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On a global scale, we have seen the effects of the pandemic which has had not only economic impacts on a micro and macro level but also mental and emotional impacts as people have had to learn to adapt to changes within their lives such as loss of income, jobs and business closure due to lockdown, for some not being able to see family and friends, home schooling, learning how to deal and operate in a world where we have had social distancing, fear of catching the virus (particularly for those who already have compromised health) to name a few.

The world is no longer the same place as what it was a year ago and as a society we had to make many adjustments that we may not have imagined that we would have. Reflecting upon the changes that have taken place in 2020, has led us to ponder on a concept that is presented in the yoga teachings (from Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras) and that is that change is part of life, that it is inevitable, and learning to accept and handle change is part of the practice of yoga and integral to our health and wellbeing.

During this year, we have focussed on developing deeper stillness. This has hugely supported us to adapt and navigate change with steadiness and an embracing.

Stillness is not about doing nothing, being physically still, or being inactive or idle. Stillness is a quality that we innately have, that resides deeply within us all, that is at our core, is at our essence.

When there is the connection of the body and being together, stillness is the quality that is felt and then we move in this quality. The more we connect and hold this quality, then we feel a deep settlement within the body that is free of needing to be stimulated of anxiousness or of stress. There comes a feeling of deep connection, clarity, of oneness, of harmony.

Holding the quality of stillness is very supportive when it comes to things in life that challenge us.

If we already hold a marker in our body where we know what stillness feels like, then when times get tough, when there is change that we are challenged by, we are much better equipped to handle those times. Developing stillness, putting it into your foundation (i.e make it your ‘normal’) supports you when the ‘going gets tough’. And when times are so-called ‘good’, then you have the opportunity to enjoy, deepen into this quality and enjoy all of the benefits that come from it.

Particularly at this time of year, as our borders open as do our homes with the ease of restrictions, life can get busier with social engagements, school finishing, holidays etc. Remember to give yourself the gift of stillness by making how you live your life about the quality, the connection and the spunk that you live it by.

Embracing stillness will not only benefit you, but your loved ones will feel more settled around you and thereby it is a gift that is offered to them too.

To support in developing stillness, try practising The Gentle Breath Meditationor one of our Body Awareness Meditations.

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The practice of Esoteric Yoga, The Yoga of Stillness was unlike any other yoga class that I had attended and I must say it was a game changer for me in that I experienced everything that I had always been looking for in yoga, but had not yet found up until that point.

The practice was far simpler than anything else I had ever done in any other yoga class before. The practitioner instructed me to be with my body and to connect with my being. What was offered was an enormous amount of space for me to do this with gentle reminders to come back to my body. The focus in Esoteric Yoga is for the mind to settle into being with the body (conscious presence) and it is through this settlement that we become aware of the being that resides within the body.

A large component of the practice is about being still, that is no movement and deepening into the body through the feeling sense. It involves only a few simple movements, such as sitting up from a lying position, lying back down, a bending of the knee and opening and closing the eyes. These movements are divinely designed and follow a particular order to support the body to the return to its innate state of being, that is stillness – the union of our body and our being.

What is emphasised in these classes is that stillness isn’t about ceasing movement and just being physically still. We learn that we can walk this feeling of stillness and take it into our daily movements. The simplicity of not much movement in the class allows one to reconnect to this quality and then it is about expanding that quality and bringing it into our daily life in all that we do. Esoteric Yoga provides the pathway to reconnecting to this feeling of stillness, it certainly isn’t about leaving it on the mat.

The word esoteric means connecting with our inner-most and the practice of Esoteric Yoga, The Yoga of Stillness is about returning to this place, that part of us which is innate and deep within us all. This part of us is within the inner-heart and is never tarnished or scarred, no matter what we do and we always have a choice to return to it if we so choose.

At the end of that first class I had experienced something different within my body and my being that was somewhat familiar to me, yet it felt like it had been a very long time since I had experienced this, perhaps lifetimes. I had read and heard it described many times in a yoga class or a course, yet had never actually felt it before. It was a deep settlement, a feeling of returning home.

The practice itself was challenging, not due to anything being hard on a physical level, but because of the level of connection to my body that I was being called to as guided by the instructor. There were no postures or breathing practices that I could escape into. The cues were always asking me to be with my body, for the body and being to be at one.

What I experienced was that the more I chose for my mind to rest with my body, to accept what it was that I was feeling and to not try and escape what was there, the more there came an unwinding of the momentum that I had been living in until I felt a settlement and the being and the body uniting as one.

This was what I had always thought and read yoga to be about and I was surprised that I finally experienced this with such a simple practice. I had always thought that the pathway to feeling this union needed to be much more complex.

This class gave me a marker in my body as to what it feels like when I choose to reconnect to me. As I got up and went back out into my day to day living, I wasn’t able to hold that connection like I had felt it in the class, but I had a reference point as to what I now knew was possible to live.

