How do you yoga everyday? How do you yoga while sitting in traffic? How do you yoga when you’re sitting in a board meeting? How do you yoga when you’re solving a problem? Yoga is a way of life, not just something that happens in a studio once or twice a week. It can permeate every aspect of your life.
Body
This is the yoga most people know about – the poses, or asanas. Practicing the physical aspect of yoga is wonderful, and it has many benefits (see our next post on the benefits of yoga asanas). There are zero excuses for avoiding this part of yoga practice.There is yoga for every body (intentionally separated), and practices to support any and every physical need. Is it difficult to be mobile? There is chair yoga. Do you experience an illness that makes intense stretches a challenge? There is restorative yoga, yin yoga, and other practices that make yoga accessible and beneficial to your body. I will be discussing what asanas (poses) teach us about our bodies in another post, but just know that the physical benefits of practicing yoga are just the tip of the cliche iceberg. I personally deal with fibromyalgia, and I have friends with MS, Scoliosis, Rheumatoid Arthritis . . . we could keep it going . . . We all do yoga, and we all benefit from yoga. This is why we want to spread the love to you.
Also, you can’t use your busy schedule as an excuse. You can find yoga practices as short as ten minutes and as long as 2+ hours on YouTube alone (see mostly FREE resources below). I personally like to do a little more of a yoga flow in the mornings to get my body in sync with my breath, and to focus my mind. In the evenings I enjoy a more restorative practice to settle my mind and body.
Random Times I Practice Yoga Asanas:
*NOTE: This is NOT intended as a yoga practice. These are just random times that I find I can practice an asana, and no one will ever know . . . . It’s like covert yoga.
Getting ready in the morning, washing dishes, and other household chores: I do a quick morning practice, and I practice pretty regularly in the evening; however, I find a way to practice a pose (like Tree pose/vrksasana, or wide-angle pose/prasarita padottanasana), if I’m standing for an extended period of time.
Standing in line at a grocery store, the bank, the DMV . . . this list could go on forever: I will gladly practice tadasa (mountain), a short-stance wide-angle pose, or tree pose.
Talking to people at parties: I have stood at counters for a good hour and no one ever realized I was standing in tree pose. I might also sit in the floor half-lotus style.
Vacation: If there is a pretty spot, I’m claiming it for some yoga. I found a gorgeously wonky palm tree and got in as many shots as I could in Barbados. If I ever meet that tree, or a similar one, again, I am going to conquer some crazy balance poses! If I fall, all the more fun. It’s all sun and sand anyway.
Resources:
Yoga With Adriene: Adriene Mischler is an Austin, TX girl with an easy going style that shows you just how approachable yoga is. If you type in Yoga with Adriene on YouTube and your need (MS, hip opener or bedtime yoga, for example), more than likely you will find a session perfect for you. (YouTube: Yoga With Adriene)
Purple Valley Ashtanga Yoga: This is perfect for anyone that loves the Ashtanga practice, enough to soak up advice from the best teachers around. The advice offered here is totally relatable to anyone practicing or curious about Ashtanga. (YouTube: Purple Valley Ashtanga Yoga)
OMstars: Kino MacGregor is an Ashtanga practitioner with an incredible depth of knowledge. Her sight, OmStars, has some free content and also paid content. The tutorials are stellar. (OMstars.com)
Mind
The mind feeds the soul, so it seems weird to separate them out . . . but I’m gonna. Just as asana practice impacts the whole of the person (body, mind, soul), so does any yoga practice. However, there are plenty of people in the world that have dedicated “yoga” practices, such as breathwork (pranayama), that don’t consider themselves yogis. That being said, let’s talk about breathwork. This is EXTREMELY easy to work into everyday life. I do have a time to practice breathwork, but I would be lying if I didn’t say that I practice breathing while trapped in traffic, dealing with a super stressful work situation, and even sitting in the dentist’s chair (super handy). The fancy schmancy Sanskrit name for a breathwork practice anyone can do is Sama Vritti Pranayama . . . same or equal breaths. The most basic description is having an inhalation that is the same length as your exhalation. Focusing on your breath and creating a rhythm (e.g., inhale on a count of 1, 2, 3, 4 . . . exhale 1, 2, 3, 4) is an incredibly fast way to calm yourself and focus your mind. Try it the next time you’re stuck in a traffic jam on your way to work and you know there is no way you’re going to make it on time. The challenge is to really focus on your breathing. That is why counting on the inhale and counting on the exhale is usually a necessity, if you are new to breathwork. I’m not telling you to ignore cars whizzing by . . . Still be mindful of those. We will dig a little deeper into breathwork another day, another post – but this will get you started.
Soul
Daily Mantra/Affirmation: You don’t have to practice yoga to have a daily intention or mantra. I love setting intentions in my yoga classes. However, I don’t set them. I believe an intention is personal and specific to you. So, if you practice yoga, do you set an intention or do you have a mantra that you will focus on before you get started? Do you set an intention for your day? I think the most accessible form of doing this is an “I Am” statement. I’ll explore this more in another post, but an “I Am” statement is as simple as saying, “I am . . . strength” or “I am . . . peace.” I always suggest you make it a noun. Not “I am strong” but “I am strength.” There is a little psychological switch that comes on. You encompass that fully. You are not separated from strength (or peace, or happiness, or love) – You are that thing, that intention wholey. You already embody that which you are seeking . . . You just need to uncover it. Discover it. Explore it. That thing that already resides in you.
Then . . . I marry the breathwork with the “I Am.” On the inhalation I have you visualize what that “I am . . .” looks like. On the exhalation I have you repeat that “I am . . .” statement to yourself and see it in your own handwriting, as if you are writing it in a journal or letter to yourself over and over again. Let’s use “I am peace” as an example. As I inhale, I may see myself sitting on my deck under my huge storybook camphor tree feeling a sense of calm. As I exhale, I repeat, “I am peace” to myself and I see “I am peace” in my own handwriting in a journal. I see myself writing the words over and over. It’s like a love letter to myself. Now, you do have to follow up with action, but setting an intention is the first part.
We will explore each of these areas in depth in later posts, but please provide feedback on any curious questions or topics you would like to see on Busy Yogini.
Busy Yogini Resources:
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QUESTION: How do you infuse yoga in your everyday life? Comment below – I want to know!
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