Five Daily Shots

Five. A number to keep in mind.

There's a lot about five.
You have the five life elements. Make sure you 'have' them all in your life; fire, water, earth, air and ether.

Then there's 'the big five'. Five things for your well being. Often used in psychology and psychiatry (most for depressions) ; exercise, alone-time, socializing, energizing activities, personal care.

And now I read about the 'Five Capsules'. Nope, no vitamin pills, no caffeine shots. Just the five things you can do through the day to stay stress-free and energized. And each 'thing' only will take 10 minutes. Much easier to do that, than to practise some yoga or sports for an hour consecutively, isn't it? And because it gives some structure as well, you notice it more when you slip up on the exercise!
Since I think it's an excellent idea (comfy!), I wanted to share this with you.

 I guess the first two you should do at home but the third part you could do in your lunchbreak at work.
When you do these five things every day, you get the whole package!

It should be practised in this particular order. But I think you can alter the content of each 'thing' to your liking and capabilities. In red, I have written some alternatives. Here they are:

1. Mantras. Singing them when waking up. Or sitting down, slowly waking, drinking hot water, recite a prayer. (Nót welter to the coffee pot while half asleep.)
2. Asanas. They named the Palm Tree, the Waving Palm Tree (like that name!), the Waist Twist, the Half Candle, the Sun Salutation. Or other asana's you want to do. Or go the the gym or better; running outdoors.
3. Pranayama. Breathing exercise. They named the Variable Nasal Breathing and the Humming Bee. Could be just three minutes sitting down, observing your breathing. But it definitely won't do the same.
4. Yoga sleep. Lying down on the floor. Observing every bodypart and when the body is calm, consciously breathe in and out 25 times. (Ouch, that's a lot!) Or take a powernap.
5. Meditation. Thinking through the day for a short while. What have you learned and what could you do differently in future situations? Then you could do a meditation. You could write some things down, make some music  or dance to shake off emotions and when you have time left you could do a meditation for how long you want to do it.

For more information on these Five Capsules, go to yogaonline.nl



What are yóur daily 'shots'?



With love, Shan