How to Slow Down in Life and On the Mat
Hi There,
How is your Thursday going? We are only one more day till we hit the weekend! I’ve been noticing temps slowly dropping here in Idaho Falls and I can feel the changes in the seasons starting to move from summer into fall. I know many people, myself included, really love the fall season 🍂🍂🍂 I think for me one of the more powerful parts of autumn is the call back inward. The call to move towards slowing down, taking stock, and preparing for winter. Spring and summer offer surges of energy and I appreciate when there is space to slow back down both mentally and physically. I want to talk about something that can get in the way of slowing down - the seduction of more… more… more.. Sometimes I think of this as a seductive siren of the deep where what she is really saying is “Nothing you do is ever enough. You must always be striving for more. Being content means being stagnant.” The dangers of always wanting more and pushing for more are many, including the loss of enjoyment, fulfillment, and safety, just to name a few. I know looking back on times when I have been chasing for more and more and more the finish line always moves on you. Always wanting more = never feeling enough. When I am acting from a place of not feeling enough or unworthy I am acting from shame, I am striving for others and leaving myself behind.
The yoga perspective on always shooting for more would be to flip that idea on its head. If you were in my class I would challenge you to do the least amount possible and see what that feels like in your body. I would offer you to notice all the challenging thoughts and emotions that bubble up to the surface. “If I do less what will everyone else in the room think?” “If I am not killing myself and pushing to my limit does it even count?” “Am I less because I am doing less?” I would then offer you to challenge those thoughts. Where did those ideas come from? Are they things you want to keep holding on to?
How can you allow your yoga practice to not be a performance for others, but a ritual for yourself?
5 Ways to Slow Down while on the Mat (or in day to Day-to-day Moments)
Check in with your breath. Everything starts and ends with your breathing so take your mind towards your breath and just notice it. You don’t have to stay there for very long, you don’t have to breathe in any specific way. Just notice it.
Ground into your feet. If everything around you feels too fast slow time down by bringing your awareness to your feet. How do they feel. Skrinch your toes, roll around along the bottoms of your feet, or bring your hands to your feet and feel/massage them.
Ask yourself “Do I want to?” Whether you are in a yoga class or anywhere else in your world you can stop and ask yourself, “Do I want to?” Do I want to fold forward or do I want to stay where I am, Do I want to hop to the top of my mat or can I walk gently there? Realize that everything is just a suggestion and you are in ultimate control of what you are doing with your body (and life).
Let go of others and be there for yourself. Letting go of what others are thinking about or any judgments they may or may not have towards what you are doing opens up space for you to ask the more important question, what do you think about what you are doing? How do you feel about it? Nothing else really matters.
Go at your own pace. Take away expectations of what the “right” timeframe for things is. You get to set your own path and your own pace. (For more of my thoughts on this concept check out last week’s email)
A joyful moment from this week- Learning to slow down from the best teachers- My Kitties 😻
