Elements mindfulness exercise
During the mindfulness exercise, I was reminded of a moment recently when I took myself to a park during a stressful time and noticed my breath, the wind, and the sound of water. Sharing this practice with the group showed me that they saw the prison garden in another light, they were able to connect with similar calming sensations and notice more than they had before. It reinforced the importance of both practicing and sharing mindfulness.
Trauma Informed Facilitation
The trauma‑informed modules brought up early memories - some were my own experiences but other were things I had witnessed and pin-point that early empathy that I gained. It showed me how trauma can surface in unexpected ways as I felt sensations in the body when thinking about the trauma that I had also experienced as a child.
During chair practice I became more aware of how I arrived in practice, feeling unsettled and not ready to sit at first. Jen helped me recognise that the body and mind don’t always align, and that this is part of the process. I’m becoming more attuned to the cues and stress responses of others as well, and learning to trust that understanding often comes in time through my own understanding or through the TIY sessions and modules. Feeling very grateful for this 🙂
I really appreciated the folks who participated in the live breakout rooms this week. It was nice to be able to listen to others thoughts on the breakout topics. A few things that stood out to me for this learning. The practice of Ahimsa. I am so excited about this learning and being able to apply this to my daily life. I recently attended a yoga class "traditional hot" which is alot of balancing and during this class I felt so frustrated with myself that the automatic negative thoughts were occuring. Then the universe sent me a message. My yoga teacher actually mentioned Ahimsa and in that moment I took a deep breath and offered myself LOVE and deconstructed the negative thought. I was then able to reflect on this and share this learning with my friends. Everything starts with the self is something that was brought up in this session and I couldn't belive this to be more true. I know when I am not honouring what I need I show up agitated and impatient with disruptions of my routine. Practicing Ahimsa both on and off the mat can allow us to show up for ourselves and others with a more compassionate lens. I am so thankful for the learning this week and being able to deep dive into my own emotional and physical range of motion. We can't help others until we help ourselves. This leads me into the discusssion into the breakout room. I enjoyed hearing my classmates perspectives in the barriers to practicing Ahimsa. I thought about this alot and I belive that I am my own biggest barrier. I find I get in my own way often. My takeaway from this week: wait, pause, respond vs react, reflect, restore, TRY AGAIN <3