Friday Musings—19/07/24

How’s your week going? Hit reply and let me know—I read every email.

What's new with me

These past few days have been quite relaxing, which is something I don't say very often! Without even realizing it, I've felt calmer and, dare I say it, even a bit happier. In addition to being away from the noise and pollution of the city, the yoga practices I've been doing might be playing a part.

I'm following the monthly calendar I mentioned in my last musings, the one focused on the solar plexus chakra, our powerhouse, and I've noticed these classes are helping me feel more in control. I'm also finding the breathing exercises, a component of yoga I've never experimented much with before, quite interesting. In addition to that, I'm going through a yoga trauma healing program, which I started last month and is about creating a sense of safety and deeper connection with ourselves. This week, we're working on play and getting in touch with our inner child. I didn't really know what to expect from the combination of these two programs, but they complement each other very well.

In our last session, my therapist once more commented on how I tend to veer towards the rational whenever she asks questions that have to do with my feelings and touch upon the pain I'm still carrying from my childhood experiences and my years of illness. She also remarked on how I've started doodling during our sessions. She asked me to consider whether I'm using it as a means to avoid uncomfortable situations. I answered no, but then had to admit to myself that it totally is a way for me to get distracted and avoid unwelcome feelings and emotions. I was suddenly reminded of my sessions with a psychosomatic doctor I used to see online back in Dublin. Some of the sessions were very long, and I'd start doodling on whatever I could put my hands on, envelopes included!

Let's see if the teachings from my yoga classes will help me carry that sense of play, safety, and connection with my inner self off the mat as well, allowing me to bring more focus and energy into my sessions. Have you found practices that have helped you feel calmer, happier, and more connected recently? Do you integrate play into your daily life?

Rest and digest, stay and play

I came across this podcast episode on autoimmune conditions, and since there have been several cases of autoimmune disease in my family, I decided to give it a listen. It's a long episode, but the podcast guest, Sarah Gottfried, is a very well-known physician, and there are several interesting nuggets in there.

The discussion on autoimmune conditions, which seem to be rising worldwide, leads to the importance of creating healing states of consciousness for ourselves. There are several ways this can be achieved (yoga, meditation, chanting, but also psychedelics and more advanced breathing techniques), and as always, everyone has to experiment and find what works for them. Sarah talks about childhood trauma as a high-risk factor, but what I found interesting is that she said that even when childhood trauma didn't appear to be significant, many people now live in a state of chronic stress and present symptoms like leaky gut (one of the factors that can lead to autoimmune conditions). There are several reasons for this, including the food we eat and the environmental conditions we live in. Also, in her experience, many of us have a nervous system dysregulation, a state of imbalance between the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems, and need to learn how to spend more time in the parasympathetic state, the "rest and digest" mode. She also called it the "stay and play" state, which I found interesting, given the importance of the element of play in my yoga classes.

Another thing I found noteworthy is the discussion around strength training as a way to build resilience and regulate your nervous system. This dovetails nicely with a workshop on womb health I attended a while back. The woman leading the workshop talked about nervous system regulation a lot as well and shared that one of the things that really helped her was beginning to lift weights. She added that many of her clients who were stuck in freeze mode, which is often where I find myself, resort to restorative yoga practices to soothe themselves. She said that was all fine and good, but that we needed to add more vigorous practices in order to build resilience. I started doing more energizing yoga classes as a result of that workshop, but this fall I really should consider adding either reformer pilates classes or some other form of strength training. Have you got any experience with this?

Ten-breath meditation

Looking for a "busy person’s meditation"? Here is a quick 10-breath reset. Wherever you are and whatever situation you're going through, take ten long, slow breaths to instantly quiet your racing thoughts and feel calmer and more grounded.

Do you have any recommendations for quick practices that can help us calm our monkey brains and feel more grounded?

Quote of the week ✍️ 

"Healing takes courage, and we all have courage, even if we have to dig a little to find it.'"  (Tori Amos)

As always, I welcome your insights or questions. Which musing was your favorite? What topics would you like to see covered in future newsletters? Any other suggestions? Let me know in the comments or send me an email. Don't forget to share this with someone who may find it interesting.

Enjoy your weekend and TTYS

ML