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Tag Archives: yoga wisdom
Craving a Vacation? 10 Ways to Cultivate your Yoga Mind
Craving a Vacation? 10 Ways to Cultivate your Yoga Mind
published on Greenster
It’s Friday as I write this post. The end of a typical workweek.
Yet, for many of us, Saturday and Sunday are far from mini-holidays. Thinking about this fact leads me to reflect on the concept of “time off”. For parents with children, is there really such a thing? If you’re self-employed, what does this expression actually mean? Some of us work, get groceries, cook, clean, do laundry, have family obligations–the to-do list is constant and never-ending. When we think of time off, we visualize taking a break from these daily activities and duties but by the weekend, when we have the “time off” work, we might have to pick up on some of the chores.
If you “can never relax”, as some people have expressed to me, then is time “off” really valuable or any different than time “on”? As well, what are we taking time “off” from? It seems to me that the expression is literally dependant on one’s mind-set. And that, dear friends, is what Yoga can help you with: a relaxed mind can travel through time and space with more ease.
How can Yoga help? Many people turn to Yoga for “stress-management,” expecting yoga to take their stress away. That may not happen, but Yoga can offer the best possible “time-off” in that it gives the thinking mind a little brain holiday. As Daniel J. Siegel says in The Mindful Brain, “Stillness is not the same as a void in activity, it’s more like a stabilizing strength”. This calm inner center is what provides us with the ability to relax even when we are in the midst of taxing circumstances. That is the number one reason to cultivate what I like to refer to as “yoga mind”.
Your “yoga mind” is able to surf into stillness even when you are on-duty, and it becomes your essential tool. I am not referring to ‘spacing out’, but rather, learning how to tame the mind, calm the chatter and experience newness within the daily flow.
Here are 10 ways to cultivate your yoga mind and incorporate the peaceful perspective into your week without getting on a plane (though that could be nice too!):
- Take a break from social media –whether the whole weekend or just part of it, in order to have a break, you need to create one!
- Turn your cell phone OFF (not to vibrate)
- Skip one thing in your routine and see if you miss it
- Try a new yoga posture
- Try a new pranayama
- Invest 15 minutes a day in relaxation
- Cut out one yoga posture from your daily flow or -try the same posture but in a different variation
- Take a break from sitting a lot by standing and shaking your legs out
- Periodically close your eyes or look away from the computer and take a few easy breaths
- Just sit quietly and follow your breath for 5 minutes
Photo Credit: Ian Bothwell
published January 30, 2013
energy
love this reminder
the energy we carry into whatever we are doing has the potential to change it; attitude matters…
little steps
whether it is a yoga pose or a cupcake, everything can be broken down into steps
trust
This is so true!
“A head full of fears has no space for dreams”
and trust builds patience…
let’s work on this today!
time
what will you take time for today?
I once tuned into Oprah and she talked about scheduling yourself into your day.
A yoga practice can be whatever you need it to be. Play a chant, do a few stretches, close your eyes, breathe, be, smile….
attitude
A balanced yoga practice helps us cultivate an attitude of positivity even through adverse circumstances…”Things work out best for those who make the best of how things work out”
How To Make Self-Reflection Fun
How To Make Self-Reflection Fun
posted in MindBodyGreen
By Rana Waxman
Something caught my attention on Twitter the other day. It was a tweet by a woman who said that she didn’t see the point of self-reflection because she did a bit over the holidays and it was depressing.
My “yoga-teacher-radar” went off immediately, because to me, “self reflect” does not = buy a pint of Haagen-Dazs, stay in your bathrobe, and have a pity-party.
Not that this last form of entertainment is a bad thing if it’s a stepping-stone on your path to The Other Side of whatever issue you’re working through.
If so, at least buy the best quality junk food, set aside a fixed amount of time to cry and feel your feelings, get it all out, summon your inner strength and positive outlook, perhaps apply a bit of lip gloss (gentlemen: shave?) and move forward.
Someone once said to me “better out than in” which, in retrospect may have been advice about sneezing, but it seems appropriate to fit it into this conversation.
In fact, the yogic system recognizes that suffering is part of the human predicament, and awareness of this is the foundation to change. In this context, suffering is at the level of the mind.
For example, if you are going through a break-up, and you become so lost in the negatives, the inadequacies, the failures that you become all that, you are allowing yourself to become suffering embodied.
On the other hand, if you perceive that every obstacle is a blessing in disguise, you free up your mind, and are able to let life move through you, you identify with the BIG picture not the temporary drama. This radically changes outcomes in your life.
How to go about this? Yoga is a practical methodology; an action plan for wellness, if you will. As humans, we can either reinforce conditions which maintain frantic or which awaken calm within us.
Hence the “plan” is three-fold, called in the Yoga Sutras, Kriya-Yoga, and transformation through Practice. These three aspects are to:
1. Purify the body and mind (Tapas)
2. Self-reflect (Svadhyaya)
3. Recognize our Source (Isvara pranidhana)
The word Svadhyaya translates to “move forward to one’s self,” to borrow from Gary Kraftsow. If a wave were looking in the mirror, it would see itself as the wave but also as the ocean… Poetic, yes, but also practical.
If you see only the small self, your journey can be mired by insecurities and stress. When you elevate and nourish the perception of self, you are likely to feel that everything on the journey happens for a reason. I call it “research and development.”
You will likely cultivate objectivity, friendliness and an empowering attitude to nourish and adopt behaviors and strategies to further peace, positivity, and clarity.
A new year is always a new beginning.
If you can start to make a few healthier choices (food, beverage, meditation, yoga postures, nature, weed out toxic relationships and behaviors) your inner life will reflect these changes, and when you self-reflect, your vision will no longer be distorted.
Elevate and you will be elevated. Embrace and cultivate the inner dimension, and the outer will follow…
As always, it is important to let go the old, to make room for the new.
A great breathing practice to help foster your new attitude is Kapalabhati Pranayama (pronounced (kah-pah-lah-BAH-tee). Kapala = skull and bhati = light (implying perception, knowledge).
This wonderful breathing exercise will clear the mind, release emotional tensions, improve digestion, and leave you feeling energized and “brighter,” almost as if your brain was standing in a warm and happy sunbeam.
Build up slowly!
Step by Step Guide:
Sit comfortably, using any support or props. Try seated tadasana on a chair, if you like.
Focus on your lower abdomen, placing your hands there, one atop the other. Breathe in and then try laughing.
Notice the activity under your hands, as the belly contracts in short bursts.
Inhale, and as you exhale next time, repeat the same “ha ha ha” action but using short exhales through the nose.
Your inhales can be long, passive and slow, the exhales will be shorter bursts. You can keep your hands on the belly and use them to pump the abdomen until you are comfortable and feel more adept at the rhythm.
Photo Credit: Shutterstock.com
Published January 2, 2013 at 9:11 AM
hope
“today I choose hope “My yoga practice refreshes me and shifts me into a positive state of mind and being…what do you choose?
cleanse
I love my neti pot – truly preventive medicine:
