Tag: yoga

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Wintering

Winter is a time to rest. Look around you … if you live in the northern hemisphere, you will see nature is resting, settling into itself. Winter is not a time for high energy, it is a time for reflecting, gathering resilience, taking notice of ourselves, discovering how we are, what is going on.

I have been resting and relaxing. I have had no choice. My body said stop.

It is a time now, when more than ever, I look within rather than without. I go to the mat and practice, honouring that by a deep listening within, I can discover peace and heal my body and my mind. My intention is I will continue this practice as we transition into spring, summer and autumn, moving with mother nature and taking her cue.

Writing, yoga, mediation and art continue to be my solace and I am grateful I have these things in my life.

During this time, I painted a reindeer in the landscape and wrote this poem about a swan I saw on a recent walk in one of Norfolk’s marshlands:

Coming Back Home 

In a moment of darkness,

some kind of beauty

is flickering in the reeds, 

catching my eye.

Winter is with us 

and grey clouds

hover at the edges

of my mind.

I yearn for warmth 

and muse about

better times, somewhere 

between earth and sky.

A swan glides by

wings puffed and fluttering,

she is some kind of miracle, 

stopping my mind

She calls me home

to my wintering 

where I can smile,

pause and breathe.

A time to slow down, 

for there is no hurry 

to take my woes to the wood.

Here in the marsh, 

I have everything I need, 

in this present moment,

this wonderful moment. 

Seasonal greeting to all. May you discover your own peace within and find your way home.

Thich Nhat Hanh

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Seasonal Solstice Sentiments

Peace in Winter – a mixed media painting on board by Lyn

At this seasonal solstice, may all Beings everywhere and without exception find peace, peace, peace.

Why Not

Choose Peace?

Open the door and step outside.

Maybe there’s a tree, or a wood, a garden,

or a magic world where you can pause.

And be still.

Why not? 

Get to know fully, headlong, the presence of your own human body.

It is yours after all.

It is precious.

Listen to your heart.

Connect to your essence. 

Don’t be concerned with life-long tasks.

Listen to the voice within.

Listen to silence.

Why not?

Things are changing, starting to snag, spin, snap 

and fly off into the ice-blue yonder of the long winter’s afternoon.

Go with it, let out the ooohs and the ahhhs. 

Close your eyes.

Relax.

And breathe.

Choose peace and love. Discover joy and contentment.

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Dreaming Mind – What Freedom Looks Like

Where did August go?

August is a down month for me – my learning subsides as my writing and my art tutors take a break and Vonnie, my yoga guru, suspends her classes. Usually I keep up my practice in all three delicious things, but this month I have let my writing go and have played around far more with different art materials to explore the style of art I would like to create going forward.

I have found my enquiry into mixed media and ‘playing’ has continued and taken over my writing. It’s been a delight not to think about words and how to craft them into a finished piece and allow my mind to dream in colour, shape, light & shade and discover what brings me joy … to discover what freedom looks like.

Slowly, like the depiction of the trees above, I am discovering my own unique style and building a body of work that one day, I may decide to share.

There have been no rules, no pressures, no expectations, only a desire to keep showing up … but only because the process brings me pleasure.

Creating pieces of art (and writing) are totally transportable activities. I only need a few simple art materials – pens, pencils, watercolours, a sketch/note book and I can fall into my dreaming mind and find freedom wherever I am and whoever I’m with.

These small materials, packed away in my bag, make for a wonderful travelling companion, as I discovered recently when I ventured away from home on my first solo holiday. I travelled to Germany to join a small group of people on a cycling tour of the Bavarian Lakes. I carried a 6×8 inch sketchbook in my pannier during the day that I took out at every coffee and lunch stop to play around with colour and form as a way to relax and remain centered. In the evenings, I popped a tiny 3×4 inch sketch/notebook in my handbag and at the table as we dinned, had fun playing with pens and crayons. Nobody seemed to mind as I doodled and wrote a few words and even if they did, I was free in my dreaming mind regardless of what others they might say … or think … this wouldn’t matter to me … their energy would not disturb my peace …

golden canopy

shimmering birch leaves shelter

a green damselfly

under orange skies

dancing, skating, being free

earth cries while trees weep

I adored my mini cycling adventure in Germany and being with my travelling companions (my sketchbook, pens, pencils etc) and I loved rolling out my imaginary mat morning and evening to practice my yoga which I cannot be without.

As always, it was wonderful to come home and this month, I am excited that all my classes resume and I can go back to learning from my teachers and creative friends.

