As we transition into 2026, I would like to return to a theme I followed at the beginning of 2025...

"Let go to arrive in the vibrant present moment"

What tools can we learn and apply, to navigate the inner sensory landscape of our bodies, becoming highly conscious and aware of our thoughts, words, feelings and actions in a non-judgemental way?

How can we use these tools on a daily basis to let go of what does not serve us, inviting coherence, balance and strength to our bodies, minds and hearts?

My intention is that these practices will provide valuable resources and tools which you can use on a daily basis to support your body-mind-heart connection.

When: Thursday evenings, online and in-person (17:30 - 18:45)

To join online, register HERE

To join in-person, please email me.

Themes

08.01 - CONNECTING TO THE BODY THROUGH THE BREATH
Focus: Soft somatic movements and gentle massage of the joints to feel our bodies in a kind, compassionate way, arriving in the present moment.
What am I willing to release through recognising, accepting and softening?

15.01 - DESIRE & ACCEPTANCE
Focus: Moving and breathing with ease, observing the pull of desire, landing in acceptance - the role of our spleen & pancreas

29.01 - ANGER & PEACE
Focus: Unwinding with twists & spirals, releasing anger & inviting inner peace - observing our liver & gall bladder

05.02 - GRIEF & LOVE
Focus: The power of coherence & love, releasing grief - observing our heart & small intestine, lungs & large intestine

19.02- FEAR & COURAGE
Focus: Making friends with passive backbending, releasing fear & inviting courage - observing our kidneys and bladder

26.02- MOVING FROM CENTRE
Focus: How can I deepen my relationship to my organs through my practice? We will dive into the energy centers of the body, gently observing our relationship to their respective organs, and how we can support them through sensing, feeling, imaging.

05.03 - BUILDING STRENGTH & SUPPORT
Focus: Aligning the Spine - developing a feeling of strength from the inside, focusing on the deep core postural muscles. Can I consciously use this strength to uplift my mental and emotional well being?

12.03 - CREATING SPACE WITH SIDE BENDS
Focus: Compassion practice through awareness and movement of soft tissue and fascia release

19.03 - COMING HOME TO YOURSELF Focus: Where we place our attention is where our energy flows/goes - connecting the energy of the pelvic root/base, to the heart, to the pineal gland

26.03 - A surprise!!
Softening to the unknown -"I don't know"....how does this really feel when we drop expectations of how a practice might make us feel, and just land in the experience with deep curiosity?

There is a theme I would like to return to focusing on in the Yin & Restore Series for the next 7 weeks - "Listening from the Heart".

• As we turn our attention softly inwards with shorter days, longer nights and more stillness unfolding in nature, how can we find ways to alter this inner sensory landscape of our bodies, to navigate from a heartfelt sense of being, connected to ourselves, our communities and nature, in a loving way?
• How can we find stillness, ease and peace in challenging times, often compounded by the change of seasons and the onset of more darkness?
• How can we listen from the heart?

These sessions will take place online and in-person every Thursday evening (18:30 - 19:45)

To join online, register HERE

To join in-person in Bad Godesberg, please email me.

Our Themes for the next 7 weeks:

22.10 - BODY LOVE

Embodied Compassion practice through awareness and movement of soft tissue and fascia release.

• What does it mean to embody compassion? Not just as a mental construct, but as a feeling tone within your body, so that it becomes you.

30.10 - YIN & RESTORE FOR FATIGUE & EXHAUSTION

How can we release the feeling of fatigue and exhaustion from the tissues through movement and touch?

• We will focus on soft mobilizations, restorative poses, a stabilizing breathing practice, & calming forward bends, to bring calm energy back into the body.

06.11 - HEARTFELT PRACTICE

How can we transform fear into love, as we softly focus on the upper body and lower torso?

• A practice to support the Lung, Heart and Intestine meridians.

13.11 - OUR VITAL LYMPH SYSTEM

Improving lymph flow in the body systems through:

• pulsing, squeezing, twisting, tapping, gently moving & mobilizing. All connected via the breath.

04.12 - THE POWER OF PASSIVE INVERSIONS

Gentle supported inversions for:

• healthy circulation, more energy, a clear mind, and spaciousness in the body.
  What makes inversions so important for our heart health?

11.12 - THE ENERGY CENTRES IN YOGA NIDRA

Awareness of your inner life through:

• somatic movements, embodied energy centre meditation and yoga nidra (deep sleep without sleeping).

18.12 - LISTENING FROM THE HEART

Closing our year with a focus on: embodied stillness practice while listening from the heart.

I look forward to sharing these practices with you.

Love Fiona

Dear Yoga Friends,

Over the next 6 weeks we will trace our fascia lines through a series of soft yet powerful Yin & Restorative yoga practices.

"...strain, tension (good and bad), trauma, and movement tend to be passed through the structure along the fascial lines of transmission."
Anatomy Trains, Tom Myers

What is fascia? What is its purpose in my body?

This series is an invitation to feel the connection to your fascinating fascia layers, discover where there is resistance, tension, blockages, openness, fluidness, ease... and through releasing poses, embody more deeply in yourself.

14 August - The Superficial Back Line (SBL)
Connects and protects the entire posterior (back) surface of the body, from the bottom of the feet to the top of the head in two long pieces - toes to knees and knees to brow.

21st August - Superficial Front Line (SFL)
The SFL connects the entire front side of the body from the top of the feet to the sides of the skull in two pieces - toes to pelvis & pelvis to head.

28th August- The Lateral Line (LL)
Runs up the sides of the body, from the outside edge of the foot, up the side of the body, under the shoulder, to the skull in the region of the ear.

18th September- The Spiral Line (SPL)
Loops around the body in two opposing helices

25th September - The Arm Lines

2nd October - The Functional Lines

9th October - The Deep Front Line (DFL)
The DFL is made up of the body's myofascial "core"

In this 6-week Summer Series we will focus on listening to the heart to inform the body via: yin long holdings , somatic & restorative practices all interwoven to support you to return home to who you are, and unfold as the best version of yourself.

I look forward to sharing these practices with you. My wish is that they will provide valuable resources and tools which you can use on a daily basis to support your body, mind and heart.

These sessions will take place on Thursday evenings (18:30 - 19:45), online and in-person

To join online, register here

To join in-person, please email me.

Our Themes for the next 7 weeks:

08.05.25 - SUPPORTING FATIGUE & EXHAUSTION THROUGH A GENTLE PRACTICE
We will focus on soft mobilizations, restorative poses, a stabilizing breathing practice, & calming forward bends.

29.05.25 - OUR VITAL LYMPH SYSTEM
Improving lymph flow in the body systems through pulsing, squeezing, twisting, tapping, gently moving & mobilizing. All connected via the breath and a heartfelt sense of presence.

19.06.25 - RELEASING MENTAL & EMOTIONAL TENSION VIA THE SPINE
*This practice invites you to bring what IS to the yoga mat, learning to release deep seated tension through conscious relaxation and deep yin poses, focusing on the back & spine. Practice with simple knowledge and images of the meridians, to support the release process. Welcome feeling alive in your back & notice how this affects your sense of well being and inner balance.

Focus: Our limbic system and  how to release deep seated patterns through soft poses.*

26.06.25 - IMPROVING VAGAL TONE
Vagal tone - a key strategy to tone the vagus nerve is to stimulate it. When you stimulate the vagus nerve, you improve resilience, meaning that your vagus nerve is healthier and more responsive. This activates communication between your body and your brain that triggers the release of different chemical messengers, like neurotransmitters, which improve communication between all the organ systems connected to your vagus nerve. When vagal tone is good, you are able to relax and recover more quickly. You become more resilient to stress, have better mental and emotional health, better concentration, memory and mood. Plus, strong vagal tone enables your body to better regulate blood glucose levels, calm inflammation and prevent brain degeneration.

03.07.25 - LISTENING TO THE HEART
How can we find ways to alter the inner sensory landscape of our bodies, to navigate from a heartfelt sense of being, connected to ourselves, our communities and nature, in a loving way?

10.07.25 - RELEASING TENSION LINES IN THE BODY, FOR INNER BALANCE
Our focus: back stability cannot work in isolation of our fascia layering. Know your body better, to return to inner balance.

The theme I would like to focus on in the Yin & Restore Series for the next 9 weeks is, "Let go to arrive in the vibrant present moment"

What tools can we learn and apply, to navigate the inner sensory landscape of our bodies, becoming highly conscious and aware of our thoughts, words, feelings and actions in a non-judgemental way?

How can we use these tools on a daily basis to let go of what does not serve us, inviting coherence, balance and strength to our bodies, minds and hearts?

"A negative thought or feeling instantly weakens the body and creates an imbalance of the body's energy flow" - David Hawkins
This quote is not to induce judgement and blame; it is to insight us into returning again and again to consciousness and present moment awareness.

I look forward to sharing these practices with you. My wish is that they will provide valuable resources and tools which you can use on a daily basis to support your body, mind and heart.

These sessions will take place on Thursday evenings, online and in-person (18:30 - 19:45)

To join online, register HERE

To join in-person, please email me.

Our Themes for the next 9 weeks, as we dive into still long holdings and soft somatic movements...

09.01 - CONNECTING TO THE BODY THROUGH THE BREATH

Our focus: soft somatic movements and gentle massage of the joints to feel our bodies in a kind, compassionate way, arriving in the present moment. Addressing what is to be let go of.

16.01 - DESIRE & ACCEPTANCE
Our focus: Moving and breathing with ease, observing our spleen & pancreas

23.01 - ANGER & PEACE
Our focus: Unwinding with twists & spirals, observing our liver & gall bladder

30.01 - GRIEF & LOVE
Our focus: Aligning the spine, observing our heart & small intestine

6.02- FEAR & COURAGE
Our focus: Making friends with backbends, observing our kidneys and bladder

13.02- MOVING FROM CENTRE
Our focus:
How can we develop a relationship to our organs through our practice?
We will dive into the energy centers of the body, gently observing our relationship to their respective organs, and how we can support them through stillness, movement, breath, imagination and feeling tone.

20.02 - BUILDING STRENGTH & SUPPORT
Our focus:
How can we develop a feeling of strength from the inside, focusing on our deep core?
And how can we allow this strength to support us mentally and emotionally.

13.03 - CREATING SPACE WITH SIDE BENDS

20.03 - COMING HOME TO YOURSELF

The theme I would like to focus on in the Yin & Restore Series for the next 6 weeks is, "Listening from the Heart"

How can we find ways to alter the inner sensory landscape of our bodies, to navigate from a heartfelt sense of being, connected to ourselves, our communities and nature, in a loving way?

I look forward to sharing these practices with you.

These sessions will take place online and in-person (18:30 - 19:45)

To join online, register HERE
To join in-person, please email me.

Our Themes for the next 6 weeks:

14.11 - BODY LOVE

Compassion practice through awareness and movement of soft tissue and fascia release

21.11 - YIN & RESTORE FOR FATIGUE & EXHAUSTION

We will focus on soft mobilizations, restorative poses, a stabilizing breathing practice, & calming forward bends

28.11 - HEARTFELT PRACTICE

A Lung, Heart and Intestine meridian yin practice.
How can we transform fear into love, as we softly focus on the upper body and lower torso?

05.12 - OUR VITAL LYMPH SYSTEM

Improving lymph flow in the body systems through pulsing, squeezing, twisting, tapping, gently moving & mobilizing. All connected via the breath.

12.12 - THE POWER OF PASSIVE INVERSIONS

Gentle supported inversions for: healthy circulation, more energy, a clear mind, and spaciousness in the body

19.12 - THE ENERGY CENTRES IN YOGA NIDRA

Closing our year with a focus on: awareness of your inner life through somatic movements, embodied energy centre meditation and yoga nidra (deep sleep without sleeping).

See you on the mat!

Love
Fiona

The theme I would like to share with you over the next few weeks is:
"How your practice can be your purpose"

We will dive into our long holding, quiet practices to reflect on, and embody in, what it means to feel into having purpose, and how we hold ourselves back with emotional addiction.

Something that we are often confronted with in life and work is doubt.
"Doubt isn't a sign that you're doing something wrong or failing in your practice (or life). There is no such thing as failure; it's all information. Doubt comes up for all of us..." Joe Dispenza

Let's dive into these practices and take the time and space, to observe with compassion and gentleness, our habits of behaviour in thoughts, feelings, emotions and body posture...inviting transformation through the tissues.
Being still plays a huge role in this process of unravelling, redefining and empowering.

I look forward to sharing these practices with you.

These sessions will take place online and in-person (18:30 - 19:45)

To join online, register HERE
To join in-person, please email me.

Our Themes for the next 8 weeks:

22.08 - MOVING & BREATHING WITH EASE

This session aims to:

• offer a nourishing, balancing yin sequence for the body meridians, allowing the connective tissue to rejuvenate.
• shift awareness from thinking-centred in the head, to belly-centered in the lower abdomen.

29.08 - BUILDING STRENGTH & SUPPORT

This session will focus on:

• feeling into the neutral spinal curvatures and how to position the spine for easeful breathing and moving
• a clear relationship to gravity and being grounded.
• how can this practice support you to calm your own stress response?
• finding ease and pleasure in doing less on the mat so the breath and body can be fluid.

Your spine is not only the backbone of your body, but also of the way you move through life. Come and explore how to build strength and support from the backline, from as place of inner stability, strength and support.

NO YOGA on 5th September

12.09 - ALIGNING THE SPINE

Observing the stress response stored in the spine and primary nerve pathways. How can we feel into our spines in a soft, slow way to release stored holding patterns through yielding?

"Yielding" is a beautiful term used to describe what happens when "we allow the surfaces on the body that are in contact with the earth to give their weight to the earth. At the same time we maintain enough integrity through our structure that we receive the rebound of gravity up through our bodies." We will explore and experience our spines in lying, standing, sitting and slow moving asanas.

19.09 - MOVING FROM CENTRE

This session will offer you an experience of your deep navel centre or hara through naval radiation.

We will explore together:

• how to access a felt sense of inner core support and stabiltiy
• how movement is organised from the deep naval centre or hara
• how alignment can be an intuitive process
• how to allow yourself to be guided by your breath

26.09 - MAKING FRIENDS WITH SOFT BACKBENDS

Building up backbends from a safe "place" within your feeling tone, and from the perspective of deep long holdings and aware breathing.

