Stepping onto the yoga mat is a reminder to breathe, slow down, and move with awareness. To help you on the journey down the path of yoga and mindfulness it can be useful to have some good guide books. Thich Nhat Hanh, a Vietnamese Buddhist monk, poet, scholar and human rights activist, has written over 100 books on meditation and mindfulness. Among my favourites are "Peace is Every Step" and "The Miracle of Mindfulness" from which this passage comes:
"People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don't even recognise: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child, our own two eyes. All is a miracle."
A Beautiful Continuation
When we look at an orange tree we see that season after season it spends its life producing beautiful green leaves, fragrant blossoms, and sweet oranges. These are the best things an orange tree can create and offer to the world. Human beings also make offerings to the world every moment of our daily lives, in the form of our thoughts, our speech and our actions. We may want to offer the world the best kinds of thought, speech and action that we can - because they are our continuation, whether we want it to be so or not. We can use our time wisely, generate the energies of love, compassion and understanding, say beautiful things, inspire, forgive and act to protect and help the Earth and each other. In this way, we can ensure a beautiful continuation.
If you like the idea of offering your beautiful continuation to the world, the following article could help you bring more mindfulness to your day:
A 15-Minute Morning Ritual To Dramatically Reduce Stress
Building Your Home Practice This Summer
There can be many reasons for not practicing yoga at home. Lack of time comes top of the list, with not knowing which postures to do coming a close second. I can't help you with the first one - we all have the same 24 hours in a day and it really is your choice how you choose to spend them, but I can help with the second one. Here's a video of a 4 minute standing flow that might help you build your home practice.
I recommend a few rounds of Sun Salutation to warm up, and always give yourself the gift of a few minutes of Savasana to finish. There's no instruction - just follow along. The sequence is: Warrior 2 (Virabhadrasana II), Reverse Warrior, Warrior 2, Extended Side Angle pose (Utthita Parsvakonasana), Warrior 2, Triangle pose (Trikonasana), Standing Forward Bend (Prasarita Padottanasana). You can repeat the sequence as many times as you like, adding other poses in as they come to mind. Each posture is held for 3 breaths.
Click here or on the picture below to view the video and breathe, slow down and move with awareness. Namaste.
"People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don't even recognise: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child, our own two eyes. All is a miracle."
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| Thich Nhat Hanh |
There are a number of Thich Nhat Hanh's books available on Amazon, and if you want to find out more about him you can visit his website http://plumvillage.org/about/thich-nhat-hanh/, or take a look at this inspiring, powerful yet peace-filled interview he gave with Oprah Winfrey http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJ9UtuWfs3U.
In my classes this week - the last before the summer break - I read the following passage by Thich Nhat Hanh as a reminder that our yoga is not just about the physical practice, and that we can bring mindfulness in to every aspect of our lives:
A Beautiful Continuation
When we look at an orange tree we see that season after season it spends its life producing beautiful green leaves, fragrant blossoms, and sweet oranges. These are the best things an orange tree can create and offer to the world. Human beings also make offerings to the world every moment of our daily lives, in the form of our thoughts, our speech and our actions. We may want to offer the world the best kinds of thought, speech and action that we can - because they are our continuation, whether we want it to be so or not. We can use our time wisely, generate the energies of love, compassion and understanding, say beautiful things, inspire, forgive and act to protect and help the Earth and each other. In this way, we can ensure a beautiful continuation.
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| Dahlias that I planted as tubers in March, offering their flowers to the world |
If you like the idea of offering your beautiful continuation to the world, the following article could help you bring more mindfulness to your day:
A 15-Minute Morning Ritual To Dramatically Reduce Stress
More and more people are finding a meaningful morning practice to be the solution. By adding this practice in between waking up and starting the day, you’re sure to move through the world more grounded and connected, things we’re all craving more of in today’s busy world. Often the morning practice includes some combination of writing, movement and stillness. I’ve seen in my own life and in the lives of my clients how incredibly effective a morning practice like this can be.
But what about the mornings when you wake up with racing thoughts and to-do’s first thing? Or the mornings where the thought of sitting on a meditation cushion sounds like torture? These are the days you skip your morning practice altogether, leaving you rushing through the day like you’re on a treadmill without an off switch. The days when 3pm rolls around and you’re eating a bag of chocolate chips mindlessly out of your desk drawer, worried a binge is just around the corner. For many people, dealing with stress through food is an everyday struggle. Skipping a morning practice only makes this struggle more difficult. In order to step into your day with more mindfulness, you have to begin to be intentional from the moment you open our eyes.
