“The two most powerful warriors are patience and time.”

– Leo Tolstoy (War and Peace)

[A 3-minute read. Sorry - actually, I’ve no idea 🤷‍♀️]

Before I say anything else…

CLASS UPDATE:

From tomorrow, Saturday's Yoga Online will be extended from 60 to 75 minutes

(8.30 to 9.45 a.m) Whoop!

It's about time.

(Yes, some of you will be saying, “It’s what you were doing anyway!”)

I’ve decided. More time is needed. You’re worth it, so how about it?

Why the change? As ever, life seems to send me the signs. This week, I’ve had nudges - 3 signs from 3 wonderful people.

Visit to Lynne

The first sign. Last week, I was talking with the beautiful Lynne, who comes to yoga on Saturdays. She finds it hilarious how, when it approaches the end of the hour’s class, I always seem to be so very surprised that I seem to be running over—every week. Bad teacher, bad timekeeper 🙄

Said I, “Honestly, Lynne, I always intend to finish by 9:30 a.m., promise!” But the moment I defended myself, I wasn’t even sure if I meant it. If I intended to end promptly every week, why don't I ever manage it?

I had a moment of small insight. Maybe my innards have been rebelling against efficiency. Might I have been secretly sabotaging the 60-minute class all this time… to make a change?

The Slow GP

Sign number 2. This week, I saw a LinkedIn post by Dr Tom Gedman, a champion of the Slow GP movement and advocate for the glaringly obvious —the need for longer consultation times. It’s long been laughable that GPs are afforded such little time with their patients and expected to do it all—the time needed to deliver compassion and care, time to deliberate and be deliberate, time to perspect and respect, time to contemplate and collaborate.

Time is an investment that is considered an unacceptable inefficiency, but it could lead to better care and prevention, staff retention, and - duh - vastly better patient outcomes and satisfaction. Suffice it to say, I also always run over in my consultation room. Oh dear. A pattern emerges. Unfortunately, I don’t have the power to extend my appointment times by another 15 minutes per patient (hmm, what parallel NHS paradise this would be).

A group yoga class, on the other hand…

JHL

Okay, so the third sign. I came across a Podcast interview with the doyenne of Restorative Yoga, Judith Hanson Lasater, who has been teaching for decades. She said if she had the power, she'd prescribe daily 20-minute Savasanas for all, investing properly in time to rest, letting stressed bodies heal and balance through homeostasis. And she quoted, “A healthy man is a moral man.” What a legend.

It got me reflecting on the super short Savasanas that so often get squeezed into the end of a typical Hatha class. Yours truly - guilty as hell. A minute of rest might be better than nothing. But how long do we realistically stay? One minute? 3 minutes? 5?

In Savasana, you’ll know that it takes time to fidget, jiggle and feel just so. As JHL explains, it’s only after a transitional moment where you drop in that the clock starts in Savasana, and the rest can begin. Often, when your body-mind has just about gotten used to the idea of letting go, a teacher’s voice might resonate back into range. And you have that thought, ‘Is it over already?’

For most, deep rest… takes…time.

I'm reminded me that shortchanging ourselves in Savasana is a lost opportunity. So this, my yogis, is where I suggest we spend extra time in extended class. We get enough Asanas done in the hour. I know in my gut and in my heart that we need more Savasana.

Long Form

Old habits die hard. I cringe admitting to you now that I started listening to that podcast at 2 x playback speed. Because - horrors - we can do that sort of thing these days. The irony of speeding up a message about slowing down isn’t lost on me. Yeah, it felt wrong. Would I take in a fabulous movie or beautiful song at double speed, distorting the essence completely?

Taking time can feel unnatural when it goes against daily habitual patterns that are ingrained in our routines. Throughout my working life, I have been directed to do more and go faster, and I continue to struggle with the negative effects of this so-called efficiency and pace on both myself and my patients. At work, I've just about stopped congratulating myself when I run on time and blaming myself when I run slow. That shift makes the truest sense to me.

Yoga recalibrates. If we let it, it can teach us that we have the choice to enjoy the gift of time—to deliberately hold and experience long-form beauty and depth instead of shortening it.

So, a nice long-winded way of coming back to this…

I'm planning to run over, but deliberately.

CLASS UPDATE:

Saturday’s Yoga Online will be extended from 60 to 75 minutes (8.30 am to 9.45 am)

Do I hear a Whoop?!

Come on, it’s about time.

Let’s practise.