Category: Countdown to the end of 2020

A HUGE THANK YOU for joining me this month. I’ve really enjoyed putting this together and sharing the non-mat related yoga. 

If you want to learn more about the Yamas and Niyamas that we dipped our toes into between days 2 and 13, they are from The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. One of my favourite parts of the teacher training I did.

Be present, give yourself permission to spend time with you. You are the most important person in your life.

Now all that’s left for me to say is ENJOY THE HOLIDAYS! Look after yourself and your family. xx

The table below will link to each of the days that we’ve covered this month.

1	5 minute for you – savasana	Invite silence and stillness
2	The Yamas	Attitudes towards our environment
3	Ahimsa – Non-Violence	Find empathy and compassion
4	Satya – Truthfulness	Find authenticity and be true to yourself
5	Asteya – Non-Stealing	Question your needs and how you fulfil them
6	Brahmacharya – Moderation	Enjoy more of life by living it moderately
7	Aparigraha – Non-Hoarding	Letting go to create freedom and energy
8	The Niyamas	Attitude towards ourself
9	Saucha – Purity	Cleanliness of the mind and body
10	Santosha – Contentment	Appreciate what you have right now
11	Tapas – Discipline	Persistence and routine
12	Svadhyaya – Self Study	Observe yourself
13	Isvara-pranidhana – Surrender	Submit to your higher power
14	Gauge yourself	Check in on yourself before others
15	Body Scan	Connect with yourself
16	Grounding	Become present
17	Gratitude	Appreciation
18	Breath	Become centred
19	Intention/Mantra	Invite positivity
20	Rest	Take time out
21	Reflect	Search for the good stuff

We’re coming to the end of our countdown. It’s 21st December, the Winter Solstice. Not only the shortest day of 2020 but also a day to pause and reflect. What a year!

It might be easy to think about what we lost this year but today I encourage you to turn this around. Let’s end on a high and find some positivity. What did 2020 give you? How did you grow this year? From every part of your year, month, weak or day, each breath you take, movement you make, activity you do, there is an opportunity to learn and grow. Keep learning. Keep growing. Check in tomorrow for a few reminders of our journey.

In any way that suits you and only for 5 minutes, if that’s what you can spare. It doesn’t have to be in Savasana or even on a mat. Pick a comfy spot and your own position then take that moment just for you. Recognised that you are allowing this time for yourself. You deserve it. If you think you might struggle to quieten your busy mind, you could run through my grounding and/or body scan audio. If you find more time after the audio, spend it with your breath letting your mind feel the nourishment and release.  

We get a two in one day today.  Setting an intention and a mantra are different things but we’ll combine them today to see how they work together. Firstly, I invite you to find an intention. Something that you want to be more of. Just a little word of warning here. Please be very careful not to create something that might cause any negative thoughts later. Something that might bring feelings of failure, something you might not achieve. Let’s start small. This is only one day and you can set any number of intentions after this. My favourite two are to be more calm and present so my intention would be “I want to be more present” or “I want to feel calm”. You might want to feel more love or less pressure. 

Now let’s look at how you can build this intention into your day. We’ll take it and set it into a mantra, something very simple that you can remember and repeat. We’re going big on positivity here so we’ll start our mantra with “I am…”. My intention to be more present would become “I am here”. This would remind me to be more present throughout my day or during my practice on the mat. My intention for calmness would become “I am calm” to encourage a feeling of peace. The other options would become “I am loved” or “I am enough” because you are and you just needed a reminder throughout your day. Use your mantra today. Repeat it to yourself often. At the end of today, let it go because tomorrow is a new day and you can start over again.  

If there is one thing to be grateful for today, make it your breath. At some point today, see if you can find time to connect with your breath. Spend a minute being aware of your breath, not changing it in any way, just feeling it entering the body and leaving. Maybe where it travels to in the body and where it leaves from. 

• Focus on your inhales for 10 breaths.
• Focus on your exhales for 10 breaths.
• Focus on the u-bend, that moment where you end an inhale and you begin your exhale.

Think of your inhales as nourishing the body and your exhales as releasing, letting go. Let you belly be soft and take a full, nourishing inhale through your nostrils, filling up the body. Exhale fully and audibly out of your mouth, feeling a release.  Repeat as often as needed.  

We’re bringing back a little Santosha from day 10 today and finding some gratitude. You may already do this on a daily basis. If so, this is just a reminder.

Before you day gets going or you’re too busy to stop and think, see if you can come up with three things in your life that you’re grateful for. These can be possessions, people or something less tangible. Maybe write them down. Later on, around evening or bedtime, you could add to these with three things that have happened today that you’re also grateful for.

Continuing with the ability to observe and notice ourselves, we’re going to practice some self-awareness again today. 

Here is your invitation to check in on yourself before you start your day. How full do you feel mentally/emotionally? How much spare do you have to give to others today? If you’re feeling super-confident and raring to go, you’re likely to be pretty full. However, if you’re unsure, maybe feeling somewhere less than 70%, think about taking care of yourself first and not giving too much of yourself to others. If you’re feeling a little empty, possibly anything less than 30%, beware of those draining situations, maybe avoiding them all together today and finding some time to nourish yourself. We’ll explore some options for nourishment over the next few days.    

Surrender

Our journey through the Yamas and Niyamas are almost at the end. (We’ll still be counting through December for a bit longer though.) This is our last and is possibly the hardest to analyse. Isvara-panidhara is to surrender or submit. Often translated as surrendering to God but instead let’s use ‘higher power’. This doesn’t have to be an external higher power although it certainly can be. Search inside yourself and you might find your own, your inner self or maybe your divine self. You don’t need to label it, just know it is there. This is what you can surrender to, to accept.

If all this seems too much to take on, maybe today you can let go of something, possibly expectations. You can’t always control results but if you do your best, know that you’ve done your best and maybe surrender to the outcome. This can bring a sense of peace and calmness, when often the unknown brings the opposite.

Surrender yourself to your practice on the mat. Give yourself full permission to be there, feeling present and engaged, allowing you to be the best version of yourself.