As the pandemic of 2020 rages on, the days have turned into months, and the months are edging ever closer to a year. So my question to you, you exquisite soul, is: How are you faring? Please feel free to connect with me by commenting below!
At times like these (not that the majority of us have experienced many, or indeed any, times like these in our lives) it is only natural to feel like you’re stuck, but at the same time feel like your pent up energy is taking you somewhere you don’t want to go...
While there is no doubting that whatever you are feeling and experiencing is entirely valid, there is one thing I’d like to suggest that you keep in mind - everything is temporary & there is always hope!
Hope for better days to come. Hope that more positive things are on the way. Hope that we are soon going to come out of the other side of this and be wiser and stronger than we were before.
The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali (one of modern Yoga's most influential wisdom texts) teach us that the only thing of permanence in this life is change. In order to reduce our suffering, we must surrender to the inherent impermanence of life, letting go of our attachment to our expectations and to the outcomes of our actions in order to move forward and reach a place of contentment.
So here’s a simple suggestion of one thing you can do to navigate your way through these turbulent times and keep calm in the eye of the storm:
Connect to your breath through a simple grounding Pranayama practice: In my opinion there’s no greater de-stresser than the breath as it is our only tangible connection to our energetic body and so the best way to begin to control our energy when we feel like it is spiralling out of control. Try this simple practice to bring yourself back down to earth:
*Sit up tall and place one hand on your heart, one hand on your belly*
*Exhale completely*
*Now take a slow, deliberate, deep breath in; sending the breath all the way down into the belly*
*Pause for a couple of seconds*
*Now take an even slower, more deliberate, deeper breath out; completely emptying your body of breath* *Now close your eyes, or gaze gently down at the floor in front of you, and repeat as many times as you like*
For more information about Pranayama practices that may help to calm an anxious mind, subscribe to our blog or get in touch with me here.
I hope you found this practice useful; please share this post if you feel better after giving it a go! Also, you can subscribe for more tips to help you stay present and find your true direction!
With love and light always
Alex
RYT® 200, Usui Reiki Master, Shamanic Practitioner & Explorer of the Mystical Arts
Founder of Spinning Arrow Yoga & Holistic Healing