In the world of yoga and healing – commonsense underpins the transformative path. Commonsense is sound, practical judgment that’s usually developed through life experience rather than any kind of formal training. If you were lucky, you had sensible, loving parents, who had parked their egos to one side and tried to do a great job of bringing you up and modelling sensible, courageous, normal behaviour. If you weren’t lucky, you had a dysfunctional childhood. Often that means one or both of your parents were immature, vain, self-obsessed, narcissistic, abusive or addicted and they struggled with their own demons so there was not a lot of good parenting coming your way. They were too busy trying to sort out their own lives. Most kids bought up in these environments become self-sufficient, definitely traumatised to some degree, and for the majority of these kids, they look for other mentors to model their behaviour on. And usually, they do a good job in turning into functional citizens. Some kids are not so lucky, and they are haunted with mental and physical challenges, which often comes back to the early life trauma and their body revisiting the trauma at a cellular level, repeatedly, until something changes, and that trauma is either let go or integrated into the person’s life.
But what has commonsense got to do with yoga retreats? Well, when I design a yoga retreat, and we have one coming up soon: Feel to Heal (21/3 – 23/3), I try to build in healing modalities that not only support what we are trying to achieve but also model commonsense choices that my retreat attendees can take home and use. I don’t like complicated regimes. Like everyone else I am really busy, running several businesses and a family. So streamlined, solid, easy practices are the way to go. It’s called safety signalling. I build in practical ways to reassure your primitive body that the retreat is a wonderful, safe place to be.
We start with intention. If you had sensible parents, they would have taught you how to set goals, budget and plan. Without intention, life just drifts along. The most extraordinary stories of transformation that I am privileged to hear are from students who harnessed intention and the group energy and changed their lives. These are the students who usually keep coming back on retreat, year after year. They are unstoppable.
Movement. My caveman body was designed to move, not sit all day. And with this science called yoga, which consists of specific, targeted movements, as I stretch and soften those big bands of tension and armour, I have a chance to let that stuff deep inside me go.
Food. Dysfunctional childhoods are often characterised by chaotic mealtimes and bedtimes. When my kids were tiny, I was horrified that many of the young mums in my social group didn’t even know how to cook, let alone cook from scratch. Everything was quick and heated in a microwave. Well real, organic food is a big part of my yoga retreats. Regular mealtimes of warming, nourishing, tasty food. This is ancestral eating, using Ayurvedic principles. Packed with vegetarian protein (pulses/ nuts and grains – all the amino acids), spices and vegetables and salads. You will not go hungry. But did you know that warm, cooked, nourishing, regular meals high in protein (either flesh or vegetarian options) soothe and reassure your primitive body? Why does this make such a difference? Well, my caveman body has not evolved physically to keep up with modern fads and synthetic foods. If I eat real, nourishing food my caveman body believes I am living in a time of plenty, I have discovered fire so I can cook my foods and get even more nourishment out of them (all- raw, cold diets are great as a short detox but really detrimental long term and no modern biomes have sufficient enzymatic activity to get maximum nourishment out of them. That goes for all the other food fads). So, on yoga retreat: I am nourished, it’s a time of plenty, and hence my trauma body feels very safe and free to transform and let go of anything it likes.
How else do I use the retreat to entrench commonsense practices? We wake with the sun and go to bed not long after dinner, when dark. If we expose our eyes, body and face to morning sunlight, our body will respond by increasing serotonin which is a precursor to melatonin, the hormone that helps regulate sleep and wake cycles. We Earth ourselves by spending time in nature, in the rainforest and by the waterfall. Historically, humans have always had a physical connection with the Earth. They walked, sat, and slept on the ground. When your bare feet touch the ground, they absorb electrons from the Earth to counteract the formation of free radicals we are bathed in daily by the EMFs around us.
We use pranayama and breathwork to free up the diaphragm and stimulate the vagus nerve. If I can breathe properly with big, slow, deep breaths this means I can relax, and my primitive mind is reassured that I’m safe. Tight, shallow breathing equates to fear. We chant and hum. People have sung and chanted in groups for thousands of years. Theres a huge energy when you join your voice with others. And we laugh and we connect with each other. No caveperson survived on their own and the loveliest thing about a yoga retreat is that everyone is doing their own thing in a group situation. There’s a practical, commonsense rhythm to all this ancient knowledge. You will love it! Love and namaste Margot