| Hi beautiful,
In yoga, typically, sequences begin in mountain pose, Tadasana.
Tadasana looks simple and to those in a hurry (hello Heidi when I started yoga), it can seem like "just standing still" or a purposeless pose... where's the mobility in standing still? Right?
While I've heard my teachers call me into Tadasana for 5 years now, I'm only now starting to understand the strength in feeling joyful and steady in my connection to the earth.
In Tadasana every muscle in your body is active.
You root down, spreading your toes, stretching the base of your foot, pressing your feet into the earth;
you reach outwards with your shoulders, holding your arms in a gentle lift;
you raise your chest, breath into your ribs, which lifts your heart, elevating your eyes to focus outward;
all of which aligns your spine to energize your stability.
What a gift to be reminded to embody a mountain.
It sounds as simple as the pose itself to embody the sacred presence. And it's true, her majesty is available to us at any time. All you have to do is
root down,
lift up,
reach out.
What would it take to feel joyful and steady in your daily activities?
Root Down
Roots have been on my mind this week. I travelled to Sweden last week to visit family and complete the Göteborg Half Marathon on Saturday. I do love to run and I'm an active person, but I have to admit that I did zero formal training for the 21km marathon. In fact, because I spent 3 days hardcore rock climbing in Bohuslän on the Wednesday/ Thursday/ Friday running up to it, I was pretty bruised and cut up, so I wasn't even sure if I was going to run on Saturday.
The thing is I made the commitment to my Swedish cousin, Teresa, that I would run the Marathon with her in May. I intend to connect more and more deeply with my Swedish family (my dad was born and raised in Sweden) and so I promised that I would be back in May to do the marathon. We both agreed we would do it for fun. Life has thrown many curveballs since and my priorities stretched the marathon to the bottom of the list. However, in the weeks running up to the marathon, it was becoming very clear that there was little to no reasons or limits prohibiting me from going to Sweden. So off I want, and the marathon I ran. Last Saturday, I finished the 21 km for fun in 2hrs25mins41secs.
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| | | The run was challenging. I enjoyed the first 11km, normally I comfortablely run 4km so this was already over double than what I thought I could do. I kept telling myself... I'm just running around the city for 2 hours. I also allowed myself to walk. At first, I was harsh on myself and told myself that I was cheating if I walked and I would fail. I had to keep reminding myself Heidi, this is for fun. Run when you want to run. This is your race. Your marathon. Your pace. Your way.
Lift Up
Rock climbing was quite the psychological challenge. I really felt all the psychological shifts and lessons that I have been working on were walked into the spotlight, centre stage. Trusting myself, trusting another, feeling safe, creating my own safety, reaching beyond what I thought possible, holding myself, choosing my route, climbing to the top. Not to mention, when I was 16, I fell 25m from a cliff in Zambia, but that's a story for another day. Everything I climbed last week... and these were just narrow cracks (5+, 6-, 6+) on lead climbs (I did not lead any climbs) I reached the top. I didn't give up, I didn't give in. I kept my connection steady, joyful, and sweaty! ;) One of the most valuable lessons I learned, was to rest when you rest. When you take a break, take the break. Stretch your legs, release your arms and breath.
I used this trick in the marathon. When I needed to walk to catch my breath. Instead of thinking I should be running and panicking (remember I was naturally breathing very fast now and my heart rate was soaring), I told myself to enjoy the break. I chose a song that was slightly slower. I took in the scenery of the city and focused on breathing calmly.
At the 17km I really started to struggle. I had to give myself a hardcore pep talk. At 19km, my legs were almost in shock. My body didn't recognise the pressure it was under and was almost feeling trauma. I told my body that it was ok and that we could do it. There was a finish line and everyone around us was feeling pain too and the pain was natural and we were going to be ok. It might get a little worse, but I was going to take care of us and we were going to be ok.
Reach Out
The finish line was probably the part I liked most about the race. Not the fact that I mustered up the strength to increase my pace and run strongly through it, but, the fact that there was a finish line. I've had to go through some traumatic life marathons, but in real life, I never knew if there was a finish line. That's difficult. That's the real challenge, to persevere in the unknown, not knowing will it actually get better or will it ever end. I can tell you that, that's a choice. You can choose to persevere. You can choose to use tools and tricks. You can choose to improve no matter what. You can choose to believe in yourself. You can choose your own strength. You can choose to trust yourself.
Because, aside from professionally organised long-distance competitions, we don't know if the challenges will end, all you can do is become proficient, more joyful, more steady. Run when you want to run. This is your race. Your marathon. Your pace. Your way.
Joyful, and steady. |
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I'd love to work with you to resolve trauma, eliminate anxiety and unhappiness and navigate chaos in your life. You can book your session here, I'd love to work with you.
To supporting you,
Heidi
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Alchemise subconscious limitations to your health and happiness with a session with Heidi. |
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