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Monday, March 20, 2017
Up at 5:00am starting the week off right.

I'm on my mat after an hour of coffee and contemplation and am excited about my week.  I've got a lot to forward to and a lot of goals I want to achieve for myself.  Getting back into a solid 5:00am wake-up call with a solid practice each morning is one of them.

I'm going to meditate and pray for 5 minutes and incorporate a 4 count breath (pranayama) into my meditation.  My practice always incorporates Ujjaya breath/pranayama into the physical asana/poses, but my meditation doesn't necessarily incorporate it.  I'll post after my practice.

Monday, March 20, 2017 (Part II)
Post practice.  You will never regret hitting your mat.  I had an exceptionally deep practice this morning and I attribute this to my breathing.  I notice that my breath will become shortened (particularly on the exhale) and that will cause my chest and shoulder to stay stressed and lifted for some reason.  When I breathe deep and exhale as full as possible I feel more grounded and, surprisingly, less anxious and fearful.

My physical practice and sequence of asanas was no different than what it's been in the past, but I added pigeon and lizard pose to this mornings routine to keep my tightening hip muscles as open as possible.

Looking forward to a wonderful day.

Namaste

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