Day 299 - A Year to Clear - The Chair Pose

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Lesson 299: The Chair Pose

Again, Stephanie Bennett Vogt shares another pose she uses for relaxation. It personally gave me a headache so I’m not going to be doing it any time soon, but maybe it will be great for you. Here are the steps and pic that goes along with it:

Begin: Sit in a sturdy chair, preferably one with no arms.

• Align: Make sure that your thighs are parallel to the floor, shins exactly perpendicular. To achieve the right angles if you are tall, place a blanket under your hips; if you are short, place a blanket or two under your feet. (Note: keeping the thighs, legs, and floor at precisely right angles to each other prevents undue stress on the knees, back, and neck.)

• Position: Place both knees shoulder distance apart, with heels directly under your knees, and feet pointed slightly inwards. Make sure your big toes make firm contact with the floor.

• Adjust: Slide your butt all the way back in the chair and place your elbows on your knees. Let your hands dangle freely.

• Drop (Stage 1): Slowly drop your head and hang over your knees like a rag doll.

• Tweak: Tuck your chin in slightly to allow your neck to lengthen; adjust your upper back to create a hollow between your shoulders.

• Release: Direct your breath along your spine, releasing holding areas and let go.

• Drop (Stage 2) OPTIONAL: [NOTE AVOID STAGE 2 if you have high blood pressure, glaucoma, or hiatal hernia.] To deepen your experience of this pose, slowly lower one arm and then the other to the floor and allow your head to hang gently over your knees. When you feel complete, return to Stage 1 for a few moments of integration by placing one elbow, and then the other, on your knees.

• Finish: To come out of Stage 1 place your hands one at a time on your knees or on the side of the chair. Come up slowly, one vertebrae at a time, with your head last. (Note: Try not to grip your tailbone as this defeats the purpose of the pose.)

• Integrate: Allow your body to integrate the effects of the pose by sitting quietly for a few breaths.

Day 298 - A Year to Clear - VIDEO - The Floor Pose

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Lesson 298: VIDEO - The Floor Pose

Stephanie Bennett Vogt has a lesson today which demonstrates her favourite floor pose in which she finds relieves stress. She calls it the “Cadillac of support” and allows you to let go. It doesn’t take much time and you may find relief in it.

I personally felt like I could achieve the same relaxing feeling just by lying down and shutting off. I don’t know if I missed the point or not, but maybe the whole elevation of legs makes a difference? I didn’t really feel much of a difference though. Maybe I need to do it for longer?

Let me know if you try and it out and find some overwhelming sense of relaxation, because I’m not sure it really made me relax deeper than normal. Haha!

Day 287 - A Year to Clear - Check In WEEK 41 - Taking a Breather

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Lesson 287: Check In WEEK 41 - Taking a Breather

This week was about taking a pause and not giving rise to challenges that presented themselves. I personally really liked the do nothing for 2 minutes exercise. Sometimes we don’t pause during tough times of the day and just relax, so having that website with waves crashing to relax, would definitely help in those moments when we feel stressed. Also, learning that we don’t have to fix every situation or fix ourselves is something to be reminded of. We can recognise what works and what doesn’t for ourselves and make changes if what we’re doing doesn’t resonate. I think it’s important to want to make changes in our life and not doing it for someone else. I think this week was a good time for reflection and being reminded to take a pause when our mind and body need it.

Day 286 - A Year to Clear - Do Nothing

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Lesson 286: Do Nothing

Today’s lesson is to go to this website: http://www.donothingfor2minutes.com/ and just breathe through it.

I decided to close my eyes as I listened. I was instantly taken to a beach with a sunset. I was in a cove with a rockface that had greenery on it. It was nice to listen to the waves because it was soothing. It’s amazing how good natural sounds are to the mind and body. You can just allow your worries to fade away.

I think what’s important is that sometimes we’re always on the go, that we forget to just take a moment out for ourselves. We need those moments to re-energise ourselves.

Day 282 - A Year to Clear - Press the Pause Button

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Lesson 282: Press the Pause Button

“Become a master of the pause — whether saying grace before a meal or taking a few quiet unrushed breaths before a meeting or phone call. Find pause breaks during your day to reset to a relaxed rhythm. Listen to some classical or peaceful music. Learn to shift your rhythm instead of being caught in high speed all the time.”

— Stephan Rechtschaffen, GPS for the Soul

Today we are to do one thing where we can “press the pause button”. Anything at all to just take a quiet moment.

Throughout the day, I do take quiet moments for myself. I just don’t see the point in rushing. You can get to the same outcome by taking your time and not overwhelming yourself. Sometimes I will put on some music at work because I can’t deal with all the noise around me. When I feel like there is too much work going on. I just breathe, read through the task thoroughly and from there make a decision on what to do.

When I got home today, I didn’t go rushing into my blogs. I lay on my couch and had a moment. Just some rest on my couch whilst I browsed Facebook. I probably spent one hour there to just pause and relax.

I feel like sometimes life gets hectic and my life has been events, catching up with people or just doing activities that enrich my life. Last Sunday, I legit didn’t do much. I lay in bed, watch TV, caught up on blog posts and worked on my business website. It was nice to not go out and take some extra naps and relaxed into what I was doing with no rush at all. It was a welcoming break to my busy life. Everything was slowly paced and I didn’t really look at the time and set myself deadlines. Just did things in my own time. I do want to do this more often and I will!

What was something you did today to press pause?