Environment, self-talk, nutrition, consumption and consistency.
#1. Prepared Environment: Have a space where your mat fits without having to move 1,000,000 items out of way. Sure, during practice you may be *gently* moving a dog or toddler to the side, but give your mat space a bit of reverence for your asana practice.
#2. Loving Self-talk: Remember yoga is Sanskrit for "union". Practicing yoga goes far beyond our asana practice. Are you taking your intentions off the mat? Are the words you are ingesting during your self-talk empowering to your spirit? If not so much, how can you start being kinder to yourself on a daily basis?
Even placing a small reminder around the house can be helpful, a note on the mirror, on the fridge, nightstand or your car that encourages more loving self-talk:
I forgive myself and set myself free.
I believe I can be all that I want to be.
I am in the process of becoming the best version of myself.
I have the freedom to create the life I desire.
My possibilities are endless.
I am worthy of my dreams.
I am enough.
I do not have to explain taking care of myself.
#3. Nutrition: My husband is vegan and he inspires me to cook delicious and healthy recipes for us when I could happily eat pizza every day. I have been vegetarian for 7 years and off hypertension medicine for 6.5 years thanks to plant medicine!
I can tell a difference in my breathing and my movements when my diet has been full of more sugar and dairy products than usual. On the contrary, when I am filling my plate with leafy greens, beans, veggies, whole grains and spices I feel better on a cellular level (groovy, right??).
Our friend Shelle gifted us this hilarious, vegan cookbook "Thug Kitchen" chock full of mind-blowing recipes and a healthy dose of cuss words! Their website has access to purchase the cookbook as well as a a treasure trove of free recipes that you can do a search by ingredients that you have in. They often refer to "nooch" which is nutritional yeast; it can be purchased at co-ops and Whole Food type places, it's amazing on popcorn with Penzey's Justice. (Thanks to my friend Charlotte for gifting me awesome spices!)
Additional tips for baking:
Coconut sugar is great, it's not a miracle sweetener but it is less processed than regular sugar.
Flax eggs are an *eggcellent* replacement. Use 1 Tbsp. ground flaxseed and 3 Tbsp. of H2O, let it stand for a few minutes and it develops egg-like consistency without the cholesterol.
#4. Consume less, create more: The more we clutter our spaces and our checkbooks with unnecessary objects the more we clutter minds. I tend to over-utilize free little libraries and then I have a stack of 8-10 books that I'm attempting to go through at once, and I get too overwhelmed to read any of them!
In addition, I like to support Etsy artists so I find myself making excuses to buy new art when I should be working on my own canvases that are staring blankly at me on my easel.
These questions have helped me to curb some of my debt-inducing habits:
Can I afford this?
Do I need this?
Do I have something similar, could I borrow it or buy secondhand?
Do I love it?
Will I get a lot of use out of this?
What will I do with it when I no longer need it?
If the item was full price, would I still buy it?
The more we work on calming our minds and finding yoga in our everyday actions and choices, the more we dedicate to our true selves.
#5. Consistency: As mentioned above with Loving Self-talk, what we choose to spend our energy on is where our body follows. So choosing to spend 15 minutes a few times a week to consciously breath and stretch allows our body to know it's value and respond with more restful sleep.
Adding an hour long practice, once a week, gives muscle memory as you flow through your asana practice healing and nurturing systems within our body that thrive on twists, balancing and lengthening the spine. Two or three hour long practices a week allows your practice to improve in ways that seem *magical* and may plant a desire within to journal your dreams, try new recipes, and/or reach out to certain people in your life or begin to create firmer boundaries with certain people in your life.
You are such a wonderful role model for us Emily. We can hear the words but also need to see them put into action and help us to KNOW the importance they are for EACH of US <3 The 5 ingredients listed have definitely boosted my home environment in such positive ways. I'm still a work in progress and from day to day fluctuate between each of the ingredients. Thank you for reminding us and for helping us to be more healthy during this pandemic and beyond! Just think how healthy all of us yogis will be when we can gather together again!! WooHoo!! love love love