Return to Self: Finding Balance as the Seasons Shift
- Sam Turner
- Oct 12
- 3 min read
Hello curious person
Thanks for checking in with this post.
Our most recent themes have really been ones that I’ve not only shared within our yoga space, but I’ve also embodied within my personal life. September’s theme, Return to Self, was inspired by the end of summer and the beginning of autumn.
Autumn is a wonderful time of year – everywhere looks so vibrant with orange, weather can be both wonderful and terrible and there’s this instinctive urge to wrap yourself in a blanket whilst watching endless films.
It may feel wonderful but most of us experience a drop in energy. And it was this that was the whole inspiration for the theme. Instead of fighting it, as we so often do, let’s just embrace it. Let’s lean into this waning of energy and adapt what we do to that.
When the weather is kinder, I need to get the habits in. When dark nights are approaching, I need to remind myself to get out there and do stuff. I’m really looking for balance – periods of rest mixed with periods of routine. Historically, I’ve welcomed too much rest at this time of the year but, overall, it didn’t work for me.
My yoga classes are a great place to explore this. If you can do it on the mat, it becomes easier to do off the mat. This practice was centred around checking in – the kosha model influenced the check-in – with the physical, energetic, mental and intuitive layers of our existence. In most poses, you’ll find options within my classes. This theme was using our check-in to influence the choices we made throughout the practice.
As we come out of summer, I believe people fall into one of two camps.
Group 1:
You’re busy, living life to the fullest and embracing the heights of summer with a busy schedule of social plans. You’ve been running at 90% for three months and it’s time for you to shift gears to slow down and embrace a slower pace.
Group 2 (this is me):
It’s been warm and you’ve preserved your energy. You’ve embraced mornings, avoided the hottest part of the day and generally have suffered from warmer nights. You’ve been running at 40% for three months and it’s time to shift gears up and embrace a little bit of challenge as you move into a cooler time of the year.
The reality is that it doesn’t matter which group you fall into. Instead, it’s about noticing and letting this influence the practice. I wanted to create something that felt like it was setting you up for autumn/winter. September could become your template for the rest of the year.
The practice was filled with smaller sequences that began with a place you could pause and stay for a couple of minutes – think your bound angle pose/cobbler’s pose or your child’s pose/puppy pose – followed by a sequence of higher energy poses.
The highlight sequence of this class was:
Butterfly pose (with the feet quite far away from the pelvis)
Take hold of the feet
Lean back and lift the feet – balance on your bum
Progress to both big toe pose (Thank you ChatGPT for giving me the actual name of this pose)
Single leg
Other leg
Both legs together
This little sequence was fun and really gave people the autonomy to do whatever they needed. Some days, if I were to attend, I would have stuck with butterfly pose. Others, I would have leapt straight into both big toe pose.
It was a fantastic theme – I loved it. I love any time I can squeeze some fun in – yoga naturally has a tense feel and a pose like both big toe pose can really break the tension.
October’s theme is Soften the Grips. It’s all about exploring tensions in the body, particularly in that unique place where you hold tension. As we increase and decrease tension, how does it change our shapes and how they feel?
Don't forget, you're awesome
Sam
Comments