
Resilience: Pain as a Catalyst for Growth
Eckhart Tolle described the pain body in his 1994 New York Times bestseller The Power of Now as accumulated pain and a “negative energy field that occupies our bodies and minds.” He tells us “every emotional pain that you experience leaves behind a residue of pain that lives on in you.” Yoga can help. The potent healing powers of yoga can enable students to open up, release old wounds and allow healing to begin by directing minds inward. By asking our bodies to hold a yoga pose that requires balancing on one foot and possibly the fingertips of one hand, we are not leaving it much access to simultaneously stress over outside events. Your mind, unable to think two thoughts at the same time, will not be ruminating over past or future. With a consistent yoga practice, you can learn to control the mind and then release suppressed emotions.
Some yoga poses are helpful. Through hip openers, backbends, and inversions you can journey toward inner peace. Hips and hearts are warehouses for stored emotions to collect. Opening them can bring forth much growth and release. While Inversions are perfect for flipping your perspective, leading you to look at life and situations differently.
We all have pain. Yoga teachers too. We recently visited with a friend and yoga teacher who volunteered to share her pain perspective, and how yoga assists her in transforming pain into growth. Beth Blake writes:
like the rainbowafter the rainjoy will reveal itselfafter sorrow— rupi kaur, the sun and her flowers
Beth Blake, RYT: Beth quietly started practicing yoga in 2009 as a form of solace, seeking the mental & emotional benefits. It quickly became an integral part of her daily life.From 2013-2014, she earned her Hatha & Kundalini teaching certifications through Semperviva Yoga while residing in Kitsilano, Vancouver, British Columbia.
Find a restorative or slow flow class with Beth at Shanti Yoga or Yoga Six Des Peres. She is also guiding Awakening the Heart Chakra – a sequence of Kundalini kriyas aimed at opening your energetic heart center (anahata chakra) on Feb 17, 1-2:30pm at Shanti in Maplewood. Kriyas are exercises that utilize breath/movement/mantra/mudra designed to produce a specific outcome (in this case, opening the heart.) Opening the energetic heart center allows you to accept that all is as it should be and to experience harmonious relationships.
You must be logged in to post a comment.