The COVID-19 pandemic and accompanying lockdown measures have put enormous pressure on our physical and mental wellbeing.
For me, yoga is a powerful tool to deal with the lockdown’s uncertainty and isolation. Evrim and I try to show up on our yoga mats every day, and we even devoted one of our rooms to our yoga and meditation practices. This room is all about yoga, crystals, candles, plants, divine incense sticks and our favourite spiritual sorts of music (Jai Uttal always touches my heart). Whether we have a quick 10- minute or a decadent-1hour, we try to use the time we’ve got every day. You can do the same! It may be really difficult at the start but just come to your mat, find your breath, and soak up silence.
You can use these tips to maintain your self-practice if you feel difficulty getting to the mat:
- Create a quiet, uncluttered space in your home and try not to be distracted by other things during your practice. This could be a bedroom, basement, or living room area, and you can practise yoga successfully without having to leave the house.
- Make an appointment with your yoga mat and put this into your calendar. Organize your weekly appointments with yoga mat every Sunday. Just like your weekly meetings or payments. Pen it in, pick recurring dates and times if you can, and then follow through and show up.
- Use an alarm clock or daily reminder. If you find difficult to step away from your work, life, and family responsibilities, set an alarm to remind you to make time for yourself on your mat. Use the reminder alert as a way to get up from your desk and hit the yoga mat.
- In order to make sure you continually return to your mat, unpack your reasons for showing up in the first place. Calm your mind, lift your spirit, being in silent whatever the your reason is, start small! Before you dive into arm balances or inversions, start with a few rounds of Sun Salutation or a few static yin poses. It may feel like nothing, but it is the first step on the path to big shifts in your life.
- Try to enjoy your practice! To be able to build a consistent home practice, you can start with your favourite yoga poses that feel great, so you’ll feel compelled rather than obligated.
We’ve all heard or read the excerpt from the Bhagavad Gita, “Yoga is a journey of the self to the self through the self.” So, roll your mat and start your self-journey now.