Mindfulness for the Greater Good

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8 limbs yoga, compassion, ethical yoga, mindfulness, Mindfulness Conspiracy, Ronald Purser, volunteering, Yoga With Paul

Mindfulness is key to yoga, which in turn helps us cultivate mindfulness. This virtuous circle can help us combat stress and anxiety, feel positive, and live fully in the moment.

Those of us who are committed to developing a life-altering practice, however, shouldn’t stop there — as an article by Ronald Purser in the Guardian argues

Photo by Indian Yogi (Yogi Madhav) on Unsplash

When mindfulness isn’t the answer

His longread, called “The mindfulness conspiracy” makes an important point: unless mindfulness is grounded in ethics, it runs the risk of becoming a selfish exercise.

How does this work? Purser points out that divorced from any ethical basis mindfulness becomes just another way to make ourselves feel good.

Feeling good is not bad, but it shouldn’t be pursued at the expense of being an engaged, aware human being. As he notes, there are a lot of real problems in the world: poverty, injustice, inequality, violence. If people use “mindfulness” to help them ignore these issues then nothing will change.

In other words, there are some things we shouldn’t be comfortable with and accept. Mindfulness that helps us be aware of our own mental and emotional processes can be a powerful force for personal and social change. “Mindfulness” whose only aim is to insulate us from discomfort stops us from making positive changes.

Photo by Nina Strehl on Unsplash

Active mindfulness

The good news is that the practice of yoga cultivates what I like to think of as “active mindfulness.” When we are in the studio, using our bodies, we are learning to shape our physical and mental reality. As we experience the temporary discomfort of a tough posture we learn to accommodate and move through difficulties.

Yoga, above all, gives us an ethical foundation. The first of the eight limbs of yoga is Yama: respect for others. This basic principle requires us to be mindful of how our actions affect the well-being of other people. That can be on the daily level, by simple acts of courtesy, or direct efforts such as volunteering.

Mindfulness, at its best, helps us achieve greater insight, compassion and wisdom for the benefit of ourselves and others.

 

Read more: The 8-word guide to yoga, Yoga = CommUnity

Your Unique Well-Being Journey

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health and fitness, mindfulness, self-help, well-being, wellness, yoga and wellness, Yoga With Paul

The past few years have brought us a huge amount of information about health and wellness. If you Google you can literally find hundreds or thousands of articles, posts and pieces of advice – some of them right here on Yoga With Paul.

This abundance of information has made it easy to find things out, but sometimes makes it decide what is relevant and reliable to your own well-being.

Photo by Lindsay Henwood on Unsplash

Being yourself

I take the responsibility of having a blog and social media presence very seriously. They are spaces to share my personal experience, and what I’ve learned from years of yoga study and practice, but they are not meant to prescribe what is right for someone else.

Everyone’s experience is different. Even if someone did the exact same training I did, attended the same workshops, ate the same food, studied with the same teachers, their mind and body would process it in a unique way. The results would be different.

This is tremendously important to keep in mind, whether we’re browsing social media or in the yoga studio. Our culture is competitive and prescriptive: there is a plan or programme that is “guaranteed” to help you reach any goal. The problem is, we aren’t machines.

The combination of exercise and lifestyle that makes one person feel wonderful, strong and alive can make someone else frustrated, annoyed, or even sick.

Photo by Audi Nissen on Unsplash

Health, your way

Health and well-being are not monopolies. Look at the range in elite athletes: a champion swimmer wouldn’t last five minutes in an elite running race, and a world-class cyclist would look pretty foolish on ice skates.

Media and social media have a tendency to flatten the range of human experience and possibility by presenting a limited array of ideals. Scrolling through an amazing Instagram yoga feed can be inspiring, but remember, it is just perspective among infinite ones.

When it comes to figuring out what works for us there are some obvious basics: eat wholesome food, stay hydrated, get plenty of sleep, make time for relaxation and fun, surround yourself with caring people, be kind…

The fine-tuning of these principles is down to each of us. Information and guidance from the internet, teachers and experts are great tools to help us identify our own well-being patterns and needs. Ultimately, we should aim to be our best self – not somebody else.

What’s your well-being secret? Share in the comments!

5 Benefits of Hitting the Beach

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beach fitness, beach health benefits, yoga abroad, yoga Algarve, yoga beach holiday, yoga detox, Yoga Holiday With Paul, Yoga With Paul

The first Yoga Holiday With Paul Yoga Holiday With Paul 2019 is coming up, 21-28 June in the Algarve. In addition to dedicating ourselves to yoga practice we will enjoy the chance to relax and rejuvenate our minds and bodies at the beach.

Spending time at the beach offers physical and mental perks to help you feel stronger, healthier and happier. Here are five health benefits of hitting the beach.

