My classes this week are all designed to help you come in and down. Many of us are defaulting to fear and anticipating some drama in the near future. Worry takes us out of the present, into the future, and out of our bodies. I want to share some practices to get you back into your self, into your body and to reclaim your resilience.

If you want present-moment support, please come to my 5pm class tonight at BYC's Annex on Holly Street.

Register here:

https://www.bellinghamyogacollective.com/schedule

Prānāyāma can be a wonderful support for working with the subtle body, the nervous system and the ways these both influence the physical body. If your anxiety is very high, working with the breath this way could be more unsettling, so gauge your level of restlessness before trying the exercises below.

Coming back in to yourself is supported by grounding, settling, stabilizing. You may have heard these words zillions of times, but I encourage you to feel them right now. I say this because I noticed that I don't always do these practices that I teach and I am really benefitting from taking a few minutes to do them now, as the election approaches.

Many prānāyāma practices could be helpful, and I am going to offer Ujayi and Viloma exhalations. Ujayi is "The Victorious Breath" and when we use it to regain our center and claim our strength, this is truly a victory. 

To practice Ujayi for down-regulating the nervous system, recline over a bolster or a stack of folded blankets, supporting your head a little higher than your shoulders. Relax as best you can for several rounds of breath, observing your natural rhythm. If you're nervous it's likely that your breath starts off short and high in the chest. Closing your eyes might help you begin to rest more and more. Be gentle with yourself, reminding yourself, "I'm doing the best I can.".

Begin to breathe in through your nose and out your mouth. With the exhalation, pretend to fog a small mirror, keeping your throat relaxed, feeling the warmth of the breath as moves through your mouth. Notice that this is kind of like a sigh or a yawn, two signs of settling. Do this for 5-10 breaths, then try to continue with your mouth closed. It might feel like those times when you need to yawn but feel it would not be polite, so you can direct that exhalation through the roof of your mouth. Relax your jaw as you would in a yawn. Breathe this way and connect the outbreath with your body relaxing more and more. Stay present and focused, yet relaxed and kind.

Another prānāyāma you could try is Viloma, which means interrupting the breath. I also recommend reclining for this practice, though you could do either sitting if that's better for you.

Begin the same way, relaxing and observing your breath. Once you settle, take a normal breath in through your nose, then when you exhale, just let half the breath out and pause. Then release the rest of the breath and pause again. Inhale normally and if you need to take more normal breaths in between cycles, do that until you are settled again. When you're doing this prānāyāma, strive to match the amount of time spent exhaling in each phase with the amount of time pausing. You could count if that's helpful, something like "exhale half way, 2, 3, 4, hold 2, 3, 4, exhale the rest of the way, 2, 3, 4, hold 2, 3, 4. If counting riles you up, don't do it!

After any prānāyāma, take a Śavāsana, or resting pose for a few minutes. Move slowly when your practice is over and notice your awareness of yourself. Do you feel more sensitive? Calmer? More able to meet whatever is coming? If not, experiment with other practices.

For our study of the yoga sutras, I am skipping to sutra 1.11 for today, which explores the mind state called memory. (1.10 will come next time) Memory is similar to imagination (1.9) in that it can be used purposefully to benefit the present, whereas memories that come unbidden are often painful.

Our clever mind is just trying to be helpful in reminding us about terrible past events (for me, election 2016) and steer us away from repeating past pains. A small dose of this rememberance is all I need today. If I indulge in replaying that morning when I had to apologize to my daughters for saying that they would wake up to their first woman president, only to learn a truth that was so painful and confusing, my body, breath and mind are dragged into something of a paralysis, and I am no help to anyone.

This may be a time to compartmentalize our unnerving memories and exercise agency over such ruminations. Rather, we can use memory to recall feeling capable and competent to meet life just as it is, such as time when I realized that I had to leave a relationship that was not working. I found my way through, even though I had to cry and rage and wonder if I had made the right choice, I found stability again.

You might also play with journaling to explore memories that give you a sense of faith in yourself and your ability to go forward.