When escaping to a tropical destination for a surf and yoga retreat, it’s easy to feel great and at your best. In fact, that’s the point! You’re surrounded by like-minded people, there for the same reason, all ready to pump each other up for various activities including relaxing by the pool. Being on holiday is a mindset. You’re there to unwind.
Living the everyday life and routine is a different story. Work is a necessity. Errands and chores are necessities. But it doesn’t mean we still can’t have some balance. We’ve got to enjoy this life, after all…and not just once a year when we get to travel. That’s why we created our Be At Your Peak Facebook group. We want to work healthy habits and good routines into our everyday lives to feel our best year-round! Of course, this won’t always happen. There will be successes and there will be failures, but the more positivity we can create for ourselves, the more we will naturally attract and create positive vibes. (That’s a whole other blog post…)
Our first challenge in Be At Your Peak is a Quick Morning Yoga Flow, to get our day started off on the right foot and create energy within ourselves to tackle the day ahead…and maybe even enjoy it! But whether you’re a regular yoga practitioner already or a total newbie, the hardest part might just be getting started. It can even be LIKE taking a trip. Easy when you get there, hard to make the first decision to go and book the trip. So let’s get down to the real point here. How do we begin to start incorporating changes into our everyday lives? Our best advice to get started is to know why you’re doing it in the first place and then to set your intention.
Every action begins with a thought, so even more important than beginning the ACTION of starting your yoga flow, is concentrating on your thoughts first. And since we’re focusing on a wake-up / morning routine, we suggest doing this the night before!
When you’re ready to go to bed at night and you’re setting your alarm, some of your last thoughts while closing your eyes or falling asleep should be setting your intention for the day ahead. Tell yourself exactly what you’re going to do in the morning. “I’m going to wake-up, place my hands on my belly and my chest, and tune into my breath right away. Then I’m going to gently roll myself off the bed and onto my yoga mat for a fifteen minute practice before I do anything else.” Envision yourself starting the day with energy, and finishing again with contentment.
Don’t think your thoughts are powerful? Think about this common example of setting intentions for a coming day: Your birthday!! You get excited about your birthday ahead of time. You plan to have a great day. You wake up already with a good feeling and a positive attitude, and more times than not, it’s probably a great day because you CHOSE to make it one! Setting an intention is so important, as we truly are in control of our own perspective of how the day unfolds.
Being part of this challenge not only means actively engaging in creating healthy habits, it means being self-aware. So, after setting your intention the night before, whether you end up practicing that morning or not, notice how you feel, how your day unfolds, and how it connects to your first thoughts of the day and your very first actions. Notice if you’re judging yourself, if you’re proud of yourself, if you’re feeling guilty because you didn’t do it, or if you’re feeling great because you did. Tuning into these feelings can help inspire motivation for the following days to come.
