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Marie Kondo Yoga

Apr. 19, 2019

Image by Olive Nachle

A.K.A.: How Marie Kondo got into my Yoga Teaching Process, the Wholeness of Life and Creative Inspiration

I don’t usually plan what I’m going to talk about at my yoga classes in a formal way.  I don’t think about a “theme” and create the practice around it. But as I teach, I realize that in my teaching on that day, there is usually a specific flow, certain poses and words that emerge. So I thought I would share my process.

One of my other big loves in life is language and writing; and one of the things that I learned from writing school is that you cannot look for inspiration only in certain places.

No, instead, the work is to find inspiration, or “material” in all of life, in the simple, mundane things as well as the dramatic stuff. To use all life as a source from which to write from.

I find that this is exactly what I do when I think about what I want to share at my weekly yoga classes.  Again, this is not a conscious process – I don’t tell myself, “Oh I need to find a theme for class this week and I am considering speaking about “this” topic. What I do notice, however, is that I file away thoughts and impressions in a part of my brain and probably my heart, that emerge in the dialogue of presenting the class and in the flow itself.

And I have noticed that when comes up in this loose, organic way, is real and true, because I am almost workshopping it (to use writing speak), in that moment – it is not rehearsed.

In fact, I truly don’t know what is actually coming out of my mouth, until it does and whatever does, is definitely impacted by the energetic connection that we share as yogis and humans in a room practicing together.

Last week, I was thinking a lot about decluttering. And since I have a hard time keeping my thoughts only to myself… I shared that I recently tuned into Netflix – and the show that kept popping up in my “profile” was the Marie Kondo show on de-cluttering and organizing your life.

I watched a very little bit of it, but I’ve been a Kondo fan for a long time and read her book “The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up,” when it released. I find her “method” of letting go of too much stuff liberating in so many ways; though I have a very difficult time releasing books!

However, as I pondered the idea of decluttering and only keeping things that in Kondo’s famous phrase only “spark joy,” I had an insight that impacted my yoga practice and teaching that week.

Image by Meredith Rose photography

What came up was this: “what if the experiences of our life do not always spark joy? What if we cannot easily let go of experiences or people? How do we deal with this? Do we just convince ourselves to discard “this” thought, discard “that” person, if they are not serving you in a positive way? Is this possible? Does life demand more complexity than an organizing guru’s well meaning advice?

I don’t know about you, but I can tell you that while there is much about life that I can say I consciously chose, there is also a lot that is difficult and challenging. It’s the stuff I did not choose. It’s the stuff that I encounter because of relationship, because it has landed on my plate and now I must figure out how to taste it and to enjoy it without losing my zest for my whole life. It’s the stuff that I cannot donate to the nearby thrift store even though I would so love to.

I wondered, is this the purpose of our yoga practice? To accept and absorb our human-ness with all its colors, all its tastes, whether fragility, sadness, happiness, humor or sensitivity?

In that thought train, the idea of “fullness” came to me, the word in Sanskrit for full/ whole is Purna.  When things are full or whole, we must meet them fully. We meet the shadow parts of our-self along with what we consider to be a more positive aspect of our-self. In this meeting, we allow our true, authentic whole self to be more free.

Our yoga practice that day emerged from that insight. I taught a class where we focused on poses that created intensity in the body, and challenged us, but we used the breath more deeply to really release, to really let go.  I allowed the thoughts that I was wrestling with to color the dialogue, so our postures allowed us space and time for insight; so we could begin to view our lives again, our whole lives with more perspective and possibly more acceptance, and yes, more joy, positivity and gratitude; and possibly a pathway towards transformation.

Maybe, just maybe, in Kondo speak, I was learning how to store and to re-fold my past life a little differently. Maybe, as we stretched on our mats, we smoothed out some of the kinks and wrinkles in the inner closets of our bodies and maybe as we guided ourselves with more love and more compassion, we realized that some of those experiences that we had only looked upon with dread, actually offered some lessons and that they could even “spark joy.”

And in this process of self-examination, I realize, there are some things I turn toward to gain insights to teach my classes. Here are some.

