Have you ever felt enclosed within your own body; manifesting physically (shallow breath, slightly forward bent posture closing up around the chest and heart); manifesting emotionally into a sense of loneliness and lack of motivation, lack of emotions other than emptiness; and the mind thinking it’s way out, but every idea doesn’t feel attractive, excuses appear ‘it won’t help’, ‘I can’t be bothered’, ‘I have no strength or energy for this’ etc.
I call it stagnancy. Yoga teachers use this word a lot in their classes, I assume they mean something similar if not the same, this described physical/mental/emotional state. When I teach Yoga classes, that is my meaning. I sometimes thought of this state as feeling depressed. I have come to be weary of this word, because for me it triggers a sense of a “dead end”.
My psychologist said to me once, “words can be very powerful; if you say, ‘I should do this today’ versus ‘I could do this today’, it weighs differently on the mind”. One feels like a ‘dead end’, the other fluid and temporary. This ‘dead end’ has led me to live an anxious life.
Depression exists, and it has a scale; but no matter what state I find myself in, I acknowledge being stagnant and sluggish. It gives me an option to move, to flow, to make a change.
The mind becomes extra loud, full of resistance, full of doubt.
So, I bring my awareness to my feet, as the souls of my feet touch the ground, as my toes expand against the hard or soft surface. And without a second thought, I move into a Yoga Asana (Yoga posture), typically Downward Facing Dog. And I breathe. And take an even deeper breath. Letting out a big sigh, like shedding off the weight and burden that engulfs me. And I move slowly feeling the surface of the ground, the way my muscles feel, my bones and the skin as it wraps around my muscles. I extend my inner connection to Mother Earth, our mother who gives us life.
And then I listen, what does my body say? Where to next? And I follow…Childs Pose, Forward Fold, Upward Salute…and then into my first Surya Namaskar (Sun Salutation) and continue for a few more rounds.
Ten minutes later I make my way to a standing Mountain Pose, feel into the ground, into the bottom of my feet and then up to my mind. Noticing. Something settled in me, something has shifted; I feel free, lighter, and ready to move forward with my being. The feeling of stagnancy evaporated.
That’s the power of Yoga.
The above text comes from personal experiences and views only. Experiences and opinions vary from person to person. By no means is the above an expert advice.