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Happy New Year! I hope that your calendar year is off to a great start!
Today I wanted to offer you three easy ways to reset and even rest and retreat without leaving the comfort of your own home (or office or bus or wherever you are)!
Winter is the season of deep stillness and of a natural anchoring inwards and down. The winter season organs, the kidney and the bladder, are both located deep in the core of the pelvis, within our center of gravity, our anchor point.
There are two simple ways to access the stability and centering that these organs can bring when we learn to work with them and to integrate more rest.
The first way is by bringing the quality of rest into everything that we do. To take winter as an opportunity to recharge our energy while also moving through our everyday lives. This could look like not rushing while you chop vegetables, committing to more mindfully brushing your teeth, or to picking a few activities or times throughout the day when you take two heartbeats to pause and slow down, to connect with more anchoring and ease.
The second opportunity to recharge is to bring more intention into your everyday activities. To make a commitment to pause before checking your emails or texts–to take one or two breaths and to say to yourself, I am now committing to checking my messages.
Or to stop before acting and check in with yourself, to find and connect with a willingness to do what needs to be done.
To align your intent and your will so that you act as one.
To say to yourself, “Yes, I want to be healthy, so now I will commit to calling that doctor to schedule an appointment,” then picking up the phone and turning your intention into action. You can do this over and over again throughout your day.
Will all of us fail to be mindful? Will we forget? Of course! And is that absolutely ok and definitely part of the process. Knowing that you are lost is the first opening that can help you remember to come home. To return to your body, to your breath, to the now, to the everyday beauty of your life as it is.
My third opportunity is a home practice online in community with others who are committed to rest practices. My first “Rest and Restore Online Workshop” will be held on Zoom on THIS SUNDAY January 12th from 11am-12:30pm EST. Don’t miss the magic of restorative yoga in the comfort of your own home.
We will cozy up in the comfort of our own homes using blankets and pillows. Imagine a well-architectured pillow fort to help you rest and retreat, and to connect deeply with your own potential and power. It might seem silly to pay to lie down, but I promise that I will lead you through creating support for your body to rest so that your mind might still. Read more and register on my website.
A relaxed body helps us to relax gripping in our emotional bodies and in our habitual thoughts.
If you try any of the techniques above, or if you have questions about my upcoming offerings, please, as always, reach out.
May this winter be bright and clear for you. May you find more grace in the many transitions and ease in the path ahead.
Monica
PS: Do you love to lie down and rest? Or maybe you find resting super fidgety and difficult? In either case, my “Rest and Restore: Winter Restorative Yoga Workshop” in-person at Studio 34 Yoga on Friday January 24th from 7-8:30pm is a perfect opportunity to work with slowing down and soothing your nervous system. Details here.
PPS: Do check out my first “Rest and Restore Online Workshop” and consider sharing it with a friend, near or far away–that’s the magic of zoom, we can gather as one from wherever we already are. The first session will be held Sunday January 12th from 11am-12:30pm EST. Read more and register on my website.
And, as always, reach out with any questions.