We will explore together:

• how to find ease and integrity in your spine in simple backbends
• how to warm, hydrate and release areas of the body that need to be open for ease in backbends
• how to integrate strengthening poses that restore rounded posture and move the spine away from gravity.

NO YOGA on 3rd October

10.10 - UNWINDING WITH TWISTS & SPIRALS

We will dive in to somatic based-movements to feel into twisting from your centre, with a focus on the innate spirals within our bodies.

We will explore together:

• how to find balance and integrity in twisting asanas
• focusing on stability before mobility
• enjoying seeing and observing the natural spiral pathways in your body

31.10 - CREATING SPACE WITH SIDE BENDS

We will explore together:

• the value of side bending through interoception (awareness of your internal state)
• how to increase spinal fluidity though side bending
• how to move towards more balance in an "unbalanced" back, activating the gall bladder meridian

07.11 - COMING HOME TO YOURSELF; EMBODIED STILLNESS

This practice offers you a conscious experience of the breath, ground, gravity, and space, as you are invited to:

• gently release tension in the hips and pelvis
• lengthen into the lumbar and thoracic spine
• explore how your breath moves your body

See you on the mat!

Love Fiona

To join online, register HERE
To join in-person, please email me.

The theme I would like to embark on this month is "Peace".
How can we endeavor to feel more peace within ourselves, and radiate this back out into our communities?

We will explore releasing tension and holding patterns from the tissues of the body through long holding yin poses and soft somatic movements.
While we move and breathe, we will welcome our awareness to rest on sensations in the body, thoughts and emotions that arise (and "disturb"), and outer distractions that keep us from being connected to the present moment.

These sessions will take place online and in-person (18:30 - 19:45)
To join online, register HERE
To join in-person, please email me.

Our Themes for the next 5 weeks:

6th June - Healthy boundaries from the inside out.

• Respecting your boundaries and taking care of yourself through soft, deep holdings and movements.
• What kind of coping methods do you have in place that you notice are not serving you anymore?
• How can we develop inner tools to meet the unprecedented demands of our current challenges?

13th June - Feeling into our bodies with kindness and gentle reflection, for inner peace.

• We will drop into the feeling tone of the body through yielding and radiating
• Developing a relationship to our psoas muscles

20th June - Opening up to a healthy connection between the pelvic bowl and spine, to enhance an internal sense of balance, ease and peace.

• Calm grounding poses close to the earth to establish core stability and strength
• Discovering a sense of balance through the body and breath, not through the eyes.
• Exploring the power of our feet! Exercises to activate and align the feet

27th June - Grounding down to radiate peace outwards

• Let's explore standing poses through a "yin mind" - soft yet strong
• To stabilize authentic compassion, we need to have a stable base, with an abundance of vitality stored in our central core.
• This practice will help the energy in the body to flow, and rejuvinate the natural resources in the abdomen where our behaviour can arise from our true being rather than from compulsive reactivity.

4th July - Resting in well being

• Embarking on a meditation practice wherever you are and however you are
• A soft, slow, deep practice to support coming to peace within yourself and sharing this naturally with others.

This is a special month ahead, as the Yin & Restore Series is part of my 21-day challenge, which starts on Sunday 14th April. So, the next 4 sessions will carry a thread connected to the 21-day challenge.

Of course you are welcome to join the Yin & restore sessions without joining the 21-day challenge.

This is what will be on offer:

11th APRIL - MOVING & BREATHING WITH EASE
This session aims to offer a nourishing, balancing sequence for the body connecting to breath. We will also aim to shift awareness from thinking-centred in the head, to belly-centered in the lower abdomen.

18th APRIL - YIELDING & RADIATING
Being with and in the body, while remaining attentive & non-judgemental to ourselves & others

25th APRIL - EMBRACING SELF-COMPASSION
Compassion practice through the awareness of soft tissue and fascia release

2nd MAY - NOISY MIND; NEVER MIND!
Observing through our practice how the body becomes conditioned to be the mind, and how we can shift and transform this, lowering the volume on difficult emotions, sensations and thoughts.

REGISTER HERE

REGISTER HERE for online attendance

Dear Friends,

As we transition into the new year, I was reflecting on what practices can best serve us during the colder months, where the immune system is more easily compromised, energy levels are often lower, and the yearning for light can be great! How can we create this lightness inside of ourselves?

I will also now be running this class in-person in Bad Godesberg as well, for those who wish to join me. Contact me to register.

I decided that I would like to dive deeper into the themes that I started at the end of last year. Since we are so strongly connected to our habitual patterns of behaviour, repetition is vital to slowly overcome these patterns. Plus, with repetition, we can more easily become familiar with and slowly transform the stress response in ourselves.

"When our stress response is triggered, we focus on three things, and they are of highest importance for us as survival beings:

• the body (it must be taken care of)
• the environment (where can I go to escape this "threat"?)
• time (how much of it do I have to use to evade this "threat"?)" (Taken from Joe Dispenza`s book, Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself)

I will weave this theme into my Yin & Restore classes in the next three months, inviting space on the yoga mat for us to individually and collectively soften to this stress response as it becomes evident to each of us in our own way, through our bodies, our environment and narrowness of time.

Come and feel for yourself how quickly you can shift your stress response to a more balanced calm internal atmosphere, when you are invited to BE with what IS, in and around yourself through the yoga practices. Calming the stress response is a powerful personal tool, as well as the effect radiating out into your wider community.

11.01 - MOVING & BREATHING WITH EASE

This session aims to offer a nourishing, balancing sequence for the body meridians. We will also aim to shift awareness from thinking-centred in the head, to belly-centered in the lower abdomen.

18.01 - BUILDING STRENGTH & SUPPORT

This session will focus on the concept the neutral spinal curvatures and how to position the spine for easeful breathing and moving, as well as a clear relationship to gravity and being grounded. How can this practice support you to calm your own stress response?

Your spine is not only the backbone of your body, but also of the way you move through life. Come and explore how to build strength and support from the backline, from as place of inner stability, strength and support.

Come and enjoy finding ease and pleasure in doing less on the mat so the breath and body can be fluid.

25.01 - ALIGNING THE SPINE

Observing the stress response stored in the spine and primary nerve pathways. How can we feel into our spines in a soft, slow way to release stored holding patterns through yielding?

"Yielding" is a beautiful term used to describe what happens when "we allow the surfaces on the body that are in conrtact with the earth to give their weight to the earth. At the same time we maintain enough integrity through our structure that we receive the rebound of gravity up through our bodies." We will explore and experience our spines in lying, standing, sitting and slow moving asanas.

01.02 - MOVING FROM CENTRE

This session will offer you an experience of your deep navel centre or hara through naval radiation.

We will explore together:

• how to access a felt sense of inner core support and stabiltiy
• how movement is organised from the deep naval centre or hara
• how alignment can be an intuitive process
• how to allow yourself to be guided by your breath

NO yoga on 08.02.

15.02 - MAKING FRIENDS WITH SOFT BACKBENDS

Building up backbends from a safe "place" within your feeling tone, and from the perspective of deep long holdings and aware breathing.

We will explore together:

• how to find ease and integrity in your spine in simple backbends
• how to warm, hydrate and release areas of the body that need to be open for ease in backbends
• how to integrate strengthening poses that restore rounded posture and move the spine away from gravity.

22.02 - UNWINDING WITH TWISTS & SPIRALS

Somatic based-movements to feel into twisting from your centre, with a focus on the innate spirals within our bodies.

We will explore together:

• how to find balance and integrity in twisting asanas
• focusing on stability before mobility
• enjoying seeing and observing the natural spiral pathways in your body

29.02 - CREATING SPACE WITH SIDE BENDS

We will explore together:

• the value of side bending through interoception (awareness of your internal state)
• how to increase spinal fluidity though side bending
• how to move towards more balance in an "unbalanced" back
• activating the gall bladder meridian

07.03 - COMING HOME TO YOURSELF

This practice offers you a conscious experience of the breath, ground, gravity, and space, as you are invited to:

• gently release tension in the hips and pelvis
• lengthen into the lumbar and thoracic spine
• explore how your breath moves your body

14.03. - EMBODIED STILLNESS PRACTICE

Putting it all together - being still with what IS.

REGISTER HERE

What I treasure about the "holi-days", is the opportunity for spaciousness, quietness, retreating into ones self, sharing with friends (especially good food!), fluid transitions from one moment into the next, and allowing creative ideas to unfold and be born, rather than just staying as ideas.

As we transition into the new year, I wanted to share some thoughts and ponderings with you about how we can effectively and practically embody change on a personal level.

I am musing over Joe Dispenza's Breaking the habit of being yourself, and was wondering how I can best translate his researched-based knowledge and meditation practices to those around me. While I was asking myself this question, I came to this context:

The meditative process of change

"To break the habit of being yourself, you would be wise to select one trait, propensity, or characteristic and focus your attention on that single aspect of your "old" self that you want to change. For example, you might begin by asking yourself:

• When I feel eg. angry (you can choose another emotion), what are my thought patterns?
• What do I say to others and myself?
• How do I act?
• What other emotions spring forth from my being angry
• What does anger feel like in my body?
• How can I become conscious of what triggers my anger, and how can I change my reaction?

The process of change requires unlearning first, then learning. The latter is a function of firing and wiring in the brain (neuroplasticity); the former means that circuits are trimmed. When you stop thinking the same way, when you inhibit your habituations and interrupt those emotional addictions, the old self begins to be neurologically pruned away.

And if every connection between nerve cells constitutes a memory, then as those circuits are dismantled, memories of your old self will go with them. When you think about your former life and who you used to be, it will be like another lifetime. Where are those memories stored? They will be given to the soul as wisdom.

When those thoughts and feelings that used to signal the body are stopped by your conscious efforts, the liberated energy from those limited emotions is released into the field. You now have energy with which to design and create a new destiny."

I LOVE this comment SO much - They will be given to the soul as wisdom.. So, it is safe to release the past, deeply recognising the essential value of your past to support inner growth and unfold as the best version of yourself. To allow this process of change to unfold, we need time to be still.

Meditation. Taking time. Knowing that it is essential for our wellbeing, as well as those around us.

As we transition into the new year, I would like to share a guided meditation with you, which has been inspired by the work of Tara Brach, another wonderful meditation teacher. I hope it serves you well.

Love. Light. Inspiration.

Fiona

[Relaxing with Life] (https://habihochi.com/images/Relaxing_with_Life.mp3)

REGISTER HERE

As we observe the unfoldings of challenging times all around us, can you also observe the stress response in yourself?

"When our stress response is triggered (which seems to be a lot in the past few years!), we focus on three things, and they are of highest importance for us as survival beings:

• the body (it must be taken care of)
• the environment (where can I go to escape this threat?)
• time (how much of it do I have to use to evade this threat?)" (Taken from Joe Dispenza`s book, Breaking the habit of being Yourself)

I will weave this theme into my Yin & Restore classes in the next three months, inviting space on the yoga mat for us to individually and collectively soften to this stress response as it becomes evident to each of us in our own way, through our bodies, our environment and our obsession with time.

Come and feel for yourself how quickly you can shift your stress response to a more balanced calm internal atmosphere, when you simply take time to BE with what IS, in and around yourself through the yoga practices. Calming the stress response is a powerful personal tool, as well as having an effect on your wider community.

19.10 - MOVING & BREATHING WITH EASE

This session aims to offer a nourishing, balancing sequence for the body meridians. We will also aim to shift awareness from thinking-centred in the head, to belly-centered in the lower abdomen.

26.10 - ALIGNING THE SPINE

Observing the stress response stored in the spine and primary nerve pathways. How can we feel into our spines in a soft, slow way to release stored holding patterns through yielding?

"Yielding" is a beautiful term used to describe what happens when "we allow the surfaces on the body that are in conrtact with the earth to give their weight to the earth. At the same time we maintain enough integrity through our structure that we receive the rebound of gravity up through our bodies." We will explore and experience our spines in lying, standing, sitting and slow moving asanas.

02.11 - NO YIN (Deep Nourishment Program - see Retreat Page)

09.11 - MOVING FROM CENTRE

This session will offer you an experience of your deep navel centre or hara through naval radiation.

We will explore together:

• how to access a felt sense of inner core support and stabiltiy
• how movement is organised from the deep naval centre or hara
• how alignment can be an intuitive process
• how to allow yourself to be guided by your breath

23.11 - MAKING FRIENDS WITH SOFT BACKBENDS

Building up backbends from a safe "place" within your feeling tone, and from the perspective of deep long holdings and aware breathing.

We will explore together:

• how to find ease and integrity in your spine in simple backbends
• how to warm, hydrate and release areas of the body that need to be open for ease in backbends
• how to integrate strengthening poses that restore rounded posture and move the spine away from gravity.

30.11 - UNWINDING WITH TWISTS & SPIRALS

Somatic based-movements to feel into twisting from your centre, with a focus on the innate spirals within our bodies.

We will explore together:

• how to find balance and integrity in twisting asanas
• focusing on stability before mobility
• enjoying seeing and observing the natural spiral pathways in your body

07.12 - CREATING SPACE WITH SIDE BENDS

We will explore together:

• the value of side bending through interoception (awareness of your internal state)
• how to increase spinal fluidity though side bending
• how to move towards more balance in an "unbalanced" back
• activating the gall bladder meridian

14.12 - COMING HOME TO YOURSELF

This practice offers you a conscious experience of the breath, ground, gravity, and space, as you are invited to:

• gently release tension in the hips and pelvis
• lengthen into the lumbar and thoracic spine

• explore how your breath moves your body

  REGISTER HERE

In the month of August & September we will be embodying the following focus in our online classes:

Live Vibrantly via releasing habitual constructs. How you think, act and feel create your state of being. Can we use the yoga practice to shift and alter our way of thinking, acting and feeling, to embody more vibrancy?

One of our primary focuses in the Yin & Restore Series will be the fascinating psoas muscle and vagus nerve connection. The intricate connection between our bodies physical response to stress & how we navigate change without force. We will dive into tension held in the body, and embrace deep long holdings to release this tension.