Union, described as the practice of yoga, was no longer something that seemed unachievable or foreign, it was something that was very tangible.

In this class I had felt it in my body and I knew it was only a matter of time before I could live more of this in my day to day life. This ultimately is the goal of yoga, to not just leave the practice on the mat but to bring it into our daily lives, otherwise the practice is something that we use for relief, to make us feel better, rather than a practice that supports us to reconnect with our soul.

Donna Nolan teaches Yoga, Exercise & Massage and is a Bodywork Therapist. She has a love of supporting people to connect to their body and being, in stillness and in movement. Contact Us

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This is a newly recorded 20 minute Body Awareness Meditation that can be done either in sitting or a lying position. A great meditation to do when you are feeling a bit out of sorts, or can be used as an opportunity to deepen your connection with your body.

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The focus of this meditation is to connect to a quality of gentleness and then when you get up from this meditation and head back into your daily activities, there is the invitation to take this quality with you into your next movements.

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The underlying reason as to why we can feel overwhelmed or stressed is because we have lost the innate connection with our body. We become caught up in the thinking aspect of our mind as to what we need to do next, or delving back into the past rather than being present with what is going on right now in this moment. When the mind races ahead of the present moment, or is located in the past, it leaves a gap between the body and the mind and this is the tension that is felt in the body.

In order to support us in the busyness of our lives, to support us to let go of tension, anxiousness or overwhelm, the key is to bring the body and the mind to a place of union, a place where they are working together. When the mind is directed to be with our body in what we are doing in any given moment, this is called conscious presence and allows the body to settle.

So how do we practice conscious presence?

It is in fact very simple, but does require a consistent practice.
Choose a daily activity that you repeatedly do day in and day out. It may be something as simple as walking or standing up and sitting down in a chair, or opening and closing doors. Next time you do this activity, choose to be very still and present with your body. Feel your body as you do this thing rather than be thinking of something else. Bring your attention to feel your body and choose to do this activity in a quality of connection and gentleness. This is not about just thinking about what you are doing, but feeling what you are doing in the moment.

We often suggest to clients to choose one or two activities to begin with and dedicate yourself to being present whilst doing these. Training the mind is a bit like training a muscle in that repetition and consistency is the key.

In the beginning you may find that you forget and it can take a few days of practice to bring conscious presence into those activities. Once you have these mastered, then add in another activity and then another. These moments throughout your day of being present in what you are doing are your stop moments. A moment for the mind and the body to come together. Over time, your stop moments build throughout the day until you have a continuum of stop moments that become your present way of living.

When the mind and body are working together, the feeling of stress becomes less and less and you may just find that you have more enjoyment in life.

To help you develop a connection with your body, you may like to try our simple 13 minute Body Awareness Meditation.

Donna Nolan and Alexandra Plane offer Esoteric therapies, Massage therapies, Yoga/Yoga Therapy and Meditation at their clinics in Balmain, Cammeray and Balgowlah. Contact them for enquiries or bookings.

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So what is our essence?

Our essence is found in that inner-most part of us which when we deeply connect to our body, offers us those beautiful innate qualities that we then naturally express in and from. These qualities as an example may be sweetness, purity, grace, playfulness, tenderness… and the list goes on.

At the core of all those qualities is a stillness, joy, harmony, truth and love – all there for us all to tap into and live from. Those qualities are always there despite the fact that we may have lost sight of them as we get bogged down or burdened with our issues, hurts or simply the intensity of life.

Living from our essence…

We can liken living from our essence to the feeling of what it was like to live as that innocent and buoyant child where the days seemed timeless, where the joy, bounce and love for life was in every step. An image that comes to mind is that little girl skipping along the footpath enjoying simply being herself without a care in the world, or that little boy staring in awe at a bee or caterpillar.

When we are in our essence, there isn’t a holding back, rather there is openness, expression, a joy that wants to shine through for all to see. When we live from our essence, there is an abundance of energy there to be shared with all.

So why is it that most of us are not living from our essence? Why is it that we do not fully shine? Could that be a choice?

Ultimately the key reason is that we have not yet dealt in full with our unresolved issues or hurts. We all hold the responsibility to look at why we are not living with that full honouring and connection with our body, the essence of who we are and the world around us. We can blame others for the way our life is and how we feel or take full responsibility for the fact that we carve out our future by the way we choose to live in the present moment.

One difficulty behind letting our essence out is that if we were to truly shine, then we will stand out from the crowd, people will notice us, we could no longer play it small and will have to step up our responsibility.

Could it be that for many of us it is easier and more comfortable to hide or stay hurt then to make the choice to live all the love that we actually are?

Living from our essence IS a choice, a choice that is there to be made – moment to moment. Connect with our body, our gentle breath, our inner-being and live and express from this place – no matter what.

