You Are So Much More Than Your Thoughts
Two days before the World Yoga Festival, my husband dislocated his shoulder and my mind would not stop racing. What I found there taught me something my racing thoughts never could.
This summer I was given the opportunity to teach yoga at the World Yoga Festival. It felt extraordinary, after graduating from my Daoist Flow Teacher Training in 2022, to be on stage teaching alongside so many teachers I look up to. I felt so grateful to be part of this adventure, and my heart was beaming with joy. In the weeks before it, we went on holiday with the family in Tenerife, two of the best weeks we could have hoped for: sunshine, perfect temperatures, delicious food. We all felt looked after, and everyone was so friendly.
Once we came back home, disaster struck. The evening we arrived, my husband fell down the stairs and dislocated his shoulder. Seeing him in such pain, his shoulder in an odd shape, was terrible. Fortunately it went back into place, and we got help from the family. From the moment it happened, I had 48 hours to get ready and go to the World Yoga Festival to teach, ironically, two workshops about the nervous system.
During those two days, my mind was racing. What if my husband wasn't going to be okay? We have a little one to look after. I haven't camped in 25 years, will I even sleep? The festival was four nights, and even though the tent was provided, what on earth did I need for camping? It was a battle just to get going, between the chores of coming back from holiday, the relentless washing machines that followed, looking after my young daughter and my husband, and trying to prepare for an event I had been looking forward to for eight months.
Arriving at the World Yoga Festival for its 10th anniversary.
What I Found Was Nothing Like My Thoughts
I eventually got there, rather exhausted. And what I found could not have been more remote from my thoughts. First, I had the best sleep I can remember. I loved my bell tent, it was beautiful, and sleeping on a bed with proper sheets felt indulgent. I attended outstanding workshops and sound baths that completely challenged my idea of what a sound bath was. They used nature sounds, recorded and created live, woven into a more traditional sound journey of singing bowls and chimes. The result was beautiful and mesmerising, earthy and grounding. We did yoga, danced, chanted, meditated, rested, laughed, and cried both happy tears and tears of release.
I found I was teaching in the Earth tent, which felt fitting, since in Qigong the earth element is about grounding and transitions, exactly what those unsettled days before had been about. My two workshops went really well, it was such a privilege to share those ancient practices at the World Yoga Festival. The feedback went far beyond what I expected. Many people came to find me after class to share their experience, and long after the festival I was still hearing from people by email and social media. I am so grateful the practices touched their hearts and souls.
You Are Not Your Thoughts
Looking through the lens of my specialism, nervous system regulation, I know you are not your thoughts, but this was a real opportunity to experience it. My idea of what the festival would be, logistically, was completely removed from the truth, even though I truly believed those thoughts at the time. And what I hadn't expected to find was such a strong sense of community. There was an impressive team of around 100 volunteers, each with a smile, treating you like a dear friend. You could tell the founders, Ram and Sonali, built this because they wanted to bring these practices to the UK, to Henley, and to bring people together.
Since I came back, I have started challenging my thoughts more, especially when a situation is new and I feel unsettled. You are not your thoughts. I want to insist on the not. They are not a true representation of reality, when you are anxious, they are simply an extension of your fears.
Earlier this week, I was seeing a client for a private session who arrived a little late, which triggered his anxiety. Have you been there before? I can put my hand up to that one. His mind started racing, thoughts bubbling up that he was a terrible person for being late, that I would think badly of him, and so on. As I said earlier, you are not your thoughts. Did I think he was a terrible person for being a couple of minutes late? The question makes me smile, because that would be a ludicrous thing to think. But in the moment, we do not pause to ask it. That is what we do, we believe our mind, or rather the thoughts our anxiety has triggered.
Teaching Yoga Qigong at World Yoga Festival July-August 2026.
A Technique to Calm the Nervous System
There are various techniques to ground and calm the mind, and I want to share one based on my own practice. When I am in a situation like being late, or going somewhere new, or heading into an important meeting, I bring my awareness back to my breath and start noticing my breathing pattern. It is usually shallow. That is fine, we do not judge, we just notice.
When we are stressed, we get a peak of adrenaline that raises the sympathetic nervous system, our fight or flight response. That takes the nervous system out of balance with its other half, the parasympathetic nervous system, or rest and digest. One well established way to bring the parasympathetic system back online is to lengthen the exhale. A 2022 review pooling over 200 studies found that slow, voluntary breathing reliably increases the markers linked to this rest and digest state, both during the practice and afterwards. The good news is you do not need to sit anywhere special to try it, you can do it while driving or walking.
Start by noticing the count of your inhale and exhale, breathing through the nose. If anxiety has made your breath a little constricted, your count might be three on the inhale, three on the exhale. Then lengthen the exhale by one count, and continue for a few cycles, a cycle being one inhale followed by one exhale. If that feels comfortable, lengthen it by one more count, so the exhale is two counts longer than the inhale, and continue for a few rounds. You may notice your breath becoming less shallow, your abdomen rising and falling. You may also notice no change at all, and that is fine too. We are not judging, just bringing awareness to what is, dropping from the mind into the body.
When you arrive, take a pause, even if it is only a minute. It might feel ludicrous to take one more minute when you are already late, but ask yourself, unless this is a life or death situation, will one minute really make a difference? In most cases it will not, but it will change the energy you bring into the room, and that matters. For a brief pause, bring both hands to your heart and send some gratitude to yourself, for all the things you do.
The Body Keeps the Score
I want to pause here and talk about energy. We shower regularly to keep our bodies clean, but what about the energy that accumulates in the body? Do we take active steps to clear that too? There is a well known idea that the body keeps the score, the title of a book by the trauma researcher and psychiatrist Bessel van der Kolk, an international bestseller with over three million copies sold. Its central argument is that trauma and chronic stress do not just live in our memories, they leave a lasting imprint on the body itself, in our nervous system, our muscles and even our physical health, and that healing often needs to include the body, not only the mind. It is a useful reminder that clearing what we carry is not only psychological work.
I hope some of these reflections, and this technique, help you find a little more space between yourself and your thoughts, because you are so much more than them. They can keep you feeling small, but your potential goes well beyond what you think, and you can do it.
I would love to know, have you experienced a challenging transition recently, and how did you cope with it? Feel free to comment, or email me for confidentiality if you prefer: hello@candiceyoga.co.uk
Sound bath by Lavender Oaks at the World Yoga Festival 2026 in Henley-on-Thames.
Want to experience it?
I teach weekly Yoga and Qigong classes in Tonbridge and online, along with Yin and Yoga Nidra, and offer private one-to-one sessions, retreats and workshops through the year. If you are based in Tonbridge, Hildenborough, Sevenoaks, Tunbridge Wells or the surrounding area and any of this resonates, I would love to welcome you. You will find all the details at www.candiceyoga.co.uk.
About Candice Machtus
Candice Machtus is a Yoga and Qigong teacher based in Tonbridge, Kent. She supports busy people to restore balance, energy and clarity through embodied movement and nervous system regulation. Find out more at www.candiceyoga.co.uk.
