Life is right here, right now

This is something I most certainly need to contemplate at the moment!  Having been swept along by the vata season and doing a million and one things, with just as many possible outcomes and options, I am very much being drawn into the future and trying to work out what will happen.  In order to stay in action I have been doing exactly that – maybe being too much in action – busy, busy, busy!  If I am completely occupied (usually with work tasks) I can’t think about the future and what may happen and try to work it all out.  This is OK for a short time but, like any avoidance strategy, it can start to take over and create imbalance.

Moving through the hatha flow with Kirsty kept reminding me to be present, feel the body, stay with the sensations and at the same time not aim to be picture perfect, but accept what I bring to the mat today.  In this way each pose felt like a special gift to myself, I wanted to linger in the sensation and drink it in fully, rather than race through till it’s complete and already moving on to the next.

It is when life gets busy, stressful and you feel you may not have time for your practice, or your exercise, or your self care routine, then it is even more important to sanctify those parts of your day.  To keep filling yourself up, making yourself feel like you are worth it, to give you the best possible foundation for the day ahead at work, or give you the presence of mind you need to look after the kids on your own again.  I am still in the process of learning this too 🙂

Much love Gemma xxx

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Day 4 – Seated Neck and Shoulders with Kirsty

Oh I love Kirsty!  This little 8 minute video is EXACTLY what I needed after a long day at my computer, and driving around in my car.  I took a nice gentle jog around the headland where I live in Cornwall and on my return sat down to this video to cool down and relieve the tension.

I often have the dilemma of what exercise to do that day, as well as my meditation practice – I love to go running and do core strengthening work at home and I like to do my asana practice and my meditation – where am I going to fit in everything else on my list?  So this was a really sweet way to do my exercise, get grounded, present and release tension all ready for my Navratri meditation this evening.

Kirsty says she holds tension in her neck and shoulders and oh boy so do I!  The neck circles and stretches felt so good, just bringing my awareness to those parts of my body already they feel better and more relaxed.  Kirsty says that hunching up your shoulders and then releasing them down stops you feeling grumpy – haha – I am definitely going to use that at times when I feel my bratty side come out to play 🙂

Thanks so much Kirsty – a sweet, refreshing and nurturing moment in my day.

Love Gemma xxx

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