  • Books, especially poetry, but sometimes fiction and often non-fiction.
  • Podcasts
  • My own practice: Can’t stress this one enough. My practice and where I am in it, informs my own teaching always. A long time ago, my husband said, “teach what you practice” and this has always been my mantra. When I stray from it, my class no longer feels authentic or real and I know then that the place I am teaching from is not pure and honest.
  • Journaling: this is huge. Even a few minutes helps me to clear and clarify what I am processing.
  • A walk in the neighborhood: I love mentally cataloguing the flowers and often stick my nose into one; my son does this too. I also love watching trees.
  • Feeling and noticing the incoming season: this morning, I watched a flock of geese return south. Their honks were cacophonous and filled the air with energy. We watched them in awe in the early, early morning.
  • Putting my son to bed at night: it is always wondrous what comes out of the mouths of our young ones.
  • Eating a delicious meal with all my senses: slowing it all down, the breathing, the tasting, the experiencing.
  • Lighting a candle and incense before my yoga practice and also in the evenings at home.
  • From laughter.
  • From tears and sadness.
  • From my continued astounded-ness at the cycle of world news: My practice is often an antidote or rather a way to realize and cope with news.
  • From an image or a painting.
  • My studies in Ayurveda

Where do you glean inspiration from to teach your yoga classes?  What do you hope to reframe in your life? Did these words spark something for you? I’d love to know. Pls do share xo

NAMASTE.

 

 

 

 

 

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Category: Yoga, Blog Tags: creative life, decluttering, marie kondo, yoga, yoga inspiration, yoga journal, yoga teacher life, yoga teaching

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About Insiya Rasiwala-Finn

Yogini + Ayurvedic Coach, Writer and Conscious Mama. Believes in regenerative, slow living, holistic design and living mindfully every day.

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ABOUT YOGUE  Hi, I'm Insiya. Journey with me as we live slow, scatter beauty and tread lightly on the planet.

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insiyafinn

Yesterday was so life affirming and heart filling! Yesterday was so life affirming and heart filling!!! 

We got out on a hike in sooke and I’m so proud of my mama for traversing some steep climbs and even more steep and rocky downhill paths. I felt energized and so happy to be outside in a forest that smelled cool and fresh and pine-resin-y… @theblissologist and lion even got into the icy cold glacial streams and then we picked up grandma @carolefinnartist and enjoyed some delicious pizza on the deck @stokedpizzeria near sombrio…

My family kept cautioning me to not push myself - but honestly and truly I think I was just high on feeling alive and being amidst the waterfalls and green of what has turned into a very hot spring (climate change is real friends…)…

Yesterday was such an affirmation of how much we all need to be outside to reconnect within to what really matters…

Thanks ananda lion for making me a mama 12 years ago and thanks to my mom @sararasiwala for your love always… also it made me so happy that eoin got to see his mama too! Life is short. Keep those you love close and fill it with beauty and kindness.

Ps. I did wear a dress hiking (just because) and I am very tired today but was it worth it? YES ❤️

#yogue #mothersday #family #familymatters #healing #healinsiya #healcancer #cancerthriver
Photo sprinkles… Stepping out into spring. L- Photo sprinkles… 

Stepping out into spring.

L-R: A Saturday picnic w @yogalink + Carole + dingo the bali dog and my mom. Thanks for the chai @sararasiwala 😁 and the pic @theblissologist ✨
Blossoms on the hill.
Blossoms inside :)
Homemade spinach and mushroom quiche.. so good 💫
Pakoras by mom… aka delish chickpea fritters 
Daisies :)
And
Apricot nectar and strawberries yesterday… 
/ shadows and sunshine :) 
Heart shaped flowers…

Feeling all this golden light and springtime goodness. :) 

🌺💕☀️

#healingjourney #wholefoods #growth #changes #shift #insiyafinn #healinsiya #healcancer
So I decided to share this picture here because fi So I decided to share this picture here because firstly today was so special. I got to see a dear dear friend who I haven’t seen since before the pandemic and we got to finally connect a few steps away from home. Yes this is currently Victoria (or it was this morning when the sun was bright and warm)…

And yet this morning was hard won. Yesterday after weeks of things going relatively well I had what is called a partical blockage with my ileostomy. I think it was caused by my not chewing my lunch as slowly as I normally do…(I will blame this on both being v hungry and that my dear mom’s cooking is dangerously delicious) 😁 when my girlfriend came to see me yesterday, I had low energy and a strange cramping sensation in the stomach and lower rib area. This progressively got worse and worse until my body with all its wisdom tried to push my lunch out of me. In other words I threw up. Consistently and continuously.

