I was always a very active person. It was a need for me to be active and move my body. In my childhood, I was either on my bike or roller blades. Always on the move. During my studies and especially when I started working I signed up at a gym, because after sitting for hours in lectures or the office, I had this deep urge to move my body. I had friends who absolutely could not understand that, they preferred to go home and lay down on the couch.
Well, we all are different and we all have different needs and preferences. Later in my life I understood that I might have overdone it. Maybe it was too much what I did to my body in the gym every night. Maybe I just wanted to escape from something and be busy, not sitting still and feeling or thinking about life!
When you have stress all day in your mind, it is maybe not the best idea to put even more stress on your body in a gym for another 2 hours through spinning classes every night. Maybe something more relaxing or easy could be the better option. Because I felt exhausted after a long day of meetings and calculating engineering structures, I was looking for something that could get me out of this “mood”,”sensation” of the day, disconnect from everything, even myself. Now, years later, I understand I already felt so disconnected from myself, that I could not even understand what my body really needed, I just followed the mainstream. Classes that were hip at that time for sure did not bring you into the situation to think about your life situation, your body, your emotions.
I always did something that helped me to stay disconnected, and this is something that I see today more and more in our society, numbing oneself down. Either through being busy all the time, through eating, more binging in this case, drinking, drugs. After 10 years now in the business of coaching wellness of body and mind, I can see what everybody is doing: not feeling. Because if we would do it, if we really look at what is going on, it can get difficult. Seeing the truth that we need to change something can be overwhelming.
We live in a busy world where we are bombarded with stimuli, 24/7. We get information via job, internet, artificial light, and so on, and we are not able to switch off, we are kind of addicted to information. Most people open their eyes in the morning and the first thing, before peeing and brushing their teeth, they are on Facebook. Of course, that already happened to me, too!
We end up with a mind that is constantly busy. All this information that’s thrown at us needs to be processed.
Let me tell you something: Try YIN YOGA
Yin yoga is for you! For everybody, I am sure. But it is not easy to get into it, because you have to shut everything off. And that can be confusing! Suddenly you get this connection back to your body and your mind. You start feeling body parts, that were numb, stiff, unrecognized for years maybe, and suddenly there they are. Trying to tell you something. Giving you sensations that you haven’t wanted to feel for years.
If you are tired and craving energy, you should try yin yoga
If you’re over-stimulated and have too much energy, you should try yin yoga
If your mind is overactive or your energy levels erratic, you should try yin yoga
Yin yoga is ideal to calm your mind, even if you have the feeling of lots of thoughts and emotions are coming up. In the beginning, your mind cannot be still, but keep doing it. With time and practice, you find this inner space where you allow yourself just to listen and just to be. Yin yoga is an active break.
Yin yoga is ideal for your body, as it works in the deep inner layers, the connective tissue, the joints, ligaments, tendons, especially the lower back, hips, legs, knees, these are all the yin parts of your body and the meridians of major organs.
Yin is a form of pratyahara, pulling in the senses, connecting with yourself. It is a form of meditation as well, you just sit and sometimes you have the feeling of drifting away.
Ready for some peace of mind? Ready for some new body sensations? If you have questions, please feel free to contact me, I offer a 10 min talk to figure out what’s good for you.