REGISTER HERE

17.08 - STIMULATING KIDNEY ENERGY

We will dive into specific long holding yin poses to not only stimulate the kidneys to improve the natural flow of energy in the body, but also feel into the connection of the kidneys with our psoas muscle.

24.08 - CALM DIGEST

How is our digestive system connected to the vagus response? We will explore poses focusing on the hips, pelvis and lower abdomen to balance the nervous response in the belly.

14.09 - CREATING SPACE IN THE UPPER BODY

This session will focus on the thoracic spine and chest area, and it's role in the vagus response. Upper body long holding poses as well as focused breathing, to open up and create space.

21.09 - RELEASING TENSION THROUGH RELAXATION

The power of the upper back roll. What happens when we lie longer on the roll?

28.09 - THE POWER OF SPONTANEOUS SOFT TISSUE SHAKING

A TRE based session, where we experience the power of tremors and how they release stored patterns of behaviour in the body.

REGISTER HERE

This month, I would like to focus on a specific theme in my regular classes:

Live Vibrantly via releasing habitual constructs. How you think and how you feel, create your state of being. Can we use the yoga practice to shift and alter our way of thinking and feeling, to embody more vibrancy?

What is on offer?

Monday evening yoga, in-person in Dottendorf (also online) - 19:30 - 20:45

A soft flow practice, combined with black strip, roll and some yin elements. Something for everyone and all levels.

Tuesday & Thursday Early Bird sessions - 6:00 - 6:30am

One of the simplest ways to empower the start of your day - come and flow in the quiet of the early morning.

Wednesday Pelvis & Back class (hybrid) - 9:00 - 10:00am

This is a special course focusing on close-to-the-ground practices, that help you to feel grounded in your core and stable in your back. When we feel grounded in the core and stable in the back, the challenges of daily life are easier to manage.

Wednesday Soft & Slow (hybrid) - 10:30 - 11:30am

A gentle practice to feel well, and balance the body-mind-heart state. In these sessions I like to use props to support the body, especially focusing on challenging restrictions, & post-cancer treatment. The body is not over-challenged, but rather encouraged to come into mobilisation and feel more freedom. This directly influences the state of mind, calming the nervous system, easing tension and inviting inner peace.

Thursday Yin & Restore (online) - 19:00 - 20.15

One of my primary focuses for this month will be the fascinating psoas muscle and vagus nerve connection. The intricate connection between our bodies physical response to stress & how we navigate change without force. We will dive into tension held in the: shoulders, neck, lower back and hips...

Friday Yin-vinyasa Flow (hybrid) - 9:00 - 10:15am

On Fridays we will focus on enjoying how flow brings renewed energy into the body. This month I will also focus on backbending.

TO JOIN

• To join any classes online, please register on my website under Live Streaming Yoga

• To join me in-person, please send me an email

• I can highly recommend attending in-person if you can. This is an opportunity for me to see your practice, and support you with personal hands-on adjustments, which can strongly enhance your practice and the way you embody the poses.

• Since my groups are small, pre-registration helps me to plan my sessions better, and helps you to commit to your own vibrancy!

• By committing, the gifts of the practice will show themselves in your daily life.

Shine with Kindness - yoga charity event

Sunday 27th August from 15:00 - 17:00

For those who are not familiar with our children’s charity, have a look at our charity website.

Jürgen and I founded this charity in 2015, as a way to give back to a local South African community close to where I grew up.

At Shine with Kindness, you will hear more about our projects as well as get to enjoy 90 minutes of yoga guided by myself & Kirstie Pfau, supported by gorgeous music from Julia Meissner.

Please don’t wait too long to register - this event fills up quickly.

MORE DETAILS AND REGISTER HERE

I have chosen to call my offerings "Inspired Wellness" because...

Feeling inspired each day reminds me of my commitment to live to my highest potential for the benefit of my own continued transformation, and for the benefit of others.

Feeling balanced physically, mentally and emotionally is essential for our wellness, and demands our attention through gentle practices that nourish and connect us via our physical bodies to our mental and emotional states.

Our stories, memories, traumas, ideologies....are all stored through the physical body. To invite change, we need to invite the physical body to change its preference.

One of the key areas through which I like to weave my thoughts, ideas and poses is in the Yin & Restore Series

Below are the Thursday evening offerings until December.

The Yin & Restore Series for Autumn

OCTOBER

• 20th - Body Love - Compassion practice through awareness of soft tissue and fascia release

• 27th - Remaining Attentive & Non-Judgemental to ourselves & others (Focus: Kidney & Urinary bladder meridians)

NOVEMBER

• 3rd - Yin for Fatigue and Exhaustion (Focus: restorative poses, a stabilizing breathing practice, & calming forward bends)

• 10th - "As within, so without" - Embodied change through a quiet practice, transforming fear into love (Focus: upper back, shoulders, and hips)

• 17th - Our Vital Lymph System - improving waste removal from the body systems

• 24th - The Power of Passive Inversions - gentle supported inversions for: healthy circulation & lymph flow, a clear mind, and spaciousness in the body

DECEMBER

• 1st - Supporting Liver & Gall bladder health

• 08th - The Chakras in Yoga Nidra (Focus: awareness of your inner life through yin poses, embodied loving kindness meditation)

• 15th - Lung, Heart and Intestine Yin practice - embracing balance between heart & hara

Feel free to join me. Register online.

Namasté,

Fiona

Our bodies are made to move.

What inspires you to move your body?

What impulses motivate you to come into your power?

Yoga offers us a beautiful and powerful tool box, from which we can dive into a practice that suits our needs whenever and wherever.

You want to (re)start yoga and are not sure which avenue? This is what is on offer...

Online Video Library

• Contains a large collection of videos and some audios to support your daily immersion into Your practice. For a free week access, email me.

Yoga Offers

• In-person & Livestreaming weekly yoga - come and join me for guided practices
• Private yoga sessions - support your own personal needs
• Inspired Life Training - an individualised 6-month training program. A fun exploration of how yoga can support you in deepening your connection to you living the best version of yourself.
• Oncology Yoga - for those pre & post cancer treatment, who need a specific yoga practice to support their wellbeing.

https://www.habihochi.com

Recently I spent time with a longtime special friend of mine who is unconditional in her care for me and my well being. I noticed after spending an inspiring afternoon with her full of flowing ideas and creativity, how grateful I felt afterwards, full of lightness and love.

Connections can truly inspire our inner beingness, and help us to effectively turn towards what is arising and difficult, releasing the intense hold these strong emotional states can have on us.

This experience inspired me to share more about The Grateful Flow...

What do we do with so called “negative” emotions that rise up in us at any moment in our day, or even at night? Can we step back, take a deep breath, pause and soften to small “things”, moments and/or people we can be grateful for?

It has been proven that by writing down 5 things that you are grateful for can boost your happiness up to 25%, in any given moment. It’s impossible to be in a state of gratitude and in a state of misery at the same time - that is a motivating thought. This is definitely worth applying if it can be so simple to take small steps to help ourselves.

This also demands us to choose - to choose something different to staying connected to this state of overwhelm, depression, sadness, fear, anger….whatever challenging emotion is arising in the moment.

Where does gratitude reside in the body?

For me, the heart space. For you? I notice that by breathing into the heart space with gratitude, it intensifies this feeling. Breathe in gratitude for myself or whatever I am pausing into, and breathe out gratitude for all beings.

Starting right now...

Bring your hands together in Anjali mudra, and connect with someone you love. Be still. Be vigilant. Simply Be together. Appreciating the rise and fall not only of your breath, but also the breath of the other standing beside you.

Can we translate this Grateful flow into our yoga practice?

This month I would like to invite you to join me in gratitude infused heart-centred practices, where we not only focus on the heart centre, but also on the Hara (lower abdomen), so as to drop down from the head into the connection between the heart and then deeper to the root.

In our Thursday evening Yin & Restore practices, we will use a focused breath practice in our long holding poses to soften and pause, so as to increase the coalescence of energy or prana in specific sites in the body. As we do this, we will use the placement of our hands to increase our awareness of these areas. Whenever you rest your hands on your abdomen and heart centre, it is an opportunity to bring your attention down and in. Shifting from a more head-centred preoccupation to a more intuitive-centered relaxation.

In the Flow Practices (Early bird, Tuesday evening, Friday morning) we will immerse the theme of Gratitude in Connection into the flow experience.

Join me on the yoga mat to experience how you can translate this into an embodied feeling state.

As we continue on the journey called life into the new year, I would like to share some inspiration from Gary Zukav‘s new book, Universal Human, with you.

As I transitioned into the new year with my family and best friend, I was reflecting on reverence, what this means to me and why it is so important.

Reverence, for me, is a feeling of profound awe and respect connected to love, that is felt or shown to someone or something. It is to uphold something or someone dear or valuable to you, close to your heart.

„Reverence is contact with the essence of every person, bird, plant, animal, and thing, with the essence of the Earth and all upon and in it. It is contact with the interior of its beingness. Reverence is accepting the principle of the sacredness of Life, any way that you define sacred. Reverence is the experience that all Life is, in and of itself, of value and that everything is Life.“ GZ

As I read these words, I realise how intimately connected we all are - a deep and intimate sharing that radiates from the space of reverence.

Gary then goes on to share more about Sharing.. „All this is sharing. It is sharing not as an action but as an environment, an atmosphere, so to speak, just as the air that we breathe is not shared. It is. We need not ask for it. We need not receive it. It is a gift. It is as our world is. Sharing is as souls are…

Sharing is the same as giving, and giving is the same as sharing when there is no hidden agenda. When love is the inspiration, love is the giver. Love is also the receiver. One of the greatest gifts you can give to others is to receive their love. This does not mean to exploit their love. It means to open yourself to the love they have to give…

You experience reverence when, for a moment, your drop judgements and angers and resentment. In other words, when you drop your fear. Fear is not so easily dropped, yet the experience of fear dropping away is one that many humans have encountered. It is the experience of grace, the experience of ease, of effortlessness in your life, of a lack of fear entirely. Thoughts of judgment are not present. Thoughts of right and wrong are not present, for they do not exist.“

In Reverence, for each other, for our purpose individually and collectively, and for lives lived fully,

Love Fiona

„Suche das Licht nicht im Außen, finde das Licht in Dir und lasse es aus Deinem Herzen strahlen:“ Rumi

After my deeply inspiring weekend retreat with Pavi Mehta and Zita van Wees, I wanted to continue the thread by offering a 21-day program that aims to enrich mine and my students lives by staying connected on the yoga mat through a combination of practices that I love.

What does "Coming Home to Yourself" mean to you?

Coming home to ourselves for me means recognising our individual as well as our collective uniqueness. For this I know I need movement and stillness practices to allow me to sink into that inner space that recognises my own inner truth. Even if this quiet inner space is not always easy, warm, and nurturing, once we become familiar with the feeling tone of an experience, we can make peace with it.

Then we arrive home and it becomes easier and more welcoming!

Sometimes, we can’t change our circumstances, however, we can always choose the way we respond to them. Challenges become opportunities for transformation; Hardships become opportunities for self-love and self-compassion.

In these 21 days we will embark on a journey together how to remain calm and resilient in times of uncertainty and change, starting with our own inner atmosphere.

We will focus on:

• Techniques to cope with overwhelming feelings
• Meditations to calm and steady the thinking mind
• Movement practices to release tension and stagnation
• Practices to induce relaxation and deep sleep
• Breathing exercises to strengthen your resilience
• References, reflections and words of wisdom to keep you inspired

How does this work?

• Register for the challenge via email.
• On registration you will receive a “Start-up Pack" & login details.
• Each day (except Wednesday) you can log in via Zoom & join me for live yoga.
• All sessions will be recorded in case you miss one.
• The recordings will be available for one month after the 21 days.

By committing to this daily practice, you will start to drop into this feeling of "coming home to yourself".

I look forward to seeing you on the mat!

In Gratitude for all we can share

Fiona

Thoughts, ideas, experiences, words, images...they have all been whirling in and around me for weeks and days, wondering what feels right to share.

Mostly I am left with "Silence". Silence of my body, as my thinking mind continues to rival around a seemingly endless supply of thoughts, "contaminated" by so many powerful pressing topics which seem to glue us all together right now, and which leave me feeling helpless.

Then I begin to move and breathe, reminding myself, "Allow your body to be your teacher and your guide; stay connected to the feeling-state in which you inhabit this being called Fiona"

As I continue to transition from one asana to the next, still vividly aware of the constant barage of information flowing through me, supported by a seamless stream of emotions, I allow them all to ride the wave of my breathing as I smile and simply continue. Slowly and steadily, like our sweet tortoise emerging on a cold day, I notice the inner quietness starting to creep in. More space to breathe deeply. More fluidity in my joints. More softness in my expression. More ease. As if the sun starts to rise in me, warming from the inside out - a gold frequency like no other. I feel new, reborn, light.

Yoga has been define and re-defined 1000's of times over and over by each unique being who travels this path. As each of us unfolds our individuality through the yoga practice, deeply connected to our stories, past, present and future, we create a definition of what yoga is, in that moment. This definition changes, moment by moment, as we change. As our life stories unfold, we are invited to redefine ourselves and our practice. If we are to embrace and learn from suffering, then is it not also essential to redefine how we practice?

This is my sharing in this post - "Allow your body to be your teacher and your guide; stay connected to the feeling-state in which you inhabit this Being called You"

Honor your uniqueness. Honor your courage. Honor what life wishes you to share with others. Your truth lies within You; in your silence and place of stillness. Allow your practice to be submerged in images and feeling-tones that inspire your creativity, your lightness, your sense of love for life and others.

"All doubt, despair and fear become insignificant once the intention of life becomes love." Rumi

Below are also some “appertisers" to enhance your well being, since well being encompasses mind (being thoughts, emotions and feeling states), body and brain.

Wishing you all wonderful summer days on and off the yoga mat.

