Posts with the rituals tag:

How To Stay Regular With Yoga In Colder Seasons

Posted on by Yoga Hive

Yoga routine in the fall

Keeping ourselves motivated to do yoga in the colder seasons! We cranked up our yoga routines to the fullest in the summers. And now as it gets colder by the day, we are finding it difficult to catch up with our routine. The extra 5 minutes of sleep in the morning feel like heaven. And the dark evenings just don’t feel like a great time to do yoga. Is there really a solution? In the middle of deadlines, chores around the house, Christmas parties, Yoga is just getting difficult to maintain. Well, we’ve got you a solution. And it comes in 5 easy steps.

1. Have a weekly plan.

On every Sunday sit and plan your yoga for the week ahead. Give yourself new challenges every day and a fresh routine too. Jot down your favourite asanas and spread them throughout the week. When you hit the rack, you know you have to wake up to a goal and you’ll feel excited to do those asanas that you’ve planned for the coming morning.

2. Get a playlist and freshen it every few days

Your playlist should include the music you love. It needn’t be any meditating trance just because you are doing yoga. It is perfectly fine to do yoga to EDM. Any beat that makes you happy inside is good for your yoga session. So make a playlist of your favourite songs and keep adding more to it every week or so. Music will add to your motivation.

3. Sleep hydrated

We all know it is important to have an early dinner to stay fit and wake up energized and wonderful. But did you know it is also important to wake up hydrated? This means drink enough water and avoid alcohol to close to sleeping time. If you are hydrated, your body will support you when the alarm rings.

4. Pump up the alarm

Set a motivating track as your alarm. Skip the usual phone ringtones that simply depress you, and pick new tracks every week. These can be your own recorded voice message too! Whatever makes you want to sit up and get to your wonderful yoga workout session works.

5. Sleep in your yoga clothes

This is really an extreme. You’ll probably want to do this when you see nothing else working out. And you should also drop this as soon as the problem is solved. Because we’d want you to keep your yoga wear fresh and associated only with yoga. But if the task of changing clothes and getting ready for yoga is simply making you lazier, then just skip it. Wear your yoga clothes and go to bed. This way when you wake up you know all you gotta do is head to the studio or the yoga mat.

These 5 steps will help you keep your yoga routine working even on cold winter days. Once you push yourself a little, your body will get accustomed to it and you won’t need to train it any longer.

By the way, the biggest motivation to do yoga every day and to follow your yoga routine in the fall is to show off your awesome yoga pants! And if you lovely ones like these then nothing can come in your way. Do share your stories and feedback with us on Facebook and Instagram.

Don’t lose your crazy. Full Moon survival guide.

Posted on by Helen Stepchuk

Moonlight

It’s Full Moon and it’s time to pause and reflect. It brings out everything to the surface and amplifies our emotions. If you are spiritually grounded, you will feel more empowered. But if you are not sure of your path, this Full Moon will confuse you even more. This is a good thing, since this is a sign to listen to yourself and an invitation to become more self-aware.

Here are a few rituals you can adopt to explore a new side of you:

  • Spend some time alone. Turn of that TV and put that book down. Alone meaning, literally alone with yourself. No music, no chatter around. Perhaps go for a walk and just be with you, with your thoughts.  Observe what’s happening in your mind.
  • Do not judge yourself or others. When we judge other people, or ourselves, we close the door of expansion. We block ourselves from good things coming through, as judgement is never a positive thing, and negativity is poisonous. Stay on the positive way. You don’t need to be fake-happpy, but try not to be judgemental. Be curious.
  • Slow down. Meditate or just be slow. Walk slower than usual. Eat slower. Listen to others more patiently. You will be amazed at how many incredible things we miss around us, by being always in a rush.
  • Watch your feelings and accept them for what they are.  Do not overanalyze your behaviour or your feelings. Sometimes things are just the way they are without any logical explanation. We do not need to know where our feelings are coming from, we just need to learn to live with our feelings. Humans are so complex, so if every time we have a strange thought or feeling we’d try to find a logical reasoning behind it, we’d drive ourselves crazy. Just live with your feelings. Acknowledge them, feel them, know them, but don’t try to fix them. Accept them for what they are without any stories.
  • Have an open mind.  Expand your perception of things around you. What if, just what if, some of the things you’ve been clinging to, are not worth it. Or, what if something you believed your whole life, is not serving your any more? Or what you thought was good for you, is actually giving you the anxiety you have today. Maybe. What if.

The best way to tackle an emotional turbulence is to be aware of it first. So, don’t hide your madness today. Tune in inwards. Follow your light. Explore. Surrender. Be curious.

Tell us how it goes. Do share your favourite Full Moon rituals with us on Facebook>>.

Namaste.

The new moon rituals for the rookie.

Posted on by Helen Stepchuk

If you have any friends or relatives working at the police or ER, they would tell you that the Moon affects their work. Well, not directly, but  the amount of calls and accidents happening during the Full Moon is uncanny. Something definitely is going on when the Moon is full. From not being able to sleep during Full Moon to mood swings and heightened anxiety, I am sure all of us have experiences the effect of the Moon one way or another. But what about the new Moon then? Does it affect our behaviour as well?

Apparently, both phases are very similar, although only the Full Moon got the bad reputation, the New Moon has a similar effect on humans. Not as strongly as the Full Moon though. So, let’s take a look how we can benefit from the cycles and what we can do to improve our human lives during the various cycles of the Moon.

New Moon - Full Moon - Rituals

With November 11th – the New Moon and November 25th the Full Moon (you may want to mark your calendar), here are a few simple rituals to try out a few days before and few days after the occurrence.

The New Moon

1. Reflect. This is the great time to start a new project, set goals, or simply review your progress and to re-shuffle your priorities. Even if you are not much into astronomy or the spiritual affects  or the whole Moon cycle theory, it never hurts to look at your life with fresh eyes once a month (at least). We see the new Moon 12 times a year, so not that often when you think about it.

2. Try something new. It doesn’t have to be anything too extraordinary, but something like trying a new recipe or a new yoga class – anything new, something you’ve always wanted to try, but was waiting for the right moment to do it. Now’s your chance.

3. Forgive. That’s right. Is there someone in your life who is on your “do not talk to, avoid, she/he is such a #$%” list? More often than not, we avoid things/people who stir strong reactions/negative emotions in us. And oftentimes, this means that whatever they’ve done, *we believe* they did us wrong. And this is a sure way to the grudge-ville. Nothing good comes from holding grudges. Besides, the only person who suffers the most is the one who holds the  grudge. Once a month reconsider the list. You don’t have to love them, but you could forgive them. Moreover, no one is perfect. We all did something wrong once or twice. 😉

Stay tuned for the second part of this article later this month with the three easy-but-useful rituals to survive the Full Moon. And seriously, do mark your calendar – November the 25th – Full Moon. 😉

Tell us, do you have any New Moon rituals our YogaHive.ca community should know about? Head over to Facebook and comment on our New Moon post there. Do share your wisdom with the world. See you there. 

Namaste.