Of course, it hasn’t been all plain sailing. There have been moments when particularly my sugar-cravings shot through the roof and I wanted to raid my kids’ sweet-stash… but I didn’t, knowing that the craving would pass more quickly than the disappointment over giving in would. There have been days when I’ve felt really irritable and cranky as my body has been clearing. But as the days have passed it has become easier and it feels like the way I taste food is also becoming more subtle, like I can appreciate all delicate flavours more – I mean how delicious can just one single blueberry be?!. Though more importantly it also feels like I’m becoming more spacious in my thoughts and more mindful in my actions, rather than suppressing feelings with mindless eating I have been forced to stop and reflect. My teacher Rod (Stryker) talks about yogis being like “spiritual beavers” – they build dams that stop the flow of the water, or in this case the flow of routine and habits, creating tension to clarify perception and facilitate growth. And that process of discovery is really what fires me up and spurs me on, much more so than purely the physical health of my body, just in the way that the yoga practice for me is more about the shift of consciousness than the external physical asana practice…

The world we live in certainly doesn’t help to decrease the incessant chatter of our minds as we’re continuously exposed to so much information and so much sensory overload – TV, mobiles, internet-surfing, social media, e-mail… Smart-phones for sure are no help, now we’re “available” all the time to not only take calls, but to also respond to e-mails, see everyone’s statuses on Facebook etc etc – that is; unless we switch them off.

Switch it off??? Instantly my mind rebels – “but it’s my lifeline, what if I miss out on something really important?” With everything moving at break-neck speed comes the idea that everything has to be responded to ASAP – or we might lose out. Our adrenals and stress-response are so pumped up all the time, living in “fight or flight”-mode that we find it hard to sit back and… well, just get some perspective! Will a few hours of not being right “on it” really make any difference? Isn’t it okay to be out of reach and switch off so you can nurture yourself without contributing to a fractious mind? In fact, you’ll probably end up more effective for it. It is no surprise burn-out is a very real dis-ease amongst us. We’re completely over-stimulated. Have you seen what happens to young babies when they get sensory overload – they scream and scream and scream (it’s not pretty!) and then they often just drop off into a really deep sleep. It’s like they scream to exhaust themselves so that they can then switch off completely.  At times I have felt like that myself; that scream rising inside, my thoughts being in so many places at once I’ve just wanted to scream “STOOOOP!!!”. Perhaps this sounds familiar to you, as well? But hopefully it is before that point that we realise that something has to give. That we can put strategies in place to switch off in a way that still doesn’t require us to opt out completely.

So here are a few ideas to help still that monkey-mind, to find more peace and also effectiveness with the time we do use;

1. Get on your mat – you knew I was going to say that, right? But it’s true, even if you only have 5-10 minutes, breathing and moving will help you to connect to the para-sympathetic nervous system (opposite to “fight or flight”) and replenish you.
2. Schedule your internet use, rather than continuously checking e-mails etc, limit yourself to certain set times of the day to check in. Maybe three times a day when you check e-mail, social media, do whatever internet research you need to do – and then switch off in-between.
3. Plan what you watch on TV and realise that there is an off-button. Yes, I know – amazing – it was news to me, too! Avoid relentless, mindless watching of everything and anything that’s on by planning to watch only programmes of interest to you (I have to say having a “plus-box” has been a life-saver for me in this regard – being able to fast-forward the ads as well, even better.). This way you won’t fill your precious mind with unnecessary and unwanted information.
4. Take 10 deep breaths – if you feel that inner scream rising up inside the best thing you can do is breathe deeply, really commit to feeling each breath from beginning to middle to end – and then start over.

Let me know how you get on – and perhaps you have some ideas of your own to share?

Shanti – shanti – shanti…. Still your inner monkey!

THAT is what kept me coming back. I had in those precious moments found something I didn’t even realise I was looking for. In letting go, in peeling away the layers of my being and in engaging so sincerely with the practice it then allowed me to release into myself in a way I never had before. That was the feeling of knowing all I needed was inside me. What I had sub-consciously been searching for outside of me, sometimes in quite destructive ways, had actually been hiding inside of me all along. And that is a profound realisation, on a feeling-level, not an intellectual level – and yoga is an experiential, not an academic science (and art) – the realisation that you are whole, if you only allow yourself to be.

I love this quote by Danielle LaPorte, I think it sums it up nicely;

“You are not broken. You don’t need fixing. Perfection is your foundation (just peel back the layers).”

And this is exactly the opportunity our yoga practice gives us – to peel away the layers so we can connect to our perfection, our light, our true Self beyond all limitations. However small or short that glimpse might be it feeds us and nourishes us so deeply, just to know that we have – a home.

 look forward to seeing you on the mat!

love & light

Tanja

]]> http://www.yogawithtanja.com/2012/01/12/happy-2012/feed/ 0 http://www.yogawithtanja.com/2011/08/01/hello-world/ http://www.yogawithtanja.com/2011/08/01/hello-world/#comments Mon, 01 Aug 2011 16:36:16 +0000 admin http://www.yogawithtanja.com/?p=1 Continue reading →]]> I am very excited to be teaching a New Year’s Workshop on Monday 2nd January 2012 at 10.30am- 1pm at The Life Centre Islington

Reflect, Revitalise and Make Space for New Beginnings