Welcome to Seeking Balance Ponderings…
Thursday, 2 October, 2014
In Daily Life?
Yoga teaches us skills of observation, compassion, self-care, non-judgement and clarity. These are skills that come into play in each moment of our lives.
Some people still regard yoga as a sport or activity that involves various postures or contortions of the body. Asana, or posture, is only a small part of the yoga path. Within asana, we learn the underlying principles of yoga. We become connected to our reality, in our body, breath and mind.
Do you consciously take these yoga practices into your daily life?
At home, down the street or in the office-you may notice being rushed, tense, time poor or mentally drawn into future or past events. These are the pressures of daily living. Where are we? Are we in our bodies or are we absent from our bodies?
With practice, we can release the shoulder tension, take a smooth steady breath and quieten the brow. We can get back to the task at hand, moment to moment, with clarity and calm. It doesn’t take an hour or even ten-minutes. It is an immediate boost of self-soothing. We tap into life, as it is, without judgement. In doing this, we recharge our sense of being and we break the habitual patterns of endless ‘doing’.
Yoga students are armed with hours of ‘on-the-mat’ practice. This practice adds up and accumulates in our neural pathways. It reminds the body of musculo-skeletal alignment and strategies for tension release. We can close our eyes, return to the nourishment of breath and recharge our minds in moments. We can create space to care about the world around us and within us.
I practice yoga in my day. Every moment holds an opportunity for observation and self-retreat. As I observe internal dialogues, as I wait in lines to buy groceries, as I talk on the phone, as I listen to others, as I make decisions… I do it with clarity of the options and clarity of my motivations. I take action rather than reaction. It is yoga in action.
Yoga teaches us to be in each moment without fear of the next or the last.
Life is as it is right now. You are reading this article. I am sitting on the train, writing it.
As yoga students, it is our challenge to translate the skills learnt in asana into daily acts of care and self-awareness.
We can live busy, thriving lives with calm, clear intentions that nourish world beyond ourselves.
-JR
Saturday, 20 September, 2014
What is mindfulness? How do I take it on?
Mindfulness is talked about everywhere these days. It isn’t new… it’s been around for thousands of years. It has survived and thrived.
Science is showing us that the benefits of mindfulness include improved immune function, reduced pain, happier moods, improved decision making and clarity of thought… People who engage in longterm mindfulness meditation practice show real neurological changes to their brains.
We can change our brains. We can change our everything… Mindfulness teaches us these skills.
Observation skills.
We can learn to observe ourselves on every level of being- our physical behaviours and actions; our thoughts and ideas; our feelings and beliefs; our motivations and ideals. We can observe it all and then choose what to do with it all. Possibilities open up.
Walk out of the quagmire…. Take honest action. Learn to love what you see and build from there.
Break habits.
As we witness ourselves, sit with ourselves- and become more fully our authentic ‘effortless‘ self- we can leap into each moment of life.
All ages, young and old, are doing it. Mindfulness is simple… it just takes practice.
I practice daily. I have seen hundreds of people take it on- the penny drops- we learn self-awareness and non-judgement. We befriend our evolving self.
We are all in change each moment. Endless potential sits inside of us…
-JR
Friday, 19 September, 2014
Courageous Souls
During years of work with vertigo patients at the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital and University of Melbourne Balance Disorders Clinic, I have had the pleasure of meeting some of Australia’s bravest people.
Living with dizziness is hard-yakka. People with vertigo can feel isolated, misunderstood and frustrated.
Everyone experiences vertigo differently. Spinning, tilting, falling, fuzzy, quick, ongoing, constant, painful…
Meet someone with vertigo and ask them about it.
Hear their story… it will hold lines of courage in daily life.
They are all survivors.
-JR
