Doing One Thing to Soften
Purring Sunday mornings, yoga cues as life advice and lots of yoga for the yogis.
It is early and the sun is doing its watery dance across the walls of my bedroom. The collared dove purrs from the yew tree, that ancient protector. And the cat who has already come in search of affection, a desire never satiated in this now old feline, is now sat in a column of light. She is upright but dosing, paws perfectly together, tail curled around her, eyes slowly opening and closing, like soft wings in slow motion. That her ear occasionally twitches in response to the quiet morning’s sound is her only concession to paying attention.
It is how I would like to always wake at the weekend, awash in this feeling of Sunday, with its lack of care. To bathe in the soft glow of an already warm morning that foretells of a beautiful day. It is a rare thing, to have nothing to do, and of course it isn’t true. If and when I think about it, plenty will call to me. There is a piece I am struggling to write but need to finish, a bill or two to pay, seedlings that will need enough watering to last them the four days I am about to be away. At some stage I will need to pack. But really the day is empty. It is a Sunday that feels as a Sunday should, free of obligation or clock watching.
It strikes me that whenever I have a day that like this, or a weekend that lies blank in the diary like this one has, how luxurious it feels to have left living to chance. Like slipping into a bath that is the perfect temperature. Or getting into a freshly made bed, sheets sun dried and pulled tight, when it is still light outside. Or reading, in the afternoon.
There is a yoga cue that I heard in a class years ago and that I promptly stole and have used ever since. ‘Do one thing to soften’. I love it for its generosity- it’s invitation to soften anywhere and anyhow- but also for its impact. Offer yourself nothing more than a slight bend in the elbows in downward dog and the whole body feels like it has exhaled.
Same in living. There are so many ways to soften; with gentle movement, a circular walk, in the slow and undistracted stirring of a risotto, a bowl of which is the perfect foil for these t-shirt warm days and still crisp nights. But it could just as easily be, and needs to begin with, a tiny offer of some space.
Years ago a friend told me of a trick she would do with the guarding of space expressly in mind. Every few weeks throughout the year she would write in her diary that the Smiths were coming to stay. Despite its being such a common name, she knew no such people. But having this imaginary family in the diary not only gave her an immediate out to questions of whether she was free, but it also reminded her that she wanted to be.
The world is full of unintended frictions, things we have to do, and much of it for others. This is largely a good thing. But a lot of the running we do is also of our own making, a habit of distraction -and as another friend once said- making our lives so busy that we can boast of them. We have might have already come to the conclusion that collecting things is no path to peace, but still fall at the hurdle of collecting experiences, seeing - even by accident- our full diaries as some sort of currency. Of seeing every day and weekend as needing something specific and memorable to be worthy. And in doing so we create both abundance but also tension.
Even without being overrun, and as within the most seemingly simple of yoga poses, there is almost never nothing to soften, and almost always always something to be gained from doing so. And when in doubt, doing just one thing - even as small as lingering in bed with a second cup of tea or pausing just long enough to hear the blackbird sing- is a strangely potent cue.
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YOGA THIS SPRING AND SUMMER - Book Now for a Host of In Person and Online Offerings. There is genuinely something for everyone, wherever you are.
I was sent this reel this week and it made me grin from ear to ear. If you are still Team Yoga, then I am back to teaching at the end of this coming week and have lots of offerings to come in the next few weeks. Yoga, as it turns out, is its own form of space. And all of my classes will leave you softened.
SOULFUL SUNDAY - A Pop Up Yoga Class - Grounding & Grace
Sunday 26th April 9-10.15 am £20
Enstone Parish Hall
A lot of locals have been telling me that they want in person yoga but that weekdays can be tricky, so I am bringing back Soulful Sunday sessions as a pop up starting Sunday 26th April. If enough of you are keen then I will try to do something monthly.
Spring is a time of incredible beauty and abundance, but also peak flux. Coupled with the madness of the world and the speed of living, our capacity to drink ieverything in without being pushed off centre is something we can actively cultivate- and for that there is nothing better than a gentle and considered yoga practice of a Sunday morning. Leave everyone else asleep in bed and steal away for a long hours yoga; we will move, breathe, meditate together and you will leave grounded but also uplifted for the day and week ahead.
THREE 30 MINUTE YOGA RECORDINGS
These are three recorded sessions created with Spring in mind. Each is designed to tend the hips, the heart and the head space alternately, and can be used as a mini series to get you back on the mat, or to weave in to the week alongside other longer form classes. Perfect to plug the gap until tuesday classes resume.
£20 via paypal link ( email me to buy the sessions or hit reply to this message) or free to PAID Subscribers to Substack
TUESDAY MORNING ZOOM CLASSES for the SPRING & SUMMER
9-10am £15 a class or a Summer Block of Classes for a reduced rate
Begins again Tuesday 29th April.
A lot of people have been confessing to me that their yoga practice has fallen by the wayside, and Zoom sessions are still a super convenient way to get back on to the mat. Practice from the comfort of your own home, in your pyjamas and with bed hair if necessary, with company as a live class and/or get the session as a recording to use during the week and as it suits.
Everyone - the regulars, the lapsed and beginners- welcome.
NEW CLASS- TUESDAY EVENING YOGA FLOW 6-7pm At Chloe’s Studio in Gaginwell
This is a new In Person Yoga Flow Class at the beautiful Chloe’s Studio in Gaginwell.
Beginning 6-7pm on Tuesday 5th May, this will be a regular Tuesday class that you can book weekly or as a one of class as and when it suits your diary. Each class will be especially sequenced to track our needs as we move from Spring into Summer, and will involve a soulful flowing sequence, a focus on breath work and lots of poetry.
All tuesday classes will then run through the end of the summer term ( apart from half term). Bookings now open for the first week and for sessions throughout May and June .