Yoga/ tai chi etc

[Nikita-mikaelson]

So i was just curious if anyone else dose mindfulness yoga or tai chi to help connect with there spiritual side?

[MeganB]

I’ve never done mindfulness yoga to help connect with my spiritual side but I wouldn’t not try it. I’m not in any sort of flexible shape to really be able to focus on it, I don’t think. The whole time I could just imagine myself focusing on how much the stretch hurts or if I’m doing anything right or, gods forbid, I make my back injury flair up

But one day in the future, once I get more muscle strength in my back to help keep things where they need to be I hope to develop a yoga practice.

[Amethyst]

I tried seated tai chi and it wasn’t for me. It was nice and all but I just couldn’t focus on the movements as I should. But it’s a good option for some people!

[Nikita-mikaelson]

i do it i actully started it on a workout video game of mine and found i really enjoy it and it helps me quiet my mind the tai chi i ment havent actally tried mindfullness yoga yet but i will

[Amethyst]

Good luck with it! I don’t think even if my body was in shape for it I could do yoga. I’d be worried about embarrassing things happening while in some of those poses!

[CelestiaMoon]

My tantra instructor got me into yoga a few months ago, and while it’s been difficult for me to adopt self care routines, or even magickal rituals I do regularly, this one has stuck. I’ve been learning new things about my body and how it moves, and the session is always a sacred ritual, its own time and place with no room for everyday worries, just like meditation.

[lisa47]

I actually try to do qigong every morning, which is a bit similar to tai chi, only that you can pick & choose different forms to put together into your own routine. There’s so many forms to incorporate into your own personal style, liking & time frame. I also sprinkle in some EFT (emotional freedom tapping), yoga, & breathing technics in with it. I found that all of this helps me to start my day off better, gives me a sense of focus, wakes up my body & mind & makes me feel great when I’m through! I started off with watching videos, going on web sites, reading books about everything related & then customized my own routines. Sometimes I like to switch it up & look for new/different things to substitute/add to this time.

[Sophie2Wands]

I have been putting off learning how to do yoga until I lose weight and my back hurts less. Here’s the thing: I will never get to that point unless I start doing the yoga! So I am going to start tomorrow, because my health will not get better by itself. Thank you @Nikita-mikaelson for starting this post, you helped me today!

[CelestiaMoon]

@Amethyst

I’d be worried about embarrassing things happening while in some of those poses!

Here’s the secret, everyone’s too busy keeping air escaping from the wrong end of the body to judge each other!

[Amethyst]

HEE! I can only imagine!

[ValentineMoonBabe]

I recently started learning about mudras and how to use them. It has really helped me with meditation, and so many other things such as controlling my anxiety. The topic gets super deep but Master Sri Akarshana has a great starting tutorial here: Mudras of the 5 Elements

[BryWisteria]

I took tai chi classes for a while when I was living close to a tai chi center. I really love the idea of tai chi and the flow of movements- and I certainly did much better with tai chi than I’ve done with yoga That being said, the memorization aspect of the forms was hard, and they wouldn’t let us do tai chi with swords until we’d practiced for a few years (boo )

For anyone who doesn’t have access/doesn’t enjoy yoga or tai chi, many martial arts involve meditative breathing and focus work: I’ve found karate, naginata, akido, and taekwondo to also help develop meditation skills

That being said, the outlet that I’ve found works best for me (aside from pure meditation) is actually dance : that is, belly dance. It’s much easier on the joints and involves incredible focus. Also, you can get started with sword dancing pretty quickly (but hold off until the advanced class for dancing with fire! ). When you get into the flow, you really feel like a goddess

It sounds like everyone has different mediums that work best for them- it’s really fun to hear about them all! Thanks to @Nikita-mikaelson for opening up such a fun discussion- I hope you can find what meditative/spiritual practice works best for you!