Mind Tools & Inspirations: Peaceful place

Even in turbulent times—perhaps especially then—connecting with a peaceful place can offer a gentle reset, a short respite.

In this 3-minute practice you invite a peaceful place in nature to come to mind.

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TRY THIS…

If you have time, let me guide you so you can focus on your experience.

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HERE IS THE PRACTICE

Sit comfortably and close your eyes.
Have your hands resting on your legs, out toward your knees, palms facing down.
Feel your hands where they are resting.
As you exhale, gently round your back.
As you inhale slide your hands toward your waist, coming to an upright position.
Exhaling your hands come back toward your knees, rounding your back.
Continue moving and breathing like this, at your own pace.
Inhaling, moving your hands toward your waist, sitting upright.
Exhaling, moving your hands out toward your knees, rounding your back.

Now sit comfortably.
Invite a peaceful place in nature to come to mind.
Just wait and allow a peaceful place in nature to show up.
Have a sense of what that peaceful place looks like.
Have a sense of how that peaceful place feels.

Gently bring your attention back.
Have your hands on your legs, palms facing down, out toward your knees. Your back is gently rounded.
As you inhale slide your hands along your legs toward your waist as you come to an upright position.
As you exhale slowly, your hands move back toward your knees, your back gently rounding.
Continue moving and breathing like this.

Sit comfortably.
Return to your peaceful place.
Be with that peaceful place.

When you are ready to conclude, as you inhale raise your shoulders up.
Exhale, relax your shoulders.
Inhale raising your shoulders
Exhale, relax your shoulders.

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WHY DO THIS?

Doing a practice that helps your human system to shift in the direction of inner peace can help you begin to feel and see differently.

Perhaps a peaceful place in nature came to mind. Perhaps you were only able to do the movement and breathing. Hopefully you feel a little bit different than you did before the practice.

In my research on meditation, study participants who did a practice like this on multiple days throughout the week reported that they imagined doing the movements during the day when they wanted to calm down.

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Mind Tools & Inspirations are experiences for busy, smart, curious people to help you operate your human system.

To access the full set of Mind Tools visit https://www.yogamindtools.com/mind-tools-inspirations

I add a new experience every week.

Kindly,

Carrie

Carrie Heeter, PhD
Yoga Mind Tools