A few weeks ago, I was driving and was a little hesitant on a roundabout because it wasn’t clear what the car who had the right of way was doing. Nothing major, but enough to trigger a full-blown outburst from the woman in the car behind me. She was middle-aged, driving a sensible hatchback. The kind of person you might imagine smiling at you in a shop queue.
But in that moment, she completely lost it! Beeping her horn, shouting, swearing, filled with rage.
It caught me off guard.
It reminded me how much we can never know from the outside what might be bubbling beneath the surface or most importantly, why they are so quick to anger.
When I arrived at my destination, I noticed how much of her anger I’d absorbed into my own body. So, I took a few moments to let it move through.
I shook out my body (just like animals do when they’ve had a stressful experience)
Felt my feet on the ground.
Softened the tension in my shoulders, jaw and buttocks.
Returned to my breath.
And then - when I felt that I had released what I needed to and felt more centred, I quietly sent her love. Not because what she did was okay. But because I don’t know what pushed her over the edge. I don’t know what kind of day, or life she has, or what traumas or sadness she may have been carrying.
And I was reminded: this is why I do this work.
Why we practice slowing down.
Why we create space between trigger and response.
Why regulating the nervous system matters.
Because when we don’t - when our systems are stretched and raw - it doesn’t take much to tip us over.
We all have moments like this.
The difference is how we meet them.
How we come back.
How we soften, rather than spiral.
That’s the real yoga.
The yoga that happens not in perfect poses, in a beautiful yoga studio, but in everyday moments - on the mat, in the car, and in those tender places between.
Think of the changes we could make if we chose to pause, process and respond from a calm place, rather than react in the moment.
Thank you for reading.
In gratitude.
Claire
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