Getting the T.....

This blog post will cover a couple of themes today, firstly looking at what we've been up to over the last week. Secondly giving a bit of a educational post on meditation and the benefits it can bring.

This week Village Yoga escaped out of the scorching heat into the

cooling AC of Moulton community centre, we focused on floor based stretches, a longer savasana and cooling breathing exercises. Adapting your practise to get the benefits of yoga is a great way to see how your practise can aid you through all weathers and stages. This session was a great way to have gentle movement and rest to find our centre and calm for the rest of the week. And kudo's to all those who showed up!

Raph's "Get Up and Go" classes were covered by Mollie for this week, we're sure the class were very relieved as she bought a yoga flair to the session with some guided breathing exercises at the end and some extra stretches. A slightly gentler session with the hot temperatures outside. Although we still managed to fit plenty of squats, marches and "standing up, sitting down" exercises (say a thanks to Moultons AC). Kibworth Seated Yoga explored variations of warrior 2 and balancing poses, a great way to build up centred mindfulness, coordination and balance.

I'll now be looking at meditation and it's many benefits that it can bring. Meditation is a bit of a booming concept in modern day wellness industry, from wellness guru's to the NHS citing it's benefits. However meditation is an ancient practise and actually one of the main practises of original yoga. It's believed that when yoga first started it was predominantly hours of meditation and discussions around philosophy. I must emphasis here that I'm massively generalising and depending on the family or style of yoga it could differ, and there was a little more too it, but roughly meditation and chat. It's actually believed that one of the many reasons the physical aspect of yoga was created was to improve strength and suppleness of the body, enabling yogi's to meditate for longer.

So how does meditation work? In simple terms we could say that meditation works as you are training your brain to focus on one thing or the unconscious consciousness, ultimately you are training or allowing your mind to be in the moment. Some research argues that it has the power to rewire your brain and in yoga - meditation is one of the ways you can reach your higher self.

Whilst all of this might sound a little lofty in simple terms here are some benefits that yoga can bring;

• Improves sleep

• improves focus

• Boosts resilience

• Eases anxiety

• Improves self discipline

• Increased emotional regulation

  
  

These benefits are actually to name but a few of what meditation can bring to you, in talking to others there are many more personal ones. For me meditation has been a powerful way to improve my emotional regulation, and discipline in remembering to focus on what I can control. This has proved invaluable and to this day is one of the best things I have got out of yoga.

But it's really hard? Yes, that is true. it is difficult, especially in the beginning when your routine isn't consistent and your mind isn't really used to it. But like most things in life, the greater the challenge, the greater the reward. The benefits of meditation can often be felt pretty quickly which does inspire people to continue. But it also can be hard to maintain that discipline, which is where it's worth remembering that consistency is one of the big keys. You will get the biggest changes through a continues and regular schedule and improved discipline can also be a benefit to come from this.

Finally; Your meditation practise does not need to be polished and beautiful nor will not be perfect. Just the same as we do not expect to drop into a headstand in our first yoga class, you cannot expect yourself to have an empty mind for 30mins on the first go. Your mind will wonder to begin with and that's okay, you can keep practising. 2 minutes is always better than nothing.

I often practise for the 15mins spare that I have in my car before a class or after dropping my son off at nursery. Whilst I'd love to have a dedicated space in my house and a regular set time to practise, that is sadly not possible for me at this moment. So whether you schedule first thing in the morning or have to pick and chose, it is still meditation.

Tips I would advise starting with guided/ breath based meditations or movement (yes meditation doesn't have to be stationary) softly inviting your body into the presence. You can start with 2 or 5 minutes and then slowly building up over time. App's such as Spotify, Insight Timer or Calm have some great guided meditations which can introduce you slowly and give you points to focus on. As a yoga instructor I should not promote external motivation, but be proud! Make yourself a sticker chart, tell all your friends, this is hard and something that you can be chuffed about! And finally, at the end of the day it is there to improve your quality of life. If you find it is not helping you then you are more than welcome to drop it and return when your ready. Sometimes you'll cut sessions short, some days you'll miss them and others it'll be perfect. Just remember it's a marathon not a sprint.

If you like the idea of Meditation but fancy some guidance, I'll be running an online Morning Meditation Club on Tuesday's and Thursdays early morning. These sessions will be gradually progressive and a great way to introduce meditation into your life, cultivating mindfulness and time for yourself.