How to Add Yoga Practices into your Day to Support Recovery
While I engage in yoga practices most days, most of the time it is not an hour-long yoga asana (physical pose) class. Most of the time, it’s short breaks throughout the day and a few minutes at a time.
Adding in yoga, meditation, or breathwork practices throughout your day can often be more realistic, easier to commit to, and fit into your day better. You can use these practices to support your recovery around meal times, times when eating disorder thoughts are strong, or when you’re feeling uncomfortable in your body.
These practices can help bring you into the present moment even for just a few seconds, calm your nervous system, or give yourself a pause from the thoughts in order to practice making recovery focused choices.
Here are some ways to incorporate these practices:
Start in the morning with 3-5 even breaths before getting out of bed, or a guided breathwork practice for 1-5 minutes as part of a morning routine. I like to use the Breathing App in the morning. If it’s nice outside, I’ll let my dogs outside and use the app for ~3-4 minutes.
Before meals, release tension. You can do this by shaking out your arms or wrists, open and close your jaw, scrunch and relax your face, or stand and bounce while moving your arms side to side. It’s 100% okay to look silly doing this.
Start a daily meditation or breathwork practice for one minute. Often, people think you have to do a meditation practice for 10-20 minutes at a time. In order to build up a daily practice, starting small can be really helpful. This may mean downloading an app or using your phone timer for one minute. You don’t have to sit straight up on the floor - you can sit or lie down in bed, in a chair, or on your couch.
When having thoughts or urges, bring attention to your breath, and focus on lengthening your exhale. If you need an additional focus, you can inhale for a count of 4 and exhale for a count of 6-8. This can be done anywhere like during meal times, as a way to “urge surf",” in your car, or if with a group of people.
End your day with legs up the wall pose for 5-10+ minutes. To get into it, sit on the floor with your hip against a wall, and swing your legs up the wall, a couch, or a bed.
If having digestive distress, twisting poses like a supine twist (lying down with knees to one side) or knees to your chest (lying down with knees towards your chest) can help release gas or ease some distress.
These are just some ideas for practices to bring mindfulness into your day, but there are so many other ones out there. For some people, focusing on their breath or body through yoga can be challenging, and that’s okay. Use your treatment team for guidance that works for you.