I love yoga, but even I struggle sometimes to keep my practice regular, life, demands on time and my physical and emotional health can sometimes get in the way...so I try and remind myself that when my motivation is lacking or I feel like I just "don't have time" that is the time when I likely need MY yoga the most.
Here are some simple things you can do each day when you may not feel like a full blown yoga practice but know that some yoga would do you good - it's likely that after you do one or two of these exercises you may have some new found energy and a desire to do more!
1. Deep breathing (2-3 minutes)
- Find a quiet space
- Sit or stand upright but in a relaxed position (if you feel like you are straining to sit upright, sit on a blanket and allow your pelvis to tilt forward off the edge of the blanket, or stand)
- Roll your shoulders up, back and down
- Relax your face, jaw and neck
- Close your eyes
- Inhale - take a long deep breath in through your nose, using your diaphragm to move the breath, feel your belly rise, let the breath flow up into your ribcage opening it on all sides including the back and follow it into the chest allowing it to rise opening your heart center and spreading your collarbones wide
- Exhale - still breathing through your nose, use the diaphragm to expel the air, draw your belly toward your spine and allow your chest to fall
- Repeat for 10 full breath cycles
- Gently open your eyes
2. Sun Salutations (modified) (3-5 minutes)
- Find a quite space
- Begin in a comfortable standing position, feet hip distance apart
- Roll your shoulders up, back and down
- Inhale (through the nose) bringing your arms overhead
- Exhale, fold forward, hinging at the hips and leading with your heart, bending at the knees if necessary to protect your hamstrings and brining the hands to the ground
- Inhale, come up half way - flattening and lengthening the back (trying to get it parallel with the floor), reaching the heart and crown of the head forward and the shoulders back (hands may rest on the floor or your shins)
- Exhale, relax back into the forward fold, hands to the ground
- Inhale, sweep the arms out to the side then overhead, coming all the way up onto your tip toes, stretching and lengthening the entire body
- Exhale, bring your hands together in prayer position in front of your heart
- Repeat 5 times
3. Active Relaxation (5-10 min)
- Find a quite space where you have enough room to comfortably lie down
- Support your head, the back of your knees, etc. with a blanket or pillow if it's more comfortable
- Close your eyes
- Allow your breathing to be calm and quiet
- Beginning with your eyes and continuing down to your toes, visualize each body part as you actively relax it (e.g., relax your eyes by allowing them to roll back toward your temples, relax your jaw and let your tongue fall away from the roof of your mouth, relax your shoulders allowing your chest and heart to open, soften the belly and let the lower back relax down to the ground, etc.) - let your body melt into and be supported by the ground below you
Stay here as long as you'd like, when you are ready to "awaken"
- place your hands over your eyes, then open your eyes with your hands still over them
- slowly draw your hands away from your eyes allowing the light to seep in
- roll to your right side and push yourself up to a seated position (simple cross-legged position)
- take a deep breath
Enjoy the energy you just cultivated in your body and take comfort in knowing that you are caring for yourself.
...well these are all signs of stress, JOB STRESS in particular for the last two, and continued stress not only leaves us psychologically exhausted but also vulnerable to illness and disease.