A Little + Often = A lot
It’s been a while. The Crane is still flying. The past year and a half I’ve been life coaching, guiding yoga, and teaching toddlers how to swim!
I spent the better part of a year training to teach Kripalu style yoga where I discovered many benefits that I’m excited to share with others. The combination of using breathwork, meditation and postures to become more present and learning how to “watch” thoughts with non-judgement, curiosity and kindness is powerful. It is parallel to what we practice in life coaching. It’s been wonderful to weave the two together.
I’ve been thinking about an equation one of my Kripalu teachers uses. “a little + often = a lot”. It relates to intentionally coming into the present moment more often throughout the day to relieve stress and help create work/life balance.
For many people, the idea of meditating, doing yoga, or concentrating on self for 30 minutes to an hour a day is daunting. Doing something for a minute or 2 is doable. Doing it 1-2 minutes, several times a day, adds up to a lot.
Our minds and thoughts can be impulsive, scared, and skittish, leaving us feeling anxious, confused, or exhausted. We can learn how to take a gentle approach to taming our minds and quieting the endless chatter of our thoughts by nurturing trust, listening within, and practicing self-compassion. I refer to this 1-2 minute practice I as a “purposeful pause” which offers a path to less stress and improved well-being. Give it a try:
1) Close your eyes. Take one deep breath filling up to the brim. Let go with a sigh or a sound.
2) Scan through the body. Find ONE place in the body that you can let go of effort. (Some common places are the shoulders, jaw or facial features. Maybe there is a spot in your body where you know tension likes to hide.) Put concentration there and focus on relaxing/letting it go.
3) Find ONE spot where you can notice a sensation touching the body. For example, where your clothes touch your skin, the part of your body that rests on a seat or the air coming across your face.
4) Stay with the body and see if you can find ONE place where the body is at ease – perhaps the tongue rest softly in the mount, the eyes are relaxed or your hand on your lap.
5) Let the mind rest there. Just be.
6) As sensations circulate, make a little space to watch what’s happening in the mind. The mind may be eager or exhausted, settled or scattered. Just notice. Can you be kind with what you find?
7) What’s one thing you could let go of today that you don’t need to do? Decide to let that thing go for today.
8) Deep a deep breath in and let it go with a sigh or sound. Slowly come back to your surroundings.