Make a place of refuge within your home! A place where you can just be, where you can regularly practice yoga, meditation and breathwork, labor coping techniques. A place where you can recharge and reset, so that you are more healthy, relaxed, balanced, grounded, strong, clear for childbirth, or any stressful situation.
I absolutely love going to an awesome yoga class, but I can not always get to one. So I am grateful to online classes with amazing teachers and for my regular home practice to which I am deeply committed. It has been a life saver. I created a list of my 10 favorite MUST HAVE supplies - I share them with you so you can also ROCK your regular home yoga practice, so you have what you need for active flow, alignment based or restorative yoga, breathwork and meditation, with props for assisting and supporting you.
Create your own haven of calm, a place to recharge and call your own sanctuary within your home! I am a #PropJunkie for a reason. Splurge on the props - everyone benefits from them - you will be thrilled that you did; I want you to feel as supported and pampered as possible when you release into them and have plenty of options to enhance your practice while preventing injury.
They not only give you more stability and ways to build strength, they also allow for more freedom, ability to open and breathe; they help you build more self awareness, sharper focus and concentration and ease you into a delicious inner peace and sense of renewal . And these can be used to help you in labor too. Most come in a variety of colors - I like the soothing tones, and that the colors coordinate and are pleasing to your eyes. Check it out here: homesweethomebirth.com/yoga-supplies
It is very soothing to rest your head on a block when doing forward folds..
This pose is just delicious.
Make a ME haven in your home or apartment. It could be in your own special room you dedicate, a corner of your bedroom, basement, a big closet or bathroom. I love some candles, light incense, and an alter of things that inspire. But make it your place to get centered, tune out the world, tune into you and come back to yourself, do yoga if you missed a local class and tap into that sweet inner calm. Commit to 10 minutes a day. I raised 4 kids, and worked full time, but I found 10 minutes daily; I felt so awesome doing it, it became 20 minutes then 60 minutes or longer most days. Sure there are days when it seemed like there was no time, but that's when I needed it the most so I made sure to make the time. I love props for assisting, modifying or deepening both active and #RestorativeYoga practice.
This first posture has many benefits, especially if spending long periods hunched over a computer or iPhone, as it uses a rolled blanket or block to open your chest and heart center; it not only counteracts the effects of "slumpasasna," it feels so yummy.
Doing a shoulder stand using props, a folding chair and bolster, feels awesome, and makes it more supportive and accessible. There are many benefits to being upside down, even in pregnancy - with modifications and proper instruction.
Iyengar style of yoga incorporates the chairs and many other props you would not necessarily think of, into their classes., to assist, deepen, modify and support your practice. The most advanced yogis use them; as do beginners and pregnant women. My experience is once you know how to use them, you will want to use them more. Once you go props, you don't go back. - you expand, knowing you have more tools to help you on your journey.
Blocks can be used for support, building awareness and strength, and here to bring the floor closer to you, and enable you to create more space for breathing and expansion, in the side of your torso and across your chest you are potentially compressing.
It helps you work the pose in a different way than with your hand on the floor. And it helps make trikonasana (triangle pose) more available to those who can not lower their hand to the floor for whatever reason. Remember it's not about touching your hand to the floor.
Yoga is more about using the poses, the transitions into and out of them to become more aware of what it is like to be in your body, they are a doorway inside, a form of meditation in movement, and they prepare for deeper meditation in stillness.
They can create heat and energize; they can slow and cool you down and activate calm. They open blocked energy channels in the body, detoxify, improve organ and system function, and can facilitate healing. Yes, they build strength, flexibility, agility and balance, but on many levels, and the props are tools to ease that process.
Resting and elevating your lower legs on a bolster releases your low back and relieves strain on your legs being on your feet or sitting most of the day. It's soothing to rest your upper body on a soft blanket, but its placement can assist with alignment and create more space for breathing more fully. The soft flax seed eye pillow, infused with dried lavender flowers, is like a short cut to deeper relaxation; it blocks out sensory overload and calms your nervous system. Release into the support of the props, feel yourself heavy and rooted to what is beneath you. Gaze inwardly with softly closed eyes, to the point between your eyebrows. If it wanders, bring it back. Focus on your breathing at a depth and pace that is comfortable. When a thought comes in, let it pass like a cloud in a blue sky. If you're lost in thought, just come back to focusing on your breath and inner gaze. Set a chime sounding timer but before rushing up, notice how you feel and savor it.
#RelaxationTime #YogaProps #Recharging #MeTimeNow
Don’t forget to check out my link: homesweethomebirth.com/yoga-supplies ✨🙏🏽✨
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