Finding Calm in Suspension
In the tarot deck, there is a card in the Major Arcana called The Hanged Man. It depicts a single person inverted, hanging upside down.
The qualities this card represents are: surrender, patience, letting go, new perspective, and stillness.
The Light Seers Tarot
For the better half of the year, our bodies have been in some sort of reactionary state and the sympathetic nervous system has been turned on. With everything going on in the world, the media bombarding us with news stories or the doom scrolling on social media, it is hard to catch a break and find the time to calm our nervous system down. In our bodies, we have two sides to the nervous system:
The Sympathetic Nervous System is the flight or fight response. When this gets activated it increases the heart rate, our breathing gets shallow, and the stress responses fire up. The Parasympathetic Nervous System is the Rest and Digest response. When this is activated the heart rate has decreased, our breathing is slower, and the body tends to be relaxed.
This is where the qualities of the Hanged Man show up, when you go inverted things start to change. You see the world from a different perspective and your nervous system calms down.
If you’ve taken a yoga class, you have done Downward Facing Dog (Adho Mukha Svanasna). That is considered an inversion because your head is below your heart. The benefits of the pose include: good for stretching the spine and strengthening the body while improving circulation and calming the nervous system.
One of my favorite inversions is legs up the wall (Viparita Karani). This is a restorative pose that reduces stress, is a nice gentle stretch on the back of the body, and improves circulation. Whether you have had a long day at work, travel a lot, or simply want to relax for a moment. All you need is a wall and a pillow and blanket for comfort.
To practice this pose:
1. Sit with one side of the body next to the wall
2. Turn your body towards the wall and allow your legs to float up
3. Lower, allowing your back, shoulders and head to come to the ground
4. Allow your butt to get as close to the wall as possible
5. Rest the arms along side your body or on your tummy
6. Stay here for 5-10 minutes and focus on deepening your breath.
7. To come out of the pose, lower one leg at a time. You’ll be in the fetal position. Press the top hand down to push the ground away from you.
8. Come to a seated position
If you are feeling like your nervous system is on high alert you can always do the legs up the wall pose. Remember the qualities of the Hanged Man: surrender, patience, and new perspective.
