There’s a phenomenon taking place
noticed by therapists and counselors as living with the reality of the Covid pandemic being long staying. Many people are making big changes in their lives. Much of the rational behind making change is often due at least in part to our need to feel in control of our lives, especially when we can feel anything but that, and especially now. Have you considered making big changes in your life? Changing your job, changing your residence, or even a major relationship? Apparently, you are not alone. Change can make way for new inspiration, ingenuity. However, change also adds stress. Stress is held and can get stuck in our bodies as well as in our brains and minds. How are you managing your stress? It's hard to say whether life will lighten up on the stress meter. It's easier to say we all need tools and techniques for better managing it. Acceptance can be a major part of stress reduction. Acceptance of what we simply don't have control over is what allows us to move through trials and change without wrecking havoc on our health and wellness. Acceptance allows us to live with less fear, less anxiety and wreck far less havoc on our overall immune system. We help our bodies and brains find resilience and healing. We can't control circumstances always, but we can learn to better techniques in the way we react to them.
We have 3 months remaining in 2021. I'm fairly certain none of us expected much of what this whole year brought. Expectations unmet. What are we doing with all that stress?
Yoga teaches acceptance in the now, diffusing the ego's expectations. Yoga teaches us to connect to ourselves just as we are, right here and right now. Each time we come to our mats, we come back to ourselves, allowing our breath to surrender us to the present moment of true acceptance. We learn to let go of the ego, our expectations, our control. We become observers of self and in that we create a calm for our nervous systems. We experience gratitude for the miracle our bodies are, and yes even in its vulnerabilities and restrictions. The wonder we have for our breath in our lungs is itself, a practice. We begin to not only find more freedom in our body through better movement, but we also recognize the vice grip of stress and the freedom of releasing it. We soften and get strong at the same time. We actually shift our energy from negative to positive. Yoga.