Listen to the moments
In yoga, as in life, we need to learn to listen to moments. This blog is going to cover working through and listening to the moments.
Yoga practices teach you to not rush poses, breathe, and how to relax to allow everything to come. Have you ever been in class and knew you could get this pose, but today it is not there? It could be a multitude of factors, but in the end, by listening and not forcing a pose we prevent injuring ourselves and misaddressing a situation.
Signals are sent back and forth in the body in response to a pose, the environment, pain, and others. It is our job to recognize and listen to these signals or messages. Some may call some of these signals intuition. One of the harder aspects of listening is identifying the signals. Is it a signal telling you to stop in the pose? It is a pain signal or some holding within the body. Identifying a signal takes daily practice. Start with one signal at a time and identify it. How often do you see it, and when does it come up? With this in mind, you build up another signal and continue in this vein.
When you get a signal, pause and try to identify it. Sit in the moment and figure out what it is. An emotional wheel can be a great tool to help you identify what the signal is. Once you identify the signal, work with the message. Ask yourself why is the signal arriving, and how you work it. Yoga Nidra, Mindfulness, and Somatic Healing are several modalities that can help you work through the signals. When you choose not to acknowledge the signals, they continue to build up and can lead to anxiety, and stress and limit your potential. Usually, we wait too long to listen, and then our body makes us listen and show ourselves through a health issue, panic attack, or depression.
Take the time throughout the day to listen to yourself and your body using meditation and mindful exercises. The more you stay in contact, the more you will properly identify the signal, and begin to address it. For those who don't meditate or have a mindfulness practice, use your yoga to help identify signals. When your body will not let you in a pose, ask yourself why and begin to work the same process of identifying.
When you build a practice of listening and addressing what comes up, anxiety, stress, and holding become less. Spend time with yourself and listen to those moments.
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