Photo by Lopez Robin on Unsplash

Stress relief

Our hectic lives and busy days create a lot of stress. Going to the beach removes us from the stress cues of our normal environment and replaces it with a scene designed to promote peace and calm. From the soothing lap of waves on the sand, to the chatter of birds, to the soft texture of the sand, the beach is a sensory experience that helps us relax both physically and mentally.

Detoxification

Sun and salt water are a potent detoxifying mix. The sun heats us so we sweat, releasing toxins while salt water flushes away surface dirt. When you spend an hour or two at the beach, enjoying the sun and cooling off by splashing in the sea, you are basically giving yourself a free spa-treatment!

Vitamin D

Our bodies need sunlight to produce Vitamin D and it isn’t always easy to get enough, especially living in the UK! Those of us with darker skin also need more sun exposure for optimum vitamin D production, so you can think of your time at the beach as an essential part of staying strong and healthy.

 

Cross-training

The beach offers lots of opportunities for expanding your fitness. Even a simple walk in the sand is offers your body a challenge, thanks to the shifting grains underfoot. If you choose to jog, it ramps up the benefits even more. Swimming, of course, is a wonderful total-body workout. Yoga and beaches are a perfect fit too: you can use soft sand to practice inversions like headstand, or to do sun salutations in the sun!

Photo by Ash Edmonds on Unsplash

Mindfulness

The beach is a perfect place to cultivate mindfulness. Walking, chanting, or sitting meditation amidst the serenity and natural beauty of the beach will help you clear your mind of every-day distractions. The is also rich in objects and views that inspire contemplation. Simply studying the infinite variation in a handful of sand is a chance to be inspired and uplifted

Read more: Yoga Holiday – 3 Ways to Get Ready, Do You Get Enough Vitamin D?

3 Ways to Free Yourself from Frustration

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daily yoga, empathy, every day yoga, frustration, patience, yoga endurance, yoga mindfulness, Yoga With Paul

Frustration is a part of life. Daily life is full of irritations large and small: being cut off in a queue, put on hold, or realising you overpaid for an item, clashing with a boss or friend. Like water behind a dam, they can build up until we reach breaking point and use unhealthy coping mechanisms – like yelling, or eating a whole bar of chocolate.

We can’t avoid everything that causes frustration, but we can find positive ways to deal with it – and transform our experience of daily life. These three practices are not about “building a better dam” to suppress your feelings but about transforming your perspective to truly free yourself from frustration.

Let it go! Photo by Ankush Minda on Unsplash

Appreciate what you have

The philosopher Epictetus said a person can only lose what he or she has – in other words, even our frustrations are grounded in blessings. If you come back to your car to find a parking ticket, take a moment to consider that you are fortunate to own a car, and have the health and ability to drive it. This mindset is especially helpful in relationships. When (inevitably) you are annoyed with your partner, friend or child, think about how blessed you are to have that person in your life.

Practice constructive empathy

Empathy is being able to see things from another person’s perspective. Unfortunately, it tends to dissipate in situations where we feel wronged or short-changed. This is why the discipline of constructive empathy is so important. The next time someone – whether a stranger, shop assistant, or colleague – bugs you, stop and put yourself in his or her shoes. Really think about how they feel and how they might perceive the interaction. This is a profound way of acknowledging someone as a fellow human, and even if it doesn’t solve the situation, it will free you to experience it with compassion and understanding.

Cultivate endurance

The stronger you are physically, the stronger you become mentally. As yoga builds endurance and stamina in the body, it strengthens our mental and emotional fortitude. Every time you step into a yoga studio, you are developing discipline and patience. Every time you hold that posture a half-second longer, you are training yourself to withstand difficulties. Every time you fall out of a posture and get back in, you are reminding yourself that setbacks are temporary. Not only that, the regenerating, energising, calming effects of yoga make you more resilient to frustration in the first place!

Read more: 3 Ways to Be Patient, Yoga With a Sense of Humor,

New Sloppy Tunas Shorts!

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men's fashion, recycled fashion, recycled plastic clothing, Sloppy Tunas, Sloppy Tunas all-terrain shorts, sustainable fashion, swimwear, yoga wear, Yoga With Paul

Sloppy Tunas, the brand that makes cool, colourful swimwear out of recycled plastic rubbish, has brand news shorts up its sleeve.

Right now it is taking orders for its first all-terrain short, designed for men and women!

Created for dry land, but equally at home in the water, the new shorts have loads of great features to make travel and every day living that little bit easier.

They are water resistant, with a waterproof zip pocket to hold your phone and wallet; they are light, fast-drying, and odour resistant; like the swimmers, they are made from 100% recycled plastic, making them environmentally sound and vegan friendly.

