;Having been a student and a presenter of yoga for the last 20 years what I for many years experienced myself and commonly see in others is that there are key elements that can get in the way of the simplicity of being at-one with the body.
 
Patanjali in his presentation of the Yoga Sutras recognises that we are already complete, that we are already whole, that in our essence there is nothing wrong with us and the practice is not about getting somewhere or achieving something. It is a re-turn to what already lays within, our inner-most being and it is this place that is never tarnished or scarred. This, our inner-beauty is accessible to all and it is not personal but is universal and belongs equally to us all.
 
However, what I experienced for myself and see in so many aspirant yogis today, is a movement that is outwards, rather than an inward movement towards their inner-most. There is an emphasis in what is so often presented in modern-day yoga towards achieving certain postures (asanas), breathing (pranayama) and even through mantra (sound) and meditation.
 
The energy that so often lies behind the way a person practices is that of having to get somewhere and achieve an end result, whether that be a more advanced posture or even a certain breathing ratio. The underlying feeling that I have seen time and time again over the years is that there is a gravitation towards yoga to make one self ‘feel better’. And too often, that is what a yoga class will deliver. You feel ‘better’ at the end of the class or practice and there is a momentary feeling of relief from the tensions of life.
 
However, this is mostly not long-lasting and the stress soon again rears its head not too long after the class and in truth nothing has really changed. Therefore, we crave to get on the mat once again to find that inner-peace that we felt for a few moments. The cycle can continue and before we know it, our yoga practice has become a backbone for getting by and ‘feeling good’ about ourselves. I would go as far to say that for many it becomes an addiction, an addiction to escape what it is that we are truly feeling. This was my experience of yoga for many years.
 
I loved my practice, I loved my yoga and I couldn’t imagine a day without practicing. I had a practice for when I felt tired to give me more energy. I had a practice for when I was anxious or wound up to calm me down. I had a myriad of tools that I could string together to give me the exact results that I was after, which was to ‘feel better’ than where I was at. I was mastered at this and the yoga practice became my crutch in life.
 
However, after practicing yoga in this way for close to ten years and teaching for many of those, a diagnosis of breast cancer at the age of 33 led me to ask the question; 'Have the years of practice led me any closer to an at-one-ment with what yoga really is?' 
 
The diagnosis of cancer brought an honesty to my body that I hadn’t arrived at before. I soon realised that the constant drive to ‘feel better’ through my practice had in truth kept at bay all that was there within that I had not been willing to look at or to feel. It had kept at arms-length the anger, the grief, the sadness that was all sitting there within my body. Because whenever those feelings came up for me, rather than let myself be with what I was feeling, I judged those feelings, turned to yoga and immersed myself within the postures, breathing and meditation seeking relief. Relief from those feelings that I did not want to feel.
 
From the yoga, those feelings would soon disappear and I would feel ‘better’. Yet this was only momentary until they would be triggered and only to arise yet again. And so the cycle would continue and yoga became my ‘go to’. In a moment when we may feel down or upset, some people ‘go to’ alcohol or food to feel better. I went to yoga.
 
I never allowed myself to truly connect to my body and feel what was really going on for me. My practice of yoga was mainly activated from a thought process rather than a deep connection to my body.
 
The movement of the postures kept me in a momentum, in a movement of seeking and achieving. The breathing, although you could argue on a physiological level often calmed me down, hadn’t in fact addressed what was really going on within my body. I didn’t allow myself to connect to and feel the hurts that were there. The yoga practice in turn buried the issues that I had further into my body and it wasn’t until the diagnosis of breast cancer that I questioned if what I had been doing for all of those years in fact had got me any closer to the true purpose of yoga, that is being at-one with the soul.
 
A diagnosis of breast cancer would suggest there was more to learn.
 
The yoga that I had been practicing looked great on the outside and ticked all of the boxes. I had a strong and flexible physical body, I was able to breathe fancy ratios and I looked like I had it all together. However, in truth this was not the case. On the inside I had still not dealt with the hurts that were lying just beneath the surface ready to rear their head to be healed, but the practices I had been doing kept them at bay. My body had hardened up (under the guise of it being strong), it didn’t hold the qualities of a tenderness that I innately am as a woman. It was not truly open (although I thought I was) and in all honestly, I was under the illusion that I was a picture of health. So, you can imagine a diagnosis of breast cancer came as quite a shock.
 
