The art of blessing
After wintering and resting, the natural world’s cycle turns to growth and renewal, as do we. Our bodies and psyche begin to awaken, our matter and mind are refreshed, our eyes open to new light and new energy.
The Blessing, is our turn to work with post-winter energies, to shake off the dust of the darkness, and begin our look towards the light as we gallop forward to the Spring Equinox. We’ll create our own magnificent altar. We’ll dive into feeling and refreshing through wild dance and movement. We’ll shift the bright sparky rejuvenation through our systems with a good dose of yin, and rest in the blessed beauty of it all and our beingness.
Bring things - things to bless, things to honour, things to dance in, or on. Combining folklore ritual and Far Eastern traditions, our time will be spent giving blessings to our seeds for growth, writhing in renewal, and sketching our wisdom-filled pathway for what’s to come. Dance, journal, move, rest, be weird, be blessed.
Yin Yoga & The Five Elements
Like a network of rivers nourishing a landscape, the meridians are the channels through which qi (chi) flows, to nourish and energise the human body like rivers nourish the Earth. Collectively, the meridians form the matrix within which the physical body functions and communicates with the energetic body. The positions of Yin Yoga affect our meridian orbits in a positive direction, and gives us a deeper understanding of our inner workings, so we learn to self-regulate more efficiently. We can embody the qualities and feelings that we find, using mindful movement to embrace what we encounter in these elemental practices, creating a more intimate relationship with ourselves and whats around us, moving through emotions and regenerating as needed.
Taoism believes that each of the five elements has the ability to draw us towards stronger emotions, behaviors (reaction/action – situation-led), tendencies (frequency of behaviour), attitudes (thoughts/feelings - experience-led), activities, moods, energies and overall health.
Embodiment practices
How do we learn to be fully aware of ourselves, to listen intently to the deep functionings and responses in our mind, the constant play between our mind and our body? How do we find balance and control, or reparation and tenderness? Simple rituals lead to sacred experiences, nurturing a peaceful and understanding relationship with our bodies, and our bodies speak through sensations and movements, not words.
Curiously notice what’s present, don’t explain it in language, hesitate to make meaning of what you hear, and rest into the sensuality of yourself. The coming back to one’s deeper natural self as an orienting principle, is always revolutionary. No one can give emotional goals... This is about noticing. Harmonise; fight off negativity, increase positivity, remove what is of no use, nurture what is. The process is more than poetic.
We are all growing, moving, developing organisms, interconnected with the microcosm and macrocosm of nature and the Universe.
Miz • @natarajayogauk
Miz’s classes are about connection, within and from the practitioner, embracing flow and the natural world through steady vibrational energy, finding a way to listen and notice and solely be there for guidance - “learning comes from inside each of us”. She has practiced and studied yoga for almost 20 years, qualifying in various aspects of the practice; Ashtanga, Vinyasa, Sequencing, Embodied Yin & Functional Yin, as well as Tantric Philosophy, Qigong, and Somatics & Restorative Practices. She is an RYT-500 and an embodiment coach.