Whether you’re hanging out at the lake, hiking, hitting the beach or on a yoga holiday, these shorts are a practical, comfortable, stylish option you can feel good about wearing.

Pre-order yours now!

How To Want What You’ve Got

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mindfulness, positive attitude, thankfulness, yoga gratitude, yoga mindfulness, Yoga With Paul

As humans, we always want something. Yet being dissatisfied rarely serves us. How do we reconcile desire and contentment? How do we learn to live in, and love, the moment?

The philosopher Epictetus said: “My will is always to prefer what comes to pass.”

A couple of millennia later Sinead O’Connor sang: “I do not want what I haven’t got.”

What they were both saying, in slightly different words, is that the key to happiness is to want what we already have. In other words, to be grateful.

Photo by Simon Maage on Unsplash

This sounds mundane, but it is actually radical. Our whole consumerist society is based on wanting things we don’t have. We’re supposed to crave new phones, clothes, holidays, partners, jobs, cars, bodies, even minds.

Modern life is obsessed with improvement and progress, which is just another way of saying, we aren’t happy with what we have.

When we are happy with what we have, it changes the whole atmosphere of our life.

It makes us feel secure, nourished, abundant. If we already have what we want, what reason is there to worry or wish for more?

Learning this takes practice, and yoga is an excellent tool for cultivating this mindset. Here are four ways to speed up the process and start wanting what you’ve got.

Know what you need

What do you really need? Be honest. Food, yes; shelter, yes; friends, yes; a sense of purpose, yes. But the rest of the things we give so much importance to (promotions, mortgages, interior decorating, expensive gadgets) are wants, not needs. When you begin to consciously acknowledge all your needs that are being met, it shifts your energy. Instead of focusing on what you lack, you concentrate on what you have.

Resist with mindfulness

Part of breaking free of the cycle of dissatisfaction is resisting the constant messages telling us we need more. Advertising is designed to make us want more and these days, practically everything is advertising. You can’t escape it, but you can recognise it and label it as what it is: a sales pitch. When you are mindful of the power of marketing, you can resist the impulse to buy your way to happiness (which never works anyway).

Don’t wait to celebrate

Every single day is worthy of joy and celebration, for the simple fact we are alive in the world. Don’t wait for a birthday or anniversary or reunion to celebrate the good things in your life — do it now. Whether you relax alone with a cup of tea and count your blessings, or fire off an invite to a spontaneous barbecue, seizing the day will help you cherish what you already have. And when you’re rich in love and activity, who needs more stuff?

Share the love

One of the fastest ways to get over your own worries and hangups is to reach out to someone else. Time with friends, volunteering, or catching up with family members, is a great reminder that we are not in this alone, and that relationships are more important with things. Make the effort to connect face-to-face — phones just don’t have the same emotional charge.

Read more: How gratitude makes you happier, Integrate don’t isolate, Yoga = Community

Retreat to Advance

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hot yoga holiday, summer yoga holiday, yoga Algarve, yoga holiday Cyprus, Yoga Holiday With Paul, Yoga With Paul

In a matter of weeks we’ll be setting off for the Yoga Holiday With Paul retreat in the Algarve, which takes place 21-29 June.

And in September, Yoga Holiday With Paul heads to Cyprus for 13-20 September.

Ground, connect, expand…

I got to thinking about the word retreat. It has a positive connotation of getting away from the stress, distraction and bustle of our daily routine. On the other hand, it has the usually negative meaning of giving up or backing away from a conflict.

It is easy to list the ways that yoga can be viewed as a positive retreat:

• Relaxation
• Mindfulness
• Meditation
• Flexibility
• Balance, etc

But is yoga a negative retreat too?

When you look at it from that angle, yoga can be seen as a retreat from things that harm us. For example, yoga helps us retreat from:

• Anxiety
• Stress
• Attachment
• Expectations

In fact, yoga can help us remove ourselves from all sorts of damaging behaviour and thought patterns. This retreat is really an advance, a giant step forward to achieving the balance, harmony and well-being we seek.

If you want to experience a yoga retreat, in all the wonderful meanings of the word, drop me a line at YogaHolidayWithPaul@gmail.com to join us in the Algarve or Cyprus.

Onward!

Questions about the retreat? Tweet me at @YogaWithPaul or email!

When Yoga Can’t Fix It

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emotional healing, mindfulness, yoga grief, yoga healing, yoga stress, Yoga With Paul

Regular yoga practice gives us the physical and mental strength to overcome many difficulties, so it can be scary when we find ourselves in a situation that yoga can’t fix.

Photo by Rohit Guntur on Unsplash

Trying times

Sometimes, despite our healthy lifestyle, we get hit by illnesses or injuries. That loss of control is distressing, because we are used to feeling strong and well thanks to yoga.

