How Yoga and Meditation help us in times of worry
We all carry worry around with us. It’s a part of being human. We worry about things we can change and things we can’t change. Some of us worry more than others. It is ok that we worry. We all do it.
But too much worry and our daily lives become difficult to navigate. It impacts on our physical body. Probably on our ability to sleep well, and those around us.
Most of the time we feel that our worries are individual to us, that our suffering is unique to us. Then every now and again there is a worry that we can all share. In our current global situation as a species we all have a common worry in the corona virus. Our worry is shared.
But that doesn’t make it any easier for any of us, in fact it can make it worse as the panic buying, media coverage, speculation, continual discussion and concern is on a much bigger scale.
The good news is that if you practice yoga and meditation you already have the tools to dial down your worry and find perspective. If you don’t practice yoga or meditation I am going to outline a few simple things that you can do to help relieve your worry – big or small.
Yoga and meditation teach us that beneath the layers of the world around us, the people around us, our own bodies and minds, there is an unchanging space within us that we can connect to and call upon to give us steadiness, knowledge and peace. This can be described as your consciousness, true essence or soul. This space is in the present moment, it’s where we can just be.
The problem is that most of the time we are participating in the world and our daily lives. Our responsibilities and activities mean that we are not connected to the present moment or our inner peace very often at all. Our mind is constantly active to help us navigate the doing of our daily lives and keep us safe. But the minds patterns involve looking to the past to give us information and the future to plan. This past and future thinking is not reality – it’s things that have happened that we can’t change or don’t really relate to the present situation and things that may never happen. Stories. The only place that is real is right here, right now in the present moment.
If you think of your mind as a snow globe, beneath the swirling snow of your thoughts there is a still, place in the centre.
The tools and practices of yoga and meditation help us to calm the swirling thoughts of our mind by helping us to bring our awareness inwards, by helping us connect to the peace of the present moment. From this space we are able to take a moment to step back, view the world with more perspective, even change our perspective and then deal with the challenges in a calmer more responsive way.
This 5 minute video is from my upcoming online meditation course and I thought it might be useful to help us navigate through these times of uncertainty when our minds and thoughts may well be in overdrive with the what ifs of corona virus.
Whether you practice yoga or meditation or not here are some simple ways to help you calm your mind and your worries and give yourself some space through being more present:
1. Remember that everything in the world works in a cycle. It rises into our consciousness and then falls away. Nothing remains forever. This too shall pass.
2. Reset now and again in your day. Stop for a moment and bring yourself into your body whether you are sitting, standing or even walking. Feel the body as a whole and keep your attention there gently for a few breaths. You might focus your attention on a particular part of your body – perhaps your fingertips as you do this. Connecting to your body and your breath bring you to the present moment because neither can be in the past or the future, they are just ‘now’. Enjoy the space this pause brings to your day.
3. Take 5 minutes on waking or just before going to sleep to settle into the above reset practice for a bit longer. Focus on your breath moving in and out of your body – try not to change it – try to hold your awareness there gently. If your mind wanders just gently bring it back to your breath again. Be with the breath as it is and the mind as it is – accept that the mind will wander, try not to judge any thoughts or distractions just be with them as they are – let them rise and then fall away as you come back to your breath. Try not to push thoughts or distractions away, just accept them as they are and watch them fade away. See how no thought lasts forever and how we can just watch them rise and fall away. Notice how this can begin to calm the swirling thoughts, you don’t need to connect to them, just let them rise and fall away.
4. Stick with the facts. Notice when your mind is wandering into what ifs, mights and maybes. Notice when your mind is creating scenarios and stories. Be ok with the fact that your mind is doing this (its job is to look to past and future to try to work out the current situation, some of the minds thinking can be very useful) – but now you know can observe when the less useful stories are creeping in you can discern what is creating or exacerbating worry and let it fade away.
The more you do these practices, the more you will find yourself in the present moment and connected to your steady inner space. The more time you spend in that space, the more perspective you will find and your worries will begin to calm and you will be able to meet challenges with more acceptance and in the best way that you can.
If you would like to listen to a guided meditation practice using these techniques please listen to the audio recording of my Facebook Live Meditation Circle on this page: https://www.breathingspace-yoga.com/meditation