This week, I want to share with you 3 simple poses to wake up your spine.  These poses are great to do in the morning, or even in the office! 
Watch the video below to learn the following poses:

1. Seated Cat/Cow
2. Seated Spinal Twist
3. Lateral Side Bend

Happy Valentine's Day, loves!
A holiday celebrating love...now, that's what I'm talking about!!!  While you're taking time to let your loved ones know just how much you care about them, be sure to spread some of that love to yourself as well.  Self-love is the starting point for all the other love we are able to give and receive in the world.  Love yourself, love others, love the world...
​Sending you so much love on this heart-filled day!

Hi everyone!

I took some time last week to share with you my top 3 reasons for starting a morning practice!  This week, I want to share with you a bit of my own journey with my morning practice. The reason this topic is so important to me is because the morning is perhaps the most sacred part of my day. It is the time that I really give myself to just sit - to sit with myself, breathe deeply, meditate and bring a greater awareness and intention into the start of my day.

As I think back to when I actually started a morning practice, I realize that it  actually started when I was only 12 years old and I learned it from my dad.  You see, every morning for as long back as I can remember, my father woke up at 4:30 a.m. to go jogging before getting ready for work.  When I was 12 years old, I started to take a greater interest in my own health and decided to join him in his morning runs.  I was only in 8th grade at the time, but I was so excited to start this practice that I would set my alarm clock to wake up at 4:30 every morning!  

So, that was the start of my morning practice and it stuck! I can even recall that when I was in college, I would wake up at 7 a.m., when everyone else was still sleeping, and run laps around my campus!  I loved starting my day like that!  I loved breathing in the fresh air and bringing some movement into my body. I always said that running was like a meditation to me. Falling into that rhythmic movement of each step brought so much clarity and peace to my mind.

Then, in 2010, I took my first yoga teacher training program. As part of the program, we were required to meditate for 15 minutes a day. So, I began a new practice!  Every morning, I sat down on the floor in my bedroom and set a timer for 15 minutes to meditate. Now, let me tell you, it was so hard for me in the beginning!  I would sit for about 2 minutes and then glance at my watch, realizing that I still had 13 more minutes to go!  So I would just close my eyes and go at it again!  But, I found a very interesting thing happened after practicing this for awhile.  I found that the days that I missed my meditation I didn't feel quite as balanced, like something just felt “off.” That is how I knew that the meditation was really doing something for me. It gave me a greater sense of calm, a greater sense of peace as I moved through my day. It was pretty subtle at first, because in the beginning, I only really noticed how I felt different on the days that I skipped my meditation.

Since that time, my morning practice has evolved quite a bit.  Now, I easily spend up to an hour every morning just on my practices. I do a combination of different practices that include ayurvedic self-care, meditation, breathing, and movement.  I can now really tune into my body, mind, and emotions and tailor the specifics of my morning practice to fit the needs of my body on that day. 

Starting a conscious, meditative morning practice has quite literally changed my life!  I used to wake up with my mind racing right as I got out bed, thinking about all the things I had to do for the day. All of a sudden those thoughts started to slow down after I started my morning meditation. And now it's just automatic for me to wake up, get out of bed, and go straight to my altar to breathe, meditate, and ease my way into the day.  This gives me an underlying sense of peace and calm that I carry with me through the rest of the day.  That's not to say that my emotions don't get shaken up a bit during the day depending on the situation, because certainly I am still on this journey. But there's still just always this underlying current of peace and calm that I can return to. 

And so, I share this with you because it can be something so simple, yet so powerful, that can quite literally shape your day.  It has been life-changing for me.  Next week, I will share with you some really easy tips to help get your own morning practice started.

Until then, sending you so much love!

Imagine waking up every morning with a sense of excitement and a smile on your face.  Imagine waking up before your alarm goes off and jumping out of bed because you just can’t wait to get your day started!  Okay, okay, I know this can seem a little far-fetched, like what dream world is Sheetal living in?  But, stick with me here.  A morning practice is anything that you do in the morning to uplift and inspire you for the rest of the day.  It could be as simple as expressing gratitude for the day, setting an intention, breathing with awareness, going for a walk, sipping on tea, reading a book, or listening to the birds chirping outside.  Having a morning practice gives you time just for yourself to do something that you enjoy before jumping into the demands of your day.  
Here are my top 3 reasons for starting a morning practice:

1. It sets the tone for the rest of your day. 
Have you ever noticed that when you wake up feeling stressed, rushed, or sluggish, the rest of the day seems to follow the same pattern?  Alternatively, days that you wake up in a good mood seem to flow much smoother?  I have certainly noticed this in my own life.  Much of what we experience each day is really just a reflection of our own perception of the events going on around us.  So, if we can intercept the state of our perception from the start of the day, meaning if we can get ourselves in a super positive mood, then we see things a little bit differently.  Dr. Wayne Dyer said it perfectly, “When we change the way we look at things, the things we look at change.”  So, by having a morning practice, you are making the conscious decision to start your day in a way that is positive and uplifting, regardless of what the rest of the day brings.

2. It creates space in your life. 
Early mornings may be the only time you get to yourself, to do anything that you want, without disruption of cell phone notifications, kids, significant others, or co-workers.  It is time set aside just for you and you get to choose what you do in that time.  According to Ayurveda, 4-6am is Vata time, with qualities of air and space.  This is the time of day that our mind tends to be the most clear that it will be all day.  The Vata qualities of air and space naturally gives rise to mental clarity and spaciousness.  So, when we wake up before 6am, we allow our mind to more naturally slip into a calm, peaceful, and spacious place.  

3. You get to do something really fun right when you wake up! 
​Seriously, you get to choose your morning practice.  The only requirements are that it is positive, uplifting, and inspiring.  You want to dance in the morning – do it!  You like to paint – do it!  You like to read – go for it!  You love nature walks – go out for a walk!  It makes it so much easier to move through the rest of your day when you start off by doing something that you truly enjoy!  

What are your thoughts on a morning practice?  Do you already have an uplifting morning routine?  If so, what is it?  

In the next few weeks, I will share with you the evolution of my morning routine and simple tips on how you can get yours started too!