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Sarah Ball. Yoga

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25.01.2022 THE PATH Here’s to the mess. To the beauty...to the vulnerability and chaos and courage it takes to keep finding our way back to what matters in the midst of enormous and perpetual change. May we remember that we’re all in this together. As Ram Dass reminds us ‘we’re all just walking each other home’

25.01.2022 GIFT TO SELF Anyone else have an inclination to an annual gift-to-self when seeking Christmas gifts? As someone who generally avoids retail spaces, and treasures the handmade, I find it meaningful to include myself in the mix of gift-giving from local spaces and markets like today’s @coledale_markets. This beauty is now adorning my neck. The three dots remind me of my commitment to kriya yoga (tapas, svadhyaya and isvara pranidana....translated as passionate curiosity/commitment; self-enquiry; and surrender). The larger circle reminds me of our innate wholeness, among other things. As someone who studied a degree in jewellery design many many moons ago, the power of symbolism is held close to my heart...thank you @unujewellery for this treasure

24.01.2022 Timely repost from James Baldwin via @brookmccarthy and @__nitch I can't be a pessimist, because I'm alive. To be a pessimist means that you have agreed that human life is an academic matter, so I'm forced to be an optimist. I am forced to believe that we can survive whatever we must survive."

23.01.2022 HUMAN MAGIC This is the most detailed model of a human cell ever seen to date. Extraordinary...we are a riot of colour and pattern and symmetry in chaos. We are living art! Image @rickball.artist.educator. Original image taken by @biologia_al_instante

22.01.2022 CELEBRATING LIFE Nine months ago our beloved Hazel ilka arrived in the world, bringing with her every bit as much colour, playfulness and exploration as my big painted belly was infused with at my blessing way. Nine months in my belly and nine months in our arms. What a precious and unbelievable privilege it is to be Mama to Hazel. Being the mental health pragmatist that I am, I was very much prepared for my old friends anxiety and depression to accompany this ride. So... far they’ve been remarkably quiet. I keep my eye on them and occasionally they’ll accompany me for an hour... or a day...but for the most part so far (I remain humble to the power of these dark emotions) this path of motherhood seems to uplift, galvanise and energise my spirit and appreciation of life more than I’d previously imagined it could. While life remains complex and challenging in all sorts of emotional, physical and psychological ways, it remains one of my most valued practices to keep an eye on what’s working well, and to savour those details. Motherhood it most definitely foremost amongst these gifts at present. I wonder what’s working in the details of your life amidst your own challenges, whatever they are? See more

22.01.2022 A shout-out in celebration of my Dad’s partner @evers_ann for this beautiful woven sculpture that won second prize at the Outback Art Prize 2020. Titled ‘contained and baked in the desert’ it’s about the impact of climate change and isolation during covid. I’ve always loved Ann’s work. So rich with earth textures. Let’s keep celebrating artists in this culture, where their amazing work is so rarely cast in the spotlight....

22.01.2022 TIRED So many types of tired. This really resonated with me today. Wishing for sleep and peace for all of us

22.01.2022 BOOKS AND BABE Two of my very favourite things in one place. Hazel and my book collection....oh sweet life, you can be wild and difficult but on this rainy evening I’m so very appreciative of these gifts....

21.01.2022 EVERYTHING YOU NEED IS WITHIN YOU - IS IT TRUE? YES AND NO What’s missing from this common yoga/wellbeing industry message? Collective care and social justice are missing. It’s true that we all have so much power within us, and tapping into our innate gifts and strengths can be a great source of fortitude and hopefulness. Yet it is also true that if someone faces systemic barriers to inner and/or outer thriving, then telling them that everything they need is within them ...just further reinforces shame, and pitches ideals of individualism which deny our very real needs for collective care, community support and social equity. Yoga community, we need to learn to think, practice and teach in a way that includes perspectives beyond new age and positive-thinking messages. People’s lives are complex, and if yoga spaces are to offer the gifts of quiet and simplicity that so many of us turn to it looking for, then we need to acknowledge BOTH the power of all that is within us, AND the infinitely important need for support and connection. When we do this, we create spaces in which we are able to meet our experiences with gentleness, and thrive both individually and collectively. Just 3 spots left in the March 2021 online advanced training in teaching yoga for trauma, anxiety, depression and body image. More info www.sarahball.com.au/bookings See more

