Inner Child Yoga

I will be holding a "Yoga for the Inner Child" workshop at Ocean Earth Wind Fire (www.oceanearthwindfire.com) in Phoenixville June 13. Here is some info in case ya'll are in a playful mood. :)


What does “Yoga for the Inner Child” mean?

The concept of the Inner Child represents the feeling, creative, vulnerable, and playful part of ourselves. As adults, we may think it’s silly or immature to connect with this part of ourselves. After all, we’re not kids anymore, right? Maybe somebody told you that it wasn’t ok to feel your feelings as a kid, and so you’ve brought that into adulthood. When this is the case, our Inner Child shuts down, but wants deeply to be out in the open. It is our responsibility to let the Inner Child know she is safe to do just that, to be spontaneous and cry and laugh and do whatever it is children do without even thinking about it.

When we fully embrace the Inner Child, we honor our truest spirit and give ourselves permission to feel and live out loud again, instead of looking toward outside sources for approval. The Inner Child could also be called our inner voice or truest self.

It is when we neglect our bodies and our deepest desires that the Inner Child feels betrayed. When we aren’t listening to our inner voice, we may notice tension build in the body, frequent headaches, lack of sleep, etc. Our yoga practice is a beautiful place to embrace our childlike needs and learn how to honor them. Child’s pose and Happy Baby are just the beginning – each yoga pose is an opportunity to become childlike as you listen to the body and observe your experience in a fresh new light. In yoga, you can practice loving your Inner Child without judgment and without feeling rushed. Notice whatever feelings come up and observe with compassion and curiosity – remember that it is your choice to take on the responsibility of loving parent to the child within, so be careful not to criticize. You can learn to discover your Inner Child’s joy and wisdom and allow that to dance with the serious adult.


What brought me to connect the concept of the Inner Child with Yoga?

I began to link the idea of yoga and the Inner Child in my own quest for a deeper understanding of my life today. Of course, this brought me all the way back to childhood! Everyone is affected by childhood in some way. Each person’s experience is unique. Some of us do not allow ourselves to feel our feelings, and so our childlike spirit within thinks she’s not allowed to exist. I found that my yoga practice is a beautiful place to practice self-acceptance and listen in to my more playful side, the child who knows what she wants. When you’ve provided a safe space for the child to speak up, it is up to you to be a good listener. Yoga is where the Inner Child can come out to play with the serious adult. Reconnecting with your Inner Child may help you begin healing emotional and physical trauma stored deep inside. In yoga we can practice this new experience without criticism and pressure.


How else does the Inner Child relate to our yoga practice?
In yoga…

We learn to slow down and relax more – Our Inner Child loves this! You are honoring her as you slow down.

We experience new things – Many of us hold onto past childhood traumas and are afraid to feel the anxiety and fear that may come as we approach new situations. Through yoga and the practice of surrender we honor our bodies and do what feels right. We are among others who are feeling their own experiences. We allow ourselves to feel buried emotions. Whether the child within comes out to laugh, smile, or cry, we let her know it’s ok to experience new things with curiosity and compassion.

We give ourselves the time and permission to be present – We can choose to be in “child time.” In yoga class, it’s our teacher’s job to keep track of time while we can focus on the present. Then we can pay close attention to our experiences unfolding before us and relish in the gift of time we’ve given ourselves.

We practice unconditional self-acceptance – As a child, and now, we may not have been accepted and so may carry shame. Even if we were good children, we may not have received the message of unconditional love. In yoga, we don’t have to run away from our shame; we can tell our Inner Child that it doesn’t have to hide anymore. Your love is unconditional for her.

Bryan Kest Workshop

I recently had the opportunity to attend a workshop with Bryan Kest at Power Yoga Works in Philadelphia on April 17. It was a great experience for me. It was considered a teacher training workshop so there were plenty of teachers there, which was nice. I took notes, and much of it is direct quotes from Bryan, so I'm going to basically share those here in this entry:

People come to yoga to strengthen the mentality that they need to change something about themselves to be better - which is, since birth, what we are taught through society, commercials, parents, etc. What we should be working on is in our mind.

Bryan shared his habit of picking his nose. He said that he notices he is doing it and so stops. Soon enough though he is back to his digging, which he realizes after he is already doing it. Where was he during those few moments in between? We spend most of our lives in that in between state. In yoga our goal, or foundation, is awareness.

Meditate on how many things you are grateful for every day. Then that is more on your mind on a regular basis. Instead of walking around pissed, complaining...

Abundance attracts abundance!

Shift yoga away from the physical. The way you will look from the physical practice is a byproduct. The way you think we should look is all programs. Be careful not to reinforce this way of thinking when you practice yoga.

If you're not trying to figure something out, you're mind should be silent. I'm stepping away and letting it come through. And not thinking about anything.

Your body speaks to you in the most succinct language on the planet. It's called sensation. We need to work with what we're feeling and not try to get somewhere. Lots of people do this when they exercise - no matter how they feel, the keep going.

The best way to be a yoga teacher is how you live your life. Because people don't listen anyway, they just watch. Doesn't matter what you say, it's how you live.

If you want your children to be happy, you have to be happy yourself.

When done with a certain quality of mind, everything is yoga.

Can't do yoga; Be yoga. Practice cultivating that state of mind. Are you paying attention to the process?

It's not the yoga that's good for you, it's the quality of how you do it. Be gentle!

Sometimes it doesn't feel good, but it feels right, it feels sweet and necessary. Doesn't always have to be comfortable. Our yoga practice could be compared to a massage - we are giving ourselves a massage.

There's no light at the end of a pose because there's no end to any pose.

The poses are just creative ways to touch the many areas in the body. And keep them well.

Be gentle in your poses; everybody's "gentle" is different. So, there's no such thing as gentle. The only way you can be gentle is to listen to the experience. When we start listening, our mind becomes silent. The human brain can only really focus on one thing at a time. But our society values multi-tasking. The only way to relax is to quiet down your mind. When the mind is quiet you leave the old habit patterns of the mind, judgement, etc. We're killing the old mind. We create the mind of our choosing, instead of the one of our parents, coach, siblings, boss, coworkers...

He told us that the class will be "brutally hard" because our lives are hard. How will we be prepared without practices? We learn how to put our knees on the floor and rest, or say "Fuck you, Bryan, I'm not doing it." No competition in class or life.

How the teacher teaches is how she feels at that moment.

Hear the instructor but listen to your inner teacher.