‘Tis the season to be merry, and mirthful and spastic! Ah! Holiday time is chock full of the season’s delights and doings, but by the time we reach January we’re completely spent. Drained. Reeling from the flurry of holiday happenings. But what if instead of constantly stirring, we took time to sit?
This is an invitation from the #realyogaselfie project to be still. December Stillness: 31 Days of Conscious Stillness.
The invitation reads: “We’ve seen a lot of yoga challenges floating around the social media spheres. This one is different. No sponsors to tag or ulterior sales motives. No competition. No need to share your practice unless you feel inspired to do so.”
More about December Stillness: “The December Stillness Invitation offers participants an opportunity to practice. That’s all. Daily inspiration for finding respite within the frenetic movement of the holiday season. Try a new technique each day or stick with the same useful approach for several consecutive days. 5-10 minutes of conscious stillness every day in December.”
From Caitlin Casella, yoga teacher and founder of the #realyogaselfie project:
“Conscious stillness is a challenging practice for many, especially during a month marked by erratic schedules, culinary indulgences and emotionally charged family gatherings. Getting quiet and learning to be with one’s self is a process just as working step by step toward a challenging asana is a process. The December Stillness Invitation offers daily tips and inspiration for supporting comfort in body, ease of breath and clarity of mind. The more subtle aspects of the 8 limbs of yoga ask us to turn down the volume outside and listen more carefully inside. A little bit of conscious stillness every day adds up to greater patience, receptivity and contentment in life and with those we love.”
CONNECT: #realyogaselfie on facebook, twitter and instagram.
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Earlier…
Hi I love your idea for December and wondered if we are able to share this with our students at IXL Lounge in Australia?
Kind regards,
Deborah
super cool and wonderful to see this, moreso that it’s simply to practice stillness rather than “be the selfie” or other zazzier expression.
Well, the “turkeys” are finally coming home to roost.
I understand that yoga, even the #represent school of yoga selfies, is a LOT more than some double-digit sized 30 year old woman sticking a perfect handstand on non-level-ground for the camera.
I’m sorry, but until it goes back to the way it was, this selfie culture will continue to challenge the values of aparigraha, asteya, and ahimsa …
Eating disorders happen at all sizes ….
Love this! Great message for a hectic, distracting time of year! It also sets yogis up to continue for the new year.
When you talk about being ‘spastic’, are you referring to a phenomenon that occurs when flexible joints and muscles, used to moving freely and frequently, are forced into inactivity by the rush and crush of the season and contract into painful spasms?
Or are you just being careless, sloppy and offensive with your language, using a painful, debilitating and much misunderstood condition to denote a distracted and dishevelled state of mind? In which case, your stillness is a meaningless indulgence, teaching you nothing about love or respect and may be an affront to the great tradition you practice…
Yoga and disrespect …mutually exclusive…
Thank you for that, Heather Simmons. That spastic word is meant as an insult, and much of its casual use is also ableist; many times used in the wrong manner by people who would put others down. People who could use yoga for their actual medical conditions.