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Hi! I'm Lou. I share yogic mindset & tools to take you from burned out to lit up 🔥

🐚 The true meaning of Yoga

Published about 2 years ago • 2 min read

Hello my friend,

Thanks for tuning into my monthly brain spill. 🧠 I took my time in writing this as I decided to turn this space into a curated top picks of things I’ve been enjoying / doing this past month (a format inspired by one of my teachers Katie Rose).

It's a little longer but I hope you enjoy this window into my life & just pick out whatever resonates ;)


Lately I’ve been…

🤔 Reflecting on the meaning of “Yoga” (I know, a BIG ONE)
I was invited to teach a Foundations course for first time yogis, so naturally you want to start at the beginning!

Did you know? Yoga is a Sanskrit term that comes from the root “yug”, which means “to yoke” or union. It's the practice of realising the inherent unity that binds all of life together.

The aim here is to connect our small sense of self to a wider consciousness, or as Donna Farhi poetically puts it “to expand into the larger ground of existence”.

If this all sounds a bit out there, rest assured: this is above all a practical method which is available to anyone.

What I love is it doesn’t ask you to blindly buy into an idea, but rather invites you to experience this state for yourself.


🎧 Listening to talks by Alan Watts... I’m hooked!

The man was a terrific thinker and his speeches are both lucid and highly entertaining. He deeply contributed to introducing Eastern wisdom to Western minds during the counterculture years.

I recommend his long talks, but here’s a short sweet video about that very nature of oneness delivered in Watts' distinctive style. 🐚

“What you do is what the whole universe is doing at the place you call here and now. You are something the whole universe is doing in the same way that a wave is something the whole ocean is doing.” - Alan Watts

📚 Reading books about Trees and Consciousness

Fascinating, and incidentally, the two topics totally overlapped!

In The Overstory, a novel by Richard Powers, human lives unfold on the backdrop of the ancient, slow, & hidden world of trees, which turn out to be much more adaptive and interconnected than we might suspect. This book gave me a fresh sense of wonder at the intelligence that permeates nature (& a 💔 for our treatment of it).

This was compounded by reading Consciousness by Annaka Harris, a short guide into why & how we happen to be conscious. It offers mind-bending scientific and philosophical findings on this utter mystery which we (totally unconsciously) take for granted.


😴 Practicing daily Restorative Yoga

I know most of us think that carving out 20min in our day to lie down and be still is pure fantasy.

And I probably wouldn’t have allowed it for myself if it wasn’t required for my training...

But once I started I couldn’t stop.

Most of us run on a big energetic deficit without even noticing. Restorative yoga is the best way I know to fill up the tank.

🥰 If you’d like to try, I’m offering for a limited time 1h private sessions at half price ($30) either in person or online.

You can also check out this video where I lead you into a blissful Savasana and Yoga Nidra.


💪 Teaching about how to engage the “core”

As the name suggests, this is a pretty central skill to have, both for a safe asana practice as well as good posture (no back pain).

A common misconception is that the core = only abs when it also includes muscles of the back and hips... It’s a whole package!

I shared a series of exercises to strenghten the core and spine from a lying down position. This is Part 1 so stay tuned for more!

Lou sitting down making a face and fists to show how strong her core is

If you find any of this useful, please do share / comment / save and let me know what else you'd like to see from me ✌️

With hopes for global peace & love 🌺
Lou

Hi! I'm Lou. I share yogic mindset & tools to take you from burned out to lit up 🔥

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