Tag Archives: yoga

Choose commitment over enthusiasm

Let’s talk about why you need to choose commitment over enthusiasm in your yoga and wellness business and trauma-informed work. If you find that you cannot stay consistent in your yoga business or keep hitting burnout cycles – then this training is for you.

For more FREE support and trainings join the Trauma-informed Yoga and Embodied Resilience for Social Impact Facebook Group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/traumainformedyogaandembodiedresilience

For more information about 80-Hr Trauma-informed Yoga & Embodied Resilience Teacher Training & Mentoring, and Yoga Business Mentoring go >HERE<

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Ordinary Sacred Moments

yoga

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Ordinary Sacred Moments 

I’ve been reflecting on the ordinary… all those little moments in life.

The stuff that life is really made of.

So how do I feel about ordinary?

When I was young I used to run away from it. I wanted big experiences, huge feelings, cathartic releases.

I wanted to achieve great things…

I wanted to be an enlightened yogini, a great writer, an amazing healer, a powerful witch.

But that was over 30 years ago…

And over the years as I learned more about life and psychology and slowly started embody my own body and being, getting grounded and mindfully within the moment – something shifted.

My relationship to ordinary changed.

 

I realised that those ordinary moments have become a real refuge for me – a moment to pause and check within what I’m really feeling and give myself space to honour it; a warm big hug with a person I love; a cup of my favourite earl grey tea early in the morning as I’m sitting in our little conservatory looking into the garden and listening to birds; a smile on a client’s face as they reconnect within and we sit in silence soaking up the moment; a walk by the sea with all those soothing sounds around.

Ordinary moments.
Fully experienced within my body.
Moments of powerful connection inside out.
Powerfully healing for me.

So…

How do you feel about ordinary?
Do you embrace it and make room for it or do you avoid it as much as you can?

I’d love to know.

And if you’d like to join a community of yoginis on #embodiedyoginipath – then come and join us in our free Facebook group: EMBODIED YOGINI Path, where at the moment I’m running a free challenge throughout the whole July.

 

Understanding how to work with trauma in yoga

CPD yoga teacher training, trauma awareness yoga, Kent, Thanet, trauma informed yoga

FOR YOGA TEACHERS – Understanding how to work with trauma is more important then ever.

But understanding trauma – what it is, signs and symptoms, and theories – is only a first step.

What’s key here is to know HOW IT TRANSLATES INTO OUR WORK WITH STUDENTS AS YOGA TEACHERS.

Because let’s be honest – yoga and mindfulness are sold these days as practices that are good for many things – physical health and fitness, stress reduction, mental health and wellbeing, embodiment, spiritual transformation. That’s a lot of high expectations.

 

These days people coming to our sessions can present with many different needs, and these can include trauma symptoms. How do you recognise when somebody gets triggered? And how do you support, guide and create safety for them in your sessions?

How all this knowledge and understanding of trauma translates in practical ways into working with YOUR client group?

Because teaching yoga to a group of teenagers, fit adults, older ladies or prison inmates will require you to approach it in different ways.

Join me for:

TRAUMA AND BEING SAFELY EMBODIED
4-hour CPD workshop: Practical ways to teach yoga with trauma awareness

Friday 5th June 2020 – 1pm to 5pm UK

Online via Zoom – This workshop is limited to 25 participants only to allow for interactive and safe learning.

Info and booking details are here: http://www.anetai.co.uk/cpd-yoga-teachers-training-trauma-…/

For Yoga Teachers – the real value of your practice

yoga teacher training in Kent, yoga teacher training

FOR YOGA TEACHERS – Do you ever get up in the morning and open your emails, see all those amazing things others are doing and feel your energy crash?

That’s what happened to me this morning. I woke up feeling slightly tired. Didn’t have a good night. My mind wouldn’t switch off and I was restless. I did too much yesterday and didn’t wind down in the evening.

And when I got up I made a mistake of checking my emails instead of doing my practice first. This rarely happens but when it does it usually has unpleasant consequences for me.

