I had a few really great yoga sessions this weekend. I was able to squeeze in a home practice along with studio days. I went to the studio for my regular scheduled 75 minute hot power yoga class: The following day I toke the same class in 90 minutes. Proceeding, I toke my first ever yin class! Yin is a slow yoga practice that focuses on the holding of each pose. We maybe did a total of 7 poses, all which were held between 5-10 minutes. The focus of the yoga sequence was a kidney and bladder cleanse. We did a lot of crunching of the upper body to the lower body. The poses were diverse as they focused on opening other parts of the body.
For instance, child’s pose massages all the major organs over the stomach. It also works the thighs and hips depending on how far your knees are separated. The closer your knees are together the more it becomes a resting pose; as to having the knees separated making it an active pose. I am a lover of child’s pose- but holding this posture without adjustments for 5 minutes was very uncomfortable. Mentally I was time traveling. Which isn’t always a good thing as it is often recapturing old emotional attachments I have yet to release, my to do list. Sometimes, I will find tears.
How do I cope when these feelings arise? How do I find the strength to continue my yoga practice? Simple, I take one more breath, the only thing I can control, the only thing I can do, and I just begin again. I never give up; I just restart. And with that, I let it go. I am present and I am mindful.
Which brings me to the discussion of todays post. What does being mindful mean?
Being mindful is being attentive at any given moment, allowing you to be in the present moment. When I first heard the word mindful and began to make sense of the meaning, I thought it was very strange. I was surely already in the present moment, wasn’t I? I started to talk to myself, “am I in the present moment?” A few moments go by… “OK, am I in the present moment now?” I would always answer yes. But with each passing moment I had a feeling I hadn’t been in the present.
Many of us believe we are fully aware of each moment, but to be truly in the present is a very tough discipline. I mean, mindfulness is a terrifying practice. It means not thinking about the next moment. It means not dwelling on the one you just had. It means not thinking about what you could have done, or said.
In respect, I invite you to take baby steps to mindfulness. Begin with mindful eating. Next time you sit down for a meal, use these skills. Take a deep breathe in; a long exhale out. Continue breathing like this for only a short minute. Thank the universe silently in your mind. Mindful eaters sit down and appreciate their food. They eat slow and deliberately. They chew thoroughly. This can all be done silently to ourselves.
Make it a priority to implement this once daily. Comment below by simply clicking the “comment” button, and share your thoughts or experiences behind mindful eating.
Yoga fashion alert! Check out my galaxy leggings! You can find this trend on BlackMilk Clothing. My Black Surf Pro mat is from Manduka. It is the Black Surf Pro series in vibrant oceanic blue. I fell in love with the ocean blue it comes in. It is inspiring. It is also very supportive and easy on my spine, hips, elbows, and knees!
