As Gsy Life gave me the theme for this month; I’m sitting at Planet Organic on Tottenham Court Road, amid a rush of people rushing to pack their supplements, gluten-free chips and organic vegetables, it’s lined wall-to-wall with funky yoga mats or bulging gym bags slung of the shoulders. The queues are boisterous and the checkouts are packed and there is a real buzz in the air. People are not only embracing the new wellness trend, they also seem genuinely excited about taking care of themselves.
And yes, I feel classy just being here! I put on the “gear” and just ordered my healthy and nutritious salad, while taking a lunch break after training in a well-known London yoga studio, and yes, it does feel good to sit back and watch all this unwind. I’ve spent much of my yoga career in and out of various global studios in all corners of the world, and ironically, a leading Los Angeles-based yoga teacher recently expressed to me how much she loved that London was ‘finally coming!’ was becoming fashionable!’
Slowly but surely, we’re turning our backs on consuming large amounts of fast and processed food, filled to the brim with refined sugar and salt, and let’s be honest, a lot more synthetic junk.
I mean, we’ve all been there: constantly checking our phones, ignoring our body aches and crying for rest, grabbing a quick snack or a processed meal because, frankly, we just don’t have the “time” to stop and make something healthy. !
We’ve become a population where every time the phone beeps or we hear a new sound, the level of the hormone cortisol goes up, but the thing is, our cortisol levels were originally created for us to be in a sleep mode. ‘flight or fight’ when having a rather terrifying encounter with a bear in the woods while hunting, not for reacting to all aspects of our modern technology.
Our quality of sleep has drastically decreased, our levels of prescription medication to combat stress and anxiety have increased tenfold, and we are simply losing touch more and more with ourselves as human beings.
Now, I am not the person to be criticized for how we should be, in fact, I have been guilty of all of the above personally, and shock, horror, sometimes even with a studied level of consciousness. I know firsthand how checking our emails first thing in the morning, right after opening our eyes, has become commonplace. I worked in finance for 14 years and ignored my lower back pain, my stress levels constantly weighing me down, and at one point on a secondment in Asia; finding myself among the rest of my colleagues after a long day looking at our three flashing screens, watching the market fluctuate in a variety of red and green, was simply heading to the local wine bar and staying there until we had completely blocked out any signal of the mind or body to slow down.
So my point is that while yoga and health and wellness are certainly stylish, I hope that instead of becoming the next fad in the cycle of cool or latest, we practice mindfulness and continue to assume responsibility for our own health. and wellness
When current trends are in fashion; We tend to go headlong into changing everything all at once, and curse ourselves when we ‘go wrong’, yet wouldn’t it be wonderful if we instead allowed these positive changes in whatever form they manifest by simply taking care of ourselves a little? little better, committing ourselves to recognizing when we need to slow down and when we feel overwhelmed or just plain drained, taking the time to stop even for a moment, perhaps cooking a healthy meal, instead of clicking on the run in the form of social media.
Personally, learning to take better care of myself in a gradual and digestible way has allowed me to reflect and become much more mindful and, with practice, to be a little kinder to myself, which sometimes also means enjoying cocktails with the girls and not feeling guilty. for it, and no doubt eating that last piece of cake!
In yoga, we say that our practice lasts a lifetime, we practice to improve our quality of life, but not to be perfect. We practice for our bodies and our minds, not for our egos.
And I really hope with all my heart that people continue to educate themselves on the vast knowledge of nutrition and wellness, which is everywhere right now.
We are also so blessed to live on an island full of thoughtful, kind, polite and knowledgeable teachers to guide us on our way, it might lead us to open our eyes a little more to what is a current style trend, to make sustainable, positive changes. and well balanced to live.
And as a wise teacher once taught me, happiness is being free and freedom is having choices.
