Have we developed new skills from living through the pandemic? I’ve found the simple, mundane tasks have become a saving ritual. Maybe the frustration we feel gives us a chance to take stock and be more grateful for the day the day things.

It’s less “me” and more “us”. Gratitude is a better way of thinking!

I noticed last night as my daughter and I were clearing the dishes away after dinner, how we waltzed around each other in a new end of day routine. We have four adults working, studying and socializing on zoom and Xbox from home. It has forced on us a more efficient and mindful way of using space and living together. What began with anger and frustration when one person wanted the room for telly, one for the Xbox and another to just sit quietly has transformed into a dance of sorts.  During the first lockdown living indoors was like bumping into each other on a busy city street, now we side step, weave and dodge more gracefully.  We plan and book our spaces in advance, trying to schedule our days with a little more understanding of each other needs.  It’s less “me” and more “us”.  The fifth member of the family our dog Ivy is loving the 24×7 attention and her extra daily walks.

We live more skilfully

We live more skilfully. We connect with friends and family on zoom, we check on our neighbours.   We depend on each other more than ever before. We’ve become more aware of the things that really annoy us and more mindful of how we can manage our reactions better. There is a greater need for everyone to recognise their own feelings their ups and downs and when they’ve reached their own breaking point, and to consider how their behaviour affects others. Our ability as a family to read and respect each other has changed and we have created different spaces within our home that allow us time to ourselves.  The waves of frustration family members feel has now been balanced with a little more grace and gratitude.  We know we are the lucky ones.  This state of awareness reminds of the work by Neuroscientist Dr Britta Hölzel.  She describes how when we are aware of our own feelings we can choose a better response to a situation and self-regulate our emotions. As we become more attuned to our feelings and our emotional reactions, we become less judgmental and more accepting.  In our household, because life has been boring and mundane, we’ve had the time to become more self-aware. In fact we’ve become more mindful without even realizing it, because living in close quarters demands it of us. Harmony is easier than disharmony.

Will we take a few of the new rituals and routines with us?

In lockdown, you could say life has been boring and frustrating or you could flip it on its head and see if there is another way of looking at our situation. I’m a glass half full so I’m seeing the positives where I can.  As lockdown lifts over the next few weeks, I wonder will we take a few of the new rituals and routines with us? According to the Ipsos global happiness study one in five believe their lives have improved since last March and the feel more content, while 54  per cent say they will miss some aspects of the Covid-19 restrictions.

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Even with the best intentions, it’s hard to make time for exercise when the weather is cold, dark, wet and you’re in the middle of a pandemic, but a little inspiration from RTE’s TV show Operation Transformation and the support from a friend or buddy can be encouraging. Meet my yoga buddy Ivy.

When Kathryn Thomas and the Operation Transformation experts introduced us to the leaders, we heard heroic real-life stories of people who have faced tough challenges in life and were stepping forward to make big changes to improve their health and well-being. They opened their hearts and their homes,  we met their families and each week we saw them embrace vulnerability as they bravely invited us into their lives. 

“that unstable feeling you get when we move outside our comfort zone and do something that forces us to loosen control”.

Their bravery is to be lauded, particularly in the middle of a global pandemic when fear and restrictions are ever–present.  In her book Daring Greatly, acclaimed author Brene Brown describes vulnerability as “that unstable feeling you get when we move outside our comfort zone and do something that forces us to loosen control”. These leaders have all moved outside their comfort zones, faced uncertainty, and emotional exposure. Each week, when they step up onto the scales they inspire others myself included. It’s not just about weight loss, it’s about getting fit, eating well and creating lasting habits to support them and their families. 

“Exercise is not a habit as life is just so busy”

For some of the leaders exercise is not a habit as life is just so busy, but trainer Karl Henry has them doing press ups, dips on a kitchen chair and jumping jacks in their living room. They’ve all achieved their weight loss targets and are prepping for the 5km run. It’s not just about the physical body changes – the OT Leaders inspire others towards healthy life changes. 

So, whether it’s running, walking or just doing something you haven’t done before, such as stepping on yoga mat, it doesn’t matter what goal you choose. As the days get brighter and longer it’s a little easier to fit it in after a days work. For me along with the dog walking my commitment is a daily yoga practice, which I’m glad to say the dog and the two grown up kids have joined me for. There are so many wonderful teachers now online you can try all sorts of Yoga to find the style and the teacher that suit you.     

Here’s 7 Tips to Inspire you! 