21.01.2022 Amen (I posted this a long while back, but it’s such an important perspective I think it bears repeating...)

20.01.2022 ON RISING FROM TRAUMA A lot of my work with individuals, groups, and professional trainings involves conversations about trauma. Why someone would focus on trauma as part of yoga and therapy practice is something that baffles many people. It’s easy to think of trauma and think only of atrocities and post-traumatic stress - and these are certainly an unavoidable part of looking at trauma - and yet, when we hone our lens of trauma, we invariably also find incredible pathway...s of resilience, empowerment and courage in our own lives and the lives of those around us, that inspire us in the deepest way. So whether it comes to others’ trauma or your own, take heart....we are designed to rise. Our nervous systems and our social systems are wired for connection, and with the right support around us we can and do rise from our traumas, both personally and collectively. Here’s to rising. And to looking for evidence of resilience and wholeheartedness wherever we go... #trauma #traumahealing #traumasensitiveyoga #recovery #rise #posttraumaticgrowth #resilience #courage #wholehearted #keepgoing #connection #yogateacher #yogaineverything #counsellor #counsellorlife #traumacounsellor #somatictherapy See more

20.01.2022 WILD It’s been one year since this beauty graced us with her presence, trying to access the roof to sunbathe or shelter. That day was extraordinary and marked the start of a wild year. We couldn’t have imagined how much wilder 2020 would become. So far 2021 is comparatively tame, but time will tell...

19.01.2022 WHITE FRAGILITY Ever since living in Cambodia in 2013 and learning that ‘doing good’ can often harm those we wish to serve (because - among other things- we can unintentionally reinforce power structures of privilege and domination through charity work etc), I’ve done my best to explore the complexities of social justice and the many ways in which ‘good intentions’ and positive outcomes are not always the same thing. Lately I’ve been beginning to deepen my understanding o...f white privilege, particularly through reading the work of @resmaamenakem and @robin.diangelo, among others. While I’m learning more than I can begin to articulate just yet, what has stood out to me more than anything else is that anti-racism is not a state of being. It’s a process and a practice and it can never be completed or polished. I hope to remain humble to this incredibly complex systemic world of racism that is embedded within our bodies across generations. Since I live in a white body, the layers through which I benefit from whiteness are endless, even if I don’t like to think of myself as ‘racist’. What have you been learning about #antiracism ? See more

19.01.2022 SUNDAY EVENING MANTRA

18.01.2022 BODY DIVERSITY AND YOGA I’ve just finished filming module 4 (body image, body diversity and eating disorders) of my 50-hour advanced online yoga training in teaching yoga for trauma, anxiety, depression and body image. So much juicy goodness in this work. So many difficult, beautiful and important conversations. There’s just one spot left in the training starting March 1st 2021. Details via the link in my bio or go to www.sarahball.com.au/bookings

18.01.2022 Beautiful guiding words from María Sabina, poet and curandera (medicine woman), from Mexico. "Cure yourself, with the light of the sun and the rays of the moon. With the sound of the river and the waterfall. With the swaying of the sea and the fluttering of birds.... Heal yourself, with mint, neem and eucalyptus. Sweeten yourself with lavender, rosemary, and chamomile. Hug yourself, with the cocoa bean and a touch of cinnamon. Put love in tea instead of sugar and take it looking at the stars. Heal yourself, with the kisses that the wind gives you and the hugs of the rain. Get strong with bare feet on the ground and with everything that is born from it. Get smarter every day by listening to your intuition, looking at the world with the eye of your forehead. Jump, dance, sing, so that you live happier. Heal yourself, with beautiful love, and always remember ... You are the medicine." See more

17.01.2022 2021 DREAMING It’s that time again...dreaming into another year. Reflecting. Remembering. Releasing. Inviting. Intending. Initiating. What a tender and magnificent ride this being human thing is. May we (as @glennondoyle so brilliantly coined) revel in the fact that life is ‘brutiful’... Brutal. Beautiful. Brutiful. May we find the grace to acknowledge all we’ve met with, and moved through, in this wild year. May we have the tenacity to meet each day ahead with courage and a sense of humour, whilst relentlessly holding a vision of hope for the future we’re living into and creating together. As Rolf Gates reminds us, may we ‘forgive ourselves for being learners in this lifetime’....

