So I’ve been to four retreats in the last couple of
months, reviewing them for Queen of Retreats. The Body Retreat. Vital Detox. Middle Piccadilly. The Sanctuary Somerset. All very different and I’ve loved them all. But, as someone pointed out on Twitter
recently, it’s all well and good if you can afford to swan off to these places
but if you can’t…? And I thought, fair
point. I also thought that
really, I need to find a way to bring the peace and serenity on
retreat back into everyday life. As
Juls at the Body Retreat said, if you only make a few small changes, they will lead on to bigger changes. And Paola,
the yoga teacher at The Sanctuary said that, even if you do just one yoga move
every day, you will start to shift.
So. Since I’ve been back, I’ve been getting up and hour
earlier than usual. I light a candle, fire up a joss stick and bung on a CD of
Tibetan chanting. And I’ve been doing some simple yoga moves before settling
down to meditate for about half an hour.
Okay, so it’s early days but so far, so good.
But I can’t do yoga, I hear you say. Oh, but the first few
bits of this are so so easy. Really.
1. Neck
rolls. Simply stand in a balanced
easy posture and slowly, ever so slowly, let your ear drop down to your left
shoulder, then circle down so your chin is moving towards your collar bone and
then up to the right shoulder and (very gently) backwards. Repeat several times...really really slowly... and then go back the
other way. Releasing, letting go.
2. Shoulder shrugs.
Arms by your sides. Bring each shoulder up to your ear in a rapid
alternate shrugging motion. It’s quite
vigorous but you can alter the pace to suit yourself. Keep it going for a few minutes. Energizing, loosening, awakening, creating heat in the body.
3. Now stand still.
Find the bottom of your sternum.
Place the first three fingers of your left hand under it. Take your right thumb and poke it into the
point directly under the fingers. Take
away the left hand and start to massage the point with your right thumb in a
clockwise direction. It may be tender or
even painful – adjust the pressure so it’s bearable. Keep going for several minutes if possible
and then swap thumbs and work the same point with your left thumb in an
anti-clockwise direction. This point is three finger widths from the bottom of the
breastbone (sternum). This is a point called the Sea of Tranquillity and it’s
helpful in the relief of tension in the chest, anxiety, nervousness, and
depression.
4. Let’s just finish
with the simple standing forward bend. Padahastasana. This stretches out the entire back of the body, from head to heels, lengthening
the spine and helping it become more flexible.
It massages all the internal organs, especially the digestive organs (so
can ease constipation). It can relieve
sciatica, invigorates the nervous system and increases the supply of blood to
the brain. It’s also said to remove fat from the abdomen! On an energetic level, it is grounding,
earthing, energizing and it shifts inertia, allowing you to move
forwards. It stimulates and balances muladhara chakra, the base chakra situated around the perineum. Not bad, huh?
a. Stand up
straight, shoulders relaxed, ankles and knees touching. Now inhale as you reach up, arms straight
over your head, arms touching your ears.
b. Exhale and bend
forwards from the hips (don’t collapse), keeping your back straight for as long
as possible. Keep your legs straight. Don’t worry if you can’t touch the floor, just
keep the idea of it in your mind.
c. Stand firmly and
visualise earth energy coming up through your feet and passing right through
your body and down into your hands.
Eventually, with practice, you will be able to place your hands under
your feet and bring your head to your knees.
But even if you just hang, that’s absolutely fine.
d. Stay for as long
as feels comfortable, breathing comfortably and enjoying the sensation of earth
energy moving into and through your body.
Actually, she looks a bit unbalanced but you get the idea. |
That’s enough for
one day, huh? Even if you just try one…it
could be the start of something. J
3 comments:
I collect the tiny freebie samples lots of cosmetic companies and fragrance purveyors give out, save them up and once in a while have a weekend or a day where I use those (because the full size products are too expensive to use as standard) as well as having quiet times and meditations and generally trying to relax.
Great post - I have a Yoga Studio app on my ipad (I'd need to go to the mainland to find a yoga class!) and I find it very good indeed.
Ali x
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