Okay, so in a perfect world we would be waking with the sun as the song birds chirp outside our triple pane 5 star energy rated bedroom windows. We toss back our hemp/soy sheets and slip our feet into our Matt & Nat no-animals-were-harmed-in-the-making-of-these bedroom slippers. The juicer would be fired up as we prepared our morning fresh juice smoothie of wheat grass, ginger and something else terribly healthy. We would then make our way over to our dedicated yoga / meditation nook for our daily 90 minute physical asana, pranayama (breathing) and seated meditation time.
Or, if your life is anything more a little like mine (though the above does sound wonderful and hopefully one day I’ll get there!), the days start with a 22 month old little boy prying my groggy eyes open demanding “momma up, momma up”, as I stumble half blind into the washroom to put in my contacts and then get my beloved pup up out of her night kennel and outside to wake up all the neighbours with her early morning hello barks, meanwhile back inside the kitchen I fire up my trusty steed, aka my espresso machine; and so begins another glorious day!
We have our visions of what an ideal flow to our day should look like and for many of us yoga lovers a key part of our visions is getting to our yoga mats; either making it to a yoga class or making time for our home practice.
However, it’s useful to our sanity (and the sanity of those we live with) if we can come to grips with the reality that life doesn’t always go according to plan, particularly according to our plans (what?! you mean other people have needs, wishes and desires that don’t necessarily take my needs, wishes and desires first and foremost into their consideration!???) So, some days are going to flow perfectly and we’re going to get to that class, maybe even start the day off with the ideal vision of the early morning fresh juice smoothie and 90 minute practice, and then other days it just isn’t gonna happen, no matter how much we might wish otherwise. And here’s where we have a choice; we can either pout and fuss because our day didn’t flow as we wished it had and allow ourselves to slip into a good old fashioned funk. Or, we can go with the flow of the day and take our yoga off our mat and into our daily life….a few ways I have found to do just that…..
Slow down and hear the songbirds as you’re letting your dog out / cat in / picking up the morning paper.
Stand at the window and watch the fleetingly beautiful pink sunrise bursting across the morning sky.
Smell the fresh coffee beans, cradle your mug in your hands and feel its warmth.
Take your time carefully cutting up your fresh morning fruit as you prepare a hearty healthy breakfast
Do a favourite gentle stretch; a personal favourite is placing both hands shoulder distance apart grasping the edge of the counter/table-top/chair-back, step both feet back, tip forward from the waist and come to flat back with arms extended straight over head, this is a wonderful gentle stretch for the spine and along the sides of the upper body and even into the backs of the legs.
If you happen to find yourself swimming be creative and see how many yoga poses you can do at the edge of the pool (ps, it’s a lot!).
Breakup your workout at the gym with yoga poses, sitting on a bench you can do a great hip opener by crossing one ankle over top of the other thigh and bending forward, or have both feet wide apart with toes turned out and do a supported side angle stretch. Do Utkatasana (chair pose) instead of traditional squats. And then of course during the wind down to your workout on the exercise mats you can pick and choose your favourite poses to help stretch out your body and relax yourself.
Meditation can be a few minutes carved out anywhere anytime, simply find yourself a comfortable seated position safe from interruption, close your eyes and focus on your breath. A useful tool is to silently say to yourself “in” as you’re inhaling and “out” as you’re exhaling. This gives the mind something to think about and helps to slow down the constant stream of ongoing internal dialogue. I have been known more than once to meditate after having arrived somewhere in the car only to find my little one sound asleep in the back seat. When we have the gift of a few minutes of private time instead of mindlessly playing with our iPhones, tune into yourself instead, it’s infinitely more refreshing and inspiring.
All this is to suggest that yoga isn’t the exclusive domain of the yoga mat, and that just because we can’t do something ‘perfectly’ doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t do it all. And that we can bring those elements of yoga that make us feel so good when we are on the mat (the breathing, the slowing down of both our thoughts and our movements, the focus (ie not multitasking), the physical action of stretching our bodies), into every single day.
(as another small example I just took a conference call while seated cross legged on my meditation cushion – good for my posture, hips and attention because I was far away from my work desk and computer!)
What are some of your favourite ways to bring a state of awareness and a dose of yoga into your day?
Namaste
