Yoga Outside of the Box: Maximize the benefits of yoga with a makeover of everyday activities

Sure, we'd all love to live up to that romantic image of rising early with no need for the alarm clock, doing an hour of yoga while overlooking a gentle bubbling brook, awakening our senses to the rising sun, and conducting the rest of our day consuming the most nutritious, organic food, breathing pure mountain air, and sailing through our responsibilities with nary a traffic jam or network shutdown.  But we live in the real world, full of real stresses, real schedules, and precious little time available for exercise and yoga.  And while pursuing the proverbial 100% eco-friendly lifestyle may be an undertaking paved with the best of intentions, it can quickly deteriorate to just another source of stress once the demands of work and family are factored in.  For this reason, it is important that the "contemporary yogi" be able to rise to the new challenge of incorporating yoga outside of its conventional context.  Sure, this will test the reaches of your creativity and adaptability, but what better lesson to take from yoga than demonstrating the intuition and self-awareness needed for this kind of personalized problem-solving!

Of course, there is nothing to replace a complete yoga session.  If at all possible, your week should include at least one or two days set aside to perform between 30-60 minutes of yoga.  This will be the core of your week's stress reduction and yoga program, a sort of touchstone off of which your "other" yoga interventions can grow.  Once you've determined the days on which you can perform your core yoga routine, here are some crafty ways to sneak your yoga in through the back door:

Change your emotional approach to traffic.  Let's face it:  in the urban and suburban setting, traffic happens....there is literally no getting around it.  Why not turn this understandably frustrating obstacle into an unscheduled visit to your "commuter yoga sanctuary"?  First, stock your car with music that you find particularly enjoyable, preferably, music that is uplifting and soothing.  You might try as I do, and that is to take a blank audiocassette tape, label it "Enjoyment Tape", then record all of your favorite tunes onto this one tape.  For me, this means plenty of George Benson, Joe Sample, Joyce Cooling, and Vince Guaraldi.  With so much of my #1 choices on one source, it's no wonder this tape never fails to boost my mood.  If you enjoy aromatherapy, you might also look into portable diffusing air fresheners, which are commonly pocket-size vials or decanters in which you drop a small amount of your favorite essential oil.  I'm particularly fond of peppermint, but I'll also sometimes use a bit of grapefruit or tangerine.  The scent fills the car, and when coupled with my Enjoyment Tape, proves an instant trigger to calm me down.  Now that you're car is equipped, you want to next work on shifting your reaction to traffic.  For that matter, you might want to examine your driving habits to begin with.  Are you anxious and aggressive in your driving?  Try, if at all possible, to leave at least a few minutes early, to allow yourself the ability to slow down and reduce your driving intensity.  Next, try to insert the occasional round of neutral posture and abdominal breathing at traffic stops.  Alternate between shrugging your shoulders, then relaxing them, from time to time, which can help stave off neck and shoulder tension.  And when the traffic jam occurs, pop your soothing music in and envision time stretching out luxuriantly ahead of you.  Accept the fact that you will still get to where you're going, and that despite the increased commute time, everything is OK.  You'd be amazed at how constructive this simple shift in reaction can be!

Switch to decaf, or better yet, a favorite herbal tea.  After that first cup, make a point of sipping a hot beverage that won't over-stimulate your central nervous system.  Moreover, make the experience special.  Pick out a mug that calms you down, feels comforting just to hold.  Find a location in which to savor it, and have a favorite CD and fragrant candle nearby.  Dim the lights, if applicable, and sip--even if only a few short minutes--to instant ambience!

Just before bed, pick two of your favorite supine (meaning, performed while lying on your back) poses.  Perform each of these poses for at least a minute apiece, do some abdominal breathing as you hold them, then repeat them for a second cycle.  Feel a gentle return to your sense of center--both physical as well as mental.  Let your mind focus away from the day's stressful thoughts, and only on the physical relaxation of your body.  Watch and see how this little action can dramatically improve the quality of your sleep!

Out running errands?  Now is a good time to get to know where your local neighborhood parks and natural spots are located.  Take an occasional detour to park, even if it's only for a 5-minute stroll.  Or, plan on "lunching" or even "coffee-breaking" at your favorite park bench.  This can go far in disrupting the day's stress cycle, and you don't even need to gouge a major hole into your schedule in order to fit it in!

Do you workout in another capacity?  Walk on the treadmill?  Head to the gym to use free weights?  The end of your workout is a perfect time to squeeze in a bit of yoga, as you are already warmed up.  And while a gym atmosphere hardly conjures up the serenity of the yoga class, you can approach this challenge with the same Zen philosophy that I do:  like a towering oak during a summer storm, you are calm, resilient, and rooted, unmoved by the chaos that erupts all around you.

While yoga is a powerful calming activity, it can also be part of a bunch of calming activities in your arsenal, ones that have particular meaning to you.  For example, if you happen to enjoy reading, you might want to set up a little "reading nook" in your home, and set aside time to lose yourself in the pages of a good book.  Like yoga, this activity can help disrupt the stress cycle; your breathing and pulse rate may even respond by slowing down.  Even if it's only fifteen minutes, you will find a refreshing break in this simple activity!

These are just a handful of literally hundreds of ideas to make your life a simpler, more mindful one.  You can pick and choose the approaches that work best for you, and get creative with some new yoga-outside-the-box strategies as well.  Life is stressful, there is no getting around that.  Fortunately, we don't have to wait until "we're not quite as busy"--which will probably never happen--before we can do something about it!

Yoga.com sincerely thanks yoga teacher and author Evamarie Pilipuf for helping us add calm to our lives and for permission to print this article. Learn more at www.treeoffitness.com .

Reprinted with Permission
Evamarie Pilipuf
http://www.treeoffitness.com
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