Meanwhile life at home continued on. My son arrived home after a canoeing weekend. I needed back rubs w tiger balm or whatever would help in the moment; and tried to help organize dinner. And my friend later that evening shared how she felt the privilege of being here to help and to witness the rough stuff. Which just felt so dear and real and loving.

And this is why I want to share this story today. It feels scary to put all of this out into the world but I have been thinking that when we hide the hard things behind walls of fear or worry about what others will think, I think we curtail our capacity to be loving, compassionate humans. After all at our core we want the same things. To live and love well. I feel like I share a lot here but I have found it hard to write about the really gnarly moments. There have been so many. What I will say I am so thankful for however is that because I have experienced so much with the ileostomy, I knew I had to ride the waves of pain out until they stopped. And they did and I finally slept last night and stayed out of emerg at the hospital.

And awoke to a new day. And a new opportunity to make the most of this precious moment.

Thanks for being here!

#healcancer #healinsiya #viclife #oakbay #friendship
It’s three weeks post my big surgery. The last f It’s three weeks post my big surgery. The last fortnight has been a wave of highs and lows. It felt like every time I felt a little better something new would happen again that I needed to understand and navigate. 

Meanwhile my inner mind has been a whirling w so so much. I have so many thoughts and so many ideas every day. And having to still be quite still has forced me to pay attention to them. 

The word that keeps coming up is reclamation - reclaiming who I am and how I want to live my life moving forward… life seems a little less like I’m on the edge of a precipice - except in the middle of the night - but things still feel urgent - like I will run out of time before I get to do all the things I would like to. And I have been trying to stay true and listen to the emotions that come up as I continue to navigate the journey beyond - which as yet is a big unknown! 

Today was an easy day to reclaim how much living in harmony with our seasons means to me. How much I love being outside. This afternoon mom and I went for a glorious walk in the sunshine and then lion, our pup and I had some weeding fun in the garden. 

A friend asked me how I am feeling earlier today. I guess the answer today is so happy and grateful to be here and to live in such a beautiful place to call home close to the ocean and sea lions and the meadows and flowers and forests. I am cherishing these little moments. They feel big these days.

Thanks for being here. Xo 

#healing #gratitude #gardening #healinsiya #healcancer #coloncancercanada

📷 @sararasiwala 💖
Today is a reminder for myself and possibly you as Today is a reminder for myself and possibly you as well to not get discouraged… 

Recovery takes time.

there are moments of feeling on top of the world and there are others where I feel flat and tired. 

There is my mind trying to propel me forward beyond the constraints of my body; and my body then signaling with a sharp outcry - you cannot do X, please rest. 

There is life with all its chaos and wants and needs coming at you, because you don’t live in a bubble, the ones you are in relationship with also have needs… 

And so you remind yourself that all you can do is keep showing up now, in this moment, in the best way possible… don’t do more, it’s not necessary- especially right now…

Be gentle today. Happy Sunday.

🙏🏼❤️✨

#journal #healing #recovery #cancer #healcancer #healinsiya #slowlife #yogalife #mentalhealth
Home again. Short - very short and slow - walks do Home again.
Short - very short and slow - walks down our street.
Strawberries at breakfast.
So many Hugs from my son.
Back rubs from my husband
My mom’s continuous kindnesses that keep the day humming.
Friends saying hello and bringing food and tinctures.
And flowers that I cut from our wild garden tonight which is coming alive with all sorts of surprises.

I had tulips in my hospital room the entire 11 days and I can tell you how much they inspired me. As their petals opened up slowly I grew stronger and more able every day after surgery. I saw the colors shining against the dull hues of the room when I awoke each morning and in the sunshine they glistened.

Flowers have healing powers say researchers, apparently patients who can see trees and flowers from their hospital windows vs those who cannot, take less pain medication and have shorter hospital stays… and yes they both relax and uplift us. 

I’ve always loved flowers. Only now I understand why.

Happy weekend!
#grateful #flowers #healingpowerofflowers #healcancer #healinsiya #natureheals #holisticwellness
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