Heap stress on us, make us believe survival is shaky, and hormones flood our central nervous system, instinctively diverting our behavior into one of two outcomes. Here’s what one expert wrote:

By its very nature, the fight or flight system bypasses our rational mind — where our more well thought out beliefs exist — and moves us into “attack” mode. This state of alert causes us to perceive almost everything in our world as a possible threat to our survival… Fear becomes the lens through which we see the world… Our heart is not open. Our rational mind is disengaged. Our consciousness is focused on fear, not love.  

Shannon Martin

*****

Faster, harder, better, run, flee, add more to the calendar, get out of town...

When our nervous system is in overdrive, our minds become frantic.  We either fight with words or throwing objects; most of the time we leave.

Leave the scene with an addiction, an impulse to overeat, overspend, overindulge, over-watch, drive faster, evacuate a relationship, whatever it may be.  We highjack and move... our ANS, autonomic nervous system, becomes entrenched in adrenalin.  Shallow breath, holding breath, fleeing body.

Yoga gives us the opportunity to stay....to pause....to wait with the breath.  Practicing the pause creates space or sukham, and then we learn to be more self-disciplined even if it is only on the mat.

Therefore, when I tell you...practice the pause, stay in the pose, connect with your exhale, slower is better and less is more, there is a purpose.

Spin cannot accomplish this space, boot camps cannot achieve it, Cross Fit cannot out lift it, running cannot create enough distance, and neither can eating too much.

Yoga...it is more than just the physicality of the movement.  It is the work inside that makes the difference.  There has to be a reason something has lasted thousands of years.

Eventually, it will carry over into our daily habits.  I will be waiting for you on the mat...at the door...to congratulate you for coming home to yourself.  Let's breathe.

Namaste'

Jeanne K

Sometimes, Stop, Start, Good Job...Let Me Inspire You Again to Get on Your Mat!

1. Enjoy the process of yoga again.
• Sometimes we become weary in well doing.
• Stop expecting perfection.  Your body did not get this way in a day, and it will take more than a few attempts to be better at yoga.
• Start accepting your today's body on the way to where you want to be.
• Good job for getting on your mat every time you do.  Feel powerful and confident from it.
2. Learn the yoga habit of contentment, "Santosha."
• Sometimes we try too hard and then become too frustrated.  Don't be overly so focused on getting it, that you forget the process is for progress.
• Stop feeling angry if you cannot do the peak pose and just sitting.  Do one of the steps that created the peak.
• Start moving something....For example, everyone loves to hate "Boat" pose.
• Sit up and bring your hands underneath your thighs and lift one foot up off the floor at a time.
• Use your breath on the exhale to lift your feet. It engages the core when you breathe out and helps the hip flexors to raise the feet.
• Take a break and hug your knees to your chest. Then, try again.
• Practice it at home in between classes, your ilio-psoas muscle may be overly tense/tight and just need some patient homework.
• Let go of the resting angry face...I get it, and I can hear your loud sighing or your hand waving as if it could be cooler (especially in hot yoga).  If it wasn't important, I would not include it in class...
• Good job on trying the yoga postures that you don't enjoy.
3. Feeling bored?  Try a different class or time or teacher.
• Sometimes we get too much in our thinking minds and try to fast forward our anticipation to what the teacher may cue next.  The whole point of yoga, meditation, and breath is to get you out of your futuristic thoughts and into the present moment.  Be there now...
• Stop saying to yourself..."same ole, same ole, move faster, move slower, this is too hard, I am hot, I am cold, are we done yet, when is Savasana…"
• Start using those crazy affirmations I am always saying to make, point to your mat, say to yourself before class begins where you can hear yourself, "This is a good work for me today.  I am..._________________ (peaceful, persistent, proud of myself....)fill in the blank."
• Good job on trying another time or focus when you feel stagnated.  If 5:45 pm is too hard, go at 4:30 pm.  If the noon class seems boring to you, go the evening Yin Yoga at 7:15 pm.  Mix it up with spin or yoga with weights.  If you don't enjoy my classes, come on Sundays to Lori's class at 5 pm, Courtney's class every other week on Monday/Thursday, or Debbie's Sunday class at 3 pm, or use a yoga video at home.  I recommend Yoga Today, Yoga International, Ekhart Yoga, and Yoga Glo for online classes.
4. Yoga does a work in, as well as, a work out. Don't try to develop a yoga skill or pose in a week or two.
• Sometimes we are overly ambitious, maybe we should just continue doing what we are doing now.
• Stop expecting what took me almost 24 years to cultivate in my body and brain - as just a few months in yours.  Stop comparing your body to someone else's in the studio or a photo you have seen.  It is plain old hard work...
• Start feeling good in your own skin.  This is the only earth suit you get.  Be whatever age you are on the mat.  The reason you don't look 24 is because you are no longer that age.
• Good job on working it day after day, practice after practice, and going inside instead of just the physicality of the practice.
5. Meditation takes self-discipline.
   

   • Sometimes it seems so difficult if you are only doing it to GET.  You may not GET anything ever.  But, your brain and your spirit appreciate the minutes of silence.
   • Stop telling yourself it is a waste of time.  Stop rolling your eyes when someone talks about it.  If you are doing yoga, you are already meditating with movement.
   • Start a timer or start meditating at stop lights.  Whatever works, try one minute.
   • Good job on knowing it is good for you and worth it.

   There you have it...my encouragement for Day #21...yoga matters.  If you have become weary, please let me inspire you again.

Dear 2019,

1.  I will bring the most courageous, compassionate, and kind version of "me" to the yoga mat.

2. I will seek out stillness and embrace the present moment.

3. I will walk in wisdom.

4. I will practice more love and less judgment of myself and others.

5. I will encourage myself through the discipline of "tapas," or the fire of self-discipline.

6. I will work at controlling my breath instead of holding it.

7. I will eat wisely and slowly. (not in a car or distracted in any way)

8. I will smile more, compliment more, and hug more.

9. I will sit quietly in silence often.

10. I will embrace my faults and know that the journey ahead this year will contain mistakes.

11. I will sleep better, more soundly, and with less wake-ups as I strive to find the balance for myself.

12. I will journal more frequently.

13. I will pray little snippets all day long, "help," "wow," "thanks!"

14. I will freak out less about my lack of perfect and instead laugh about my imperfections.

15. I will not over-think every little thing.

16. I will learn and then learn some more because knowledge is vast, and I hunger for it; Yoga for Autism and Differently Abled People is coming next month!

17. I will welcome all people, even those who frown or critique without a question.

18. I will accept other people's mistakes just like I see my own from the perspective of my intentions.

19. Now, I will worry less, this is my biggest challenge for 2019, because it steals my joy.