Life happens and some days your schedule may be thrown off kilter. You feel you have no time for your yoga practice and the clock keeps ticking and you actually see you have only a few minutes before you have to go to work. take the kids somewhere. or complete an urgent task. Some weeks I do take off one day of my yoga and aerobics regime to sleep in or catch up on some house work. However, whenever I do this, I feel incomplete.
Once your practice is really ingrained, your body has this "je ne sais quoi" sensation that something is missing if you skip a day's practice. At least, this has been my experience. My body tells me that it craves the stretches and the release of tension and the stirring up of energy that I enjoy from each yoga session. If I skip the yoga, I feel like I have skipped a shower. I can certainly get away with it for a day -no one is going to notice except me - but I feel off.
To avoid feeling off, if you have at least 10 minutes, you can create an abbreviated session on one of these off kilter days. That was the case for me this morning. I had forgotten to complete some camp forms for my son and they had to be finished today so my time was short. Fortunately, a home practice gives you so much flexibility and versatility. I had one-half my usual time to work with so the solution was simple. I simple cut my holding times for all the poses in half. Instead of holding the complete back and leg stretch for 30-40 seconds, I held it for 15 seconds; I did the shoulder stand for one minute instead of my usual two. Everything else I did the same - I focused, synchronized my breath with my poses, and did all the stretches in a dreamlike rhythm. Granted, you gain maximum benefit from holding the poses for the full stipulated periods. But, if you're pressed for time, an abbreviated session gives you your yoga fix and reinforces your muscles' memory which enables you to maintain your progress.
Laura's tip of the day: "On days that you schedule is off track, an abbreviated yoga routine done with full focus and joy can keep your body, mind, and spirit on track."
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