Wandering Thoughts on Yoga, Words, and the Nervous System
flashing back to a post from one year ago
This is a post from exactly one year ago! It’s interesting to see where I was at with things then. It’s also a great reminder of what I set out to do and how I can come back to it or refine it:)
Active or Passive?
As I was walking the other day, I thought of that phrase “roll with the punches.” It describes my usual MO; I take life as it comes to me. Sometimes I pride myself on that. I think of myself as supremely capable of receiving the unexpected, finding the treasure in the most mundane situations, and just overall going with the flow. In some ways, this is an archetypal feminine quality: passive, receptive, and able to contain everything.
But I thought, maybe sometimes I need to move through life with a little more force. Maybe there is a time to take it as it comes and a time to actively make my way through the muck. Both modes are good and I’d say the hardest part is knowing when to hang back and knowing when to push the river (they say you can’t push the river but maybe you can swim upriver? Or at least get out and walk? Let’s think outside the river…ahem, the box).
To simplify more, we can break it down into passive and active, or receptive and creative. There must be other words I can use here, but my point is, different MOs are good at different times or in different situations. This is the wisdom that the menstrual cycle has to offer with its fluctuations in hormones and the changes in energy and mood that it brings. Knowing how to ride the rise and fall during our cycles can be so helpful to practicing yoga effectively. Here’s a short and sweet little post on the topic.
This type of discernment also (hopefully) comes with motherhood, too, as we learn to prioritize the different parts of our lives (should I take a shower today, or a nap? Eat a full breakfast or go for a long walk? Go to the grocery store or have coffee with a friend?).
Making these decisions, big and small, is so vital but can be so draining, too. After a while, I start figuring that I just don’t have time for yoga or meditation or a relaxing bath so I throw my hands up in the air and stop trying. I “roll with the punches,” so to speak. But then I get to a point where I wonder if I just shifted the schedule this way or that, or if I simplified dinners or delegated chores to others in the family (gasp!), then I could find at least short bursts of time for these self-care moments that seem like luxuries, but are actually necessities for my sanity.
Either way, through all that mental debate, the body starts to speak after a while, and it becomes clear what I need. I’ve written so much in the past few years about how yoga is more than just poses. But now I’m remembering that yes, the physical part of yoga is still so vital. I need more movement, strengthening, more dynamic breathing; I need to challenge myself physically, but not necessarily in a forceful way.
The Nervous System and Yoga
In the past couple of months, I have also learned a good bit about nervous system regulation in a Trauma Resiliency group that my therapist recommended for me. It really dovetailed well with what I’d been learning in the Restorative Yoga course that Jodi Dodd created. The idea was that our nervous system activity sort of ebbs and flows: sometimes we are hyperaroused and other times we are hypoaroused. It’s easy to fall into that trap of thinking that all self-care should be relaxing, a.k.a. bring us from hyperarousal — anxiety, frustration, stress, and overdrive — to a state of calm also known as activating the parasympathetic nervous system, if you want to get technical.
But, some activation of the sympathetic nervous system is good and healthy, too. We need to ramp things up and get our heart rates going, our bodies moving, and challenge ourselves. I’m a pretty easygoing person, and I get props for it, but I know that sometimes I miss opportunities to tap into my potential when I hang back instead of push forward.
At the beginning of this new year, I find myself feeling that I’ve dropped the ball on my physical fitness. After my son’s birth in 2020, I eased into that resting mode that is so encouraged postpartum, but then I haven’t quite emerged from it. I’ve lost some of my muscular strength and flexibility, too.
Here’s to a year of rebuilding my strength, of feeling more grounded and embodied. But I need some constant reminders on how to maintain this…
Words Affect the Bodymind
Words can do much to help us focus.
Last year, my word of the year was Wonder. It was a great guiding word that helped me step back and observe with more curiosity and appreciation; it put me in a more observant mode, which was somewhat passive (not in a bad way). Framing things in an attitude of wonder helped me calm my nervous system at times when I was rushing through my day and not appreciating the small things.
A couple of weeks into the new year, I’m feeling ready to step into a new mode where I take more action - not necessarily big, dramatic actions. Maybe at times I would take a big step, but more often I hope to take small steps at the right time, or maybe many small steps that equal a big leap. What does this look like in a yoga practice, and which word of the year can serve as a constant reminder for this?
I’ll still be that person that ‘rolls with the punches’ because that’s a huge part of my personality, but I imagine myself doing this in a playful, and not an overwhelmed way. The last few years have felt heavy to me and I’m ready to reconnect with the playful side of myself. You might be able to guess where I’m going with this: yoga can be a playful practice.
I remember telling my husband before we had kids that one of the things I looked forward to in having kids was playing with all the kid stuff. I also have years of experience teaching young children various subjects (yoga, creative movement, gymnastics, English) which is one of the most playful jobs you could have. To top it off, I’m the youngest of six kids and so I’ve always been sort of a ‘baby’ to everyone in the family. For years, I’ve been a child at heart.
Somehow, though, the stress of the past few years has dampened my sense of play. I’ve gotten so busy that I often don’t think I deserve to play because there’s always just so much to do. So, in hopes of bringing back that playful side of myself, my word of the year for 2023 will be Play.
It’s a great segue from last year’s word, Wonder. In yoga, play can manifest in a variety of ways: playing with variations on yoga poses, using creative visualization during meditation and restorative yoga, singing and playing music for kirtan. Sometimes it just takes a shift in attitude when we practice. Are we pushing ourselves through sequences of yoga poses, or moving through them with curiosity, a sense of experimentation, and love for the process?
I’ll be unpacking this in the coming months! Are you ready to infuse your life and your yoga practice with a little bit of playfulness? It doesn’t mean you have to be lighthearted all the time, but it does mean you will practice with more curiosity and a willingness to experiment with what works best for you.
Do you have a word of the year? Is it connected to your yoga practice or another aspect of your life? I would love to hear about it!