15.01.2022 FFTs (or F*cking First Times) Those of you who know me are aware that technological equipment and me are not the greatest of allies. So, it’s no surprise then that being in front of the camera to film my 50-hour online advanced yoga training in Trauma, Anxiety, Depression and Body Image is definitely making the cut for definition of what @brenebrown would describe as an FFT (f*cking first time). You know when you embark on a new project or experience and it becomes all-t...oo-evident that you’re new to this? The unsteadiness, the vulnerability, the discomfort? ....It’s all there in me now. Swimming around my belly as I facilitate, not to a room of engaged trainees but to a camera. And so I use my tools. I breathe. I get curious and kind. I invoke playfulness as best I can. And I continue onwards, head-first into this FFT. The only other alternative is avoidance. And that comes with its own pain. This work is too important to be shut down along with the state borders. And I have an amazing group of teachers joining me in March 2021 for the online training. If you’re curious you can learn more on the booking page of my website www.sarahball.com.au/bookings (link in bio). Meanwhile? Onwards into the vulnerability and the fresh sense of thrill that rides on the back of doing hard things.... See more

13.01.2022 ON POST-TRAUMATIC GROWTH Wherever we may fall on the spectrum of post-traumatic stress to post-traumatic growth, it is essential to understand that all responses to trauma are growth-based. It’s also important to recognise that post-traumatic growth (or the experience of finding value and enhanced appreciation of life following traumatic events) does not happen INSTEAD of grief, stress and suffering in the face of the event, but as an integrated byproduct over time, of... surviving life experiences that no one would ever choose to endure. Given the popularity of discussion around post-traumatic growth as a ‘positive’ response to trauma, it can be very easy to assume that we experience EITHER traumatic stress OR post-traumatic growth, and that PTSD and other responses involving distress are a failure-to-thrive, or lack of resilience. However, many people’s experience is more of a vaccilating dance between and within these states. The reductive view that post-traumatic growth is somehow more valuable than expressions of distress is far too simplistic to take into account the incredible complexity, not to mention the fluctuating pain and beauty that can accompany experiences of recovery from traumatic events (note: when I use the word beauty here I refer to the common phenomenon In the aftermath of trauma for individuals to experience an enhanced capacity to appreciate small details or cherish things previously taken for granted). It’s also important to recognise that even the most painful expressions of traumatic stress are an effort on the part of the body to maintain or reclaim homeostasis; safety; and connection to life, even if that shows up in symptoms like withdrawal, numbness, hyper-vigilance, grief, depression, anxiety or other difficult emotions. And of course all of these can coexist in one’s life alongside moments of astonishing beauty, connection, compassion and love of life. However you cope with, integrate, or express responses to trauma in your own life, know that you are under no obligation to be ‘Positive’ about your experiences. Ultimately authenticity in your experience - whatever it may be - is all you owe yourself or others . See more

13.01.2022 A sweet reminder for this festive season, in a year that has challenged so many of us with our livelihoods. Of course we must still make a living somehow but if money-based anxiety has been part of your 2020 picture you might find some succour in these reminders....

11.01.2022 HOW DO WE CREATE INTERNAL CHANGE? As a trauma-focused therapist and Yoga Teacher working with mental health, the question of how we genuinely change and heal - without force, coercion, or reliance on the often unreliable power of self-control/willpower - is one of the central questions of my work. In western therapies it is not uncommon to assume that insight inherently leads to change. However many of us who have spent significant time with talking therapies will attest... that insight alone does not guarantee transformation of feeling states, or the damaging habits and actions that habitually follow them. What is often missing in our efforts is a capacity to attend to the role of the body’s sensations in the midst of our intentions for change. When we learn to recognise and safely attend to our body sensations, we can realise that we have a genuine power to make loving choices based on compassion, safety and an invitational tone with ourselves moment-by-moment (This is utterly different to goal-setting which relies on continuity of motivation...so easily thrown off by emotions and to-do lists etc). As we learn to be guided by sensations we can begin to gently experiment with what a new way of living, feeling and ultimately behaving might feel like by attuning ourselves to our felt-sense of change, not just our intentions for living differently. This is beautifully summed up by Peter Levine in his book ‘in an unspoken voice’... the balanced attention to sensation, feeling, cognition and elan vital (life-energy) remains the emergent therapeutic future for transforming the whole person (p.305 @somaticexperiencingint). Since all of us live with a longing to change some things about ourselves at least some of the time, it’s worth remembering that the body - not just the mind - is an essential friend in this process of true integrated change . See more

11.01.2022 DEAR YOGA TEACHERS. PLEASE STOP TALKING ABOUT FOOD IN CLASS. NO VEGANISM. NO CLEANSES. NO NUTRITION TALK. THANK YOU. Amen. Thank you Kristina Bruce for this call to the yoga community. @kristinabruce_coach @kelly_ryan_creative

11.01.2022 SUMMER READS Look what arrived just in time for Xmas. I’m so looking forward to diving into these essays. What are you reading this summer?

