Welcome to Lilias Yoga

One Minute Vacation

Where is your favorite place to go for a little rest and relaxation? The Colorado mountains? The beaches in Hawaii? The 18th golf hole at Pebble Beach?

Chances are when you return home, your body is peaceful and refreshed, the mind clear. After a refreshing vacation, you feel optimistic about life. How about creating a sunny thought for a gray March morning by taking a minute vacation? That’s right—a 60-second getaway.

Actually, each day we take more "vacations" than we realize. They can last a few seconds, or they can be big experiences lasting minutes. I call them minute vacations—small, spontaneous, timeless moments that restore and energize. A long, hot shower or bath can often do it for me. So can a wonderful message, seeing something beautiful, hearing our grandchild’s laughter, or noticing the tulips are up two inches. Listening to sacred music or viewing extraordinary art can instantly pull one out of the body’s habitual stress patterns.

Relaxation techniques have always been the basic power tools of stress management and self healing programs throughout the world. The great granddaddy of them all is a technique from India called yoga nidra which means "deep relaxation with inner awareness."

Relaxation comes in many forms—minute vacations, yoga nidra, watching nature, observing your own breathing, listening to a repetitive sound, 20 minutes of progressive relaxation, any activity that gives comfort. All relaxation, no matter how its achieved, can:

Decrease blood pressure.

Quiet the mind and emotions.

Decrease muscle tension.

Reduce the need for insulin.

Lower the body’s production of adrenaline.

Relaxation is enjoyable for people of all ages, sizes and shapes. (Participants in my yoga classes call it the "frosting on the cake" after yoga or exercise.) Relaxation has a cumulative effect. Like money in the bank, you can call on it anytime, anywhere. Relaxation pays off handsomely with improved health—body and soul.

The more awareness you bring to these precious moments of contentment, the more it becomes a natural, easy part of your whole being.

Take a one-minute vacation

Read the following mental exercise to yourself, or share it with a friend.

Begin with an enjoyable stretch and yawn, then close your eyes and take a long, let-go type of sigh. (After each of the flowing sentences, pause five or 10 seconds.)

Make a big sigh of relief. Notice, as you breathe in the chest rises. As you breath out, the chest lowers. Enjoy the sensation of breath rolling in and out. Feel its natural rhythm.

Say to yourself silently, "There’s no need to rush, I have all the time I need." Close your eyes. Let breath flow in. Let breath flow out.

Beautiful memories

Focus your attention on your closed eyelids. Gaze comfortably upwards as if you were looking at night stars. Reach into your storehouse of memories and recall a loving moment, one of great beauty. Remember watching a sunset, or recall a moment of deep connection with a friend.

When a memory comes, choose one that you’d enjoy and recall the details. Do you feel warm or cool? Are there colors and shapes? Are there sounds around you? Take your time. How does the memory feel in your body?

Take a little more time now to expand that feeling. Now, let the edges of the memory dissolve. Notice the expanded feelings linger.

To bring closure to your vacation, breathe these feelings back into your body. Carry them with you on into your day.