Feel the Fire, Embrace the Fall

By Kayla Reetz

The fire is the light within you. It's the moment the body is ignited with passion for individual light, shine, and ability, showing and sharing what you’re capable of with the world.

Feel the Fire

Safe Harbor Yoga has taken a big step through yoga, education, and wellness. We recently hosted a local retreat devoted to giving time to reflect and pursue personal self-care. And, within this retreat, we gave time to “feel the fire.”

We started this with simple asana movements, or postures/poses. This is often the start for many people in their yoga journey. They found a video online or happened upon a local class. My start was in a teacher recertification class. This is where I began to notice what my body could do instead of being reminded what it couldn’t. I explain that in more detail in the blog post “Safe Harbor Yoga: An Origin Story.”

Much growth can happen in connecting the body to the breath and engaging the mind. During the retreat, we often reconnected to our body and breath. We took time to acknowledge not just how our muscles and physical body felt, but also our emotional body. We took time to recognize the two are intertwined. Because of this, we also tested our personal boundaries. We kept it fairly light in the movement sense, choosing a short breathwork practice that engages the body in a non-intensive form. This is where we started to feel the fire.

A reminder students are often told at Safe Harbor Yoga

After a few rounds, we quickened the pace, noticing if there was a change physically, mentally, and emotionally, in our body. In doing so, we allowed a somewhat meditative state to overtake us. The feeling is similar to those who enjoy a good, meditative run or brief, silent retreat into meditation. We quickened again, seeing what was possible. If we could do the thing in front of us when the mind may be resisting. We found it hard to keep focus as the pace quickened. There was less time to prepare and, if our mind strayed for an instant, we often made a mistake. As an instructor, I didn’t care about the mistake, I wanted to see what they did after the mistake; after they met their personal threshold, their fire.

Embrace the Fall

Become familiar with who you are at this moment. Recognize the person who walked the walk, climbed the challenge, and traveled a distance. See the person you were with the knowledge you had, accepting them, and identify the person you are now with new knowledge within.

Some participants kept going, pretending the mistake didn’t happen.

Others took a break, a breather, before continuing or restarting the pattern.

And there were a few exasperated sounds, a few mental beatdowns for something that wasn’t out of their control, but out of practice.

I had my participants stop, place their hands on their heart with eyes closed, and recognize themselves. They connected to their breath and their body, identifying how their physical, mental and emotional body felt. I encouraged them to compare them without labeling them as good, bad, right, or wrong. They practiced simply existing and reminded themselves it was enough. They were enough.

Embracing the fall is the moment after recognition of self. It's the moment we imagine looking at ourselves in the mirror and truly looking to see who is there. Loving them, accepting them, growing with them, listening and checking in. It's when we choose to treat that person as if they are a best friend. A friend we forgive, encourage and connect with.

This blog post was inspired not only by the recent retreat, but also a practice I try to stick to. Each solstice (summer and winter), I remind myself of the person I was, where I began as a student, an educator, an instructor, and finally a small business owner. I also remind myself of who I want to become. Not only a successful business owner, but a yoga therapist, and someone who strives to leave the world better than they found it. If I can’t change the world, I strive to make a positive impact in a very small corner of it.

Solstice Challenge: Can you complete 108? A practice of mentally pushing through, of detoxing, and accepting what is.

Using Sun Salutation A (there is a B version), I try to complete 108 rotations or cycles…on both sides of my body. I choose to do the work in small increments, usually working in groups of 10 or 20 throughout the day. I do it for the mental, emotional and physical detox, for the fire, and work to accept the fall. Keeping track of progress is challenging. Returning to the mat, to the work, even more so. There are people who can complete this in one go—cycling through the flow without stopping until all 108 are complete. I’m not there yet. If I’m honest, it is something I strive for.

This brings me to the final point of embracing the fall: you have to know when to rest. Rest is productive and necessary toward growth. It is there as a reset for our body and mind. It gives the body and mind time to absorb and sift through new information, preparing itself for the next encounter. Sometimes, if we push without rest, we have a deteriorating effect on the body and mind.

A reminder to Safe Harbor Yoga students

Oftentimes, the savasana or meditation part of practice is what our mind and body resists the most. It's also the practice that helps us to see the fire after feeling it, and embracing the fall after finding our feet once again.

If you enjoyed this blog post and want to learn more about your internal fire and fall, become a site member with Safe Harbor Yoga’s website at www.stormlakesafeharboryoga.com at no charge, or follow us on our socials for the most up-to-date happenings!

May you find peace in the mind, the heart, and each day moving forward.