Look at that, we’re already 10 days into our practice! Whether you are actually taking on the challenge, or just reading my random musings, I’m glad you’re still with me. I’d tell you to like and subscribe and all that jazz, but this isn’t YouTube and I’m not good about bossing people around regarding their online behavior. Just keep reading, and maybe something I write will resonate with you, and you’ll try something new.
So far I’ve offered four restorative postures and they all take place lying down on the ground, as restorative yoga generally operates. If you are the kind of person who says “If I get on the floor, I’m not getting back up until Jesus comes for me,” then you might think this practice is not for you. I do not agree! The crux of our practice is supporting the body comfortably while resting in relaxed awareness. You do not need to be on the floor to do this, but you do need to be situated in a way where you won’t just immediately fall asleep. I am a big fan of napping, trust me. But that’s not what we’re going for here. If getting up and down off the floor is not for you, I recommend modifying your practice to a couch, recliner, or chair. Remember on Day 7 when we talked about setting up a special space for your daily relaxation? Consider doing your session in that comfortable chair, surrounded by your touches of beauty. Dim the lights to relax the eyes, and feel every place you connect to the chair or floor – the feet, the hips, the hands resting in the lap. Bring your awareness into feeling your breath move in and out through the nostrils. Relax into the sensation of support and the rhythm of the breath. If the mind gets distracted, you can try a tool called “square breathing”. Inhale for a count of two, hold for a count of two, exhale for the count of two, and relax. Repeat this pattern, and let it go when you feel the mind quiet. If sitting upright in a chair is not comfortable, try one of the poses we did previously but use your recliner or couch as your base. You can lay on the couch and use pillows to prop the legs, as we did in Day 9, or roll up a blanket under the knees and cover your eyes with an eye pillow like we did in Savasana on Day 3. If the end of your couch butts up against the wall, you could even try putting your legs up there! Be creative, but remember – relaxed awareness means you’re still in the waking state of consciousness. No naps! The good news is that propping yourself up in a restorative pose either on the couch or on the floor can give the benefits of that afternoon nap, but without waking up in that confused groggy panic where you don’t know if you’ve been asleep for two minutes or two days. Don't use mobility as an excuse for why you can't do jack shit. There is always a way!
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Just ask the Count Von Count. It’s been eight (8 DAYS! AH-AH-AH) of my “I’m Doing Jack Shit In January” challenge, and I’ve only offered 3 postures. That is because they are the easiest poses to set up at home and they require the fewest extra props. Since the goal is getting to a place of relaxed awareness with a supported body, you probably don’t need more than legs up a wall, legs on a chair, and Savasana. In case you’re getting bored, I’ll add other options throughout the month, including today. This pose requires some yoga props as discussed on Day 6, or the careful arranging of blankets and throw pillows. In this relaxing posture, the legs are slightly elevated at a gentle angle, and the upper body is lying snug and flat on the mat. Elevating the legs takes pressure off the lower back so it is supported by the floor. Raising the feet slightly above the head is a gentle inversion, and not as dramatic as legs up a wall or on a chair. Check out the picture above for ramp system I made with a block and bolster. If you don’t have those props at home, try a couple stacked pillows under the feet AND a rolled up blanket under the knees for a similar effect. If you only put something under the feet and not the knees, you could stress your knees by hyperextending them. Keep the legs as propped as you can make them with your blankets and let the upper body relax back with the palms open towards the ceiling or resting on the belly. If you have tight outer hips and you find your legs pulling away from midline and off the ramp you’ve build, loosely wrap a yoga strap or soft belt around your feet.
If you are thinking about prop shopping, you can follow the links embedded above or check out my Yoga Supply Shop page for these and other supply options. Most of what you will need is easily found online or in department stores. Take a load off, and enjoy! Day 8 – Judgy Porg Says "DO YOUR PRACTICE!"
