​Finding Stillness in a Shitstorm

Do you ever have those days where you feel like you’re dodging grenade after grenade? Perhaps you’re not even managing to dodge them – you’re getting fired at from all angles until you just want to stop the world and get off.
 
I had one of those days yesterday. Don’t get me wrong, there were the great bits (hello midday restorative class!) but in between it felt like nothing was going my way.
 
When this is happening, you might feel like there’s not a whole lot you can do about it, as it seemds to be purely down to external circumstances and other people. While this is true, the one thing you CAN control is how you react. It’s no coincidence that these dire scenarios all come along in one go; when we’re in a shitty mood, no one can do right by us.
 
During these times, you can work your way into a spiral of negativity and frustration seeing the bad in every situation that crosses your path, or alternatively, you can choose to take a different path. When we realise that how we perceive what is going on around us can hugely influence our thoughts and decision-making processes, we can begin to look for ways to change our perspective.
 
How?
 
Just move.
 
No it’s not a miracle answer; I don’t have any scientific studies to show you to back this up, all l I can say is that it works. In the simplest of terms, just roll out your mat.
 
It doesn’t have to be an hour, you don’t need to do countless sun salutations or even worry about breaking a sweat, simply move in a way that feels good for you. It’s not about the movements that you’re doing, but how you’re doing them. When something stressful is going on this can be all that circles through our mind so use the opportunity to give your head some breathing space. Take your focus to your breath instead. You might choose to count the length of inhales and exhales, or simply ensure there's a natural and free flow of air. 
 
Your mind will wander in and out of your practice, circling around the problem (or something else entirely…yesterday it was ‘mushrooms’ that kept popping into my head of all things!) but when this happens, just notice it, accept it and move back to the breath.
 
No time or space (or mat?!), no problem. It can be a metaphorical one. Just take a few minutes to give your mind a break. Find a quiet space if you can where you can sit comfortably. Place your hand on your tummy and concentrate on breathing in and out fully and slowly. Five minutes of conscious breathing can work wonders to transform your mindset.
 
When you're ready and don’t feel like you’re fighting the world anymore, come back to your day and I guarantee you won’t be in the same headspace. As I said, I can’t show you the proof of ‘how’ this works, just know that it does.
 
I get that this probably sounds nuts to some of you and if it’s too hippy trippy for you at the moment, that’s absolutely fine. But maybe next time you’re freaking out and about to snap like an elastic band, just give it a go and see for yourself.

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​Courtenay is the owner & director of Warrior & Wild & can mostly be found hanging around the studio, training in the gym or geeking out in books somewhere. Influenced by the logical & mechanical elements of her engineering background & her love of learning, she aims to treat each class as an education & hopes to leave all of her students with a greater awareness of how they move, both on & off the mat. 
For private or group class enquiries (or just to say hello!) connect with Courtenay via Facebook, drop her an email at info@warriorandwild.co.uk.