 | As a result of the pressures of purchasing and moving to our new home, followed by months of home renovations, I found myself in a pattern of rush and driving myself, not taking those quiet moments to re-connect back to a place within that feels still and free from anxiousness and the hardness I’d been feeling in my body. |
For many years I’ve enjoyed the benefits of esoteric yoga and have felt the beauty and grace that comes with the re-connection to my inner stillness. I truly understand what is meant by the term ‘union with God’, which is what esoteric yoga offers us. It’s not about contorting the body into poses but rather an opportunity to develop a very deep connection with ourselves, which allows for the inner knowing or felt experience that we are more than our body, we are in fact multidimensional beings. I needed to get back to this steadier me.
Aware that the three days leading up to a full moon is a time for healing and releasing past patterns and momentums of behaviour, I booked into a yoga class prior to the ensuing full moon. The yoga sessions were on-line via zoom at 6am each morning for three consecutive days. On the first morning as I settled into the session, I noticed very little about my body. What I became super aware of though was that my mind was extremely busy, my thoughts were all over the place, about what I had been doing recently, what I needed to do next and clearly that it did not want to stop. This was exposing the fact that my mind had been running the show for too long.
Somewhere during that first session the thoughts ceased to dominate and I began to drop more deeply into my body. As I stayed focused on my breathing and what was happening in my body, the mind fell into an alignment with my breath and the movements of my body. I had developed conscious presence.
Later that day I had something happen that unsettled me quite significantly, triggering cravings for sweet foods that left me feeling disconnected and racy. By evening I felt calmer within, the raciness had dissipated enough to allow me to realise the shame I had taken on around this situation. I was wondering if this would affect my ability to continue deepening in the yoga session the next morning.
Certainly, at the beginning of my second session I did have those worrying thoughts clogging up my head and I felt a sick feeling in my stomach telling me that I wasn’t accepting myself for the mistake I’d made. However, what surprised me was how fast I was able to let it all go by just focusing on the breath as it flowed in and out of my body.
I soon felt lighter and free of the self-judgement that had been harassing me. I noticed how familiar these feelings of shame were, as though they were a part of who I was.
In that moment, I knew there was no truth to it, that it was a time of letting go, to not take this on or bury myself in this emotion of shame any longer. I felt a little pain in my left hip where it was held in my body and as I focused on it the pain cleared, making way for deeper connection and expansion in my body, by embodying the clarity and truth about the situation I had felt caught in.
By the third session, which was on the morning of the full moon, I was feeling really steady and much more connected to my inner being. I noticed that there was an almost tangible sense of myself which I’d not felt on the first day leading into this yoga program. My mind had settled, it no longer wanted to race about thinking about what I’d been doing or what the coming day held for me. I felt somehow ‘complete’ with an inner warmth and stillness in my body, a sense that nothing else was needed but to be in this space of deep connection with my Soul.
Lynne P., Australia
Aware that the three days leading up to a full moon is a time for healing and releasing past patterns and momentums of behaviour, I booked into a yoga class prior to the ensuing full moon. The yoga sessions were on-line via zoom at 6am each morning for three consecutive days. On the first morning as I settled into the session, I noticed very little about my body. What I became super aware of though was that my mind was extremely busy, my thoughts were all over the place, about what I had been doing recently, what I needed to do next and clearly that it did not want to stop. This was exposing the fact that my mind had been running the show for too long.
Somewhere during that first session the thoughts ceased to dominate and I began to drop more deeply into my body. As I stayed focused on my breathing and what was happening in my body, the mind fell into an alignment with my breath and the movements of my body. I had developed conscious presence.
Later that day I had something happen that unsettled me quite significantly, triggering cravings for sweet foods that left me feeling disconnected and racy. By evening I felt calmer within, the raciness had dissipated enough to allow me to realise the shame I had taken on around this situation. I was wondering if this would affect my ability to continue deepening in the yoga session the next morning.
Certainly, at the beginning of my second session I did have those worrying thoughts clogging up my head and I felt a sick feeling in my stomach telling me that I wasn’t accepting myself for the mistake I’d made. However, what surprised me was how fast I was able to let it all go by just focusing on the breath as it flowed in and out of my body.
I soon felt lighter and free of the self-judgement that had been harassing me. I noticed how familiar these feelings of shame were, as though they were a part of who I was.
In that moment, I knew there was no truth to it, that it was a time of letting go, to not take this on or bury myself in this emotion of shame any longer. I felt a little pain in my left hip where it was held in my body and as I focused on it the pain cleared, making way for deeper connection and expansion in my body, by embodying the clarity and truth about the situation I had felt caught in.
By the third session, which was on the morning of the full moon, I was feeling really steady and much more connected to my inner being. I noticed that there was an almost tangible sense of myself which I’d not felt on the first day leading into this yoga program. My mind had settled, it no longer wanted to race about thinking about what I’d been doing or what the coming day held for me. I felt somehow ‘complete’ with an inner warmth and stillness in my body, a sense that nothing else was needed but to be in this space of deep connection with my Soul.
Lynne P., Australia