Peace of Mind comes Piece by Piece
I’m sitting in a little cabin in Mt. Shasta, California looking out at beautiful Lake Siskiyou, a place I never knew existed until someone told me that this is where I must be. At the cabin, with a view of a crystal clear lake, I sit and breathe in a whole new part of my state that I had never seen.
I breathe slowly in, and slowly out, so grateful for this opportunity to be sent to this special place to teach yoga teachers. So grateful to be invited. So grateful I accepted.
As I take time to sip my warm tea, I notice that the tag of the tea bag has a message for me. It says:
Peace of mind comes piece by piece.
And there it is, attached to my tea bag. So simple, and so true. I did not go searching for the secret of life, as I did when I was younger. I was invited to experience something new. A new location, and a new type of tea, and I accepted. I was given a simple bag of soothing herbal tea, and the message found me.
As I look back over two decades of teaching yoga, primarily to those who are new to the yoga world, afraid of the yoga world, or have been injured in yoga classes or other physical modalities, these students are usually brought into my class by a relative or friend who told them that this is where they must be. So, they somehow moved through their apprehension or outright fear of trying something new, of getting hurt or embarrassed, and they showed up. Piece #1
Upon arriving at any of my classes, students are told that all they have to do is lie down, get comfortable, and focus on their breathing. Most are puzzled and confused, but as they try it, listening to their bodies always above my guiding words, they began to fill a “shifting down”, dropping into a state of present moment, of relaxation, a state that many had never felt before. Piece #2
The more they stay with their breath and trusted the process, the safer they start to feel, and the more tightness or pain begins to move out of their body and melt into the floor. They begin to trust truth behind my words: that it is more important to focus on the breath than on the asana. They start to believe that the breath will lead them into poses when and if they are ready. Piece #3
By being willing to walk into our Center, lie down, and breathe their stresses, pains, or emotional strains into our yoga room floor, students create a beautiful healing energy, not only for themselves, but for the next class that comes into the room. This is a gift to themselves, which they then pass to others in return. Piece #4
From this deeply relaxed state, these students begin to unravel their worries, their fears, surrendering them away. Physical disturbances have even been said to have melted away off the body, which in turn, relaxes the psyche. Piece #5
In yoga, often, the simplest poses are the most effective. It may feel as though nothing is happening at any given time, but the longer one stays with the pose and focuses on attending to specific parts of the body, the more space opens to allow for healing and renewing. Piece #6
Peace of mind comes piece by piece.
I’ve seen firsthand, with myself and with my students, that the many puzzle pieces of life start to come together when we begin to practice the language of letting go.
Some of the most common comments I hear from students as they leave my classes are:
– I came in with pain in my back, and it is no longer there.
– I feel like I just got a full body massage.
– I can’t believe how fast time went by!
– Can I just sleep here?
When they return to class their comments are frequently:
I can’t believe how well I sleep at night after a MIMSY-Meditation in Movement Style Yoga class.
We moved so little – why are my abdominals talking to me?
– I feel muscles I have never felt in any other type of exercise!
Then comes the next piece of the puzzle as they ask:
How often should I practice gentle yoga?
Well, how good do you want to feel?
Remember – Peace of mind comes piece by piece.
