Have you ever noticed how just before, most of the time during, and especially after a snow fall, the world just seem much more quiet and at peace? It's kinda the same way with a yoga practice. Everything is all hustle and bustle before you step on the mat. Then you take a few moments to center and ground yourself. Everything turns quiet and you take some deep breaths. Then you begin your flow. At times there may be a lot of noise and your mind and body may be going crazy with sensations, but for the most part, the flowing sequences are clam and lovely. Very peaceful as the snow falls. Then things wind down and the world becomes still as you lie in savasana. Just like the snow. everything is quiet, freshly laid anew and untainted by outside noise. You take some more deep breaths and lose yourself in the calm, peaceful stillness.
Nothing is yet disturbed as you lay there with a peaceful mind, a depleted, but fresh body, and a still mind. The snow lays there quiet, creating a beautiful serene landscape of glittering untainted beauty. It's so quiet. You can finally breath. With the laying of a new snow and the finishing of a practice, all the previous noise and chaos is hidden and no longer the glaring ugliness we may find it to be. It gives us a fresh new perspective and the rational calm mind we need to move forward.
With this bright new clarity that comes with the snow fall and the yoga practice, we are able to see things in a new way. It's literally a whole new world. During the snow fall, as with during the practice, things change. The end result will not be the same as what was started with or was there before. Have you ever simply watched the snow fall outside your window? It's so peaceful, chaotic, and surely cold, but beautiful non-the-less. The same with a yoga practice. It's peaceful, beautiful, but also very involved, strong, and a tad chaotic.
But what comes after. O the simple beauty and calm of it all! The refreshed mind, body, spirit! The new clarity, brisk chill, and rationality of a new untainted reality. I know I am able to come out of a yoga practice with a fresh start and a new untainted mind. I can think a bit more clearly, as the noise that was there before is erased with white and gives me time to rethink before it thaws and melts. The fresh snow fall gives us time to regroup and take those few moments before the melting process begins. It will energize us in a calm way. We will be able to tackle what we once looked at as hard, scary, and difficult. The overwhelm of it all gets kicked aside. You find the time to figure out your next steps in the new untainted territory in front of you.
The ground, the world, is yours to shape and mold. You can take a few tentative steps into the freshly laid landscape, a few simple movements in savasana. You can also go running full force with your renewed energy and clarity, making leaps and bounds in the snow. Creating lasting marks, just as you can jump up from savasana and take your day head on with a clearer head.
Refreshed, a new, peaceful and calm clarity of mind. Both snow and yoga giving you a chance to pause, collect, and erase the chaotic noise of the world around. You end up with a beautiful new land of possibility, rationality, logic, peace. Just a bit of silence to be cherished and used in the making of delving more effectively in this crazy world of rush and pull.
I urge you to take a moment the next time the snow falls or the next time you finish your practice, to awaken back into the world with a new untainted rational mind. Take it slowly or with a bit of speed, your choice for the making in the new world that lays ahead. If you're lucky, maybe you can even engage in a practice during a snow fall. That would be a lovely thing!
So tell me:
+ Do you find watching the snow fall outside peaceful? I do, I could stare at it for hours!
+ Anything else you'd like to add?Β
Be at peace my dear friends! Namaste.
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Sherry
I think my kids have only seen snow once or twice in their life. Thanks for linking up to Funtastic Friday and sharing with us. Hope to see you again this week.
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Wow!
All that's Jas
Kind of sick of the snow, but found new interest for yoga, lol. Thanks for sharing at Thursday Favorite Things!
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Gotta find the beauty in it all!
Elizabeth
This isn't going to be a very productive comment, but I am seriously fangirling over your blog. You are my new yoga inspiration, and I'm really grateful for The Blogging Elite since I wouldn't have found you otherwise. This post was amazing. As was mentioned by others, it was incredibly calming. I have been fighting a virus and trying to catch up on everything I've missed because I've been sleeping too much, and this brief respite I found in this post was exactly what I needed: a reminder to take a breath and find the calm in the swirling storm.
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Elizabeth, you just made my night π Your comment means so much to me! Haha!
I hope you can find some calm and heal up soon! Gaze out the window tomorrow (there should be snow...unless you live in lucky Florida or something!) And maybe even do some gentle yoga π XOXO
Shirley Wood
Snow is sort of rare here in middle Georgia and when it does happen it is usually accompanied by ice which makes a big mess. You make me wish for some peaceful, quiet snow though!
Thank you for sharing with us and our readers at Merry Monday! We hope to see you at the next party too!
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
If we could always have that peaceful snow that would be wonderful, but of course nothing is ever perfect!
Kristen
This post made me want to do yoga AND want snow! I think we might finally get some this week (nothing significant of course)!
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Hahaha, Alaska amazes me π Hopefully you get to do some Snoga before the season ends π
Sher @ Broken From Fire
Beautiful comparison! Reminds me quite a bit of what I remember yoga to be like. I haven't practiced regularly in a long time, but am trying to get back into it.
