Adeline.Tien

Just because you’re flexible doesn’t mean you’re strong - https://mailchi.mp/atyoga/flexibledoesnotalwaysmeanstrong

𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐜𝐥𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝.

When something feels tight, stretching it often seems like the obvious thing to do.

But tightness is a sensation. It does not always tell you what your body needs.

I often think of sensation like an alarm. The alarm tells you something deserves your attention, but you still have to work out what it is asking for.

- Does this area need movement?
- Does it need more strength?
- Or has it simply been working too hard and needs less effort for a while?



Take your neck, for example.

Throughout the day, the muscles around your neck are continually helping to support and position your head. Sitting at a computer, looking at your phone, driving or concentrating can mean spending long periods with your head in a relatively fixed position.

So if your neck feels tight at the end of the day, try something different before automatically stretching it.

⭐️ Lie on your back and comfortably support your head with a pillow, cushion, folded blanket or towel.

⭐️ Let the support carry the weight of your head.

⭐️ Stay for a few minutes and notice what happens.

- Does your neck feel different?
- Has anything changed around your jaw?
- Do your shoulders feel softer or heavier?

You are not trying to make anything happen. You are gathering information.

Sometimes the useful question is not “𝙃𝙤𝙬 𝙙𝙤 𝙄 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙘𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨?”

It is “𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙖𝙨𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙢𝙚?”



This is how I teach: notice first, then decide what your body actually needs.

𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐰?

Take a moment and observe what you are doing right now.

Maybe you are sitting as you read this. Maybe you are walking. Whatever you are doing, check in with how your body feels.

Are your shoulders slightly lifted?
Are you gripping your phone more firmly than you need to?
Are you clenching your jaw?

How is your breath?
Is your belly restricted or being held in?
Is your tongue pressing firmly against the roof of your mouth?

These are all small amounts of muscular effort. They may not feel significant, and most of the time we do not notice them because the sensations have become familiar.

The body creates tension for a reason. It can help us stabilise, concentrate, respond, and get things done.

Sometimes, though, the effort stays long after the task that required it has passed.

⭐️⭐️ Try this.

Keep doing whatever you are doing, but 𝙧𝙚𝙙𝙪𝙘𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙚𝙛𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙩 𝙗𝙮 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 10%.

Let your shoulders drop a little.
Hold your phone more lightly.
Notice whether you can create a little more space between the back teeth.
Soften your tongue.

Then take a few slow, easy breaths.

You do not have to make your whole body relax.

Just notice where you might be doing more work than you need to.

Learning to recognise unnecessary effort gives you the opportunity to use less of it.




❤️

Just sent out my latest email.

The story about my mattress continues…

A few months ago, I shared how my back was struggling to adjust to our new mattress. After sleeping in two different beds while I was away, I came home and realised something had shifted.

The mattress had not changed very much. My relationship to it had.

This week’s 5 Minute Rest Note explores how comfort can take time, especially when something feels unfamiliar. The same can be true of rest, stillness, and practices such as Restorative Yoga.

Sometimes we want change, yet still need time to adapt to the very thing we asked for.

You can read the full email here: https://mailchi.mp/atyoga/sometimes_rest_takes_time

Even experienced teachers feel vulnerable.

I received this message yesterday. I have been coming back to it often, letting the words sink in.

I have been teaching for twenty years. When I first started out, having an email list was not such a big deal as it is now, or maybe it was, but I simply was not aware. Only in the last few years have I begun to understand its importance, and I am still learning.

And now, yes, I have an email list. It is not a huge list, but I am grateful nonetheless. Every single time I send an email, my heart still goes into the pit of my stomach.

Every. Time.

I am not waiting for validation, but I would be lying if I said I did not feel it. The butterflies before hitting send. The quiet sting when someone unsubscribes, even when I know they were (perhaps) never really my people.

So when someone takes the time to write something like this, to say they tried the ankle walk and are doing it every other day, that the videos are landing, that they are genuinely happy to receive what I send, one message like this is enough. It keeps me going.

I am sharing this not to say look what I received, but because I know there are teachers and practitioners reading this who are hesitating. Who are wondering whether to start the newsletter, post the video, share the thing they know. Who feel like they need to be more ready, more polished, more certain before they put themselves out there.

Two decades in and I 𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑙 get butterflies. I am still not always sure I am going in the right direction. And I still have doubts.

That is all to say, you do not have to be good enough yet to do what you are doing. And if it helps, you have got me on your side of the camp.

And if there is a teacher, a practitioner, or someone whose emails or content you have been quietly enjoying, take a moment to tell them. You may not realise how much a single message means.

We are always happy to hear what is landing, what is not, and what you would love to see more of.

Type 🙏 if this is for you.

RESTLESSNESS IN SLOWER-PACED CLASSES

If you have ever laid down in a restorative or yin yoga class, or any slower-paced class, and found your mind still running while everyone else seemed perfectly still, wondering whether you were the only one who could not switch off, this is for you.

And if you are a teacher watching students fidget, reposition, or stare at the ceiling in your slower-paced classes, not quite sure what to offer them, this is for you too..


Swipe through.

Restorative yoga looks like rest. That is why people underestimate it.

There is no balancing, no pushing, no performance. Just the body gradually arriving into support. When the props are right and the setup is considered, something shifts. The eyes soften. The throat releases. The breath slows without being asked to. The mind, which has been scanning for the next thing, begins to quiet.

This does not happen because the person tried harder. It happens because they stopped trying for long enough.

The most intelligent practice is sometimes not the one where you do more. It is the one where the body stops struggling and begins to receive.

Restorative yoga asks a different question. Not: am I doing enough? But: what changes when I stop doing so much?

That shift, from doing to receiving, is what this practice is built around. It is also why teaching restorative yoga well requires far more skill than most people assume. Understanding how to create the right conditions, the prop setup, the sequencing, the quality of presence in the room, is its own discipline. One that takes time and proper grounding to develop.

If this is something you want to explore more deeply, the 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐘𝐨𝐠𝐚 𝐋𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥 𝟏 𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 runs in July and August this year in Singapore.

Part 1: 24-26 July.
Part 2: 1-2 August.

Feel free to message me directly for more information.