T is for Trust

In the flow of our lives it is necessary for us to trust. Ourselves, each other and our surroundings. In this blog I'll focus on self trust.

As babies we trust unquestionably, then as our brains mature, questions and doubts start developing. As we grow up we may encounter experiences where we feel that our bodies or minds have let us down, we may start replacing our felt senses (physical feeling to situations) with what the world tells us. If we don’t tune into ourselves the outer worlds voice is a lot louder! This isn't to say ‘don’t listen to others’ it’s to say have respect and courage to listen to yourself.

So how does yoga help you cultivate self trust? Starting with the physical, if you’ve experienced a serious or long term illness then yoga can meet you where you’re at & help you develop physical & mental strength to move and mingle through your day. It can help you connect & make friends with yourself. We may encounter asanas in yoga which are challenging, I hope that you do! It isn’t about being able to do the asana it’s about how you navigate physically and also mentally in the practice. You are facing a small challenge in a safe space where you can cultivate loving kindness & trust as well as strength.

To quote Jill Miller ‘Our body thinks in feels’ Fascia is a fibrous web that’s in every layer of you body including the endocrine system. It transmits hormones, including adrenaline & estrogen. It’s also involved with neurotransmitters such as GABA (which relaxes and helps us sleep) serotonin & dopamine. Gentle and mindful movement helps to keep the fascia fluid, keeping our minds and bodies centred. Being centred can help us make better decisions and trust the ‘craziest’ of them. Think of a time when you went with your intellect rather than your bodily felt decision and realised in hindsight that maybe the latter would have been better.

Yoga can take us to a place of calm so that with time we build confidence and trust to follow our bodies messages. When you can put your trust in being silent with your breath the rest just spirals on and you can choose the pace you want to flow with.