August 2024 | Cessation
NOTE: This was originally published as part of my newsletter in August 2024. Subscribe to my newsletter to receive the next Om Letter direct to your inbox once a month.
For most of us life is a bit of a balancing act between what we want to be doing with our time and what must be done. We might crave time to relax, to be creative, to chase dreams and explore hobbies. Instead we’re likely to have a job, responsibilities and a social calendar that place unwelcome demands on our precious time.
As a yoga teacher I have not yet managed to escape this reality either, but I do find myself wondering about the recent increase in the number of people who can’t endure a three to five minute Savasana at the end of a 45-minute yoga class. In all likelihood I’m preaching to the choir here, but the trade off between rest and rush seems like a bum deal to me.
Recently, as I was watching one of these Savasana thieves sneak out, my mind drifted to the story of Empress Leizu (wife to Emperor Huangdi of China) who one day dozed off under a Mulberry tree and awoke to find a silk worm unravelling in her teacup. She saved the thread and wove it into a piece of fabric, essentially creating the first piece of silk. And then there’s the story of Isaac Newton hitting upon the idea of gravitational pull while watching an apple fall from a tree under which he was lounging. Clearly, great ideas come to those who laze around - specifically under trees, but in my experience yoga mats will do the trick too.
So let’s reimagine what rest can be—not just something that happens when we slip into bed at night, but rather a conscious act we choose. A moment of rest is akin to the way an archer draws back their arrow to gain the most momentum. There’s a moment of pause—a steadying of the hand, a glance to find the perfect aim—before the arrow is released with power and precision.
In the same way, we too can draw inward into the stillness of ourselves, not as a way of retreating, but rather as a gathering of strength for whatever lies ahead of us. Rest, when practiced intentionally, becomes a wellspring for intuition, clarity, creativity, and self-understanding.
When we begin to see rest as a portal into something expansive—far deeper than a ‘yoga nap’—Savasana becomes a treasured threshold. Upon waking, we are changed; we may have brushed against our true nature or touched the quiet vastness of samadhi (the state of non-doing). When we return to the rhythm of life, that sweetness lingers—calling us back, again and again, to the practice.
With love,
OM x
Monthly Mantra
“You are the sky - everything else is just the weather”
Pema Chödrön
August Playlist
A brand new playlist that hasn’t even seen the light of a sweaty Vinyasa class yet. Best enjoyed alongside a bedroom boogie.
Featured Flow
Cool off and enjoy this no-props Yin yoga practice from my YouTube channel on the next balmy Summer’s eve
Reading Recommendation
If you’d like to explore practices of rest in your own time might I suggest delving into Octavia Raheem’s ‘Pause Rest Be.’ Raheem asks us to courageously do what most of us fiercely resist: slowing down, letting go, and listening. She weaves practices and embodied wisdom in practical ways that honour where we are at any given moment.
Thank you for reading - if you have any questions please feel free to reach out via email.
Copyright © 2024
Oceana Mariani
