Listen to Your Body: The Full Body NO and the Lightning Bolt

In the January newsletter, I discussed the introspection that often happens at the beginning of the year. This month, we’ll explore what happens when you go too long without that introspection, how yoga can keep you on track and the signs to look for when it is time for a reset.

I will share my experience with the concepts in this newsletter, but throughout please think about your own experience. Really pause to reflect on the questions I pose. Maybe pause throughout your day after reading this to more fully notice the signals your body is sending.

The Full Body NO

**Have you ever felt a full body NO?**

This is when every fiber of your body is telling you to NOT do something, even if it is something that you want to do. Your body is constantly sending you signals in the form of intuition, aches, pains, or changes in your breath, posture or body sensations. The full body NO happens when you have not been hearing or listening to those signals for a long time.

For those who do not know, here is some history. The pandemic was very traumatic for me and I experienced loss. This happened when I had just begun a 3-year 500 hour Yoga Therapy Training which was very helpful for me to process grief through yoga, but also demanded extra time. I had always planned to continue on to study to be a Certified Yoga Therapist…after a break. Circumstances did not allow for the break, though. I moved straight into another 2-1/2 year training (graduating May 2024!) while I was wrapping up the practicum and projects for the first training. I am very grateful for these trainings for my personal growth and healing as well as how much my teaching has grown. However, they took a lot of extra time.

The semester of Fall 2023 was overwhelming and I stopped teaching a couple of classes, but kept teaching most. My kids also started activities that required additional driving and time. I was so grateful for this as they too were moving forward and discovering themselves. However, it too, took a lot of extra time.

The Body’s Signals

**Do you remember a time when you pushed forward to continue to do things you cared about? How did your body feel? How did your posture change? How did your breath change? **

There is no right answer to these questions, but there are some that are common.

· Elevated shoulders

· Tension in neck, face and shoulders

· Shallow breath

· Deep sighs

· Uneven, rough breath

· Fatigue

· Aches and pains (neck, low back, hips, digestive tract)

· Chronic health conditions (cardiovascular health, diabetes)

· Recurring or more frequent illness

· Hunched posture

· Closed off chest

· Spinning thoughts

· Emotions welling up or feeling like you have to hold them down

For those of you that are my students…you know that in every class, throughout the class, we pause, we notice sensations, we find space throughout the body, breath and thoughts. While this helps us to turn inward DURING class, it is also meant to train our awareness for after we leave.

**You can do this at home. Find a comfortable position (but not so comfortable that you will fall asleep). Find the places in your body that feel cramped and crowded. Create space through the body, maybe by lengthening the sides of the torso or broadening across the chest. Start to notice your breath. With each breath try to make it just a little smoother, a little deeper, a little slower. Then draw your awareness toward your body starting at one end and going all the way to the other, just placing your attention on each part of your body. Notice, but do not analyze or judge, any sensations that you find. Linger in any areas you feel like lingering on. When you have scanned your whole body, bring your awareness back to the breath. Stay there for as long as you want or are able to.**

The Full Body NO, cont’d.

I had big plans for January. I would only have one class left, no travel to campus. There was so much that I wanted to do…new class and offering development, reaching out to more people through networking and marketing, updating my website, deepening my own practice…oh, and a serious deep cleaning of the house.

January came and along with it came the Full Body NO. Even though I wanted to move forward, I had been ignoring the signals that my body was sending. So it SHOUTED them all at me at once. Do NOT start new things right now. Rest. Spend time doing nothing.

I listened. Every evening I turned off the task machine. I relaxed by the fire, maybe I read, maybe not. No commitments (other than driving to hockey).

Like magic, during the day as I was driving to teach or to pick up kids, I was so much more relaxed that ways to solve inefficiencies in life just popped up.

**Have you ever found a creative streak during a vacation or restful period of life?**

The Lightning Bolt

**Have you ever experienced the lightning bolt Aha! moment?**

This is when you experience a sudden realization that something in your life is not sustainable. Perhaps it doesn’t serve you anymore. Perhaps it keeps you from doing the things you want to do or does not allow you to be your best self.

Now it is late January, everything is great. I created some great new habits, solved some inefficiencies. I was getting excited about picking up some of those ideas for new offerings. Then there was the decision to get a dog trainer, the radiator replacement, the washer and dryer on their last legs. I found myself holding my breath while teaching. I found myself so tired. I found myself feeling emotion in the background of everything I did. I am most at peace when teaching yoga, but even there, the peace was disrupted.

The lightning bolt struck. I had completed a great private session. All the ideas for new classes were bouncing around inside of me. I felt energized! I started to move forward on them.

I think the lightning bolt comes when we ignore the full body NO. I don’t even know where these lightning bolts come from, but suddenly you realize what was right before you all along. I needed a break. I needed to turn my awareness inward and find what I needed and how I could work that into my life. I have taken a break from teaching most of my classes, but I will be back to all of them soon.

**Have you ever experienced a lightning bolt moment? How did you respond? Was it life changing? How did you feel once you made the realization?**

Yoga Can Help

Yoga allows us to be still and move our awareness inward. It does not matter if your need is to activate and engage the muscles or if you need to stretch and release. Using the body, breath and awareness you can find what you need and yoga has a practice that can address it. It won’t be the same thing every day. It may take a hours or minutes. It may be a practice with a community or a practice alone. It can be online with people throughout the world or it can be with those closest to you.

I look forward to sharing the practices that are currently helping me in the newletters over the coming months. I hope you follow along and find some that work for you.

I also am still excited about the new offerings that will be coming, after I’ve taken my break. I am excited to get back to the peacefulness of teaching.

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