YOGA FOR A CLEARER MIND

Life has been a bit of a jumble lately.  I have been feeling run down for a while; days have merged into one another in a disorganised frenzy and I have found myself frustrated at my lack of focus and my ability to simply get things done.

Then one day last week I stopped.  I had been sleeping badly, I was cranky, I was blaming the world, and finally my body had had enough.  A reocccurring pain in my shoulder reared its head, shooting a searing pain through the whole left side of my body and I spent the day in bed, frustrated and useless yet trying desperately to relax and work the tension out.  

 

Strangely enough, it was a good day and I am grateful for what it taught me.  

I have suffered from muscle tension, especially in my shoulders, since I was a teenager.  I have also suffered from anxiety, worry, stress - whatever you want to call it - for as long as I can remember and I am convinced the two are inextricably linked: my shoulder is a barometer of what is going on around me and the level of my pain represents the level of stress I am dealing with. It was is only now, after year and years of medication and physio the I have come to understand that in order to be completely rid of the pain, I have to address the underlying reason for why it was there in the first place.  When the pain is bad my body is giving me a wake-up call, telling me something has to change. 

What I found when I looked realistically and fully into what my pain was telling me was that it was always my mind and my thoughts that let me down and I had to learn to control it.  When I got anxious and stressed I found it easy to see the negative in everything around me - I would over-analyse everything that others said - get annoyed easily and blame others for my woes. My thoughts would begin to chatter and negative emotions, judgements and assumptions would churn through my mind for hours on end. And my shoulder would hurt like hell.  

This is where my yoga came in and I knew that this was the very thing I had been missing.

For the past month or so I had been neglecting my yoga practice and had been telling myself throughout each day that I didn't have time to fit it in:  too busy, too tired, too much else to do.  So much nonsense.  I was making excuses of course and the pain in my shoulder was ultimately my body telling me to slow down and reflect.  Why?  Yoga has the ability to help me to tame my racing mind by allowing me to put some space between my mind, my thoughts and my emotions.  It give me time to accept, without judgement, where I am in my life and by spending even 20 or 30 minutes a day to practice postures and control my breathing, I can find a calm and peaceful space that allows me to reset and see the world - including its problems - from a different perspective.

Yoga also tunes me in to what is happening both in my body and my environment and by making small adjustments in somewhat uncomfortable situations - a strong hip opener for instance - I can find a sense of clarity and ease that I can transfer into my everyday life.  It has taught me that although I might not be able to control every single situation in my day, I can certainly make small adjustments to my reaction to something and by doing so maintain a sense of myself in a wholesome, complete and pragmatic way.

The next day, out of my sickbead, my  pain subsided as the day went on and I took some time to get back to  my yoga by practicing some gentle shoulder opening poses in the garden.  I took time to feel my breath in Downward Dog, surrendered myself to whatever might come in Camel and felt tension drain out as I dangled heavily over my legs in Forward Folding Bend.

I am pleased to say that over the following days and into this week my practice has regained its old rythmn and a familiar sense of calm has washed over me.  I have found more headspace, am less distracted and have been better able to deal, more clearly, with daily strains and emotions.  I have slept more soundly than I have in weeks and the pain in my shoulder has also dissappeared.  For now at least. 

There is an ancient and innate wisdom held within our bodies and I am grateful for the power of yoga to allow me to hear mine.

Yoga is an amazing tool.  What has it done for you?

*IMAGE COPYRIGHT  Mish Sukharev Creative Commons 2.0