My friend Nadine sent me a box of her yogAttitude cards a little while ago and I've been waiting for the right time to introduce them into my home practice. The idea is that you match a pose with an "attitude" and build a sequence of poses, or do meditation on the thoughts inspired by some of the "attitudes", or a combination of the two. It's designed to get you out of a slump, in your yoga practice or in life in general. So today it was perfect for me, as I've been feeling a bit lost. So I plucked a few at random, and was inspired by their message:
I like to think of them as yoga tarot cards :)
So I built my practice around downward dog, warrior 2 and triangle; moving from downward dog to lunge, to warrior 1, then warrior 2 and into triangle, then working backwards to downward dog. Also did some pigeon pose, and uttanasana.
Having spent the best part of the day feeling a bit gloomy, I felt inspired, grounded and strong after doing those poses. Yoga is such a tonic, so restorative for the soul. Every time I come back to the mat, I vow to come back more often. Yoga always disarms my ego and leaves me little option but to accept things, and myself, as they are.
I've been reading The Handbag and Wellies Yoga Club, the follow up to Lucy Edge's first yoga memoir Yoga School Drop Out, where Lucy and the Bad Ladies often follow a yoga class with treacle tart and Pinot Grigio.
Lacking easy access to treacle tart today, I followed my yoga with chocolate!
The lovely Holly sent me some of her organic chocolates, from the wonderfully named chocoholly range. I had a few different flavours to try, plus the award winning chocolate fish! I've been working my way through them for about a week (sharing with Tom of course!) and we both agreed the chocolate fish were the best! Holly calls it "a darker shade of milk" which is a great way to describe the rich cocoa flavour. Today I had a bit of the cardamom milk chocolate, which tastes like a chai latte...perfect for after yoga!
So, in my opinion, yoga and chocolate, in the right doses, are the perfect rescue remedy combination!
What about you? What's your rescue remedy?
Thanks for reminding me about how good yoga can be - it has been too long since I pulled my mat out. Maybe something to do on the weekend ?
ReplyDeleteHave a great day !
Me
a run or a realllly good coffee usually picks me up!
ReplyDeletethat cardamon chocolate sounds divine...
Pilates and wine only because I can't do yoga anymore. Oh wait, I can't do pilates anymore either, oh well back to the drawing board.
ReplyDeleteChocolate is a definite starter.
PS Yah - can get Yoga School Drop Out for my Kindle on 30 Nov. Looking forward to reading it. Thanks for the recommendation.
Love this post and what a great combo. Thanks for reminding us about the little joys in life that can yield such lasting effects!
ReplyDeleteA good cup of coffee, sitting outside before the world wakes up...One of my favorite pick-me-ups :)
My rescue remedy is either a run (preferably in the rain with lots of mud!) or a really good cooking/baking session. I sometimes find that chopping veggies in silence is the best way to leave everything behind.
ReplyDeleteWatching something funny always lifts my spirits. Definitely fresh air and good friends. Hope you have a good weekend.
ReplyDeleteGlad you found a good pick me up :)
ReplyDeleteI love yoga too, and my other favourite thing to do to make me feel better is snuggle our kitten - always lifts my mood!