You're busy, Do Yoga
- By Yoga Studio Calgary
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- 27 Nov, 2017
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How your yoga practice is the best antidote to "your busy life"
"You should sit in meditation for 20 minutes a day. Unless you are busy; then you should sit
for an hour" - Old Zen Saying
The human mind is the same now as it was 5000 years ago. It is capable of accomplishing your greatest potential right now. However modern busy life has hindered, clouded and ruined many of your minds’ natural capabilities of reaching your fullest potential. Yoga is not a religion, yoga is not a clothing line, yoga is not acrobatics, yoga is not a trend. Yoga shows you that there is a sanctuary of stillness within all of us, we can access it at any time. The further you dive into your practice, the easier it becomes to access this stillness within an instant. You have constructed your "crazy busy life" planning brick by planning brick, ruminating brick by ruminating brick. You can engineer a new mindset at any time. In their April 2017 article. Noble Peace Prize winner in medicine, Elizabeth Blackburn and health psychologist Elissa Epel wrote about the damaging affects of thought rumination on our cells. We have 100 Trillion cells, it only takes one the go haywire and create a following. Thought rumination (the act of re-hashing problems over and over) “when you ruminate, stress sticks around in the body long after the reason for the stress is over, in the form of prolonged high blood pressure, elevated heart rate, and higher levels of cortisol. Your vagus nerve which helps you feel calm and keeps your heart and digestive systems steady, withdrawals its activity, and remains withdrawn long after the stressor is gone. Studies show that the more we ruminate after a stressful event, the lower the telomerase in the CD8 cells, the crucial immune cells that send out proinflammtory signals when they are damaged…..this leads to depression and anxiety.” This is a resilience weakener to the max! It is actually a process that ages our DNA. When you ruminate on thoughts in the attempt to solve a problem or change the outcome it will only solidify and intensify the non-desired outcome you are worried about.
So how do we use yoga to highjack our minds so these core beliefs and thought patterns do not continue to convince us we are so busy, ruin a would be happy event, inhibit business and personal growth and keep us operating from a high vibrational potential reaching place? We work on the cellular consciousness through movement, meditation and breath work. All of which are designed to release stuck thought patterns that create blocks, accept where you are right now, and allow your birthright of abundance to flood in...abundance of all forms, including time to accomplish all you are needing too. A recent Harvard study described how psychosomatics shows up in our lives because our bodies and brains are wired to source, universal energy, divinity……so we can use this theory in an opposite way that is within our favour. Dr. Rick Hanson is a neuropsychologist and a well loved speaker at universities such as Berkeley, Oxford, Harvard and Stanford. He loves to talk about the concept of experience dependent neuroplasticity. This is the act of using mindfulness and intentions to literally change your brain. Moment to moment all that you are aware of is based on underlying neural activity, whether it is conscious or unconscious. Your brain affects and changes your mind and your mind affects and changes your brain. A thought stimulates the brain, creating a busy region that will get more blood flow thus more oxygen and glucose. Genes have an expression, whether is be positive or negative. The genes that are stimulated more will grow, multiple and get more active, the ones that are not stimulated will wither….an example, people who routinely practice mindfulness mediation and relaxation grow and activate genes that will combat stress reactions, thus making them more resilient…..it is literally neutrons that wire together fire together.
We can use the concept of experience dependent neuroplasticity during our mindfulness meditation practice to wire the brain for happiness, abundance, success, joy, love. Wayne Dyer put it this way…..what you focus on is what grows……When you are having a challenging time or feel overwhelmed with busy-ness. When your struggles feel so strong, you are unconsciously creating a deeper root to the core belief that you are failing and that you are not enough. Instead of focusing on your failures, shortcomings, inadequacies, completely flip your list! In these moments you are not feeling abundance and secure, I know. Recall a time you did. Recall a time you felt so accomplished, whether with work or your personal life. Think about it, feel it all throughout your body, sense it, watch it….hold this all for at least 30 seconds….neuron by neuron you are stitching together your safety net, enhancing your resilience. There are many stages of being able to do this and taking it very deep, start right here for now. Imagine being caught in a wave or the base of a waterfall, you’ll keep churning around there if you just stay there…..how do you get out? dive down deep. Yoga practice takes you there. The busy-ness of your life is not the problem, it is the mindset you choose to take about it. Yoga in all of its forms supports a more resilient mindset, offerings you a retreat from the "crazy busy-ness" that can leave you feeling like you can't even come up for air.
The human mind is the same now as it was 5000 years ago. It is capable of accomplishing your greatest potential right now. However modern busy life has hindered, clouded and ruined many of your minds’ natural capabilities of reaching your fullest potential. Yoga is not a religion, yoga is not a clothing line, yoga is not acrobatics, yoga is not a trend. Yoga shows you that there is a sanctuary of stillness within all of us, we can access it at any time. The further you dive into your practice, the easier it becomes to access this stillness within an instant. You have constructed your "crazy busy life" planning brick by planning brick, ruminating brick by ruminating brick. You can engineer a new mindset at any time. In their April 2017 article. Noble Peace Prize winner in medicine, Elizabeth Blackburn and health psychologist Elissa Epel wrote about the damaging affects of thought rumination on our cells. We have 100 Trillion cells, it only takes one the go haywire and create a following. Thought rumination (the act of re-hashing problems over and over) “when you ruminate, stress sticks around in the body long after the reason for the stress is over, in the form of prolonged high blood pressure, elevated heart rate, and higher levels of cortisol. Your vagus nerve which helps you feel calm and keeps your heart and digestive systems steady, withdrawals its activity, and remains withdrawn long after the stressor is gone. Studies show that the more we ruminate after a stressful event, the lower the telomerase in the CD8 cells, the crucial immune cells that send out proinflammtory signals when they are damaged…..this leads to depression and anxiety.” This is a resilience weakener to the max! It is actually a process that ages our DNA. When you ruminate on thoughts in the attempt to solve a problem or change the outcome it will only solidify and intensify the non-desired outcome you are worried about.
