If you find yourself feeling overwhelmed with too many thoughts, join the club! From the moment I wake up in the morning, my head is full of pesky thoughts swarming around like a bee hive just awoke in my brain. It becomes an even bigger problem when I try to do anything that requires focused attention, like writing this blog post. When I can get up and moving, yoga proves to be the best thing to help me find clear focus – time and time again.
In today’s class, we are focusing on a balance of yin and yang styles of yoga. We will hold poses in a brief yin style and flow through the poses in more of the yang (vinyasa) style. Throughout the entire class, we will be focused entirely on the breath.
Breath work is one of the easiest things you can do to get properly focused. Even better, you can do a number of breathing exercises while at work, without being super obvious and woo woo. For more on breath work, check out this blog post and video to help you practice my favorite pranayamas for focus.
30-Minute Yoga for Focus
All you need for this class is a yoga mat, but if you regularly use blocks or other forms of support at home, go for it!
We will practice making the breath longer and longer as we flow through the class. If you are having difficulty exhaling for the longer counts, don’t push yourself. Simply do what you can and feel proud of your efforts.
Feeling more focused? Less overthinking taking place?! Please let me know about your experience in the comments below.
Tips for Focus
Of course, daily practice of yoga, meditation, and/or breathwork can help to give you a better foundation to come back to throughout the day. Even if you can only dedicate a couple minutes to one of the practices, you set yourself up with an advantage to have a better day.
Other tips for focus:
- Hydration: Make sure you’re getting plenty of water and cutting back on the caffeine. Often, we think that another coffee will help us to focus through the afternoon. When really, the caffeine will just make you more dehydrated. Try for more water instead.
- Brain Dump: Feeling an overload of thoughts that are getting in the way of whatever you are trying to work on? Take a pause and brain dump it all out. Write it down. Speak it all out. Just let it all out in some form. It should help you feel cleared out.
- Take Breaks: Sometimes, you really just need to step away from whatever you are doing. Put everything down and go for a walk. Maybe even just stroll around the office? Take some stretches. You probably aren’t giving yourself enough solid break times (without technology).
Pay attention to what practices work best for you. Everyone is different and the way your brain responds to things might be different. Think of it as an experiment and try a bunch of things. Definitely check out all the different breathing and yoga tips from the video.
What’s your biggest challenge? Comment below, as I would love to help create a sequence or post for you!
Keep rockin’ on, my friend.
