Emotional centeredness is the heart of yoga, all the breathwork, meditation and postures are structured to get you feeling calmer and more poised. If you are feeling frustrated, worried, overwhelmed, and stressed by all the negative news that we are bombarded with, from the rampant Coronavirus to threats of forced isolation and an increasing tension between countries causing mass destructions. We are suffering and yet we choose to inflict suffering on others, why? This corroborates with yoga philosophy, your outer environment is a reflection of your inner environment. If you are holding on to pain, stress and anger then this is what you express in the world. On the contrary, if you hold on to joy, love and gratitude then no matter the situation this is what you will share with others. Imagine a can of coke, when shaken what spews out? Coke, of course, that’s what’s in the can. Yet, somehow we think it doesn’t apply to us, when we feel shaken what comes out is what we harbor in ourselves, this is telling looking at the state of events to how much pain we are actually carrying around within, pretending everything is fine on the surface but in a trying circumstance the truth is revealed.
So let’s address the root of the problem, our emotional health. All the uneasiness beneath the surface because behind each perpetrator is a victim. Behind each harsh word is an insecurity, behind each action to numb is a sensitivity. The facts speak for themselves, we have become a generation to normalize the desensitization and escapism, the number of people treated for depression has tripled over the past 2 decades, one in 10 Americans now take antidepressants, we are told our feelings are due to a chemical imbalance so just supplement with pills and we can continue with our lives- but do we actually have the courage to address our emotional burdens and solve the problem that is causing the imbalance? It takes much more effort to go deeper, a quick fix seems much more appealing even for our young developing minds, the number of people under the age of 20 taking anti psychotic drugs tripled between 1999 & 2008 in America.
When we are stuck in flight or flight feeling perpetually stressed our adrenaline levels spike, we are on high alert, our decisions are only based on immediate and urgent needs, long term nurturing and investment for our health, relationships and peace of mind is obliterated. We need to be calm and feel safe to develop mental stability, where can we run if we don’t feel safe within our own bodies? This is the process of yoga, first through mindful movement, conscious deep and soothing breathing to establish a connection within that is in the present and embodied. Physical self awareness is the first step of releasing the tyranny of trauma. The body reacts to emotions, chronic stress shows up as chronic tension, indigestion, high blood pressure, migraines and asthma. Have you experienced your heart racing and breathing speed up watching an intense thriller? Our body reacts to what emotional state we are in, DESPITE our physical situation. This gives rise to the power of the mind- have you noticed what scenes play in your mind, what do you imagine? Isn’t it usually an extrapolation of the worst case scenario, an situation that makes you feel anxious rather than what is currently happening?
Mindfulness calms the sympathetic nervous system and trains the mind to come back to the here and now, to the silence, to the safety which allows us to break free from an easily conditioned stress response. Mindfulness helps you notice the stress and creates self-regulation, a loving relationship with our body is the basis of health, that’s the springboard for our agency in making choices that are healthful rather than harmful, when we resist ourselves is when we drown our awareness and partake in abusive behaviours such alcohol, drugs and violence and it’s these behaviours that keep us locked in the grip of stress as it’s when we feel most endangered and out of control. With the neuroscience uncovering mirror neurons and emotional contagion it is well researched that feelings that you exhibit match the ones you are surrounded by- what’s within you is what’s around you, just as the yogis postulated thousands of years ago.
Participate in the healing process, our capacity to destroy one another is matched by our capacity to heal one another. When we commit to self care we begin the wave of caring for others as well, we are able to make choices that serve us in the long term and build stable, trusting relations with others. As Jon Kabat-Zinn quotes “One way to think of this process of transformation is to think of mindfulness as a lens, taking the scattered and reactive energies of your mind and focusing them into a coherent source of energy for living, problem solving, for healing”
If you are ready for a transformation and willing to move from stress and step into your success, join our 9 week community online course free of charge, in a time like this we are committed to provide tools and techniques to help you thrive and achieve the inner peace that will be an engine to create the bright future we all desire. Click here to join our Transform Stress to Success program now!