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Sher, I really hope you do! It's never bad time to start again!
Sher @ Broken From Fire
I agree!
Linda @ Veganosity
Lovely analogy. The snow is beautiful, it's the cold I don't like. I'll remind myself of your words if we get the snow that's predicted for tonight. Cleansing breath....
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Those are exactly my thoughts! I wish it could snow and be hot!
Courtney
Beautiful! I completely agree-watching the snow is amazing,and doing yoga is just as peaceful(though I could stay in child's pose for the rest of my life :P)
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
They're are both beautiful forces of nature.
Nicky
Beautifully written. Everything does seem calmer after the snow falls.
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
It does π
Alanna
So many beautiful words. I agree completely. Every time I hit the yoga mat I immediately feel a sense of release and calm.
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Thank you! Practice is so special!
Sonali- The Foodie Physician
Beautifully written. Thanks for starting off my week with such a lovely read.
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Thank you Sonali!
Joy @ Joy Love Food
I do enjoy watching snow fall, I've had a chance to do it quite often this winter, yesterday included!
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
The snow we got yesterday was a sleety rain...not so nice :/
genevieve @ gratitude & greens
This was so calming and lovely to read on a Monday morning! I love looking at the snow when I'm snuggled up at home, and even outside if it's falling softly. If it's blizzarding, however... you won't find me looking at the snow with joy, haha. Happy Monday! xo
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Haha, we've just gotta find the peace when we can!
Michele @ paleorunningmomma
I find it peaceful until I think about digging the cars out and shoveling the driveway! I do like the parallels with yoga, and I can totally relate to how you described the feelings before, during and after a practice.
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Relating it to yoga and those moments of peace is the only way to truly appreciate the snow, haha! π
Annmarie
I can't lie, I am mostly kinda over the snow since it hasn't stopped falling where I live since December but it always warms my heart when I see my daughter's get excited over the big fluffy flakes fall to the ground!
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
I love "snow" and the peace it brings, I just hate the COLD!
Larissa
I feel all of this with my practice. You're pushing me, though, to apply it to a snow fall. π I haaaaate winter and I strongly dislike snow. It's pretty for 3.68 minutes before it gets all brown and dirty and gross and it stays around for too long. This girl is so ready for spring.
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Girl, winter is the bane of my existence, but the beauty of white fluffy snow is like no other!
Natalie @ Feasting on Fruit
I wouldn't know much about snowfall since I haven't seen a glimpse of the white stuff in 11 years or so, but I can definitely relate to the yoga practice peace. The timing of this post is perfect, I was just thinking about this topic. It happens to be spring break for me this week and I'm staying in Gainesville, but the town is EMPTY! It is very quite and peaceful, like walking through a whole different town!
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
(**Shakes head at your no-now-life**)
Silence and peace is so wonderful. It really is such a different world. Noise vs. Silence. I prefer the latter!
jess meddows
This was such a beautiful way of articulating the after snow fall feel! When we were still living in Toronto, I used to walk above ground for hours in the winter. People thought I was crazy (particularly when the city had 30 kilometeres of underground networks!) but there is a serenity with snow in winter that just can't be replicated.
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
I'd walk in it for hours and practice SNOGA....if it wasn't cold π
Tina Marie (Sawyer Roberge)
You have some great inspiration going there! I love it! Next time I'm feeling overwhelmed by our winter's here in Maine, I will have to put this into practice.
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Just step on your mat and do a nice flow!
Emily @My Healthyish Life
I used to love waking up and seeing a fresh layer of snow when I lived up north. It definitely brought a calming, refreshing tone to the day. But it's been a long time since I've last had snow out my window haha
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
π At least you have the sunshine!
Amber
Rebecca, I LOVE this post, it is SO well written, and I adore the comparison, because as it keeps snowing on the daily here in WNY, it is so true, while it falls softly the world is fresh and new, with a sense of calm and quiet, I always feel at ease walking in the snow to my car in the morning, as long as it's not negative temps. Sharing this via twitter now!
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Thank you dear friend! Don't you just wish we could take in all these sensations....just with the warmth of the sun? That would be perfect and leave me speechless!
Tina Muir
Yeah, I can definitely see what you mean....but unfortunately for me, I have now associated snow with frustration and injuries, so I am usually just annoyed. I can admit though, when I wake up in the morning, and it is fresh and untouched for just a moment, I soak in the beauty. Thanks for the reminder that it can be good π
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
The natural world combined with the natural flow of the body is a beautiful thing when we allow ourselves the time to see it that way.
Carla
OH I LOVE THIS.
we get no snow----just sleet.
and truly Ive wondered why SLEET IS STRESSFUL in a way SNOW is not.
<3
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Sleet = so slippery! (I just slipped on the sidewalk going to class today....)