Is your glass half full or half empty? If you've been doing your yoga and meditation practice, you'll probably find it a lot easier to keep optimistic about life in and around you. However, this can be hard when the media keeps reminding us that we are in the middle of the worst recession for nearly a hundred years.
However, when I've talked to Yoga teachers from around the country, I've found that they are very optimistic about their current situation and their future. Their yoga classes are bursting at the seams. Companies are demanding workplace yoga classes to help staff deal with anxiety and stress. So how are these yoga teachers keeping their inner balance and peace despite the doom and gloom? Easy - they've recession proofed their practice! And here are some great techniques to do this.
Get your joy from inside
When everything outside that seemed secure seems to be falling apart, it's time for a journey inside to what's real and unchanging. Yoga's flowing movements,? meditation and lifestyle techniques help us touch the still place inside the heart centre where we can never be disturbed, which we call Druvam. It's like finding an inner sanctuary where we can be completely at peace. A local government officer from Yorkshire, who is training to become a Yoga teacher, said 'Yoga has helped me to look at life in a different way. My response to stressful and difficult situations is now calmer and I'm more aware of my emotions and what I need to do to balance myself again.'
Touching the inner peace
Meditation is the best thing I've found for touching some inner peace. Just 5 minutes is all it takes - ideally when you first wake up. Just sit up in bed and focus on your breath coming in and out of the nose. Keep it relaxed and slow, while still being completely comfortable.
Care for your body
At this time it's extra important to take care of yourself. One totally free way of coping with stress is simply to get enough sleep! Most of us make do with too little rest, which can make us irritable and less able to deal with challenges. Try going to bed earlier and getting up earlier, making sure that you get around 8 hours if possible. Keep a balanced diet with good quality food, with supplements and plenty of fruit, vegetables and water. Having a very compassionate attitude towards yourself is extra important when things around you aren't easy!
Make the most of nature
I've found that nature has the most healing effect on my body - and doing yoga outside can be a very profound experience. It even works in the rain - so don't be a fair weather yogi! Sequences which work best outside are standing ones, and I find that a Surya Namaskar performed in nature is doubly energizing than one done inside. Even in a park, tiny balcony or patch of grass can be large enough for standing postures - tadasana, vrksasana, or the Dru Earth Sequence.? Studies have also shown that children who are surrounded by nature have longer attention spans - so a quick walk will help keep your mind clear.
Value your health and wellbeing
When the money gets tight, it's time to prioritise your wellbeing. Your health is priceless - and so is your state of mind. According to a recent report on CNN, more people are valuing the investment they make in their health and so are continuing their yoga classes even though they may drop other so-called luxuries. My students sometimes compare how they feel after a Yoga class to the feeling after a week in the Greek islands. Now that's value for money!
Invest in what's real
If you build your life and happiness around the perfect job or relationship, then you might become devastated if either changes. Yoga philosophy teaches us to invest in what's unchanging - our own self-development. Nurturing qualities like compassion, tolerance and self-acceptance may not seem terribly fashionable, but if you suddenly have to cope with a crisis, these qualities will see you through the darkest of times. Patanjali's niyamas are a great place to start, or read Chapter 16 of the Bhagavad Gita (slokas 1-3). When a friend became ill and died recently, so many people commented on how well I was dealing with what could of being a very distressing time. I felt that years of meditation and self-development were coming to fruition!
Get the right attitude
Some of the happiest yoga teachers I know haven't had easy lives. Many have coped with traumas so terrible that others would have become embittered for life. But these yogis have developed the attitude of gratitude and appreciation which has enabled them to see the best in difficult circumstances. One friend who suffered from polymyalgia, a very painful disease, decided to treat her body with patience and compassion, being grateful for small things that were going well in her life. Using visualization, Dru Yoga and meditation, she was able to heal herself in a fraction of the time conventional approaches would take. She feels sure that having the right attitude made all the difference. Try it now. Take a few minutes to think of all the things you're grateful for. Friends, health, a creative mind, the changing seasons - create a list and put it up where you'll see it!
Crisis or opportunity?
In Chinese, the character for crisis is the same as that for opportunity. It's just a question of how we see any situation. If you're made redundant, maybe it's a chance for a career change? If your relationship breaks down, maybe it's an opportunity for an even better match in the future. As Helen Keller said, '"When one door closes, another opens. But we often look so regretfully upon the closed door that we don't see the one that has opened for us." Today, try to see your situation in a very objective way, looking for the opportunities which you have for making life even better. if this is hard, practise some yoga, then try again!
Jane Clapham is a Dru Yoga and Meditation teacher, and trains people to become meditation teachers in the glorious surroundings of Snowdonia, in North Wales, UK. She also leads meditation retreats and holidays in the celtic mountains of Wales and worldwide. Contact her at
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