So how do we use yoga to highjack our minds so these core beliefs and thought patterns do not continue to convince us we are so busy, ruin a would be happy event, inhibit business and personal growth and keep us operating from a high vibrational potential reaching place? We work on the cellular consciousness through movement, meditation and breath work. All of which are designed to release stuck thought patterns that create blocks, accept where you are right now, and allow your birthright of abundance to flood in...abundance of all forms, including time to accomplish all you are needing too. A recent Harvard study described how psychosomatics shows up in our lives because our bodies and brains are wired to source, universal energy, divinity……so we can use this theory in an opposite way that is within our favour. Dr. Rick Hanson is a neuropsychologist and a well loved speaker at universities such as Berkeley, Oxford, Harvard and Stanford. He loves to talk about the concept of experience dependent neuroplasticity. This is the act of using mindfulness and intentions to literally change your brain. Moment to moment all that you are aware of is based on underlying neural activity, whether it is conscious or unconscious. Your brain affects and changes your mind and your mind affects and changes your brain. A thought stimulates the brain, creating a busy region that will get more blood flow thus more oxygen and glucose. Genes have an expression, whether is be positive or negative. The genes that are stimulated more will grow, multiple and get more active, the ones that are not stimulated will wither….an example, people who routinely practice mindfulness mediation and relaxation grow and activate genes that will combat stress reactions, thus making them more resilient…..it is literally neutrons that wire together fire together.
We can use the concept of experience dependent neuroplasticity during our mindfulness meditation practice to wire the brain for happiness, abundance, success, joy, love. Wayne Dyer put it this way…..what you focus on is what grows……When you are having a challenging time or feel overwhelmed with busy-ness. When your struggles feel so strong, you are unconsciously creating a deeper root to the core belief that you are failing and that you are not enough. Instead of focusing on your failures, shortcomings, inadequacies, completely flip your list! In these moments you are not feeling abundance and secure, I know. Recall a time you did. Recall a time you felt so accomplished, whether with work or your personal life. Think about it, feel it all throughout your body, sense it, watch it….hold this all for at least 30 seconds….neuron by neuron you are stitching together your safety net, enhancing your resilience. There are many stages of being able to do this and taking it very deep, start right here for now. Imagine being caught in a wave or the base of a waterfall, you’ll keep churning around there if you just stay there…..how do you get out? dive down deep. Yoga practice takes you there. The busy-ness of your life is not the problem, it is the mindset you choose to take about it. Yoga in all of its forms supports a more resilient mindset, offerings you a retreat from the "crazy busy-ness" that can leave you feeling like you can't even come up for air.
Inhale: 1-2-3-4-5. Exhale: 1-2-3-4-5. If you’ve been doing breathing exercises to feel calmer, happier, and more focused, you know how soothing yoga is.
Despite being an ancient practice, yoga has become increasingly popular, and for good reason. It is suitable for people of all ages and effective for treating chronic conditions.
Interestingly, scientists have discovered that this practice has several mental health benefits. Let’s explore the relationship between yoga and well-being, as well as the evidence-based benefits of yoga.
Winter is here, it is that time of the year again when waking up early and practicing yoga becomes a difficult task and mostly ends up compromising it for an hour of extra sleep. But there are lesser-known facts about why we should practice yoga during winters and how it benefits us.
Spring is nature’s rebirth. Every year, when the soft green buds and the delicate pink blossoms appear on the cherry trees, we are given the opportunity to renew ourselves. In our yoga practice, this can be through a physical detox, a mental reboot or both.
So, it’s THAT time of year again. The cards are out, flowers and chocolates in the shops, and the candlelit tables are all booked up weeks in advance. With good reason, many of us find it all rather superficial and insincere. Perhaps some of us might join the cynical chorus asking why we need a specific day to express our affection for someone else. We may even go as far as to accuse the the forces of capitalism of driving demand for “stuff”. But I’m not here to monologue on the meaningfulness of St. Valentine’s Day, and I’m certainly not here to criticise anyone for wanting to express themselves or to show affection for someone else (we all need to be doing this more, not less).
Can yoga reduce anxiety?Yes! Many studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of yoga in reducing stress, anxiety, and depression. In one study, women who participated in a three-month yoga program experienced significant improvements in perceived stress, anxiety, and depression. In another study, ten weeks of yoga helped reduce stress and anxiety for participants.
Happy New Year yogis! I’ve often found this time of year to be especially powerful in enhancing my yoga practice. Of course, yoga is always a powerful practice, but the gift of the new year brings deep reflection and introspection that can amplify processes of self-inquiry, expanding our spiritual awareness and commitment to yogic living.
