I find myself in an interesting position -- I'm a blogger with no words. Hmmmm...most people would call this writer's block and judge it a bad thing. I call it a gift. Rather than words, I find myself filled with feelings. All of the thinking turns to being. While this doesn't get posts written for this blog, it does grace me with some deep yoga practices.
Rather than focus on form or complex sequences, I simply move and feel. Rather than think about what I'm doing, I focus more on feeling it. This week, my practice has fallen into the simple yet powerful category. Here's a glimpse into what I've been doing on my mat this week (which means I haven't been doing much at my computer, hence the dearth of new posts):
- Rest in Child's Pose with my arms extended out above my head on the mat, palms touching. After a minute of so of rest without breath control, I spend a minute or two getting the breath into the back of my body. I feel it expand and open with each inhale.
- Downward Dog -- I spend about three minutes here sometimes in stillness, at other times I'm pedaling my feet, and at times I play with shifting my weight to come deeper into the pose and ease out noticing how the tension and release feels in my body. After the three minutes are up, if I'm feeling the desire, I'll move slowly but fluidly from Downward Dog and Upward Dog a handful of times.
- Squat -- I stay in this pose for about 90 seconds. If I'm feeling the need, I'll do Breath of Fire for the entire time or I'll do it on/off for 30 second increments.
- Standing Forward Bend -- I'll hand out here for about a minute, feeling my hips, hamstrings and whatever part of my body is talking to me while I'm hanging out (quite literally) in the pose.
- Simple arm movements -- I'll bring my hands overhead and/or out to the side coordinating movement to the breath.
Yes, sometimes taking a break from words is a very good thing (less talking and more listening). It gives you the space to be in the moment rather than tell yourself a story about what's happening in the moment. Granted, it doesn't get your blog written, but it sure feels nice a nice break from the incessant chatter of daily life.
If you're looking for some simple movements that free up your mind so you can focus on what's happening inside, try these:
And if a yoga sequence -- even a simple one -- revs up your yoga brain a bit too much, try this lovely movement sequence (I've been doing a similar sequence for quite some time, but I've never seen a video of the moves until now):
Circling from Rochelle Schieck on Vimeo.
Happy feeling! And when I get my words back, I'll be sure to share them with you.
Namaste!