Yesterday, I rolled out my physical mat to join Vonnie in her first zoom class. She began with a quote:

“Peace – It does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble or hard work. It means to be in the midst of all those things and still be calm in your heart.” Menaka Desikachar

How lovely and how serendipitous.

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Sacred Pause

As April draws to a close, so does national poetry month. As last year, this month, I have challenged myself to write a poem a day. Rather than post them all here, I have been sharing my efforts with my poetry group. It has been fun and stimulating.

During this beautiful month of the changes we can see happening all around us in nature, I have been pondering more and more about personal growth and how I can change, flourish and blossom as a creative human being.

I have been writing alongside everyone else in my poetry group using a daily prompt. It has been incredible to see so many different poems arising from the same prompt, so many different approaches to the same theme. To share, to give and receive comments and constructive feedback with other poets has been inspiring and motivates me to continue writing poetry.

It is truly remarkable for me that I can now say, yes …. I am a writer …. and finally I am poet. I was maths, function and logically orientated at school, being fearful of expressing myself during English lessons and avoided wherever possible poetry and essay writing … I didn’t really appreciate what a poem was until about five years ago and didn’t start regularly writing poems until 2022 … now I find I can’t stop. I find this really interesting, as I am convinced it is this discovery of who I really am (the soul) that is driving my creative journey (the yoga, the writing, the art, the singing and the dancing) leading to a ‘coming together’ and a connection I feel with the universe (the divine).

Writing poems is a mindful activity … as a writer, for me, it is essential to be an observer … of myself, of my behaviours and of other people’s behaviours and generally of the world around me, especially the natural world. I am curious … always asking silent questions within my mind, and pondering what the answers might be … it fires up my imagination and enables me to create prose pieces and now poetry.

April is a great month to write. There is so much change happening in nature, new beginnings, new life new stimulus for my senses to spark creativity. This time of year though, I have to work harder at being more mindful and aware, to really notice the changes happening around me, because everything is changing at such an alarming rate. Now is when the year seems to accelerate. How one moment, I may look out of the window and see the prunus tree in the front garden in blossom and the next, realise the blossom has blown away and the tree is full of its rich burgundy leaf covering. How did that happen and how did I not notice when several times day I walk, cycle, or drive past it?

Being aware of the changes happening inside me too is a mindful practice. It’s a terrible cliche, but nothing stays the same. Our bodies change from moment to moment, our emotions, our behaviours, our relationships. This is why during April, I like to take up the challenge to embrace writing each day.

Thinking of my writing practice as a sacred pause helps. Once a day, I consciously take the time to stop everything I’m doing and focus on the here and now …. just being. I either sit up with a straight spine or lie down on the floor and concentrate on my breathing. Conscious breathing as part of my yoga practice is essential for stilling my mind and tuning into my body and applying this same technique to my writing practice really helps. I can then more easily get in touch with my feelings and use this as pathway to a deeper heart-mind connection and therefore a more fruitful mining of words. From this place of stillness (and it may only take ten minutes), I find I can move into my writing time more centred and focussed and therefore crafting a poem comes more easily.

Taking a sacred pause to consciously breathe well can hep with any creative endeavour and during April, I’ve been using it with my art too. This month, I haven’t managed to complete a collage painting, but I have been playing around with pink and green, a great combination. It’s been playful and fun.

During April I have been experimenting with Japanese forms of poetry. Here are three poems using three such forms … all with the theme of the moon.

The Tanka Form

yellow moon appears

blooming in a purple sky

bleeding red petals

choosing pleasure over pain

I release you from my dreams 

The Haibun Form

A silver moon large as a golden sun bathes the earth and the oceans with pearly light. The wolf howls at a million stars and deep beneath the waves, the blue whale moans,  blowing a million tiny bubbles in the air.  

earth, ocean, wolf, whale

greeting, calling, connecting

universal love  

The Haiku Form

lavender moonshine

dozy dormouse unfurls his

caramel belly 

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In Midwinter

The Winter Solstice is here.

Solstice means ‘sun standing still’. Honouring the Solstice, the Solar New Year, marking the end of the Earth’s cycle, has been a celebration for many human beings across many millennia.

I like to acknowledge and celebrate the shortest day of the year by lighting a candle … signifying the anticipation of a return to the light. Sometimes, the dark months can be overwhelming, but darkness can be one of the greatest catalysts for personal growth and transformation. 

I am consciously allowing myself to feel my emotions and experience my own darkness during these dark days. I am asking my feelings to guide me because my feelings are my truth. I am using this time to rest and reflect. As nature slows down and seeds lie dormant in the silent earth, I am choosing to make this a time of solace, to seek comfort in resting, relaxing and finding peace within. I am relying on the practices of yoga nidra and yin yoga sessions on my mat to help me by-pass the crazy festivities of Christmas and New Year celebrations.

