Thank F*** For Yoga

Quite possibly the most important part of our yoga practice. A practice (especially if you exist in the modern world) that will undoubtedly last a lifetime.

Chitta Vritti Nirodha…taken from Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras; translated, it’s an invitation to still the fluctuations of the mind or to tame the ‘monkey’ mind. The mind that jumps from one thing to the next, from events of the past to the possibilities of the future, never resting in the present moment. The mind that exhausts us and worries us and keeps us awake at night.

It so often feels like our minds rule us, that we have no choice, that the chattery scattered mind stuff is just who we are. It can feel like it defines us. Yoga teaches us the opposite. Yoga teaches that we are not our mind. Yoga teaches us to sit with those thoughts and watch them. Get to know them. Create distance between yourself and your thoughts so that you can gently let them go, smile at them, watch them pass, waive them on and begin to remove your attachment to them. You can choose to calm and steady your thoughts rather than let them spiral you into the darkness. But it takes work. It takes dedication to a practice which constantly invites you to bring your attention away from the stimulants around you and focus on what’s happening inside.

Some days this sounds totally impossible. Hence the lifelong practice bit...and it really does take practice. But it works. Even if just for a split second. That split second where you might get a glimpse of your Self (capital S) You can start to find that peace. And you can then go back to that calmer place at times when it feels like everything else around you is making you CRAY.

That part of you, the real YOU can be very good at hiding. Hiding behind schedules, planning, logistics, work commitments, coffee dates and catch ups. With ‘no time’ to pause and reflect on what’s really going on around you or how you’re really feeling, the mind takes over in full force and put life into fast forward. Yoga asks us and HELPS us to sit the hell down and stop what we’re doing. To see and feel the JOY in our lives. To take a deep breathe and remember what’s really important, who we really are and how we can best serve ourselves and those around us. It can bring lightness to the heaviest of times and remind us to not sweat the small stuff.

In short, thank f*** for YOGA.