The themes of watchfulness, waiting, anticipation, and expectation are central to the season of Advent and contemplative practices (prayer, meditation, fasting, mindfulness, yoga, etc.) are helpful tools to root one's self in these themes. Rather than focusing on doing , these practices emphasize being - stilling the mind and body to allow gratitude, balance, joy, and change to come. I am offering Watch and Wait, a four week yoga practice series at Bower Center for the Arts (Wednesdays, November 28, December 5, 12, and 19, 5:45-7:00 pm) Connecting deliberate movement and breath, this gentle restorative flow is a time to honor the change of seasons outside and in. Each practice is a combination of movement, rest, and guided relaxation. Each week will also include resources for your home practice – readings, pose suggestions, meditation and journal prompts. I will be posting these materials here for easy access.
Here's week 1:
Watch and Wait...for Gratitude
On his “10% Happier” podcast, ABC correspondent Dan Harris interviews author and speaker Shawn Achor about gratitude. Achor, who studies positive psychology, discusses the effects of gratitude on the human body and gives ideas on how become more grateful. He says that, much as we build strength in muscles by using them over time, gratitude builds when you practice it regularly. One idea he shares is to take a few minutes each day and think of 3 new things you are grateful for. Write them down. Use them as a focus for your meditation and/or yoga practice. In time, you will have a long list of blessings.
Listen to the entire interview here.
Pose
“Find a comfortable seat.” This is a common invitation in yoga classes. However, sitting for an extended period is often awkward and uncomfortable. Just as each person’s body is different, each person’s ideal sitting posture is different. The quest for a comfortable seat is a great lesson in observation. Take some time over the next week to explore different postures. Sit in a chair, on the mat with legs crossed, on your knees, etc. Follow your breath and observe. What do you find comfortable? What is distracting? What props do you need? How do you feel?
Take a look at the following for more ideas on sitting comfortably:
Finding a Comfortable Seat, YJ Editors, Yoga Journal
5 Steps to Finding Ease in Sukhasana, Charlotte Bell, Yoga U
To Fix That Pain in Your Back, You Might Have to Change the Way You Sit, Michaeleen Doucleff, NPR
Breathe
In yoga, we use the breath to focus and center our practice. Controlling the breath sends a message to your brain that you are safe and able to relax. The parasympathetic nervous system is activated, heart rate slows, and digestion is calmed. One of the many tools available to aid in this practice is mantra or breath prayer which involves the repetition of a word or phrase that is connected to inhaling and exhaling. Try one or more of these breath prayers (or use another of your own choosing) with your practice this week, saying in your mind the first part of the prayer on your inhale and the second on your exhale:
Thanks / be I am / grateful Give / thanks
Practice
You can create a sustainable home yoga practice by focusing on doing what you love—what makes your feel good, what helps center you. Keep it simple and make it special by having a set place to practice and gathering the props you need for practice. Everyone can benefit from the use of props in practice, regardless of experience. Props offer access to greater space, freedom and stability. Consider investing in the following props as you continue to build your practice: mat, blocks, strap, bolster, blanket, tennis ball, eye pillow, sandbag, meditation cushion. You Yoga Journal and Yoga International offer many creative uses of props.
“Acknowledging the good that you already have in your life is the foundation of all abundance.”
Eckhart Tolle
MEB
Here's week 1:
Watch and Wait...for Gratitude
On his “10% Happier” podcast, ABC correspondent Dan Harris interviews author and speaker Shawn Achor about gratitude. Achor, who studies positive psychology, discusses the effects of gratitude on the human body and gives ideas on how become more grateful. He says that, much as we build strength in muscles by using them over time, gratitude builds when you practice it regularly. One idea he shares is to take a few minutes each day and think of 3 new things you are grateful for. Write them down. Use them as a focus for your meditation and/or yoga practice. In time, you will have a long list of blessings.
Listen to the entire interview here.
Pose
“Find a comfortable seat.” This is a common invitation in yoga classes. However, sitting for an extended period is often awkward and uncomfortable. Just as each person’s body is different, each person’s ideal sitting posture is different. The quest for a comfortable seat is a great lesson in observation. Take some time over the next week to explore different postures. Sit in a chair, on the mat with legs crossed, on your knees, etc. Follow your breath and observe. What do you find comfortable? What is distracting? What props do you need? How do you feel?
Take a look at the following for more ideas on sitting comfortably:
Finding a Comfortable Seat, YJ Editors, Yoga Journal
5 Steps to Finding Ease in Sukhasana, Charlotte Bell, Yoga U
To Fix That Pain in Your Back, You Might Have to Change the Way You Sit, Michaeleen Doucleff, NPR
Breathe
In yoga, we use the breath to focus and center our practice. Controlling the breath sends a message to your brain that you are safe and able to relax. The parasympathetic nervous system is activated, heart rate slows, and digestion is calmed. One of the many tools available to aid in this practice is mantra or breath prayer which involves the repetition of a word or phrase that is connected to inhaling and exhaling. Try one or more of these breath prayers (or use another of your own choosing) with your practice this week, saying in your mind the first part of the prayer on your inhale and the second on your exhale:
Thanks / be I am / grateful Give / thanks
Practice
You can create a sustainable home yoga practice by focusing on doing what you love—what makes your feel good, what helps center you. Keep it simple and make it special by having a set place to practice and gathering the props you need for practice. Everyone can benefit from the use of props in practice, regardless of experience. Props offer access to greater space, freedom and stability. Consider investing in the following props as you continue to build your practice: mat, blocks, strap, bolster, blanket, tennis ball, eye pillow, sandbag, meditation cushion. You Yoga Journal and Yoga International offer many creative uses of props.
“Acknowledging the good that you already have in your life is the foundation of all abundance.”
Eckhart Tolle
MEB
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