Yoga on the Go: Try This NOW....

Ok, stop. Whatever you are doing. Reading this, playing on your computer. Sitting in a chair with terrible posture. Stop.

Stand up. Reach up over head. Fill your lungs. Feel gratitude for life as you exhale.

Now bring your palms together in front of your heart. Lace your fingers to one another. Circle your wrists.

Release your hands. Bring them behind you to interlace at your low back. Push your knuckles toward the floor and open your heart.

Inhale.
Exhale.

Now, you may return to your terrible posture. Thank you for loving yourself.

The Five Elements

The Five Elements of Yoga





Photo credit: Sprengben [why not get a friend] / Foter / CC BY-NC-SA





Found in the Chakras

I came across this amazing photo and was reminded of the elements related to our Chakras: Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Ether. Chakras are energetic discs that spin along our shushumna nadi and link our physical body with the greater cosmos. Artist Alex Grey has depicted this system in his art series the Chamber of Mirrors.



Alex Grey's Psychic Energy painting shows the Chakras along Shushumna Nadi



From Roots to the Heavens

The first Chakra, at the base of our spine, is Muladhara and connected to our roots. It is related to our basic needs (Food, Shelter, Security, Elimination). Our roots connect to the EARTH, and this is where we are able to find the resources we need to ground, to discover our core and get the nourishment for which we can grow from.

Moving up our spine we encounter Svadisthana, our second Chakra. This Chakra is related to the element WATER and is located near our reproductive organs. This energy is used for the reproduction of a human, and also used for creative endeavors. Svadisthanka Chakra also houses our emotions (note: MOTION!) and can flow tears, burst laughter and contain the river of experiences between.

FIRE is the quality of Manipurna, our third Chakra. This is contained in our Solar Plexus, the seat of our sun. The big, barrel chested WWE wrestler walks in a way that thrusts his third Chakra forward, symbolizing power and force. Our fire can also been stifled by forward-rolling posture (think of the 95 year old who is nearing her life's end, her posture will show diminishing fire with the forward rounding), by poor digestion or eating highly processed and non-organic food. Our third Chakra is connected to our passion and our purpose and it connects the heavier elements with the lighter ones of our heart, voice and intuition.

Our heart center is called Anahata Chakra and related to the AIR element. Air is movement and the Anahata Chakra is the source of our ideas and love. This air flows down through our arms to envelop others into a hug, and it flows upward to feed ideas to our throat Chakra. Our heart is filled by the purification of earth and water elements by burning fire, and the smoke and steam that rises up informs our heart as to our passions, creative satisfactions and foundational capacity to support ourselves.

The 5th element along our Chakra journey is ETHER, the element of Visudu Chakra, or our throat Chakra. Our throat serves as a bottleneck and filter for all of the ideas and expansion of our heart as it emerges into the world. Ether is expansive and flows beyond our atmosphere. The old saying, "Be careful what you wish for," is quite literal in regards to our speech. What we speak about is a call to what we are manifesting in our lives.

Agni Chakra (our 3rd eye, between our eyebrows) is the center of our intuition and Sahasrara Chakra (our crown, or 1,000 petal lotus) is our gateway to higher knowing, or god. Sahasrara Chakra is very open in babies, in that soft spot of their head, as spirit is moving into their body over the first year of life.

Stay tuned for some yoga practices to awaken the different Chakra centers, and move forward with curiosity!

King and Queen of Asana

Upside down and inside out!

What is the most unused form of movement our gravity-laden planet allows us to experience? Why, 3 dimensional boundlessness of course! We may not be able to experience that anytime soon, but going upside down on a regular basis can give us a hit of what it could be like. Join me on Sunday, November 4th for afternoon of Headstands and Shoulderstands. Learn how to safely approach these poses for your unique body and how to soar into a new relationship with gravity. Maybe next month we can explore life without gravity....

Atha Yoga Nusa Shanam: NOW is the dicipline of yoga

How to make yoga a part of you every day life: do it NOW!

Wow! What an amazing experience to have my 18month old son not only do downward facing dog, upward facing dog and burpees....NOW he can do warrior I and warrior II!!! How can you do yoga like my little man? Try this NOW!!!

Time for Warrior I

Stand up. Yes, stand up and look at your computer monitor. 

1. Give yourself a good 4 feet of space behind you.
2.  Place both hands on your hips and use them as guides to keep your hips squared forward (toward your computer monitor :)). 
3. Step your right foot as far back as you can while keeping your hips squared forward. You feet will remain about hips width apart side to side.
4.  Bend your front knee right over you ankle and check to see your front toes are facing forward. You back foot will be angled strongly so the outer pinky-toe side of you foot can touch the ground completely with your hips orientated forward. 
5. Holding your strong Warrior I stance stretch your arms up to the sky, lengthen your spine and waist and tip your head back to gaze beyond your thumbs. 
6. Hold for at least five deep breaths, then do the other side.

Time for Warrior II

Alright! Ready for Warrior II? Of course you are. Stand up again and get ready!