Today didn’t work out as planned. Normally I do my practice in the afternoon and projects in the morning. I meant to do my writing/email/paperwork first thing, but instead decided to finish Aria’s birthday gift, a crocheted Porgh from Star Wars. I left the tv on in the background. Suddenly I had passed CBS mornings, the local news, the Drew Barrymore Show, and even headed into Let’s Make a Deal. By the time Wayne Brady was negotiating with costumed audience members, my brain was officially melted with lethargy and dullness. I had blown the most awake and efficient part of my day, and now I couldn’t get back on track and found myself wandering without focus around the house. Coffee might have helped, but some dull memory in my head lit up, and said “just go do your practice, dummy.” I followed my feet upstairs to my mat, and after 20 minutes of a Savasana variation (legs up a ramp practice – coming soon to a blog post near you), came back downstairs with a clear head and a desire to work. So far in this series, I have been talking about how this jack shit challenge is great for over-doers who can’t slow down and always need to be accomplishing something. It’s also great for under-doers who can’t get started because they don’t have the inspiration or energy to overcome inertia, or who are too confused and unfocused to take the next best step. Under-doing and over-doing are not different energetically, in that they both keep us out of a state of harmony and balance. Spending 20 minutes in a state of relaxed awareness, like we do in a meditation or restorative yoga, can regulate the “too much” or “too little” aspects of our state of being. In doing so, we connect to the place within that is centered, grounded, and speaks to our higher self. Just ask the Porg, who hangs out watching Luke Skywalker meditate on his jedi island! #yoga #yogapractice #yogalife #restorativeyoga #crochet #porg Yesterday on Day 6 of my challenge, I talked about props and why you don’t necessarily need to run out and purchase a bunch of stuff before you practice. Today’s post is about why you should make a special space in your home for relaxation, but that you don’t need to start getting quotes from contractors in order to do so. But if you are itching for an expensive home project, don’t let me stop you!
I’m not saying that it won’t work if you do your restorative practice wherever you are, or if you decide the middle of the living room while people are walking around is fine for you. Go ahead and try it out. I find that having a space dedicated for practice makes me more likely to do it and less likely to experience distraction. For me, solitude and sound control are necessary for success. I happen to have an enclosed space for myself in this house, but in my old house, I used a corner of my bedroom. My meditation cushion was set up facing the window, and I had my favorite tools in reach – mat, candle, incense, notes for practice, and yoga images. I could pack it into a nearby drawer if I needed to, but I was more likely to sit and do my practice if everything was ready to go. I encourage you to set a dedicated space for your restorative practice in this way. It doesn’t need to take up a lot of room. It does need to be unique to you and to hold the items that you associate with peace and stillness. That could mean you have a chair in the corner of the living room with your blankets draped over the back and a mat rolled away behind it. Other objects that could lend comfort to your space include flowers or plants, nature scenes, aromatherapy candle or diffuser, or incense. Whatever you choose, let the sight of it be an experience of beauty. Experiencing beauty is one sure way to silent the mind and touch the heart. And isn't that the real point of our practice? It’s the weekend and I’m not going to have a lot of energetic opportunity for deep thinking and lengthy prose. Instead let’s talk about gearing up for doing jack shit.
First of all, you don’t need to. If you are the subtype of procrastinator who likes to buy a bunch of stuff before you do a new thing, and think shopping counts as doing the new thing, you will surely be disappointed. Most of the what you need is already lurking around your house. Blankets are the most important prop in a restorative yoga practice. You likely have a collection of blankets and couch throws that you don’t recall buying and that seem to reproduce of their own accord. It’s their time to shine! Blankets rolled and folded in various fashions can replace a mat, bolster, and blocks. The most useful blankets are a heavier weave that holds shape to be supportive, which is why you’ll see “yoga blankets” made of dense cotton or wool. Soft fuzzy fleece is the least helpful for propping, although it’s a good type for snuggling under. However, as a yoga teacher, I do have props around and do prefer them. I’ll show you mine, and you can decide for yourself if you need to head out for some supplies. Bolster – These are great for seated meditation, active movement practices, and doing jack shit. It does the work of a few rolled up blankets, and stays firm enough to use as a ramp, which we’ll be doing later in the month. I love one under my knees for Savasana. Blocks – Again, these are not necessary for a restorative practice but they’re pretty cheap and you can find them in most department store exercise sections. I feel they are pretty necessary for a home yoga exercise practice, especially as a beginner. You can sub them out for thick heavy books or even cans of tomatoes (28 ounce, Tuttorosso, whole peeled plum with basil, ONLY!). Yoga blankets – These are cotton and a heavier weave, like I talked about above. Easily found on amazon, but not really a department store item. Lavender eye bag – This is my favorite indulgence. In a restorative practice we’re trying to limit sensory input, and resting the eyes is really important. A scarf or sweater with do the job just as well if that’s what you’ve got. Strap – Used more in a stretching or strengthening yoga practice, it’s sometimes used in a restorative practice. I’ll show how you can do that in later posts. Obviously, a regular old belt will work too. Here's a link to my my yoga supply shop page with a link to all these items found on amazon, but you could also just stick to using what you have around the house. Happy propping! #yoga #yogapractice #yogachallenge #yogaprops #restorativeyoga I knew this would happen, but I didn’t think it would be so early in the challenge. Frankly, I don’t want to do jack shit today because I have actual shit to do. I spent the morning flying around. I had to drop Aria at school because the bus never showed, eat real fast, teach my 