Last updated on December 16th, 2022 at 07:35 am
If you’ve been staying up to date with some of my blog posts you’d know that some things I’ve been looking to incorporate and improve in my routine are yoga and meditation. Â
The reason I list them both is because I find that one helps the other. Â
They’re both very calming and rely on being in control of my breathing, and even though I use them at different times throughout the day, I find that it becomes easier to do the other when I’m consistent with both.
When I first decided to include yoga in my daily routine my first stop was the Yoga Journal. Â This is still the site I use to make my sequences.
As far as meditation goes, I’ve been doing research all over the place on how to get better – and while this isn’t a post about improving – I will still fill you in on when I utilize it and a tip that really helped me.
When do I utilize each?
Meditation
I guess the best place to start would be my meditation. Â I discussed some of the amazing benefits of mediation on the post “5 Things I’m Constantly Improving that Benefit my Physique and Performance Levels”, and I can already tell that I’m doing something right. Â The key thing I’ve noticed is that I start my day with a better outlook, a clearer head, and overall more “zen-like”.
That being said, you can kind of already tell when I’m using my mediation…
Right when I wake up I get up, wash my face, put in my contacts, brush my teeth etc. etc. – and then get myself ready to meditate.  Sometimes, I would say around 50% of the time, I read a book prior to my mediation which actually seems to help clear my head a bit.  It’s weird to think you can have so much to think about right when you wake up, but you begin realizing once you start learning how to quiet your thoughts!
Aside from the “when” I do it, I want to also share some tips I’ve learned that have helped me along the way.
- The reason for the “mmmmm” humming some people make when meditating
- First off, I don’t use this, but the reason I bring it up is because it’s the first thing I thought of when I began thinking about using mediation….  I’m weird, whatever! The reason for this noise is for people to use it as a concentration point and allow their brains to focus more on that then anything else.
- Consider using the free app “Calm” for calming noises during your meditation
- Everyone who’s just starting out thinks about thinking and therefore thinks more
- Well that was a crazy sentence, but it’s true. Â Meditation is something that takes practice. Â Everyone who’s just starting out begins trying to silence their mind and notices just how hard it is. Â Then they begin thinking “Oh no, I’m not supposed to be thinking” which leads them too “Great! Now I’m thinking about thinking!!!” and then they give up…. Just remember, it’s okay to start at this point and everyone goes through the beginning stages!
- Start with short spurts and grow as you get better
- Someone who’s just starting out shouldn’t even be thinking of meditating for 10 minutes… If you’re a beginner you should shoot for 3-5 minutes to start out.
- Deep breathing is a form of meditation.
- Deep breathing is also a form of meditation and can even be done while driving! Â Yeah, I know…you thought you needed to close your eyes! Â For those of you interested in this, check out this podcast from Bulletproof Radio.
Yoga
And now for some yoga. Â
First off I want to get rid of your preconceived knowledge before this even starts. Â Don’t think “yoga’s not cool” or “yoga’s only for women”, because then you’d be wrong!
Just to give you some extra proof in the matter, here’s an article on the LA Clippers yoga routine and impact on the team.
And here’s a quote from the article:
“I thought it was something that girls did,” said Lakers guard Jordan Farmar. But when Farmar was invited to take part in a 2008 yoga retreat Katich organized in the South Pacific, Farmar figured “it couldn’t hurt, and if I didn’t like it, well, I still got to go on a nice trip and see what Tahiti was like.”
Farmar has since become one of basketball’s biggest yoga advocates, joining a long list of converts.
Hopefully that’ll help me convert you into a believer!
And now for the “when”. Â I do my yoga prior to my workout, regardless of what the routine is. Â This means, it doesn’t matter if I have a long run, heavy lifting, or even just a full day of The SuperHuman Challenge – I always start with yoga.
To be fair, I’ve been incorporating different movements to practice throughout my sequence, but for the most part I still stick to the same movements each day.
But, without further ado, here are the two sequences from Yoga Journal that I’ve been utilizing as one routine:
- The 10-Minute Sequence For Finding Fulfillment
- This can also be made into a 20 minute and even 30 minute sequence that they list on the site as well.
- Everyday Yoga for Athletes: 9 Post-Workout Poses to Balance Core Strength
- These were actually pretty tough to start, but keep working them and you’ll get the hang of it!
Yes, that’s it. Â Poof, done. Â If you guys have any questions or comments – as always – I respond to them all below !
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