Meditation and Restorative Poses for Love and Gratitude

“A true partner or friend is one who encourages you to look deep inside yourself for the beauty and love you’ve been seeking.”
― Thích Nhất Hạnh, How to Love

You can only love others when you love yourself. Look deep within and find all the things you appreciate about you. In the 33rd sutra Patanjali says, “By cultivating attitudes of friendliness toward the happy, compassion for the unhappy, delight in the virtuous and disregard toward the wicked, the mind-stuff retains its undisturbed calmness.” Love happens when you can find friendliness, compassion, delight and disregard. Relationships are based on these concepts. These concepts also apply to loving yourself.

The restorative poses that I am including in this blog are heart and hip opening. I encourage you to set a self-love intention. Open your heart to learn about yourself and find things that you love about yourself.

Warm Up-

Cat/Cow

Sphinx Pose

Camel Pose

Supine Hip Circles- Lay down on your mat. Knees to chest, place hands on each knee and guide your knees into making circles. Change direction of the circles after a minute.

Scorpion Dog

1. Bridge Pose-

Lay on your back on your mat. Bend your knees and pretend there is a block in between your knees. Using your legs push your hips up and place a block, blanket or bolster under you, by your waistband. Stay in this pose for 4 minutes and remember to breathe.

2. Fish Pose-

Lay two blocks down, one on the highest level and one on level 2 or you can use a bolster as shown in the picture. If you use blocks the level 2 block goes under your upper back and the highest level block is for your head. I like to use a bolster or 4 blankets. Remember to focus on your breath and stay in this pose for 4 minutes

3. Foward Butterfly Fold-

Place two blocks, one on highest level and one on level 2 (see above picture). Put your bolster on top of the blocks. Add as many blankets on top of the bolster to your comfort. Sit close to the bolster with your legs in butterfly pose and hug the bolster. You might want a blanket under your bottom too. Breathe and stay in this pose for 4 minutes switching the placement of your head half way through, about 2 minutes.

4. Supported Bound Angle Pose-

You can set up this pose in a couple of different ways. One is like the above picture. The other is placing two blocks under the bolster, one on the highest level the other on level 2. Back up to the bolster and lay down on the bolster with your feet in butterfly pose. Breathe and stay in this pose for 4 minutes.

5. Babbling Brook

Have a blanket for your cervical spine (under your head), a bolster for under your back and blankets under your knees. You can goal post your arms or put them at your side palms up to receive or down to ground. Concentrate on your breath and stay in this pose for 4 minutes.

6. Supported Savasana

Lay down on your back and put a bolster under your knees. You might want to put a blanket over your body to stay warm. Relax your body, breathe and stay in this pose for at least 5 minutes. Remember your intention to look within yourself for the love you have for yourself. List five things you love about yourself.

Below is a meditation on love and gratitude for yourself and others.

I hope you were able to find things that you love about yourself. This is key to be able to love others. Be grateful for yourself and others.

Namaste, The Mindful Da Vinci