The Gift of a Spiral Life [Writing Yoga® Mindfulness Prompt # 1003]

Humans, just like all of nature, move in spirals. We may even feel crushed by backward momentum, but once we see the other side, our rewards can be tremendous.  That's the gift of a spiral path.

Writing Yoga® Mindfulness Prompt:

Lumi Sit: Take 5 minutes in silence. Close your eyes. Breathe. Say to yourself, "I am here." Repeat. Slow down the words inside your head. "I am here." Repeat.

Lumi Write:  Draw a picture of a spiral. Take your time and notice what thoughts and images appear in your mind. You can color it in with pencils or decorate it any way you wish. Write down any words that come to mind inside the spiral. I kept thinking of the word, "lighthouse."

Lumi Move: These variations on the forward fold can be done anytime you need a break. Your head is down, but you are not going backwards. We can only restore ourselves when we step off the spiral and rest.

FORWARD FOLD VARIATIONS

Forward Fold: 1) Stand. 2) Bring your hands to your hips, bend your knees and 3) fold yourself in half like a piece of paper. Go slowly. 4) With bent knees take hold of opposite elbows and sway side to side. Let the top of the head feel heavy as if it could touch the ground. Imagine any unwanted thoughts falling into the earth. 5) Release your hands and slowly roll up keeping your knees bent. 6) Take three deep breaths and repeat. Hold the pose as long as you would like.

You can also do this pose while seated by making a pillow with your hands at a table or your desk at work.  If you are seated, make sure your back is pressed into the back of the chair and your feet are planted into the ground before you fold. 

Rise up slowly because it can make you a little dizzy if you pop up too fast (especially if you have low blood pressure).  Explore this pose for 5 minutes.

As with all of these Lumi suggestions, be kind to yourself. If you want to sit, write and move differently than suggested here, go for it. The main thing is to SIT, WRITE, and MOVE each day. 

Writing Yoga® and Sit, Write, Move (SWiM) are proprietary techniques that may be shared for educational purposes only with permission. Contact us for info.