After a class here in Paradise, students will often say “I feel amazing; I just wish I could carry that amazing feeling home with me”.
It can be a challenge to sustain that feeling of amazingness as you return to the real world. I know from experience that the feeling can be gone by the time I’ve stepped out onto the pavement after class, or started walking home. At other times, though, I am able to take the delicious yumminess with me and into my day or week.
Here are a few simple ways that you can take your Paradise Yoga experience with you:
Take one pose or practice from the class, and commit to repeating it later in the day
We all have poses that we like (or don’t like) so next time you’re in class doing a pose you love, why not commit that pose to your cell memory and make an agreement with yourself to do the pose that evening when you get home.
It doesn’t even have to be a pose. It might be a breathing practice (it might be as simple as sighing out), a loving kindness meditation, or a self-compassion mantra.
You don’t need to do a full 60 or 90 minutes of practice to get the benefits. One pose or practice is often all it takes – even just a minute or so can be enough to keep glimpsing that feeling of amazingness during the day.
Pay it forward
In many of my classes, we have a theme that we work with – it might be kindness, self-compassion or peace.
If that day’s theme resonated with you, take it with you out into the world and pay it forward.
We always start with giving the good stuff to ourselves on the mat – but you will notice huge benefits when you take those things out and share them with other people you meet.
Reconnect with nature in small ways
A big benefit of coming to classes here in Paradise is the setting – listening to the waves lapping or the kookaburras laughing; tuning in to the vibrations of the trees and the plants; even just watching the chickens do their chicken thing.
If you live in Avalon, we are all lucky enough to be surrounded by this nature all the time, but it’s still easy for us to tune it out.
Reconnecting with nature doesn’t have to be big. You don’t need to wait for the weekend or the holidays to do a half-day bushwalk. You don’t even need to wait until after work to go for a walk or a surf.
You can notice the plants dotted around everywhere, even in urban environments. Even the weeds – they’re nature too! Just touch the leaves…
You can smell the air, feel the rain falling on your skin, rest your hand on a tree trunk as you walk past it.
You’re even welcome to take a cutting of mint or rosemary from the Paradise Yoga veggie garden as you make your way out… Rub the leaves between your fingers and enjoy the aroma all day long.
Practice with me from the comfort of your home
Need a little help sustaining that delicious feeling between classes?
No worries, I’m now on YouTube!
It’s free, it’s easy to access, the videos are short and you don’t need any special equipment.
I film most of the classes from my regular mat in the studio, so you get that same peace-inducing view in the background. I don’t teach anything online that I don’t teach in class, so you won’t be presented with anything new or scary.
Check out my YouTube channel
Share it with your friends
Sometimes, you come home from yoga feeling super-awesome, but you walk in the door and everyone else is just the same as they were before – most annoying! Why can’t they be all breezy and floaty too?
Well, why not share your experience with them? Bring them to a class in Paradise and let them find out for themselves how good it feels. A lot of people need someone to hold their hand the first time they go to yoga – maybe it’s your hand they need to hold.
Very Important Side Note: You gotta pick your person and pick your moment! People only enjoy yoga if they are ready for it… They cannot be forced into it. If there’s someone in your life who you think would really benefit from yoga, but you know they’re resistant to it – the best way to influence them is to show them (without explicitly telling them) the changes that you have experienced. Maybe you’re calmer in a family disagreement; more open to suggestions from colleagues; more active in your day-to-day life; less affected by traumatic events happening around the world…