Fiona

Wednesday Open Flow - In-person only 9th - 30th June 9:15 - 10:15

Small Park am Rhein, near Park Haus Castanjen, Martin-Luther-King- Straße 8 (easy parking)

Cost: €57,12 for 4 sessions or €14,28/session

Register

Friday - In-person & online 11th June - 2nd July 8:30 - 09:45am

Jardeco, Siebengebirgsblick 2e, 53343 Wachtberg

Cost online: €11,90/class (same as attending a regular 75 minute class) Cost in-person: €17,85

Registration Link

NOTE: Please register for Friday class whether you attend in-person or online, stating after your name whether you are attending Online or In-person

Weekend Specials Saturday Park Flow (for everyone) 19th June 9:00 - 10:00am Donation class (profits go towards our children's charity Lucky Beans e.V)

Small Park am Rhein, near Park Haus Castanjen, Martin-Luther-King- Straße 8 (easy parking)

I will holding a special @home retreat with Pavi Mehta on

Sunday 21st March from 17:00 - 18:30 (Online)

Overview:
30-minute Yin Practice with Fiona, followed by 60-minute Realization process with Pavi

I am honoured to be sharing this mini-retreat space with Pavi Mehta, who will share her experience and passion for The Realization Process, and how you can integrate these simple effective meditative tools into your daily life - a perfect accompaniment to your yoga practice.

The Realization Process, founded by Judith Blackstone, is a series of secular practices for opening the body, heart and mind to the subtler dimension of consciousness that pervades us, and all that surrounds us. It is an experiential approach to deepening internal contact with ourselves and coming home in the truest sense of the word. In this retreat we will cover a few of the Realization Process practices that help us inhabit the whole body, attune to its central channel (that runs through the head, torso and pelvis), and open to the ground of being.

Learn more about Pavi and where she places her passion and service to the wider community:

www.servicespace.org

This mini-retreat will be run on a donation basis.

Please feel free to make a donation to my children’s charity,

Lucky Beans e.V. (www.luckybeans.eu)

IBAN: DE50500310001032803004

To sign-up, please email me: fionahayhoe@mac.com

One of the gifts that has unfolded for me from these strange times, is new meetings with people whom I may not have met had it not been for the necessity to go online to learn. One of these remarkable people is Pavi Mehta, who shared this wonderful story with me:

Kōlams are the form of ritual art from South India . This one was created by a dear family friend, Kripa Singan, from Pavi’s hometown.

“The patterns of a grid of dots encircled by flowing lines are drawn on pre-dawn thresholds every morning by millions of women. The dots represent the beginning of things - the origin point of life, and the lines represent the flow of life, and a kind of infinite continuity. 

Traditionally made from rice flour the kōlams are food for ants and other tiny life forms.  They are also a form of blessing, carried from the hands of women to the feet of passersby, spreading an anonymous energy of auspiciousness and beneficence through the community in invisible ways. The next morning the ground is swept clean, sprinkled with water and a new design created to greet the dawn.

Kōlams like this one, are not created from a preset plan - there are an infinite number of ways that the dots can be connected. These patterns flow spontaneously through fingers before sunrise, in that thin sliver of no-man's-land where the visible and invisible worlds meet, where darkness and daylight press their palms against one another.

In so many ways I think each of our lives can be a kind of kōlam creation in itself - a fluid, emergent connecting-of-dots in a vast field that brings beauty and possibility to life."

Where to find more about Pavi's contributions to Life: www.servicespace.org

More about Kōlams: https://feedingathousandsouls.com

"Animal so shy and small, dreaming you were bold and tall.

You hesitate, all sensitive, waiting for a chance to live.

Time is swift, it races by, opportunities are born and die.

Still you wait and will not try, a bird with wings who dares not rise and fly.

But that You you want to see, is not you, and will never be.

No one else will ever do, the special things that wait inside of you.

You can be a guiding star, if you make the most of Who you Are.

And the sensitivity that you're now ashamed to see, can be developed even more.

So you can find the hidden doors, to places no one's been before.

And the pride you'll feel inside, is not the kind that makes you fall.

It's the kind that recognizes, the bigness found in being small."

Here's to the unfolding into 2021 together... Join me on the yoga mat, committing to your unfolding life, just as it is, fully embodied in your body, just as it is. There is a quiet perfection in landing in ourselves in pure acceptance and love for the Self, also when there are challenges and imperfections to be met.

With the warmth and less restrictions, this sense of inner spaciousness is returning. Is this a collective feeling, I wonder?

So many themes and topics have arisen during this time, and some of them not so comfortable. Pleasant. Neutral. Unpleasant. The full spectrum of what we can experience, sometimes on a daily basis, and not just within ourselves/our inner world, but also all around us.

What touched me deeply during this strange life-phase, was the dedication and commitment of certain students who, no matter what, continued to turn up on the yoga mat either live-streaming or on my yoga platform. Despite the teachings all being online, they met this challenge with grace and often much needed humour. The small collective community that stayed connected has served us well. Even those who could not manage to meet me on the mat during this time, I know there have been challenges to meet that none of us expected. Deep respect to you and I hope you find your way back to meet me on the mat soon.

So, what exactly is changing? What am I learning from this experience? Have you reflected on this question? What I have learnt so far is that connection comes from intention. Intention can hold such deep value, which seeps into the body and subtly supports our changing process. In me, there has arisen a deeper desire to continue to support others to use yoga as a tool to live more fully and with purpose. Why? Because you are worth it. We all live together on this planet and we need to live in harmony, not only within ourselves, but also with each other and nature.

If you already know how yoga effects you, you love it but don’t practice regularly, what is holding you back from fully committing to integrate the teachings in your life? If you are not so familiar with the teachings of yoga, would you be curious to open yourself up to the potential of the teachings and how they can nourish you on more than just a physical level? Join me on the mat.

Whether you plan to have quiet summer days, or intense experiences, the change of seasons is always a remarkable time to simplify and quieten. Simplify our actions and output, and quieten our “inner life”. I recalled this wonderfully inspiring paragraph from Sarah Powers, my Yin Yoga teacher, which I would like to share…

“The desire to be happy is natural and universal. Yet happiness based merely on stimulus can never offer lasting joy, since when you remove the stimulus you extinguish the happiness. Look to the more reliable realm of true well being which is to be found in being aware of simply quiet presence where we pause from all our wants and needs, our likes and dislikes, and simply listen to the space of the mind. It may sound like the murmur of the sea from under water or like the wind whooshing on a mountain top. You are listening to your intrinsic quality of openness, which is as vast as a spacious sky, and is naturally infused with the nature of love. Simply bask in this uncluttered inner landscape for 6 minutes, breathing slow and deep. Can you feel it? Imagine you can….”

Sarah Powers - Dharma Drops - blog (20 June 2014)

What are we practicing on and off our mat for the next 6 weeks?

Let us use our practice on and off the mat to journey to a Heart-Centered practice, restoring balance, re-energising and feeling grounded, with an open heart. I invite you to join me to embark on a few simple mandala flows to stay focused, free the mind and open the heart. This is an invitation to direct experience.

Words from an elder Navajo medicine man and shaman:

“In order to walk in beauty with all things, we must connect with all things. We must take them seriously, with reverence. In this way, we participate with all things and become one with them. It’s from our direct experiences with life that we encounter the timeless and learn its hidden secrets.”

How can we best “profit” from the silent gifts of nature? For this insight, I would like to share some words from Peter Wohlleben….

“Inmitten der Natur stellt sich bei mir fast augenblicklich Freude ein. Und Ruhe. Vor allem dann, wenn ich allein unterwegs bin…Und oft kommen mir in der Natur großartige Gedanken und Ideen - eben weil ich nicht irgendeine bestimmte Aufgabe abarbeite.

Diese Zweckfreiheit regt die Kreativität ungemein an, wie Hirnforscher herausgefunden haben. Gerät man beispielsweise in eine Lebenskrise und denkt über eine grundlegende Veränderung in seinem Leben nach, etwa über einen Jobwechsel, dann kann die Atmosphäre des Waldes die Gedanken beflügeln - und einen geradezu spüren lassen, wie der Kontakt zur Natur, zum Lebendigen, einen stärkt und ermutigt.

Duftstoffe für unser Immunsystem Viele Untersuchungen zeigen, dass die Natur eine heilsame Wirkung auf uns ausübt - auf die Stimmung wie auf den Körper. Gerade Waldspaziergänge entfalten messbare Effekte. Sobald wir einen Forst betreten, schlägt unser Herz ruhiger, der Blutdruck sinkt, im Körper zirkulieren weniger Stresshormone. Blätter entfalten ihre Heilkraft alleine schon, wenn wir sie ansehen: Das Grün wirkt offenbar beruhigend auf Körper und Psyche. Neuere Forschungen belegen gar, das bestimmte Duftstoffe, die die Bäume ausdünsten, unser Immunsystem stärken.

Bei Experten gibt es wenig Zweifel daran, dass es gesund ist, unter Fichten, Buchen und Eichen zu wandeln. Viele Studien belegen: Wer sich im Grünen aufhält, der tut Körper und Geist etwas Gutes. Nach einem Aufenthalt im Wald fühlen sich Menschen zumeist erfrischt. Ausgeruht. Gestärkt. Der Kopf ist wieder frei. Doch der heilsame Effekt geht noch viel weiter. So haben Forscher herausgefunden: Der Körper von Menschen, die sich in einem Wald aufgehalten haben, produzieren mehr Killerzellen. Das sind jene machtvollen Abwehreinheiten des Immunsystems, die Krankheitserreger und potenzielle Tumorzellen bekämpfen. Diesen Effekt führen die Wissenschaftler vor allem auf eine Gruppe botanischer Duftstoffe zurück, die wir im Wald einatmen: die Terpenoide. Mehrere Zehntausend dieser flüchtigen Substanzen sind bekannt, und sie gehören zu jenen Stoffen, die besonders intensiv riechen. Bäumen dienen sie unter anderem als eine Art Kommunikationsmittel untereinander, etwa um Artgenossen vor gefräßigen Insekten zu warnen. Medizinisch besonders wirksam vor allem jene Terpenoide, die Nadelbäume, wie etwa Fichten, Kiefern und Tannen verströmen. Unter Laborbedingungen haben Wissenschaftler Terpenoide Zellkulturen zugefügt, die keimende Tumoren enthielten - und die Naturstoffe töteten die Krebszellen ab. Verfütterten die Forscher Terpenoide an Tiere, die an Krebs litten, bildeten sich deren bösartige Geschwüre zurück. Wie stark die Heilkraft der Bäume beim Menschen ist, wird derzeit erforscht. Immerhin: Wer einen Tag lang Waldatmosphäre in sich aufnimmt, hat anschließend, so zeigt eine Studie, fast 40 Prozent mehr Killerzellen im Blut - und dieser Effekt hält etwa eine Woche an. Verbringt jemand zwei Tage im Wald, steigert sich die Zahl seiner Killerzellen sogar um 100%, und es dauert einen ganzen Monat, bis das Niveau sinkt. Daher lässt sich aus Sicht der Forscher schon heute eine Empfehlung abgeben: Jeder Mensch sollte sich mindestens einmal im Monat für insgesamt zwei volle Tage im Wald aufhalten und Terpenoide tanken…

Durch das Öffnen aller Sinne, durch die achtsame Wahrnehmung der Umwelt, kann die Natur ihren vielleicht wichtigsten Schatz preisgeben: die Einsicht, dass nichts im Leben statisch ist, dass sich alles stets im Wandel befindet. Jeder Zustand hat seine Zeit, dauert nicht ewig an. Und das bedeutet schließlich: Wir können uns und dem Geschehen um uns etwas gelassener begegnen. Und auf diese Weise geradezu körperlich spüren, wie der bewusste Kontakt zum Wald uns stärkt und ermutigt.”

Wohllebens Welt, Geo-Magazin (Frühjahr 2019)

How to use this information on and off our mats? Let’s embrace this information knowing that we can be self-empowered to help ourselves simply by taking time to go into the nature and be close to the trees. Opening ourselves and our senses up to the world around us, that is so healing for us on so many levels. When it get warmer, take your yoga mat with you. If not, do strong standing poses in the forest and lots of handstands against the trees! In these seemingly delicate times, practice practice practice….don’t let fear stop you and anxiety bring you away from your mat and nature. Yoga is a very powerful tool for boosting immune strength.

Since new-years-resolutions are mostly “bogus”(not genuine or true) and leave us with an expectation that consumes us and often results in failure, I decided to focus on what will offer me inspiration for the year ahead.

I quote the amazing Nelson Mandela, who brought liberation, in a very humble proud manner, to my birth country, South Africa. He is not just speaking about his own country, but the whole world, as well as our own internal world. Peace has to start within...

“Courage is not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it.”

“The oppressor must be liberated just as surely as the oppressed. A man who takes away another man’s freedom is a prisoner of hatred, he is locked behind the bars of prejudice and narrow-mindedness. The oppressed and the oppressor alike are robbed of their humanity.”

A lifetime of struggle taught him that “no one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love...Man’s goodness is a flame that can be hidden but never extinguished.” (Alex Perry - Time Magazine, 12/2013)

What are we observing and practicing on and off our mat this month? Use your practice to discover what is oppressed in you, and who is the oppressor, retuning to this place of self-love through a quiet steady practice. What liberates and inspires you?! Often our own thought-forms connected to old stories are our own oppressors, restricting us from moving forward in our lives. Once we feel inspired and loving, this changes. Commit to reigniting your flame of goodness. If this feels impossible and overwhelming, especially when there are some deep stories that continue to play out their obvious importance in your life, replaying like old films again and again in your busy mind, perhaps it is worth taking time over the change of the years to reflect on Grief... ...as I so aptly learnt from Sophie Sabbage in her book, The Cancer Whisperer, grief is not just mourning the loss of someone you love, but is also mourning other losses in your life. “It is emotional oxygen, as vital to our health and wellbeing as the air we breathe and the water we drink. It is our best, most appropriate response to regret, loss, bereavement, hurt, privation, disappointment and change. It is the transitional bridge from the life we wanted or expected to live to the life we are actually living, the one riddled with out-of-the-blue setbacks and let downs.” Grief opens the heart and helps us heal, however, we must be willing to look at what we are grieving about. We need to: List our losses, Lay down our regrets, and Honour our hopes. If you wish to know more about the process, ask me. Or simply start to write a list, recognizing, honoring and releasing. To support you, clear your mind with some breathing first...

Pranayama: Kapalabhati (Skull radiant or Breath of fire).

