This year I am playing with the idea of stressing less. In fact I’m making it an adventure in less stress! When I am less stressed I feel better in my body and in my mind. I’m just a happier person.
One of the things I have been thinking about lately is how much we push ourselves in trying to do all the things we think we should do.
The life style we lead teaches us that we must do more and be more, in order to achieve success. So we push ourselves. We push ourselves to be better parents. We push ourselves to be thinner. We push ourselves to do more at our jobs. We push and we push, and in the process we manage to cause ourselves all kinds of stress!
In our day to day lives there are many opportunities to challenge and “push” ourselves. Sometimes it is necessary, we have a project due, or there is a limited amount of time to finish a task. Challenges can be a good thing, they serve to build our confidence and prepare us to move on to the next thing. However, if we are constantly pushing ourselves to” be more” even when it isn’t a necessity, we limit our ability to rest and recover from the stress we inflict on ourselves.
Yoga provides a place not to push
When students come to me for yoga I am often met with the task of teaching them to rethink the idea of “no pain no gain”. For so long they have been taught that the right way to do something is to push, even to the point of pain, that’s how they know they are working hard enough. Excersise should be hard, right?
You will find lots of yoga classes out there that encourage you to work a little harder, stretch deeper, or align more precisely, all in an effort to help you achieve the perfect yoga pose. However the act of achieving the perfect yoga pose does not guarantee the best benefits. In fact pushing to get into the proper form of the pose when your body is not ready can actually get you hurt. To get the very best benefit from the yoga poses you need to practice the pose in the way that is best for your body. This will vary from person to person.
When you come to yoga, you need to lose the idea that you should push yourself in order to achieve the benefits. Instead of thinking of yoga as another exercise routine, just another way to push yourself, try thinking of yoga as movement.
Think of the physical poses of yoga as bringing movement to your body with mindfulness, attention, and intention.
When you move with mindfulness you slow down. You stop moving without thinking. Habitual movement patterns are often dysfunctional and can cause stress in your body.
When you move with attention you gain the ability to listen. You can then resist the temptation to push through pain, push through fatigue, and honor your body’s request to "stop doing that". Your body knows exactly what you need if you just listen.
When you move with intention you move with purpose. You begin to understand which movements are beneficial to the needs of your body. This introduces the opportunity to begin to move in new ways that will transform your dysfunctional movement patterns to more functional ones.
By approaching yoga this way, it becomes an opposing force to stress rather than a contributor. It allows you a place to rest as you learn to listen to what is needed, rather than all the “shoulds” that are bouncing around in your head.
As you refine this skill of listening, you will gain a clear perspective of when it is appropriate to push, and when it is not. Using this ability in your yoga practice and in your day to day life will bring about a more balanced way of living.
If you truly want a challenge, try this experiment;
-Just for today, stop pushing through everything you do.
-When you find yourself feeling overwhelmed or stressed about something, find ways not to push.
Note; This may prove more of a challenge than you expect.
Give yourself permission to say, ”Not now.” Give yourself permission to say, “I’m going to lay here and do nothing.” Allow your body the opportunity to rest and recharge so you will have more energy to give your family, friends, and even your job.
Note to foot; I mean foot note~ I have observed that I have a tendency to push through everything, even when I feel so exhausted I think I might fall down. I realize that this contributed to the anxieties of my past. Always pushing to finish this one thing, and then of course just one more thing. As I have allowed myself to stop “pushing myself around” and honor my body’s requests to stop, there has been another sift in the direction of balance in my life. Give it a try and see for yourself.