10 minutes of yoga: on finding your bare minimum
I have been feeling gross.
Bloated. Lethargic. Out of sorts.
I have also dropped my 4-times-a-week yoga addiction habit that I spent the winter cultivating. First it was some travel, then it was some personal stuff, then it was more travel. Cutting out an hour & a half of my day to drive to the gym, attend class, and drive back got to be just too much.
I’ve even lost my gym card.
But I’ve been doing my best to keep up with a wee bit of asana in the evenings before I go to bed. No matter how gross I feel, I try to spread out the mat, breathe deeply, and chaturanga.
I get back into my body. And my body gets back into me. 10 minutes, tops.
It’s my bare minimum. I don’t always achieve it. Sometimes I avoid even that. But I know intellectually that if I do the bare minimum, I’ll feel better.
I have a bare minimum for other things too: blog posts, answering email, making dinner, etc… I know how far I can cut down before things fall apart.
I get caught up in doing things bigger – better – faster – stronger – more XTREME. Finding a place to cut back when circumstances make it difficult to press ahead is good. Being aware of your bare minimum is even better.
When everything around me screams for more, it’s good to know I can rely on a certain bit of less.
There’s this tendency to view goals with an all-or-nothing approach.
But whether it’s yoga, or something else entirely, you can find power in just one small step.
You don’t have to choose between firing on all cylinders and stalling out. There’s a place where you creep along slowly, making progress but not taxing your creative engine.
Knowing what satisfies you is just as important as knowing what thrills you.
My bare minimum isn’t a place I want to hang out long. In fact, keeping up with the bare minimum helps me get back into the flow faster than shutting down. But it’s a place that’s available to me when I need it.
What’s your bare minimum? And how do you know it’s time to ease into your bare minimum?
