{"id":1268,"date":"2021-07-30T08:52:41","date_gmt":"2021-07-30T08:52:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/templatekit.tokomoo.com\/yogakit\/?p=1268"},"modified":"2021-08-27T10:38:55","modified_gmt":"2021-08-27T10:38:55","slug":"5-self-care-practices-to-avoid-post-lockdown-burnout","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/templatekit.tokomoo.com\/yogakit\/2021\/07\/30\/5-self-care-practices-to-avoid-post-lockdown-burnout\/","title":{"rendered":"5 self-care practices to avoid post-lockdown burnout"},"content":{"rendered":"

When you first start out with yoga you\u2019re likely to experience some of the positive effects straight away. Your body feels more at ease, maybe a bit stronger, and you feel generally happier and more relaxed after class.<\/p>\n

It is, however, after you\u2019ve been practicing over a longer period of time that you realise your yoga practice has really started to influence your everyday life off the mat too.\u00a0You notice your mind feels steadier, you feel more connected to your spirit, and a feeling of love for life just happens.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

1. The benefits on your physical body<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n

It\u2019s easy to take the physical benefits of yoga for granted. They are perhaps not so \u2018interesting\u2019 as the more subtle benefits, but they\u2019re such an important reason to keep it up as we get older.<\/p>\n

Another main benefit for the body is improved mobility and flexibility. It was the main reason people reported taking up yoga according to\u00a0research by Yoga Alliance. For me, the physical practice of yoga, is not about becoming as flexible as I can, or having the exact same pose as someone else \u2013 we all have different bodies \u2013 it\u2019s about keeping my joints and muscles healthy, increasing or maintaining my personal range of movement, and allowing energy or chi to flow freely. As a result day to day tasks simply feel easier!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

2. The benefits on your mind<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n

Psychologists Matthew Killingsworth and Daniel Gilbert of Harvard University studied people\u2019s levels of happiness when they were focused on their task versus carrying out an activity while thinking about something else \u2013 having a \u201cwandering mind\u201d.\u00a0Their study\u00a0concluded that \u201cwandering minds are unhappy ones\u201d. \u201cMind-wandering is an excellent predictor of people\u2019s happiness,\u201d Killingsworth says. \u201cIn fact, how often our minds leave the present and where they tend to go is a better predictor of our happiness than the activities in which we are engaged.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is what yoga points to ultimately: to be here, now, in the present moment. Being present with the truth, with reality \u2013 whether you experience the reality as positive, negative or neutral \u2013 makes no difference. Being fully present for it, undistracted, calm and focused is what makes us happy.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

3. The benefits on your spirit<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n

When we learn to focus and we begin to show up for our experience of life, on and beyond the mat, our hearts usually begin to soften and open. We start to realize there is more to this life then the story of I, me and mine, my body, my thoughts, my goals, my dreams etc.<\/p>\n

As Eckhart Tolle likes to say it<\/p>\n

\u201cYou are not separate from the whole. You are one with the sun, the earth, the air. You don\u2019t have a life. You are life.\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\" \"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

4. The benefits on your daily mindfulness<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n

As yoga improves your overall health, concentration, your happiness and your capacity to be present, this in turn improves your ability to practice mindfulness in your day to day reality.<\/p>\n

Mindfulness\u00a0is a way of paying attention moment-to-moment to what\u2019s happening within and around us with curiosity, kindness and without judgment.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

5. The benefits on your relationships<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n

A final great reason to practice yoga is for the other people around you. I\u2019m pointing this out, because I know yoga makes me a nicer person to be around. My partner knows it, my family and friends and colleagues may not realise it, but I know it \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When you first start out with yoga you\u2019re likely to experience some of the positive effects straight away. Your body feels more at ease, maybe a bit stronger, and you feel generally happier and more relaxed after class. It is, however, after you\u2019ve been practicing over a longer period of time that you realise your […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":2364,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1268","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wellbeing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/templatekit.tokomoo.com\/yogakit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1268","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/templatekit.tokomoo.com\/yogakit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/templatekit.tokomoo.com\/yogakit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/templatekit.tokomoo.com\/yogakit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/templatekit.tokomoo.com\/yogakit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1268"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/templatekit.tokomoo.com\/yogakit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1268\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/templatekit.tokomoo.com\/yogakit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2364"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/templatekit.tokomoo.com\/yogakit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1268"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/templatekit.tokomoo.com\/yogakit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1268"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/templatekit.tokomoo.com\/yogakit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1268"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}