During these days and weeks and months of various degrees of shutdown due to the pandemic, part of me has been loving the slower pace and the reduced busyness. Another part of me, though, has been needing more structure and routine to combat laziness and mental dullness…the need for a daily plan. Even in my workouts and asana practice on the mat, I am finding I need a balance of both – a scheduled program but with room for freestylin’ it! So I came up with what I call “The 300 Things” – somehow giving it a name satisfies the desire for a “program”. Giving it some sort of order makes it easy to follow. Scheduling it every morning makes me do it. And writing it out on a piece of paper (yes, hand written neatly, not typed out or stored on my cellphone) means I can put it at the top of my mat for easy reference.
The pros:
- It does not require Zoom or YouTube or trying to look at a screen
- It does not require a time limit
- Writing it out neatly seems to make it “official” and important
- I can use whatever music I like or none at all
- I can add, delete, modify any of the moves
- I can make this easy and gentle, or strong and challenging depending on how I feel
- It encourages me to move my spine in all directions
- It keeps me focused and less distracted since I am counting it out
- Completing each round gives a sense of accomplishment; motivates me to do the next round; increases energy
- Most importantly, I am enjoying it and feel amazing afterwards!
Try it out for yourself and make a plan!
“THE 300 THINGS”
– basically do 10 exercises/poses/practices for 10 reps/breaths each for 3 rounds for a total of 300 things, all with attention to breath, alignment, posture, and safety
Here is my routine; you can follow this or make up your own:
Round 1 and 2 – exercises
- Jumping jacks x 10 (with or without impact)
- Standing cross crawl x 10 (bi-lateral movement – great for the brain!)
- Burpees x 10 (gets the heart rate up!)
- Lunge to High kick right leg x 10 (great for balance!)
- Lunge to High kick left leg x 10
- Vinyasa x 10 (downward dog to plank to cobra to downward dog; sub in a different sequence if you like)
- Wide-leg row x 10 (sit with legs apart, arms in front and hands clasped, bend forward and back)
- Navasana x 10 (boat pose – hold for 10 breaths; great for core!)
- Dynamic spinal twist x 10 (lie down, bend legs, drop them side to side with control)
- Seated breath meditation x 10 (sit cross legged, close eyes, take 10 slow breaths; regroup for next round!)
Round 3 – yoga poses
- Trikonasana x 10 (triangle pose – 5 breaths each side)
- Standing twist x 10 (5 breaths each side)
- 1/2 sun salutation x 10 (experiment with pace – slow/medium/fast)
- Virabhadrasana I x 10 (warrior pose I; 5 breaths each side)
- Virabhadrasana II x 10 (warrior pose II; 5 breaths each side)
- Hold Plank or Cobra or Downward Dog for 10 breaths
- Prasarita Padottanasana (wide-legged forward bend) x 10 breaths
- Setu Bandha Sarvangasana (bridge pose) x 10 breaths
- Lying down – Figure 4 stretch (I call this “thread-the-needle”) x 5 breaths each leg
- Savasana (corpse pose lying down on back) x 10 slow abdominal breaths
Finish it all off with a seated meditation. Try one of my guided meditations or chant a mantra or simply sit in silence noticing how you feel. Congratulate yourself for doing 300 things that support your health and wellness!!
Love and light…
Yoga In My Backyard 