by Jennifer Reis, Integrative Yoga Therapist
Here are ideas for some of the most important ways I’ve found to live fully embodied.
Above all, remember that your body is a gift from beyond, a mystery to honor, respect and listen to.
Practicing Body Scan daily by listening to a recorded yoga nidra, or silently guiding it on your own is a deep way to connect, with a listening ear to your, body and it’s messages.
Spend time outdoors (in every season) to allow your natural rhythms and clock to balance, to breathe the air and to feel your body on the Earth. Be sure to notice all the beautiful and sacred forms and shapes of nature all around. Even if you’re in the city, find trees, sky and look for where there is a gathering of nature – it’s everywhere!
Exercise your body gently doing what’s fun for you each day. It’s so easy to play one song in the house and have a good ‘ol dance to it to wake up a sense of flow in the body! Yoga postures, walking, the gym, swimming, anything that feels good to you.
Make getting enough sleep a priority. Set helpful boundaries to support it. For example, in my house, we turn all ‘screens’ off at 8:30pm and find that helpful for winding down.
When there is pain or discomfort in the body parts, often it can be muscular tension. Try these easy remedies:
- Drink 3x as much water as you are now. Rehydrating the body can help to soften and dissipate pain.
- For muscular tension, massage the body part gently with a tennis ball. This works great on the upper traps (above the shoulder blades) and between the shoulder blades, thighs, calves, feet, and especially the gluts.
- Practice daily self-massage with warm oil to oxygenate the soft tissues, help remove toxins from the body like lactic acid, and foster a nurturing connection with yourself.
Copyright Jennifer Reis Yoga LLC 2016.
