YogaTalk

Practical reminders for ordinary splendour

PRACTICE

A RED DOT STOP PRACTICE TO LOOK AROUND

For an introduction to the STOP PRACTICES see Kit’s blog-STARTING TO STOP.

This is a practical reminder to stop and notice what’s happening around us at the time. It helps bring us into the moment and improves the quality of our attention.

To effect these stops, the practice uses the Red Dot method: 

Put a dot on the palm of your hand with indelible ink. Whenever you notice the dot, pause for a few breaths. 

The dot could be on either palm… try it both ways. Seeing one palm too frequently may not help the practice – it’s for you to decide. 

The dot can be any colour; I use red because of its association with traffic lights. 

The red dot is mostly used for short stops, whereas this practice is a good one when we have time for longer pauses. 

The practice

When you notice the dot, if time allows, stop to pause for up to one minute. Sit down somewhere if this helps you feel more discreet.

Take your attention inwards.

Drop the shoulders. Relax the face and back of neck.

Let the out-breaths soften and the in-breaths deepen.

Move your attention outwards. Look directly ahead. Notice what you see.

After some moments, allow your head to turn and look around.

Allow your gaze to discreetly take in any people or animals who are about.

Observe their movements and their manner, without judgement and with compassion. If you can, do this without them noticing.

Do they seem comfortable and at ease with themselves? Do they seem skilful in how they stand, sit, lie or move around?

Now shift your attention to any wider landscape – inside or outside, urban or rural, natural or man-made, day or night.

Experience these surroundings as if for the very first time.

If you can see the sky, observe any drifting clouds.

Vary your field of vision, between close up and far away.

Take in the quality of colours, of light and dark, and then begin to notice sounds.

Move your head to receive individual sounds, both close up and far away.

Now, along with sight and sound, begin to take in smells.

Let all your senses collaborate in a heightened experience of time and place.

Feel the smallness of self amid the vastness of space.

Sense the shortness of these moments in the long long age of earth.

Allow yourself to marvel at our unique and ever-changing world.

And when you’re ready, resume action and move on.

OTHER RED DOT STOP PRACTICES

A red dot stop practice to improve present state of mind

A red dot stop practice to think of someone

 

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PRACTICE

A RED DOT STOP PRACTICE TO THINK OF SOMEONE

For an introduction to STOP PRACTICES see Kit’s blog-STARTING TO STOP.

This practical reminder helps us to stop being wrapped up in our own needs and desires.

It’s an exercise in unselfishness: since, like our bodies, such things improve by regular use.

It involves stopping to call someone to mind.

It could be more than one person; perhaps a family, household, establishment, community or town. It could even be a whole nation or race. 

It could be a person or people you’re feeling estranged from. Someone you have difficulty liking or getting along with. Someone perhaps who is causing you problems.

The practice can change how you feel about them, and help how you respond the next time you meet. 

It could be a person or people for whom the day is significant. Perhaps a day of celebration or particular challenge. Perhaps they’re sick or just having a hard time. 

To effect these stops, the practice uses the Red Dot method: 

Put a dot on the palm of your hand with indelible ink. Whenever you notice the dot, pause for a few breaths. 

The dot could be on either palm… try it both ways. Seeing one palm too frequently may not help the practice – it’s for you to decide. 

The dot can be any colour; I use red because of its association with traffic lights. 

It’s helpful to decide the subject/subjects of your practice beforehand.

This allows you to proceed without too much extra thinking. 

Read the practice through a few times, perhaps before sleeping and again in the morning, with a view to practising it over the coming day.

Soak up what you remember and make it your own.

The Practice

When you notice the dot, pause from action for a few breaths.

Drop the shoulders. Relax the face and back of neck.

Notice your breath. Let your exhales soften and your inhales deepen.

Call an image of your subject/subjects to your mind’s eye. Imagine looking down upon them from the sky.

You might even picture them clearly in a particular location if you know what they’re doing at that time.

Say their name in your head or voice it softly.

Take some deep and easy breaths.

Imagine a white healing light all around you.

As with love and compassion, the light is inexhaustible… not like some commodity which when used up is then unavailable. It existed before humanity and will remain afterwards. If we’re lucky we can have it and use it.

Draw in the light through your breath and your skin.

Feel it soak into every space, molecule and atom.

