YOGA AT HOME. MOSTLY SEATED WITH MY EYES CLOSED. AND SOME CHANTING.

Seated with the eyes closed. And some breathing and chanting. Love Kundalini Yoga.

Since the beginning of 2018 I have been on a mission to get better. To feel better mentally and physically. Last week I posted about my weight loss journey. That element has been a big piece of my mission to feel my best, but there have been other pieces too.

I wont lie to you, I am still a naturally stressful person. But I REALLY want to calm the eff down more often. So that's why this week I wanted to write about something I've been drawn to in the past, and again lately. Yoga. The only difference is, I started doing it at home.

Before I go any further let me just say that I have taken classes in the past, and I only do beginners yoga. I am not putting myself in danger, nor do I recommend any of you go out and get all sorts of advanced yoga DVD’s and go to town trying “grasshopper” pose on your living room floor. NO. Beginning only. I like Kundalini in which you’re usually remaining seated with your eyes closed, or doing some repetitive movements or breath work. OK, moving on.

So, it has gotten to the point that I crave my time on the mat. Because of the fact that I notice such a difference on the days where I am not doing it, it has become quite important to me. If I can't fit it into the day, I'll try to make sure to do it before bed. I find that I can get all panicky or I can feel rather explosive like this tight tension in my chest, and this regular practice has taken the edge off of that. Noticeably.

I’m especially enjoying practicing at my house in my safe haven. I’m happy that I’ve had classes in the past, to have something to compare to, and also because some of the tips I've picked up from teachers I’ve had, which is really useful. But on the whole, I love the solitude of waking up, unrolling my yoga mat, selecting my dvd for the day, closing the door, and getting to it. Or winding down for the night, before or after a bath, throwing on those yoga pants and a tee-shirt and heading down the hallway into the spare room. It's just nice.

There is no racing to get to a class, or being in fear of the class being cancelled. Also, I love not needing to even get a stitch of makeup on or my hair combed. I brush my teeth, throw on my comfies, and I am there.

PLUS - and this is SO IMPORTANT - I can push pause if I need to run to the bathroom. Which happens pretty much every time. No worries what so ever, about trying to get through the class while totally having to pee. That is such a terrible feeling and it takes away from the class for obvious reasons. And what if you have to go so bad the you end up needing to leave the class? So not fun.

OMG also, dare I write this? Have you ever taken a yoga class and farted, unexpectedly and possibly LOUDLY while being located in the corner of a very quiet room, so that it echos from the corner into the ears of all those around you? Well, I have. SUCKED. I was not at the stage where I could laugh it off either.

Finally, no matter the state of my wallet, I dont need to worry. Having the DVD, I own that class for life. If I want to take a break from yoga for a while, I can. I love that I am not worried about gym membership fees when I want to take a break. I have had to pay monthly fees in the past, for well over a year, without using it. I signed a contract. Had to pay. Again, not fun.

I think if I ever decided to venture towards leaving the house for yoga again, I would pick a local yoga teacher that does private instruction that I can make a one on one plan with, and just pay that instructor directly.

So in short, for me, and for now, this whole no pressure of leaving the house, it has been awesome. For many many reasons.

Here are some official recommendations below: I would like to recommend the form of yoga most often called Kundalini. With this form of yoga there is a lot of staying seated (yay!) on your mat, repetitive movements (kriyas) while closing your eyes (yay again!), chanting of mantras, and some rather intense breath work (“cannon breath” and “breath of fire”). The mantras and chanting and breath work especially make it feel like a personal practice in which I dont necessarily want to be in a room with anyone else. It is also such a good form of active meditation. I have tried to sit and quietly meditate many times, I think I like active meditation better. It definitely seems to quiet the noisy mind much better for me personally.

If you're a person looking to get out of your own headspace for a bit, get a little exercise in without getting too crazy sweaty and wanting to do something in the realms of both yoga and meditation, I would recommend starting out with Maya Fiennes Detox and Destress. I also really like all the beginning yoga DVDs out there by Tamal Dodge and Elena Brower. I especially like to wind down with Tamal's Relaxation section of his Yoga for Energizing and Relaxation. Elena has a good AM and PM Yoga DVD as well. Please note that all of my opinions are my own, and I am in no way affiliated with any of the Yoga teachers that I have suggested looking into. I really just quite like them :)

Okay thank you for stopping by the blog today :)

Have a great day or night wherever you may be in the world.

Tara xx