Practice what you preach

#nextchaptervietnam

I often talk about the benefits of mindfulness and the importance of balancing hard work at the gym with breaks from time to time, but too often I struggle to follow my own advice.

This past weekend, I forced myself to take a break from my regular workout routine (which wasn't easy) and instead I joined a one-day yoga and mindfulness retreat.

The retreat began with Qi Gong; a form of gentle exercise composed of movements that are repeated a number of times, often stretching the body, increasing fluid movement and building awareness of how the body moves through space.

Then, we did some meditation; both seated and walking - the later being new to me.

Once our bodies were ready, we did a gentle flow yoga class with some of the usual poses - downward dog, child pose, cobra, warrior...

For lunch, we practiced mindful eating, which required us to spend 10 minutes eating in silence, putting down our fork or spoon after every bite and chewing our food about 15 times before swallowing and proceeding to the next bite.

After lunch, we finished up with some restorative yoga, which I had never done before.

We used pillows and blankets which allowed us to completely rest and relax.

Overall, it was a rejuvenating day and I have since been inspired to eat mindfully, to stretch and to meditate more regularly.

"An once of practice is worth more than tons of preaching."

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