11.01.2022 HOW TO RESPOND WHEN ANXIETY CALLS I was listening recently to a talk by @babaramdass, who spoke about receiving a call from someone in the midst of an (LSD induced) panic attack. Whilst trying to decide how to respond, it occurred to him to ask to speak to the one who called. I found this such a powerful example of the aim of yoga practice. In the midst of the complexity, chaos, and genuine suffering (that we all encounter at some point) in this strange and beautiful ...human experience, Ram Dass was asking to connect with the aspect of this person in the midst of a panic attack who had had the clarity to seek help - even when reality itself was questionable to the caller. In the yoga practice, we begin with a busy mind full of conflicting perspectives, opinions and thoughts that wander in every direction. With a trauma informed, invitational and empowering approach to the practice, we can begin to gently guide this scattered self toward ‘the one who called’. In this case, the one drawn to practice and to turning inward despite all the conflicting to-do lists and other ways that time could be spent. Someone inside is calling, and when we respond to that call, we return the self to the centre of the self. This is Yoga. This is home. Whether you find it on a yoga mat, playing with your kids, or on a wave....whatever allows you contact with the ‘one who calls’ is worth returning to as often as life allows. If you - like me - experience anxiety, I wonder what it might be like to ask yourself to speak to the one who calls? The aspect of yourself that longs for resolution, calm and ease. It just might lead you home. @penny2901 See more

09.01.2022 is medicine. Wishing us all peace and ease. Repost from @mcyogi

09.01.2022 ON COMPARISON Interestingly, in a study done on how comparison works to impact how we feel about our lives, they looked at Olympic medalists. Those who won gold experienced great joy/satisfaction (for a while...all things must pass of course). Those who won bronze were stoked to make it to the podium at all. But those who won silver? More often than not they were preoccupied with how close they’d been to winning gold, and were overall disappointed to be in 2nd place. Isn’t that fascinating? The power of comparison! 2nd in the world, yet dissatisfied to miss out on being SO close to 1st place. Amazing. Let that be a reminder to us all of the futility of comparison

09.01.2022 THIS. I’m moved to tears by this piece.

08.01.2022 ON TAKING RISKS AFTER TRAUMA If we have experienced traumatic events in our lives, we can develop the tendency to be so focused on safety, security and predictability that our daily patterns keep us looping in the direction of vigilance and tension rather than ease, relaxation, or joy. This tension is wise when you think about it. If safety has been elusive then of course that is what we will focus on most in our lives, in order to feel that life has some semblance of sta...bility, groundedness and reliability. However according to Esther Perel (whose work I’ve long admired) and many in the field of trauma recovery, we can also see that the capacity to take risks, to live with vitality and unpredictability can be a marker of healing and integrating traumatic stress. It’s important to discern that this kind of risk-taking is a conscious, consenting form of risk-taking - as opposed to destructive patterns of risk that may reinforce cycles of destruction or abuse related to trauma. When this differentiation is clear, we can see that moving beyond vigilance and into a space where we have the creative imagination to bear the vulnerability inherent in risk, can be a potent symbol of moving forward, and integrating traumatic experience, so that freedom can be embodied in a way that dances the ever-shifting line between safety and risk. Ironically, until we feel sufficiently safe in ourselves and the world, such risk is very difficult to feel open to, or ready for. Hence, the value of therapy to support integration of these apparent opposites of experience. It’s been two years since this photo was taken of me in a jetlagged daze in Vienna. A lot has changed. I’ve become a mother among other things, and COVID-19 has shifted the way we travel, connect, and imagine our communities, our futures and our everyday rhythms. I’m not sure if I’m more at ease with risk now than I was then, but I certainly aspire in that direction, and life provides endless opportunities to practice. See more

