How to bring more flow into your life
Do you feel stuck?
… Stuck doing or experiencing the same thing over and over?
… Stuck on a plateau, feeling unable to find or take that next step-change?
Even in a yoga practice you can get stuck.
… Stuck mindlessly performing postures.
… Stuck in the thoughts of a busy mind, unable to come to stillness.
In this article, you will learn:
Some of the reasons Why you can become stuck
How to identify Where in a cycle you may be stuck.
Four poses to assist you in moving from a place of being stuck to a state of flow.
Follow along with the accompanying YouTube video to make the most of this exploration.
Why do we get stuck?
One way to look at the duality in life is in the energy forms of the masculine and the feminine. Masculine energy is very directional or linear, always driving forwards. Feminine energy, on the other hand, is more circular or cyclical and fluctuating in nature.
Irrespective of gender, we need both masculine and feminine energy in our life.
This concept of balancing the masculine and feminine highlights two ways that we can become stuck:
1. Having a Linear Approach
Although it is not as clear physically, men also have a cycle. Their bodies are more attuned to the cycle of the day and the year. This is reflected in the way our society has been organised around a calendar that works with the day and the year. The constant move towards everything running 24/7 is also a reflection of the domination of masculine (yang) energy.
If we are stuck operating in a masculine manner all of the time, we can become unbalanced.
2. Repeating the Same Cycle
Perhaps your mode of operating is cyclical, but the cycle is repetitive, rather than growing or evolving. If nature, and feminine energy in general moves in cycles, how do we move out of one cycle and into another? How do we break the cycle?
The best thing about cycles is that the end of every cycle brings another opportunity for a new beginning. It is about finding the moment of pause, creating space at the end of one cycle to make the transition.
“In the moment of pause before the dawn, true transformation can occur”
Where are you Stuck?
I find that almost any aspect of life can be conceptualised as a cycle. The relevance of this approach has become more and more clear to me through my experiences as a yoga student, mother and yoga teacher.
You might like to try applying these four cycle stages depicted below to a situation in your own life that you wish to shift, or seek more ease and flow in. The following prompts may assist you to determine in which stage of the cycle you are currently stuck.
Conception: Is there something you wish to bring in, to create, but you just can’t seem to get started or initiate the process?
Gestation: Do you feel overwhelmed with your to-do list, like everything takes far longer than you expected or that there are so many distractions and you just can’t seem to get focused?
Manifestation: Do you feel like you have ‘done the work’ required to get you to your desired outcome, but the spark just doesn’t quite ignite?
Growth: Does it seem as if no matter how many projects you complete, no matter how many achievements you clock up, that there’s no final satisfaction in any of it?
Four Poses to Flow
If you’re not sure which stage of the cycle you are at, try these four yoga poses. As you perform each one, take the time to move gently, to breathe and to listen in to how your body feels.
… Where is the energy moving, where is it stuck?
… Where does the posture draw you to focus your attention?
… Where does the posture draw you to release or exert energy?
You may like to jot down a few notes after each pose.
Four Poses to Flow
1. Forward Fold (Uttanasana)
2. Warrior II (Virabhadrasana II)
3. Goddess Pose (Utkata Konasana)
4. Pyramid Pose (Parsvottonasana)
After experiencing all four poses, take some time (perhaps in quiet reflection or meditation) to notice which pose emulates the feelings or energy that most resonate with your current situation. This will then correspond to one of the four stages of the cycle described previously.
Which pose is the most challenging for you right now?
Once you have taken time to experience and reflect, these four poses can be practised as a sequence (which you can follow along with in my YouTube video here):
Sequence to Flow
After a Forward Fold (Pose 1), step back with one leg and windmill the arms over and up into Warrior II (Pose 2).
From here, adjust the feet and turn to the side of the mat to transition to Goddess Pose (Pose 3),
Adjust the back foot to the appropriate angle to move you into Pyramid Pose (Pose 4).
Add a runner’s lunge (Anjaneyasana) after Pose 4 to transition you back to Forward Fold (Pose 1)
Repeat with the opposite leg stepping back to Warrior II (Pose 2), etc.
Becoming Un-stuck
Moving your body’s energy through this sequence may help you experience a little of the shift from stuck to flowing. As you embody this experience, you may then like to turn to some prompts to help you begin your shift towards flow. Choose the stage of the cycle that you have been drawn to focusing on.
Conception: Have you created the space to begin, have you prepared?
Gestation: Are you distracting yourself or procrastinating? Does the direction you are moving connect with your overall goals and values for your life?
Manifestation: Can you accept that you cannot control everything. That once you have put actions in place, there is a point at which you have to let go of control, and surrender to the knowledge that things will play out as they will, that the outcome may not be exactly as you expected, but could be even better than you imagined.
Growth: Have you been taking the time to celebrate your achievements, to pause and enjoy everything you have manifested before moving on to something else?
If you are interested in learning to work with each of these cyclical phases of life more deeply, if you are seeking further guidance to become un-stuck, to move into a new beginning, there are many ways I can support you, including:
- Free insight timer meditations
- Free youtube videos
- Feminine Flow and Lunar Yoga classes (studio and online options available)