I saw all these wonderful people doing amazing work that I also long to do and my energy crashed. I heard a quiet voice within me: ‘Ohhhh I’ll never be able to do it’ and I felt my whole body loose vitality. It felt as if a plug was pulled out in a bathtub and all the water poured out into the ground.

If you are anything like me you want to show up for your community and clients and do your best work. You want to support others the best you can. You are willing to do the work and learn and grow for the benefit of all.

But here is the crunch – in order to be able to do it you have to take time to nourish YOU first.

Your morning yoga, meditation and pranayama practice that you know you should be doing daily is not just for you so you stay healthy, fit and grounded – it’s also to create a strong container within you so you can support others from this grounded and embodied space.

Your reflective practice of journalling or Focusing is not just for you to reconnect within and build inner self-trust – it’s also to be able to hold a safe space for your clients when they’re struggling or processing something.

Your time out to rest is important so you can nourish your energy and integrate in an embodied way all the learning and progress you’ve made.

This time for your own practices is the foundation of who you are as a yoga teacher.

Why??

Because…

It’s about your own deeper connection, integration and wholeness.
It’s about you walking your talk in an embodied way.
It’s about you teaching from a space of understanding, embodied experience and compassion for yourself and others.

Otherwise something within you will feel like a ‘fraud’, scared that it will be found out. It will remind you again and again that you are not walking your talk and it will sabotage your efforts of showing up fully. It will bring up doubts about your abilities to achieve your dreams.

So today just reflect on your ‘I don’t have time for my practice’ story. Your practice doesn’t have to be long – but it has to be consistent. Because showing up for yourself is the foundation of showing up for others.

I’d love to hear what you think.

And if you’d like to connect with me and other yoga teachers check out current further yoga teacher trainings with mentoring on trauma-informed yoga at YOGA SCHOOL page.

 

Embracing Yin

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Autumn is happening all around us…

Last Saturday I was outside of Canterbury in a little village in the middle of the fields. It was raining and the hills looked misty. The leaves on the trees started turning red and yellow. It was a great Autumn day. 

And I was with a group of lovely women in a cosy yurt, with a wood burner throwing a warm and soothing light, a soft music playing and a little altar with candles, gift pouches and healing cards in the middle of the room. 

We were gathered for Sacred Pause Day Yoga Retreat. A second one I hosted at the same place. But last time it was summer time and very hot and sunny outside. A completely different experience. 

So…

> we created a circle with our mats and bolsters and got comfortable with blankets and many cushions
> we practiced gentle embodied mindful yoga in the morning and yin/restorative yoga in the afternoon
> we took time to meditate and breath deeply
> we took time to reconnect with our bodies and our inner experience
> we practiced listening deeply to our body’s wisdom 
> we practiced with curiosity and kindness 
> we connected with each other with compassion 
> we did a yin ritual 
> we had lots of warm Yogi and Pukka teas
> we had nutritious vegan lunch and chatted happily

And it was a perfect Autumn day – a day of Yin season. 
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Autumn is a perfect time to embrace more YIN 

Following our Sacred Pause Day Retreat one of the participants send me this note: 
‘Interesting Saturday made me connect with how tired I was, … then in the evening I felt really relaxed and revived! The last 2 nights I have slept really well and started the week refreshed rather than exhausted! So a good start, plus got up 10 mins earlier to do stretches!’

And that’s what Yin offers you when you embrace it..

… when you just let go of constant striving and doing….

… and you lean into the support of Mother Earth and support available around you. 

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Maybe it’s:

  • sinking into your favourite spot on your sofa or armchair, with a good book
  • a warm nourishing cup of tea
  • having a nourishing and healing Thai Yoga Massage 
  • going for a walk in a forest or woods and connecting with Autumn trees full of colour 
  • committing to a weekly nourishing yoga class 
  • taking little breaks during the day and resting more 
  • eating nourishing warm foods 
  • reflecting on how this year has been and letting go of whatever doesn’t work for you any more 

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Yin is a heart medicine 

It’s a feminine soothing energy that heals deeply. Especially in our constantly busy society. 

It allows us to re-connect deeply and find our own rhythm. And live in line with Natures’s rhythm. Just like we are build to do. 

