I have always enjoyed practising yoga and at one time used to attend several classes a week.
Now that my energy is limited, I find it preferable to practise at home and last year came across Yoga with Adriene on Youtube.
Adriene’s mantra is Find What Feels Good and her philosophy is to listen to your own body and practise in a way that honours how you feel today. She encourages us not to be “yoga robots” who try to copy the shapes we see on screen or in books. This has been very helpful to me both in terms of cultivating an awareness of how my body feels and what my energy level is on a given day. This helps me to feel that there is something I can do that will be beneficial to my body and cuts through my tendency to either push myself beyond what my body is able to do today or avoid my mat completely.
Every January, Adriene offers a free yoga programme on Youtube. This year it is called Revolution: 31 days of Yoga.
She writes on the programme website ( at http://revolution.yogawithadriene.com)
“What is REVOLUTION: 31 Days of Yoga?
31 Days of free yoga practice, an act of self love, a rigorous bootcamp and an act of personal storytelling all tied up in a feel good bow.
The goal: to be more present.
Further results: feel more smiley, enjoy body image, sit taller, walk lighter, move with more ease and have more energy for crushing it at life.”
and
“When we infuse the principles we explore on the mat off the yoga mat we pave the way for a life of balance and feeling lifted and good – regularly.”
As my recovery has its foundations in finding balance and increasing energy, I decided to take part in this programme. My commitment to myself is to roll out my mat every day, play the video and listen to my body and do as much or as little of the practice as I have energy for each day.
So far I have done that every day.
On day 5 the theme was “Practise Rhythm”.
Adriene opened the class by encouraging us “to cultivate a sense of listening, so you can really be true to your own rhythm”.
My tendency has always been to decide in advance what I want to do, or what needs to be done and then push myself to complete the task at hand.
I had completely lost touch with my own natural rhythms as perhaps many of us have. We wake to the shrill tones of the alarm clock, eat because the clock says it is mealtime and work the hours that are determined by our workload or our employers. We have moved far away from the lifestyle of our ancestors who rose with the sun and went to bed when darkness fell.
So, a rich field of exploration for me this year will be reconnecting with my own rhythm. Cultivating an awareness of what my body needs without my mind deciding in advance what this will be.
I hope that developing this sensitivity will provide a strong foundation for lasting recovery.
[Edited : Read how it took me 117 days to complete this 31 day program and what I learned in the process] https://www.susantelford.com/2017/05/09/117-days-of-yoga-revolution/