Be Still and Cultivate Courage
How can being still help us to build our inner resources in times of change? Octavia Raheem, yoga teacher and author of Pause, Rest, Be, shares how yoga can support us in gaining strength and courage through practicing stillness in an ever-changing world.
Octavia Raheem is a mother, author, activist, and an experienced yoga teacher and practitioner. She began practicing yoga in 1999 and has been teaching since 2007. Octavia founded Starshine & Clay, an online and retreat space for Black, Indigenous, and Women of Color to rest and restore. Her work has been featured in Yoga Journal, Mantra, Well +Good, CNN, WXIA, and Atlanta Magazine. She is author of the book we are discussing in this program, Pause, Rest, Be: Stillness Practices for Courage in Times of Change.
WEBSITE: OctaviaRaheem.com
THE YOGA HOUR TEAM COMMENTS: What a delightful, flowing and powerful interview with Octavia Raheem. Some of the key ideas that resonate for me were: The pause in our breath is the prerequisite to rest. It takes courage to rest. Being still gives us that courage. The heart is the core where courage resides. Octavia brought up the contemplative practice of stillness practiced by Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Gandhi. These activists are exemplars showing that in the power of stillness is the potential to change the world. I was moved by the insightful and eloquent visions of inner wisdom of the river of time Olivia read from her book. A vision that came to her during a restorative pose. Don’t miss this interview.
DR. TRUJILLO’S COMMENTS: What a delightful conversation we had! I loved Octavia’s focus on the importance of stillness as a way to access our inner wisdom, to open a new space of possibility that can lead us to more powerful right action, and the courage to take that action. We discussed the three different stages of change: endings, liminal space (the space in-between), and beginnings, and how stillness practices including restorative yoga and meditation can help us access “the greatest compass we have”, that one that is within us.