The Winter Solstice is a perfect time to set intentions. Contemplating and manifesting my desires helps illuminate my path … through the darkness of winter, toward a light, bright future. I am focussing on letting my energies rest in the anticipation of discovering new inspirations … building slowly … alongside the return of longer days and the light … being with the nature of things … with the cycles and rhythms of my own personal growth … developing, changing and nurturing myself with love, compassion and an acceptance for all that is.

In my own way, to mark the Winter Solstice I have written this poem and have created the collage painting you can see above.

In Midwinter

Everything happens in Midwinter, 

the Cold Moon shines, breathing the landscape

alive as the sun shelters low in the sky casting 

sentry shadows to show where you belong.

It happens best when you rest,

when that unyielding shell softens, releasing 

its grip on your sternum, revealing the softer 

kernel sitting close to your whispering heart. 

It has been a long time, since the trees 

let go of their leaves … light is fading 

fast as darkness swirls, gathering, cloaking 

the earth in inky blue, leaving old crows on bare 

black branches, bustling, caw, caw, cawing, 

wrestling for warm spaces to roost while bats 

begin their nightly flutterings, floundering,

shuffling, shifting, searching, falling, into torpor.

Everything happens in Midwinter,

the night-time ack ack ack of amorous foxes 

screaming for a mate and then the day-time 

silvery song of a robin inviting you to stay awhile.

It happens best in the dark,

when night rides go on forever and no drop 

of noise disturbs the peace you have discovered 

with the silver-winged owl flying at your shoulder.

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Clearing Out

The origin of yoga has been lost in the midst of time. The closest we can get, is that it began in India over 5000 years ago. In today’s modern world, many people think of yoga as a physical practice, but this is not the case. The essence of yoga is about stilling the mind, emptying the mind. If you’ve ever tried to sit in meditation, you will realise this is extremely difficult to achieve and certainly for any length of time. The physical poses and the breathing we practice on the mat are tools to use to help still the mind off the mat.

This week I am in the Lake District. On some of my walks, I have been alone, spending time on the hills and mountains practicing yoga. No, I haven’t gone into a downward dog on the summit nor knelt down on the fell to do a cat – I’ve been practicing emptying my mind and having a psychological clear out of all the rubbish I carry around in it in an attempt to find an inner stillness and tranquility.

In recent years, as I have developed my yoga practice, I have been focussing on taking what I practice on the mat, off the mat, and into my day to day activities. I have learnt I can practice yoga anytime and anywhere just by becoming aware and bringing myself back to the present moment.

I have a tendency towards an over active mind and if I am not careful, I can find myself ruminating about things (people, events, issues, situations, imaginings, ideas etc.) to the detriment of my wellbeing.

One of my daily affirmations is to have a clear, steady, quiet and alert mind. This is far easier to achieve when I’m walking in the Lake District than when I am at home. This week I have focussed on having a clear out of my mind and enjoyed peace and quiet when out on the fells. The challenge will be to maintain this sense of being when I leave this beautiful national park behind and return to my usual day to day routines.

It is therefore my intention whenever … :

  • I catch myself ruminating about my past (which I can do nothing about)
  • Worrying about my future (which I have no control over)
  • Getting stuck with an issue I can’t resolve
  • Churning over something in my mind I feel guilty about OR
  • Overthinking a decision I need to make, when all I need to do is listen to my heart and my gut,

… that I pause, watch my thoughts, allow them to float away and then reset. I will remember I don’t need to roll out my mat, practice asanas and breathing or sit cross legged in meditation … I can achieve this wherever I am and whatever I am doing. I don’t need to be solo walking in the Lake District.

All it takes is practice!

LIHazleton.
Follow me on Twitter where I connect with other writers and all things writing. Follow me on Instagram if you love nature.

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Being with the source – Sahasrara Chakra

This is the last in my series on the chakras where I share a little of what I know about each of them and what they mean for me.

The Sahasrara (Crown) chakra is the chakra of supreme awareness. It is for me the most challenging to write about. The experience of it is vast and constantly unfolding and as I practice yoga and expand my awareness, more of me is unfolding too, more of who I really am. The goal or the pinnacle of yoga is Sahasrara, knowing our true selves; Self Realisation.

The whole essence of my yoga journey is about this ultimate supreme awareness; my awakening to my higher self, the divine, pure awareness, pure consciousness … there are many words / phrases to use, but basically I am referring to my spiritual growth; knowing I am more that my physical body and more than my mind.

