Yoga for Post Pandemic Recovery

[Lisa Walford]

Hi everyone. Next weekend I am honored to teach alongside Joan Hyman, Annie Carpinter, Marla Apt and Christina Holopainen an intensive that includes unraveling the Koshas, Yoga to build a healthy immune system, Pranayama for grief and loss and my section on living with chronic illness. 

https://urbanashramyoga.com/postpandemic-recovery

For this session I interpret "chronic illness" as the malaise that most, if not all of us feel as we awaken to what our world is becoming. The aftermath of the pandemic has left many with physical (long Covid) and mental scars that will take years to heal. Yoga and the community that we share can support us all through the unraveling of of our tomorrows. I hope you can join. check out the link.   

I Buddhism the third noble truth is to recognize that we have agency over how we relate to the inevitable suffering (the first noble truth) that is inherent in growth, change, dis-ease, decay and all the uncontrollable nuances life presents. As we emerge from the pandemic all of us carry deep within the scar tissue of systemic change, whether that is on a personal level of health or in cultural shifts in values, policies and priorities. Change is hard. Sometimes it seems like we harden to new possibilities; and that shedding old ideas of how things should be in our world just makes us run to pull the blanket over our eyes.

 

Chronic illness can be on a physical level, like long Covid, fibromyalgia, diabetes or hypertension. Deep seated fear of change or loss can cause us to retreat into a shell, shun friends, and close doors to new horizons. Anis Nin said: “And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud became more painful than the risk it took to blossom.”

 

To recognize how we all face challenges on small and monumental levels and that we can cultivate an inner resilience to adapt to change is YOGA. To recognize that while we exist in the ever changing moment we also breath with the small inner voice that can kindle and light the flame to illume our next moment with inspiration. This is also YOGA.