Often, events are even further out of our control: losing a job, ending a relationship, a loved one passing away. When grief, anxiety, fear, depression and other hard emotions arise it can be hard to deal with because we rely on yoga to keep us calm and happy.

Perfectionist mindset

Sometimes people get so wrapped up in the idea of yoga being a cure-all that they interpret sickness and sadness as a failure. As if it happened because you weren’t trying hard enough, or doing your yoga the right way.

I believe this is a harmful, even dangerous mindset.

Life happens.

Yoga is not a magic bubble that protects us from problems, it is a tool we can use to cultivate patience and courage in troubled times.

Finding the help we need

When we’re struggling or suffering we need support and human connection.

We need to seek appropriate help for our physical or mental distress.

We need to be able to express our fears and pain.

We need to be gentle with ourselves.

Yoga plays its part

Regular yoga practice involves us in a supportive, caring community. It helps us discover our strength and stamina. It teaches us to have an open mind. All these things can, and do help in times of crisis, but we shouldn’t expect yoga to fix things.

Read about How to ask for help and How to open your heart with yoga

What helps you in difficult situations? Share in the comments.

Overcoming Distraction

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hot yoga benefits, mindfulness, yoga benefits, yoga concentration, yoga focus, yoga mindfulness, yoga practice, yoga stress, yoga wellness, Yoga With Paul

Modern culture and technology is increasingly making it difficult to concentrate, because every time we start to do something, or go somewhere, we get an alert (or message, or call, or reminder, or pop-up ad) that grabs our attention.

Photo by Alvaro Reyes on Unsplash

These distractions add up to a lot of wasted mental and emotional energy. We lose focus on important communications with partners, friends or loved-ones. We drop the thread of work projects. We get busier and busier without achieving more, or feeling better.

To overcome distraction we must improve our filters.

• We have to train ourselves to ignore things that are non-essential
• We have to set priorities and abide by them
• We have to be mindful
• We have to make choices that support focus and meaning

This is easier said than done.

It can be almost impossible to ignore a blinking phone, or resist the urge to scroll through a social media feed. Moreover, it is easy to get addicted to busy-ness.

To fight back, you have to take action.

Yoga is anti-distraction. 

Photo by Marion Michele on Unsplash

Yoga demands concentration and focus. It grounds us in our body and in the moment.

The yoga studio is a sanctuary from phones, bustle, noise, and external demands.

Yoga teaches us to control our body and mind. As we practice, we discover strength, stamina and flexibility. We learn that we don’t have to react to stimuli, or be victims of racing thoughts and anxieties.

Yoga is probably the single most powerful tool I know for bringing calm in the midst of chaos. We need it more than ever to overcome distraction in a chaotic world.

Try these Yoga Poses for Sharper Focus and these Three Grounding Yoga Poses

3 Revolved Yoga Poses

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cleansing yoga, detox yoga, Jathara Parivartanasana, Parivrtta Parsvakonasana, Parivrtta Trikonasana, revolved abdomen pose, Revolved side angle pose, Revolved triangle pose, revolved yoga poses, yoga abs, yoga core, yoga poses, yoga twists, Yoga With Paul

Revolved yoga poses, aka twists, are a fundamental element of practice and have huge benefits for the body and mind. We spend most of our days charging straight again, or slouched over a desk, so our bodies get stiff and lose range of motion.

Twists gently rotate our muscles, tendons and ligaments, stretching and loosening them to increase flexibility. They also provide healthy compression for our organs, increasing detoxification and stimulating proper function.

Revolved abdomen pose (Jathara Parivartanasana)

If you’re new to revolved poses, this is a gentle place to begin. But it has many benefits. It is an on-your-back floor pose, so you can include it before savasana at the end of your practice. Read this step-by-step guide on how to do it.

Revolved side angle pose. Photo: Urban Decay Visuals

Revolved side angle pose (Parivrtta Parsvakonasana)

You get such an amazing feeling this posture: a sense of space and clarity. Turning the upper body in one direction and the lower body in the other, causes a wringing effect across the torso, giving a strong, detoxifying massage to your organs and connective tissues. To deepen the rotation of the torso, press elbow against the knee. ⠀

Revolved triangle pose (Parivrtta Trikonasana)

This is a great variation on triangle pose that really flexes the spine and creates great length and energy. To get into it, start in mountain pose (Tadasana) then take a big step back, point your front toes forward and turn your back foot so your toes are pointing towards the corner of your mat. Line up your heels then extend your arms parallel to the mat, stretching in opposite directions. Square your hips then twist your torso right as your left arm comes forward and you send your right arm back. You want to reach your right ankle with your left hand and extend your right hand to the ceiling.