Feel that the light is enlivening you.

Now direct it to them.

Imagine them healed by the light. Imagine it guiding and helping their day.

Along with the light, send well wishes and good intentions.

You too have experienced this healing power of light.

Become aware of your surroundings. Feel yourself firmly rooted in your landscape.

Look around. Notice sounds.

And when you’re ready, resume action and move on.

OTHER STOP PRACTICES

A red dot stop practice to improve present state of mind

A red dot stop practice to look around

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PRACTICE

A RED DOT STOP PRACTICE TO IMPROVE PRESENT STATE OF MIND

For an introduction to the STOP PRACTICES read Kit’s blog-STARTING TO STOP.

This practical reminder uses breath awareness to restore equilibrium. It helps how we respond to ourselves, and to whatever’s happening around us.

It can prove an effective and immediate balm, even for an anxious frame of mind. 

To effect these stops, the practice uses the Red Dot method:  

Put a dot on the palm of your hand with indelible ink. Whenever you notice the dot, pause for a few breaths. 

The dot could be on either palm… try it both ways. Seeing one palm too frequently may not help the practice – it’s for you to decide. 

The dot can be any colour; I use red because of its association with traffic lights. 

How we are breathing is a reflection of our condition. This means we can consciously influence our immediate physical/mental state through our manner of breathing, ie; A softer exhale tells the vagus nerve to slow the heartbeat.

Consequently, this is an effective tool for more skilful and attuned self-management. It is first-hand experience of the intimate links between thought, feeling, muscular/mental tension and breath. 

Read the practice through a few times, perhaps before sleeping and again in the morning, with a view to practising it over the coming day.

We suggest below several visualisations; choose just one for each single pause.

Soak up what you remember and make it your own.

The practice

When you notice the dot, pause from action for a few breaths. Each breath is an opportunity for inspiration.

Drop the shoulders. Relax the face and back of neck.

Notice your breath. Let your exhales soften and your inhales deepen.

Breathe yourself into here and now. Let your breathing keep you in these moments.

Focus on today. Let go of yesterdays and tomorrows.

The breath is solar energy. Breathe it. Absorb it through your skin.

Our solar cycle both gives us vigour and helps us to rest.

Inhale vitality right down into your fingers and toes.

Draw power into every molecule and atom.

The breath is a quickening wind to clear away self-deception.

Be unafraid to breathe it deeply. Inhale into your head; let it brighten eyes with which to see yourself more clearly.

Have it blow away cobwebs from your mind.

The breath is a light of understanding, bringing wisdom to your daily thoughts and actions. Let it enlighten today’s decisions.

Bathe in the light and let it guide your choices.

The breath is perception to show what lies behind our own and others’ actions.

Soak up insight with your inhales.

Let it help your interactions with yourself and with the world.

The breath is a friend who gives us courage to face challenge.

Inhale the resolve to try and do what’s right, even when others think us wrong.

Let this help you live a virtuous and good life – of being true to yourself.

The breath is compassion, even when times are hard and life unkind.

Inhale into your heart the love that melts away negative emotions.

Accept that a life less anxious is indeed a life more kind.

The breath is forgiveness. It helps heal our wounds.

Inhale generosity of spirit.

Be reminded that it can be hard to live a humane life.

The breath is dynamic and cheerful, helping us to be less serious.

Let inhales lift your spirit and lighten any heaviness of heart.

Remember that even the happiest will know some sadness – joys and sorrows are just part of life.

Breath is revelation: that our fears can root us to the spot or send us fleeing for refuge… why not let the exhales dissolve anxieties, which hold you back and stop you enjoying this splendid life?

The breath is harmony. Why not be comfortable in your skin and at ease within?

Inhale peace. Be at peace.

Feel connected, be connected, stay connected… this is your world.

Do you feel refreshed?

When you’re ready, resume action and move on.

OTHER STOP PRACTICES

A red dot stop practice to think of someone

A red dot stop practice to look around

 

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BLOG

STARTING TO STOP

Here are some personal musings on my ‘stop’ practices – how they came about, and how they still help to save me from my sometimes reckless self.

There are some in our practice suggestions, they’re extremely helpful; try some yourself?

My natural enthusiasm can make me excitable, sometimes impetuous. This has landed me in the soup more than once!