In 2009 when I first made a commitment to a regular yoga practice, it was mostly about the asanas (poses), pranayama (breathing practices), relaxation and meditation. Now it is a way of being, a spiritual path where I can practice being me and at the same time begin to experience unconditional love (for all life forms) on a consistent basis … so I can be more compassionate, kind and forgiving and show more humility.

This chosen path is not easy or straightforward and it does take a certain discipline (or tapas in sanskrit) and commitment. Life for me is about searching for meaning and trying to support others in the ways I can and acknowledging I am part of something far greater than me. When I meditate on the crown chakra, it is like a reaching out for something that I know will take me home.

But the words I have written there are quite meaningless. There are no words that can describe what it is we are all searching for but whatever it is, my belief is that it unites everyone and everything, the entire universe and beyond.

LIHazleton.
Follow me on Twitter where I connect with other writers and all things writing. Follow me on Instagram if you love nature .

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Being Expressive, Being Creative – Vishuddhi Chakra

‘Can we speak in flowers? It will be easier for me to understand.’ – so says the poet and reclusive writer Nayyirah Waheed who describes herself as the ‘quiet poet.’

The Vishuddhi Chakra is located in the spine at the base of the neck. Known as the throat chakra it is associated with change and purification and establishing your voice.

Interestingly, I have noticed in myself over the last ten years or so (since my mother died and since I immersed myself in my yoga practice), a growing disinterest is some of the normal aspects of life; for example I no longer watch or listen to the news, I have no interest in going shopping, I have withdrawn from incessantly scrolling social media and pull away from political discussions or negativity and grumbling in general. If I ever did enjoy celebrity news or gossiping, I certainly don’t partake in it now, or at least I try not to by keeping vigilant and stopping myself if I do!

In studying the Vishuddhi Chakra, I realise this slow but steady shift is an unwitting, positive and inspired change in me, an indication I am refining the texture and calibre of my mind. As Deepak Chopra often talks about, I am expanding my awareness.

With the Vishuddhi chakra awakened and functioning properly, any experience, thought, emotion, or word, can be transformed into nectar for my own personal awakening and enlightenment. All I need is awareness and directed intention. This is why I focus my time and energy in pursuits that bring me great joy: writing, painting, walking in nature, reading, cycling, yoga and meditation.

I’ve written previously about the Swadhistnan Chakra, the energy centre of emotions and creativity: https://lihazleton.com/2020/11/05/being-creative-being-in-tune-with-emotions-swadhistana-chakra/

When Swadhistana is awakened, Vishuddhi is spontaneously energised and helps transform emotions and creativity so you can express yourself in many different ways.

I have noticed this happening to me. Here are a few examples:

  • I find it easier to show love – for myself and others
  • I can confess mistakes I have made with ease and say I’m sorry
  • I find it easier to let go of past hurts and forgive
  • I speak out and I am no longer afraid to say what’s in my heart and what is true for me

The Vishuddhi Chakra is our voice and is where we affirm life in the way we speak and express ourselves and through the way we are and what we do. I am aware that to communicate love and vocalise an appreciation for global matters beyond the fixation of ‘normal stuff’ that has little importance to me, is where I want to focus my energies. Why immerse myself in negatively and grumble when the very fact we are here and have breath is a miracle?

But none of this is easy or possible if we are not aware. We all have mental and emotional struggles – this is human life but we do have choice and we do have willpower and the tapas to exert that willpower for greater good. It’s just a matter of opening up to possibilities and listening to what’s inside. This is where meditation can help.

I have grown my meditation practice over the last year and it helps me connect to my true authentic self. Deep listening enables me to formulate who I am, what I want, how I can serve and what I am grateful for. I can then take this out into the wider world, drop the conformity of social conditioning, be who I want to be and speak out for what I truly believe.

LIHazleton.
Follow me on Twitter where I connect with other writers and all things writing. Follow me on Instagram if you love nature .
 

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Being with the Heart – Anahata Chakra

Responding to all things associated with the heart stirs feelings of love, affection, compassion and a willingness to open up to feelings that connect us with each other, with all living things and with the universe.

I know I need more heart stirrings in my life. Moreover, I believe we all do.

Continuing with my exploration of the chakras, the energy centres we have in our astral body, the heart chakra, known as the Anahata chakra, is sometimes referred to as the bridge connecting our state of being in the physical world (the chakras centres below the heart) with our more spiritual self (the chakras found above the heart in our throat, our third eye and our crown).

