Welcome back to Sarah’s Self-Care Corner!  For this week’s blog, I will discuss yoga and meditation, and how to best incorporate them into your daily life.  Trust me, it is easier than you think!  Yoga includes various exercise and movement sequences combined with breathing techniques and meditation concepts.  Yoga practice can be specialized design per the individual. There are easier moves that suit everyone and there are some moves that are more difficult to suit those with more practice.  Yoga also allows for modifications that can be made to accommodate everyone’s current needs or limitations.  

While many people believe that the focus of yoga is to become very still and relax the mind, it can also be, at the same time, energizing and allow a person to push his/her body and mind to the limit by activating the core, large muscle groups, and balance.  By practicing yoga while also remaining conscious of your breath, a line of communication opens up between your mind and body.  Focusing on your breath is one of the key aspects of yoga, which can lead to the still practice of meditation.

What are the benefits of yoga and meditation?

There are many lifelong benefits of practicing yoga and meditation.  Both yoga and meditation are individual practices where it is essential to be in sync with your body and know its limits.  In addition to this and when done correctly with focus, yoga and meditation allow your body and mind to fully relax from physical tension combined with mental distraction and stress.  The practices of yoga and meditation also promote brain health.  It is important to prevent our minds from going into “auto-pilot,” so yoga and meditation help us take control over our thoughts and outlook on the day.  Lastly, yoga and meditation practices decrease anxiety, improve psychological health, prevent burnout, and promote increased awareness between the mind and body.  

Three Yoga Poses for Everyone

This semester, I have had the opportunity to take a yoga class at Penn State.  This has forced me to practice yoga as a dedicated part of my weekly schedule and I have loved every minute of it!  Throughout these yoga classes and several movement practices, I have done on my own, I have selected a few poses and movements that I consider my favorites.  Below is a list of my top three yoga poses:

• Child’s Pose – This pose is wonderful to briefly rest and relax before jumping back into a more difficult pose or movement sequence.  It stretches your lower back, hips, thighs, and knees while also relaxing your spine, shoulders, and neck.  One modification of this pose I enjoy is resting prayer hands on the back of my head.

• Downward Dog – Whenever I think of yoga, this is the pose that comes to mind.  Downward dog is one of the most common yoga poses.  It strengthens your arms, shoulders, and back while also stretching your hamstrings, calves, and foot arches.  The key to this pose is evenly distributing weight through your hands, pushing your hips to the sky, and keeping your shoulders relaxed and not scrunched towards your ears.  For an added challenge, you can ground your forearms rather than your palms, which turns into the dolphin pose.

• Twisted Crescent Lunge – This pose strengthens your core, thighs, chest, and shoulders while also promoting balance and flexibility.  The best part of this pose is the twist of the upper body towards the grounded leg, which opens up the chest and side ribs for a nice stretch.

Simple Meditations Anyone Can Try

Along with yoga, I have added meditation into my weekly schedule, and I have enjoyed connecting with myself and my breathing.  Throughout several meditation practices, I have come to realize which breathing techniques and guided meditations are my favorite.  Below is a list of my top three meditation practices:

• 4-4-8 Breathing – This breathing exercise is most effective in a seated position that is comfortable for you.  The sequence consists of breathing in through your nose for four counts filling up your lungs, holding the breath for four counts, and exhaling fully through your mouth for eight counts.  This technique really calms my body and mind.  I enjoy using this breathing practice when I need to take a mental reset before starting something else.  

• Visualization Meditation – This meditation practice includes picturing and imagining positive images, ideas, and symbols.  It can also utilize affirmations and mantras to help calm the mind and focus on something happy and uplifting in your life.  Using visualization can help ease pain, send love to others, or support you in goal making and achieving.  Visualization meditation engages your mind and its limitless imagination.  
• Gratitude Meditation – This meditation practice is simply reflecting on people, places, and things in our lives that we are truly grateful for.  Through this practice, you should be filled with feelings of appreciation for a friend, family member, sunny weather, coffee, and more.  This practice helps us appreciate everything we have in our lives, which can ultimately enhance our well-being.  

Thank you for reading this post, and I hope you have found the information helpful in incorporating different yoga and meditation practices into your daily life.  Based on your current needs, implement the best yoga poses and meditations that work best for you.  I know that trying new things, such as yoga or meditation, can be scary, but you may really like it and it doesn’t hurt you to try something new.  Be sure to check back in two weeks at Sarah’s Self-Care Corner for my last post where I will be reflecting on this semester and my self-care goals.  

Sources: 

• https://www.fxmedicine.com.au/blog-post/science-yoga-meditation-and-mindfulness
• https://www.lifehack.org/824793/yoga-meditation
• https://www.nytimes.com/guides/well/beginner-yoga
• https://www.wellandgood.com/visualization-meditation/#:~:text=%22Visualization%20meditation%20is%20the%20method,health%20and%20wellness%20platform%20Vivaya.