creating calm

Hello everyone, hope you're having a good week so far and if you're not, that you're finding a way to navigate yourself through whatever difficulties you may be having, don't forget to breathe!! Some effective yoga poses for alleviating stress are shoulder stand, cobra (especially if you're angry or agitated) and the simple yet oh so effective "legs up the wall" pose, and if you can finish off with a few minutes of breathing meditation you'll be feeling so much more calm and relaxed.

It's so nourishing to turn to yoga and meditation in times of stress and turbulence as a way to get to the root of the problem (which is always our mind by the way, never the external) rather than turning to things that only offer distraction such as TV or social media. I know it's hard when turning to distraction feels so much easier and it offers such a quick fix but if we only ever distract ourselves then the real problem never goes away and this is why we end up having a melt down or yelling at a stranger!! Sometimes if I'm really craving some TV time or internet time and my mind feels too fried for meditation then I make a deal with myself to do a short restorative session including some brief meditation and then I can crash in front of Netflix after. I often find, however, that once I've started connecting with my breath and moving through some gentle asanas that my problems start to dissolve and that deal I made with myself fades away as the promise of TV doesn't seem so important anymore. Sometimes after a session like this I've just sat quietly for the rest of the evening and been able to process or rationalize some of the emotional stuff that's been going on under the surface. I'll make a herbal tea, tuck myself in to be and feel refreshed and like I've pressed the re set button. So, maybe next time you're heading through the door in a frantic bundle of stress and work drama, give yourself the option of a short yoga routine to unwind and then see how your evening unfolds from there. This is wonderful way of being kind to yourself and give yourself the time and space you need to process living in this crazy fast paced world!

On another note, this morning I tried out this great youtube yoga session with Tara Stiles and really enjoyed it. I really appreciated the stretches for the wrists that she included at the beginning and would like to include these in my own sessions. I haven't found many classes so far that give this attention to warming up and stretching out the wrists and it's so important as we rely on them so much throughout the practice for downward dog, plank and balancing poses. I've been following Tara Stiles on Instagram for a while now and read a really lovely interview with her in Australian Yoga Journal but hadn't yet got round to trying out her classes. I really enjoyed Tara's non pretentious and deeply encouraging style of teaching and I'm inspired to try out some more of her classes.

Thanks again for stopping by, love Chelle x