S.L.O.W.D.O.W.N.Y.O.G.A.

It was, quite simply, perfect.

 

Just, precisely, what I needed.

 

I was so pleased to make it to the 'Slow Down' yoga workshop at the end of the working week.  A rare opportunity to properly mark the transition between Friday and Saturday.  To honour it, in fact.

 

It was a terrific way to unwind, and allow my mind and body to get back in sync with one another. 

 

All too often one is ahead of the other.  The body is tired, but the mind remains wired.  It is far harder to really, truly relax than many of us realise. 

 

Graham gently reminded us of the reality of chronic overstimulation and the impact that this has.  He described what I already knew to be the case:  not from the headspace, but from deep within my body.  Between my shoulders, and around the base of my skull.  Tightness and tension.  Holding.  On to what? 

 

Relaxation is a challenge for most of us.  Perhaps we are too easily seduced by the 'flop 'n' drop' but only ever re-charge, treating ourselves as though we were mechanical objects or, worse still, battery operated systems that simply need a bit more juice before we exhaust our batteries back down again.  In the age of the iPhone, perhaps we too think we have that extra life in us.  The reserve tank mentality. 

 

When what our bodies need is high quality rejuvenation.  The equivalent of a full service, oil and filter change.  And then a wash 'n' vac.  Only with this sort of maintenance can we expect ourselves to function at the high levels we demand of ourselves. 

 

 

And that's where the focus of the workshop was placed.  We began with a series of asanas, gradually moving towards the floor.  On meeting the floor we met our breath, in a wonderful pranayama practice, to prepare the mind having prepared the body, for the closing, glorious, practice of yoga nidra.

 

I felt cleansed and uplifted.  I had a choice as to what I took with me into the weekend.  And let other stuff float away.  Leaving me free to make my journey back down the Northern Line alongside the revellers who were letting off steam in an altogether different way...