Spring is here and I am thrilled about starting the Living Yoga 21-Day Wellness Program next month. For all of us that are signed up, the following 21-days encompasses at least three yoga practices a week plus one day of another form of exercise and eliminating meat, dairy, alcohol, caffeine and wheat from our diets. The program is intended to help us step up our yoga practices, and cleanse the body by eliminating the 5 different food types. The hope is that by the end of the program we maintain our level of activity and then choose what we’d like to re-introduce into our bodies.
My personal intention behind creating the program went a little bit deeper with less focus on the results. My intention was in cultivating a mindful journey through each of the 21-days. The second limb of yoga or the Niyamas (observances) gave impetus to the physical/mental components of the program. Here are the five observances and how I’ve applied them to the program:
Purification (shaucha) – Purifying the body by eliminating the 5 food types along with increasing our yoga practice to help purify the body of toxins.
Contentment (santosha) – Finding contentment with ourselves in our current state. Not getting too overwhelmed with all the change happening, taking the program day by day. Being content with eating whole foods and discovering what’s enough for your body.
Austerity (tapas) – Tapas is translated as ‘heat’ which we will be building in the yoga practice but it also translates as ‘fires of transformation’. Transforming our habits by conscious change. Choosing to undue an old learned habit that may no longer serve you and coupling that with the tapas or heat/action the energy behind making that change.
Self-study (svadhyaya) – Learning about ourselves, our old ways of thinking, what are our fears in making a change? At what point does our excitement begin to fizzle and how can we get past that and push through. What can we learn from others going through the program?
Attunement (ishvar-pranidhana) – We always have a choice. “Do I skip yoga today because its cold out and I’d rather watch TV?” “Do I just have one glass of wine, for goodness sakes it’s Friday!?” What higher action can you take? How will you feel afterwards? What’s the better choice for you?
I will be doing the spring cleanse alongside those who have signed up so will be blogging frequently through the 21-days. I’m sure I’ll have much to say about getting rid of what I think my biggest challenge will be in this program…wheat! I have WHEAT written all over my sweet tooth. Boy and I thought coffee was tough!
Claudine
