Yoga workshop

This weekend I attended a really good yoga workshop run by Kathryn Turner.  The theme was connecting mind, heart and breath, and for someone who does a lot of 'mind' stuff and due to asthma struggles with breath sometimes, it was really helpful.  We did quite a lot of chest opening poses and things designed to get energy flowing round the body, and particularly in the heart region.  Then some tricky breath exercises, which really helped me open up my lungs and connect with my breath, noticing imbalances in my breathing.  Finally a heart-centred meditation.  This for me was very powerful, bringing up emotions which I had been bottling up all week.  It was interesting to give those feelings space, and reflect on how they had been affecting me all week.  For example, a feeling of frustration had led to me climbing quickly in a session this week, and I also noticed that I had a sense of grief which was somewhat bottled up.  It was good to acknowledge that grief, and notice how it had perhaps stopped me connecting with people recently, as well as giving me profound shoulder-ache from hunching over!  I left the workshop feeling lighter and refreshed, as well as bodily tired from some of the poses!  well worth doing.  

We dont often give ourselves space to let feelings bubble up, or indeed allow ourselves to 'take the observer position' on our thoughts.  That is, we get caught up in them as if they were real entities, rather than taking a step back from them and just noticing them with curiousity.  Modern life is so rushed and frenetic, it is vital to create a space for ourselves.  It is no surprise to me that people get 'surprised' by intense feelings when climbing, as it is almost a meditation in and of itself, and so gives our feelings and hidden fears (about climbing or about our lives in general) a chance to surface.  So, rather than being caught out on the crag, give yourself space to 'observe' how you really are, what you are feeling and thinking, before you go out climbing!