The art of rejuvenation
This gathering is an interlude – to pause from busyness, our embodied universes of thought and feeling huddled together in a finite space. This is a recurring seasonal event, each guided by one of the elements.
Our deepest wisdom, when energy is conserved and Mother Nature sleeps – winter time. Rarely do we slow down and do less during the winter, yet if we look at cycles of natures busyness often follows cycles of rest. Rest nourishes our capacity to listen, to rebalance heightened energy with stillness, our yin and yang, our Warrior and Monk.
Rest allows us to shift away from tension and gets us ready for the next big step ahead. Winter is a time of maximum yin, every part of our body – through our organs and our cells – needs time to rejuvenate.
The Water element helps us to create inwards focus and attention, effortlessness, potent powers. When out of balance we stagnate, so we need to feel our flow, our Wuwei, our soft strength. Indulge yourself in a grounding, softening three-hour practice filled with gentle movement, deep breathing, and long steady restful poses to rebalance.
Yin Yoga & The Five Elements
Like a network of rivers nourishing a landscape, the meridians are the channels through which qi (chi) flows, to nourish and energise the human body like rivers nourish the Earth. Collectively, the meridians form the matrix within which the physical body functions and communicates with the energetic body. The positions of Yin Yoga affect our meridian orbits in a positive direction, and gives us a deeper understanding of our inner workings, so we learn to self-regulate more efficiently. We can embody the qualities and feelings that we find, using mindful movement to embrace what we encounter in these elemental practices, creating a more intimate relationship with ourselves and whats around us, moving through emotions and regenerating as needed.
Taoism believes that each of the five elements has the ability to draw us towards stronger emotions, behaviors (reaction/action – situation-led), tendencies (frequency of behaviour), attitudes (thoughts/feelings - experience-led), activities, moods, energies and overall health.
Embodiment practices
How do we learn to be fully aware of ourselves, to listen intently to the deep functionings and responses in our mind, the constant play between our mind and our body? How do we find balance and control, or reparation and tenderness? Simple rituals lead to sacred experiences, nurturing a peaceful and understanding relationship with our bodies, and our bodies speak through sensations and movements, not words.
Curiously notice what’s present, don’t explain it in language, hesitate to make meaning of what you hear, and rest into the sensuality of yourself. The coming back to one’s deeper natural self as an orienting principle, is always revolutionary. No one can give emotional goals... This is about noticing. Harmonise; fight off negativity, increase positivity, remove what is of no use, nurture what is. The process is more than poetic.
We are all growing, moving, developing organisms, interconnected with the microcosm and macrocosm of nature and the Universe.
Miz • @natarajayogauk
Miz’s classes are about connection, within and from the practitioner, embracing flow and the natural world through steady vibrational energy, finding a way to listen and notice and solely be there for guidance - “learning comes from inside each of us”. She has practiced and studied yoga for almost 20 years, qualifying in various aspects of the practice; Ashtanga, Vinyasa, Sequencing, Embodied Yin & Functional Yin, as well as Tantric Philosophy, Qigong, and Somatics & Restorative Practices. She is an RYT-500 and an embodiment coach.
