We may initially come to yoga to relax, to breathe better, to align and balance, to ease a chronic back issue, to rehabilitate an old injury, to sleep better. All of these needs are solved but with time and practise, we realise a deep open awareness and the freedom that this gives, we then identify this as our means of practice.
Yoga is being present and real, at the centre of our Being. Being whole and happy in the freedom of now, experiencing the natural mind ‘spontaneously dropping into a state of calmness and clarity, a feeling that draws us back again in search of that natural sense of balance.’ Yoga begins from exactly where you are, a moment of Truth, accepting ourselves and how things are, coming to the source. A feeling of peace is evoked from being given the permission to go quietly within. Practising mindfully, can in so many ways, support the challenges in our daily life, giving more awareness, patience and compassion.
Mindful Yoga embodies the essence of yoga.Yoga means union, moving through the layers of Being, uniting breath and movement, body, mind and soul, uniting our outer and inner worlds, so we learn to know our habitual patterns and thought processes.
Understanding the Roots of Yoga
When practising yoga, we can feel its essence by bringing awareness to the teachers and traditions from India and then acknowledging ourselves as teachers. The practice of Mindful Yoga offers only a guide and allows you to be your own best teacher, to adapt and modify to suit your own body and mind, to explore reality, curiosity. ‘Always listen to the inherent wisdom of your own body, with time and practice, we learn to trust our own body, its resilience, its ability to centre, transform, heal from the inside out’. (Donna Farhi)
Mindful Yoga blends the Chinese Taoist concept of effortless flow and vinyasa yoga from vedic roots in scriptures in India, opening meridians and sharpening our neural systems, together with Breath work/conscious Pranayama enhancing life energy, and concentration techniques for mental clarity.
Mindfulness blends both East and West, its roots are in Buddhism for nearly 3000 years, only in the last two centuries has this come to the West. Jon Kabat-Zinn used Zen meditation and yoga to treat sick patients, he founded Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction ( MBSR). Both yoga and meditation involve mindfulness and we want that in our modern fast daily life, the faster we go, we never catch up! Mindfulness is an antidote to the ego, grounding you in the reality of your present experience, a reprieve from thoughts of the past or future ‘paying attention on purpose in the present moment, without judgement’
What is the magic of yoga, how is it that in the 20C, we have been gifted and we have embraced the roots of yoga from India? Patanjalis Yoga Sutras ,4 or 5C, are still a precious guide for yoga and life today. Patanjali defines the purpose of yoga as ‘citta vritti -Yoga is the stilling of the modifications of the mind’ – calming the mind chatter, the ‘monkey mind’!
Pratyhara / Sense Withdrawal
The 5th of the 8 limbs and possibly the most powerful. Consciously tapping into our senses enhances our life experience and we value our senses- sight, hearing, touch, smell, taste. Focusing on our senses helps us to be present. We do need a balance of these, our modern world can give sensory overload. Pratyhara enables us to have an awareness of what is influencing us. We learn to focus on one sense, then let this go and move on to another. This helps us to choose in our daily life, what we want to engage in, to be able to observe. let go and be unattached, gives us more space to be present and calm. You will recognise a similar Buddhist philosophy.
Hatha Yoga
Ha/ Sun and Tha/ Moon unite opposite patterns of the nervous system to open up the core of the body. Asanas do not exhaust the body physically, nor distract the mind but invite internal awareness and subtle refinement creating a dynamic aligned flowing form. Uniting opposites gives wisdom into the true nature of the body and mind, we feel the beginning and end of the movement, we anchor and add strength to the length, we twist and wring the body in all directions, producing the ‘nectar of yoga’.
