have another relaxing yoga session. Embrace the dark evening and bring your blankets and cushions. Dim the light, put on the fairy lights or candles. Make it cosy. Or as a Dane I would say make it hyggeligt… 

It will be a floor-based slow-moving and restorative practice, with breathing and meditation too. Nourish your whole being and find ease. 

And as a reminder, many of the practises and discussions in our Sleep Immersion will be supportive too.