Yoga is a beautiful practice that’s easy to squeeze into your life. And refill your cup daily. Here are three easy everyday yoga hacks to add to your busy life, to help keep you sane.
1. Breathe With Control
Yes really! Conscious breathing is healing. Breathwork encompasses a broad range of whole-being therapeutic practices and exercises. Used to relieve mental, physical, and/or emotional tension.
You’re probably wondering how and when you’re going to fit this into your already packed schedule. The good news is you’re already breathing, let’s just take it up a notch by being intentional.
Being a mum means you’re washing your hands a lot. More so because of coronavirus. You can use the same 30 seconds you wash your hands for your breathwork.
Do the following:
- Stand tall, lift your shoulders up and back
- Take a deep inhale through your nose, hold and then take a deep exhale. Hold and repeat.
- Try to stretch your inhales and exhales as long as possible (longer than you want to) as you keep washing your hands.
- You can also close your eyes if that feels comfortable for you.
- 30 seconds is a good start but you can continue for as long as you need.
- When done return to your normal breathing pattern and observe how you feel.
- Feel free to throw in breathwork throughout your day
2. Find Stillness
Stillness helps you to tune in internally and clean the slate. However, it can be tricky for moms to find moments of stillness. What I normally do when I feel overwhelmed is lock myself in the bathroom and sit on the toilet for as long as 5 minutes, just being. It helps to:
- Sit tall, spine long, core engaged
- Lift your shoulders up and back and back down, and rest your palms on top of your thighs
- Close your eyes, unclench your jaws and soften your facial muscles.
- Breath with control
- Stay for as long as you need to
3. Neck rolls and gentle twists
These work wonders to release tension in your upper body. Requires very little time and can be done from the comfort of your sofa.
Here’s how:
- Sit tall, spine long, core engaged.
- Lift your shoulders up and back down. Palms rested on your thighs.
- Take a deep inhale, exhale as you bring our chin to your chest. Then roll your head all the way to meet your right shoulder, take it to the back, all the way to the right, and back to the centre. Repeat.
- Change sides, rolling your head to the left, back, right and back to the centre. Repeat.
- Take your left hand and place it on the side of your right thigh. Twist your upper body to the right. Lift your right hand and place it at the top of your sofa, and use it to twist some more towards the right. Unravel and repeat on the other side.
It’s absolutely vital to be intentional about filling your cup. Remember if you aren’t happy, healthy and inspired, you can’t hope to pour those positive emotions to those around you. By taking care of yourself you’re benefitting the entire universe. Most importantly though your family and friends are the biggest gainers.
Visit Yownn Yoga on YouTube for beginner-friendly yoga flows. You can do these in 10 minutes to help you manage stress.
If you’d like, check out these Safari Yoga Retreats happening in the Okavango, in October. They’re the perfect opportunity to take time out to refill your cup and nourish your soul. Find out more below!
Last reminder, you’re doing better than you think and deserve all the support. We’ve got you, Mumma. Hope these simple yoga hack help in filling your cup daily. Try these everyday yoga hacks and share your experience in the comments below.