If our heart chakra is blocked, we can remain ‘imprisoned’ in our desires for physical comforts, sexual stimulations and every experience in life driven by the ego. We neglect (or we are unaware of) human qualities and experiences such as profound love, creativity, self expression and a desire to know the truth, and to come to know our Higher Selves.

Another way of viewing this is that the bridge at our heart chakra connects our thoughts and our emotions, with our spirituality. In my own exploration of the chakras and my own spiritual journey, I believe the Anahata or heart chakra has become the most chakra of all for where I currently am on my journey.

When I practice asanas and pranayama and when I meditate, focusing on the heart chakra, I am working on developing:

  • My capacity for empathy for other people
  • My capacity and empathy for all animals, nature and the planet
  • My intensity for which I can care for another person and all life forms
  • My emotional openness
  • My self-knowledge and capacity for self-reflection
  • The compassion and love I feel for myself
  • How peaceful and calm I can feel and for how long I can sustain this feeling

I know I need to work on my heart chakra. Why? Because I am aware I sometimes feel feelings of irritability with others, I can be judgemental, I can feel hurt in response to the actions of others, I can feel restless and agitated and sometimes I struggle to find empathy or compassion. All traits of being human some might say and why not just accept this and carry on?

For me, being aware of these traits in myself is something I choose not to ignore. I strive to be centred and to be the best I can be, to feel at peace with myself and others around me and to connect at a higher level and develop my spiritual practice.

In my psychotherapy training, I discovered the ‘real’ relationship; being with another and experiencing unconditional love, a love that is compassionate, a love without reason or attraction and born of the understanding we are all one and all in this together. We are all travelling on the same journey, a long and arduous one from unconsciousness to consciousness.

Awakening my heart chakra and discovering who I truly am is bringing me peace and contentment.

Chakra work and the practice of developing self awareness and a greater understanding of what is and what isn’t real isn’t always easy. It’s a path I stumbled upon back in 2009 when I discovered yoga. It is one that is fulfilling and enriching and never-ending.

LIHazleton.
Follow me on Twitter where I connect with other writers and all things writing. Follow me on Instagram if you love nature .

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Being Creative, Being in Tune with Emotions – Swadhistana Chakra

Swadhistana Chakra – LIHazleton – Oil Pastels on Paper

Creativity is inherent in us all whether we realise it or not. For most people, our creativity as babies and children falls by the wayside when we learn to be in the world as responsible young adults. We have to pass exams, find careers, build sustainable lives and conform to social norms. This is what happened to me.

This year I have spent much of my time in creative pursuits and being aware of my emotions and dealing with them as appropriately as I can in the moment as they arise.

In 2008 when my role in the corporate workplace was made redundant, I allowed my creativity to surface again after many years of absence and have been drawing, painting and writing ever since. I also re-trained as a psychotherapist and took up yoga. Both of these enabled me to explore my inner world and understand how to balance and work with my emotions.

The Swadhistana chakra is known as the chakra of creativity and emotions. When in balance it leads to feelings of wellness, abundance, pleasure, and joy. When out of balance, a person may feel emotionally unstable and be susceptible to depression, addictions or anxiety.

In my yoga practice I have been working with this chakra in combination with consistently painting and writing. I have been utilising online courses to keep learning new techniques in landscape and portrait painting. Likewise, in creative writing I have been workshopping with others in tutor-led writing groups and doing a memoir course run by the National Centre for Writing https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk and tutored by the novelist Monique Roffey.

There are yoga poses designed to stimulate the Swadhistana chakra to help keep emotions and creativity in balance. I am an emotional person – vulnerable and emotionally charged at times and often easily reduced to tears. By continually being aware of and gaining a greater understanding of my emotions, I am discovering I can cultivate balance in my emotional body and perceive better and higher ways of living and expressing myself.

In my writing life, my goal is to write freely, in a way where I can fully express emotions and expand my awareness. In fiction, I endeavour to do this by writing stories with interesting characters who are emotionally challenged so I can explore their inner world as the plot/story develops in the characters outer world. In my non-fiction, I am writing memoir, exploring ‘the self’, writing in the first person and putting ‘me’ centre stage. To do this in an engaging way, I have to fully express myself and bare my soul, not necessarily on the page, but certainly to myself, keeping nothing hidden. I use yoga to help here in a specific way, on the mat in asanas but also whist in meditation.

Writing doesn’t come easy to me. It’s a constant challenge, but my yoga practice and studying the chakra’s help. Creativity and self expression is entangled and connected. Exploring it, examining what it means for me, brings unbounded joy.

LIHazleton.
Follow me on Twitter where I connect with other writers and all things writing. Follow me on Instagram if you love nature .