July 1, 2011

Sun Salutations: A way to say good morning

Last night I stood at the counter and ate Nutella out of the jar with a spoon.
I had a bad day at work.

But no excuses. Today begins my journey to a more mindful life.
One of the reasons I'm really determined to do yoga for 30 days isn't just for the physical. It's for the mental. So far 2011 has been shaping up to be a very stressful year. I'm not sleeping. I have constant headaches. And I'm just not as joyful as I should be because my mind often takes over.
I'm an optimist. But I haven't been lately.

In my old way of thinking I would tell you that
Practicing at home = hard

But because I'm on my way back to being an optimist, know this:
I believe in me. I believe in you. One way to keep your at home yoga practice a constant practice is to remind yourself everyday of the benefits. One way to find out what those benefits are is to ask yourself, "what do you desire?"

I got this idea from yoga instructor Cyndi Lee. (Check out the quick video: Home Practice Tips)

So what do you desire?
Peace? Confidence? Flexability? Letting go? Balance? Muscle healing? Stress management? Patience? Tension release? Better health? Quiet? Strength?

That is what I'm searching for. All of it.
And to help me find those things during the day, I'm starting off with a morning routine. Sun Salutations are a good wake up, a good work out, a good mind focus, and a good release.

Here is a five minute instruction video on a beginning Sun Salutation, but don't stop at just one. Go through the sequence two, three, or even ten times. I promise you, your day will feel better.

3 comments:

  1. After much excuses running through my head I have decided to commit! I have decided to set some conditions to fit my unusual circumstances. 1. We travel a lot as a family during the summer months which calls for some unusual practices. Turning this into a positive I've decided while traveling to practice with as many different studios as I can! 2. I am not a big blogger (with all due respect of course). I don't read them very often let alone write one. So I've decided to journal along the way and post daily to you to help encourage and motivate eachother :) if that sounds good to you of course. With that being said....lets do this! we are on the road to fayetteville, nc today....practice fire me will be this afternoon.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Okay so my yoga journey ended up starting today for me :) This morning I woke up in just enough time to drink my cup of coffee and head out the door to yoga at embrace yoga studio here in fayetteville, nc. Turns out it was just what my body and mind needed. Lets just say it was kind of humbling as well. My poor muscles haven't been worked that well for a little bit now. It was great.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I know how you feel. I woke up so sore this morning and all I did yesterday was a 20 minute sequence of sun salutations! Very humbling.

    ReplyDelete