“This rapid style of pranayama creates an internal rhythmic massage, stimulating the circulation of cerebral fluid and influencing the compression and decompression in the spine and brain. This stimulation pumps the diaphragm and lungs, improving the heart and blood circulation, which helps wash out waste gasses. It heats the nasal passages and sinuses, clearing away excess mucus, helping build up resistance to colds and respiratory disorders. It improves constipation and digestion, helps stimulate a sluggish system by accelerating the metabolic rate and strengthening the nervous system, and helps normalize the adrenals. This practice also accelerates pranic movement throughout the body and brain, increasing physical vitality and bestowing clarity of mind.” (Sarah Powers, Insight Yoga).

What to do: Take three slow Ujjayi breaths, placing one hand on your belly to stay connected to the breath. Take a full inhale (no Ujjayi breath now), and begin emphasizing the exhalation in quick, clear spurts similar to blowing your nose. Take short inhalations in order to keep going, but allowing the emphasis to be on the exhalation. The sound is quick and crisp on the exhalation, and silent on the inhalation. Stay steady in your posture, while your belly moves in and out matching your breath. Your hand can check your breath (belly moving toward the spine on the exhalation). The pace should feel consistent and repetitive; no straining the breath. Start with thirty pumps on the first round (stop sooner if you lose rhythm or start straining). On your last exhalation, slow the air a bit to allow all the breath out and then take a slow, deep inhalation and pause (kumbhaka) at the top of the inhalation. Hold for 10 to 30 seconds. After holding the breath an appropriate amount of time, exhale slowly till you feel empty. Pause and soften here again (kumbhaka). Hold as long as you comfortably can. After holding, slowly breathe in and out. This is one round. Repeat three rounds.

With consistent practice, you will strengthen your lungs and respiratory muscles, thus increasing the amount of pumps in each round (i.e. 50 to 100 pumps in one round). This practice can also help to open the heart.

My tips for the Autumn Boost your Body: Amla fruit (Indian Gooseberry) - it has the highest anti-oxidant content of any fruit, and the second highest concentration of vitamin C... https://www.organicfacts.net/health-benefits/fruit/indian-gooseberry-amla.html

Broccoli Sprouts - they have the highest concentration of Sulphorophane and much more…. https://hormonesbalance.com/recipes/how-to-grow-broccoli-sprouts/

Drink fresh lemon, ginger & turmeric in the morning - a simultaneous cleanser & immune booster.

Stay physically fit: Find a yoga sequence/practice that you can commit to for one month or 21 days. Or choose one flow practice for the morning and one yin practice for the evening, and do one of them daily depending on which time of the day you wish to practice. On my online platform you can find a variety of practices that you can easily follow at home: https://habihochi.com/onlineyoga/

Active Rest and Deep Breathing: We need good quality rest and good quality sleep. Sleep deprivation suppresses the immune system - while you are sleeping your body produces hormones that fight infections, eg melatonin. Practice 10 minutes of deep breathing on the strip or yin yoga before bed, to bring the body into an active rest state before sleeping. You will sleep better and your mind will be quieter. Practice a dynamic breathing practice first thing in the morning to energise the body-mind connection, eg Kapalabhati or Wim Hof breathing.

Stay connected to what serves you well.

One of the BIG questions that came into my thoughts was: Why is it that we are mostly so consumed by our problems, and somehow repeat these old thought patterns connected to the problems again and again and again? Why is it that when our lives are full we generally become more consumed by the problems closest to our hearts and cannot step back long enough to get a clearer view? We then get stuck on this logic left brain level of observation of a situation, without being able to shift to a deeper more limbic brain understanding.This often results in blame, judgment and ill feeling, especially in relationships, whether it be to ourselves and/or others. When these negative thought and behaviour patterns repeat themselves in us, we start to feel worse about ourselves - they seem to “breed” negativity in us.

During the summer, I was fortunate enough to land in a remarkable encounter with some very profound teachers of life-wisdom.... My best friend, Sylvie, is working in the field of human rights and anti-trafficking in Belgium, for a Foundation called Samilia. She recently invited a group of young women from Mumbai in India to the World Anti-trafficking day which was held in Brussels on 30th July, hosted by Samilia and the UNODC. These young women all live together like a family, and are survivors of trafficking and prostitution, many coming from families of sex trafficking. They are guided and supported by a few truly amazing women who dedicate their lives to empowering them for a richer life, so they can get educated and go out into the world and find their own purpose (www.kranti-india.org)

What is most impressive is HOW they do this....let me share how my adventure with them unfolded.

They were a party of 19 people: 14 young girls, 3 adult women who live with them, 1 remarkable women who teaches them yoga, meditation and theatre, and 1 committed friend who is an actor and has decided to create a documentary of their journey. They have been traveling for a few months in Europe now, performing a theatre piece that they created themselves to tell their story and bring awareness, as well as spending one month walking the Camino Santiago de Compastella.

Sylvie hosted them for three days in her house (yes we all fitted!! I felt like I was back at boarding school!). This was one of the most touching experiences of my life to date. Why? Because these young women have lived lives which most of us would rather not think about or wish to imagine, so traumatic are their stories. The drama, however, is not what is impressive, it’s the way they have used trauma to become empowered through their life stories and, through enormous courage and love, move forward with their lives with a sense of incredible purpose. All this is encompassed in so much love, incredible humour, presence and lightness. They have learnt to recognize and embrace their stories, and seem fearless as they now move through life with purpose and this sense of unconditional Presence.

The average age is 18. When I reflect on when I was 18, I know I was so so far from this kind of wisdom. I don’t judge myself for this, but feel grateful and encouraged to know it is never too late to learn Loving Presence, and what is possible to bring to our children, to aid them to be empowered and find purpose, through Presence, as early as possible in their lives.

The Kranti young women are “home schooled”. Robin, who is one of the founders and “mums”, created an educational system that felt true to giving these girls the best tools to heal and move forward with their lives. Their schooling system focuses on 5C’s: communication, creative thinking, critical analysis, community leadership, and compassion.

Everyday they start their day with yoga and meditation. Everyday. And why? Because it is essential to ground and balance them, give them focus, strength, clarity and calmness. And of course it helps to release old patterns from the body. I was privileged to be able to share my yoga experiences with them one morning, as well as to experience their amazing teacher, Jaya, one morning. They get to the mat, no matter what. The difference is, they have a purpose, and this purpose brings them to the mat with a kind, loving encouraging, non-aggressive forcing. Yes, they are still teenagers or young women who like to sleep, moan to get up, look exhausted and need coffee. This does not stop them. They know the effect of the practice.

They also practice, on a daily basis: journaling, writing gratitude letters, logic puzzles, creative thinking games, and team building exercises. After one year of studying at Kranti School, the students begin leading workshops, delivering speeches, volunteering at NGO’s, and implementing community projects. They are encouraged to move back into the world and share what they are learning.

They presented a remarkable theatre piece to a large audience in Brussels, telling their story like a train journey, Lal Batti Express. What was humbling was to witness the remarkable honest maturity with which they were able to present their story, as well as with the joy, fun and ease of teenagers.

What to extract from this experience....why do we delay in working through our challenges and traumas? Can we find the courage to face our dark side(s) with love, kindness, and commitment, and strive to be happy by freeing ourselves and committing to serve those who need support?

How? Commit to our yoga and meditation practice of course! Help others, in whatever way feels right for you.

If you cannot find a rhythm, commit to the regular yoga practice and join the online platform. One of the main reasons I created my online platform was for this purpose. If you feel you don’t know how to go forward with this challenge of regular practice, and you need support to find a clear direction, contact me. Together we can find a practice routine that suits you. Remember that the most effective tools you already have inside of you...your body, your breath, your will to commit, and a huge open heart.

More about Kranti: www.kranti-india.org

Recently my sister, who has a talent for knowing what I love or may love, gave me a gift of a beautiful book: Shinrin-Yoku - a book all about Forest bathing and the powerful effects it has on us. Such a simple concept really, go in the forest for a few hours and come out feeling more balanced, well and happy. I have somehow always taken this feeling for granted, knowing that this is the feeling state I will be in when I have been in the forest energy. In this book Professor Miyazaki speak about research which proves the effects of this type of aware forest excursion.

Part of this process is being aware of how the trees are affecting us... How do the spring colours of the leaves work in you? Their remarkable innocent transparency and luminosity, as they unfold with the warmth. It has been proven what the effect is on us... The green colour as well as the trees that house them quieten the body and psychi, our hearts beat more quietly, our blood pressure sinks, and our body circulates less stress hormones. It has also been proven that the trees release certain aromas that strengthen our immune systems, and namely our killer cells, that are responsible for prevention of illnesses and fighting tumor cells in the body. Researchers found that what is primarily responsible for this effect is a particular aroma arising from organic chemicals called Terpenoids. These oils are primarily released from conifers, namely: Spruce, Pine, and Fir.

The strength of the healing powers of the trees on people is still being researched. However, what has been discovered in one study is: who spends one day in a forest atmosphere, will increase the amount of killer cells in their blood by 40%. This effect can last up to one week. If someone spends 2 days in a forest, the amount of killer cells in his/her blood will increase to 100%, and the effect will last one month until this level starts to decrease. Researchers suggest we spend 2 days of every month in a forest to tank-up on Terpenoids (Taken from Wohllebens Welt, Geo-Magazin, 01 2019).

How does this effect our yoga practice? As the weather warms the earth, take time to go out into the nature with your yoga mat (or even without), and practice amongst the trees. I recently taught standing yoga on the East Sea, on the beach in the morning. Even though it was fresh, the yoga felt invigorating and grounding - just 30 minutes of practice from Tadasana. No fluff, no mat, no special outfit. I even had my warm hiking boots on! When we just do the practice, we feel the effects - lighter mood, more flexible body movements, freer breath... If you don’t have time or the possibility to go in the forest in the early mornings, just step outside into your garden or onto your terrace, and connect to the earth below you and the sky above, through your breath. Then move a few minutes with a pure intention to be present.

If you are unsure of what to do, perhaps consider starting with my 21-Day online challenge from 1st - 21st June. This is a virtual collective practice, where you sign-up with me, I give you a Zoom link, which you can open each morning when it is time to practice together. We flow and breathe for 30 minutes together, and then you go on with your day. This is a gift of well being to yourself.

Namaste Fiona

“Let your life lightly dance on the edges of Time like dew on the tip of a leaf.” Ravindranath Tagore

In my last InSpire, we focused on how to understand the nervous system, and “weed the garden” of our thoughts and actions to invite more positive feelings into our daily lives. The idea is easy to imagine when we are feeling relaxed and well, and less simple to apply when we are feeling emotionally down, or are stuck in a challenging situation. So, how to find our way even in “stuck” moments?

Mindfulness isn’t all about being constantly happy - it is simply permission to experience what you are feeling at any one moment, without attachment to those feelings, whether they be “good” or “bad”. By allowing ourselves to notice, experience and investigate our thoughts, feelings and/or emotions that seem to demand our attention, we slowly become better equipped to arrive in acceptance of what arises, and not feel overwhelmed and gripped by challenging emotions, thoughts and feelings that we feel we cannot control.

A powerful tool to support this process is Journaling, “taking notice and taking notes”. We will start with taking notice...

1. The art of paying attention We have so many distractions in our daily lives, which often then exacerbate our ability to sort through challenging thoughts, feelings or emotions. We will start by simply pausing, softening and connecting to our breath at specific times during our day. Choose the times when you can commit to doing this, even if it is only for 1 minute - set your timer if you need to. How often you do this, depends on your day - make it realistic so you can commit. In that 1 - 5 minute break, as you rest on your breath, notice 4 aspects of yourself: Your mental state Your physical body Your emotional state Your immediate surroundings

Notice them without the need to comment, change, or criticize. Just notice. Let all experiences from your observation come and go on your breath. To deepen this exercise, note down anything that arises from your experience, even if it is only a few key words. Practice this exercise for at least one week, and then go on to include the next one, or alternate between them.

2. The art of Being, doing nothing In your 1 - 5 minute break or even in your lunch break, pause, soften and connect to your breath. Either find a comfortable place to sit or go for a walk without a specific destination in mind. Simply Be. Watch your breath, relax your body, and Be. Again, notice anything that arises, like we did in the previous exercise, and keep returning to your breath. Just Being, not doing. If you wish, jot down how it feels to just Be in the moment without any specific objective. Notice how your observations change from moment to moment, day to day.

3. The art of unfolding details In your 1 minute break, first pause, soften and connect to your breath. Find an object/view in your surroundings that draws your attention, something that is pleasant to observe and helps you to soften (eg. Something in nature). Rest your eyes softly on it, watching without formulating any opinion or judgment, just observing. Start to describe it in detail. Then describe your feelings in response to observing this object/view.

If these exercises feel challenging or frustrating for you, do some yoga poses first. Simple stretching will allow the natural energy of the body to flow more freely in you, making it easier to be receptive. If you are not sure what to do, I recommend my sitting sequence, or the first few minutes of Joan’s Sequence, on my online platform.

“Ultimately, happiness comes down to choosing between the discomfort of becoming aware of your mental afflictions and the discomfort of being ruled by them.” Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche

As described by Rick Hanson and Richard Mendius in their book Buddha’s Brain: Suffering is not abstract or conceptual. It’s embodied: you feel it in your body, and it proceeds through bodily mechanisms. Understanding the physical machinery of suffering helps us see it increasingly as an impersonal condition - unpleasant to be sure, but not worth getting upset about, which just brings more suffering and reinforcement of old negative patterns of behavior.

Our Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) is made up of 2 systems: Our Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS) is responsible for our responses and reactions to stressful situations - a response that is integral: physically, mentally and emotionally. Psychological pain draws on many of the same neural networks as physical pain (Eisenberger & Lieberman 2004); this is why getting rejected can feel as bad as a root canal treatment!

Frequent activation of the SNS wears down the Hippocampus, which is vital for forming explicit memories - clear records of what actually happened. Cortisol and related glucocorticoid hormones both weaken existing synaptic connections in the hippocampus and inhibit the formation of new memories - we get stuck in our old negative patterns. The hippocampus is one of the few regions in the human brain that can actually grow new neurons, when not inhibited.

