Dear Yogis,
I picked the themes for each month at the studio far before covid-19 was on anyone’s radar and I guess it’s worth mentioning that whatever yoga philosophy we have that may have helped you through the difficulties in life we used to experience, it also helps with great efficacy now.
I want to put on my psychology hat for a minute and marry it to my yoga teachings as it will shed lots of light on what your inner experience may currently be.
You may have heard of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and above is an abbreviated version of it that I’ve linked to the chakra (endocrine system) which informs so much of our human experience.
During this global pandemic we are way down at the bottom of the pyramid dealing with the “basic needs” portion.
Our root (adrenals) have been thrown off. During a time of loss and significant change imbalance will be created here. It can show up as overactive- becoming rigid and aggressive or under active -feeling weak, out of balance, and unstable.
The Sacral (our testes and ovaries) can become imbalanced and you may notice, if overactive, becoming overly emotional easily, losing a sense of boundaries or on the converse being under active feeling out of touch with our emotions and a resistance to change.
You may have an expectation to be functioning on the top two tiers of the pyramid, which is natural we all want to experience that. It’s a natural goal of human life. But, don’t be hard on yourself if you’re not there. For some who have been taking extra care possibly you are experiencing those levels and your basic needs feel secure and taken care of. That’s wonderful!
But, for many of us over the world experiencing this huge shift you may notice that those higher chakras are feeling harder to get to. A feeling of connection to everything (crown-pineal), expansive creativity (third eye-pituitary, sacral-sex glands, throat- thyroid parathyroid), drive to do a lot and accomplish a lot (solar plexus-pancreas), feeling unconditionally loving towards all beings, having smooth relationships and a overall feeling of wellbeing (heart-thymus) may feel randomly out of your reach. Some days may feel good and other days not so much.
I want to encourage you to do a few things here as we move through this collective trauma…
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Surrender - Whatever shows up for you be present with all of it. The way the yogis teach healing in each of the chakras is full compassionate awareness and attention. When you’re feeling strongly move your mind to the part of the body where you feel it most. Breathe as deeply as you can and keep your mind focused there until the feeling passes.
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Self-Care - It feels really hard to do what you need to do for yourself. You may be working harder than usual with families at home to care for or lost income to compensate for. With the usual support system inaccessible it may seem impossible to get it all done.
Taking a minute for yourself seems unrealistic.
The laundry, cleaning, scrolling on social media doesn’t matter as much as your mental health. Recruit your kids and people you’re in quarantine with to join in. Let all the “have-tos” pause for a minute and every day do something to make yourself feel more grounded and stable. Massage your body with oil before the shower. Get enough sleep. Get sunshine.
Do yoga every day it purifies and balances every single chakra. So does meditation and breath work. Keep practicing. It’s incredible for bolstering us through a trauma.
- Devotion - The theme this month is devotion. The yogis knew this time was coming. They call it kali yuga. In summation things are really hard and not a lot of people are awake to the experience of peace available to every human. The yogis’ solution, devotion. Love and trust in the process even when it doesn’t make sense.
Understanding there is something bigger than you guiding life towards its inevitability. To you it may mean nature, DNA and cellular intelligence. To others pure consciousness, universal consciousness. To others it may mean the power of the family, the community and the human race. To others it may mean divinity in the form you worship it as. It’s all good.
We have to be able to intellectually take ourselves out of the center sometimes and devote ourselves to a higher idea. The yogis will chant the different names of Ishvara (universal consciousness) and you may find Kirtan may be a powerfully healing practice for you right now. The energy is heavy but that’s the nature of the time we are in right now. And you can transcend it by using the tools at your disposal and prioritizing participating with them.
Feel free to share this email with friends and family!
Peace and love,
Amanda and the good folks at Revolution Yoga
Originally shared in our May 2020 newsletter.