Think Less, Feel More

As I was standing in my kitchen waiting for my tea to steep, I found myself perusing my many magnets, stickers, and photos on the fridge. Memories of where I got them washed over me until my eyes stopped in the upper right corner. The spot where a sticker I had gotten at a yoga festival in Hawaii 12 years prior used to be. It had read: “Think Less, Feel More” and unfortunately, it had been lost in a move.

 

Its sentiment though, has not been lost at all. It embodies one of the most healing aspects of yoga for me. Ever since I picked it up on that sunny Oahu beach, “think less, feel more” has been a drumbeat that pipes up when I need it most. 

 

Getting back into my body

 

I tend to live almost exclusively in my head (some days I’m actually surprised it’s attached to my body) and the practice of yoga is one of the only things that gently guides me out of it. As I settle into a series of poses, I rediscover my breath, my limbs, my feet, and my body’s sensations. 

 

Whether it’s the moving meditation of a vinyasa class or the meditative quality of a yin practice, yoga allows me to quiet the mind by engaging my body and building self-awareness as I move. It’s hard for my mind to wander in Warrior III, but observing the way my sacrum feels in a supported paschimottanasana can be just as immersive.

 

Slowing down

 

I recently slowed down a yoga flow class I teach to help cultivate that healing presence with a focus on transitions. Together, we took special care to notice the moments in between each pose and breath. We walked our feet slowly from downward dog to uttanasana to notice the change in pressure as we stepped from heel to toe. We articulated each vertebra as we came down from bridge pose. We felt the air between our fingers as we moved our hands from Warrior II to Exalted Warrior and back again. 

 

It’s in these moments that I often find myself in awe of my body and can rest in the little bit of ease that noticing gives me. I think the students felt that too.

 

Bringing yoga off the mat

 

Over the years, this idea of “think less, feel more” has found its way off my mat as well. Walking from downward dog to uttanasana reminds me to feel the change from linoleum to carpet in my home as I move from room to room. I notice my spine being hugged in softness as I wrap a blanket around me and feel the fall breeze on my skin as I walk my dog. Little by little, my yoga practice helps me feel a little more awake, a little more open to my experience, and a little more connected between head and heart.

 

A journal practice for noticing

 

It's also recently inspired a new kind of journaling. Taking a cue from Matthew Dicks’ Homework for LifeTEDTalk, I’ve started to end each day with a question to myself: “What was the story-worthy thing that happened today?” 

It doesn’t have to be monumental – a chat with a stranger in a grocery store line, a book club conversation, a compliment that really hit my heart - all moments are worthy of attention. 

 

Recording these little bits of humanness each day has felt like an extension of “think less, feel more.” I find myself noticing things as they happen rather than only at the end of the day when I sit with my pen and notebook in hand. A mindfulness tool that helps me slow down and feel the sensations that yoga teaches me to tune into. 

 

I may no longer have that sticker on my fridge, but its message is integrating itself into my being with every yoga practice.

 

Think less. Feel more. 

So today, maybe pause to notice the air outside before getting into the car or the warmth of a coffee mug in your hands. Feel your muscles move, flow, or rest in any class that supports you best at Yoga Centre Winnipeg. And then, let the practice on the mat weave its way into your day. 

Jill Ritchot