Skittles Vs Nidra

I have to share a proud  moment I've just had with my Yoga Nidra. 
Yoga Nidra is a beautiful relaxation practice that involves a systematic rotation of bringing awareness through the body.  Like all that we are learning with Being Yoga, the best way to learn is to practice, practice, practice at home. The first time when I attempted to lead my 8 year old son into a Yoga Nidra it was difficult to explain to him to bring awareness to each part of his body so I had to slowly touch each finger and toe etc to ask him to focus on them. This resulted in a fair bit of squirming (he is very ticklish), non-stop critiquing of my pressure ('that hurts, thats too tickley') and the odd request for a scratch 'cause you made my knee itchy.' Not the desired effect I was after. I admitted defeat and he was still wide awake for an extra hour at bed time.

We recently had a UAE exchange student live with us from overseas and when we dropped Ahmed off to catch his flight home he told Dante he had left a surprise for him in the guest bedroom. Imagine my horror and Dante's glee when we got home to discover a room that looked like Willy Wonka's freaking Chocolate Factory. I told Dante he would need to ration his abundant supply - perhaps a few bites of chocolate here and a handful of lollies there.....for the next 10 years. 

Last night I was distracted momentarily with household tasks at his bedtime when I suddenly spotted him on the couch with an espresso glass full of skittles. I just about pole-vaulted the kitchen bench to jump over and try to calmly explain 'ok I need you to only eat 3 more or you are going to have a horrible time getting to sleep with all that sugar buzzing around your body'.  Negotiating with a child on the spectrum can be as difficult as disarming a bomb at times - especially if you interrupt something they really love doing. 

He turned to me and said 'oh but that's not fair, you can just do that relaxin' yoga and I'll go to sleep'.

Feeling quietly confident of another epic fail I bundled him into bed, read a book then tried my yoga Nidra again, carefully explaining that he was to relax and not talk while I would do my best not to tickle him.

A miracle occurred - other than a couple of initial squirms and smirks I could see him slowing his breathe and relaxing. Twenty minutes of Nidra practice later I kissed him goodnight and tiptoed out of the room waiting for the usual 'I have to have a water, I need to pee, I want to have another story, what time are you going to bed?' etc but nope I was met with complete silence - bliss!! 

Yoga Nidra = 1 - Skittles = 0

Though Shalt Not Judge

I've had a week of really being challenged by other peoples vocal judgements. Because I am learning through my Yoga Journey to adopt a code of non-voilence in all situations I have had to really take a step back from other peoples harsh opinions.
So, there were a few situations that challenged me this week but the following one in particular stands out.
(A quick backstory for anyone who hasn't read my earlier blogs - I have been through a pretty stressful time in my life the last year and with that came a bit of weight gain. Many times I have wished I was one of those people that lost weight when they are stressed but I'm not. I love food too much and I'm slowly re-teaching my self to love healthy food choices more).
I was particularly upset when a member of my family decided yesterday to make some insensitive and unapologetic remarks about my weight. The first feeling that emerged for me was anger and I immediately felt defensive and wanted to say something equally biting back.
But instead I chose to say 'stress affects every body in very different ways' and took myself for a walk on the beach instead. Ok, so to be honest - a few tears were shed at the beach but I was proud of my non-voilent reaction.
And it's so true - every body is just out there fighting a battle we know nothing about. I have no idea what is going on in that persons life that they would choose such hurtful words but I cannot take them to my heart.
Vanessa shared with us a teaching last week at Yoga from Deepak Chopra that says 'never judge a man when you know not which gardens he has walked through or the gravestones he has tended' and it really spoke to me. We were using it in the context of providing guidance to our future clients with an understanding that everyone's physiology is very different but I can see so many ways this applies to daily life.
I have worked so, so hard to have a healthy view of myself and we are asked to go into each Yoga practice with a clear intent.  Mine is 'strength, wisdom and self love'. I will choose love over absorbing someone else's judgement. I will choose to continue on my positive journey without judgement.


“We try not to label everything right or wrong, good or bad, but realise that these are simply two sides of the same coin…”
Deepak Chopra

A code of non-voilence...

So if you have been watching shows like Masterchef and the Bachelor by now I'm sure you've heard the word 'journey' bandied about a fair bit.
But here I go using it again - this journey into the Yoga lifestyle is ah-mazing!!
I'm already noticing changes within myself, I've lost a couple of kilos, my strength and balance are improving and I feel that I am getting just that little bit better at meditation each time - better able to switch off all the clutter and chatter and remain focussed on breath. We will be conducting our own Yoga Nidra (psychic sleep) to the class over the next few weeks which is very exciting - so we have  been learning how to talk our class through a beautifully guided meditation. Problem is I have fallen asleep each time so not sure how much of that is sinking in whoops ha ha. I did at least absorb that it is called Yoga Nidra not Yoga Ninja!!
We were asked to go home and practice on our family - I'm sure my teacher didn't have my 8 year old with ADHD and Autism in mind as I copped non-stop critique and giggling instead of the sleepy relaxation I had hoped for!
Also, I'm starting to redefine the goals I have for myself with the course. We were asked by our Being Yoga teachers to consider what our ultimate intent throughout this journey is for ourselves and for me it's really becoming about how I go about working through challenges in my life.
Yeah, I went through a lot in the last year but it might not be the last time in my life things are difficult. I want to approach future disappointments and low points without feeling that I am haphazardly and desperately 'clawing my way back' .
Instead, with what I am learning through Yoga I will start to live every day with a sense of calm, wisdom and self-love.
We talked at length during class about Raja Yoga - the Yoga of The Mind and specifically about Yamas. Yamas refer to the codes of moral conduct including that of Ahimsa - non-voilence. I guess you could see them as similar to the Ten Commandments.
We discussed in groups all different ways violence  (not just physical) occurs on a global scale, in our inter-personal relationships, and especially avoiding the types of violence we inflict against our selves through negative self-talk, envy, judgement and engaging in gossip. Yamas are effectively a discipline whereby we can learn to instead act with love and compassion to ourselves. This flows on to others that would hurt us with their words or behaviour, by being a positive influence for non-violence.
So how does that actually play out in real life? Well my dear reader I'm glad you asked because I got to put that new understanding to the test straight away - I had a particularly nasty conflict arise over the weekend.  Because I was already riding my blissful state of relaxation from a whole weekend of Yoga - instead of rising to the bait as I normally would - I chose to step back, see the situation for what it was, detach, ask myself questions of the situation, acknowledge that the situation upset me then let it all dissolve. I handled the situation calmly and diplomatically despite a little piece of the old me champing at the bit for a good old yelling match studded with f-bombs.
Of course we spent an equal amount of time learning the history and moral codes as we did correcting alignment for downward dog and learning about the muscular skeletal structure of our body, it's a pretty intense amount of information to soak in - I thought it was interesting to be told that the derivative of Yoga is 'to yoke'  ie. the relationship of mind and body yoked together.
It was a full weekend of practicing and learning with my course that had me walking away feeling very calm, grateful and actually a little bit taller - at 5"2 every little bit helps!!
PS Meet the beautiful crew I am training with <3