conscious yoga + wellness newsletter: december 2018

welcome:

Hi everyone, its me Jesse of CY+W! I have been wanting to start a monthly newsletter for awhile now and I’m really excited to be able to share this with all of you. Thanks for reading and your support in my journey in teaching:sharing yoga.


Since returning from my whirlwind restorative yoga teacher training with Jillian Pransky, I have been exploring a new outlook on what a weekly restorative yoga practice looks like to me. Prior to my training I was falling out of my own weekly restorative practice. I was focusing my energy on how I could share this practice with people in my community and how I could create more workshop opportunities so more people could experience the healing benefits of this practice. Although these are very important ideas to focus on, after my training I realized even more that in order to share this practice I needed to continue to explore my own relationship with conscious awareness. I feel grateful for my teacher Jillian and her reminder:


-in order to have compassion and energy for others, we must have compassion for ourselves-


It hasn’t been easy since being home as life continues to happen all around us but I’m making a conscious effort to provide myself with some time and space for my practice. Below is an exercise I encourage you to try several times over the next month, especially with the holiday season upon us.

 

monthly restorative practice: 


Restorative yoga doesn’t always have to include various blocks and an elaborate set up (although when it does, it’s magical). This month I encourage you to incorporate a guided relaxation body scan that I learned from my restorative teacher training to slowly incorporate some conscious awareness into your routine.

  1. Find a quiet spot and come to a comfortable seated position

  2. Close your eyes and find a connection to your breath, inhale through your nose and exhale out the nose or mouth; repeat this for 10 rounds

  3. Place your hands palm up on each leg and make a loose fist

  4. Take an inhale, with your exhale allow your focus to center around the extension (straightening) of your right thumb

  5. Take another inhale, with your next exhale allow your attention to move to the extension of the index finger; repeat for remainder of right fingers and then repeat on left hand

  6. Once you’ve made a connection with each finger extending, bring the attention of the breath to the center of the hands

  7. Take 10 breaths here, visualizing the air coming into and out of your body through the center of your hands

  8. Slowly bring your palms together and press each finger into its partner on the opposite hand, making a connection to yourself

  9. Lower your head, allow your chin to come towards your chest and slowly bring the eyes open in your own time

Return to your day with more connection to your breath.

xoxo,

Jesse

 



Jesse Milleryoga, restorative, mindfulness, breath, conscious, wellness