What can you do to find steadiness in the chaos of the world?

I don’t know how it is for you, but I’m feeling that the world is feeling chaotic right now. I’m grateful, as always, for my yoga practice and have been drawing on the practice of Sthira, which means ‘stability, stillness, steadiness’ — not in a stiff or rigid way, but more of a quiet, grounded strength that supports me in my life.

This was the theme of a day retreat I recently ran, and those who joined said how helpful it was to find practices for the body, mind and heart to support the inevitability of change and how we can be more grounded with it. 

What can you do to find steadiness in the chaos of the world? Some refletions and suggestions that might support this.

Body: Finding Steadiness in Movement

We can explore this in poses that are seemingly still, like Mountain Pose, but are actually really alive as our body flows with energy and subtle movement. 

To explore this, you could try - standing, your feet rooted down, feel awareness up through your legs, breath flowing, noticing that your body is alive with micro-movements, continuously supporting you to steady your attention in the present moment. As you stand noticing when your mind wanders and then come back to your feet, breath, and subtle movements. 

Mind: Steadiness of Thoughts

The mind loves to keep us busy, jumping from one thought to the next. Even when I’m meditating, I sometimes find myself filled with ideas or plans. What I have found helpful is knowing that “ thoughts are real but not always true”, as this lessens their power over me. 

Through mindful attention, we can change our relationship to the stories of the mind. We can learn not to always get caught up in them. There are many meditations and ways to explore this, one simple practice I like and share is: Sitting or lying quietly, notice the movement of your breath somewhere in your body and letting this be your anchor of awareness. Notice when your mind wanders and be kind to yourself, smiling at the distractions, everyone has them and they are part of the practice, then come back to your breath as your anchor.

The Heart: Emotional Steadiness

Yoga is a practice of integration — mind, body, heart. Through practice, we can move towards emotional steadiness. I love the metaphor of our feelings as waves — coming and going, some bigger and taking more attention, some making a bigger splash!

Sthira, here, means staying rooted while the waves thrash about. It’s not about ignoring your feelings but giving yourself space to feel them curiously and kindly.

Some practices you could explore here are: Being kind to yourself when strong emotions arise and naming them, e.g., 'I feel anxious' or 'I feel nervous,' this can bring you back to the present. It can be very effective to use the power of words to gain perspective and understanding.

Also, when your heart feels heavy, practice gratitude, not forced, but notice one thing that’s okay right now. Keeping it simple helps, e.g. the texture of my socks on my feet, the softness of the blanket on my body.

Living Sthiti

Sthira is not something you ‘get’ and that’s it. You need to practice it again and again with a kind effort. Some days it feels easy, others not at all - and that’s ok. Bringing simple practices into your everyday life can support you as you develop steadiness.

A tree in a storm will get blown around and might lose a few leaves, but its roots remain grounded. You can become like a tree.

I hope this is helpful, and I’d love to hear from you - what helps you be steady?

I always bring this practice into my classes and one-to-ones. Come and learn sthiti with me! 

You can find details here: www.yogawithtammy.co.uk/classesandworkshops.