Playing with time how yoga can liberate you from mental and physical restrictions

Children play for many reasons, but one thing is sure, the enjoyment of movement helps them to explore, grow and develop their sense of identity and potential. As we move through life the game changes, we are restricted by clothes, surroundings, expectations. Our bodies become at best something we reward with a trip to the gym or a run round the block, and at worst something we drag in front of the mirror to bemoan its lack of shape or stamina.

Whatever happened to doing something just because it feels good, to allowing a journey of exploration to take place, to go back to the simple joy a young child feels when they realise they can crawl or walk or skip. The beauty of yoga is that it can invoke such a feeling. When approached with an open mind and a willingness to explore what is happening within our own body, yoga encourages us to open up mentally as well as physically. Yoga isn't a sport, it is certainly a means of improving your health but you are not playing against anyone else, there is no measuring up to another's ability or competing to be the best.

The body as well as the mind has a need to move back to balance, which is the part that yoga can play. Yoga is much more than making a shape, it is about discovering our holding patterns, experiencing the cathartic feeling of moving through and out the other side of restriction, liberating our thoughts and actions from ingrained habits. It is a journey of exploration, playing our edge, realizing a potential we didn't know existed, growing in confidence.

Through a regular yoga practice, as our body becomes less constrained so do our minds, we learn to respond to situations not react, we learn that time can be on our side, we can pause before we make a decision, tap into our gut feeling, our inner instinct for what is truly right or wrong. We begin to find the strength to make decisions for ourselves, trusting our knowledge and self worth to guide our lives along a path of balance and liberation.

Yoga is a journey from which you can only benefit, it isn't serious, it isn't competitive, it isn't intimidating it is simply the tool you need to reconnect with your inner child to find the sense of fun and discovery that is within us all.

Learn more about this author, Trisha Hills.
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