Considerations through the lens of a yogic perspective
My intention here is to talk about relaxation after a yoga session ; why we might be drawn to practising yoga, and to then consider why relaxation afterwards is so important. Furthermore, how to connect this vital relaxation activity to everything that came before it.
A Yogic Paradigm
I’m using the term paradigm to mean a world view or conceptual framework within which the practise is situated within.
In my understanding, yoga is a practice of union (or yoking). It is about coming back to a central core of marriage between the three elements of self: mind, body and spirit.
When we are practising yoga – the process of forming angles and triangles with the body provides an opportunity to evaluate our minds and bodies and to assess what is occurring internally in the present moment.
So how is our physical body in this moment? Are we feeling strong or weak? Are we flexible or are we tight today? Where? Do we have feel pain somewhere in the body? Are we mentally present or are we thinking about something from the past day past? Or are we worrying about something in the future?
What is going on in our mind? Are we listening to the instructor or are we preoccupied? Are we aware of holding any particular emotions from the day, such as feeling fed up, angry, sad or are we neutral? What are we aware of carrying with us when we initially entered into the room?
Learning to Calibrate the Body.
We can be actually doing quite a lot of self-evaluating as we go through a yoga class. We can identify where we are today compared to where we were yesterday, or the day before, especially if we are regulars to a yoga class.
Attending regularly means that we can start to calibrate ourselves. To calibrate means to correlate the readings (of an instrument) with those of a standard in order to check the instrument’s accuracy.
So, we have an opportunity to read and measure our mind and body each time we attend a class. We can start to understand the limits of how much we can stretch and ease into each posture. On some days we will find that we can stretch further, and other days we will notice that we are tighter than we were previously.
This calibrating of your bodily instrument might allow you to start collecting additional information for yourself about your mind and body which may have been previously obscured or below your level of consciousness.
A personal example.
During the course of a yoga class I noticed that a particular part of my body ached. I didn’t consciously noticed this ache earlier in the day as I was so busy working and involved in my mental, cognitive processes that I didn’t register the bodily feedback. It’s only in the yoga session, doing the stretches and poses, that I actually consciously notice become aware of and acknowledge this ache.
I then remembered that I was playing football and got whacked there by an opponent. Becoming consciously aware of the presence of this ache gives me an opportunity to reflect on the causation and decide what, if anything, I need to do about it. Just this acknowledgment and notice might be enough. It might also be that I focus my attention there, or place a hand over the area to heal or alleviate the ache more quickly.
Hence, this gives me a potentially vital piece of information about how I am currently faring.
Early indicators of bodily distress can be identified with conscientious, mindful awareness placed on of the body as it moves through space and time in a yoga class.
So I can often identify reasons or events which relate to why my body may be the way it is presently. Bringing it to full consciousness gives me an opportunity to evaluate myself from a perspective of a self conscious ‘state of the union’ examination, or a self check-in. I’ll discuss in another blog some simple healing techniques for minor aches and pains.
Calibrating the Mind.
“To know that you are a prisoner of your mind is the dawn of wisdom”
~ Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
Regular practise can also start helping us to calibrate the mind. We can become aware of what the mind is doing, thinking or feeling and identify what patterns we display in our thinking, and how we are responding to events around us. It offers us an opportunity for reflection.
Personally, I notice, for example, that I am very tonal, so any harsh tones or shouting from a yoga instructor in a class tends to aggravate me! I conscientiously avoid these instructors when I can and mindfully sooth my poor ears and irritated brain when I’m in a class where this happens.
Once we start to notice our thought patterns, we can start to identify the minds progress. If we can start to interrupt those patterns, such as being engaged or disengaged, associated or disassociated, present, angry or whatever else we can regularly notice, and eventually we can start to choose to select the appropriate resourceful state to be in.
The mind might fall back into self talk, or it might be bored, or find the whole thing tiresome and regret being in the class. Or it might enjoy it – be present and feel in a state of bliss or flourishing (what Tony Robbins describes as ‘a beautiful state’). It may oscillate between a few of these different states as thoughts, feelings and sensations wander past.
There are many different ways the mind can go. What can be useful is to observe ourselves without judgement or attachment and see how the mind journey progresses through the weeks, months and years of practising.
I’ve had some friends quit yoga after a few sessions complaining that they find it boring. I metaphorically view a class as an opportunity to watch my personal TV. That TV is a stream of thoughts, feelings and sensations which wander past my consciousness whilst I practise, making angles and triangles with my body as i move through time and space. There is no attachment, just curiosity to see what is on the TV! I imagine I’m like a cuttlefish continuously changing colour according to its operating environment, continually in motion causing changes in sensation and state.
“what’s on your box?!”
Using these two areas of focus to calibrate the body and mind through yoga practice allows us to work out a ‘baseline’ – the way our body and mind is on any particular day. Through this process, we can gather important information about ourselves which offers us an opportunity to stay grounded in our physical bodies with a clear, focussed mind.
Hence, whilst we are practising, we can be sensating a number of things. We can measure and observe ourselves in an unusually introspective and observant way. If our intention is mapped out as outlined, we can attend every class with acuity and purpose.
