I recently shared 6 small rituals to uplift our spirits, particularly in the home during lockdown. I hope it inspired something in you.
Practices that purposefully mix things up in our life, such as moving the furniture into exciting new arrangements, remind us that life is a creative act, and we thrive when we got off automatic pilot.
The uplifting feeling we get from a consciously chosen activity reminds us to focus on the freedom we have. Now, in this moment of reading, you can open to your existence in all its richness. With our blinkers off, our world is full of potential.
Let me introduce to you an "in the moment" practice.
I'll name this practice 'The Four Silly Sounds'.
Because silliness, as Joseph Campbell says, is valuable beyond measure. It is the silliness of the jester that awakens the mind of Royalty. It is not the serious, informed advisors that can get through to the highest governing body, but the playful story teller that turns things on their side and creates a new perspective.
Let's start with an important question.
Is it true that you are free to tap the top of your head?
Really?
Do you give yourself that freedom?
An even better question: Do you give yourself that freedom freely?
And even more importantly: Do you know that feeling of free-ness?
Does your body know it?
If you have been attending regular yoga classes, many of you will have the environment and the opportunity to feel freedom as you enter savasana. Or the freedom to sit in stillness with an effortless body-breath, after meditation and chanting.
So I know many of my readers can definitely say Yes.
For some of you its walking in nature under the vast sky. For others it’s being in good company free to talk and share openly.
Your soma, your flesh, joints and lungs know and feel easeful, radiant freedoms.
Next step: are you free to blow raspberries, to let go of an obvious tension you are holding, or shout out with gusto?
Yes, it's true I am objectively free to do them, however... there may be resistance.
So how free are we?
I invite you to join me now in doing The Four Silly Sounds.
This is a 2 minute process, so please skip over it if you do not wish to.
So right now, wherever you are, I invite you actively participate in your own freedom:
Do just one or all four.
As you prepare yourself, please note:
If this activity feels contrary to your life's situation, it could be an opportunity to become switch free.
Our inner-life does not have to be like a digital switch flicking between fear or love depending on the situation. We don’t have to depend on yoga, forest walks or friends to feel our spirit is free.
Many of us are dealing with challenging things in life.
It can be a surprise to realise we are not obliged to be sad when things are bad, or angry when a situation is unjust. Although these emotions are natural ways of being, they are not as compulsory as we assume.
So let's do it, right now.
1. Tap your head fast 20 times
2. Blow 6 raspberries with your tongue or lips
3. Sigh "Ahhh" and let go of your most obvious tension or holding (eg: shoulders, jaw, tummy, a thought)
4. Shout out with gusto
Did you find the freedom to tap your head? Did you do all four?
If yes, I did it!
Enjoy the effects and benefits you feel. You’ll probably want to do it again.
You may feel primed to step out of a worn pattern.
Choose an area of life that matters to you. Contemplate how a change in your energy shines a new light on this part of your life.
If ‘No, I didn’t do them’ ask yourself "How real are the obstacles that held me back?"
Do those reasons stop you in other areas of your life too?
Looking inward (svadhyaya) takes some tenacity. Realising how free we are can be untethering and even a bit scary. The yoga and I are here to guide and support.
Why not give it go now if you haven't already? I'm here. I'll wait.
The point of The Four Silly Sounds Practice
~ When the mind is contracted and on automatic it is hard to know that it is, and it takes skill to get out of it.
~ Freeing up our body frees our attitude & helps us see (and no longer be) a mind that was stuck.
~ Linking our inner state to external situations is reasonable, but it not the way of freedom and insight. Remember, we are not obliged to feel sad when things are bad.
~ No matter how small or random, a gesture of freedom is freedom.
Yoga reveals to us the nature of the human mind as we become a little more skilful in how we choose to be in this moment. Have a taste now of these immeasurable freedoms available to you. These freedoms are in your next breath, in your body's posture, in your perception of your self and in your life.
Observe yourself over the next few hours. Where did you resist autopilot and choose a response of your own?
If a little gesture of freedom opens the door to a path of open-hearted connection, then our time here together has been a worthy joy.
If you are looking for yoga in your life, I have a wide range of offering for you.
With love,
Katie
