Make Your Home Practice A Haven of Peace and Calm

It’s a new world. It’s a much slower world. One that is fraught with uncertainty, stress and worry for so many.  It's a time of minor frustration for some, and of major devastation for others.  And it's also a world where we see an unprecedented sense of compassion and caring for others as we take refuge in our homes, taking care of family and friends, doing our best for our communities.  Good things can come from the most challenging situations.  

 

Let’s remember that yoga and meditation are excellent ways to find peace and calm in the midst of anxiety and uncertainty. To find compassion for ourselves and others. To find joy, clarity, creativity and confidence.

 

Today, these powerful practices are more relevant and helpful than ever.   

 

My home yoga and meditation practice is helping me to stay peaceful, calm and grounded in the present moment, not lost anxiety or worry for the future. I know I can only control why I do and think in this very moment.  So I try to stay right here, right now. Because that’s really all there is.

 

Home practice is more than self-care - it’s soul-care.    And we all need it. Especially right now.

 

So I invite you to make your home practice a haven of peace and calm with these 8 easy practices and practical tips. They will help you make your home practice your daily retreat, so you can reconnect with your higher self and find the inner resources and strength you need right now.  

  

1 - CREATE A PEACEFUL PLACE TO PRACTICE

So many people are staying home right now, and everyone’s home situation is different. Are you alone at home, working in a new reality? Are you surrounded by your entire family 24/7, trying to get everything done? Are you an essential worker who comes and goes from long shifts?  Are you just trying to figure out what to make for dinner today?

 

We all need self-care time to be able to care for others. 

 

Whatever your current home situation is, you can make your home practice much more peaceful and uplifting if you create a tranquil place to practice.  I invite you to create your own home sanctuary, your sacred space.  More than just a place to keep your yoga props and meditation cushion, your sanctuary, no matter how big or small, has the power to greatly enhance and empower your practice. Your sacred space can create a calming, protective, supportive and inspiring atmosphere for your practice. Here are a few tips on how to do it.

• Find a place to practice: it could be an entire room, a window nook, a corner of your bedroom or living room. It doesn't matter how big it is.  What matters is the love and intention you put into making it sacred.  If you can’t close a door on your sanctuary, think of separating the space with plants, draperies, strategically place furniture.
• Create an altar: any small low table, chest or even a window sill will do.  This will be the focal point of your practice, a place to hold meaningful items and ritual tools such as candles, incense and singing bowls.
• Surround yourself with meaningful and symbolic objects, art and ritual tools that inspire you and support your practice.  Inspiring imagery, statuary, crystals, elements of nature are all examples. 
• Get the right tools to support you, depending on your practice you will likely need just a few carefully chosen essentials:  yoga mat, yoga bolster, yoga block, meditation cushion.  

Here are more ideas to help you Create Your Sanctuary.

 

 

2 - PRACTICE UNDISTURBED

If there are others in your home, it’s a good idea to let them know you are practicing, so they leave you to practice in peace and quiet.  Here is a GIFT FOR YOU.   Download your DIY do-not-disturb signs, a series of door signs to print out with fun messages to let them know you are practicing.  Choose the do-not-disturb sign that feels best to you.  What will you choose?  How about "I'm out of my body - Be back soon"or maybe "I'm reconnecting with my higher self - We'll see you later". 

Get them HERE.

  

3 - POSITIVE INTENTIONS AND AFFIRMATIONS

Intentions are very powerful. Setting your intention is about the way you want to feel, and it’s much more than that.  It’s also about the higher vibrational energy that you want to embody and carry with you, off the mat and into the world.  What energy do you want to cultivate today? What state of mind and heart do you want to invoke today?

 

Try the SO HUM mantra: SO HUM = I AM THAT  

• I am peace
• I am serenity
• I am joy

Or some positive affirmations such as:

• I am healthy in this moment
• I am safe in my home
• I am supported by my family, my friends and my community
• Everything is going to be OK (I've used this one a lot to help me through difficult situations)

Just setting your intention and declaring it, either to yourself, to another person or to your journal is enough, and has an immediate emotional and even physical effect.  Reminding yourself of your intention throughout the day day, like a mantra, will firmly install that choice in your heart and mind.

 

4 - LETTING GO BREATH

Our breath is another powerful tool that is always available to us. We can use it to calm our emotions and anxieties. There are many many different breathing techniques. Try this very simple one today, it will help you to release negative emotions and tensions and to put you in a positive state of mind for the rest of your practice:

• Sit upright or stand tall with your feet hip width apart (ie in Mountain Pose)
• Take a few cycles of breath through your nose to steady yourself.
• Inhale deeply through your nose.
• Exhale deeply through your mouth, letting go of all the breath, like a great big sigh. 
• Pause briefly.
• Then repeat two more times.
• As you exhale, feel your shoulders release tension, your jaw relax.  Notice how you feel.
• That’s it!