On the inside I hadn’t dealt with all that was needed to heal in order for me to reconnect to the qualities of my soul – love, harmony, stillness, truth and joy. Those qualities cannot truly be felt or be connected to unless we have first of all dealt with that which gets in the way.
 
And this is what the practice of yoga is and has always has been about. Reconnecting to the qualities of the soul, a re-turn to our innate state. It is not about achievement and it never was. However, the way we practice yoga today there is often so much emphasis on just this. We dress it up with all of the right words, we talk the language, yet there is no embodiment of the true qualities that lead to union. What this does is keeps us on the merry-go-round of thinking we are getting somewhere, when in fact, we are not.
 
In truth there is no-where to get to, only an inner surrender to what is already there. It is a peeling back of the ‘what is not’, in order for us to re-connect to the ‘what is’.
 
A year or so after my diagnosis of breast cancer I came across Esoteric Yoga, The Yoga of Stillness, and it is this practice that has supported me to realise that yoga in its truth is a way of living that is in union with our soul. Therefore, every movement as we go about our daily life are the postures of yoga (asanas). The practice of yoga asks us to be in a forever deepening relationship with our body in a very loving, nurturing and gentle way. The practice calls us to hold a presence in and with our body and being together in all that we do. And it is through this way of living that we eventually come to know the truth of who we are, from our inner-most which is what yoga has always been about.
 
 
Donna explores this topic in great detail in her recently released book, Breathing My Own Breath which is personal memoir of her journey with yoga and breast cancer.

Written by Donna Nolan
​Photo by Clayton Lloyd

Yes it’s that time of the year again where the busy get even busier. With presents to buy & wrap, food to prepare, parties to attend, houses to prepare, travel to relatives…all on top of our already busy lives, it’s no wonder many get stressed at Christmas. 

I used to partake in all of this until I made the decision to keep the festive season simple. I stopped playing the "human doing" and started living life more as the "human being". What does this mean you may be asking? I started considering how I felt in all of these scenarios and how my body was responding. I started bringing more presence (my being) into everything that I chose to do. I basically brought in a level of care for myself that was at least equal to the care that I was bringing to others.
 
I realised that I was very similar to other women in that we are very good at attending and looking after others, and putting ourselves last. But it actually makes no sense to do this, and on top of that I realised I was role modelling a way for others that was not sustainable and lacked the self-care and love that I equally deserved.
 
This excessive pace that I was living in was actually hurting my body and exhausting me. I did some research and realised that we are literally made up of about 45,000 chakras (energy centres) that allow energy to pass in and through us all the time and so it made sense to understand more about the energy passing in and through our bodies and how this is affecting our health and vitality. So I started paying attention to my daily choices and the quality of energy I was in; such as how my body felt when I was feeling steady and harmonious and how it felt when I wasn’t (i.e. if I was stressed, rushing etc.). And in its simplicity, what I came to understand was that my daily choices were having quite a big impact on my body and how I felt. I could feel great when I made choices that included my own self-care, or I could feel awful when I made reckless and disregarding choices. And so this made me realise the responsibility that I have moment to moment and day by day.
 
It gave me more understanding of what the great philosophers like Pythagoras, Plato & Einstein have been saying for eons…that ‘everything is energy’. And to expand on this the great Philosopher of today, Serge Benhayon has added, that ‘everything is because of energy’. Because if everything is energy first, and everything is because of energy, it makes sense to start paying attention to the energetic quality of my choices and the impact it may be having in my body.
 
In essence my research (both in reading and the experience of my body) led me to understand that if vibrant health and vitality is something I valued, then it was important to maintain energetic integrity in my body. I simply could not escape the energetic choices I was making. It was pretty cool to understand this as I felt a sense of empowerment to be able to choose how I felt on any day.
 
