What does the body need? What's the antidote here?

middle-aged woman teaching yoga through a zoom class
Ann Maxwell teaching on zoom

I get to use these beautiful yogic maps. And so I'm always paying attention to how does my body feel, how does my energy feel, what is my mind saying and how are these three intermingling the body, the breath, the mind. And I think when those three layers of me are more congruent then I can actually have more piercing through to more of my wisdom or my sense of knowing or my sense of faith. And so I use it on a daily basis. 

If I feel a little off in my body, I just stop and do a little yoga practice or I get moving. I just figure out, "What does the body need? What's the antidote here?" If I've been sitting too long then I need to move. If I've been moving too long, maybe I need to sit, maybe I need a different environment for a while. So I've been using those tools endlessly and it's served me really, really well. And of course when I notice my breath is short and shallow, then I notice my mind feels more fearful and then my body starts to get constricted so having these tools have totally helped me be able to make instantaneous calculations to the next moment and go, "Oh, no, just need to shift this and get back to more steady balance." 

Ann Maxwell  

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