Stress & Peace
Yay, session 4! This session was all about seasonal stress supports, my favorite:)
As I think I’ve mentioned before, my dosha imbalance is vata-pitta… meaning I’m STRESSED. Though, I think we all can relate to the never ending stress that seeps into our lives. I mean how could you not be stressed? We’ve been placed into a society with such extreme structure that it can become insufferable to keep up with the expectations. Either we live with the stress, or we learn to fight back and find peace amidst the worry.
So, let's choose peace!
Most of us know that these stress supports exist~ breathwork, meditation, movement, mantras… but how often do we actually implement them, or learn which are the most beneficial for the given situation? The cool thing about learning and practicing forms of holistic healing is that you’re naturally going to begin paying more attention to your physical and mental health, which is why Ayurvedic living is so beneficial.
No one expects a person to adapt a perfect Ayurvedic routine right away, and maybe you don’t have the goal of ever living a fully Ayurvedic life, but the important thing is that as your knowledge of this practice increases you will become more in tune with your needs. You’ll start paying closer attention to your body and how your environment affects you.
With my growing knowledge of this practice and the support it offers, I now know which breathing practice will aid me when I’m in need of an energy boost to get out of bed, which breathing practice will recollect me as I wait nervously in the car before an interview, what meditation to do when I can’t figure out the source of my worry… and so on. These are considered stress activities, meaning they guide you in the present moment of stress, but they’re also great stress supports which can be done as a preventative measure to maintain your calm state.
In addition to broadening my knowledge of specific stress activities/supports, the most helpful stress support I’ve learnt was actually adapting a whole new meditative lens to how I interpret the world around me. Meditation is often thought of as a silent, inward practice done as you sit in lotus pose on your fluffy meditation cushion. Silent meditation is a highly beneficial and enlightening practice, but meditation can be much more than that. To me meditation means to be fully present in whatever you’re engaged in. It means to spend a little extra time appreciating the beauty of trees as you walk down the street, enjoying the peace of driving alone to work, embracing creativity as you cook with all different colors and scents.
I’ll share with you something that Haylee mentioned in class that really stuck with me. She offered the following idea
"..many of us despise the cold, but what if we shifted our lens and learnt to actually like the cold? What if rather than feeling the cold hit our skin and instantly forming an opinion against it, we rather let our bias wash away and become curious in response. One can choose to resent the cold, or they can choose to welcome and actively notice the feeling of cold on their skin, wind gushing through their hair, their muscles tensing. Feel your present body in the cold and examine the objective feeling of it, you just might have a nice walk to the store next time it's a bit, or a lot chilly out."
See how you can weave different stress supports naturally into your routine. Remember, it doesn’t have to be a whole event. You don’t have to light candles and cue the tranquil music for the perfect ambiance, just breathe, be present and enjoy the moment. <3
Written by our lovely intern Hailie from inside our Seasonal Stromme: Skadi - click to learn more about our seasonal workshops and programs!