my yoga mat
"I've learned how to be in the present". "How? asked the boy. "I find a quiet spot and shut my eyes and breathe". Charlie Mackesy.
My relationship with yoga is one I find to be therapeutic, which I thought I would share. For me it feels as if the following come together - the person centred approach to life, being creative, and yoga. Something about attending to the whole self.
For me my yoga mat is the place I can meet myself in what ever that is that I am feeling in that particular moment. My yoga mat is like my island and where ever I place it, that then becomes my space, a place to slow down, to focus on my breath, to be present with my whole self, a space to notice how I might be feeling, notice any tension in my body, any pain, any parts I can't relax into.
To connect with the natural flow of my breathe, the in and out, the rise and fall, to be able to try and be present with what ever I am experiencing in the moment . To really be able to hear and connect with my body and what it might be trying to communicate to me.
A place to put the outside world down and notice what is naturally coming to my mind. A place to really focus on my breath, my body and mind. I find if I can allow myself to try to be fully present with the practice of yoga and tune into my whole self, then I can create space for natural thoughts to arrive in my mind.
I find in this moment I have the opportunity to notice what ever is flowing through my mind, to hear the natural rise of thoughts and feelings as they ebb and flow through my body. I may find something new here, something I have not noticed before. As with counselling, this slowing down gives me the chance to engage with, explore and experience what ever comes into my awareness, thus meeting my whole self.
If I can try to really hear what my body is trying to communicate to me, if I can hear the tightness , notice what feels tense, out of balance, notice my thoughts that come to mind, then I have the opportunity to engage with, attend to what ever that may be, accept where I am in this moment, and this I find to be therapeutic.
As with counselling, yoga takes work and yet the rewards are where the change lies, what I take from the here and now, this moment, the process, continues when I leave this space, where ever that therapeutic space maybe.
No matter how big or small something moved, shifted, whether I may have noticed it or not.