In yoga we work on our ever-evolving self – physically, mentally, spiritually. Pattabhi Jois, the founder of Ashtanga Yoga 
has a famous quote, “practice practice, all is coming”. But before we focus too much on where we’re headed, let’s take a good honest look at where we’re at.
When the pressure is on: Life can be all well and good when things are calm and cruisy, but what happens when the pressure is on? How do you deal with pressure? We all react to pressure in different ways at different times. We all have our triggers, our breaking points. Once tested, we can plunge into a reaction that buries any sense of calm and cruisy. Some examples:
- Flare up & get angry
- Lose confidence & get anxious
- Get defensive & shut down
- Reject the moment & give up
- Let your ego take over & feel like a victim
- Beat yourself up for not being better
What’s the pattern of your personal DEvolution? Check in with your stress pressure patterns by observing yourself and your pressure responses in life. When pushed, where do you go? What’s the trajectory of your pressure triggers? Check out how they play out through your yoga. In a class you can observe and work with your stress pressure patterns by mentally challenging that reaction in a safe, held space.
In a yoga class we test ourselves as we apply pressure through posture. The handy thing is that we’re all in a contained space, with someone (the teacher) reminding us to observe the breath, relax the mind, equalise the sensations in the body, just allow, move through it.., and that sort of thing. In life, we generally don’t. However, if we practice sorting through the maya of the mind on the mat, we have a much better chance of handling pressure in life with the same or similar degree of consciousness. We practice consciously shifting the mind whilst we’re experiencing the pressure and reinvent our attitude to pressure, stress, crisis. We do this on the mat so we can move this to our lives.
With Kundalini Yoga, we have the added bonus of access to specific kriyas and meditations that work specifically on issues such as anger, anxiety, confidence, moving beyond the ego, self love and many more. So feel free to ask me for something that works on your specific trigger patterns and I’ll delight in sharing it!
And remember, it all takes time and it’s all a journey of commitment, wins and failures. It’s all part of our evolving self. “Practice practise, all is coming”.