Guess what? I figured out how to survive my elves’ spring break and my need to have some yoga even when they are around 24/7. The answer to my quandary (and for the very same experienced by the rest of the parents/yogis afflicted by this particular syndrome during this week): 10 minutes. That’s right, all you need to find is a free 10 minutes every day and you can bust a few asanas, breathe in and out and find your yoga.
For the longest time I really thought a yoga class really was not all that unless it was over an hour, heated and made me feel as if I had been bended like a pretzel. I needed to sweat, to go deep and to try something new. Correction, I felt like I needed to rock something new. Any class that was less than one hour and 15 minutes was ridiculously short (I mean really how could you get through an entire yoga practice in only 60 minutes). I thought that a practice where I was not standing and balancing on at least half of my body was wimpy and made me twitchy. I was in a phrase a yoga snob.
Then I started teaching yoga and nearly all my classes ended up being only one hour-long. Somehow I was forced to design a practice for my students that was quality rather than quantity without going over even a minute. I never wanted my students to feel cheated, yet I had lost a whole 15 minutes. I owed it to the yogis in the room to bring it, so I got the hang of how to make their practices feel complete in only 6o minutes. In doing so I learned a very valuable lesson about yoga, that it cannot be defined by the amount of time you practice.
Jenn Pesce, a Twitter pal of mine clued me into the beauty of a 10 minute practice with a great blog post. I have taken her advice to heart and set aside a mere 10 minutes a day to practice. If I can find space for more I extend my time on the mat (or wherever), but I remain satisfied with only 10 minutes. My yoga practice is not characterized by certain asanas, or sequences or by the number of breaths by which I stay in a pose. Nor is it defined by the length of the time I do it.
On this auspicious day, 108 glorious days into 2011, all I need for my yoga is 10 minutes. Today I used it to kick my feet up in the air, resting my legs on our barbecue grill while listening to the elves make mud pies in the yard. I closed my eyes, breathed and for 10 moments I lived my yoga.
So I ask: can you commit to finding 10 minutes a day to stick your feet up in the air and breathe in and out like you just don’t care?
mmhmm sometimes all i need is a 5 minute quick sun salutation in the break room to feel rejuvenated. 10 minutes is 928094820 times better than no minutes at all!! have fun w the kids!
oh yes
ten minutes indeed!
plus, if you ever figured out a way for a special session with your elves, you might could do a second 10-minuter, just with them, a free-for-all led by you!
many decades past, when i had my two by myself (before i met my wife and we added her little one) i’d take summer jobs doing summer stock theatre and put them in the shows too…
@bybrigitta on my twitter roll has great videos of kids & yoga at her site
anyway, congratulations on eking out your tweak of time nancy
it’s worth it!
Ahh yes, the 10 Minute Gift – why didn’t I think of it before? Since starting 90 Minutes, I’ve given myself AT LEAST (usually more) 10 minutes of asana each and every day! Blissful!
yay! we are bringing new meaning to the word quickie – ten little minutes at a time. let the revolution begin
thanks so much for the shout out, i’m glad you are now able to get your yoga fix!
The sun salutation is like the espresso of yoga: so small and compact but, wow, does it pack a punch! Swing back a few sun salutes, and you’re set for the morning!
I sometimes think that 10 minutes is more refreshing that 90 minutes and I love a 1 hour practice. I have to admit I don’t usually do a 90 practice on my own intentionally, sometimes it happens if that’s how the flow goes. Mostly I come in at an hour.
I’ll be teaching a one hour class starting in May – I’m really looking forward to it.
♥♥♥
This morning I managed a 90 minute practice at home, but it had been a long time since I had been able to do that. Most of the time I settle for 1 hour. Or 15 to 30 minutes
Even if I don’t practice asanas every day, there will be 10 minutes at least for a yoga practice in the form of meditation and / or chanting. I even chant when I walk to work and back, I can’t help it, and I don’t care if people think I’m crazy – I don’t chant that loud anyway
So yeah, even if you don’t practice yoga through a 90-minute asana practice, yoga is still there in some shape or form, and 10 minutes can be all it takes. The rest of the time, you don’t practice or do, you live yoga.
When I first started practicing at home, I could only find 20 minutes each morning and night. I didn’t actually start practicing for more than 60 minutes until early last year.
I still have to remind myself (actually just this morning!) that if I have 10 minutes that it’s better than nothing and to hop on the mat