Awareness of the Breath giving us presence and comfort
So, when we begin a class, we usually settle in stillness, maybe with the comforting ritual of chanting a mantra or simply allowing space to follow the breath, tracing the ends of the breath, observing the transition from inhale to exhale, aware of the pauses at the top of the inhale and the bottom of the exhale – giving us the spaces between the thoughts, anchoring the mind within the body. Perhaps consciously observing the rhythm, rate, texture, sound of the breath, feeling it cool fresh going in, warm moist leaving the body. Or just being there at yoga, grateful for the opportunity to simply sit and breath with nothing else to do! I love Lauren Tober/ Mental Health Yoga, she suggests this silent mantra, ‘Inhale, I am…Exhale, Here’
There is a vibrational energy created from a mantra, from the breath which naturally ends at the back of the sinuses under the pituitary gland – the extra chakra ‘ Bindhu – the droplet’ through which consciousness passes. If we add ’So Hum’ to the breath, So on the inhale, Hum on the exhale, the gradual tapering and lengthening of the exhale touches the vagus nerve near the heart giving a feeling of kindness and compassion. The ‘Mmm’ resonates deeply within affecting the parasympathetic system of rest and digest, release, ease – a feeling of calm preparation, a starting point for our practice, making space for what is to come. We learn to use our breath to calm and balance our energy for the duration of our yoga class and then out into our daily lives – no pressure to perform, simply allowing observation, curiosity, awareness – drawing us back to our next class!
Asanas, simple, flowing, using just our own body, connecting to nature, the cosmos and the greater whole
Now, we add movement to the breath, leading with the breath, lingering at the end of the exhale which gives a calm strength to body and mind.We open and make space in the body and mind which enhances the flow of prana and lifts our mood giving us curiosity and positivity. We flow through careful sequencing, uniting opposites, balancing energy, adapting, transforming, focusing, remembering, becoming familiar and safe. We explore connections, the sensation of rooting down, sinking our palms and the soles of our feet, feeling the support of the wooden floor, the grass, Earth below, anchoring, grounding, feeling the whole integrated body alive. Linking the exhale at the core gives a resonance, encouraging the mind to dissolve into its background, space for the direct experience of the here and now, grounded in the present moment, impermanent …this gives us the ‘aha’ moment or the Hmmm of content, the nature of pure Being – the union of body and mind, inhale and exhale, twist and counter twist. As we continue to practice we learn to trust and allow being present, we see that we can let go of whatever is arising and all the forms we perceive, thus easing the mind.
The mind of a Beginner
Many Beginner Classes allow time and space for awareness, revealing the profound nature of yoga. With no expectations on performance, we can be more relaxed and here transformation happens. The simplest of poses often give the greatest essence and integrated wholeness
Samasthiti , the pose of Equilibrium or Harmony
Similar to Tadasana / Mountain or Stand Well Pose but the feet are together so there is a more of a sense of balancing along the centre line, palms together in pranamasana at the heart space giving a sense of connection to your spirit. A steady soft gaze, listening to the sound of the breath or closing the eyes, feeling a natural sway and using the breath exhale at the core to keep you steady. Observing the body, equal weight between the front edges of the heels, spreading the toes, the hips above, the shoulders over the hips, the heart open, the crown above, the balance of the front and back body, your position in space, correcting, staying on task. A wholeness and openness to this awareness, sensing roots, the core of our Being, opening he heart and inner aspects of the mind, settling into a meditative state, of Being, the body the field of practice for the mind.
Anjaneyasana, low lunge crescent moon
A kneeling humble pose, grounding, aligning, stabilising with the exhale connecting the core to the Psoas muscle. Psoas, a big muscle running from the lower spine deeply through the pelvis to the front of the hip and having important connections to the diaphragm, so our breath and emotive state are interrelated. This pose deserves time and space, opening the front body and all the chakras on the front side of the spine, energetically stimulating Ajna, behind the spiritual Third Eye and the lift at our heart space allows us to connect to our spirit.
Ananda, a pose of Bliss, wide pelvic twist in lying
This pose, at the end of class before Savasana, truely integrates the Wisdom of Yoga. Ideally it begins with a pose of decompression – lying with the knees bent and together, the feet wide and grounded, the palms can be on the belly or over the heart, then moving the arms up overhead, the backs of the arms comfortable resting in a diamond shape on the ground. Allow the exhale to gently imprint the spine from the base through to the back of the heart, no force, subtle movement, then exhale imprinting the spine from the back of the heart through to the base of the skull, linger with as many repetitions as you like. Then when you feel ready allow the knees to roll as they are to one side, so a wide low pelvic twist, the legs each falling into a 4 shape, then gently guide the upper body to side bend away from this side, and the head rest softly turned to this counter side. The body is open, fascia releasing, space to observe fully the body as a whole and all its connections, to allow the breath into every nook and cranny, gently angled to allow the passage and absorption of prana, nourishing the Susumna central channel. The mind is content with feeling blissful and we can ground into the depths of our soul.