So with the festive season looming, taking loving care of yourself and making choices to self-care is a great energetic support for your body. This includes not taking on the emotion of others, the imposition of others, or choosing to do things you don’t want to do, otherwise we well and truly absorb energies that don’t feel great in the body. So this Christmas choose wisely the thoughts that you ingest, the conversations you partake in, the parties you may or may not choose to go to, the food/drink you choose to ingest. It is all having an energetic, and thus physical impact on your body.
Giving ourselves permission to acknowledge and trust what we feel in our body, and not override or dismiss what we feel, supports us to re-connect to the deep well of wisdom that is within us all. So enrich yourself this Christmas (and every day after) by listening to the energetic wisdom that your body is sharing with you – a most beautiful and precious gift to appreciate.

Author: Marika Cominos
Photo: Dean Whitling Photography

As women we seem to be constantly re-inventing ourselves. New hairstyles, make-up or clothes can be our first ‘go-to’ in an attempt to feel like a ‘new woman’. But when we eventually find that retail therapy doesn’t take away that feeling that something is missing in our lives, we can then look to change our job, partner or where and how we live, rather than look within ourselves.  We buy into the idea that these changes will be the ‘magic bullet’ that will fix everything and offer us the chance to start afresh and reclaim that ‘missing’ feeling.

But while we can tick all these boxes and more to make it look like we have created a clean slate with a fresh new ‘me’, the one thing that actually needs the new beginning, or new approach, remains neglected; and that is our relationship with ourselves.
 
Esoteric Yoga offers the opportunity to return to the innate knowing of who you are and what is true for you from the wisdom of the body, free from all the lies and fairy tales that society has told us about what, who and how girls and women need or should be. By simply choosing to stop, bring your focus within your body and allow yourself to settle, you can get to know yourself free of the demands of life. You can re-discover that you are a unique and beautiful woman. You are not the person you have been told you are by your family, friends, and society. Ironically, you can also find that the things you were told were ‘not ok’ or were ‘too much’ are in fact your greatest strengths. These are some of the many gifts of Esoteric Yoga, which has an ongoing ripple effect and offers endless new beginnings in every aspect of your life.
 
Women are designed to relate to life through knowing their body. Through feeling and sensing everything that happens within and around us, we return to the naturalness of being in and with our body, we get to feel the strength, wisdom and honesty of its voice. Our body will always be honest when we take a wrong turn in life, lured by the distractions and rewards of the many roles we can take on; the woman at work, the woman in family, the woman in relationships. The body will never tell you that you are not enough. It will never tell you that you need to do, have, or be something to feel complete. Instead the body offers a ‘new’ relationship with ourselves. An opportunity to fall in love with who we actually are, free of the corruption of all that we have been told we should be.
 
It’s no wonder we feel something is missing when we are not being ourselves. Returning to having an unfolding and ongoing relationship with our body allows us to love and appreciate who we actually are. We can then use this relationship with ourselves to guide us on how to move, how to dress, how to approach and be at work and how to be love in life. The beauty of a relationship like this, with ourselves, is that it has no end, and whilst it feels like a new beginning, it is actually a return to what is known and precious within us all.

Author: Fiona Lotherington
Photographer: Leonne Barker

Have you ever observed or registered that when we are present and loving with ourselves it is natural to feel open and loving towards others?
 
The quality of every relationship we have is in fact based on the quality of love we have built within us first. It provides the foundation for all else that follows.
 
It starts with allowing ourselves to feel, to connect and to be consciously present with the body and all it shares.

When we feel we have been hurt or if we are judgemental and ill at ease, there is a ‘picture’ we create, either from the past or ahead of us, a thought or belief that we give energy and focus to. At these times we are not with ourselves….
 
We could ask the question, What quality are we bringing to all our relationships either directly or indirectly when we hold the hurt, the judgement and these beliefs. Do we ‘lose ourselves?’ Of course we never really lose ourselves, but we can wander off in the mind and lose connection with our bodies, leaving ourselves open to any old story that will keep us distracted. Distracted from being present and loving with ourselves and our relationships.
 
Are we sending out signals that we are not worth loving, and are we then truly open to letting others in… and loving us?
 
There is much to explore when we listen to our bodies. Esoteric Yoga provides an opportunity to develop this relationship in a deeper way.
 
