Play, Explore and Create: Flowing with the natural rhythm of your true self.
Written by Shannon | @the_crystal_visions
I’m Shan… A Movement Creator and Yoga lover.
After completing my Yoga Teacher Training in Costa Rica, I began to explore the deeper essentials of yoga and the endless possibilities it welcomes into your life.
When I first began to explore yoga, I was affected by society and the surrounding expectations thereof. We all tend to compare ourselves to others, whether that be in a yoga class or on social media. We are inclined to absorb all the information visually, mentally and expect ourselves to reach the same goals as those around us.
It’s the natural human tendency to think in that manner and consequently create a platform of comparison. All these self-doubt questions you ask yourself, embed themselves into the subconscious and lead us to adopt an “I can’t do it” mentality.
Yoga is not about how flexible you are, how many inversions you can do, how elegant and skinny you look. Yoga is about connecting your body with your breath in order to find stillness. It’s about finding the space to acknowledge your physical and mental capability - Flowing with the natural rhythm of your true self.
My personal connection with yoga is in finding a way to allow all my sense to flow organically and embody the full force of natural creation and self-improvement to grow within me.
The Diversity of Yoga
If you have not already done so, take a look on social media. Soak up all the different types of yogis out there. Each and every one of them is on their own unique journey. Expressing their individuality. The diversity of yoga goes far beyond your imagination. It does not need to be for the spiritual believer, flexible chic in her sexy hot pants, certain body types, abilities and ethnicities. Yoga is for any age, any gender and any belief system. Yoga is an expression and creation.
Having a qualification in yoga and having travelled all around the world, indulging in yoga retreats, yoga studios and festivals. I have gained a valuable appreciation and an understanding as to how yoga can transition your body, mind and self-connection.
It is only in the past couple of years that I have truly dived into yoga and explored the capabilities of my body. I am no expert, but I do live by a moto,
Play, Explore and Create.
“By tapping into your inner playfulness and exploring your body, you start creating your own personal relationship with yoga and your practice.”
This year, I attended Spirit Festival 2020 – a biannual festival that combines the power of yoga, meditation, dance and community. Whilst walking through spirit fest market, I discovered Evnflo. They were promoting their inversion chairs and I was immediately intrigued. I had seen similar chairs on social media before but hadn’t had the privilege of trying one myself. It only took one try and I was sold.
Having spent some personal time with the designers themselves, I gained a deeper understanding of how the inversion chair works and what benefits it provides.
Not only does is offer the ability to find confidence in your inversions, it allows you to stretch in other areas of your body, such as the spine, arms and shoulders.
Being confident in head stands myself, I fortunately had the courage to play and explore. During this time my mother sprang to ming. She is in her 50’s and exploring her own journey. Wanting to progress in her yoga, I immediately thought this chair would help guide her into finding confidence and strength.
As true yogis we should never be ashamed of using props. Using props can truly help personalize your practice, so you can get more out of it. Anything that relaxes the body and relieves tension helps to extend the amount of time one can hold a yoga pose.
Props empower you to experiment. Rather than being in your ego mind where you have a sense of self-importance and putting a high expectation on yourself, rather be in your conscious mind, where you can truly tap into thinking rationally and with no self-sabotaging approach.
With good care and gentle timing, my mother held her inversion longer than she could without the chair. My brother who is no yogi but a weight trainer found himself using this inversion chair to explore his stability, core strength and stamina.
This chair removes any pre–conceived fears. It helps you gain new perspectives, both physically and metaphorically. There is always another way to resolve a situation. There is always another approach to the end result. No matter your level of strength, flexibility and experience, there is always a way to achieve your end goal. The power of the mind is strong. But with your conscious mind, necessary guidance such as props, you can achieve anything you put your mind to.
Other than looking cool upside down, inversions have deep meaning to the body. They help to energize your entire body, by circulating your blood, sending oxygen to the entire body. They improve circulation, build core strength, confidence and literally give you a new perspective.
This inversion chair is beautifully engineered and hand crafted made with sustainable sourced Birch Ply.It is lightweight, easy to assemble and portable. Every aspect of this inversion chair is thoughtfully ecologically created.
It is so gorgeous it can be part of the furniture in your living room.
“The EVNFLO inversion chair is a dialogue - bringing more diversity to yoga. It has been thoughtfully created, well engineered and is a piece of artwork that has been specifically designed to enable individuals to explore props that will bring the essence of evolving benefit to their yoga.
By unifying the body, mind, self-connection, consciousness and emotional value, it will allow you to live a life worthy of serenity and fulfillment.
I believe a quality product will bring you into a space of feeling good and feeling empowered to take the next steps into your journey”
- Shannon