And yet some of my best decisions have been spontaneous. Perhaps they were made by a more perceptive, more attuned self.

What I now call my ‘stop’ practices have been gradually forming over years. They are my own attempts to restore equilibrium and tap into this right-minded self.

I think of these ‘stops’ as conscious pause from action: breathing space to reflect on something specific or nothing very much, which can take only moments.

A pause is as natural as breath, but unlike breathing we can forget to do it. A pause can ‘reset’ an overwrought brain back to a restorative default mode, like a pleasant daydream.

At times, life may seem too busy to stop… so we don’t, which is a shame. When not-stopping becomes the norm, a habit is formed.

When we start to feel the benefits of a regular pause, it seems crazy that we haven’t done it more. But then we’re human – complex and, yes, a bit crazy!

Sometimes we need to consciously practice something we’ve neglected, until it’s part of our life again.

Regular stops can make us more skilled at improving our mind-state. This skill is especially handy when the mind is anxious and we lack mental equilibrium.

Sometimes a short pause is all that’s needed to produce better immediate responses.

It creates mental space for a wiser choice – as against a knee-jerk reaction, which may be later regretted. A mental space to step into, helping us to do or say the right thing; a chance to step back and see the bigger picture, or even to turn and choose another direction. Of course ‘think before you act’ is a wise maxim, but when we’re not in the best state, responding in a wise and measured way isn’t that easy.

I find my stops so useful that I pass the method on whenever I can… call it yoga – or plain common sense!

In hindsight I can see how it all started. My stops began to form in early childhood. I can see my teenage self – chewing sixteen times, pausing, then swallowing, because (and guess what, it still happens!) she bolts her food like a gannet. She snacks whilst she’s waiting for a snack. When eating one meal she’s thinking about the next. And she’s quite capable of finishing the whole packet – bang, it’s gone! What was that about a pause?

Our past colours our present; our present colours our future.

The river of instant sensory gratification runs right through me, and it can easily break its banks.

Childhood compulsions can grow into habits, leading to needy, addicted adults.

So, managing desire is obviously a big part of yoga.

Small personal challenges are part of being human – but the scale can vary a bit!

The child breaks a toy, the adult crashes a car. The child has a tantrum, the adult commits murder. The children have a gang fight, the adults wage war.

Aiming for a more attuned self-awareness will help our self-management, making better citizens and a more harmonious world.

Some stop practices come from my early childhood. STOPPING TO THINK ABOUT SOMEONE is a personal favourite and stems from my catholic upbringing, where stops for reflection and prayer featured much.

I never liked the religious tendency to mark anniversaries of deaths, but I love my mother’s version, which focuses on the living: think of someone for whom this day is important, and say a wee prayer.

The prayer seems more potent if you say it at the exact time of a situation – (marriage, starting a new job, a medical procedure, imminent birth, imminent death… the list is long.)

I still like it and I still use it.

Children tend to adopt the behaviour of the adults they mix with.

As a child I learned from my mother the joy of ordinary daily splendour.

But, (like her in fact) I was much preoccupied by anticipation of future gratifications – birthdays, holidays, Christmas, or just some sweets. That’s why I now dislike the expression, ‘something to look forward to’.

Much of my personal yoga is about countering any yearnings and dissatisfaction with present situations.

Dissatisfaction is big, big business. Advertisers and media thrive on it… convincing us that we’re somehow broken, so must need fixing, that we need a makeover, that our job is boring, our home is inadequate and in the wrong place, that we won’t be happy till we escape to the country!

Yoga helps toward a clearer, less skewed picture of ourselves and the world we occupy. And one way of starting this is by stopping.

STOP PRACTICES

A red dot stop practice to improve present state of mind

A red dot stop practice to think of someone

A red dot stop practice to look around

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OUR ARTICLES

ON PAUSING

Life without pause is not a life worth living.

To pause is such a simple thing – regularly done it becomes apparent that pausing is an integral part of harmonious human living.

Pausing before action is the basis of awareness. A split-second pause might be enough to inspire life-saving reaction, to let simple easy solutions spring up suddenly as if from nowhere.

A pause could stop a person in their tracks – before they say or do something later regretted.

To be able to dash about enjoying a busy life is a wonderful thing, not to be taken for granted. But being busy does not make a life more meaningful.

