How a relaxation practice helps to still a shaky world…
My world is shaking right now. There are times when it all feels relatively stable and then there are times like now. My world is off kilter. Life (and stuff) is happening at a pace I can’t control and I am here having to put one step in front of the other while it all implodes around me. I know I’m not alone. Your world might be feeling a bit shaky too…
These are the times I lean into Restorative Yoga and my relaxation practice. I am so grateful it is there – like a loyal and wise friend. The type of friend who will sit beside you as you cry and rant and wail. The friend who simply wraps you up in a hug and stays with you in silence – their presence reminding you all will be ok and this too shall pass…
Today I taught a Yoga Calm class – and I honed in on the steady, supportive energy of a restorative practice. At one point I advised the students that if their world is shaky right now then they should lean into this unassuming yin-style of yoga.
Afterwards a woman came up to me. She said her dad died last week and she thought I was talking directly to her. “I wondered how you knew,’ she said.
She told me the class had really helped her.
This resonated with me.
Three weeks ago, my dad was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and in that short space of time his world has fallen apart and it’s strained the seams of the fabric of my life too.
At the same time I’ve had other “stuff” going on… And if I really think about things then the stitching will break apart and that can’t happen.
So I am leaning in, I am listening, I am somehow coping, for now.
I can feel the earth beneath me keeping me grounded, I can ride the waves of my breath – the inhale infusing every cell with what I need right now and the exhale releasing what I don’t need…
I come back to the breath.
It is always there.
At night when I wake in the eerily empty hours of darkness and my stomach feels as if it could drop out of my feet, I tip toe my awareness back to the breath. To sensations I can feel within my body and I gently direct my exhalation, like a soft whisper of light to soothe away tension and invite relaxation to pour back in… deep, healing, nurturing relaxation…
It will often take a few attempts, as my mind threatens to pull me out of this space and back into an erratic race through trauma and drama.
But I persevere and eventually a chink of relaxation will appear and if I welcome it, the window cracks open a little wider and I find myself floating back.. back into that quiet, calm space which is waiting for you always…
If your world is a little shaky, then I invite you to lean in – to step back into a space where you can just be… and explore the healing world of Guided Relaxation. Reach out and know you are supported.
Katie X