In opening up to ourselves and being willing to share with others we see we are more the same than we are different. A clear reflection serves to remind us of the grandness we are from, and that we all have our angle to reflect.
 
There is purpose to being transparent with one another, developing our relationships and supporting each other to be the truest versions of US…and it starts with deepening the loving relationship we have with ourselves.

Author: Victoria Picone
Photographer: Vicky Geary

When it comes to “wellbeing” coming back to our bodies and to the “being” within us which, like an orchestra directs the body, is key. Getting used to stopping for a moment to ask ourselves - what is my quality like right now and given this what do I choose next?
 
It’s the quality inside us, our inner quality, rather like water inside a water bottle that is the communicator of how we are, or, our state of being.

If we can relate to there being a quality inside us then we might also equate how this inner quality gives us a sense of our own settlement, of feeling ok in life. Thus the quality of the being inside us is what determines how well, vital and healthy we feel, our levels of confidence, presence and overall attitude to life, work, family and relationships. And so greater than perhaps hitting the yoga studio, increasing our step count, having massages, facials and so on, well-being really is about living a lifestyle that supports the being inside us.
 
Our being is naturally still, aligned within and ‘being still’ we can observe rather than speedily react with hasty emotions from finding ourselves that “fraction out”. It’s about no longer opting out but opting in: Opting back in to living that original quality of us we’ve been steering well clear of – stillness. It’s about us re-committing to what needs to be committed to: ourselves and every single aspect of our life, work, rest and play.
 
What is well-being?
 
▪ Wellbeing becomes a way of living and working that supports great care of the physical body and how we treat it
▪ That through our body we learn about ourselves, our feelings, and how we are relating to define how we relate to others too
▪ It’s about learning to react less and be less emotional because when we’re less emotion-driven we are steadier and more confident
▪ It’s about being aware of and dealing with what may upset, irritate or hurt us
▪ It’s about understanding. An understanding that becomes a personal and life-long study where we afford ourselves the time to stop and the space to feel how we feel
 
Well-being is the palpable sense of settlement in the body
 
When we make it about re-connecting to our whole body and the awareness of what we are feeling inside our body and from this make active choices that support the inner being we learn to live “together as one”. We get to feel a sense of wellbeing that grows the more we choose to live in reference to our original inner quality – our stillness.
 
 Author: Zofia Sharman

More and more studies are published which show that the proportion of people who don’t sleep well is on the rise. According to a 2017 study by DAK, one of the largest German health insurance companies, 80% of all employees have occasional sleeping problems. Sleeping disorders for employees between 35 and 65 years have increased by 66% since 2010. 1 in 10 employees suffer from insomnia, an increase of 60% since 2010. Similar studies are published in other countries.

I was one of these people. As a child I woke up at every noise and could not fall back to sleep for hours. This was exacerbated when I got older and peaked when I worked as an investment banker in the City of London. With the extreme working hours and frequent airplane trips, it would take me a long time to fall asleep. Or I was so exhausted that I fell asleep immediately, but then woke up between 2am and 4am laying awake for hours until I eventually managed to go back to sleep. I remember well this feeling of helplessness at night. I had little time available to sleep and then I was not able to sleep in the time I had.

I tried everything, from literally “counting sheep”, to staring at a candle, but to no avail, nothing helped. I was desperate in these early morning hours, worried I wouldn’t be able to cope with the day ahead. I even decided to pretend to sleep in an attempt to reduce the mental stress of not being able to sleep, but this did not always work and it is certainly not comparable with deep rejuvenating sleep.

This all changed when I came across Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine. With Universal Medicine therapies, in particular Esoteric Yoga and the Gentle Breath Meditation, I learned to reconnect to my body. I was once a Master of ignoring my body. My body was just a means to an end enabling me to reach whatever goal I wanted to achieve. But now I understand that my body has an unimaginable and wise intelligence. When I am deeply connected with my body I can feel that I am part of a universal wisdom that is very grand and expansive.

