3)Asana-our physicality -The physical practice of yoga
Use the alignment of our body to match with the alignment of the universe.
Use asana for grounding, expanding, balance, energizing, aligning with itself.
Practice: Choose ONE asana-one yoga pose-(Use YOUTUBE if you need a visual)
Use it to stretch your body, focus your mind, lose yourself in the asana, begin with the pose where you can meet it, allow it to grow and expand as you repeat several times each day. One great choice is Tree pose. It covers balance, the third eye, our intuition, and strengthens our connection to Earth and the Heavens.
4)Pranayama-the focus on the breath
Teaches us to harness the power of our own life force, chi, fiat !
Practice: Bhastrika or sniffing dog
-Sit in a comfortable posture
-Take a deep breath in through your nose
-Exhale forcefully through your nose and then quickly inhale forcefully through your nose. Repeat this cycle of breathing in and out at a rapid pace. You will sound like a sniffling dog.
Do for 30 breaths, pause, take a few deep breaths. Repeat for three cycles of 30 breaths each.
5)Pratyahara-withdrawing of the sense, abandoning our tether to our senses so that the level of distraction in our daily life decreases.
Allows us to gently embrace silence, quietude, internal peace.
Practice: We live in an environment of sensory overload. You may think you are rather balanced in what you take in through your senses however, you will most certainly be surprised if you take a day or two to withdraw and return to the world of sensory overload.
Usually sound/sight are the most obvious heightened senses…
-Reduce your social media input to 15 minutes/per day
-Limit TV/Computer time. Choose a specific time of the day to interact with electronics rather than spreading it throughout your day.
-Notice how much noise you intentionally orchestrate in your life, in the car, in hour house, on the phone-
Turn off sound makers in your home….music, TV, phone-silence sound OR SIMPLY BE IN SILENCE FOR 24 HOURS-PICK ONE DAY PER WEEK