The other day, I was listening to the Music Planet on BBC radio 3 and the presenter, Lopa Kathari described one of the songs as having sense of joy and fun. Those words struck me as I often felt that we could benefit from having these qualities in our yoga practice as well.

Joy is defined as ‘a feeling of great pleasure and happiness’. The term fun suggests, light-hearted pleasure or entertainment. Perhaps, this is one of the reasons why we undermine them, but I would argue that it’s essential for development and learning. I also believe we deserve to feel pleasure and happiness.

When we were young, we moved naturally and easily. Children are innately motivated by pleasure and excitement of movement, so that they can intuitively explore, interact, and develop. For movement is primary and existed long before language. We now know that play is essential for our cognitive, physical, social, and emotional well-being. As the National Institute for Play says:

‘Movement play makes kids stronger, more coordinated, more knowledgeable, and more emotionally competent. This is especially true when movement play activities are freely chosen and self-directed by the youngster as in free play’.

It’s not surprising that self-directed ‘free play’ is significant as it harnesses creativity and imagination. In children, imagination plays a vital role in brain development and as we’ve seen in the discovery of neuroplasticity, it’s also important in adults. Imagination aids better memory, creativity and problem-solving skills.

As we grow up and become more self-conscious, joy in movement seems to disappear and we often begin to feel less connected to our body. To make matters worse, we can wrongly assume that we’re no longer good at physical activities through our inability to enjoy rule-based sports and structured exercises.

I experienced this first hand when my eyesight became poor when I was young. My hand eye coordination became worse and movement-oriented activities became challenging. I started to believe that I’m not good at physical activities and avoided doing them. These beliefs stuck with me until I started to practice yoga in a kind compassionate way and over time, I’ve managed to rekindle my love of movement again.

When I’m doing yoga in an explorative manner, it’s much easier to feel connected to my body and lose track of time. It’s very similar to the way that I felt when I was playing. Whereas when I’m focusing on getting certain moves or postures ‘correct’, it’s very easy to feel frustrated and time even seems to slow down!

It's important to have discipline and commitment to our yoga practice but it’s also essential to have some fun - they don’t need to be mutually exclusive. Enjoyment is one of the key factors that fuels my daily practice. I believe that we can benefit from finding more joy in movement.

We are undoubtedly going through challenging times, most countries are still in lockdown. The NHS is under funded and staff are struggling. As of yet, there is no cure for Coronavirus and sadly many people are getting ill and dying. To make matters worse, there is no clear time frame when things will start to improve.

Everyone’s lives are restricted and we’re all worried about catching the virus and spreading it to our loved ones, especially vulnerable people. It’s natural for people to feel anxious in these times.

As we face these challenges, there is a tendency to want to distract ourselves, but unless we acknowledge what’s going on, we will continue to be anxious. Due to the lockdown, many people now have more time available to find new hobbies such as DIY, cooking and fitness. Whilst this is a great opportunity to take up things we’ve always wanted to do, it’s also important to make the time to connect to how we’re feeling. This way we won’t just be filling our time with lots of activities but we’ll begin to find what’s truly nourishing and engaging.

Mindfulness Meditation encourages us to be more aware of ourselves by teaching us to be in each moment. As Mindfulness teacher Jon Kabat-Zinn said,

‘Mindfulness means paying attention in a particular way, on purpose, in the present moment non judgementally’

We begin to notice our thoughts and action more clearly and understand that our behaviour affects others and our environment. Most people are now confined in smaller spaces and living under each other’s feet, and more than ever, we must be conscious of how we’re behaving towards others.

Regular practice of meditation enables people to watch over themselves in a relaxed open manner. As Kabat-Zinn emphasised,

‘Compassion and kindness towards oneself is intrinsically woven to mindfulness’.

When we practice with compassion and kindness, there will naturally be more peace and ease. We begin to accept our feelings rather than to try and hide them or to make them better.

When we become less hardened by our experience, we will feel a whole spectrum of subtle sensations. You’ll also recognise that nothing stays the same - every moment is different (no matter how similar it may seem) and precious.

We can feel disconnected from others especially during isolation but the practice will remind you that you’re not alone and everything’s interconnected. As a biologist and philosopher Donna Haraway said,

‘None of us should think of ourselves as individuals, isolated and alone. Whether we like it or not, our lives are inextricably entwined with the lives of others…and recognition of this entwining can teach us what it means to be rooted in the world’.

There is a misconception that meditation is difficult, it’s in fact one of the most simple and accessible practices. You don’t need special equipment or to be physically fit. All you need is time, patience and willingness to learn.

I will be posting different meditation techniques and tips of practice to help you get started. I also offer live online donation based mindfulness meditation and yoga class on Wednesday morning from 10-11am every week. Suggested donation is £6 but you can pay whatever you can afford. The proceeds for this class will be going to Bristol Mind, mental health charity in Bristol.