"When I stopped to pay attention to where the breath was deep and settled, the truth began to emerge from the mist" Betsy Canas Garmon
Let's continue exploring the breath, it's steadiness, and the impact that has on clarifying body and mind. We've been focusing on its rhythm the past few weeks - this week let's follow the breath into its centre:
"When I stopped to pay attention to where the breath was deep and settled, the truth began to emerge from the mist" Betsy Canas Garmon For the next few weeks, we'll explore breath as an internal "metronome" (and perhaps playing with an external metronome and breathing ratios, or the universal breath mantra)
Our reading is again anonymous: Take a moment. Begin by tuning into your breath, observing the exhales...the inhales.... Connect deeply with your breath - your internal metronome setting the rhythm for your practice and your day; using your breath as a mantra - a centring tool - to release the monkey mind. Just for a moment, less busyness and over-thinking, more breathing.... Invite a slowing of the rhythm. Lengthen the beats. Connect the beats seamlessly and effortlessly, establishing a sweet, flowing breath... Let's continue our focus on the breath as the heart or core of our practice... our quote this week is a riff on something that caught my eye recently (author unknown):
The breath weaves together our practice. It is a vehicle transporting us from stress, anger, tension, frustration, thoughts, pain, distractions into a realm of presence and peace. Without conscious breathing, yoga poses can be just a bunch of disconnected shapes. With conscious breath, the asana practice flows like moving meditation. Let breath be your drum player - setting the rhythm, helping body, mind and heart to synchronize....We need the breath to realize harmony and wholeness, not only in our yoga practice, but also in life. This week, notice when and how you are breathing - on your mat and off. Happy exploring! Let's keep things very simple as we return to our practice and head off into the New Year. The week's quote is my adaptation of Rodney Yee, from his book Yoga: the poetry of the body:
The practice is simply this: keep coming back to your breath during the day. Just take a moment. This gives our minds [and bodies] a steadiness and our breath a gracefulness...There's so much to let go of isn't there? Our nostalgia and our regrets. Our fantasies and our fears. What we think [should be] instead of what is happening right now.... Breathe.... |
AuthorMisha Butot RCSW, ERYT 500 is a longtime clinical social worker and senior yoga teacher living in Victoria, BC Archives
April 2024
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