Step by step I learned to feel my body throughout the day, not only in the evenings when I finally allowed myself to stop and go to bed. I now understand that the way I live during the day affects my sleep at night. I made thorough re-evaluations and many loving adjustments in my life, like making brief stops throughout the day to check that I was still present and with my body, rather than pushing through ceaselessly. I also started to eat nourishing foods rather than fill myself up with whatever was available.

I managed to return to a simplicity that was in stark contrast to my complex life. Now I just do whatever I need to do, without fretting that this might not be enough or wanting everything to be different. I realised that my exhaustion and mental unrest was not a result of working too much, but instead the quality with which I was working and living in. Once I began listening to the wisdom of my body and stopped pushing through life from my head, I started to reconnect with a natural flow that felt very beautiful, did not deplete me and most interestingly, I was able to get much more done in my day.

This return to my body has given me an incredible settlement that I have never experienced before in my life. Sleeping is no longer a problem. Now I fall asleep instantly and either sleep straight through or I wake up, turn over, and go right back to sleep. I can even sleep sitting up in a train or airplane, something which I would have never imagined possible in my wildest dreams!

I cannot value enough that I was able to return to this simplicity in my life: I feel my body, and my body is tired, I give myself the permission to sleep and then I just fall asleep.

Author: Anke Parr

On September 16, the Super Typhoon Mangkhut slammed Hong Kong—affecting the Philippines, Hong Kong and Macau, the typhoon signal 10 was hoisted for more than 10 hours.
 
We don’t usually relate Yoga to Super Typhoons. However when my physical safety was being threatened by one of the strongest Typhoons Hong Kong had experienced in many years it was the safety, steadiness and care that I felt within that became most evident. During the Typhoon I reflected upon how I have been learning that real safety and the ability to embrace and be open to  situations is experienced from within.

Since starting Esoteric Yoga only 3 months ago, I have observed significant changes in my life.  I have started to commit to my life like I have never committed before. Commitment has changed from just getting things done to a commitment to a quality and way of living that takes into consideration so much more. It almost felt like I started to become aware of how long it had been since I had committed to this way of living. So naturally you can imagine the situation would not be calm and perfect.  Every day involved more commitment to different areas of my life such as work, communication and relationships, and the truth was I was being inspired by it.  It felt like a whole new perspective towards life that I have not yet given myself permission to explore.
 
I have been working like crazy, it was almost a scare to look at my calendar. Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining as I love working, but work is not the same anymore. Work had always been about doing what I was good at and getting paid. It was easy to become comfortable and not challenge myself or grow. I started to see the purpose of work as an opportunity to listen to and respond from what I was feeling. When I would sense unloving situations at work I would commit deeper to being honest and expressing. As you can imagine, I cannot avoid my work – it pays my bills and buys my groceries. So I am learning on a day to day basis how to connect with the people I work with and express honestly without judgment towards myself or others. I needed the absolute support of my body in this, which is what I was learning in Esoteric Yoga. I needed to be as present as possible so that I didn’t ignore or discount what I was feeling.
 
I started to allow myself to be open to experience working situations that I have barred myself from in the past. These were the ones that took me out of my comfort zone. In doing so I have been invited to work in different places outside of Hong Kong. The hours are long and the pay is sometimes low, but the value is now in the purpose and quality that I can bring to my work. This helped me see that before this everything was measured under the ruler of money. The amount of work expected and the stress that this can place on the body is a lot, but I accepted these jobs. I accepted them not because of the money or because I wanted to put myself under stress, far from it.
 
I wanted to explore if there was a way to do such jobs with care for myself, without perfection.
 
So in every situation where I felt the communication or arrangement between us as a team was not of respect, I would express and share another viewpoint.  The purpose was always to come back to working as a team, and a focus on us as people.  These situations always offered me the deepening of living with more respect for myself and with others. This I found was super supportive and a win-win for everyone, so that inspired me to keep going.
 
I was preparing for a third back to back trip for work. However I could feel it would be too much, my whole body felt it and said stop. Esoteric Yoga has helped me be honest with how I am feeling. I suggested for the trip be changed to a later date, without any expectations. The trip however, remained booked and I was committed to the project and to take care of myself as best as possible under the circumstances. Then the email came from my client saying that despite the commitment towards the project, safety is number one and that due to the Typhoon this project would be postponed to next year. Part of me could feel that there was a push for this project to work and the travel at this time, even before the Typhoon became news so upon hearing this change of events everything fell into a deep settlement at that moment.
 
