The Gentle Magic of Beginning and Ending Your Day With Yoga

Yoga is an alchemist. Your work on the mat transforms you in countless ways. You recognize some of these changes consciously, while others work below the surface, adding layers of meaning to each moment, each encounter. 

There’s a gentle magic in beginning and ending your day with your practice. It’s what motivates Only in Sedona Yoga to continue producing flows for this purpose. Uniting with yourself as your day begins and ends lends a sense of ritualized completeness to your days while making you feel whole, secure in who you are and your place in an ever-shifting Universe. 

Daybreak: Who and What Do You Bring to the World Each Day? 

Life is a give-and-take. Each day, the events in your life and the people you meet change you, sometimes in large, other times in nearly imperceptible ways. However, entering into the fray without a secure home base, a firm sense of who you are can make you feel like Katy Perry’s plastic bag drifting on the wind. It’s an anxious, disconnected feeling, and your brain can get up to all kinds of nasty business when you treat it like a mere mirror, your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors only reflecting what you see in the external world, not processing it or mindfully considering how you wish to respond to it.

The reality is, each and every one of us controls nothing but influences everything. Just as the outside world influences our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, what occurs inside of us affects how we interact with the outside world, affecting everything and everyone we touch. What do we want that influence to be? 

That’s the gentle magic of a morning yoga practice. 

Coming to the mat each morning allows you to check in with your energy. Is that what you want to present to the world? If not, what can you do to shift it, make it more positive, more life-supporting? Your daybreak practice also provides time to mentally prepare for what’s ahead, calming and organizing your thoughts so you feel relaxed, not harried, as you head out the door. Finally, your morning practice brings you home to yourself, reminding you of who you are, what you stand for, and what matters to you. How can you best live those values within the confines of your present reality over the next 24 hours? 

Evening: A Time of Quiet Reflection and Preparation 

Everyone makes mistakes, and learning from them is an integral part of growth. However, cruel, insulting words, such as “how could you do that? You’re such a hopeless loser,” hurt — regardless of whether someone else speaks them out loud or we hear them inside our heads. Where’s a safe, accepting place to reflect on our behaviors and bring about positive change, free from harsh insults? Gentle reader, you’ve just identified the spirit behind my oft-repeated phrase, “talk to the mat.” 

Your mat is your safe space to review, to process the experiences you’ve had over the day’s course, to evaluate what went well and what you would like to change. It’s a space to reflect on how you have been spending your energy, shifting it toward something that better serves you and the collective when necessary. 

Life’s triumphs deserve reflection and recognition, too. Winding down via yoga’s gentle magic is a little ritual celebration of yourself, an opportunity to reflect not only on what you wish to change but what went well. Ending your day by reflecting on all that you’re grateful for, including your contributions to the world over the past 24 hours, nurtures your spirit and may help you sleep more peacefully. 

Reestablishing Balance by Beginning and Ending Your Day With Yoga 

Daily life can get hectic, and it’s easy to become a nuclear reactor, letting external circumstances dictate each passing moment, until you feel lost and distant from yourself. It’s equally simple to lose all sense of connection and become too inwardly focused, so tormented by an inner storm of roiling thoughts and emotions that we lose touch with external reality. 

Finding the right balance between honoring our true, core selves and contributing and caring for the greater whole isn’t easy. Fortunately, the gentle magic of beginning and ending your day with yoga helps. Creating a safe, silent space calms your central nervous system, encouraging clarity of thought, allowing you to align your energy to what is and nudge it in the direction you want it to flow. It’s a homecoming that cultivates a sense of harmony between your inner and outer worlds. 

The Gentle Magic of Beginning and Ending Your Day on the Yoga Mat 

Beginning and ending your day with yoga can transform your life. It’s a daily reminder that you matter, and so does what you bring to the world. It’s also a way to nurture yourself, caring for your mental and physical health. Many also find the ritual soothing to their soul. 

Part of Only in Sedona Yoga’s mission is to help you experience the gentle magic of beginning and ending your day on the yoga mat. Turn into one of our wake-up flows each morning and wind down with us when your day ends. Let reconnecting with yourself liberate you to form more positive connections with the world.