Restorative Yoga

Last year in January, I really picked up the practice of restorative yoga. I would regularly (at least monthly) get out ALL of my blankets & blocks and straps & everything else I could find and create a warm environment for the body to melt into. Somewhere during the year, I got away from that. I was reminded just how delicious that can be the other night when we dismantled the practice hall in order to get enough props to practice. Judith Lasater’s book is a BOON!

I had forgotten how refreshing the ‘layabout’ can be.

In particular the ‘moon cycle’ is exactly what my body needs!  Though I want to curl into a ball and sleep all day, doing some gentle supported back bends seems to be the counter-intuitive, yet true direction the body wants to be taken to create balance, and restore interest in engaging with the world.  AHHH!

Resolute

What are you letting go of as we look to the close of 2010?  What will you be happy to set down?

These past few months seem to have been some big ones.   I am setting down my super hero cape and sending it to Goodwill TODAY.  I used to think I had to go it alone.  That if I didn’t do what it took to get the job done, or die trying, the whole ‘thing’ would collapse.  Now I believe that if I’m all that’s holding it together, maybe it’s time to set it down.

I never used to make resolutions.  Now I make them all the time.  Like everyday,  I resolve again —  constantly refining and tweaking the baby steps necessary to adjust my behavior to be a little more aligned, and little more in integrity.

I’m looking to January to start off the year in alignment.  The majority of things I’m tracking are recreating daily or almost daily habits.  These little micro-habits are the ones that are most likely to support long term in making change.  It’s about practice.  I’m gathering my daily practices at Health Month where I log my intentions.  It becomes a little bit of a game (OK, a lot b/c there are incentives like ‘points’ and ‘fruit’) but what I find happens is that I want to check ‘yes’ bad enough that that incentive gets me up out of my chair to take my vitamin or to take the next step in my list of goals.  I’m trying it again in January.

Here is how my goals are shaping up as of right now… (they will change every day somewhat til the new year starts).

I’m starting with some daily practices, some strong habits to engage in no matter what.  The other pieces fall into place around these…

The first I’ve mentioned already: Practice yoga EVERYDAY. It’s about practice. As a teacher once told me, unless you do it consistently, whether you feel like it or not, it’s a hobby, not a practice.  I am sure there will be a mix of active and passive practices and the ‘everyday’ thing usually gets hard for me about week 2.5… I am reapplying myself again this month, and diving into the ‘doing it ANYWAY’ aspect of practice.

The third is an easy one: write in a journal EVERYDAY.  This helps me to keep on track with my goals and practices, and to notice the subtle shifts in my life that occur as a result of engaging with these practices.

The 4th & 5th ones are mundane. I’ve been told flossing has huge benefits in particular to cardiac health,.  I’ve never been much of a flosser.  I’m tired of telling myself I ‘should’.  This is a habit in the making already, along with the multivitamin which still makes me gag.  These two (& ‘breakfast’), more than anything else benefited from my using Health Month in December.  I’m keeping them on there so I have a reminder of my intentions.

That seems simple enough.  Just five daily intentions.  The rest of my intentions have at least one ‘day of integration’ where I make no requests of myself.  Since this is WOYOPRACMO and since my intentions are pretty ‘practice’ centric anyway, it’s not surprise to me when I look at what’s left, how they cluster in that realm.

What are you feeling ‘resolute’ about?  What major changes are you planning to make in the coming year??

WOYOPRACMO Cometh!!!

So the coming month is the annual yogi’s take on National Novel Writing Month.  I love the intention, and love the camaraderie that comes from a “World” putting intention into a yoga practice all at once.  Last year we came together on ning to cheer each other on.  This year we’re thousands of independent and yet informally-unified downward facing dogs…

Yes, it’s gimicky, kind of making a game of practice, but it does get me to practice.  And, the real ‘trick’ of the whole thing is that when I commit to WAY more yoga than I think is reasonable, when the pressure of the ‘month’ is taken off, I’ve already developed a habit that is stronger than ever, & I find that my inconsistent ‘sometimes’ has become unquestioned habit.  And so. The magic of practice.

I place my palms together and bow to the coming month.  Will you to join me?

Do you have it in you to practice yoga EVERYDAY in January?  Who would you be if you committed to & kept to such a challenge!?

I’m keeping track of my practice on healthmonth.com (big props to Enjoymentland) — this site has kept me on track with my health & wellbeing related goals over the past couple of months.  If you’d care to join me there,  join the woyo  team!