What an exciting time to enter a new year and a new decade. It is a time to start new habits, and hopefully keep them throughout the year. It will be a time of increased polarization and also a potential for more unity. Check out Nam Hari’s numerology forecast for more information about astrological happenings in 2020.
I can feel in my bones that this year will be a big year of grounding, integration, completion, character building, self Trust and new beginnings. A large component of being a spiritual warrior is commitment. That includes adjusting your life to match that commitment which can be tricky and takes sacrifice (in a good way). Here are just a few things that I am incorporating in my daily life in 2020 to make life a little easier in helping me stick with my commitments.
#1 Regular Sleep Schedule
Last year I offered a workshop about the importance of sleep and realized how much sleep affected my life, especially as a busy student, teacher, and business owner. My school schedule was all over the map for the last 2.5 years with sometimes not getting home until 11 pm. It took a huge toll on how I was able to manage stress and how my brain functioned. A big theme last year that I noticed within myself and clients I treated was how detrimental lack of sleep or an irregular sleep schedule is to the body. This year I am shooting for a 9 pm/9:30 pm to 4:3oam/5 am sleep schedule. I’ve noticed literally everything in my day tends to go more smoothly when I get to sleep early and wake up early.
#2 Schedule a day/afternoon once a week to unplug
Yogi Bhajan said that our society will be in a grey period that will cause a cold depression up until 2038. Due to the increasing amounts of information that overload our brains from technology and social media, our brains have less time to process and keep up with it. Taking time out to connect with nature and disconnect from screens will be a huge asset for me.
#3 Keep Up with Sadhana
Sadhana is one of the main habits that keep me going no matter what is happening in life. It is always changing. Here are a few things that can help you face your daily challenges with more ease.
- Strengthen Your Vagus Nerve: one major component of accessing your vitality is managing stress in a healthy way. Strengthening the vagus nerve can help release a stressful experience right after it happens instead of holding onto the experience. Another nice side benefit is being able to engage the neutral mind more due to the parasympathetic nervous system being stronger. This means less reactivity when triggered. Check out my video for Exercising the Central Vagus Nerve or the written handout. It is a challenging kriya but worth it! Make sure to do warms up in advance. I’m going to be doing this kriya at least 2-3x/week.
- My quick ‘go-to’ postures to do when I don’t have time to do a longer kriya:
- Build Up the Glandular System and Inner Organs kriya (takes 9min)
- What I call “Triple Crown”
- Frog Pose (26-54 reps)
- Stretch Pose (1-3min)
- Sarabandanda Kriya (15 reps +)
- 1. Begin in triangle pose heels on floor, hands and feet one foot apart from each other (pic 1).
2. From triangle position, inhale coming up on your toes (pic 4), exhale and lower the chin to the floor (pic 2).
3. Inhale into cobra, back arched, arms and legs straight (pic 3).
4. Exhale into triangle pose (pic 1).
Repeat the sequence 27 times (or as often as you can), then relax some minutes and repeat the same number of cycles another two times with relaxation after each cycle. Relax deeply at the end.
- 1. Begin in triangle pose heels on floor, hands and feet one foot apart from each other (pic 1).
- Sat Kriya
- Fists of Anger
- Mantras for Negativity: I love listening to these mantras when I need to shift my attitude fast. It also works well in easing tension when on a busy subway or bus. Check out my ‘Slay Negativity’ playlist on Spotify.
- Jai Te Gung
- Ek Ong Kar Sat Guru Prasad
- Sa Ta Na Ma Ra Ma Da Sa Sa Say So Hung
- Adi Shakti
- Aad Guray Nameh
- Rogan Tay
- Re Man
If you want to explore on a deeper level how to change your habits and your life sign up for Nirmal Singh’s upcoming 16 week Beyond Addiction training.