Savor Summer: Slow It Down

By: Nelle Rutecki, YTT-200, Mother, Farmer, Student and Teacher of Yoga 

Summer is the season of lushness. Fruits and vegetables are ripening. Trees and flowers are in bloom. It’s a time to slow down, savor it, and be present in the moment.

As a mother and also a farmer, summer can be the most physically demanding and busiest time of my year. Slowing down can feel out of reach.

Our elders talk about the concept of time as feeling warped. It flies, and it also can feel tedious. We may feel like all we are doing is “faster, faster, more, more,” and what we really need is, “slower, slower, less, less.”

In my teaching, I tell my students to acknowledge those feelings. Do your best right now and know that it’s ok. Goodness willing, you can get there.

Yoga can help you get into a space where you can become quiet and still. That time on the mat is like putting pennies in a jar. It’s cumulative.

I consider my 60-minute Align & Flow class a laboratory for life. In the class, we experience and see each other through the challenges and the joy. I focus on poses designed for moving, breathing, and reflecting—poses that help when you get out into the world and help you be more present for life’s moments.

Cooling postures and postures that aid digestion are part of the class. This may include:

• Forward folds
• Back bends
• Twists
• Different breathing techniques, such as exhale through the mouth, long deep sighs during exhale to cool the body, curling your tongue and breathing in and out

Stop. Drop. Savasana!

Another pose—and to me the most important for slowing down—is a three to five minute savasana. That time on the mat helps me reflect, breath and get into that space where I can savor the moment.

A simple summer yoga snack can be to take your practice outside. It can be as simple as doing a sunrise or sunset breathing practice—single full inhale and long exhale. Or try savasana, laying on a bed of grass and breathing in the lushness of summer.

For access to a 13 minute practice to slow down and explore savasana, view here   If you don’t have a Punch Pass account with 5 Koshas, you can get access by setting up a free account.

Learn more about Nelle Here

Nelle teaches Align & Flow Yoga on Monday Mornings 7-8 AM.  For more information on classes, click here