Exploring Our Stability and Creating Ease this October
I’m really looking forward to this month’s theme. It’s one that personally I need in my life and I know from talking to a lot of my friends, family and students- you guys do too!
This idea of finding ease and peace in our day to day.
With all the craziness of everyday life everything can start to feel like a mad hustle. We hustle from one activity to the next, barley pausing for a breath and certainly not pausing long enough to sit with ourselves, our feelings, ideas or needs. We have a tendency to try to “get shit done” in the quickest way possible so that we can …. What? Relax? But then when it comes to that relaxation time we feel guilty for sitting down (or lazy IYKYK) and then we get back up again and hustle on with the next “thing”.
Sound familiar?
I like to call this hustle my masculine energy. Sometimes I am riding him … and sometimes he rides me. Wait, that sounds a bit naughty doesn’t it (haha) oh well, you get the gist.
Your masculine energy is amazing – he’s fuelled by the sun and helps you to be action orientated, have tenacity and move things forward. BUT when he starts to take over and you don’t interrupt him with some well-deserved chill time … you can begin to feel overwhelmed, fatigued and a little bit broken.
This is where we can start to invite in our feminine energy- yes, we all have and need a balance of both. She is fuelled by the moon, she’s slower, more compassionate, creative, solution focussed but in a calmer way.
Most of us (no matter your gender) allow the masculine to run our lives, because that’s what society encourages. Whereas nature wants us to find the balance. As we move into Autumn this is the perfect time to assess that balance. To acknowledge that as the leaves start to turn, animals begin to hibernate, maybe we should be letting go of some of the masculine and welcoming in some of the calmer feminine too.
Now, maybe this is sounding a little woo woo for you… but what I’m essentially saying is that we spend so much time running around like headless chickens when actually we just want to feel calmer, more at ease and peaceful in our day to day, don’t we?
Well, this month this is exactly what we are working on. Accessing and creating that sense of ease and peace in our day to day. We are going to be working on finding stillness & stability.
Because out of that stillness & stability- creativity, intuition and solutions can flow.
To help guide us here we are going to be working in class with two Chakra energies.
The first is our Root Chakra (Muladhara). This is based at the bottom of your spine and is working to help us feel safe, supported and held in our bodies, minds and lives. This helps us focus on stability, building trust in our own bodies and trust in ourselves so that we can feel comfortable to come to stillness.
The second Chakra is our Heart Chakra (Anahata). This energy is traditionally about love, but we are focussing this month mainly on self-compassion. Allowing us to, when we pause, know it’s ok- because we deserve it. Giving us an opportunity to create space in our days and lives to find that ease and peace.
Now this is not a magic pill, one class will not equal instant peace and ease in everyday life…. But it will create a sense of connection to ourselves and our bodies, a sense of stability and space. Once our bodies learn how this feels, it’s something we can become more comfortable with in everyday life. Allowing ourselves to find that stillness more and more often.
A personal reflection of finding ease recently
I’ve already given you a little insight into how I think about my energy, but finding stability and ease has been something I’ve struggled with over the years and realistically only something I’m starting to get a grip on now.
As a millennial woman, independence was drilled into me from as young as I can remember. Now, this is not a bad thing, it’s important for us to learn how to be self-sufficient and motivated; but what it did was enforce ideas within me that work work work was a priority, hustle equalled success and that constantly moving meant I would be fulfilled.
Well, I soon learnt that that wasn’t necessarily true. Burn out, imposter syndrome, self confidence crisis, SAD and many other things later taught me a need to de-condition myself from those ways of thinking.
You can read about deep dives into all of the above in my previous blogs.
I have worked hard over the last 5/6 years to re-learn what success and fulfilment actually mean to me. That work does not need to equal hustle. Yes, it still means I have to work… but it doesn’t have to feel hard and like I’m going to explode from stress every day. I am learning that it’s ok to embrace my masculine energy (which I have a healthy dose of), because I am naturally very tenacious and can-do, but I also have a healthy dose of feminine energy, which means it’s ok for me to not work every day, that I can take breaks when I feel tired, have naps, read my book or do a puzzle. I can give myself time to be still, I can find stability in my life and approch it with a little more "chill" vibes. I've noticed this is when the creativity comes.
How many times have you been in the shower and an idea came to you? That’s because you gave yourself a moment… even a very small one… to be still.
This is the same thing. I have noticed that when I’m buzzing with energy to “do”, progress happens, but ideas don’t. When I stop ideas come.
My old team mates used to hate when i'd come in from a long car drive because i'd always have so many ideas of new projects for us to work on! haha
Finding the balance can be tough, but my biggest learning has been to listen to my body- I know I preach this all the time, but genuinley, my body will tell me. It will tell me when it's tired and I need to rest. I just need to start listening!
See you on the mat.
Wellness Tip – Grounding
A really simple wellness tip for you to try when you are feeling overwhelmed, buzzy, low or disconnected.
This grounding exercise is easy to do wherever you are, and you can do it quietly without anyone noticing.
It will help you to feel supported, stable, connected and still.
Stand on the ground, completely still
Imagine roots growing out of the bottom of your feet and reaching down into the earth
The roots reach deeper and deeper, intertwining with each other, growing strong and stable
Take three deep breaths in this space
You can do this with shoes on or off, on the grass or anywhere you are.
Let me know how you get on.
Love, Tash xx
