By Silvia Mordini
When we’re at home with ourselves, we’re fully embodied. We feel grounded, peaceful and self-accepting. We’re less likely to worry. We’re not overly concerned about what anybody else thinks or says that isn’t loving, kind or helpful.
Yoga is a way of coming home to this place.
Yoga serves us as a “respite” from many of the concerns and responsibilities that can await us at home or work. Studies show us that little respites reduce stress, and help us approach life with a clear mind and a more open heart.
Connecting with my breath, moving through skin, I traverse muscle and bone and wash up on the shores of my own being. –Julie Rappaport, 365 Yoga Daily Meditations
To come “home” to yourself, first be aware of your foundation. Feel your “home base”— your seat on your chair or cushion, or your feet on the floor. Then bring your attention to your breath at the tip of your nostrils. Follow your breath inside and become aware of your heartbeat and your body’s sensations. Then simply relax, and BE. Can you give yourself permission to simply be at home for awhile… and not have to DO (or over-do) anything for a few moments or longer?
While you’re home, you can check out how it feels to be there.
Be aware of openness. Tightness. Aches and pains. Level of energy. Heat. Cold. Tingles. The nature of your mind and emotions. Your sense of aliveness… or deadness.
Fully embody what’s real for you, so you can know your truth in this moment. After that, you can decide if you need to take better care of your home. On the yoga mat and off, this means not pushing, forcing or doing things that harm you or destroy your peace in body or mind. It also means cleaning house–having discipline and working hard enough to get rid of tensions, toxins or other harmful elements.
My experience has shown me that everything seems to flow well after yoga and meditation practice. Try it consistently for the next 10 days and see if you can tell the difference coming home to your heart makes to loving yourself, loving your day, loving your life!
Silvia
Enjoy this Favorite Poem by Dana Faulds Author From Go In and In: Poems from the Heart of Yoga
BREATH OF LIFE
I breathe in All That Is-
Awareness expanding
to take everything in,
as if my heart beats
the world into being.
From the unnamed vastness beneath the
mind, I breathe my way to wholeness and healing.
Inhalation. Exhalation.
Each Breath a “yes,”
and a letting go, a journey, and a coming home.
