Feb. 4, 2021 - When I first started doing yoga I really thought that if you are doing true yoga, you couldn’t get hurt…you know, because it’s yoga. Then, I started having friends of mine tell me they did things that hurt them in yoga, and my students would say we did something in class that hurt them, and I also got injured. Looking back on it, OF COURSE you can hurt doing yoga! It’s a physical exercise and doing it doesn’t make you somehow spiritually immune to injury.

Last night I read an article on the BBC entitled, “How Too Much Mindfulness Can Spike Anxiety.” And, it basically was saying the same thing, but for the mind. Sure, doing meditation practices and mindfulness practices can feel good for a lot of people, but it doesn’t necessarily mean all meditation or mindfulness practices will be healing for all minds 100% of the time. Just like how you can get injured doing yoga, it makes sense you can also “get injured” doing mediation or mindfulness practices. Everyone has things that make them feel good but other people don’t do those things because they don’t feel good for them. There is no absolute answer for everyone.

For mindfulness and meditation, just like yoga, there can be a feeling that you must be doing it wrong if it doesn’t calm the mind, reduce anxiety, change your life. When in fact, maybe the method you are doing isn’t right for you at this moment. It’s ok…try something else. Like walking, or hiking, or music, or cooking, or being with friends. If it’s not working, don’t do it. :-)

Today in class we move slower, taking care of ourselves along the way.