For those who know me well, you will know that I like to move and care for my body on a regular basis. I keep it happy by going to the gym, running outdoors and practising yoga either in the studio or on my mat in the space I've created in my room. I love all different intensities when it comes to working out, sometimes I want a sweaty HIIT class, other times I just want to flow calmly on my mat feeling my body connect with the ground.
On Sunday, I did a nice sweaty incline walk on the treadmill as training for the Three Peaks Challenge and finished my workout with some stretches. I was feeling playful so I tried out some headstands against the wall. All was going well, until I slowly came out of the pose and felt something move in my neck. Fast forward two days and here I am, sitting listening to the rain in my living room, barely able to move my neck without an aching pain down my left side. I've had it checked out and I've just sprained it, no permanent damage thankfully, but enough to keep me away from my job and, most painfully, away from the gym.
I have been sat at home for the past two days peacefully with myself, trying to embrace being in a relaxing state of mind, but in the back of my head my brain is saying 'go workout, go sweat, go do something!'. I needed something to focus my mind on. Usually I'm 100% okay with being in my own company and finding something to do. Whether that be reading, scrapbooking, taking photographs, I can usually find something to interest me. Unfortunately, none of these things we're available because it made my aching neck just that bit more uncomfortable.
So, that brings me on to my point of the post. Meditation. There are SO many different forms of meditation and I think that is what is so amazing about it. You do not have to be a guru to do it. You do not have to do it every single day to say you meditate. And you certainly don't have to be 'good' at it either.
It's 2017 and meditation is now so readily available. I've done it on my own surrounded by candles and incense, I've often done it listening to calming music or with the Headspace app (recommended) but I've always done it on and off. I've never had a steady practice.
Last night I decided to purchase a meditation guide that I'd been wanting to treat myself to for a while. I may have mentioned before that one of the most influential people I follow on Instagram is a yogi called Aubrey Renee and she believes on 'creating a life that sets your soul on fire.' She is one of the most inspiration people I've ever come across and everything she shares online I can absolutely resonate with. She believes in the pure beauty of the outdoors, moving your body and taking up some damn space. So when she released her meditation guides, I knew I would not be disappointed.
I purchased the Stay Soft one for just £4.87 and I have no regrets and all the plans to buy the other ones.
In the meditation/breath work download, Aubrey takes you through a relaxing 10 minutes of laying down, feeling your body sink into the ground and bringing awareness to your own breath. I do this on a regular basis anyway but it's not often that I sit with myself purely just for that.
I'm going to do this practice everyday for thirty days. Today is day one. I will write another blog post on day thirty to sum up my journey as I'll be keeping a journal on how each day makes me feel.
If you would like to do it along with me I would absolutely recommend buying Aubrey's downloads or just put on some soothing music, I've recently found Spotify has incredible relaxation playlists that almost make me feel like I'm in Bali!
Happy meditating xx