1. Again, give yourself about 4 feet of space behind you.
2. Step back as you did before, only plant your back foot so that the heal of your front foot intersects the arch of your back one.
3. Extend your arms out from your shoulders, in a T position from your torso. See that your ankles are below your wrists.
4. Keeping your hips open, bend your front knee over your ankle again. Look down to make sure you can see your front big toe and your knee does not collapse inward. 
5. Strengthen your back leg to help keep your hips broad and open and root down through the pinkie toe side of your foot again.
6. Stretch your arms from your shoulders and soften your shoulders away from your ears. 
7. Energize your fingers and smile! Hold for five deep breaths, then do the other side.

Feeling Warrior-tastic? Do it again! If an 18month old can do it, so can you! And the beauty of the little man's yoga is that he doesn't make a big deal about it. Rarely does he use a mat, dress in his fancy yoga tights and play new-age music. He just does it as a part of his ever day life. Lessons from the young!

Enjoy your adventures, yogi warriors!

Effective Content

How exciting! At this moment I am in a class to create effective blogs so I can better serve YOU...my readers...and help you bring the joy of movement into this delightful life. I will also be blogging for The Ski Journal magazine for Yoga for Skiiers! I welcome your coments and look forward to the inspired, intuitive, mindful and conscious human beings that will be inhabiting our planet, and sincerely hope that I can assist with this movement!

Yoga Fundraiser for Leukemia and Lymphoma Society!

On June 10th from 3-5pm I will be leading a donation yoga class as a fundraiser for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society! Please read about Dee Dee's story at www.littleminstrels.blogspot.com/2012/02/little-minstrels-to-benefit-leukemia.html
Join us at 3oms yoga, 1210 Bay Street in Downtown Bellingham ....they have graciously donated the space to use. No Pre-registration required, just be on time and be ready for an adventure!

Authentic Movement

   I am presently involved in a practice called Authentic Movement. It is magical, revealing, personal and community based. You move, you are witnessed and you witness. I notice how full circle everything becomes as I delve into this practice. How people move the same, with their eyes closed, almost as if it were planned. I pause and watch. How I long for both connection and solitude in my movement. Its very interesting.
   I notice this same sense of awareness in my everyday life, and that is the intention of this practice....to see your reflection in your everyday life. How I long for both connection and solitude. To be alone in nature and my being, and to be in company and witnessed safely. Surely I can not be the only one who feels this way.
   As I see people move the same unbeknown to them, I wonder who longs for the connection and the solitude like I do, I know someone has this same conflict. The balance of this conflict is what I presently refer to as home.
   Where do you find your home right now?

Spring into the unknown!!!

"Throw your dream into space like a kite, and you do not know what it will bring back, a new life, a new friend, a new love, a new country." --Anais Nin


This quote was gifted to me, and as I re-read it on the eve of spring equinox, I am reminded about the dreams of spring. As Winter is a time of reflection, Spring is a time for planting new intentions and patterns for which to grow from. I'd like to pose the question: if you had a packet of seeds and they were unlabeled, could you plant them and tend them with the commitment of that who's seeds you know the identity of? Not only could you, but would you?
     These are the questions that I ask myself as I begin to plant a new crop this season. For me right now, these questions are related to meditation. I have had a meditation practice for several years, however its been irregular and not something I had much intention around. After attending a Yoga Teacher Training with Sarah Powers in late February, I have been meditating 24 minutes a day.... she had me vow to do so. For three months. 
     I have decided to plant meditation as a practice and have no idea about the outcome. I am tossing this practice into space like a kite and just trusting that someday this little seedling will bear fruit that will serve me. It is hard work, tending this seed. My son turns one year old next month and I long to give him my attention. Sometimes my practice is interrupted, but I continue on just doing my best with the unexpected. So far I feel more focused and patient. I am able to come into my witness consciousness more quickly and hold that awareness in other interactions as well. It has been a delightful journey, and one I hope continues for many, many more seasons.
     What are you planting this Spring?
    

Whole Sole: Try this NOW!

It is not uncommon for people to come to me with discomfort in their feet. Plantar fasciitis is inflammation in the fascia that connects from the heal to your toes. Its symptoms can include pain in your heal or arch, especially in the morning, when the connective tissue tightens up. Some people report it as burning or stabbing. When I have experienced it myself, I felt like there was constant tearing and my heal was so painful in the morning I would limp around for the first hour after I woke.
   "Why does this happen?"people will ask, willing to make whatever change to stop the searing in their foot. Athletic folks will experience Plantar fasciitis from running and jumping too much, especially in shoes that do not fit them well. I have noticed small flare ups in myself since moving to low-profile shoes and take several steps to keep my feet healthy. Non-athletes experience it for similar reasons: poor footwear, and also greatly influenced by the way one moves and works with their feet and particular biomechanics on a daily basis.

