Y is for Yoga or I Need a Nap!

A garden to walk in and immensity to dream in--what more could he ask? 

A few flowers at his feet and above him the stars.

~ Victor Hugo, Les Misérables

Back in January, I began the One Page a Day Challenge and immediately threw away my quill.  Now in April, I’m participating in the A to Z Blogging Challenge and prepping for a Wilderness Writers’ Retreat.  I need ink, a stiff drink and therapy.

O

ne step away from glory and bragging rights, and I’m ready to just drop dead on my keyboard. 

So of course one of my work projects picks this specific time to implode and cause massive amounts of stress for both me and the team I support. 

Peachy.

If I ever needed the calming influence of meditation, it would be now.

Y is for Yoga

Recently, I read a study about the efficacy of naps and how taking one in the afternoon can boost your productivity at work.  I so need to print that out and give it to my super.

Although, napping at work has potential PR nightmare written all over it, so that’s a no go.

But meditation, well, that might be doable.  And I happen to have a yoga mat.  It generally only gets used when I see my acupressureist, but hey, it does get used.

On days like today, I’m reminded that it needs to be used more often.

Meditation without a Mat

A drink for the birds and the bees.
Image credit: M. D'Eigh

On Sunday, I watched my friend’s eight year old son and he was keen on going outside to work in the garden with me.  Not one to turn down energetic and delightfully snarky help, I handed him a shovel and let him dig his way to China ~ where China means compost.

It was the kind of beautiful day where everything is sharper ~ with a sky so blue it could send a weeping angel back in time.

As we dug in the dirt, threw out weeds, and said hello to various arachnids, butterflies, and creepy crawlies, J-boy leaned on his shovel and said, 

“Gardening is peaceful.”

And I thought, who needs a yoga mat when you have a carpet of lush, green grass?  Or a bed of soft, rich soil?  And the warmth of the sun on your back, and a gentle breeze to balance the temperature.

This peaceful contemplative feeling is a little more difficult to obtain when one is sitting at a desk, surrounded not by green growing things, but stressed out individuals and blah beige walls.

But perhaps then, meditation is two-fold: the being in your peaceful place (i.e. my garden) and then going to that place in your imagination when you can’t be there physically.

I wonder if they make living yoga mats with soft, Zoysia grass?

Oremus pro invicem,

~ Mikaela

Do you meditate?  Practice  yoga?  How do you de-stress at work?