Spend just 7 minutes a day to come home to your body, your mind and your calm abiding centre.
Your practice best serves you when it is a constant in your life. For the most profound effects, don’t treat your yoga as a medicine you turn to just in times of stress, or ill health – it is the tonic that best sustains us every day of our lives.
In order to make this possible let go of the idea that you must roll out your mat and be on it for at least an hour. If you have the time and the inclination then by all means do!
Consider committing to a simple 7 minute practice that you can fit into any part of your day where you have the spaciousness to plug into your body, your mind and your breath.
1. Get still and get quiet for one minute: Find a position of your choosing- standing, lying down, kneeling, childs pose, sitting cross legged. Observe your body, observe your breath, observe the quality of your mind. Let the outer world drop away and become alive to what’s happening within.
2. Pair joyful movement with your breath for a few minutes: Practice simple movements lead either by your inhale or your exhale and observe the natural pauses in between. If you are new to yoga consider working one on one with an experienced teacher who in partnership with you can design some simple sequences that will best suit your needs. If you are a regular class goer, choose some of your favourite poses and immerse yourself in the sensation of moving through space, bathed by your breath, that very thing that gives life to us all. Allow these movements to open up your body to receive a more complete breath.
3. Rest for one minute: Lie down and let go of all the shapes you have made. This time allows your body and mind to assimilate the work that you have done. Feel the energy circulating around your body. Feel the earth holding you and enjoy this absence of effort, striving and ambition. Feel how this simple act of lying down on the floor brings you back to earth.
4. Sit in contemplation for one minute: Get comfortable in an upright seated position either in a chair or with props for support if you need them. Feel the length of your spine. For one minute focus your attention on the natural rhythm, quality or sensation of your breathing. If you prefer you can choose any object of contemplation that you find uplifting: an image, a phrase, a feeling, a quality (peacefulness, love, compassion, kindness, patience etc). Enjoy this quiet time of reflection.
What you might find is that this 7 minute practice evolves into something a little longer, not because you have to, but because it feels so good that you’ll want to linger with it.
The more practised you get at dropping in and listening to your body, the better you’ll get at delivering what your body and mind need.
Working closely with an experienced teacher one on one will help you build your toolkit of poses, sequences, breathing and meditation techniques to really fine tune your practice.
Enjoy the process of your yoga and the freedom it creates!
Love to all, Suz xxx
Suzy is available for counselling, coaching and private yoga sessions at her consulting room in Cammeray, Sydney, home visits, coaching via phone or skype, and ‘walk & talk’ sessions by appointment.
Contact Suzy at: suzy@suzyreading.co.uk
Follow Suzy at: www.facebook.com/SuzyReadingPsychologyAndYoga
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