3 Things to Inspire You Back to Your Mat

September already!  I hope that you had a beautiful summer, filled with fun activities, joyful gatherings and restful days.  Mine was busy. I love to be home in the summer, when the garden is lush, the monarchs flutter, cicadas sing, the beaches of Lake Huron beckon and the farmer’s fields overflow with bounty.  

Where my practice is concerned, I’ve loved yoga classes in the park and sunset yoga on the beach. There’s something quite magical about practicing outside, connecting directly with the earth and the sky, with the water and the wind.

After the expansive freedom of the summer, it’s time to transition back into the rhythm of regular practice.  This is true for me — and I believe that we can all use some inspiration to get back to the mat after our routines have been interrupted by summer fun.  

So for this month, I’d like to offer you three things each week to invite you back to your mat: one lovely pose, one fun practice, one thoughtful ritual.  I find that starting with one thing, even one single yoga pose, is a gentle way to ease back into practice…and once you are on your mat, you will likely stay for longer than you planned. 

First, let’s get ready.  Think about your home practice.  
What time of day is right for you to find a few moments for personal practice? 
How long will you practice? Remember that even 5 minutes a day is valuable.  
Where will you practice?  Perhaps your home sanctuary needs a refresh.  
Where have your practice tools gotten to (yoga mat, bolster, blocks etc.)? Gather them together for easy access.  

If you need some inspiration to (re)establish your daily practice, here is a helpful resource.

Now…this week, let’s focus on getting grounded…always a great place to start. “Grounded” is a present and steady state of mind and heart from where we can act skilfully in any situation, no matter how challenging.  When you are grounded, you feel calm, clear-headed, confident, balanced, flexible and resilient.  It also means steady and solid on your mat, as if connected to the earth, truly present for your experience.

Here are three things to help you get grounded on your mat and to transition back into your regular practice. Try any one or all three. 

1. Root Down in Tree Pose (Vrksasana)
I like the concept of “rooting down” to get grounded.  When we think about being grounded, trees are the ultimate example. Trees, rooting deeply into the earth while reaching gracefully for the sky, stand for strength, steadiness, flexibility, resilience. And through their roots, they are connected to other trees. From their place of rooted stability, trees can weather most storms.
Tree Pose (Vrksasana) is a wonderful pose to do when you want to feel grounded, it calms and steadies the nerves, helps us to develop balance, concentration and stability.  Balancing in Tree Pose, you can visualise that your standing foot has strong and deep roots that solidly ground and steady you. Like a tree, you can imagine your roots also connect you with others all around you, whether you can see them or not.  While you are rooting down, reach your hands to the sky, like branches they reach for the light and nourishment, they reach for the stars. You can be playful in tree pose, wave your branches, balancing and swaying like a tree in the wind, solidly grounded by your roots. Your heart is the centre, the bridge between earth and sky, a channel for the light to flow. Notice how it feels to expand energetically in this beautiful pose.

2. Get humming with Bee Breath (Bhramari Pranayama) in Child’s Pose
Bee Breath is a delightful and easy practice that is soothing and grounding. It is about making a humming sound similar to the buzzing of a bee.  Child’s Pose (Balasana) is a lovely place to practice Bee Breath, any variation that allows your forehead to rest. If you prefer, you can also do this practice in a comfortable seated Easy Pose (Sukhasana). You may wish to block your ears or close your eyes to block out any external stimuli. Once you are comfortable and relaxed, begin Bee Breath: 
Inhale through the nose in a relaxed way, and hum as you exhale completely. 
Aim for your humming exhalations to be as long as you can make them. Humming naturally lengthens your breath so this should feel relaxed, not forced. 
Notice where you feel the sensations of the humming vibration. Play with different notes - lower, higher, and notice the shift in sensations. 
Be playful and curious, exploring this internal vibratory experience! 
Practice for five minutes, then relax the breath, and slowly rise up to a seated position and take another moment to sit still and observe your breath, body, and mind.

 

3. Try a simple ritual to get grounded
Small rituals signal to your nervous system it’s time to arrive, they are a signal to transition from busy-ness to grounded-ness.  To support your intention to get grounded, find an element of the earth and place it at the top of your mat.  It could be a pretty stone, a small bunch of herbs, a beautifully coloured leaf, a small plant.  If you like crystals, choose a grounding crystal such as garnet, red jasper or ruby to connect with your root chakra.  Heavy crystals such as hematite may feel very grounding.  And very ancient crystals such as shungite can connect you deeply with the earth.

TIP:Practicing each yoga pose with mindfulness is the best way to stay grounded— and to practice safely.  Be intentional with your movements.  Notice all the details and the sensations in your body as you practice. If your mind wanders use awareness of your breath or awareness of the parts of your body in contact with the mat to anchor you in the present moment.

 

MORE RESOURCES
When looking for ways to stay grounded, one of the ways is to connect with the energy of the root chakra, the grounding foundation to all the chakras.
Root Chakra: 8 Poses to Get Grounded
Feel More Grounded: Connect with Your Root Chakra