08.01.2022 HOW MISPLACED REST CAN MAKE US REST-LESS After posting the poem ‘sacred exhaustion’ earlier today, I’ve been reflecting on a post I wrote over a year ago on a similar topic, in which I shared about the idea that restoration and genuine replenishment can come in so many forms. One person’s notion of self-care bliss (such as a warm bath) may be totally inappropriate for another person. For example, that same bath could induce rumination, anxiety or melancholy for someone fo...r whom connection is needed in that moment, rather than solitude. When it comes to rest, rejuvenation and wellness, being curious and attentive are often the keys to finding the thing that really feels like ‘medicine’ or true rest on any given day.... not as easy as the assumption that we should all run a bath with lavender oil perhaps, but ultimately much more effective at creating energy and vitality in our systems once more . See more

06.01.2022 WHY IT’S NOT ALWAYS HELPFUL TO ‘SIT WITH’ INTENSE FEELINGS In the yoga and mindfulness world, it’s not uncommon to hear the directive to ‘stay with’ or ‘sit with’ very uncomfortable or intense feelings, sensations, or emotions no matter how intense they get, as if to do so is the only pathway to spiritual or psychological growth. While learning not to run from difficult or intense experience is one of the central premise of contemplative practice, it is not always appro...priate or helpful to lean into difficulty, especially when to do so reinforces patterns of freeze response related to trauma. When we are living with responses to trauma in our body, the instruction to sit with intense emotion can lead to an experience of entrapment or helplessness, especially when someone feels an intense urge to move, leave, or attend to their needs in a way that is not consistent with the directive to sit still or be with what is coming up. In many instances it is more helpful to move away from a directive instruction and instead create an inner invitational space, where you might like to CHOOSE to stay OR to gently move the body or redirect to the mind towards that which is supportive, rather than insist on ‘staying with’. For someone with any history of unresolved trauma, sitting with intense feelings and emotions can induce an experience of ‘flooding’ or total overwhelm, which can lead to incomplete nervous system response in the form of fight, flight, freeze (FFF) reactions. Next time you tell yourself to sit with something or hear someone instruct you to do so, you might like to also pause and inquire whether staying with the emotion or experience is giving you greater bandwidth for experiencing life, or whether perhaps taking a break, distracting for a while, or redirecting the mind or emotions may be more constructive and loving towards yourself and your experience in that moment. Ultimately with time, building our capacity to gently bear reality without being captive to FFF responses is a wonderfully helpful intention, but it must be done in a way that gently builds our tolerance over time, rather than using coercion or force. Surely what we’re cultivating in our mindfulness or yoga practice is a greater sense of freedom rather than just an enhanced sense of discipline....so whatever it is that brings you greater freedom - do that . See more

06.01.2022 FESTIVE FAMILY PRACTICES How can we bring our most integrated, dignified, generous (not necessarily monetarily) and loving selves to the fore over the festive season, when it can be so challenging in so many ways? This pair of photos was taken of me with my beloved Pa wearing the beanie I’d made him for Christmas when I was 18, at a time when his Alzheimer’s was so advanced that he kept forgetting I’d made the beanie, or that he was wearing it, and thanked me over and ove...r for the gift each time he touched his head. These are such precious memories to carry forward into this season of connection. Whether this time of year brings you joy, loneliness, longing, tension, fear, or deep ease (or a spectrum of all of these and more), know that you are ultimately not alone. As we move into the festive time of year when we may see our family, and/or feel the absence of loved ones, may we hold each other and ourselves with supreme gentleness, soften our expectations, see what’s working, practice exquisite self-care, and see our place in the larger pulse of the ‘family of things’ (as poet @maryoliverpoetry would say). I like to remember the nudge from Ram Dass, who reminds us that ‘we’re all just walking each other home’. See more

05.01.2022 CELLO DREAMING So it turns out my ancestors were musicians. The man on the left is my great-great-grandfather, and the man on the right is his father. Wow. Maybe my dream of playing the cello runs in my blood. One day I’ll play this instrument during savasana in my yoga classes and retreats....though I’ll need a lot of practice to ensure it’s relaxing and not torturous! I’m in no rush, and it’s precious to have these dreams to live into one day....what far-off dreams are you living into?

01.01.2022 Anyone else resonate? .....

01.01.2022 ONLINE YOGA, TRAUMA AND MENTAL HEALTH TRAINING BOOKED OUT I’m more than a little excited to share this important work with the group of yoga teachers who are joining me online for this 5-week 50-hour training in March. If you missed out and would like to join the waitlist, or be the first to know when I have dates for the next training, DM me or email [email protected]