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?

Each week we are 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!  Namaste!

Restor(y)ing Mind+Body+Soul

It only takes an instant, and I’m in that downward spiral of defensive, protective, complaining, blaming, you name it.  One ‘wrong’ word, one funny look, one disappointment in my day and whoops!, I’m a totally different person.  The cheerful me that got plenty of sleep, a nourishing breakfast, a morning walk, and some doggie lovin’ is now feeling a little more like an angry blowfish with spikes ready to poke whoever is nearby, including my most beloved ones!

With practice though, I’ve learned that this blowfish doesn’t have to have the last word.  In fact, she sometimes doesn’t even need to have a single word.  I can see the spiral beginning and come back to center and find whatever the situation needs – compassion, patience, or clear communication.  First, I learn to notice the feelings that are present and acknowledge them.  The anger, frustration, disappointment, whatever – is there.  No matter the reasons, it’s just okay.  I’m a human.  I have emotional triggers.  I just see it for what it is – an emotion, a reaction, a choice.  What DOES matter is how I’m going to choose to respond to these feelings.  Will this angry she-blowfish get to send pokes out to the people around me?  Or, will I acknowledge my feelings and then choose to come back to who I want to be, who I really am, the joy-peace-compassion-love in all of us? 

Creating the space to CHOOSE how to react (instead of letting my instincts just run the show) takes practice.  It takes a lot of apologizing sometimes, too.  But the space, when created, is magical.  It means I have the power to decide who I want to be and how my life goes – no matter what happens! 

Coming back to center requires knowing I have a center and then practicing finding it – first in calm and then in times of storms.  May this yoga pose, a restorative version of baddha konasana, help you feel your center physically and then find it spiritually and emotionally.  May the time you practice being in your own center give you power to come back to center when the challenges come.  Because they will… and we want to be unshakable.

Ingredients:

• one couch seat cushion angled up against the wall (use anything stable behind it to prop it up)
• two smaller pillows or blankets rolled up for each leg

Find yourself a peaceful space with a soft floor – a blanket or carpeting will do.  Prop the couch cushion against the wall using a block or pillow to secure it from falling down to the floor.  Cozy up to the base of the cushion with your seat right at the floor in front of it.  Lean back and allow the cushion to support your back at a comfortable angle for you.

Bend your knees and allow them to fall outward from your body.  Bring the soles of your feet together at your midline.  Place your hands, palms face up, on your legs or knees.  Bring your first finger and thumb together to touch.  Close your eyes and breath deeply through your nose.  With each inhale, feel your breath moving from the soles of your feet up the midline of your body, along your spine, between your eyes, above the crown of your head.  On the exhale, feel your breath move in the same line in reverse.  Set a timer for 5-10 minutes and enjoy feeling your midline, your center.  Trust that this peaceful self is available whenever you need it.  And with the holidays coming and busy end-of-year calendars, you may need it soon!

 

Bonus: this pose is also a great position in which to practice meditation or breathing techniques!