Slow living morning routine.
By Rolf Suurland
When the idea of slow living came to me, I thought that it wasn’t fitting into my day-to-day life. With a 9-5 day job and everything that surrounds it, I often struggled to let go of the illusion that these types of practices were for me.
The beauty of taking care of myself is that it can be done in moments and small actions. These moments became practices, and the small actions became rituals.
Let me share my most valuable daily slow living practice during my busy 9-5 weekdays. The practice is simple but has shown very good results.
I love early mornings, but this can easily be switched to the evening hours before bed. When the house is still resting and the world outside is dark and still, I find the energy is perfect for waking up slowly.
After I wake up, I lay in my bed for a few minutes, scanning my body; what is tight today? Then I get out of bed and start by doing a simple ‘child's pose’, or just go on all fours and curl myself up in a ball. I stay there for a few seconds. From that starting position, I start making moves, letting myself be guided by where the tight spots are in my body. I stretch in whatever position my body is asking me to go. I slowly widen the range of movement to stretches of my arms and legs and eventually get my whole body stretching itself; the more awkward the position, the better :). The only thing to take into account is not pushing your body beyond its available flexibility. You can push against that available flexibility but don’t go over it. Trusting that the flexibility will come where and when needed, as long as you keep moving. What I like about this is that I am not letting myself be limited by any ‘formal’ poses. If I have a busy schedule and/or don’t feel like it, I stop here.
But for most mornings, the next part of my morning practice is waking the body up and getting the juices flowing. I start on my back and lift my legs in the air at a 45-degree angle and let them come down just above the floor. Then I move my legs in that 45-degree angle in circles. One set is moving the legs together in circles, and the last set is moving the legs together in a circle. The amount of reps should be based on your own conditions, but it will get that core going. Then I proceed to the only part of my routine that has some exercise gadget; sliding discs. Put the discs under your toes and go into a plank with stretched arms. I then pull my legs to my chest. I repeat this another session with being on my elbows. Then I go back into a plank with stretched arms and move my legs from the inside out to left and right. I repeat that session also on my elbows in plank. Again, the amount of reps should be based on your own level, but it will get your core and legs warmed up.
Then I do the most versatile but simple exercise of all; push-ups. Not easy, but it is about as simple as it can get for an exercise. When done right, it will get your shoulders, arms, and core going. You know it when you feel it. Then I turn myself upside down on my arms with a little help from a wall. It helps the shoulders, arms, and core but also turns your lymphatic system upside down. If you had a stuffed nose after you woke up, this should be gone after you have done a handstand for 10+ seconds. It really wakes the body up! When gently landing myself on my feet again, I give myself a cooldown, and my last stretch of the practice is bringing my feet together in a half-lotus sitting position and bending my torso forward. With the sedentary lifestyle most of us have, it will stretch the hips that can get really tight due to the high amount of sitting we do nowadays. Then I go into the full lotus pose and get my mindset right for the day.
All of this takes about 20-30 minutes. I don’t worry too much about skipping a day or doing it right; it just needs to feel good. It is a practice that fits in almost any day and starts my day right; physically and mentally.
