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I plan on posting here twice a week.
Today I'm sharing what's helping me ground down and plant my seeds of intention for the new year: connecting to breath and movement through at-home yoga.
For as long as I can remember, I have been a shallow breather.
I remember not being able to run so well in kindergarten thinking I was having a heart attack as I hyperventilated. I even had doctors hook me up to a heart monitor to check if I had any cardiovascular issues (I didn't). Looking back now, it was because I didn't know how to breathe deeply, fully, or properly for that matter. I probably was already anxious and stressed then.
When I started practicing yoga in college, this was one of the first things I noticed.
The stretching and poses weren't too difficult for me... it was my breathing.
I couldn't open up so easily to let air flow in and expand my belly. I felt like my breathing was stuck in my nose, throat, and chest. I noticed I couldn't breathe any deeper.
I would feel my body rushing to exhale and let the air out quickly, only to be rushing to take a small short inhale again.
This new year one of my intentions is to engage in consistent movement and exercise to help me with self-regulation; managing my energy and behavior.
One of my favorite intimate ways to do that is at-home yoga on YouTube with "Yoga with Adrienne"!
I've practiced yoga independently, by tuning into her videos throughout the years.
She's great! Her teaching style is playful, knowledgable, and supportive. It really feels like I'm hanging out with a close friend.
She lives here in Austin, but I've solely practiced with her virtually online.
I'm still waiting for the day I bump into her in person.
To be honest, I haven't fully finished any one of her yoga challenges but this year could be my year! It could be yours too if you want to join in!
Adrienne offers FREE yoga classes that address different parts of the body or different personalized needs or scenarios (yoga for the morning, yoga for office workers, yoga for runners, yoga for sleep, etc.) She offers a 30-day yoga challenge every year where you can explore the benefits of practicing yoga daily for 30 days. When it's not the beginning of a new year, she also creates a monthly calendar where a suggested video of hers is scheduled for each day.
In the past, I've spaced out the 30-day challenge throughout the year and would repeat some of her specific yoga videos I love that targets the back, neck, and shoulders.
Recently, I started visiting her website and using her monthly yoga calendar.
This year I'm particularly excited about her 30-day yoga series because I notice Adrienne is slowing down and taking it back to basics. Focusing on simple but imperative aspects to the practice of yoga: connecting to our breath and showing up to do the work.
I AGREE, the hardest part is showing up to do the dang thing!
Today I completed the video for Day 5: Replenish.
On her class for Day 3: Anchor, she refers to the mantra: "My breath is my anchor, my anchor is my breath" throughout the practice.
Adrienne mentions that it is difficult to stay connected to our breath and oftentimes we may not participate in a present, full exhalation, and inhalation. Here she was speaking to my SOUL. It's like she knows me. She addresses we have tendencies to hold our breath.
In my experience, when that happens to me, I'm attaching to tension, thoughts, and reactivity and have no spaciousness for us to observe, accept, relax, let go, and let be.
Making this conscious effort to work on my breathing is nourishing me!
I know I need access to my breath and my full conscious presence if I want to create change in my life and in the world around me.
If you'd like to join me in connecting to breath and body at the comfort of your own home, find Adrienne's introduction to her 30-day yoga challenge for 2021 here:
xoxo,
T