1. Adjust your mindset: Adopt what Dr. Eddie Murphy (clinical psychologist) from Operation Transformation advises is the “Good enough approach”. 
2. Set a goal: Loose 1kg, run 5km – a little measurement helps motivate you towards your goal
3. Ask for help: It’s amazing what a little support can do, find a buddy, either a friend or your dog.
4. Make it an easy habit: Don’t make it too hard 
5. Decide to do it: Just do it as Nike say – make a start, step on the mat
6. Rewards and incentive: Feeling better and healthier is reward in itself  
7. Listen to your body:  The body has its own language so listen, notice and be kind

So, be a little kinder to yourself, think of how you are better at all of the roles in your life when you make time for yourself.  In essence live skillfully.

Choose a yoga practice that suits you, have fun and avoid injury!

In the past year I’ve had a number of conversations with people about joint pain and stiffness around the big joints like shoulder and hips when practicing yoga.  This always leads to a story about the impact of the ripple effect through the body in the smaller joints, elbows, wrist, ankles, knees and vertebrae, which all end up taking on the larger load. A good analogy is when the foundations of the house begin to shift and you see the natural occurring cracks in the wall – it’s the same with our bodies.  I was recommended a small book written by yoga & teacher trainer Susi Hately which focusses on therapeutic recovery and healing benefits of yoga and preventing injury to the body. Listening to the body is something my yoga teacher repeats and embodies in all his classes.  It’s not something I was really aware of when I started my yoga journey, which began in a military style class.

Yes, the first yoga class I went to was in a busy school hall with stone walls and a rickety wooden floor. It had that urban New York loft vibe, edgy not minimalist or sleek.  There was a little stage at the top where a svelte bendy yoga teacher guided us through a very strong Ashtanga practice.  Back then I had no idea what Ashtanga was, nor did I realise there were so many styles and lineages of yoga. Her class was so popular that you had to arrive 10 minutes before and huddle in the entrance room in order to secure a place up front so you could copy the moves or at least place your mat beside the groupies in the front row, who knew every asana.    

I wasn’t born flexible but I could throw enough shapes, to copy and mimic whatever instructions she belted out in Sanskrit like “Left foot forward in between the hands,  Virabhadrasana II ,long body, gaze forward, rotate heel so arch of back foot in line with front heel….” I really enjoyed this form of exercise – it was fast, dynamic but it was also confusing and hard. However, I was seriously in at the deep end and although it opened the door to yoga, it was not a style that I could sustain without going back to learn the basics and avoid injury.  At the time, I was pushing  my body into hip openers and twisting my knees in directions that was not naturally possible for me. I was racing from one position to another, mimicking the person next to me and trying to make sure my arms didn’t smack them in the face during each sun salutation and being at least three seconds behind the flow.  My approach was probably more to do with my own goal-set corporate, performance-orientated mindset at 30-something than to the Indian ashram trained yogi who as teaching. By the way, corporate mindfulness had not been invented then.

So, let’s get back to Susie’s advice, which I felt almost got me off the self-blame internal dialogue. In “Anatomy and Asana – preventing yoga injuries” (Susi Hately) she writes: “Sometimes instructors may use overzealous adjustments on students. These overzealous adjustments can actually cause the students muscles to contract more than release. One of the reasons lies in the stretch reflex. If the teacher moves a student’s body too fast or too far the muscle spindles stretch reflex will be triggered. Instead of further release through the muscle, the muscle resits by contracting”. (The muscle spindle* runs parallel to the muscle fibres and sense how far and how fast the fibres are stretching.)

I’ve learned through various teachers on my yoga path that we sometimes choose the practice based on where we are in time and what we need.  Ashtanga builds strength, but I’ve recently discovered some amazing teachers who slow it down and work through the poses in a more gentle way. This means it’s not so intimidating and works with steady practice that’s a little more allowing.  So, my advice is to choose the class that’s right for you and if in the middle of the class you decide it’s not for you, always move to child pose.  Child Pose brings you back to when you were a kid; it’s playful, restorative and accepting – there is no potential for injury here.  Enjoy moving guys.

Child Pose (Balasana)

Begin on all fours, spread the knees wide apart keeping the toes touching.  Then glide the hips back to sit on your heals. At the same time reach the hands forward to the top of your mat.  Rest the torso on the thighs and the head between the hands or alternatively you can support your head on a block which is a lovely restorative pose. Keep the arms long and extended with palms facing down or in prayer hands. Breath.

JOIN US. You can try out the 30 minute morning class on Thursday and Saturday am free so fill in the contact me form and I’ll send you out the Zoom link.  

I never appreciated the subtle benefits until I read Donna Farhi’s guide to preparing for your practice and creating a practice space, she said that “each time your practice in a special place it grows in power such that others may even comment on the calm and peaceful feeling they have when they are in your special place” 

This article in Yoga Alliance Professionals gives a few tips on how to do this.
Read article by clicking this link.