Are you listening to your wisdom?

Grab a cuppa, this is a long one!

We have all been through so much. The last few years have been trying to say the least. As we approach the end of the year its important to feel into what have we learned?

As you know, yoga is experiential. We get on the mat, we move through our practice, we experience our body, hopefully deeply. Sometimes we have insights into deeper parts of self, sometimes it just feels good and we ring out the knots and kinks, and that is enough.

But more broadly, both on and off the mat, we experience life. We run the gamete of trials and tribulations, joys and sorrows, loves and hurts and in the process we gather wisdom. But do we trust that wisdom? Do we honour our knowing, our lived experience?

If we are, then we might feel a sense of ease through tough times. We might be able to handle negativity and challenge when it’s thrown our way with a bit more grace and compassion. We might see through the challenges and know that they will pass and we will be stronger for them. We might see life with a brighter outlook, an inner joy and sense of harmony.

We are not always going to be this way in the movement, but when we stop and reflect we might be able to find the softness, we might be able to find that place of knowing more quickly and more easily.

This capacity is a settling into our wisdom. A deep recognition that all the happenings of the outside world, while challenging, are not so huge we can not handle them. The more we settle into our knowing, wisdom and valuing our lived experience, the more we can traverse life with more gentleness and ease.

I have been pondering all of this so much of late. As I show up in my classes and more recently on my personal social media, sharing my wisdom, I wonder and struggle with myself as to how useful it is, how valid my experience is, how my experiential insights on the mat and cushion might be of value or are they just a way for me to hide from life more. It is hard to know. Some days I feel I give value and provide space and sanctuary, providing a real reality check for people to step back from the outer world. And other days I feel like I’m the one not in reality – isolated and in the darkness; knowing nothing at all of anything, completely out of touch. It is a strange pondering.

In the end, what I feel to be true is that all that we know, all we have experienced, all that we feel in our bones affects how we show up in our lives. Our time on the mat is time to feel all of this in our body and make sense of it in a non-cognitive way, in a body way, in a felt-in-our-cells kind of way. What comes of it is unique to each of us, but hopefully, it helps us get through each day, no matter what that brings. Hopefully, it allows us to be more compassionate with ourselves and with others. Hopefully, it helps us love life a little bit more, enjoy the simple moments of bliss and face the challenges with the comfort of knowing we can lean back into our wisdom and that this too shall pass.

A short meditation practice to help you tap into your wisdom

Sit in a chair or on your cushion.

light a candle if you wish to help bring you into a defined space for inner work and connection.

Take a few falling-out breaths to release the day and come into your breath.

Breathe down into your heart and connect with your heart, stay here as long as you wish.

Breathe down into your pelvic bowl and connect here.

Feel into the base of your body, into the darkness, into the space of creation and pure potentiality.

Stay here for as long as you wish.

Keep bringing your awareness back into this space every time your mind wanders away.

When you feel fully connected, lean back slightly.

Lean back into the chair; lean back onto your cushion.

Feel the sensations of pressure in your tailbone.

Feel yourself holding your back. Lean back into your wisdom, knowing that you can support yourself from this place.

Lean back into all of your experiences and the experiences of your lineage.

It is all here for you.

Allow yourself to feel and listen to what arises.

There is a wealth of wisdom within you.

When you feel ready, give yourself a hug and thank yourself for this connection.

You may wish to journal your experience or whatever has come up for you. This is a beautiful way to connect deeply with yourself, and your Feminine nature, and it is something we should all do, regardless of gender. Bring yourself into balance and listen to the wisdom that arises.

We feel whole when the Masculine and Feminine are balanced within us.