Every particle in my body was already in appreciation to the impending typhoon. I was welcoming it. So on the day when Typhoon Mangkhut hit, whatever happened, I was already in appreciation of the huge pause it brought. Something as unnerving and shocking as being inside my home while a window was blown away was being supported immensely by the appreciation and stillness I could feel within me. We were still able to laugh in the midst of all this shock, and as a family we moved quickly to take care of our safety. 
 
Through what I had been learning through my Esoteric Yoga classes I was aware of all the care and space that I deserve and I should set up for myself, but at the same time I had to be very realistic to everything that is happening around – the typhoon was a great example of this. Around evening time the Typhoon had been with us most of the day so I did a recorded Esoteric Yoga class. Sometimes I do these classes in a shared space with others—my partner may be on the couch or nearby or my dog would snuggle close.  Nothing is perfect. It’s not because I do not care about my space rather, everything is felt and noticed and observed with grace.
 
This is my living experience with Esoteric Yoga on a typhoon day, it is poignantly a micro version of life and livingness—that nothing is ever perfect but every movement can be expressed and observed with grace.  This is very real.

Author: Adele Leung

Having a commitment to listen to the honesty of the body and honouring what is felt is a very beautiful and nourishing way to live. We are constantly receiving messages from our body that are offering us to return to harmony, for this is what is innately known to be true.
 
Esoteric Yoga - The Yoga of Stillness, allows us to explore the relationship and awareness that we have with our body and the mind. There is a difference between allowing the body to lead the way or allowing the mind to lead the way. When the two come together in union – body and mind, we have a synergy that has the potential to truly serve our whole being.

When we realize that nothing is an accident or random and that everything that is unfolding in our body is happening for a reason, then we can be open to a self-enquiry. This can bring more understanding and true healing as we start to connect the dots of how we are choosing to live and how it impacts our body.
 
For example…

• When your stomach bloats? Why is that happening?
• When you feel a tightness in your body – why is this and why in that area of the body?

 
If we make a commitment to our own self-enquiry and not brush off what we are feeling and noticing, then we can take this deeper level of honesty to get to a deeper understanding about what is going on in our body. It is from this commitment to ourselves, and our wellbeing that we will then most likely take responsibility and make the changes needed in order to take better care of ourselves.
 
The key is to bring more trust with what the body is sharing and not judge what is there to feel. If we don’t have that judgment then we can just be with whatever is there to feel, with a loving acceptance to allow things to be as they are in each moment. Judgment is often what gets in the way of allowing oneself to feel the deeper levels of honesty in the body.
 
Being open to receiving the wisdom from your body (as opposed to the mind) is deeply supportive. It can be as simple as noticing what areas of your body feel tight or hold tension or appreciating areas that are open and surrendered. We can clock where our body is at without judgment or attachment, and bring an honesty so that we can get to true healing.
 
To bring a practicality to this discussion, lets look at two common areas of our life where we can override the body with the mind. When we bring a focus to something our awareness increases. So lets bring a focus to exercise and sleep, two topics that many can relate to.
 
Exercise

There are so many ideals and beliefs about exercise that we are fed: How to exercise, how long to exercise. I was very much caught in the belief that I needed to do a minimum amount of exercise each day to manage my weight and body image. If you stay fixed on the beliefs that the fitness industry feeds you, then you are not going to be listening to your body because you are focused on reaching the goal you have set yourself.
 
For example lets say you have set yourself a goal to walk on the treadmill for 45mins each day, but at the 20 or 30 minutes mark your body says that’s enough, but in your mind you need to go to 45mins so you push yourself and justify in your mind why that’s okay. This is a classic example of not listening to your body and allowing it to lead the way. It was the belief that I would get fat if I didn’t walk for 45mins that kept me in the cycle of not listening or honouring my body.
 
