Earlier this week I recommended that you create an intuition-led practice to gain more joy and better results from your practice. During the past few days my schedule has been hectic, turned upside down by college graduation activities for my daughter, Francesca, and road trips. My yoga time was cut in half on a couple of days and yesterday I skipped it altogether as the late nights caught up with me. It's okay to skip once (and occasionally twice - but not more than that!) of home practice when the vicissitudes of life happen. If you really need to catch up on sleep - do catch up on it!
However, this morning, I knew I had to get back on track with my practice. Because my yoga practice is so ingrained, I become uncomfortable if I miss more than one day in a row of my usual 20-30 minutes of yoga. I remembered my promise to you that I would report my results after completing a heartfelt, intuition-led practice. Here's the scoop. After I did my first easy warm-ups and entered the ankle to forehead stretch, whoa, I could sure feel the tighter than usual thigh muscles! My work is so sedentary- most of my day is spent at day writing and researching. It's no wonder that if I miss a day of yoga, my body starts losing flexibility - immediately!
In response to my stiffness, my intuition led me to breathe in more deeply as I entered the poses, and breath out more fully as I completed poses. I also felt prompted to smile and just feel so grateful that I have a healthy body and that I am free to move and stretch in my own home yoga "studio" or spot. I also spent a few extra seconds in certain poses to ease out the stiffness. I customized my practice to fit my needs of the particular moment. After my practice ended I felt peaceful, more flexible, and just more attuned. That's what an intuition-led practice and do for you.
Yours for listening to your intuition as you do yoga,
Laura Venecia Rodriguez
Comments