Closer to a Sense of Calm
Dear friends,
If you practice with me in-person or on Zoom, you know that we always check in with our physical, mental, and emotional states at the beginning of each practice. Without judgment or changing anything, we notice how we feel.
When we finish the practice and make our way back to seated after savasana, we repeat that process. It is always my hope that we have made our way a little bit closer to a sense of calm. That's the intention of the practices that I create. I want us to find a calmer state for our nervous system.
The current national news cycle is making this a much more difficult endeavor. It might seem ineffective to sit and breathe and stretch while the very foundations of our democracy are crumbling. But that means that we need our yoga practice now more than ever.
What we do on the mat and in our chair is important self-care. Having the nervous system on high alert 24/7 does not support a healthy body or a healthy mind. It wears us down and we become ineffective. It's important that we find the calm within us so that we can better deal with the chaos around us.
Then change can happen.
I found this beautiful poem this week - Blessing in the Chaos. It speaks to the chaos and the calm and the work ahead.
“To all that is chaotic in you,
let there come silence.
Let there be a calming
of the clamoring,
a stilling
of the voices that
have laid their claim on you,
that have made their home in you,
that go with you
even to the holy places
but will not
let you rest….
Let there be
an opening
into the quiet
that lies beneath the chaos,
where you find the peace
you did not think possible
and see what shimmers
within the storm.”
Love & calm,
Nina G