Oh, I love love - thanks Adriene Mishler for the YWA Move Day 26 practice! A kind, compassionate attitude towards the self while practicing is so helpful. I arrived on the mat this morning with a pile up of stressful events and some emotion. Ok, I was feeling some anxiety, and I also had too much coffee before practice. So, I was grateful that the thematic frame for this yoga session was love. It is always helpful to go to the heart of things...
Hoo, I needed the YWA Move Day 25 practice. Release is such a helpful movement - to shake, to exhale, to throw something out of the body. The 'shh' breath on the exhalation helps to hear the release and know that it is happening. I felt that I was releasing old patterns and habits of not speaking up, of being too nice, of being stuck in the 'compassionate listener' mode. Now, as I wrote in the post on process - release isn't a...
Ah, life is always in process, what a great reminder in the ywaMove series of yoga videos, particularly YWA Move Day 24. Yoga is the process. The breath always moves; always processes between states. My asana are always in process. Each moment, each day. My growth towards being assertive, communicating my needs, and finding my voice is - guess what - a process. Sometimes older habits feel more in the mix. Sometimes less. Sometimes growth and change is rapid, sometimes slow. If I miss practice...
What a beautiful practice of softening is found in YWA Move Day 23 video from Yoga With Adriene. Being day 23 of the ywaMove 30 days of yoga journey suggests being in a final phase. A time to bring together the different qualities that have been generated. Softness is important in embodiment, and I am grateful that Adriene highlighted it. Of course there are certain yoga 'styles' and practices that really focus on softening - 'yin' yoga, restorative yoga, pranayama, savasana, yoga...
Well, the theme of YWA Move Day 22 being courage was kind of perfect. I arrived on the mat feeling stressed and overwhelmed about many areas of my life - kids, relationships, and personal and business finances. I am practicing speaking up to others and this takes a lot of courage for me. So thank you Adriene for a beautiful online yoga session that invited me to tap in to my courage. I loved the yoga, I loved the sequence, I loved the...
Well, yes, the YWA Move Day 21 online yoga practice with Adriene Mishler was not what I was expecting! That is, it was only about 12 minutes long, and was almost all core strengthening movements. So I found it a little challenging to be motivated - I guess because these movements just don't feel as good as many asana for me. Core work can also trigger memories of workouts, exercise classes and associated anti-fatness and body judgement. I have enjoyed and used...
The theme of YWA Move Day 20 is ritual. For many this idea may be off-putting, prompting an aversion to religious or spiritual ceremony. Fair enough. A lot of harm has been continued through means of ritual in institutationalised religion. A lot of toxic positivity and eliding true experience has been enacted in new age rituals. I know because of the deep frown line in my forehead that formed in response to simplistic and harmful intoning of the sacred masculine and sacred feminine...
YWA Move Day 19 was a wonderful short yoga practice. I love feeling the connection and familiarity with Adriene. I truly appreciate feeling love for myself, others practicing, and the collective. At a time when a part of me is yearning for love in relationship, feeling love towards myself and others is a true healing. It's important to acknowledge that this is not absolutely the same as embodied interpersonal love. Yet, we feel the love, and it actually has an effect, according to...
I savoured the YWA Move day 18 online yoga practice from Yoga With Adriene. What a beautiful reframe as a part of this ywaMove series - to savour each moment (or savor, with the American spelling). Savouring the embodied experience of yoga helps to bring attention to the current moment. It is such a gift. It is, of course, such a practice - I am always practicing this! Always forgetting, returning, remembering. Remembering to savour the sensations moves attention away from self-critical thoughts or judging...
How lovely that the YWA Move Day 17 theme was snuggle! Love a snuggle, me. In fact touch and cuddles and proximity are my equal-favourite love language. I have spent a long time wanting touch and snuggles and not having it, so I understand both the yearning for touch and being met, and the healing practice of snuggling up to the self. I am so glad that Adriene shared this with her millions of followers, what a treasure! May even small moments of snuggling...