Busy-ness is not the same as fulfilment or accomplishment.

Compulsive repetition of unnecessary tasks does indeed become an obsession for some people; even moderate habits can grow into problems.

A pause can lend more skill to thought and action, so that more of our choices serve us well.

Does keeping busy make people feel more useful?

Perhaps fear of seeing too clearly can make us steer us away from opportunities for solitary reflection.

Encountering our thoughts can sometimes be a frightening thing – the unfortunate, mind-numbing remedy being to deny ourselves the space to stop and think.

It’s very easy to preoccupy our minds with many things clutter. We can miss many fleeting present moments dwelling on the future or the past, or occupied in thoughtless tasks.

A pause is a space to rest and evaluate, to slow us down or rouse us from a slothful state. A sense of inertia can keep us moving steadily, unthinkingly on, in the same unwise direction… or it can stop us getting up to move altogether.

Our pauses are as natural as breathing, but like proper breathing are easily sacrificed to the unwelcome pressures of daily life. Lack of pause not only compromises perceptive awareness of what is happening around us – it robs us of opportunities to absorb the daily wonder which surrounds us and links us to the living world.

This is such an exciting time to live! Fast changes in technology keep us all on our toes and tenterhooks; tech devices are now so much part of daily action that we can hardly imagine life without them. We can access things rapidly by the click of a key. Data tracks us and seems to know our preferences. Huge effort is made by manufacturers and service providers to make their products seem irresistible – thus keeping us hooked.

We can access vast amounts of digital information, but nothing is quite the same as the mentorship of human contact. Too much time and energy spent on devices reduces our ability to form meaningful relationships – it’s just plain common sense to see that this is the case. If we are not selective in using technology we risk becoming disconnected from ourselves as well as each other.

Problems with short and poor quality attention span can be offset by simply stopping to notice what is happening, allowing time enough to restfully sit and focus on nothing very much. Pauses and daydreams are a welcome default mode for the brain. Lulls or short rests give us time to absorb or reflect. They can provide insight and lend greater ease to everyday tasks. If the lack of pause starts to show then we need to expose ourselves to the chance of it, until it becomes an intuitive part of daily life.

The more I teach yoga, the more apparent it becomes that too many of us are frazzled!

A healthy level of stress is a natural part of life, it gets us up and moving to satisfy urges such as hunger –but prolonged periods in a stressful state are damaging. Sadly this is far too common, and it makes people ill. Chronic stress can too easily become a familiar companion, so that we grow into our tempers, stoops and frowns.

Conscious and regular pause helps us become more self-attuned. Taking better notice helps us respond to the multiple stresses that we face on a daily basis. We can grow stronger, flexing rather than snapping under strain.

Why be afraid to pause, to step back, to see a brighter, bigger picture?

For this can only help us to make wiser decisions, to choose paths which serve us better. And it allows space for our less fearful, more impartial, more benevolent self to emerge, positively influencing behaviour and showing ourselves and others in a more kindly and compassionate light.

 

Kit Hartley.   Lidgett. May 2017

 

SEE PAUSE, CONSIDER, ENJOY

 

 

 

 

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BLOG

PAUSE, CONSIDER, ENJOY !

Pause, Consider, Enjoy!

We are all living in an increasingly busier world. We want to get where we’re going more quickly. We want to make more out of the day. We want to achieve something meaningful before our heads fall onto the pillow every evening.

If you’re like me you can forget to pause for a moment and simply enjoy what you are doing. That may even mean enjoying doing nothing at all. So many of us consider this to be a waste of our precious time.

More and more I am learning to stop and consider how precious is life really – if I’m filling the day with tasks that ‘need’ completing or doing something else that I consider urgent or must be achieved before my next supposed vitally important appointment!

I ask myself – ‘What would happen if that job just didn’t get done?’ In truth the answer is ‘Very little’… nobody would die, the world wouldn’t stop turning.

Realistically we all have to get on with the daily chores of working and living, but making the time to pause for a moment can mean the difference between a life well lived or a life rushed by without attention to all of our needs.

Jumping off the rat race isn’t a treat. It’s what we all need to maintain that all important work-life balance. Having a little pleasure every day means we don’t crave the costly and special indulgences at the weekend.

