dealing with overwhelm
Written by Megan Jones
During these weird and wonderful times in which we live with so much change and unpredictability, it can be interesting to reflect on how people through the ages have dealt with volatility in their lives.
Some of us who grew up as Catholics, will recall the Hail Marys and Our Fathers, which felt like they were on rotation but with maturity and the wisdom of age may have become a familiar anchor when faced with crisis in life.
For those of us practicing yoga, we have already tapped into a practice with roots lost in the mists of time. Gita Yoga, which we teach here at Fairfield Wellness, was devised to help the body adapt to change and to keep us grounded, clear headed and balanced. With its squeeze and release technique of balancing the endocrine glands’ hormonal system, we enable the body to regain balance. Through breathing techniques, pranayama, we draw in new breath and vitality and release the body’s toxins and some of our mental and physical knots.
We arrive in a balanced space by the end of the class. Once we’ve released what’s no longer needed physically, emotionally and mentally we are left with the space to bring in what we do require. That can lead us into a space of questioning. Some yoga practices have mantras and sankalpas. A sankalpa is a message we leave in our subconscious; a positive desire for a change.
This space is vital for change. There’s the famous Albert Einstein quote “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used to create them.”
But how do we reach that new thinking? Perhaps our prayers, our mantras and sankalpas are each a means to lift us from our prosaic world into a sacred space. We’ve accepted we need a vision greater than our own way of thinking to see our problems and life from a different perspective. There is a sense of hope and trust that an aspect of ourselves is greater than our thinking mind can perceive.
When there is a resolution, we might feel a miracle has occurred which may be another way of saying we have focussed our attention, done everything we can, opened up to our higher selves, as we say in yoga, and allowed for a natural transformation.
From a secular perspective, life is material and three dimensional. The popular saying “It is what it is,” is quite true but it comes with a caveat. We can choose to rise up and reach for that higher hand to take us to another dimension beautifully captured by Michelangelo in his (popularly named Hand of God fresco) The Creation of Adam, on the Sistine Chapel ceiling.
Simple steps can change our thinking. On awaking we can set our intention for the day to maybe “go with the flow”, “be our best selves,” “be kind,” “be open to surprises.” If you awaken with your mobile, set your intention before checking your news feed or messages. If you wake up with radio news, turn off the radio while you reach up to be your best self. This gives us the chance to set our own programme instead of marching to someone else’s agenda.