Choosing to find ease within your day will profoundly impact the reflection and response of life you will experience. You can consciously choose to set the tone of your day by incorporating a few simple (easily accessible) practices that will provide a powerful effect on your body and within your mind. These practices will prepare and equip you to release the stress and effort of the day and invite ease to rise up instead. Dedicate to the exploration of these practices choosing what you can commit to with consistency. You have the ability to cultivate ease and release of tension at any time throughout your day. Pause and reset. Release and find ease.

1. Begin the day with a few moments in stillness.

In order to know and become comfortable with stillness, we must be intentional and practice stillness. Begin by creating consistency. Do what is possible daily and start by dedicating a minimum of 5 minutes daily to practicing stillness.

Sit in a comfortable seated posture where you can feel grounded. Create lift and extension within the spine to accommodate healthy posture by maintaining a slight anterior (forward) tilt within your pelvis.. Another option would be to sit in a chair where you can plant your feet connected to the floor. Whether seated on the floor or in a chair, be sure to support spinal integrity and healthy posture by lifting the spine up and out of your pelvis. This alignment will aid in the reducing compression within your lumbar (low back) region of the spine, in particular.

Once settled in a comfortable seat, create ease by connecting to the steadiness of your inhalations and exhalations. This awareness will connect and ground you in the present moment. Notice. Physically ground yourself into the present moment by becoming aware of the periphery of your body. Take a mental scan of your body. Start at your head and move your awareness down your cervical spine (neck region). Notice. Visualize and move awareness along your thoracic (mid-spine region), through the shoulder joints and down each arm into your hands. Travel awareness back into the spine and then move it along the lumbar (low back region) into the pelvis. From your pelvis, move through the hip joints into each leg, through the hip, knee and ankle joints, all the way to your feet. From your feet, travel your awareness back up through the pelvis, the spine and return and end the scan in your head.

Mentally notice each region and area of your body through the scan. Notice sensations that arise with focus and awareness through each region of the body. Notice without labels or judgments while being attentive to what you sense or feel. Notice for the intention of becoming aware to what is present and the experience of being present. While you are scanning your body, notice your breath and maintain a steadiness with ease creating a smooth inhalation and an extended exhalation.

Commit to 5 minutes daily. Commit to that which is obtainable with consistency.

Key points to remember:

• Create a conscious easy seat

• Notice

• Create steady breath flow

• Body scan

2. Choose a word, an affirmation or prayer.

Choose a word, an affirmation, or a one sentence prayer that you can repeat easily to yourself silently and repeatedly during your time of conscious stillness or sitting, Consider a seated position or recline into savasana (length of your mat with legs and arms extended away from the body). If choosing a reclined savasana position of stillness, place a blanket roll under your head and neck for support. Let your word, affirmation or prayer be used to create a soothing, meditative experience.

Consider connecting the word, affirmation or prayer to the movement of your inhale and length of your exhale. You can create this rhythm by taking a few moments to count your breath. Begin with a slow count of four on the inhale and match the four count on your exhale. You can move your count up to a six or eight count as you feel ready. The connection to your steady stream of breath will recalibrate your nervous system. Initiate balance between the "fight or flight", sympathetic nervous system, initiated when you inhale and the "rest and digest", parasympathetic nervous system, that is initiated on your exhalations. Also, consider adding the use of the Prana mudra by connecting your thumb with your ring finger. This mudra connection will activate dormant energy within the body and increase vital prana, or life force. The thumb represents fire and the ring finger is earth. This connection encourages the flow of energy making you feel energized and strong.

A powerful, energizing way to start the day!

3. Pause and Notice

Creating a routine for practicing stillness gives you the ability to pause and reset. Within the pause, you can begin to notice and become aware of what is emerging or surfacing within the first moments of stillness. This valuable time can help you set the tone and mindset for the day. A new beginning. Within noticing, we can release the need to create labels for what we are feeling or sensing. The fluctuations of thoughts and feelings can be recognized, noticed and then released without attaching any value to them. This practice will aid in cultivating a mental space of non-attachment, releasing the need to cling or attach permanence to that which is impermanent.

Consider extending these practices further by spending a few moments in daily journaling. Journal a few notes from your daily experience in stillness. Writing can become a therapeutic experience and aid in the cultivation and support of your health and overall wellbeing.

Don't complicate any of these practices. Consciously choose ease and then let the experience of ease guide you. #BeyondYTT #Yogi #YogaTeacherTraining #YogaJourney #Namaste #Sustainability #Longevity #YogaTeacher