9:30 yoga class at Riegel Ridge, run home/eat/let the dog out, get my car inspected, and hit Shop Rite. Accompanying me most of the time was my audio book loan of the new Louise Penny book which I’m solidly invested it, but it will return in two days and I’ll have to get back on the waitlist. Plus it’s rainy. And now I’m home and I just want to listen to my audio book while I do laundry and half-heartedly clean something. After a day of being busy, I’m solidly adverse to the idea of being still. Activate procrastinator mode – can I do this stillness challenge later? Eh, not likely. The kids will be home, dinner need to be made, and this place sounds like an airport even with only four people and one dog inside. The weekend? Not likely. A birthday party, music gigs, and un-decorating for Christmas are on the agenda for the weekend with not much space for peace and solitude. If it’s going to happen, it needs to happen now. This is the moment when it actually takes real effort to keep a 30 day practice of any type. It’s that shiny temptation of breaking the commitment “just this once and I’ll restart tomorrow.” And it works for everything right? Eating the cookie when you’re on the sugar detox plan, buying that thing that you swore you didn’t need more of, letting the next episode start when you said you’d just watch one. Here’s the thing. The temptation to break the commitment has a feeling. Maybe it feels like dullness, because you’re just too tired to stay the course. It could be that you’re distracted and can’t focus, or you feel doubtful this thing is even helpful or worth doing. The desire to cheat might even feel a little exciting and naughty, like a kid disobeying the direction of an authority figure, as if taking on this challenge wasn’t your choice in the first place. So what’s the remedy? Sometimes it’s just about tuning out the story in your head, putting one foot in front of the other, and doing what you said you would do. That’s what I did today, or I wouldn’t be writing right now, I’d be listening to the trials and tribulations of Inspector Gamache while folding clothes. If you can’t quite bring yourself to embody Nike’s tag line and “just do it,” find the feeling lurking behind the thought “I don’t want to.” Pause and sit with it. Don’t get caught up in the mind stuff and story of why you feel that way (although that’s a good question for another time.) Just sit with the sensation and breathe and eventually it will lessen. Then you can make your choice. And maybe you do choose to eat the cookie or buy the thing or watch the episode, but at least it was a CHOICE and not a knee-jerk response to stimuli. Every time we find space and choose a response rather than fire one off impulsively, we chip away at a habitual pattern and act from a place of personal power. And there you have it. I have just enough time before the bus drops off to do a meditation and a nice 20 minute restorative pose. Make good choices, friends. I must say I’m doing an admirable job keeping up on my January challenges. I have been managing to do my 20 minutes of Jack Shit, writing and posting about doing Jack Shit (which is a LOT more work than I realized), and have been keeping up with the daily email cardio assignment from The Lady Who Claps (Today’s workout is a “Full Body Explosion” and that sounds more than a little off putting). Of course, I’m only half way through the first week, still full of the vim and vigor of the new year. I am no fool though, and I know exactly what’s going to happen two weeks from now. All the elevation and inspiration wear off, and then comes THE SLOG. But that’s a post about obstacles we’ll need in a few weeks, right??
In the meantime, there are initial obstacles to address. Like, why can’t we do Jack Shit with ease? Mainly, because we’re human, and doing stuff is a fundamental and wonderful part of existence. The world is a beautiful place to explore and experience, and our bodies are built to receive sensory input and enjoy the things we do. The world is also fraught with chaos, disorder, and threat, and doing stuff is how we stay alive and avoid getting eaten by predators, or tossed out on the street by landlords. So, in short, doing stuff is a good thing. Being completely unable to STOP doing stuff, even for a short time, is the Bad Thing. What fuels this constant busyness? This answer varies by the individual, and it is worth it to mull this one over for yourself. “I don’t have time” is a common limitation for most of us, and a quick Google search using that phrase will reveal a host of books, articles, and gadgets meant to help us battle this feeling into submission. We’ll talk more about time this month, but in the meantime (ha!) let’s do a short meditative self-inquiry exercise. Practice: Close your eyes and sit comfortably in a chair with the head, neck, and trunk in one long line. Think about the things that need to get done today. Tell yourself over and over “I don’t have time” and generate the emotion that goes with it. Don’t get pulled into the story of all the ways you don’t have time, just stay with the feeling this thought brings up. What does it feel like in your body? Where? Is it a fluttering in the chest, churning in the belly? Are your shoulders or jaw or hands clenched? Observe where you feel it in your body. Physically relax what muscles you can, then intentionally breathe. On every inhale, see, feel, or imagine you are bringing white light directly to the chest or belly or wherever in the body you feel the sensation. On every exhale, the light gets brighter and sinks deeper into the body, like spring rain soaking into the soft earth. Feel the light brings with it the sense of spaciousness and limitless expansion. Stay with this sensation of space, and return to it if the mind starts to wander away or back into the “I don’t have time” story. Bring this sensation of space into your 20 minute practice, and repeat your favorite resting posture from the last three days, or just continue to sit without moving. Practices like this will often bring up observations and awareness when you don’t expect it, like the light bulb going on over the cartoon character’s head. This visualization technique can also be done during moments of stress for a few minutes, and in any position and even while moving. You don’t have to be sitting perfectly still or lying in a yoga pose to find calm. Feel the stress sensation in your body, breathe into it over and over, and observe while it slowly dissipates. Back to the work of doing nothing! I’m going to rename this series my January Sock Fashion Show. Today’s pose is Savasana, featuring this lovely furry striped number I got for Christmas. Enjoy!
