Doin' Nothing....which is something....

So i just did a workshop with Kate Bovers Bilby this weekend and all I have to say is WOW. Kate has studied with some amazing teachers and she is so talented in her own right. We work well together as we are so different, but balance each other out.

Rebekah, at the Yoga Loft, organized a mini-retreat for students to practice, rejuvenate, learn about food and our bodies and finally restore. We opened the practice with my segment. My theme centered around how we disguise our needs as wants and vice versa. I, myself, can justify a food craving with ease. I talked about how what nourishes us, might not be what we want. In fact it might be frightening or hard. I realize that chair pose is beneficial for me, but it doesn't mean I want to stay in it for a protracted period of time.

After my segment Health and Wellness coach Jen Dorf and Clinical Psychologist Jill Lankler took over and gave a wonderful talk about food and mood. What we might want, might not be what we need- it might in fact be detrimental to our overall health and well being in general. Each person is unique and we need to discover what our body needs as as it pertains to our own optimal blueprint. There is so much information that is counter-intuitive out there. What resonated with me the most was when Jill suggested we spend at least twenty minutes every day doing NOTHING. When you slow down you can hear more clearly what your body, brain and heart are saying to you.

Kate finished up with an hour and a half of restorative yoga. In a restorative yoga class you hold a supported pose for a long period of time, surrendering to what your body has to say to you. I loved how my student Tanya described it. She called it "decadent".  Each person's experience was their own. Rebekah and I helped Kate adjust to give people complete support with props while Kate (who I am SO blessed to be studying with) performed Reiki on our blissed out students. It was the ultimate expression of "doing nothing".

Sometimes there is the need to compartmentalize our lives. We might be in a place where we need to build walls as a way to keep from coming apart at the seams. We have all been there at one time or another. However, we can't stay compartmentalized forever. If we want to live our lives in truth, that is. When you stop and do nothing....guess what....all that stuff you have buried will be there.

One of the things about a yoga class is that at the end of a class you are given permission to lie still and do nothing. You are in fact, ASKED, to let go of everything and simply exist on your mat. Some people can do this with ease, for most people it is very challenging. Savasana; Corpse Pose, is where we lie on the floor and basically pretend that we are dead. Sounds easy, right? Try it. There is a reason it is, in my mind, it is the hardest pose in yoga. It is the pose where those tucked away thoughts, feelings and desires tend to resurface.

Yoga, practiced regularly, with an open heart and mind will help you navigate your life. Those experiences we compartmentalize or bury can be brought to the surface and faced, perhaps with a little more strength and courage. What nourishes us...primary foods- meaning love, health, family, security, confidence, awareness, etc.......these things can be joyful or painful. We can go great lengths to avoid pain, but sometimes the avoidance prolongs and magnifies it in the end.

I remember the first time I lost it at the end of a yoga class. It was a hip-opening class. I remember it like it was yesterday. I started crying and could not stop. I wasn't sobbing, but somehow the teacher knew. She came over and put my hands on my belly. She covered me up with a blanket and placed her hands on my shoulders and then my forehead. She then let me be. I released something in that 10 minutes of "nothing". I faced it when I walked out the door. It was still hard, but in facing it, it was de-fanged, so to speak.

Find the quiet moments in your life that are YOURS. Do nothing so that you can begin to see more of EVERYTHING. It doesn't have to be in a yoga class, but allow yourself introspection. It will nourish your soul.