fitness · yoga

September is for Yoga: Day 6 Check-in

Christine Hennebury

I am so glad I decided to add yoga to my September. My days have actually felt LESS busy because I am starting off by doing something kind for myself. 

I suspect that feeling stems from two things:

I like having a specific thing to do first thing in the morning, it gives my day immediate structure.

I have been maintaining that structure in two ways:

My mat has been a fixture in my living room since September 1 (a fact that Khalee fully approves of) so I have a visual reminder. 

And, I ended up setting up a Facebook check-in group and we decided that I would put up a post every day to remind people to check-in. 

My mat helps me to remember my plan and the need to do the check-in post helps me to stick to the plan. It’s the perfect combination!

I have, of course, selected a little weirdness for my check-in posts, an index card drawing of a monster with the day number next to them. So, I have the added bonus of doing something a little creative first thing, too. 

But because it is a side-effect of the group post, it’s not ‘make art first thing,’ it’s ‘make a quick drawing for the post’ and it feels like a smaller task.

The words/numbers Day 6 are handwritten in large print on the left side of a white index card. On the right there is a tall, green, cylindrical one-eyed monster with a yellow smile and two green feet.
You will notice, of course, that this particular monster has 6 spikes on their head in honour of Day 6.

I can focus my yoga to address something I need in that moment – relaxed shoulders, some relaxation, some ease in my hips.

One day, I knew I had a lot of driving ahead of me so I did some hip work to prepare myself for the day ahead.

That just feels really great – addressing a concern right away. And I don’t have to carry that issue all through the day until I can get around to it. 

Instead, I get to have a feeling of physical ease throughout the day. And there is no arguing with the benefit of that!

A brown-haired woman in a black t-shirt and jeans leans forward in child's pose (chest on knees, face downward, arms outstretched) on a green mat on a dark brown floor. A light brown and white dog rests nearby.
I’m trying not to be precious about my practice this month so I am embracing imperfection. So here I am doing child’s pose imperfectly, wearing jeans, with my mat on a floor that needs sweeping, next to a blanket that needs folding, and a bag of whatsits that needs putting away. The only two perfect things in this photo are Khalee’s guarding abilities and my NL Feminists Rock t-shirt.


Shout-out to the September is for Yoga Group

As I mentioned above, I created a Facebook group to keep myself and Team Yoga on track for this month and we’re having a great time. 

Lots of people have mentioned how the accountability is helping them remember to make a little time for themselves in the day. AND, we are all finding that even the tiniest bit of yoga is helping us to feel better already. 

I know that I am feeling more relaxed over all and my hips feel mobile instead of tense. 

That’s pretty much as close to an instant result as anyone could hope for.

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Published by Christine Hennebury

I'm a writer/storyteller/director/creativity & lifestory coach with a black belt in ITF Taekwon-do. I read voraciously and I write like my fingers are on fire. I'm the founder and Chair of the Association for the Arts in Mount Pearl and I'm a former president of the St. John's Storytelling Festival. I bake a mean chocolate chip cookie.