Half year reflection : Toughest year so far

Allison, Elsie and Ganesh in meditation

So we are at the half-year mark of 2014 already! Wow, what a whirlwind year it’s been for me. How about you? Has it gone by in a flash? Did you start off with the best of intentions and now wonder what happened? Has your yoga practice hit a plateau that seems never ending? Have you been super productive and focussed? Hmmmmm are we ever? Or would you rather just forget about the first half, move on and focus on the second half?

For me it’s actually been the hardest of my life. Having a baby and juggling the studio and everything else in between has been mentally and physically exhausting. Some days I can barely speak I’m so tired.  I often feel hopeless, helpless and happy all in the same hour.  I’m just trying to ride the wave.

Good news is we don’t need to dwell on what has or hasn’t happened.  The first half of the year is done and we can wipe the slate clean…there’s still plenty of time…after all that’s all we really have right?

In our recent 21Day yoga Sadhana we talked a lot about resistance.  We realised that all of us face resistance on a daily basis when it comes to our yoga practice and any kind of activity that helps us be more healthy and happy.)  Basically, resistance is a liar and is full of crap. Resistance will tell us ANYTHING it wants to stop us doing the things that are good for us and require hard work and determination. I find it fascinating the conversations we have with ourselves when the alarm goes off on the morning. We set it with the best of intentions when we go to bed, but when it goes off the next morning we have all the energy in the world to argue the finer details as to why we should just stay in bed and no energy whatsoever to: Just. Get. Up.  Let’s face it – it’s really hard to practise yoga on our own….and sometimes pretty boring.

This is why I opened the studio.  There’s something quite special and uplifting about practising yoga in a group.

I was able to do SOOO much more in my yoga practice on the Mark Robberds’ weekend recently as I was energised by everyone in the room and surprised myself with what I could do!  I was able to nail yoga postures I haven’t tried in about 12 months! Don’t you agree you can do so much more when you can tap into the group energy?  You not only get help directly from the teachers but indirectly from the person practising on the mat next to you…and they don’t even realise it!

I know that even just by walking into the studio I feel better about everything.  It’s a special place where magic often happens.  On the days when I am struggling I find just by going in to teach yoga I feel like me again.

You are helping me just as much as I am helping you!

I hope to see you in the studio real soon so you can tap into that amazing energy that we create when we get together to connect to our breath, connect to ourselves and connect to each other.

Om shanti

Allison

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