Last night at dinner we were talking with the kids about the importance of getting enough vegetables. I’d heard the magic number is five a day. Plus nutritionist Nikki Wood had mentioned to me 5 cups a day is the goal. So while we ate, we counted our daily intake and luckily, we hadn’t done too badly that day. But it made me think that, veggies aside, in so many ways, life seems so often a series of items to count: Hours of sleep to get, lunchboxes to make, piano practices to supervise, minutes before the school bell, work tasks to do, phone calls to return, traffic lights to navigate, washing loads to do, not to mention fitting in a great and essential source of energy for me, classes to do and those girlfriend chai catch ups. It takes a myriad of brain cells specialising in accounting to fit it all in and then keep it all balanced. One friend in pain, one child with a sniffle, even one loaf of bread missed from the supermarket can throw everything off.
We all speak of the life balance. But health and wellness is more than just factoring in the external forces of the weekly balance between cardio, stretch and strength sessions, or between getting enough protein, calcium and veg. In yogic physiology there is an internal balance between five forces which flow up, down, in and around your body. These special pranic energies are called the Vayus, and it is wise to make sure these special energies are in balance with each other and then be smart about keeping them so. These five pranas govern absorption and elimination, the reproductive system, fertility, energy levels, and much more. When they function optimally, our mind will be more in balance, which helps everything runs more smoothly.
These five energies respond to yoga poses, different breathing techniques and visualisations. And part of the reason you feel so good after yoga (and other exercise too) is that you have worked with and balanced your vayus. But as our teachers aren’t able to turn a regular class into a theory session, we will take the opportunity to delve into it all at the retreat. You will get a good working understanding of how it all fits together, with notes to help, plus practical ways to keep things moving well.
It’s exciting! By becoming more attentive to prana—and enhancing and directing its flow through the practices of hatha yoga—we can invigorate the body and mind, develop an expanded inner awareness, and open the door to higher states of consciousness.
So, if you are thinking, Give me some of that! Come along to our Urban Retreat, held at our Balgowlah Studio on Friday June 6th 9.15am-2.45pm