Last week I talked about breathing space. We provide ourselves space to just ‘be’, by letting go of mind chatter through the breath, attention and new beliefs.
No amount of mental understanding got me to where I am today. It helped somewhat, but it never got me to the true knowing that who I am as created by the Source of everything. I had to support that understanding through my breath and body. The effects of this were to silence the negative voices, calm me down, and build a deep sense of peace. I call it the bottom-up approach.
I must also add, that no amount of outside force ever did more than help with the symptoms. Massage, chiropractic, talk therapy, essential oils, goji berry juice, and organic food, all supported me by helping me feel better day-to-day, but lasting change has come to me through a disciplined effort to train my whole being to feel good.
The reason I had to do this was for me it has been so painful to believe that I am creative, but that Source did not support me.
Because, if it did support me, then I would have been receiving prosperity effortlessly as an artist. That’s why my whole life has been a search to feel better. While much research and reading have gone into my journey, teaching my body to feel good in the present moment provided the grounding to absorb new beliefs- My thoughts could shift to thinking ‘yes, I feel well’ because I did.
Yoga covers the old thoughts that I am not good enough, that I am stuck and overwhelmed with thoughts like ‘I feel calm, restored, good about who I am” because it provides a real experience of peace and contentment. Our thoughts create reactions within the body, there is a strong feedback loop.
That’s why a yoga or meditation practice is best-done every day.
We must build the groundwork. A short daily routine is better than a class or two a week. One reason for this is that its easier. In class, we are often focused on the teacher or our surroundings. By ourselves, we can practice self-observation.
I understand how hard it can be for many people to give themselves a chance with yoga, and to stick to it. We are not just stuck in mental patterns, our body is an addict for whatever emotional state we are used to. It is necessary to keep conditioning ourselves to be calm relaxed, covering over the old beliefs, whatever they are.
We must make an unshakable decision to change, to deeply explore what nurtures us and makes us feel whole.
Then we must create a plan and commit to it. How many times do we meet resistance and say “I guess it wasn’t meant to be’. Guess what, when you forget your yoga class or to practice, it is a message from the Universe- not that this isn’t meant to be- but that there is resistance!
I’ve been through that and I know. When I was ready to give up, if I looked up and out someone always gave me a hand, a friend, my yoga teacher, my mom, (God bless her soul). And in the end, when I was lying on the floor weeping, I could somehow bend my knees and put my feet flat on the floor, bend one knee and then the other, and then gently bring them to my chest.
This is yoga, these are the tools, they work to help you breathe, calm down, and feel better. I spent my life finding out how to end my suffering. It turns out to be this simple: change how you feel. We create a new feeling with our body in a steady easy way with someone helping us who has done it for themselves.
Along the way, we gain mobility, strength focus, concentration, new beliefs, and gratitude.
Get started on your plan now- book a discovery session to see what program is a fit for you!
With love,
Frances
Frances Adamson is a certified Yoga Therapist, and an art and intuition coach in Durham Area Ontario.
Serving Oshawa, Whitby, Bowmanville, and Clarington.
20 Kingswood Drive, Courtice