>> SO WHAT CAN YOU DO OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS TO EMBRACE YIN IN YOUR LIFE?

I’d love to know! 

anetai lotus

3 ways of working with body

yoga, wisdom, coaching

Going beyond old ways of looking at body

“Your body is not a machine,
rather a wonderfully intricate interaction with everything around you,
Which is why it ‘knows’ so much just in being.”

Gendlin 
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Over the past two decades I’ve done a lot of courses and read a lot of books. If you know me even a little then you know that I’ve been on a search for the truth. I’ve been searching for a way to practice that would allow me to be at ease with myself. I remember having therapy many years ago and my therapist saying that I was ‘tormented’, which reflected quite well my inner state at the time.

This is why I studied so many different approaches: Psychology and Counselling, Social Sciences, NLP, Life Coaching, Wellness Coaching, Energy Healing, Reiki, Mindfulness, Yoga, Embodiment, Somatic movement and now Focusing (Embodied Listening).

And in my searching I learned so much. I discovered so much about who I am, my conditioning, my inner and outer processes and the humbling acknowledgement of our shared human condition.

And I’ve worked with hundreds of clients in various settings – people who like me were on a search and I learned so much from them, for which I am so grateful.

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3 ways of working with body

And what I realised is that there different ways of working with our body and our whole experience – leading to different levels of connection.

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1. Traditional (old school) approach – where we treat body as a mechanical object. 

We look at body’s alignment and the difference between right and left sides as well as top and bottom, analyse the posture and decide on how to correct it.

There is a real separation between body and mind – physical and mental/emotional issues and treatments.

Some of the best known corrective approaches to body are based on this principle: allopathic medicine, osteopathy, physio, fitness and exercise, fitness-focused yoga.

Many of us like this approach and find it useful – we want our body to be fixed and sorted, especially when in a lot of pain or discomfort. We want to feel stronger, more in control and fitter.
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2. Newer somatic approach – where we treat body as a space containing passing sensations.

We recognise the power of impact of the Vagus Nerve and a healing power of deep abdominal breath. We acknowledge that body can self-regulate and heal with the right conditions.

We understand that body affects mind and mind affects body and we acknowledge power of emotions.

Some of the best known practices are: 
Mindfulness practices especially body scan, somatic movement and Mindful Yoga, Yin Yoga and all breathing practices. Energetic healing touch practices such as Thai Yoga Massage.
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3. This last approach is very new – it treats body as flowing and living sensation wanting life-forward movement. 

We acknowledge and accept that body is one whole living system that communicates through felt-senses – meaningful body sensations.

The sense of wholeness and integration comes by itself from deep listening and acknowledging of those felt-senses. There is no separation between body and mind – just like the old wisdom of yoga teaches us.

Best known practices are:
Focusing and Wholebody Focusing, Somatic Experiencing (for trauma work) and Embodied Mindful breath-led Yoga.

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This last approach for me comes under Embodied Wisdom practices – taking a pause to notice, acknowledge and be with our body, our whole experience – with kindness and curiosity. Allowing yourself to rest within. Understanding that integration comes from creating harmony and inclusion within (no ‘show it who’s the boss’ BS).

This is what I teach my clients – especially in private sessions as they allow us to explore the individual needs.

I’ve spend the last year learning Focusing practice for myself and to hold in Presence my body with its felt-senses. And I have to say this way of being completely changed how I am with myself, other people and the world. This practice allowed me to go beyond mindfulness and awareness into a real inner dialog and a sense of deep integration and wholeness.

All of the above approaches to body are valuable and useful but you will get different results from each one.
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Why does it matter? 

Because understanding the distinctions is helpful in helping you achieve your goals.

Because if you want to create a deeper sense of wholeness, integration, self-trust and ease then learning to be with your felt-senses is the way forward.

This September I have last 3 spaces available in my private practice schedule for my signature programme Embodied Wisdom Path Coaching Programme, which is designed for you to learn those life-changing practices.

I offer 30 mins free consultation call and you can book it directly in my online calendar – let’s talk about how we can work together.

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