The good news is, our Parasympathetic Nervous System PNS calms down the SNS activation. This is our rest-and-digest system, which rebalances the brain-body state. The PNS conserves energy in your body and is responsible for ongoing, steady-state activity. It produces a feeling of relaxation, often with a sense of contentment., hence it’s name “rest-and-digest” system, in contrast to the “fight-or-flight” SNS. These two wings of the ANS are connected like a seesaw: when one goes up, the other one goes down.

How can we consciously influence this change for balance? Firstly, being with what arises, and knowing that suffering has clear causes in your brain and body, so if you change its causes, you’ll suffer a lot less. And you can change those causes. If you feel you can’t change them, start to manage your circumstances in the best possible way with efficient Yoga and mindfulness tools.

Secondly, working with the tendencies of the mind to transform - many small regular moments of awareness will gradually and truly increase your contentment, kindness, and insight. The brain can change through new learning, this is called neuroplasticity.

This is where the “gardening” comes in....

It is just like weeding the garden, the negative thoughts and feelings being the weeds and the positive ones the flowers. Gradually replace negative implicit memories with positive ones. Make the positive aspects of your experience prominent and relatively intense in the foreground of your awareness while simultaneously placing the negative material in the background. Imagine that the positive contents of your awareness are sinking down into old wounds, soothing chafed and bruised places like a warm golden salve, filling up hollows, slowly replacing negative feelings and beliefs with positive ones. Every time you sift positive feelings and views into painful, limiting states of mind, you build a little bit of neural structure. Over time, the accumulating impact of this positive material will literally, synapse by synapse, change your brain.

Focusing on what is wholesome and then taking it in, naturally increases the positive emotions flowing through your mind each day. Emotions have global effects since they organize the brain as a whole. Consequently, positive feelings have far-reaching benefits, including a stronger immune system, and a cardiovascular system that is less reactive to stress. They lift your mood; increase optimism, resilience, and resourcefulness; and help counteract the effects of painful experiences, including trauma. It’s a positive cycle: good feelings today increase the likelihood of good feelings tomorrow. (* for references responsible for the statistics in this paragraph, please read Buddha’s Brain)

These benefits apply to children as well - encourage them to pause for a moment at the end of each day (or at a natural interval during the day), to remember what went well and to think of things that make them happy. Then allow these positive thoughts and feelings to sink in.

Taking in the good is not about putting a happy shiny face on everything, nor is it about turning away from the hard things in life. It’s about nourishing well-being, contentment, and peace inside that are refuges you can always come from and return to.

Integrating this information on and off your yoga mat To reinforce this information bodily, embrace longer holdings on the black strip, as well as yin poses. A perfect accompaniment is my online yoga portal where you can practice while being supported within a specific time frame, to hold you accountable.

Namaste, and thank you Rick Hanson and Richard Mendius for making this information so clear and available to us, intermingled with my own input.

Rick Hanson and Richard Mendius, Buddha’s Brain, the practical neuroscience of happiness, love and wisdom.

It’s natural and human to obsess over past mistakes or feel stressed about what may be ahead of us. Yet every second spent worrying about a past or future moment distracts us from what is important in the here and now.

The ancient Greeks had two words for time. The first was chronos. The second was kairos. The Greek God Chronos was imagined as an elderly, grey/haired man, and his name connotes the literal ticking clock, the chronological time, the kind we measure (and race about trying to use efficiently). Kairos is different. While it is difficult to translate precisely, it refers to time that is opportune, right, different. Chronos is quantitative; kairos is qualitative. The latter is experienced only when we are fully in the moment - when we exist in the now.

It is mind-bending to consider that in practical terms we only ever have now. We can’t control the future in a literal sense, just the now. Of course, we learn from the past and can imagine the future. Yet only in the here and now can we actually execute on the things that really matter.

...focus on the things that are truly important - not yesterday or tomorrow, but right now.

The above is an extract from “essentialism, The Disciplined Pursuit of Less” by Greg McKeown

How to integrate this information on and off the mat? Create a healthy routine that matters, makes a difference, and inspires creativity in and around you.

Start with this question: “What’s important now?”

As suggested by Greg McKeown, “When faced with so many tasks and obligations that you can’t figure out which to tackle first, stop. Take a deep breath. Get present in the moment and ask yourself what is most important this very second - not what’s most important tomorrow or even an hour from now. If you’re not sure, make a list of everything vying for your attention and cross off anything that is not important right now.

As my attention rests on the breath, slowly I allow thoughts, emotions, and other internal and external distractions to pass on the breath - they are there and I allow them to be there. Breathing quietly and slowly, still listening, experiencing fully the breath passing in and out through my nose. I notice how the body reacts and moves with the incoming and outgoing breath.

As I sit and listen and observe, I notice my son - he somehow seems to fall into this quiet unassuming rhythm of life’s flow. In his own world, playing out his own stories, as if I am not present, and it does not matter if I am, because it is as if I am not paying attention to his play unfolding. He somehow slips into the same space, separate but connected. Is this how meditation works? Life is unfolding, and I am aware of it, in it, but not affected by it - with relief on my face, and a smile in my heart.

“Remind yourself that meditation is not something someone is good or bad at. It is not a competition, and there is no such thing as a failed meditation session. There is no need to get frustrated when any mental chatter arises or you go off in fantasy. Just catch yourself and bring your attention back to the breath.” Kasper van der Meulen.

It’s all fine and good to be in a conducive environment for meditation, where one slips with ease into ease. What about when the situation is everything but relaxing? What when it is a stressful highly charged situation? Perhaps understanding “stress physiology” can help us to identify in any one moment how to address a situation and recognize the stressor before our reaction is triggered? The stressor is the stimulus, and our reaction is the stress response. “When you say you are stressed, you indicate that you are having a reaction to a stressor. This means stress is highly subjective.” Kasper van der Meulen. So why do we take this so personally like it belongs to us?

Kasper goes on to say, “ a stress stimulus is not by definition negative; there are also positive tensions. Most of us have the experience of approaching a deadline and noticing that extra pressure can help us to do a ton of high-quality work at the last minute. ‘Eustress’ is a term that was described by psychologist Richard Lazarus, an expert in the field of stress in relation to cognition. The prefix “eu” originates from Greek and simply means “good”. You can experience distress (negative stress) but also eustress (positive stress)”.

Knowing this, can we then listen in for the stressor that arises, observe it, and see if we can pause, soften our attention and our eyes, and rest on the incoming and outgoing breath. If we pause just for a minute or even a few seconds before reacting, perhaps we have the opportunity to step back from old conditioned responses that arise so “naturally’ in us. It is these conditioned responses that we would like to change, inviting new ways of responding to situations that unnerve us. Surrender to change, or the willingness to change. Why not?

“Try not to resist the changes that come your way. Instead let life live through you. And do not worry that your life is turning upside down. How do you know that the side you are used to is better than the one to come?” The 40 Rules of love....

This leads us to diving into Neuroplasticity - rewiring the brain....more about this topic next month...

What are we practicing on and off our yoga mat this month? The sequence we will be practicing guides us into various “corners” of the body where we have the opportunity to practice fully what we want to integrate into our lives. Enjoy being embodied - Namaste -

Recipe of the Month....be InSpired by what you feed your body

Omega Rich Cookies. (With gluten-free options included by me)

(Taken from: “Brookdale’s Heavenly and Healthy Flavours”, the amazing Health Hydro where I teach my retreats in South Africa, www.brookdale.co.za)

1/2 cup butter 3 TBS Coconut flower syrup (Kokos Blueten Sirup) 2 eggs 1/2 cup Coconut flour (or Rice flour) ** 1/2 cup Chickpea flour (Kichererbsen Mehl) 1/2 cup Spelt flour (Dinkel mehl) If you want to make them completely gluten free, add 1 cup rice flour in stead) *** 1/2 cup Oats (Hafer) 1/2 cup Oat bran (Hafer Kleie) 1 tsp baking powder Pinch salt

1 TBS sesame seeds 1 TBS chia seeds 1 TBS sunflower seeds 1 TBS flax seeds, ground 2 TBS pumpkin seeds 2 TBS pecan nuts, chopped (I used other nuts, or none)

Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees and lightly grease a baking tray.

Cream butter and syrup together, then beat in eggs. Mix dry ingredients until the mixture resembles a dough. Add seeds and mix. Roll biscuit mixture into small balls, and place on baking tray. Press lightly with a fork.

Bake for 15 - 20 minutes, ‘till light golden. Don’t let them get too dark.

I made a couple of amendments to the recipe to suit a low or no sugar and gluten free diet. Please see the original ingredients below where the are in the recipe above: 1/2 cup sugar, instead of coconut flower syrup 1 cup stone ground cake flour, instead of 1/2 + 1/2 cups coconut and chickpea flours *** 1/2 cup stone ground brown flour, instead of Spelt flour

Spring and Summer bring a natural warmth and lightness to the body and mind, with increased energy as we savor the longer warmer days. Can we enhance this feeling with our yoga practice to arrive attentively in a state of happiness more often? Happiness is a quality of being not of doing. How do we arrive at this “beingness”?

Connect to what is - connect to the breath, through compassion for yourself and then for others, which arises naturally out of this space of balance. Whether we are experiencing suffering, emptiness, fullness or any other sensation, we stay connected to this experience, fully present. We are not a problem to fix, we are simply creating space for what arises. Presence is more important than survival. In Presence, there is no flight, fright or fleeing response arising, there is awareness.

Awareness has no agenda and doesn’t need this issue to change. There is mindfulness.

Mindfulness leads to new learning - since attention shapes neural circuits - and draws upon past learning to develop a steadier and more concentrated awareness. What happens in your mind changes your brain, both temporarily and in lasting ways; neurons that fire together wire together. And what happens in your brain changes your mind, since the brain and mind are a single, integrated system. An awakening mind means an awakening brain. Therefore you can use your mind to change your brain to benefit your mind - and everyone else whose life you touch, slowly revealing powerful ways to have more happiness, love, and wisdom.

Small positive actions everyday will add up to large changes over time, as you gradually build new neural structures. To keep at it, you need to be on your own side - self-compassion.

A worthy exercise: you were once a child, just as worthy of care as any other. Can you see yourself as a child? Wouldn’t you wish the best for that little person? The same is true today: you are a human being like any other - and just as deserving of happiness, love, and wisdom. Apply this practice.

(Part Extracts from Buddha’s Brain, Rick Hanson)

Arriving in this space of acceptance - awareness - mindfulness - compassion - love and happiness, we may need some tools to guide us on this path. We will devote the next two months of our practice to exploring the Chakras.

The Chakras - even with many varied explanations of how many, what, where and how the Chakras effect us and work in us, what we can establish from various wisdom schools, is that the Chakras are a part of a higher energy system than the physical body (they are not tangible or palpable like organs, tissues, and bones), and offer an integration of the entire being, physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. This is theory, so how do we gain a clearer picture for ourselves about how balanced chakras effect our well being? Through our yoga practice...

A clearly outlined sequence of poses can offer us a tangible internal working system which, when practiced with awareness, can help us to unfold within ourselves a feeling of a clear flowing pranic path where the Chakras are located, giving us an “image” of how this free flowing system works in us. When working with asanas, we can explore deeper qualities of self-awareness that embody a more multidimensional self-understanding, and thus a deeper understanding and acceptance of all beings.

We will follow the path of the chakras from the root to the crown, in a seven-stage practice, which is a common referred to number of chakras along the central channel. Each practice focuses on one chakra, so that we can focus our attention in one place at a time, and use specific poses for the balancing of that particular chakra.

Our starting point - Muladhara Chakra - mul, meaning “base”, and adhara, “support”, symbolizes our present psychic condition, bound as we are in normal consciousness to the physical body and intertwined in the web of earthly forces. Commonly described as being located at the base of the pelvis, Muladhara is associated with the earth element and the grounding aspects of life.

Out of balance: lacking grounding, or so rigid as to lack mobility, or lacking resilience in navigating the evolving path of life, feeling out of control, insecure, irresponsible, caught up in money matters.

A balanced state: grounded, clear in life decisions, moving with ease through life.

Finding balance through our practice: establish a sense of grounding through the feet, legs, pelvis and hara, as well as moving towards stillness in sitting forward bends, lying and sitting. This process can be deepened with a focused pranayama practice, eg. Breath retention (khumbhaka).

Svadhisthana Chakra - sva, meaning “self”, and adhisthana, “dwelling place”, symbolizes the core feelings we have around our likes and dislikes, reflecting what we gravitate toward or resist in our lives. Located just above Muladhara, it is associated with the water element, and reflects the shifting tides of attraction and repulsion, and is connected to the reproductive organs and sexuality.

A balanced state: creatively expressing ourselves more easily in the world of relationships in a way that helps to sustain our contentment.

Out of balance: addiction, compulsive, lacking desire, difficulty sustaining relationships.

Finding balance through our practice: first recognizing the behavioral and emotional patterns that drive our lives around matters of sensuality, sexuality, creativity, and relationship. Holding this awareness, we can move through the yoga practice focusing on embodying ease, joy and playfulness in the practice, as we develop the practice from Muladhara.

Manipura Charkra - mani, meaning “gems”, and pura, “town, or city of jewels”, symbolizes the qualities that affect how we manifest ourselves in the world. Located at the navel (or just below it), Manipura is associated with the fire element and it is how we stoke our inner fire and thereby glow in the world.

Out of balance: when too strong, domineering, insensitive to other’s needs, arrogant, unharmonious relationships. When too weak, fading from action, difficulty in decision making, prone to self-destructive behavior, constantly questioning ourselves arriving in uncertainty and non-action.

A balanced state: more easily arrive in balance when the first two chakras are balanced. Finding the courage to face difficult circumstances with a sense of openness and curiosity, the intensity to stay with challenges, and a balance of confidence and humility that enables us to more instinctively establish respectful and comfortable relationships, with less aggressivety and less force. Emotionally balanced state in the face of complexity, being stronger yet softer.

Finding balance through our practice: Developing further our sequence from the root, to include core awakening asanas as well as a pranayama practice to drop the attention directly to Manipura, while maintaining a strong light base.

Anahatha Chakra - Anahatha, meaning “unstruck sound”, symbolizes awareness and manifestation of love. Located at the heart centre, Anahatha, is associated with the air element, and is about the heart of our feelings. We tune in to the very pulse of life, and this can only happen effectively when there is balance in the first three chakras, so we can more easily arrive at balance in the emotional connection. From here, we can open to higher consciousness that naturally manifests when compassion, joy, and love are fully part of our life. From a balanced state, we can go beyond love as a purely personal emotional state, to embodying love as a more universal state.

