When you step out on the golf course, generally you take with you – a swing thought or two. All golfers know what I am talking about – it is essentially a certain physical or mental state that you would like to maintain for your entire round (18 holes). If, like me, you are a golf hacker, chances are you have experimented with various different swing thoughts.  One of my favorite golf books is a compilation of such thoughts – used by professional golfers. What better swing thoughts to experiment with?

What does this have to do with Yoga?

Too often, we just show up on our mat – without really having a ‘purpose’. We figure – this is an instructor led session – I’ll let the instructor do the leading. And we go through the motions, However, I believe that to get the most of a session, one needs to come into each session with a mindset- analogous to a golf swing thought.

This mindset is referred to (by one of my yoga instructors) as your ‘intention’. Figure out what your intention is before you get on your mat.

Two swing thoughts (intentions) that have worked for me:

  • Strong with breath – I like to think of myself as growing strong with each breath I take.  I try to ‘feel strong’ even though it may not start out that way. As I keep telling myself ‘I am strong’ – I realize that I am able to hold the poses longer – and with more resolve. This is a great thought  – and works well for most yoga sessions (except ones where I am really out of it – and feeling somewhat weak).
  • Entire body as one connected block (e.g. slab of wood) – This is a curious swing thought – and one that works well when it does. What happens is that as I stretch different parts of my body, I realize that I am just moving those parts – independent of the rest of the body. The waist may be twisting – but my hips and legs are not involved. Then – I start visualizing my entire body as one continuous slab of wood. This helps me realize the ‘connectedness’ of every part of the body.  NOW – each stretch I do – involves the entire body – moving as one piece. This helps me feel stronger through the practice.

Hope those two thoughts (or any of them) work for you. If you have a favorite thought that you take into your yoga practice session, please do share it via comments on this post.

Namaste!

Anuj holds professional certifications in Google Cloud, AWS as well as certifications in Docker and App Performance Tools such as New Relic. He specializes in Cloud Security, Data Encryption and Container Technologies.

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