So, the next time you want to bail on your morning practice or if you’ve been wanting to get started with one and don’t know how, I invite you to try the below. I created a simple practice to help you move through the day without stress calling the shots.
1. Place 1 to 2 drops of grapefruit or wild orange essential oil in the palm of your hands.
Rub your hands together, moving them back and forth 10 times. Cup your hands over your nose and mouth and breathe in deeply for five rounds of breath. There’s no need to force a certain type of breath; allow your natural rhythm to flow in and out.
2. Grab a piece of paper, a pen and make a dump list.
Write out every single thing that’s weighing you down, stressing you out or taking up an unusual amount of space in your head. Get it out and let it go. Don’t worry about this being in your to-do list notebook or electronic calendar. If it’s important enough, it will find it’s way to your master system later.
3. Move your body for five minutes.
It really doesn’t matter what you do here; just move out of your head and into your body. Dance to your favorite song, roll around on the floor, jump on a mini trampoline, do some head rolls or shoulder shrugs, move in a way that feels good to your body and your natural rhythm.
By giving your body the chance to practice dealing with stress in a different a way you’re creating a new positive pathway. This simple morning practice can be done in 15 minutes or less from anywhere in your home (or even your office).
Try it and notice how it sets you up to move through your day more mindfully and intentionally, with less stress. If you don’t have 15 minutes, choose one of the three and start there. The most effective practices are the ones that find a place in your daily routine - they aren’t the ones you think you “should” do.
But what about the mornings when you wake up with racing thoughts and to-do’s first thing? Or the mornings where the thought of sitting on a meditation cushion sounds like torture? These are the days you skip your morning practice altogether, leaving you rushing through the day like you’re on a treadmill without an off switch. The days when 3pm rolls around and you’re eating a bag of chocolate chips mindlessly out of your desk drawer, worried a binge is just around the corner. For many people, dealing with stress through food is an everyday struggle. Skipping a morning practice only makes this struggle more difficult. In order to step into your day with more mindfulness, you have to begin to be intentional from the moment you open our eyes.
So, the next time you want to bail on your morning practice or if you’ve been wanting to get started with one and don’t know how, I invite you to try the below. I created a simple practice to help you move through the day without stress calling the shots.
1. Place 1 to 2 drops of grapefruit or wild orange essential oil in the palm of your hands.
Rub your hands together, moving them back and forth 10 times. Cup your hands over your nose and mouth and breathe in deeply for five rounds of breath. There’s no need to force a certain type of breath; allow your natural rhythm to flow in and out.
2. Grab a piece of paper, a pen and make a dump list.
Write out every single thing that’s weighing you down, stressing you out or taking up an unusual amount of space in your head. Get it out and let it go. Don’t worry about this being in your to-do list notebook or electronic calendar. If it’s important enough, it will find it’s way to your master system later.
3. Move your body for five minutes.
It really doesn’t matter what you do here; just move out of your head and into your body. Dance to your favorite song, roll around on the floor, jump on a mini trampoline, do some head rolls or shoulder shrugs, move in a way that feels good to your body and your natural rhythm.
By giving your body the chance to practice dealing with stress in a different a way you’re creating a new positive pathway. This simple morning practice can be done in 15 minutes or less from anywhere in your home (or even your office).
Try it and notice how it sets you up to move through your day more mindfully and intentionally, with less stress. If you don’t have 15 minutes, choose one of the three and start there. The most effective practices are the ones that find a place in your daily routine - they aren’t the ones you think you “should” do.
Building Your Home Practice This Summer
There can be many reasons for not practicing yoga at home. Lack of time comes top of the list, with not knowing which postures to do coming a close second. I can't help you with the first one - we all have the same 24 hours in a day and it really is your choice how you choose to spend them, but I can help with the second one. Here's a video of a 4 minute standing flow that might help you build your home practice.
I recommend a few rounds of Sun Salutation to warm up, and always give yourself the gift of a few minutes of Savasana to finish. There's no instruction - just follow along. The sequence is: Warrior 2 (Virabhadrasana II), Reverse Warrior, Warrior 2, Extended Side Angle pose (Utthita Parsvakonasana), Warrior 2, Triangle pose (Trikonasana), Standing Forward Bend (Prasarita Padottanasana). You can repeat the sequence as many times as you like, adding other poses in as they come to mind. Each posture is held for 3 breaths.
Click here or on the picture below to view the video and breathe, slow down and move with awareness. Namaste.
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