20/03/2025                                                                            
                                    
                                                                            
                                            No wonder we're stressed, anxious, overwhelmed, and exhausted. We are good eggs trying our best, but many of us are consistently living in a state that is not meant for us.
Call it Fight-Flight-Freeze-Fawn, survival mode, stress, or the sympathetic nervous systemβwe can spend a good chunk of our waking hours in these battle conditions, even though this primal response is only meant to kick into gear when we are faced with a life-threatening situation.
Yogis have known this for millennia, and in recent decades, Western studies have confirmed that our natural state is actually in the camp opposite the 4 F's and their hot, prickly friends.
The crowd we should be hanging out with regularly includes rest and digest, curiosity, creativity, and play, relaxation, and the parasympathetic nervous system.
We've got it all backwards. We are chronically stressed and acutely relaxed when our natural state is to be acutely stressed and chronically relaxed.
This unnaturally heightened state lived daily is something I am sympathetic to (pardon the pun). In the '50s, I would have been described as having a "Type A personality." I wore my busyness, drive, multitasking, perfectionism, and stress as a badge of honorβuntil, one day, a feather landed and broke the camel's back.
Enter yoga.
The time on my mat not only allows me to connect with the cool, clear, calmness of my parasympathetic nervous system, but it has also given me the know-how to tap into that side of myself when I'm off my mat and out in the world.
Now, when life sends me a feather, a brick, or a truck, and I am firmly grounded in my parasympathetic nervous system, although wobbly at times, I am still standing.
Yoga is a great tool for us humanfolk to have in our arsenal, especially in the throes of modern life.
There is no one-size-fits-all, but there are many styles to choose from. Visit me at marakatayoga.com if you'd like to practise sometime.
Namaste,
Kylie π₯ππ£