Do What Feels Good

"Think thoughts that make you happy. Do things that make you feel good. Be with people that make you feel good. Eat things that make your body feel good. Go at a pace that makes you feel good." Louise Hay

This is something that you often hear me say in my classes Well maybe not quite the quote but the sentiment I am always encouraging class members to do what feels good. So I thought I would share this quote for two reason.

One - In a class do you pay attention and do what feels good?

This is quite hard to do. In class our heads are often full of I should do this or I should do that, very often we are stuck in a mind set of I should push myself, I should feel pain, I should feel a deep stretch, I should look like everyone else. Without paying attention to what feels appropriate. Very often feeling a certain amount of sensation in what we are doing in the class is appropriate for the exercise, and that sensation should be appropriate for where are body is at on that particular day. But unconsciously thoughts of I should or I need can cloud our judgement and we ignore what our bodies are actually telling us by believing it is doing us good. Part of the teachings of Yoga is learning to pay attention to these message and then take them on board and understand what to do with them.

Two - Do you take the the lessons from the mat into daily life?

Of course over time we can learn to tap into the subtle, or not so subtle, messages that the body is telling us and use that information to make a decision on how much effort to put into a class. But learning to take that in to the rest of our life is where the teachings of yoga starts to spill over into every day life. If we can learn to understand how to care for our bodies on the mat, then learning to understand to listen to our bodies and what our bodies are telling us off the mat too is a highly valuable lesson. But as the quote above suggests, it isn't just about what our body needs, but also learning to listen to what we need mentally, emotionally and energetically, and that can be even harder. But learning to listen, understand and apply is one of the biggest things we can do for ourselves to manage our self care. And when we can work with all of that then self care becomes a great way to keep ourselves happy, healthy and well.