And so begins the yoga

Each year, January dawns with a clean slate, the opportunity to start fresh, to make some changes; the chance finally to become that better version of ourselves that always seems to lie just out of reach.

And while we’re sitting in our pyjamas on Boxing Day, those resolutions can seem easy. The time to act hasn’t quite arrived, we can rest in the comfort of knowing that, come January 1st, we’ll leap into action and everything will be simple.

Unfortunately, and speaking from my own experience here, that isn’t always the case. This year, back at work after a few days’ rest, I managed a couple of delicious hours where I held onto the inner calm I’d found in the holidays, but pretty quickly in that first week back, life took over and once again I was running to keep up.

So how do we maintain balance in a world that seems set up to send us into overdrive at a moment’s notice?

A friend sent me a lovely quote :

“Instead of asking, ‘Have I worked hard enough to deserve to rest?’, I’ve started asking, ‘Have I rested enough to do my most loving, meaningful work?’ “.

It’s a great reworking of this idea that we must be pushing to the max at all times and rest is something that we take when we can. It requires us to put rest (and self care) first - something that will probably feel really alien to most of us, but is actually necessary, if we are to live a healthy and balanced life.

So how to create a life that includes adequate rest and self care?

This is the hard part - and to paraphrase the yoga sutras - ‘so begins the yoga’.

Yoga is a practice that begins on a mat in a class, but as we go deeper, it starts to expand outwards, influencing our daily lives - and this is where the real yoga begins.

We learn to breathe and we learn to balance; we learn to flow with our breath. In life, we begin to slow down, to take notice. We begin to live with an awareness of our inner states; we notice our calm, our overwhelm, that this person next to us on the bus is beginning to invade our space with their loud conversation… and we choose to move away to a place of greater quiet.

The same is true for any effort to create change. We begin with the desire, the recognition of that need, and slowly, over time, by taking a series of small steps, we discover our life has changed drastically - and for the better.

So - begin with the small steps:

Prioritise adequate rest.

Take time out. 5-10 minutes of genuine quiet in the middle of your day will quickly become a welcome and rejuvenating pleasure.

Implement a plan for gentle but continuous self care. Walk instead of taking the bus. Eat some fruit instead of that chocolate biscuit. It’s not rocket science, but it will make a difference. 

Change your perspective. View these small changes as taking care of yourself, rather than going on a diet or doing more exercise. This is a long term plan, founded in kindness and self compassion. 

See yourself as you want to be next January - and start walking.

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