Finding balance in our practice: delving into backbends, and combining this with Viloma pranayama and antara kumbhaka (retention at the end of the inhale) in yin poses, to deepen our experience of the opening heart space, while staying grounded and light.

Vishuddha Chakra - vishuddha, meaning “pure, clear or virtuous”, symbolizes purity and harmony in the entirety of one’s being. Located at the throat, this chakra represents the element of ether or space that hosts the other four elements. When the lower chakras are balanced and the Anahatha chakra awakened, we find greater ease in every aspect of balance in our lives. With wisdom rising from the heart, we more easily know and share the truth as we experience it. Communication is clearer.

Finding balance in our practice: blending into the practices from above, we invert the body to bring some pressure to the throat and neck area, to draw awareness there, plus being curious about Simhasana (Lion’s breath pose), and viloma pranayama with Bahya kumbhaka (retention of the exhalation).

Ajna Chakra - ajna, meaning, “command” or “authority”, symbolizes the overarching intelligence and wisdom that brings all of the other chakras to life and balance. We open ourselves to a more balanced awareness of one’s being in the universe - the oneness of everything.

Finding balance in our practice: meditation. Sitting and being absorbed. “Seeing” through the third eye, we witness our life and world as though transcending time and space.

Sahasrara Chakra - sahasrara, meaning “thousand petals”, symbolizes the full manifestation of enlightened awareness. The number one thousand is given to signify the infinite; beyond the elements, it is said to be the set of the soul, representing the abiding quality of consciousness that pervades the universe. We arrive in balance, to a space of integrated blissful being, wholly at peace and at one in the world.

(Extracts from Mark Stevens, Yoga Sequencing)

The practice: bringing it all together, on and off the yoga mat. There is no separation between what we practice on the mat, and off it - Wakefulness in the Inner Space.

Om Shanti Shanti Shanti

Feeling well is available to all of us all the time whenever we are ready to embrace it. So how? Let’s explore what Toni Packer shares with us...

Awareness cannot be taught, and when it is present it has no context. All contexts are created by thought and are therefore corruptible by thought. Awareness simply throws light on what is, without any separation whatsoever.

“When a human being is sitting quietly, motionlessly, listening out of the depth of silence, does it make any difference what posture is taken, who taught him or her how to sit, what tradition the teacher calls his or her own, how ancient it may be?

I think this does not matter at all. What matters profoundly is that a human being discover directly, clearly, the enormous depth and weight of psychological conditioning that shapes and controls every move of the mind and body, keeping it divided and in conflict with itself, with other people, and with the natural environment. Not just to discover this conditioning, to become aware of it from moment to moment - as it functions automatically, habitually, mechanically - but to wonder whether it can slow down and come to a stop in silent understanding.

Such questioning and quiet attending is not directed toward the attainment of any experience - be it a blissful meditative state, the experience of silence, freedom, harmony, power, or seeing “the ways of nature, the energies of the stars, the earth, plants, the animals, and the spirits.”

It has nothing to do with seeking experiences, but with directly discovering and unveiling the seeker, the meditator, the wanter, the doer, the experiencer, the keeper, the transmitter - having profound insight into the infinite disguises of the idea and sense of a separate self.

The emergence and blossoming of understanding, love, and intelligence has nothing to do with posture or tradition, no matter how ancient or impressive - it has nothing to do with time. It happens on its own when a human being questions, wonders, inquires, listens, and looks silently without getting stuck in fear, pleasure, and pain. When self-concern is quiet, in abeyance, heaven and earth are open. The mystery, the essence of all life, is not separate from the silent openness of simple listening.

Looking and listening are not two separate processes. None of the senses are really separate. When there is no naming, no knowing, and no reacting from memory-image, the senses operate as a whole. When remembered knowledge, past experience, wanting, and fearing don’t interfere, there is no sense of division as we talk with each other. There’s one questioning, one listening, one looking....personality develops as a result of history, our past experiences. At any moment of looking directly, with all the senses operating together freely, listening and feeling with an open mind body and heart, personality doesn’t matter, conditioning doesn’t matter...”

How to apply this.... Pause, soften, connect to the breath, looking and listening with curiosity as well as kindness for ourselves and others. Using our yoga practice as a gateway to access this space and spaciousness, where we create a safe environment within ourselves to be able to look and listen.

And what happens when fear arises? “This is what this work is about: facing directly the fear that arises when everything about oneself is called into question.”

Extracts taken from: Toni Packer, the work of this moment

Usually with the new year comes new resolutions. What does this mean for you? If you have chosen to follow through with a resolution, is there sincerity in your reasoning? Can you stay committed to sincerity? If you have no resolution, what about committing to inner stillness sincerely?

Why is it that we give up on our resolutions or a commitment? Is it because we become disappointed or discouraged, and then can’t find the motivation to continue?

What do we do when we get discouraged by our own faults, or by life stories that are challenging or disappointing and we feel we can only give up? Read this extract from Looking from within, gleanings from the work of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother: “The purest lily can spring out of a heap of rubbish by the wayside. That is to say, there is nothing so rotten that it cannot give birth to the purest realization. Whatever may be the past, whatever may be the faults committed, whatever the ignorance in which one might have lived, one carries deep within oneself the supreme purity which can translate itself into a wonderful realization. The whole point is to think of that, to concentrate on that and not to be concerned with all the difficulties and obstacles and hindrances. Concentrate exclusively on what you want to be, forget as entirely as possible what you do not want to be.” The Mother

Even when challenging situations seem beyond our control, what if we place a small spark of goodwill, lightness and sincerity in this darkness, in whatever form it takes? The challenges can be within us (resistance to change from various parts) and/or a universal force from outside of our control. As Sri Aurobindo says, “..one must try to keep a part of the mind conscious which will refuse to admit the suggestions or share in the depression and the trouble, - which will say firmly ‘I know what this is and I know that it will pass and I can resume my way to the goal which nothing can prevent me from reaching, since my soul’s will is and will always be for that.’ You have to reach the point where you can do that always; then the power of the Forces to disturb will begin to diminish and fall away.”

Let’s celebrate being true to ourselves and our practice. Small moments to sincerely drop-in...

Here’s to a year filled with inspiring moments...

Om Shanti.

What do we do with so called “negative” emotions that rise up in us at any moment in our day, or even at night? Can we step back, take a deep breath, pause and soften to small “things”, moments and/or people we can be grateful for?

It has been proven that by writing down 5 things that you are grateful for can boost your happiness up to 25%, in any given moment. It’s impossible to be in a state of gratitude and in a state of misery at the same time - that is a motivating thought. This is definitely worth applying if it can be so simple to take small steps to help ourselves.

This also demands of us a choice - a choice to choose something different to staying connected to this state of overwhelm, depression, sadness, fear, anger….whatever challenging emotion is arising in the moment.

Where does gratitude reside in the body? For me, the heart space. For you? I notice that by breathing into the heart space with gratitude, it intensifies this feeling. Breathe in gratitude for myself or whatever I am pausing into, and breathe out gratitude for all beings.

Can we translate this Grateful flow into our yoga practice? In the next two months I invite you into a heart-centred practice, where we not only focus on the heart centre, but also on the Hara, so as to drop down from the head into the connection between the heart and then deeper to the root.

In our practice, we will use a focused breath practice to soften and pause, so as to increase the coalescence of energy or prana in specific sites in the body. As we do this, we will use the placement of our hands to increase our awareness of these areas. Whenever you rest your hands on your abdomen and heart centre, it is an opportunity to bring your attention down and in. Shifting from a more head-centred preoccupation to a more intuitive-centered relaxation.

In my InSpire for the next 6 weeks, let's find out more about this fabulous term and how we can integrate it as a habit into our lives, if it is not already there, or enhance its use, if it is there…

How Brian Johnson describes it…

First, quick backstory: Barbara is one of the world’s leading researchers studying well-being. She wrote a book called Love 2.0 where she tells us that, from a scientific perspective, love is really all about “micro-moments of positivity”--moments in our everyday lives in which we connect with someone over a shared positive emotion.

She describes two different types of love: compassionate love and celebratory love. Compassionate love is when our hearts open up to feel someone’s pain and we wish them a sense of well-being. Celebratory love is, as the name implies, when we see the awesomeness in someone else and CELEBRATE it with them.

We appreciate SOMEONE ELSE’S good fortune when we practice (yes, it’s a practice!) celebratory love.

We can do this all day every day. See someone with a spring in their step and a smile on their face? Take a moment to celebrate their apparent happiness. Barbara silently says to herself, “May your happiness and good fortune continue!”

And, perhaps most importantly, when a loved one (or friend or colleague or anyone) shares a story about their success with you, CELEBRATE IT!!

Barbara tells us that most counselling focuses on helping couples and families deal with the challenges in their relationships. But, she tells us, it’s actually WAY more important to get REALLY good at celebrating the POSITIVE stuff!!

Let’s move from theory to practice.

Spend a moment thinking of three people you love very much. Who are they?

Wonderful.

Now, what’s one thing you can appreciate about each of them?

Name → Awesomeness

Fantastic.

I celebrate you and your awesomeness.

Now, let’s make that a habit!

As we bring positive clear energy into our own lives, we are affecting the global picture as well. Let's dedicate our practice for our own growth and deeper understanding, as well as extending it out to our families, friends and the wider community.

Namaste

How can we adapt to change whether "good" or "bad"? How can we embody this forgiving quality of nature in our own way of being? Perhaps through embracing Equanimity into our daily lives? Being a part of everything that arises in our daily lives, without being disturbed by it, and without judging it. We are always practicing and accomplishing simultaneously, regardless of what we are doing or not doing.

The Tibetan verb drupa, is commonly translated as "to practice", and also means "to accomplish". When a contemplative is practicing meditation, he/she is also accomplishing mindfulness. Practice and achievement are one and the same.

Whether you are meditating, resting, walking, dancing, listening to music, sharing with others....it can all be good for the heart, the body and the mind. Even challenging situations which we know help us to evolve, contribute to all of life's experiences becoming suffused with spiritual practice. Tapping into this inner source of genuine well-being, can dissipate any sense of loneliness, depression, or mental unease...at any time. We choose it. What are you choosing in this moment? Pause. Soften. Ask yourself....

"The cultivation of equanimity means learning to regard everyone with impartiality. No one is a stranger...This is a capacity we can all unveil." Alan Wallace

Meditation on Equanimity (by Alan Wallace) Find a comfortable position, keeping your spine straight. Settle your body in its grounded rest state, imbued with the three qualities of relaxation, stillness, and vigilance (if possible, keep your eyes softly open). Attend to your breath for a few moments...

Bring to mind a person you know well, whose background and living circumstances are familiar to yours but who is neither a friend nor an enemy. Attend to this person. This person, like yourself, is striving for happiness and freedom from pain, fear, and insecurity. Focus on this person and shift your awareness to view the world from her eyes. From this point of view, look back on yourself. Regardless of the distinct defects or excellent qualities this person might have, her yearning for happiness and wish to be free from pain and grief are identical to your own. Even though she is not close to the center of your personal universe, her well-being is no less significant than that of a dear loved one whom you may regard as crucial to your happiness.

Now bring to mind a person you feel is crucial to your well-being, a person for whom you have both affection and attachment. Attend closely to this loved one, and shift your awareness to the viewpoint of that person so that you perceive him as a human being like yourself, with both defects and excellent qualities. From this viewpoint, realize that although you are loved by some people, a great number of people feel indifferently toward you, and there also may be some people who don't like you. This person for whom you feel affection and attachment feels her own desires, hopes, and fears. Now step back and attend to this person from the outside. This person is not a true source of your happiness, security, or joy, which can only arise from your own heart and mind.

Next bring to mind a person who may be intent on bringing your harm or depriving you of happiness, a person with whom you feel conflict. As before, imagine stepping into this person's perspective, being this person from the inside, and experiencing her hopes and fears. Fundamentally, this person, like yourself, wishes to find happiness and freedom from suffering. Now, step back and attend to her from outside with the realization that she is not the source of your distress or anxiety. If you feel uneasy or angry in relationship to this person, the source is in your own heart, not in the other person.

Realize that there is nothing inherent in the stranger, in the loved one, nor in the foe that makes the other person fall into one category or another. Circumstances change, relationships change, and it is the flux of circumstances that gives rise to the thoughts "this is my enemy" or "this is my loved one". Expand the field of awareness to embrace everyone in your immediate environment, their hopes, fears, aspirations, and yearnings. Each person is as important as all others. Shifting circumstances bring us together and also cause us to part. Expand your field of awareness out over the whole community, reaching out in all directions, including everyone. Recognize that each person is fundamentally like yourself, and virtually everyone feels himself to be the center of his world.

Imagine the pure depths of your own awareness, unsullied by the obscurations of self-centered attachment and aversion, as an orb of radiant white light at your heart. With each exhalation, let this light spread out evenly in all directions to all persons with the yearning, "May each one, including myself, find happiness. May everyone, including myself, be free of suffering and the causes of suffering." Imagine a flood of light going out in all directions, soothing those who are distressed and bringing healing, happiness, and a sense of well-being to everyone. With each inhalation, draw in the distress and causes of unhappiness and pain of each sentient being. Imagine this as a dark cloud that dissolves into the light at your heart, and imagine all beings free of suffering and its causes.

Before you bring this session to a close, rest for a moment without bringing anything to mind. Settle your awareness in its own nature, with no object and with no subject. This is the even-mindedness that is a fertile foundation for all spiritual practices.

“Impermanent are all component things, They arise and cease, that is their nature: They come into being and pass away, Release from them is bliss supreme.”

From the Mahaa-Parinibbaana Sutta (DN 16) (1)

According to the teachings of Buddha, all existence has three characteristics, and one of the main ones, Annica, or impermanence, indicates that everything has a beginning and an ending. Change, or impermanence, is the essential characteristic of all phenomenal existence. Nothing is lasting. All is fleeting. This may seem a bit pessimistic and miserable, however, when we are honest with ourselves, we know this is true. We cannot hold on to any experience, anyone, any object - they will all come to pass.

