Mental and emotional enlightenment is a gradual process of learning, healing, stepping
back, and understanding what it takes and how to get there. Because it’s a process, relaxation and feeling relaxed takes practice. This is especially true for people who are always on the go, hustling, and trying to make ends meet. We try so hard to the point we forget how even to relax.
Practicing mindful relaxation does not take place or happen overnight. It takes commitment to set aside time to relax and not worry or think about anything. Sometimes, all it takes is just 5 minutes.
Here are 14 ways you can incorporate relaxation methods into your life:
1. Focus on your breathing
One significant aspect of relaxation is breathing. Breathing is one of the vital aspects of meditation practice of any kind. You may have gone off course with your breathing, and you could have been distracted. Focus on breathing toward the tail of your spine and then directing it upward toward the crown of your head.
2. Focus on your posture
You likely sit at least 70% of your waking hours, leading to bad posture. We sit in the car, we sit in the office, and we sit in meetings. These situations make us hunch, walk differently, sit wrongly, and even sleep in bad posture. Bad posture also prevents us from breathing correctly, which is why in yoga practice, yogis and gurus always start a pose by telling their students to sit tall and keep the spine straight.
3. Reject negativity
Staying positive will help us improve and keep us objective and looking forward to our goals and tasks at hand. Focusing on the positive aspects of our daily lives, we reject negativity and develop wholesomeness in our practice, spirituality, and mentality.
4. Refine your diet
If you are trying to awaken your internal energy, then you need to look holistically at your practice. Standing right, breathing right, and staying positive also include eating the right food, which means eating vegetables and healthy meals. Eating the right foods helps keep you in a healthy mindset and gives your mood a good complex.
5. Refine your wardrobe
It’s time to eliminate everything that makes you itch, scratch, fiddle, and whine. If something in your closet makes it harder for you to breathe, move, concentrate and relax- get rid of it. Instead, invest in comfortable and stylish loungewear. These pieces from https://lunya.co/ are great options to swap your wardrobe from rigid and boring to comfortable and stylish.
6. Move your body
You can move your body in various ways, such as dancing, running, jogging, exercising, being one with nature, and doing physical work. Ideally, you want to move your body through the exercise that you enjoy, so this can be anything, such as long walks or bicycling, or even jogging. Your body needs movement, which is why yoga and meditation incorporate asanas to pull, elongate, strengthen, and warm the body.
7. Find your circle
Birds of a feather do flock together. We subconsciously mirror the people we are surrounded by and the people we grew up with. Some of us have pretty, cheerful surroundings, while others do not. The good thing is that, as we grow up, we can choose and create these surroundings for ourselves. We can consciously decide to surround ourselves with the people we want to be with. These people can motivate us to do our best, support us, and are honest with us. They can be kind people, authentic, and successful. Our quality of life entirely depends on who we choose to be around to attain our goals.
8. Get a mentor
A yogi mentor, counselor, or therapist is an excellent person to surround yourself with. You can have a deeper connection with your yogi, learn from them, and share your meditation experiences. Part of this mentorship is also ensuring you have the proper support from someone with experience.
9. Chant, chant, chant
There are chants, mantras, and affirmations that can be repeated as it is a way of facilitating the meditative mood. Chanting is a great practice to get your mindset to revive itself and uncoil its energy. Join a group or find a teacher you are comfortable with and repeat chants to help you rekindle the energy within you.
10. Activate your interests
In this hectic lifestyle, it is easy to get caught up and do only tasks and things that we feel we should do, not because we like it but because we think it’s the right thing to do. To reignite it again, set aside an hour each day to pursue the tasks and things you feel connect you back to your inner soul. Make this an hour of your enjoyment.
11. Be here and be now
Be present with the situation and surroundings that your body is currently in as you go throughout the day. We need to make an effort to be conscious of our surroundings and not get caught up in a daze. Direct your focus by cutting out your extraneous thinking and instead live in the moment. Mindfulness would also help revive a dormant kundalini and leave you feeling more grounded and satisfied.
12. Go with the flow
Going with the flow is ideal, primarily if you have organized your life into minute detail. Sometimes, it is excellent just to let go and get rid of intense planning and take each day as it comes. View your day as an adventure as opposed to a planned battle. If your day goes differently than expected, be positive, and know that only some things are within your control.
13. Cut distractions
You can switch off gadgets after 7 pm and only focus on yourself and your family. You can also distance yourself away from certain people for a specific time. Whatever you do, commit to yourself that you want to eliminate distractions.
14. Try using music for relaxation
When you get into your asanas and meditations, putting on a flowing rhythm and melody will promote your senses to meditate and assist in your kundalini awakening.
