Namaste//
The divine within me honors the divine in you.
I absolutely love this word. I hear it at the end of every yoga class and I think it is profound and moving. Essentially, namaste means that we are all equal — I see, and honor, the light and divinity within you, with all the light and divinity within me. It truly fills me with happiness and a feeling of acceptance, which, let’s be honest, is what yoga is all about – accepting yourself exactly how you are throughout the practice, and life.
I think I found my favorite yoga classes at Cradle Your Soul and they couldn’t be more different! After trying out a bunch of classes, I am now going to the Sunday Vinyasa Flow class, which is challenging, nonstop, and helps unite breath with movements. In addition, I tried a new class today and plan to go weekly for the rest of the month, called Living Lighter Yoga, which is all about slow movements, taking your time in the discomfort of certain positions, and allowing your body to breathe through the pain to find a natural release. The idea being that when we are upset, instead of hiding our feelings away, we can sit in them and work through them, allowing our body to release them naturally rather than holding emotions hostage.
This really resonated with me this week especially as my hubby and I work with our daughter on her tantrums and meltdowns. For a while we would try and calm her down, but the more I read and the more we discussed, we realized we want her to understand a healthy range of emotions and to work through it, knowing that we are here to support her and comfort her with hugs and kisses when she is ready. Is it loud? Yes. Is it sometimes frustrating because we are trying to do something fun and she freaks out because she’s overwhelmed, confused, or unsure? Definitely. That being said, letting her take some alone time to cry it out, or scream, really seems to help her work through it quicker than us hovering and telling her that she is okay. Big surprise there, right?
I do not have to imagine my response when I am upset and someone tells me to calm down or that I am okay — completely invalidated and even more upset. Also, when I push my emotions down to make others more comfortable, it always leads to a blowup, which is always much bigger than me just working through my feelings then and there. I found the above children’s book called, In My Heart: A Book of Feelings by Jo Witek, which mirrors this thought — it is super sweet and goes through all the emotions that we can feel in a language that speaks to children. Plus, the art is super cute too!
How about you? Any favorite yoga classes or books or anything that is really speaking to you lately? Let me know!
Thoughts du Jour 