Day 10
Build a Consistent Home Practice
April 1 – 29, 2016
Day 10 – Pranayama
Breathe In, Breathe Out. Welcome to Day 10!
Keep up your resolve! You’re doing fabulous! Don’t lose any steam now, we’re going to need that hot air! We have breath work to do today.
Please set aside 7 minutes to practice.
Our minds are powerful things and what our thoughts settle on creates our reality. When we are feeling overwhelmed and stressed, simply sitting with the breath and picturing in great detail a place that fills you with joy, will change everything for the better.
So picture the place where you feel joy-filled. Is the sun out or the stars? What’s the temperature of the air? Is the wind blowing? Is there a special fragrance – cookies baking, the scent of lilacs or pine needles, or the salt in the air that you can taste. Are you sitting or standing? Alone or with someone? What are you doing?
Keep this happy place in mind as you do the breath work in the video below.
Keep breathing and smiling! I’ll see you tomorrow. 🙂
Quick Question
Picture your happy place, is it at the BEACH or in the MOUNTAINS?
Let me know in the form below or a comment on Facebook. 🙂
Here’s mine:
For me it depends on the current moment, my true happiness is both 🙂 Think Pacific Northwest.
Quick Reminder:
The intention for this 21 Day Challenge series is to do something everyday Monday – Friday. We are focusing on doing the basics at home and getting into a rhythm. Pace and modify according to you needs. I will always give you options. Remember you know yourself best, listen to your instincts.
Download Your Journal Page
Click on here to download the Journal Page (then simply click the print icon or download arrow to save it to your computer). I have filled in a sample one for you to see at the bottom of the page. Get creative and find wonderful color pens!
Let’s play!
Here’s the video to guide you through the pranayama. Check it out! Remember to share comments on my Facebook page or share pictures of your 21 Day Challenge with me on Instagram.
Benefits of Pranayama
(Breath Work):
Lower Blood Pressure
- I was able to experiment with this benefit. I took my blood pressure before doing a breath work exercise and then again after I did the breath work. My blood pressure did lower!
Decrease Overwhelm, Stress, Anxiety, and Depression
- We’ve all heard the “take 10 deep breaths” before we act on a strong emotion. The deep breath will trigger receptors in the bottom of our lungs that send messages to our parasympathetic nervous system that even though things may be stressful, there is no saber tooth tiger waiting to pounce on us. It’s not a situation of fight or flight. Just every day craziness. Which means there is no need to pump stressful cortisol hormones into our system that make us retain or gain weight! Ack no! Stress is not bad, it makes us stronger. It’s when stress becomes overwhelm, too much, that we move into di-stress or dis-ease. Breathe 🙂
Clarity of Thought
- When we’re agitated our breath is usually shallow and short. Think about the angry red faced person. Sometimes we’re fearful that they’re actually not breathing! When we take those deep breaths the big emotions start to dissipate and we are left with a bigger vision. Solutions become more apparent and we are no longer swayed by distractions.
Boost Your Energy
- Breath is life force, energy, prana. When we make space for a deeper breath, we are making room for more life. More energy. There is a Sanskrit proverb that says, “For breath is life, and if you breathe well you will live long on earth.”
Journal Example
with light and love,
Missed a Challenge?
No worries, click on the day below to catch up. 🙂
Week 1 – Get your body moving
Day 1
Restorative Yoga – Reclined Bound Angle
Day 2
Vinyasa Monday – Flowing Yoga Sequence
Day 3
Day 4
Vinyasa – Fire Up the Core Yoga Sequence
Day 5
Day 6
Restorative – Legs Up the Couch
Week 2 – Where’s your spirit?
Day 7
Day 8
Meditation – You Are What You Think!
Day 9
Vinyasa – Let’s Dance in the Sunlight!
Comments or Questions? Send them to me here and I will get back with you as soon as I can.