It usually takes a few weeks or months of settling before the seed of an idea forms onto the blog page. Maybe it’s a little too close to the bone or needs to play out in some life situation before being fully digested. Anyway the angel card I drew on Christmas afternoon, resilience, nudged me to write about its relationship with sensitivity.

Emotional resilience is much talked about as a benefit of yoga and mindfulness; the ability to witness rather than become our emotions; a shift in the way we perceive and respond to everyday stresses. This is far from a bury our heads in the sand ‘yeah this doesn’t affect me because I have a practise now’ response to what’s going on in the world around us, or in our heads and bodies. Though sometimes this is part of the process. 

On one hand we can become, over time, more resilient. While in the same breath we are also more sensitive to the energies that surround us; the way our emotions twist our guts; how our own thoughts manifest into the shape of our lives.

I was chatting to a friend about how some weeks we are the ultimate in resilience, able to cast a playful ‘hari om it wasn’t for me’ at set-backs or see that we cannot please everyone. Other times we are buffeted around by everything from the hostilities in the world to the weight of traffic on the roads. 

As if a pawn in some divine game, we think we’ve cracked equanimity, only to be reminded how far we have yet to go. Of course Christmas holds so many lessons in where we have grown and where we still, so easily unravel! 

Resilience is not a wall, it also means knowing when to bow to our emotions as teachers; to surrender to feeling, breathing, holding our own space gently...without feeling that we are a failed yogi.

Seasons greetings & love 💖