The Importance of Relaxing Deeply After a Yoga Session
All that awareness used during the class can now be utilised in the relaxation. We can use these same, newly honed calibrating skills when it comes to the equally important area of bodily and mental rest.
One thing I notice after a yoga session is that most people get up very quickly and make their way out of the room. Some may even have a natter with other yogis whilst still in the room.
The importance of the rest part.
If you attend a gym workout, for example, the intention of the workout can be to lose weight, burn calories or strengthen muscles or particular parts of the body. In yoga the purpose is to yoke: to make a union with the self by integrating the mind, body and spirit.
We can do this by working with the mind and the body whilst in the class, but then resting to gain access to the other sub-conscious and unconscious parts of the self. Crucially, many religious and spiritual doctrines teach us that the path to the spirit is through the unconscious mind, or through deep rest mechanisms.
The Sacred Number Three
In many different spiritual traditions there is a sacred number: three. In the tarot cards, there is The lovers card , with a man looking at the woman, who is looking behind them both at an angel. In Christianity three represents the idea of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit; in Buddhism the three jewels and in Hinduism the triple deity Trimurti. In other traditions there is the idea of the conscious mind, the unconscious mind and the higher self (spirit).
It is believed that the way to access the higher self is through the unconscious mind. Hence the relaxation at the end of a yoga session gives us an opportunity to parlez with our spirit and connect to our higher self.
Releasing the Mind
If we have spent the class working through our physical stresses by stretching and releasing the body; this has been the preparation to release the mind at the end of the class.
This deeply relaxed state can enhance creativity and also reconciles ones subconscious emotional self with ones intellectual self, integrating the body and the mind, enabling us to potentially make better decisions through mindful calmness, and to be creative through facilitating lateral thinking.
One reliable way of accessing these resourceful ideas and creativity is by going into that deep, deep rest. By activating this state of mind and body we allow this powerful calmness and spirit to come through.
I believe some of our most creative and intuitive ideas come during these times when we are in this state of deep rest.
Why?
Creative thoughts and ideas come from within when we are warm, safe, relaxed and literally, open-minded. From this level of relaxation and calm, our inner intuition and higher self, can convene with us.
When we practice yoga we are doing it to prepare for the end where we will transition into a state of deep relaxation. Every time we relax at the end of a class we also have the opportunity to calibrate the self and compare the difference between this relaxation and the ones before.
We are owners of a body, so we can mindfully practice to see how deeply rested we can ensure that the body becomes, whilst we are in intentional charge of it. The ability to move between states of deep rest and sensory arousal is a very useful skill, and relaxation at the end of a yoga session gives us the opportunity to regularly practice it.
It’s not so much about whether you fancy doing it but rather training the body to relax, and by relaxing, healing and recharging the body and mind, even if you consciously don’t feel like doing it.
This is one of the under emphasised purposes of yoga; learning to integrate the mind, body and spirit with volition and acuity.
Metaphorically to consider everything you have ever done has come together for you to be in this moment of time, standing on the edge of now, between the thoughts of the past and your projections into the future. Your attention is on the razor sharp edge of the present moment, just being. Here, in the now, held and relaxed, safe in this space and comfortable in your body. Embodied relaxation.
Being present.
I think of it like this: a deep relaxation it allows us to bring all the parts of ourselves – our emotional and mental aspects, our physical body and spiritual aspects of self – into one place in one moment in time. Now.
We have a chance here, in this moment, to gratefully acknowledge and to be aware of our cellular existence right up until the very point in time of us lying down on the floor, and feeling that enhanced clarity, in an attitude of gratitude, throughout our being.
Feeling a deep sense of connection enables us to access our internal resources, accessing our internal mechanisms to help us cope. We are developing a connection with self, which will only deepen over time with practice.
This skill, built up through this habit, can become transferable and used in other situations. (See blog piece on visiting the dentist!).
In other words, it’s about letting go of any tension, it mental or physical, light or deep. Just acknowledge it, witness it and then consciously letting it go. The process of witnessing and letting go can be liberating on the nervous system and result in healing at a deeper level than conscious thought.
This is why I think resting at the end of a yoga session is so important; it gives us that practice of deep rest, and when we have that regular practice we build up a skill. Deep rest helps us in letting go, and letting go is a vitally useful skill that serves us in a multitude of ways in our existence.
When we have these skills we are able to cope, manage and work through our lives with far higher potential to create and maintain wellness using positive, sustainable coping strategies.
We are developing a way of coping and regulating our stresses, mindfully and compassionately.
You have this opportunity every time you rest, to take the moment to be consciously present in relaxing your body and mind. With practise this becomes a habit – a routine or practice performed regularly; it can become an automatic response to the specific situation of yoga nidra (relaxation).
Of course it’s not necessarily easy. The mind will tend to wander and the body may tend to itch or twitch…. but we have an opportunity in every moment.
I invite you to take it and luxuriate in the moment, being present and conscientiously relaxing your body, knowing that you are safe, in charge, and contained within the boundaries of your self.
For all these reasons, we might want to take our relaxation time after a yoga session and make it work for us.
The next blog will focus on tips of how to effectively do that.
Stay attuned
