Ahhh, the Christmas Crush threatens.  How do you self-care when life speeds up? As kids finish term, as Christmas shopping and preps demand time, as the party season begins, it’s easy to forget to schedule the you time you need. How to you prevent the frazzle and stay true to yourself?  Yoga teaches us  about finding and  moving from your centre, then from there about radiating outwards and expanding in the poses (what better to counteract the Christmas crush?). It’s inbuilt into the philosophy too- the yamas and niyamas  (social and personal disciplines) will guide you in staying true to your ethics and morals.

I find Pilates too an excellent reference point. The corrective actions by setting shoulders, the activation of the oh-so-important inner core muscle layers, the strength in the back and hips which helps so many pains – back, knee and more. Sometimes we associate strength with heaviness and density but actually the opposite is true. The stronger you are, the lighter you will feel. And doesn’t it feel great to feel light?
From the strength of Pilates, I love the great feeling of consolidation it gives me. That warm in the belly feeling prompts me to be in my centre, and means I can move from this steady foundation so it informs all other activities I do. Not just physically, but there are mental, emotional and spiritual ramifications.

Energetically, Pilates enhances the lower three chakras which create our foundation in life. The base chakra at the pelvic floor which is about survival/shelter/food. Now you might already have those covered but do you also have that strong sense of belonging to family or a larger group which eases feelings of anxiety and worry? That’s your base chakra flowing nicely. The sacral chakra stands for sexuality, healthy desire, reproduction, general creativity and feeling worthy. Every time your Pilates teacher reminds you to scoop in your ‘T line’, you are working on all that too! Finally the upper abdominals correspond to the solar plexus chakra for empowerment, self-confidence, self-worth and self-determination.  Give me more of that!, you may be nodding. Well we cover that too. In every single class.

Now you might have further aspirations in life. If you want to feel more harmonious, be more fulfilled, open, freely expressive, welcome more love and joy in your life, or maybe you are going for enlightenment Buddha style, then you will want to get to work on balancing the next four chakras. But these would be not much use if you don’t have your foundation covered to stabilise personal development. Imagine putting all this time into creating an ornate stamped metal ceiling but placing it on paper-mâché walls imperfectly secured on a mud floor – Your fancy ceiling won’t serve you for long and it will be hard to enjoy any lightness.

In the lead up to Christmas, don’t give away your powers by letting busyness get in the way of your own personal business– staying strong, supple and serene. With referencing your centre, and with building your strength, I hope you enjoy your lightness.

–          Christina

PS  If you feel you need a reference point book a private lesson with one of our teachers. Or better yet, get a private session FREE by with your next 6 months of health insurance – Purchase a Transform Express fortnightly direct debit program before Christmas and get great value classes plus a one hour session of your choice. And don’t worry we stop the clock on all passes over our short Christmas closure period.
You can choose what you want to achieve from your session. You might want to learn how to make your group yoga or Pilates classes be able to act as rehab for any injuries.  Have your own structural alignment assessed and learn how to approach exercises to best benefit you. Get a manageable home practice prescription or use it as a chance to check your form in yoga postures and ask all those questions in the back of your mind.