Savasana (pronounced “Shiv-AH-sun-uh”) ismy favorite yoga pose and the one I never do, unless I’m taking a class as a student. Also creepily known as Corpse Pose, Savasana is like the period at the end of the sentence. It’s the time your body relaxes and integrates all the energy that got shifted around in your movement practice. For some students, the whole point of the hour of asana practice is just to get to this part where another grown adult orders you to lie down and be quiet for 10 minutes, and you are profoundly grateful. For others, this is just a weird form of yoga torture, and they either feel bullied into participating, or just refuse and keep exercising instead. If you are in the latter category, you might not be reading this post, since you likely find it nearly impossible to sit still doing jack shit. Oddly enough, you are also the personality type I’m writing this series for. Slow down, sister! You're working too hard. Props: In Savasana, as in all restorative poses, comfort is key. That means that if any part of your body is not comfortably grounded or is in any sort of stress, you need to bring the ground up to meet your body via a prop. Common areas of trouble when lying flat are:
Modifications: If you have back problems, you can modify by doing legs on a chair or keep the knees bent, feet flat on floor with knees knocked in together. If you are pregnant, have reflux, or difficulties breathing, you might be more comfortable with the chest and head elevated higher than the hips and legs. If you’ve ever been told by a medical professional that you shouldn’t lie flat on your back, don’t! It’s not Savasana, but you could always curl up on the side in the fetal position with your head on a blanket. It’s your mat and your practice, so let your body be your guide - not your mind intruding to say “Listen body, you should be doing it this way and that’s what you’re doing to do, or else!” Happy resting, friends! The body and mind are like two best friends holding hands, and one of them is always up for trouble. Where one goes, the other follows. If your mind is busy and agitated, your body will reflect that and it will be harder to settle. Similarly, when the body is stiff, uncomfortable, or in pain, the mind will focus on that and increase the experience of sensation while flapping around trying to fix the problem. If you have a hard time doing jack shit because your mind won’t let you, consider some preparation for both the mind and body. Listen to music. Take a hot shower. Do something quiet and repetitive for awhile, like slow toe touches. Focus on taking deep inhales (say to yourself “1”) and exhaling (say to yourself “2”). Knead bread (this would not be my choice, but whatever. You do you.) If we can get this troublesome pair to slow down and harmonize, it will be easier to relax. Posture of the day - legs up a wall Although I do like elevated legs, it took some maneuvering for me to get comfortable in this one. Start out by sitting right up against the wall with one hip securely on it and the legs parallel to the wall. Then you topple over like a Weeble who wobbled and DID fall down (dated reference, sorry millennials) and wind up with your butt close to the wall and the legs above. This didn’t feel great on my hips after 5 minutes, so I moved a bolster under them. You could also use a folded blanket too, but make sure you end the fold at the top below the waist – this avoids curving the lower spine. If it's too much of a hamstring stretch, move the hips further from the wall, or prop the hips higher. Leg variations are an option as well.
Try to find stillness in the body, and the mind will follow. Note to self: in the future when putting legs up the wall, do not wear the fuzzy slippers with the black rubber soles. Thank you universe, for the wonder of the Magic Eraser. This is a lovely restorative yoga pose that works just about anywhere except maybe Shop Rite, or an office that doesn't have a door.
Lay on the floor on a mat or folded blanket. Bend at the knees and rest your legs on a folding chair, kitchen chair, or couch. Pad the chair with another folded blanket if it's uncomfortable. Knees should be slightly ahead of the hips instead of directly above (hips are at more than a 90 degree angle). Relax the upper body however you like. My favorite is another blanket on top of the whole shebang and a lavender eye bag to block out the light. Things I thought about today while doing jack shit: Birthday party in two weeks with our dog as the decoration theme, and how am I supposed to do that? ... Good God I need a pedicure ... And noise reduction headphones ..... What is HAPPENING down there?? But eventually I relaxed. Good job, self! |
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