As you know I am a yoga teacher & a mindfulness coach & I have been sharing my passion for both of these practices for several years & been blessed to be able to do so all over the world.
I believe whole-heartedly in the physical, mental, emotional & spiritual benefits these practices create because, well they have changed my life. Catch me on a melodramatic day & I’ll happily announce ‘They saved my life!’ always one to relish in theatrics.
I have used both practices to help me navigate the choppy waters of: mental illness (breakdowns, hospitalization, more breakdowns & eventually utter rock-bottom to precipitate the spiritual awakening that was the breakthrough – hurrah at last!); divorce (toxic nasty business, is there any other kind?); menopause (ghastly business, horribly similar to mental illness or such was my experience with the added extra of a hefty dose of anxiety & panic attacks…all very ‘normal’ apparently, who knew?); and anything else that life could throw me, lockdown & global pandemics included. But combined with daily practices of gratitude & nature, mindfulness & yoga are the cornerstones of my wellness & wellbeing.
I am a huge believer in the many benefits of self-care because I was so bad at practicing self-care that my mental health took a battering.
Self-care is the care we take of ourselves to nurture & nourish our physical, mental & emotional wellbeing, our mind, body & spirit. I believe that it is not a luxury but a necessity. I also believe that it’s not all chocolates in the bath & massages. And that it doesn’t have to be self-indulgent, time consuming or expensive.
Self-care has a number of benefits. It builds resilience, our ability to bounce back from adversity because when we have taken time to look after our self, so we are less likely to be floored by normal daily setbacks. It improves our sleep & so too our relationships because all our energy isn’t always going out, some of it is coming back inwards. Funnily enough attending to our own needs actually then gives us more energy & time for others. Think of it like this: you can’t pour from an empty jug.
Self-care is an act of self-love, it reaffirms our sense of self, building our self-esteem, a sense of ‘I deserve’ this simply because we have taken the time to invest in ourselves. Our self-awareness improves as we become better at identifying stressors & what we can do to limit of offset them. Of course this all has a knock on effect making for a happier & healthier outlook.
But establishing a daily practice of self-care is not as common as you would belief with almost three quarters of adults not practicing any self-care rituals. The common excuses include lack of time & energy, guilt & finances.
Time & energy I get but what I have found by slowing down & investing in myself for a few short minutes every day, I am actually more productive & efficient & so I get more done, I feel more fulfilled. And self-care doesn’t have to be time consuming…surely we are all worth ½ hour of each day just for us, to nurture, nourish, rest & replenish ourselves?
Guilt – why would we feel guilty for taking care of ourselves? Surely we deserve a few moments everyday invested in our self? Surely we care enough about our self, not in a narcissistic, self-absorbed fashion, to spend a few minutes on our self everyday? I also believe that when we model self-care to our family, not only do they learn to respect those few moments we devote to our own wellbeing but they start to practice it themselves…what a gift to give to our nearest & dearest.
Finances well yes, but as I’ve said before it doesn’t have to be expensive. And the longer term cost of not practicing self-care financially, emotionally, mentally…well I have experienced them first hand. My mental illness was the direct result of not making myself a priority in my own life. If you’re not a priority in your own life, how can you be a priority in anyone else’s?
So it was with this idea of how can I help my tribe establish their own self-care practices & because I know how much I (& my family indirectly) have benefited from my own self-care practices that I set up my couch to programs. Think a more nourishing & nurturing version of couch to 5k but couch to yoga mat or meditation cushion, or both as some of my clients have embraced.
These programs are aimed at anyone who has heard about all the wonderful benefits of yoga & meditation: physical, mental, emotional spiritual even but just don’t really know where to start. These programs guide you from the basics, establishing a good solid foundation in your practice so that you have the skills & confidence to go to any class online (or in person) & to cultivate your own regular, daily even, practice in yoga or meditation in the comfort of your own home, which is ideal in lockdown.
You can also join this program if you have done some yoga or meditated a bit, this program will help you fine-tune, finesse your practice & guide you towards establishing a a regular meditation or yoga ritual of self-care.
So how does it work? When you sign up, you will get a yoga practice &/or meditation delivered into your inbox everyday for 28 days (we are in the process of building a member’s portal, such has been the success of this initiative).
4 of the 7 yoga practices are less than ½ hour long so that they are easy to fit into your busy schedules & demanding family lives. Similarly, the meditations are all between 5-15 minutes long so again easy to slot into your hectic lifestyles.
In the yoga program there 2 longer recorded sequences so you can delve into to develop your stamina, whilst there also an hour long live session in both programs, so that you can experience the wonderful energy of practicing in a group.
You don’t HAVE to practice all the sessions in 28 days, you can take your time as you have life long access to the program. Many who have signed up have decided to practice 2-3 times & gradually increase it over the full program. Once you’ve completed once, you may decide to revisit it & do it everyday. However, you decide to tackle it, I guarantee you’ll be practicing MORE than before you started the program!
There is a small cost. Why? Well let’s face it we all need some incentive & a sense of accountability don’t we? We have all signed up for the magical 28 day free challenges & the problem is, because they are free we invariably don’t even get ½ way through, we forget one day or run out of time, then one day turns into 2, turns into a week & so on. Since we haven’t invested in it financially, well we are not emotionally invested in it & are not as inspired to finish.
With this program, you have invested (not a lot, it’s really affordable!) so there is that commitment you have made to yourself, the investment you have made, becomes an incentive to follow-through & complete it.
The program is self-led so so long as you do the sessions in sequence, since they are specifically designed to gradually increase your skills for a sense of progression & transformation with each day, how long you take to complete the 28 days is completely up to you.
If you upgrade to the ViP option, this includes a weekly 1-2-1 75 minute coaching session where we get to practice together via Zoom & I can help you to fine-tune your poses & delve into anything that you may be struggling with.
At the end, I hope to have guided you towards embracing a regular, daily even ritual of self-care which includes yoga &/or meditation & you will be beginning to discover the inner sense of peace & calm these practices provide on the yoga mat or meditation cushion. And the more you practice, the more this serenity, bliss even, will start to translate into your life.
After all, in the midst of lockdown with the backdrop of a global pandemic, now more than ever we need to invest in ourselves to help navigate the challenges these unusual times are bringing to us all. Now more than ever we need to embrace self-care practices to help us getting on getting through this.
If you would like more information message me at alex@myananda.co.uk.
For free resources check out my Facebook group: Mindfulness & Yoga for Self-Care, here is the link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/MindfulnessYoga4Relationships