When this truth is not grounded in our being, we grasp at things and at life, attempting to cling to life and hold on to our experiences and people. Buddha teaches, that this creates suffering in us. “We wish for stability and permanence, and this is forever denied us, irrespective of whether we are talking about pain or pleasure. It is something we want but can never get.” Rigzin Shikpo

How can we contemplate and embody this meaning into our lives, while living life to its fullest with joy? “With the quality of openness, a kind of lightness creeps into the situation. This is the beginning of a new way of looking at the world” Rigzin Shikpo

Seeing the magic in the ordinary - we could be open and gentle to our life process as it is unfolding moment by moment, day by day…and especially to our remarkable thoughts that come and go continuously. “There is a powerful yet gentle magic about the fact that thoughts arise at all. Ordinary things are totally magical, but it takes a while to see that. Things don’t seem magical when we are used to them…The fact that thoughts and feelings appear at all - and what they are in themselves - is amazing.” Rigzin Shikpo

Notice the magic of your thoughts an feelings, then return to the breath, without clinging to the realisation of the magic in the ordinary.

I would like to repeat a story I “told” in 2013, an invite you to contemplate in a simple way….

The Broom Master (Taken from: Kindness, A Treasury of Buddhist Wisdom for children and parents. Collected and adapted by Sarah Conover)

Long ago, during the time of Buddha, lived a boy named Chundaka. Chunda - as he was fondly called - was a happy and good youngster, but was unable to learn to read and write. In comparison, Chunda’s older brother became quite knowledgeable, with a keen interest in Buddhism. When the older brother decided to lead a monk’s life, Chunda followed a long. He sought to live near his brother, but secretly, he also hoped to work alongside the monks and learn about Buddhism. “Why don’t you ask the Buddha if you can become a monk too?” his brother encouraged. But Chunda had no confidence. “Brother, how can I?” Chunda sadly replied. “I can’t memorize, and I can’t read or write. I have no knowledge of scriptures, and I won’t be able to learn them. A monk must be able to teach others many things.” But his brother assured him that both riches and knowledge were meaningless to the Buddha. “He values only the compassion we have for another and the ways to help all creatures suffer less. No one is as gentle and kind as he is. I know he will not disappoint you, Chunda. Go and hear for yourself,” prodded his brother hopefully.

So Chunda mustered all his courage. He bathed and purified himself. When he was certain he was quite ready, he approached the Buddha. The Buddha observed that this humble young man had an earnest and pure heart. He could see that Chunda would try his very best. The Buddha welcomed him as the newest monk in the community. The next morning, Ananda, head of all the monks, gave Chunda a small scripture to memorize, just 6 lines long. It was the first of hundreds that each monk was expected to learn by heart. But a week later, having tried his hardest, poor Chunda could still not recite it from beginning to end. Completely disheartened, he went back to the Buddha and admitted his failure. But the Buddha was not greatly disappointed; he had total faith in Chunda’s good intentions. The Buddha and Chunda sat thoughtfully together in silence. An idea suddenly occurred to the Buddha. “Chunda, are you a hard worker?” asked the Buddha. “Do you think you can sweep the temple and keep it spotlessly clean?” “Oh yes, teacher. I’m a good worker, and I’m very good at sweeping. I just cannot seem to learn scripture.” So the Buddha gave Chunda the task of keeping the temple perfectly clean. He was to hold no other job but temple sweeper. The Buddha then requested that Chunda speak two lines while sweeping: remove all dust, remove all dirt. Bur as soon as poor Chunda attempted his task, the words completely vanished from his mind. Luckily, Ananda overheard the Buddha’s instructions and could help Chunda remember them over and over again.

At last, a month later, Chunda had it learned by heart. “Remove all dust,” the monks heard Chunda whisper with the sweep of the broom. “Remove all dirt,” he murmured with the return sweep. Behind Chunda’s back, the other monks snickered at his memory problem. More than a few took some pride in the extent of their learning. Day and night Chunda poured his heart into his work, repeating those six words again and again. Eventually, however, over time every monk couldn’t help but admire Chunda’s perseverance. They had never witnessed such single-minded determination. In time, the few words that the Buddha had given him to memorize became more and more meaningful to Chunda. His chores became a meditation upon the words. Chunda’s curiosity deepened, and he suspected that the Buddha knew all along that these words were not as simple as they first appeared. “Did my teacher want me to sweep outer dust and dirt or inner dust and dirt?” he wondered. “What is inner dirt? How would one go about cleaning inner dirt?” he asked himself many times.

Some months later, Chunda found the answers to these questions himself. While he worked, insight nudged its way into his heart. Once in awhile now, the monks saw Chunda thoughtfully pausing from his endless task, leaning against his broom and looking at the far-off horizon.

At last a day came when Chunda felt ready to discuss his thought with the Buddha. “Venerable sir,” said Chundaka enthusiastically, “I think I finally understand the real meaning of the words your gave me.” “Please tell me what you understand,” encouraged the Buddha. “I believe that inner dust and dirt is a grasping,” said Chunda. “If we don’t like something in our lives, we grasp for a different situation. But if we really like something that we have, then we also grasp because we don’t want it to change.” Chunda continued, “To look at life clearly, we must always see through this. We must sweep the dust and dirt away and keep our inner temple clean.” The Buddha smiled warmly at Chunda’s thoughtful words.

And so, as the years passed, Chunda swept and meditated and thought deeply. He found he did not have to memorize scriptures as the other monks did, for teachings seemed to arise from within. After a time, he became known as one of the wise and gentle teachers of Buddhism, affectionately called “Chundaka, the Broom Master.” He lived a long and happy life. And for many years people journeyed to the monastery from distant places, not just to hear from the learned monks, but to listen especially to Chundaka, the Broom Master. He was their favorite, loved for his very simple, yet very wise sayings.

Mindfulness of breathing involves letting the breath flow in and out with as little interference as possible. We have to start by assuming the body knows how to breathe better than the mind does. Trust your body.

The Practice: Mindfulness of breathing with relaxation

Our minds are bound up with our bodies, so we need to incorporate our bodies into meditative practice. In each session we will do this by first settling the body in its natural state, while imbued with three qualities: relaxation, stillness, and vigilance.

The Posture It is generally preferable to practice mediation sitting on a cushion with your legs crossed, but if that is uncomfortable, you may either sit on a chair or lie down in the supine position, your head resting on a pillow. Whatever position you assume, let your back be straight, and settle your body with a sense of relaxation and ease. Your eyes may be closed, partially closed, or open, as you wish…If you are sitting, you may rest your hands on your knees or in your lap. Your head may be slightly inclined or directed straight ahead, and your tongue may rest lightly on your palate.

Now bring your awareness to the tactile sensations throughout your body, from the soles of your feet up to the crown of your head. Note the sensations in your shoulders and neck, and if you notice any tightness there, soften. Likewise, be aware of the muscles of your face - your jaw, temples, and forehead, as well as your eyes - soften any area that feels constricted. Let your face relax like that of a sleeping baby, and set your entire body at ease. Throughout this session, keep as physically still as you can. Avoid all unnecessary movement, such as scratching and fidgeting. You will find that the stillness of the body helps to settle the mind.

If you are sitting, assume a “posture of vigilance”: Slightly raise your sternum so that when you inhale, you feel the sensations of the respiration naturally go to your belly, which expands during the in-breath and retracts during the out-breath. During meditation sessions, breathe as if you were pouring water into a pot, filling it from the bottom up. When the breath is shallow, only the belly will expand. In the course of a deeper inhalation, first the abdomen, then the diaphragm will then expand, and when you inhale yet more deeply, the chest will finally expand after the belly and diaphragm have done so. If you are meditating in the supine position, position yourself so that you can mentally draw a straight line from the point between your heels, to your navel, and to your chin. Let your feet fall to the outside, and stretch your arms out to the sides of your torso, with your palms facing up. Vigilance in the supine position is mostly psychological, an attitude that regards this position as a formal meditation posture, and not simply as rest.

The Practice Be at ease. Be still. Be vigilant. These three qualities of the body are to be maintained throughout all meditation sessions. Once you have settled your body with these three qualities, take three slow, gentle, deep breaths, breathing in and out through the nostrils. Let your awareness permeate your entire body as you do so, noting any sensations that arise in relation to the respiration. Luxuriate in these breaths, as if you were receiving a gentle massage from within. Open your awareness to the entire field of sensations throughout the body. The emphasis here is on mental and physical relaxation (there is no difference between mental and physical agitation and relaxation, according to Gert van Leeuwen). By settling your awareness in the body, you diffuse the knots in the body and mind. Tightness unravels of its own accord, and this soothes the network of the body.

Now settle your breathing in its natural flow. Continue breathing through your nostrils, noting the sensations of the respiration wherever they arise within your body. Observe the entire course of each in- and out-breath, noting whether it is long or short, deep or shallow, slow or fast. Don’t impose any rhythm on your breathing. Attend closely to the respiration, but without wilfully influencing it in any way. Don’t even prefer one kind of a breath over another, and don’t assume that rhythmic breathing is necessarily better than irregular breathing. Let the body breathe as if you were fast asleep, but mindfully vigilant.

Thoughts are bound to arise involuntarily, and your attention may also be pulled away by noises and other small stimuli from your environment. When you note that you become distracted, instead of tightening up and forcing your attention back to your breath, simply let go of those thoughts and distractions. Especially with each exhale, relax your body, release extraneous thoughts, and happily let your attention settle back into the body. When you see that your mind has wandered, be grateful that you have noticed the distraction, and gently return to the breath. Again and again, counteract the agitation and turbulence of the mind by relaxing more deeply, not by contracting your body and/or mind. If any tension builds up in your shoulders, face, or eyes, release it. With each exhalation, release involuntary thoughts as if they were dry leaves blown away by a soft breeze. Relax deeply through the entire course of the exhalation, and continue to relax as the next breath flows in effortlessly like the tide. Breathe so effortlessly that you feel as if your body were being breathed by your environment. Continue practicing, building your time of sitting slowly up, then mindfully emerge from meditation and reengage with the world around you.

(An extract from The Attention Revolution, Unlocking the Power of the Focused Mind, by Alan Wallace)

I wanted to address this theme as the year slowly draws to a close. There is such a strong focus on family as we near Christmas and the closure of the year, whether it be your immediate family, and/or extended family. How can we stay in a kind, loving space with ourselves and others?

Many of us have chosen to have children, and if we have, we are all aware of how our lives take on a multi-facetted role as we attempt to find a balance between some kind of spiritual practice and daily life activities. This can also be appropriate for those without children, and who commit fully to their work commitments and/or extended family. "Family" has many definitions, and we are all part of a family in some form or other.

Whatever your story, how can we follow the Family Dharma Path, so we can avoid too many limiting moments of frustration, and arrive in a practice of being in the moment and of opening the heart, wherever we are?

Some tips from an amazing book I read, called Cave in the Snow by Vicki Mackenzie...

1. Use your daily life obstacles as your teachers - be grateful for the lessons. Pause, Soften, Breathe...

2. There is no better place to practice generosity, patience and ethics, as in daily life.

3. Just so you know you are not the only one suffering, a quote from Yvonne Rand's Kitchen Sink Path, where she states the pitfalls of the Family Dharma Path - "There are two main ones - confusion with priorities, and an unwillingness to give things up so that you become overwhelmed trying to do it all." Perhaps you recognize these words in yourself? Notice them, let go of guilt, and enjoy your path, even when there does not seem to be the time for everything that you think needs to be done.

4. Constancy - be clear about your motivations in any given moment. Whatever you do, commit to it. "Determine, for this action I will really be there. It's all habit. At the moment we've got the habit of being unaware. We have to develop the habit of being present. Once we start to be present in the moment everything opens up. When we are mindful there is no commentary - it's a very naked experience, wakeful, vivid." Tensin Palmo

5. Am I concentrated or aware? "Mindfulness can be interpreted in two ways...concentration, which is narrow and laser-like, or awareness, which is more panoramic. One could take as an example listening to music. If one is really listening to music it is as if one is absorbed into the music. As the poet, T.S. Elliot put it, 'Music heard so deeply that it is not heard at all, but you are the music while the music lasts'. That is concentration. But to know one is absorbed in the music is awareness. Do you see the difference? When we are aware, we are mindful not only of what we are doing but the feelings, the emotions that are arising, and what's happening around us as well." Soften your eyes, as if you are smiling softly to yourself.

6. It is so simple, we can miss it!

7. The meaning of "mindfulness" or "Smriti" in Sanskrit, means "to remember"...it is a process of remembering..."If mindfulness is synonymous with 'remembering' it follows that the enemy of awareness is forgetfulness. We can be aware for a few moments and then we forget." When we are shifting in and out of remembering, we are not seeing situations clearly for what they are in that moment of the experience, but through the blur of past experiences, our thoughts, judgements and preconceptions. We have to bring everything into sharp focus, and to see things as they are as if we are looking at them for the first time. "If we can learn to do that, without doing anything else, it will transform a situation automatically."

8. The analogy of the surfer... "Awareness is like a surfboard. If you are a surfer you don't want a quiet lake, you want the big wave. The bigger the wave, the more the fun, right?

9. Love vs Hatred - "Anger is simply anger, we use it to justify our own negative states. We all have a huge reservoir of anger in us and whatever we direct it to only adds oil to the fire. If we approach something with an angry mind, what happens is that it leads to antagonism and defensiveness in the other side. The Buddha said hatred is not overcome by hatred, but only by love" - How can we help ourselves? Practice being present.

10. The Half Smile by Yvonne Rand...slightly lift the corners of your mouth and hold it for three breaths. Practice it six or more times a day, and notice the difference in the body and mind within three days.

Be true to your "spiritual" path (or whatever you like to call it), no matter what the story you are living out looks like. Find your practice within your life, be light and humorous, and smile a lot. Know what your motivation is - keep checking in with this. Be kind to yourself and others. Take time for meditation and stillness. It can be while you are cooking a meal, washing dishes, making beds, waiting for the bus, appreciating being with your child/partner, being at work. Just Be There where you are in that moment. Nourish your inner and outer life.

"Even though it seems very difficult, world peace can only come about though individual transformation." The Dalai Lama