Ironically when I eventually braved to let the belief go and listen to how long my body felt to walk each day, I actually lost weight! When we are fed beliefs that we say yes to they grab us and take us away from the absolute wisdom that the body is delivering to us every moment of every day.
 
When we do choose to listen to the body and honour it, the positive experience of how we feel in the body is confirmation that we are honouring our innate wisdom. For example, lets say you go for a walk and you set out to walk for 45mins, but at the 30min mark you can feel that’s enough and then you feel in your day how honouring that was for you and you didn’t feel depleted, that’s where it is really beautiful to observe and confirm in your body that you are tuning into what’s true for you on any one day. So it’s not staying fixed to these things we are being fed that we may have thought were true. Nothing is more true than the messages your body is sharing with you, which is different from person to person and why we cannot compare. We need to read things for ourselves, and whilst it may be that what we feel is similar to another, everyone is on their own journey of what is unfolding in their body.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
 Sleep
 
A good nights sleep is so key to our well-being and yet so many suffer from poor quality sleep. One of the contributing factors to poor quality sleep is not listening to when the body is tired. When we push through to stay up later than we should and thus override the messages from our body to go to bed, our body goes into a disregard.
 
I want you to try 2 things:
 
1/ Clock how your body feels the next morning when you push through to do that extra task the night before or stay up late to watch a movie, despite the messages from your body telling you to go to sleep
 
2/ Clock how your body feels the next morning when you honour your body, give yourself space to wind down towards bedtime, and go to sleep when your body is tired and ready
 
My experience has shown me that when I push through, even if it’s only for five minutes,no matter how many hours sleep I have I am not as rested or rejuvenated the next morning compared to when I choose to honour my body like scenario 2 above. It is quite a substantial difference to the quality of my sleep and thus the energy I have when I wake, most likely compromised because I am going to sleep with a body that has pushed through, more stimulated and thus not settled . This is just one of the many things we could look at that affects the quality of our sleep.
 
The choice is ours to make – to override the body or listen to the wisdom that our body is sharing. Our body is precious, wise and something to be deeply appreciated. When we realize that the body is the boss, we also realize that how we feel is very much in our own hands.
 
 
 Author: Marika Cominos

What is love? It is a question that has been asked for eons.
 
Have you ever experienced a moment when you have been met by someone who has been totally present with you? They see you for who you are, they see your beautiful, adorable qualities. They see your absolute potential and hold you in that.
 
This indeed is a beautiful feeling. We know love and we know when we feel it.

Then imagine meeting yourself in this very same way. Being totally present with you, seeing all of your own incredible qualities and enjoying being with all of that. How often do we actually take a moment to fully see ourselves like this? How often do we value those moments to stop and be, knowing that all those things we do, or keep ourselves busy with become empty if we aren’t valuing who we are first.
 
S E L F – L O V E
 
What then happens when we add the word SELF to the word LOVE? Is it . . . .
 
Selfish?
Self-obsessed?
Self-absorbed?
 
Self-love is meeting ourselves, totally being present with ourselves. It’s a body and mind thing. When we keep our presence with our body, keeping our mind together and focused on what we are doing, we get to become aware of so much more. We get to feel how delicate we are, how sensitive we are and how much we are feeling. In that state of presence we know how to take care of ourselves to the nth degree – a level of care that leaves us feeling very aware, present, open, still, joyful and ready for anything.
 
Our body very quickly tells us when we step away from the way it is designed to be treated. It knows love inside and out. The question is, are we present enough to listen and act on what we have received?
 
Esoteric Yoga is a sequence of movements designed specifically for us to explore being present with ourselves again. We observe the effects of a restless mind, its endless distractions, lies and stories that it feeds and very cleverly convinces us of. We learn how to settle the body and the mind through focus, presence and a level of connection with our body. We come to understand that we have a body and a being, an energetic state of being that is equally important to know and take care of. We learn how to look after this incredible body of ours in a way that is self-loving.
 
Whenever we are met by someone who has been totally present with us, what we are feeling is the way they are with themselves. For how we are with others is only ever a reflection of the care and love we have for ourselves. How could that ever be called selfish? That’s what I would describe as inspiring!


Author: Vicky Geary
Photographer: Dean Whitling