Yoga Self-care For Autumn. The Absolute Necessity of Doing Nothing - a habit to feed your soul.
This is the first of my blog posts around the Autumn Equinox, looking at finding some self-care practices and rituals at this transitional time of year. If you're following my Facebook page (www.facebook.com/yogaformodernlife) then you'll be getting some brilliant yoga self-care ideas each day for the next week. So here I'm sharing a really gorgeous idea - simply doing nothing, the ultimate in self care!
The Absolute Necessity of Doing Nothing - a habit to feed your soul.
We are just too busy, too occupied, too distracted, too over-scheduled. We try so many strategies: new calendars, to-do lists, long lost New Year’s resolutions, and endless promises to ourselves to do less. But we don’t.
So do these three things instead.
1. Three times a week take a 20 minute relaxation. Lie down, set a timer, cover your eyes and totally disconnect from the world.
2. Do not look at your phone during meals. Put it in another room and turn it off.
3. Look through your calendar every Sunday and see what you can take off for the following week.
These three simple things will help you start creating more space and silence and ease in your life. You will have more time to create and reflect and this will be healing and energizing at the same time. The greatest luxury in an over-scheduled life is simply unfilled time. Learn to do nothing. Lie on your couch and look out the window. No music, no cell phone, no talking, nothing. We all crave more space and the cooling balm of space and time. Invite emptiness into your life whenever and wherever you can. Soak in the silence and stillness to be found somewhere in your day. This practice is anything but a waste of time. “It feeds the soul and NOURISHES our life.”
Judith Hanson Lasater, Originally published by Living Yoga Dallas, 2015.