Each week we are be exploring a restorative yoga pose or breathing technique with images/video and tips. Check in at Lacuna Loft on Wednesdays to anchor your week with peace, grounding + community (and don’t forget to join the dialogue all week long by posting comments). Excited to journey together!
I often find myself focused on only what is physically visible to others… As if they are unable to see the hurt, frustration, anger, or sadness that is going on within me. As if I’m not making myself visible in the way I stand and cross my arms or the way I respond to a comment in an extra-emotional way. What is inside has a way of coming to the outside, and yet I can go through my day without noticing what kind of things are “inputting” into my system. From the news or music I ingest or the people I spend time with or what I put into my body as I eat and drink… all of these affect my wellbeing and my joy each day. So what could it look like to notice these pieces of my life and take an inventory? What could I maybe bring awareness to and re-order to ‘input’ more freedom, joy, and love?
Consider…
Who are the people around me and what influence do they have? Do they bring me up and remind me of who I truly am? Do they speak critically or hurtfully? Do they love and care for me?
What are the voices I’m listening to saying – both external and internal? What kind of language do I use to talk about myself? Am I critical about how I look? How I spoke? What I do or don’t know? What kind of self-talk am I creating inside?
How am I treating my body? Am I fighting against it? Am I able to listen to my body? Do I give myself time to breathe fully? What am I putting into my body?
While you ponder these questions, take a swing at this mindfulness exercise below. Slowing down while I eat is just one way to remind myself that what I put in my body and my life matters – and I want to receive it fully! Going into the holidays, it is easy to be mindless about what I am eating. Besides the fact that I’m definitely eating MORE, I don’t even notice what I’m eating to really enjoy it. Amidst the hustle and bustle of events and people and to-dos, I barely notice what I eat – I just do it more, and faster! What if we could take one meal a day, or even a few bites each day, with purpose and presence? What about breakfast – or the first bite of each meal? To savor food, and life.
As I practice eating slowly, chewing eat bite enough to help my belly digest, and feeling gratitude for all the hands that brought my food to my plate, I feel life slow down and a great love well up inside of me. A great love that brings lots of healing into reach. Maybe you will feel something like that, too.
Ingredients
one raisin
Pick up the raisin (or other dried fruit) and bring it to your nose. Smell the fruit’s sweetness. Feel its texture in your hands. Notice the different colors present on one little piece. Place the raisin on your tongue. Notice how it feels, tastes, and smells now. Move it slowly all over your mouth, feeling the changes as it rehydrates. Keep the raisin in your mouth for at least a minute, detecting all the subtle variations in the experience of eating just one little raisin. When you are ready, begin to slowly chew the raisin, sensing new changes. After you swallow, what taste and feel are left in your mouth?
