Autumn is a second spring, where every leaf becomes a flower

Theres a certain crispness in there is there not Northern Hemespherers?

The  sweat of summer is drying off, as is the rich green landscape which is being replaced by new smells, sights and sensations.

The blankets are out, the beanies are on and its only natural that there is a tiny sense of loss of our long summer days and balmy nights.

Since moving to Norway, I would have to say that this is my first real year of “post summer blues”…Its time to put into practice, the art of being present and appreciating life in its many colours and forms.

I read this quote about Autumn and just like the magic of this season…I was hit in the face by the glorious appreciation of seeing change as the beautiful creature that it is!

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The father of yoga, the creator of the “Yoga Sutras” Patanjali wrote:

 “We misunderstand our world, things that are not, seem to us as if they are”

(Yoga Sutras 11.5D)

Hows that for a knowledge bomb! The first time I read this, I actually had to read it over about 3 times to simply understand the sentence itself!

So often, our minds begin to meddle and our perception of reality becomes colored with expectations, emotions and lets face it – ego.

Its a simple act to open ones eyes, but to really “open our eyes” we need to let our minds become quiet.

Change is a force, it is a wonderful tool that presents itself with physical, mental and emotional challenges- challenges that by design, we are capable of overcoming.

Often as the mind begins to buzz, our perception of change is altered and the fear of change begins to take over and add extra complications into the mix.

As a yoga teacher & practitioner, as a fairly new immigrant- I am confronted with change on a daily basis… and let me tell you, its an ongoing effort for us all to keep our eyes open! Its not just me, its not just you- we’re all in this together, because we are drawn together with a common denominator, our minds 🙂

I have learnt over these years to identify the beginning stages of “mental resistance”… you know the feeling- the tiny collective tightening up of your body, mind and heart when something doesn’t go as you planned… This urge of resistance  is actually a voice in itself.

Part of the journey to quieten the mind begins by acknowledging this feeling… In one of my previous posts “Conscious fears are conquerable fears” I journeyed into replacing emotion with rationalisation.

In my journey, in my life- identifying even the tiniest hint of “resistance” in my day to day life on and off the mat triggers me to stop the emotional whirlwind and get back to reality to “see” my surroundings as they really are. I cant say i’m a pro at it yet, but thats the beauty of life and growth… the journey itself 🙂

On the mat – quieten the resistance, breathe and let change happen.

Off the mat – quieten the resistance, breathe and let change happen.

You will be ok. I will be ok.

This is part of our design.

The scariest moment is always just before you start

Sorry for my absence! It seems that I was well and truly swallowed by the summer…and GOSH was it delicious being inside her:)

This summer my husband and I took a trip to Brazil- traveling to lazy beach towns, crazy big cities, historical old cities and the incredible countryside.

The first part of our trip was in a beautiful surf town called Itacare…just us, a couple of Brazilian tourists and the beach… Within a few hours of arriving, we were sitting in a surf school with our friends listening to an instructor whose lessons & observations from the days surf hit me straight to the core.

We started by watching videos from the day and he observed that while many were able to paddle out & stand up, they were still afraid to take their hands off the board to catch the wave and simply experience the surf.

The instructor continued by saying that very often, students tell him that if they keep their hands on the board they feel like they are in control and still kinda feel like they are surfing so, they would prefer to just keep it that way because it works!

Of course at this stage… the yoga teacher sitting in the back row’s mind started to run wild…

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In yoga, there is a single natural movement that seems to scare the CRAP out of almost all beginners. The humble backbend.

We have a posture called camel pose, in the beginners series it is the deepest of all the back bends in the class and in Bikram Yoga, we use 75 minutes of warm up to prepare for it!

We start the posture kneeling, with our hands on our hips…

Then we push the hips forward and simply let the head drop back.

Easy right?… notsomuch…thanks to fear.

The simple act of letting the head drop back incites such tremendous instinctive fear… maybe that the heads going to fall off….maybe that the entire body will tip backwards…or maybe its the sheer sight of the wall or floor from kneeling that almost always scares the humble first timer.

This fear doesn’t last forever though…after a few glances at the wall/floor the mind begins to rationalise that the head actually isn’t going to fall off… which leads us to the next step.

Letting Go.

Yup. The next step is all about letting go of control, trusting your instincts and “riding the wave”.

In Bikram Yoga, we start one hand at a time.. baby steps…yet these baby steps represent so much and are often the source of so much fear.

Just like the beginner on the surf board, learning to let go of your predictions of what you think will happen, opens up so many incredible possibilities and experiences.

Fear manifests in many different ways… on a surf board, in the snow and in the yoga room, on the streets!

Understand that to experience the ocean, the snow, the body and each other fully, you must be open to all the experiences that are being offered… and open yourself fully.

Replace your fear with desire…You have SO much to receive. Once you set your eye on the prize and start focussing on that, the fear will become irrelevant because you see the goal. Breathe in the exhilaration of the desire…and as you exhale…. go for it!