I mark the beginning of my yoga journey (over ten years ago), with a significant event that occurred while I was cutting my front lawn. I was listening to a podcast by a psychologist who was listing the traits of an anxious brain. Wow, it was as if she knew me personally. My aha moment was the insight that I was perceiving my life with an unconscious bias of caution and fear. By passively allowing my brain to go where it wanted, I had unwittingly programmed my brain to be anxious (some chaotic childhood experiences set me up for this programming). That insight awakened me to the importance of regularly witnessing the activity of my mind (the meditation practice known as open awareness), instead of unconsciously accepting my endless brain chatter as truth. Open awareness or mindfulness as it’s more commonly called, helped me become a student of my mind. To become a student of your mind is to develop a relationship with your mind. As we approach the New Year, we are reminded of the importance of becoming students of our minds when you consider the crazy statistic that only 8% of New Year’s resolutions are brought to fruition.
Here is an article published on Forbes: This Year, Don't Set New Year's Resolutions
Why is it so hard to get our minds to do what we want them to do?
Perceiving my need to reprogram my thinking was only half the battle, the big question I faced was how to bring transformation? After doing some research, I settled on yoga as the psychological discipline that would free my mind from anxiety bias. In a matter of months, I noticed an increase in the freedom of thought I experienced. The change was so significant that I decided to go through teacher training at Drishtiq so I could pass on the transformation I had experienced.
It’s been three years since I finished my yoga certification training. What I have come to understand through my teacher training and additional research, is that yoga is a powerful transforming process because it yokes (which if the Sanskrit meaning of yoga) us to resources that empower our lives. For example, one of the most powerful yokes yoga accomplishes, occurs during the diaphragmatic breathing that is the third limb of yoga (pranayama). When you prolong the breath cycle (which requires a greater engagement of the diaphragm,) it causes a physiological change that forces the engagement of both branches of the nervous system. By forcing the two branches to engage with each other, this deep breathing improves your stress response! If you are a science geek like me, you might actually like to measure your heart rate variability to get a handle on how effective your stress response is (I use the “Elite HRV” application).
Yoga also yokes you with the amazing resource of your body. Through breathwork and the asanas (yoga postures), we tune in to the signals our body is sending us (your heart sends more signals to your brain than vice versa). What we learn from tuning in to our body, is that it’s much more than a vehicle for carrying around our heads! Our bodies are actually an amazing source of wisdom. Trauma expert Dr. Bessel Van Der Kolk (he uses yoga to treat PTSD) captures the importance of this bodily wisdom with this statement, “…actions that involve befriending the sensations in our bodies can produce profound changes in both mind and brain that can lead to healing from trauma.” He also notes that “Agency starts with what scientists call interoception, our awareness of our subtle sensory, body-based feelings: the greater that awareness, the greater our potential to control our lives.” Yoga has trained me to tune in to my body’s wisdom. I like to say, my body is my friend who tells me the truth (my mind is not so dependable). For example, when my stomach is in knots, it’s my body’s way of telling my mind to slow down and get out of workaholic mode.
As we approach what will probably prove to be a challenging New Year, the resources yoga allows us to tap into will be more important than ever. The other day I stumbled on a diagram that seems to sum up the resilient qualities we will need to navigate the year to come (source – “HeartMath”). When I look at this diagram, I can see connections to all eight limbs of classic yoga (Raja Yoga). As a community that is centered around the yoga tradition, we are in a unique position to encourage one another to develop these qualities of resilience. If you are interested in exploring the eight limbs of yoga and their connection to these qualities, I would invite you to check out the Raja Yoga workshop that starts on January 10th and runs for five weeks (you can come to the studio or join virtually). I believe we can thrive in 2021 as we engage the eight limbs of yoga together.
Namaste,
Glen