Even better, it doesn’t have to cost a penny. Take a break in the day to enjoy the spring sunshine as you walk down the high street or in the park (if you’re lucky enough to be close to the new sprouting greenery of a spring day). Take pleasure from the blue sky and the warmth of the sun’s rays as they fall on the face. Enjoy the movement of the legs and feet as you place them on the ground one foot in front of the other. Marvel at the body’s ability to breath in the energy of the new day before us. Relish the pleasure of simply being able to do all of these things without issue or conscience.

Not all of us are lucky enough to be able to do everything we want to, but let’s look at what we are able to do and take thanks and pleasure in doing them.

We can then attack the rest of the day with renewed vigour and vitality. We may even achieve more than we hoped for.

SEE ARTICLE ON PAUSING

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OUR ARTICLES

ON RESTING

Rest is a lull from action – a period of some minutes sitting or lying in comfort, free from mental clamour or thoughts which disturb the mind.

Resting helps us thrive. The lack of it will make us restless and unwell. The full regenerative power of proper relaxation is often overlooked or undervalued as a vital part of health, despite its positive effect on everything we do.

When our life is out of balance it is also common to feel restless, and the things we eat or drink or do to help us relax might be making things much worse. We are naturally pleasure-seeking creatures, and can too easily do what does not serve us best!

When feeling under pressure and short of time, it is easy not to make the room for decent rest –even though a break will help us feel and function so much better that it saves time and energy in the long run.

Lack of proper rest is a major source of human suffering. Conscious repose is therefore a basic Hatha Yoga practice.

During rest, the mind has moments free from conscious thought. Organs function at their optimum rate. With the heart and breathing steady, the nervous system calmed and soothed, then the mind is quieter.

Such quality repose gives respite, where we can restore strength and renew vigour. It improves the mental state so we are less over-reactive at other times.

By taking care we become more aware of how things can drain our energy and make us vulnerable to malaise.

Holding unnecessary and habitually unconscious muscular tension can indeed wear us out. The mind and body are part of each other; where there is muscular tension there is also mental. It is a vital part of human make-up. But in chronic excess it is a common bane of life, much more than people realise.

Many do not know that holding on to tension causes hurt, not just to themselves but to others. A tightening reaction to a situation influences our response, over-reaction being a common cause of conflict. Hence the aim to be free of this is a worthy part of daily life.

Rest is distinct from sleep. But while resting, there may well be pleasant moments drifting between wakefulness and slumber. An optimum nightly period of deep sleep helps keep us well. But it is possible to be restless and asleep. It is possible to sleep in pain. It is possible to sleep with such tension that teeth are ground away. Holding tightness during sleep means waking up exhausted.

A simple focus for attention at the beginning of rest will aid relaxation. Bringing the mind to settle on just one or two things reduces mental fluctuation.

Stirring up emotion is un-restful, so this focus should be neutral, such as the breath, the hands, or some non-evocative sound. A visualisation needs careful choosing, so that it does not set off a train of thought.

How much quiet is needed for rest can depend on the frame of mind and the individual. What is background sound to one could be distraction to another. Sounds heard should not stir us by the listening. Eyes tend to close, but softly gazing into the back of closed lids can help focus attention.

Thoughts may come and go while resting. Observing thought waves can be a conscious practice. At rest, one can be aware of thoughts, of their frequency and intensity, without being spurred by them into more thinking. In skilful rest one is not roused by, or attached to, the kind of thought one has; they remain as mental fluctuations, like clouds drifting across our mental sky.

Prolonged minutes of wakeful rest, with thought waves pleasantly absent, may be regarded as meditation. This can happen with the eyes open but not looking. A lowered gaze helps keep the mind from distraction. And any aural or visual input needs to be non-evocative.

Slipping into the rapture of meditation does not come from trying not to think. It is a mental state, inherent from early age, which can happen spontaneously – if we allow space for it to happen.

At such times one is unaware of breath or body unless they demand attention.

Minutes of meditation can compensate for hours of lost deep sleep.

Daydream, rest and meditation are a welcome default setting for the brain. Such wakeful disengagement from daily action can foster insight and creative thinking. It can produce effortless inspiration. And, out of this void, solutions to weighty problems can appear without bidding.

 

Kit Hartley.   Lidgett.   May 2017

 

 

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