Health, Beauty and Fitness

Health, Beauty and Fitness Everyday Yoga for Everyone

Attention begins at home

by Rebecca Novick

In yoga, we develop the habit of noticing the position, posture and state of our body. We hear phrases like “be a witness of the body.” What this means is to develop a bit of a distance, and just watch – without judging or engaging in internal commentary - the experience of the body. When we do this habitually, it becomes increasingly easy to make adjustments; to relax muscles that we’re holding too tightly, and to use more strength in places that we need, and to notice our bodily habits and intervene to adjust them before they become a problem, like if you’re lifting something in a way that is dangerous for your back, or if you’re sleeping in a way that’s causing neck problems.. Yoga is all about attention. We start with noticing our posture, the limbs and the large muscles, then the smaller muscles. How are you sitting right in this moment? What changes can you make for more physical ease and balance. Very often we are holding on to muscles more tightly than we need to be. Observing the body also makes us more aware of our bodily energy expenditure. We take great care about our energy bills but is your physical posture wasting energy, creating unnecessary wear and tear (called ‘allostatic load’) on the body? We notice how even minor changes of position and movement affect the whole body. We also become more aware of our breathing, since breathing is part of this movement. When we have learned to habitually observe the body in its entirety from head to toe – this is called sakshi in Sanskrit. It is related to what evolutionary biologists call proprioception which is sometimes called the sixth sense; a deep almost intuitive understanding of the position and movement of our body in space. It is easier to engage in this kind of observational witnessing when you’re in a group of people and being led by someone who is reminding you to do this. But at home in our usual physical routines the attention can quickly go out the window. We may sit for hours without changing position and then wonder why our back hurts. Or perhaps we consistently bend over at an awkward angle to dig the garden, forget to use our hands to push us upright from the bed, or sit cross-legged for long periods which can lead to tight hips (one of my worst habits). This attention is a skill that we can learn to develop, so that we know what our body is capable of at any given moment. We can avoid accidents, slips and falls and all kinds of other potential hazards when we have even a basic level of observation.

Just like they say about charity, attention can also begin at home.

Contact me for information on individually tailored breathing courses and yoga classes available online and in-person: lavieenyoga@gmail.com Accept yourself, respect yourself. Rebecca

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