If we cannot feel then we can barely hear. If we cannot hear then we cannot be present and it is when we are present and tapping into the senses that our thoughts begin to diminish and we feel calm and rested.

We can then make clear and succinct decisions. Be disciplined in reaching our innermost desires and not be destined to fall back on unhelpful and detrimental habits. As the saying goes if nothing is going right, then turn left.

It is our thoughts that can drive us to the brink and our body journeys along with it. Much pain in the body is caused from emotion rather than any physical illness or ailment. We manifest pain just as we manifest calm.

When we manifest calm, we create. The more we create, the more we create. Whether it be a painting, a poem, a new look or a fresh recipe, we manifest what we need.

In my yoga classes, I teach with little visual demonstration but with a great amount of auditory guidance. At first students look around and are nervous that they 'don't get it'. But within a short time, they learn to be patient with themselves. They learn to listen to my voice, their bodies, their hearts and minds. They learn to enter their inner stillness and realize very quickly the rewards of being 'silent'. They learn to hear again.

According to Julian Treasure, author of 'Sound Business' we are meant to spend roughly 60% of our communication time listening but as he states we are not very good at it. 'Listening is our access to understanding, he says, conscious listening always creates understanding. But our world has become scary because no one is listening to one another'.

And what is his first lesson to listen better? "Silence" he says, just a few minutes a day. How yogic!

Quote:

The word 'listen' contains the same letters as the word 'silent'.

Alfred Brenden

Welcome to this Yoga Nidra practice. A deep, deep relaxation process where we scan the body for any glitches that inhibit us from relaxing beautifully and we calm the mind and spirit through the flow of the breath and the guidance of my voice.

Annemaree x

Believing in yourself means to be fearless......fearless in your approach to everything you do. Believe in yourself to create the life you wish to have, the dreams you wish to manifest, to be the person you aspire to being and to journey through this world with a sense of wonder, adventure and joy.

I once asked my yoga master 'how do you keep out of darkness and despair? She looked at me as though I was half-mad and said very slowly and plainly: In order to come out of the darkness, you have to step into the light.

It's that simple and it's a choice you make!

I realised long ago that every 'thought-seed' that we plant will one day bloom. Positive thoughts will bear positive fruit. Negative thoughts will bear negative fruit. It's the difference between the weed and the rose.

This applies without doubt to how we mould ourselves - and mould ourselves we do. We can walk the highway as it broadens out to infinite distances and possibilities or we can remain huddled up into ourselves too frightened to walk out the front door.

And so, what are some of the seeds, we need to plant? Let us reflect on these for a little while. After all - dreams cannot manifest without one taking action.

Quote:

"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us."

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

There are many, many reasons why we do not sleep.

Lifestyle, health complications, medication side effects, clinical disorders, fear of missing out, fear in general, anxiety, stress, partner's snoring, body tension......and so on and so on.....

But let's reflect upon one of these main causes...... tension ......

Have you heard of the fight and flight response?

A kangaroo freezes when caught in the lights of a car. Immediately it's diaphragm contracts, its eyes open wide, its muscles are held taut and ready for action. In that moment its immune system is suppressed, its nervous system stimulated, blood pressure rises, heart rate increases and adrenal glands release adrenaline. We can recognise this as the fight or flight startle response that we share with the rest of the animal kingdom. In the next instant the kangaroo realises that there is no danger, relaxes and hops away.....but unfortunately we, as humans, are gifted in our ability to hold onto physical stress for hours and even decades.

Much of this can be related to how we think......a quiet mind, without doubt, is one of the major components in a deep, restful sleep.

Thinking too much? It can be exhausting.

Thinking promises to give us solutions and yes, of course, they have their good points.

But, the more we think, often the worse we think. In fact, chronic thinking can wreck the quality of daily activities and our sleep for years.

The mind needs something to do so it calms. This is known as mindfulness. One way is relaxing through scanning the body and releasing stress and strain in the organs, muscles, tendons and ligaments, the breath, the body and the mind.

Quote:

A ruffled mind makes a restless pillow. ~Charlotte Brontë