 

5 - PEACEFUL YOGA POSES 

These 6 yoga poses will bring you peace, calm and help you to feel grounded and steady.  Close your eyes in each one, stay in the pose for 3-5 minutes.

1. Mountain Pose - feel grounded, just standing solidly on your mat, eyes closed, checking in with yourself
2. Standing Forward Bend - folded into your heart, let your arms and head hang loosely, releasing tension
3. Heart Melting Pose - a soulful pose, heart melting down, forehead to the mat, connecting with something greater
4. Seated Forward Fold - restfully turning inward to calm the mind and body
5. Supported Reclining Goddess Pose - your heart is open and resting peacefully while you are protected and supported 
6. Supported Child’s Pose - a very calming position made more comfortable with the support of a bolster, calms the nervous system and relieves stress

Mindful Practice Tip: In each pose, stay present by scanning your awareness through your body, noticing any sensations as they arise, the different parts of the body required to move in and out of each pose, the differences from side to side by pausing after each pose. Use your breath as an anchor, coming back to it whenever your mind wanders away from your practice.   Notice how you feel during and after each pose.

 

6 - VISUALIZATION MEDITATION FOR INNER PEACE

• In a comfortable seated position, sitting tall and with dignity, close your eyes and focus for a few moments on the flow in and out of your breath.  
• Now think of a place where you have felt happy, peaceful and calm.  It could be a beautiful place in nature you know (a beach, a forest, a mountain), it could be any place, inside or out, where you’ve felt a deep sense of peace.  
• Imagine yourself there.
• Remember all you can about it.  Remember the sights, the sounds, the scents that you experienced. Think of all the details...the time, the season, all the colours that surround you, what colour was the sky, were there any clouds, was it warm, was it breezy, what was that scent...  
• Remember how you were feeling in that place, remember the joy, the peace, the sense of bliss.  Be there in those serene and tranquil moments for as long as you like. And then bring all those beautiful sensations and feelings back into the present moment.  
• When you are ready bring your awareness back into the room, gently opening your eyes.

Mindful Practice Tip: If your mind wanders away from your peaceful place, gently bring it back, without judging. It’s normal for your mind to wander during meditation, and part of the practice is noticing when it has wandered and being kind and compassionate to yourself when it does.

  

7 - CALMING MUDRA

Mudras (the Sanskrit word meaning symbolic or ritual hand gestures) have been used for centuries to channel energy in the body, used to provide relief from many different conditions including stress, anxiety and depression. You can tap into this power at any moment.  It's particularly useful during meditation, it can transform the energy of your practice.  

There are many different mudras. Try Gyan Mudra, connecting the thumb and forefinger. One of the most universal and important mudras, gyan mudra symbolizes wisdom and knowledge, improves focus and concentration. It also eases tension and anxiety, relieves stress, promotes a sense of balance.  

 

8 - GRATITUDE PRACTICE

Gratitude puts everything into perspective. It’s a powerful practice that is super easy and can be done every day.  As you begin to cultivate greater awareness through yoga and meditation you will be empowered to see more, to recognize and marvel at the beauty, the bounty, the opportunities, the love and support that surrounds you.  Every moment, every encounter, every opportunity is a gift to be cherished. Just recognizing and appreciating all the goodness you have in your life right now will instantly make you feel more positive, peaceful and confident.  

Make gratitude a part of your daily home practice. Take a minute (for example I always take the last minute of my meditation) to list in your mind or your journal 5 or 6 of the things you are grateful for in that moment.  

 

I hope these ideas and tips will inspire your home practice, and help you to find peace, calm and joy.  Today and everyday.

  

 

BEAUTIFUL, ECO-CONSCIOUS TOOLS TO SUPPORT YOUR PRACTICE

Discover our complete collection of yoga and meditation essentials...and little luxuries too.  Everything we do at HUM is designed to help you on your journey towards a higher vibration, to get more joy, peace, balance and clarity in your life through the power of a daily home practice of yoga and meditation.

And so much love, intention, and attention to the tiniest detail has gone into the creation of our yoga and meditation essentials.

All designed to empower you to PRACTICE AT HOME WITH CONFIDENCE  and help you to create an easy, enjoyable and motivating home practice.