When we live from our essence, we offer that reflection reminding another that they can choose to live from theirs too.  It is a lot more fun and joy-full to live from your essence than not to. Go on, try it, work with what’s in the way, see how you feel.

Alexandra Plane and Donna Nolan offer Yoga/Yoga Therapy, Meditation, Esoteric Healing, Esoteric Connective Tissue Therapy and Massage at their clinics in Balmain ,Cammeray and Northern Beaches. Contact them for enquiries or bookings.

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Read more about meditation and download further free Meditations.

Donna Nolan and Alexandra Plane offer Gentle Yoga Classes and Meditation in group, private sessions and live online. Contact us for more information.

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For many people, there can be a feeling of not having “enough time”, particularly when our lives quickly become busy with work, family and social commitments and the year can already feel like it begins to run away. So how do we not fall into the old habits of getting caught up into feeling rushed, busy or anxious and rather remain steady and present with each day?

Our suggestion at Yoga & Healing is to offer yourself a program throughout February where you gift yourself a full stop moment every day  – around 10 minutes – that is set aside just for you.

By committing to this time you are offering yourself the space between you and what it is that you need to attend to. With this offering you are valuing yourself saying “I am worth this moment”. One suggestion that we would like to offer this month is practicing and exploring the Gentle Breath Meditation daily.

The Gentle Breath Meditation is a simple meditation technique. It provides the space for the body and the being to completely rest and rebalance. When we incorporate a stop moment into our day, we have the opportunity to feel a different way of being that is gentle and connected which feels lovely and can be vastly different from the usual busyness that may be your normal. Once you have this reference point in your body you can then take this connection into the rest of your day as well as into your sleep, all of which support a deepening of your daily sense of health and wellbeing. The meditation practise can be done sitting in a chair or lying down.

If you are someone who finds it difficult to find 10 minutes in your day here are some suggestions;

• Set your alarm a little earlier
• Put yourself to bed a little earlier
• During your lunch break (even if it means going to the bathroom or closing the office door for those 10 minutes so you will not be disturbed!)

Even the busiest of busiest person can “find” 10 minutes in a day to dedicate to themselves if they so choose. In the end, it really comes down to how much we value ourselves and our depth of realization and acceptance of the fact that our quality of being in everything we do does matter as it affects each and everyone of us.

In the beginning there may be some restlessness and agitation all of which can contribute to finding excuses to not gift yourself with this full stop moment. This disharmony though, is not the result of the practice but has been there in your body all along and the meditation is offering you this awareness. This is supportive and important to remember and not a reason to give up.

This month we encourage you to explore developing a deeper commitment to yourself through the daily program. Feel and enjoy the accumulative effect that it has and which can be taken into the following months of the year.

Download the audio of the Gentle Breath Meditation here. You may like to put it onto your phone so that you have it handy for when you choose to practice. You may also like to read one of our past blogs How to Meditate.

The only way to make change in our lives is to responsibly and lovingly take the necessary steps towards the desired change. Committing to a program is a simple and efficient way to support a desired change become a new normal.

Alexandra Plane and Donna Nolan offer Yoga/Yoga Therapy, Meditation, Esoteric therapies and Massage at their clinic in Balmain, Balgowlah (Northern Beaches) and Cammeray. Contact us for enquiries or bookings.

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Choose a time of the day when you can sit or lie comfortably without being disrupted. Begin with bringing your awareness to your breath. Start to focus on feeling your breath through your nostrils.

Feel the quality of how you are breathing and then begin to focus on making your inhale gentle.  Feel the breath come in through the nostrils, feel the temperature of the breath and continue to follow it into your body. Repeat this and continue for several minutes until you establish a connection of your mind being with your breath. Once you have established the inhale then turn your attention to the exhale. As you breathe out, make the choice to do so gently and ensure that the quality of how you let the breath out of your body, that it too, is gentle.

Continue with a focus on both the inhale and exhale and the quality of the breath. Once you practise this for some time being present with your breath and you feel the connection of being with yourself, then when you get up from your formal meditation practise and head into your day, choose to maintain this quality of connection that you have established with your body via the meditation. When you complete your formal meditation practise, continue to feel your body as you go into your next activity holding your connection in what it is that you next do.

The development of the mind being with the body is called conscious presence.

Once conscious presence is developed and practised throughout your day, the racy thoughts of the mind start to slow down. That part of your mind that is always thinking of the next thing to do, or that tantalises you and causes suffering, those thoughts begin to lessen. Of course, this takes time and practice, but the more this is practiced, the mind stabilises and becomes more clear.

Try it – and see how it feels for you in your body. Here is a link to free instructional audio download library of the Gentle Breath Meditation.

You may also be interested in reading our blog What is Meditation?

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