I love Erich Schiffmann’s book ‘YOGA The Spirit and Practice of Moving Into Stillness’. He speaks in a way that resonates truth: his words feel familiar and comfortable to me, like a favourite jumper. I share with you a piece I particularly enjoy. It is about awareness, connection and presence; the benefits of a mindful, ongoing yoga practice.

“Deliberately be still. Close your eyes, relax and breath, be aware, and consciously experience your present moment of conscious awareness. Immerse yourself in your own unique feeling-tone. Feel you. Bask in the exquisite experience of being alive, of conflict-free high energy peace, and become thoroughly familiar with the core tone of who you are.

This is like dipping cloth into dye.  Each dip of the cloth strengthens the cast of the dye and enhances the colour. Here, however, you are dipping yourself into you. You are experiencing you. Each time you do so, you become more you; that is, your sense of the authentic you is enriched. Each dip into the silent experience of you washes away more false ideas, which enables the real you to shine forth more clearly to yourself and others; that is, your sense of the authentic you is enriched.”

We can find this connection to self when we rest in savasana, as we hold a posture, or sit in meditation. When we hold our thread of awareness throughout the practice, it becomes more about the feeling, tone and experience of the yoga. We find an inner stillness that enables our authentic self to the rise to the surface of our awareness and into the light.

This thread of awareness can be observed and experienced on many levels. I invite my students to notice:

1. Any sensations or feelings from the physical body

2. The quality of the breath

3. The state of mind

4. An overall feeling or tone that permeates the entire being

How wonderful it is to take the time within your practice to truly observe, to be fully present; to be witness to the amazing changes that are taking place moment to moment. The opportunity to know yourself in truth, beauty and peace.

In practice, I find patience and peace