   TRY THIS NOW:
   If wearing shoes take them off. Ballerina point and flex your foot a few times. Now interlace your fingers with your toes. Spread them as wide as you can and gently pull them back toward the top of your foot. Now find something round that will roll on the ground: salt shaker, tennis ball, vitamin bottle, candle. A tennis ball is my favorite. Roll your foot on said object from base of toes to heal for one minute. Start sitting, and to add more weight stand up, hang onto a door frame and put more weight into your foot as you roll. Good, eh? Do the other foot too.
   Ok, now come onto hands and knees. Curl your toes under and bring your bootie back toward your heals. Pause when you feel a stretch in your feet and as your body invites you back, you may eventually find yourself with your bootie resting on your heals, toes curled under and torso upright. Stay here for at lease one minute (BREATHE!) then shift back to hands and knees. Bring the tops of your feet to the floor and give them a few slaps on the ground to release the fronts of your feet. Spread your knees shoulder width or wider apart. Sit back onto your heals and bring your torso again upright. Pull up on one knee, supporting yourself with the opposite hand behind you. Hold one minute, then change sides.
   Aaahhhh...doesen't your whole sole sing with gratitude?
    Till next time....

Birthing realization

Today I was able to witness a birth. I watched a man and woman gaze into each others eyes and moan together. I am amazed at the power and skill of the human body.
    In anticipation of this event I watched a National Geographic special on babies. I was shocked to learn about the difference in proportion of the size of our heads compared to other mammals, and even more shocked to learn that a newborn uses 80% of its caloric intake just to operate its brain. The brain of the newborn has not yet discerned what is important information from the abundant stimuli of our world (light, texture, sound). All of the information his brain takes in goes on a super highway. Over the first year of life, the brain starts to discern where to build strong dendrites (nerve pathways) and where to let some atrophy. So much happens in the first year of life!
    When I was living in Hawaii, there was a huge marker on the baby's first birthday. It was when the piko ("place of being centered"....related to soft spot on the head and naval) closed and their unobstructed connection to the spirit world changed. Before this year marker, this giant brain, that is often 1/3 the size of the baby, can do so much at a cost of independence and movement.
   Even with this huge brain that wants to rationalize everything, we need companionship, love and support. And we have animalistic needs. Being with these people birthing their baby in their home proved it more to me than anything. The way they were relying on each other, and the way they roared. Our bodies and brains are so very awesome!

The Hands: an expression on the Heart

Last session we did a lovely heart opener that is the 'counter pose' for computer use. Before you move onto todays exploration, take a moment to revisit the movement from my last post- it is always a treat!
   Ahhh...the hands. They literally are an expression of the heart and the Heart Meridian in Chinese Medicine travels from the heart, through the center of the armpit, the medial (pinky finger side) elbow crease to the tip of the pinky finger, just to the ring finger side of the finger nail. There are points from the Heart Meridian that also connect into your small intestine and brain. Thus Happy Hands = Happy Heart, Intestine and Brain!
  There are 8 carpal bones that make up your hands, right where your forearm bones connect in. Around your writs is the retinaculum, connective tissue that holds your tendons into the bones so they don't spring out from your body when you flex and extend your fingers. Lets free up this precious carpal area now!
        Interlace your hands palm to palm. Circle them in a figure eight movement ten times to the right, then ten times to the left.
        Pay attention: this gets tricky! Show the back of your right hand to the computer, like a princess with your finger tips facing the keyboard. With your left hand, wrap your fingers around the back of your hand, between your hand and the computer. Place your left thumb on the ball of your right thumb. Pull your right hand toward your body with your left fingers and push your right thumb mound toward the computer with your left thumb. Aaahhhh. Repeat second side.  Now, one at a time with your right palm facing upward, grab each of your fingers and stretch toward the back of your hand. Hold 30-60 seconds each. Start with your pinky and move toward your thumb.
  Ok, thats good for now! There are lots of ways to keep your hands and wrists healthy, so check back for more ideas. Healthy Hands = Health Heart = Happy, Loving YOU!

Open chest, open breath

Todays movement for freedom:
   Come to all fours. You can do this right now, on the floor next to your computer :)
   Find a belt, scarf or strap and have handy.
   Step your right foot in between your hands and bring both hands onto your right knee. You may be sensing a bit of a stretch in your left thigh right now. Bring your torso upright and raise your arms overhead. Connect your hands with the belt or strap, about shoulder width apart.
   Bend your elbows out and draw you shoulder blades together. Line up the belt with the back of your head. Pull out on the belt and lift your chest to the sky. Breathe deeply 10 times and enjoy! Then hit up the second side for 10 deep breaths to balance out. For a gold star, energetically pull your front foot back and your back knee forward without moving them. Drop your tail and lift longer through your belly.
   Mmmmm...Yummy!

Neck Release

Aahhhh....take a minute and ease your aching neck! Sometimes I look around this world and see a bunch of heads wandering around with no body attached. Lets do a quick neck release and help our head and heart match up a bit.

Bring your hands behind you and interlace your fingers with your palms together. Now bring that fist to your right hip, and imagine that if I were looking at you face on I could see your knuckles. Please drop your head to the right. Let your left shoulder blade slide toward your spine and now, and slightly tilt your jaw toward the sky. You can use a little intuition here to find that "sweet spot." Count 10 slow breaths. Repeat second side.

Love yourself!!!