YOGA
“If you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss will also gaze into you.”
Enjoy These Musings and Insights on Yoga and Life
Releasing and Refocusing
As we end 2020 and look to 2021, our minds naturally start to move towards the future.
However, we can’t successfully move forward until we release the past.
Have you taken time to stop and recognize all of the myriad of things you’ve accomplished this year?
Have you made time to celebrate your successes and reflect back on how far you’ve come?
Here are two videos to help you refocus your mind and thoughts to help you release the past and embrace what is to come in the year ahead!
Recitation of Dhanvantari Mantra
Dhanvantari is thought to be an incarnation of Lord Vishnu, who comes into the world to bring health, healing, and protection against physical or mental disease through the practices and teachings of Ayurveda. He manifested to protect living beings from untimely death, disease, and sorrows.
We will be reciting this healing mantra collectively 80 million times: Oṃ Dhaṃ Dhanvantaraye Namaḥ
You can join in too… read more and follow along with a recording of 108 repetitions of this mantra.
Gratitude is the Heart of Love
Gratitude and appreciation is entwined with numerous health benefits including enhanced mood and self-esteem. We can develop gratitude by reflecting on the gifts that are already ours and by celebrating great and small things every day.
Research has demonstrated that a regular practice of gratitude releases toxic emotions, reduces bodily aches and pains, helps to improve sleep quality, aids in stress regulation, and helps to decrease feelings of anxiety and depression. Gratitude has psychological, physical, and social benefits, and is the foundation of any spiritual path.
Here are some simple ways that you can practice gratitude every day…
Benefits of Uddiyana Bandha Kriya - The "Abdominal Lock"
The practice of Uddiyana Bandha Kriya increases blood circulation throughout your body and brain. It stimulates the vagus nerve by putting a little pressure on it, which strengthens and tones your parasympathetic response, which creates a calming and balancing effect on our nervous system. Through this practice, your brain becomes healthier and you will experience more clarity in your thinking.
This bandha also massages the internal organs and on a more subtle level, it stimulates the inner agni, or digestive fire, which resides around your navel. By strengthening this fire you will experience better digestion and assimilation, and it also helps to purify the subtle energy channels, or nadis. READ MORE…
A Meditation To Reduce Fear and Anxiety
We often devote enormous amounts of energy to suppressing our feelings of anxiety, worry and fear.
Unfotunately, this only makes our fears worse! We often push these uncomfortable emotions to the dark corners of our minds, or hide it in areas of our body. Often we make ourselves overly busy to avoid having to sit with anxiety or uncertainty. However, fear thrives in the darkness of ignorance, so although these strategies may work in the short term, when we bury our negative feelings, they only tend to grow bigger. Alternatively, when we become attentive to ourselves, and shine the light of awareness on our feelings of fear, we can observe how it immediately effects us, and how it also changes. With a little time and steady practice we can watch our worries dissolve and disappear altogether.
Have you ever wondered what might happen if you took the time to consciously explore your fears and anxiety?
Read More…
The Nine Nights of the Goddess
At this time of year we turn our attention to this goddess energy and celebrate the principle of Divine Feminine during the Hindu festival of Navaratri meaning “Nine-Nights.” The Sri Yantra consists of nine interlocking triangles, and it represents the Supreme Shakti, or cosmic energy, which is portrayed as a magnificent goddess. This goddess symbolizes the transcendent principle of the Mother as the source of all energy, power, prosperity and creativity and is especially revered during this festival.
Releasing Abdominal Tension
If you are struggling with upper abdominal tension, you are not alone.
Tension and rigidity in your deep core muscles not only inhibits your ability to breathe deep and fully relax, but it can also interfere with your digestion, creating symptoms like constipation, gas, bloating, and cramping.
Using some of the techniques suggested in this video can be extremely helpful for learning to relax and release that pattern of holding tension in your abdomen, and also increase parasympathetic stimulation in order to improve the resilience of your nervous system regulation.
How To Open Your Heart
Tomorrow’s full moon is in the sign of Aries, but it is conjunct with Chiron, an asteroid that orbits our solar system, known to Astrologers as “the wounded healer.”
The asteroid called Chiron entered the sign of Aries back in February of 2019 and will remain in this sign until April 2027! Chiron, in Greek Mythology, is a healer, teacher and mentor. Whereas Aries is the ultimate warrior.
So this is a time to open your heart and ask yourself, “What do I want to fight for that needs healing within myself and within the world?” We are entering a period of deep healing and transformation. It’s time to let go of these old patterns that effect your present reality, face your fears, and confront what’s holding you back. Embrace the power that is you-here-now.
The healer resides within… Read More
5 Ways To Reduce Stress & Anxiety
As we transition out of our slow Summer pace into a new kind of speedy September mode, you might be feeling a little anxious at the prospect of sending the kids back to school, heading back into the office, or trying to create some kind of “normal” feeling into the weeks ahead. Especially during these stressful times, it is important to take care of yourself. Here are 5 simple things you can do to decrease any feelings of overwhelm as you make this transition… READ MORE
How On Earth Do You Make That Bind?
In this first video I share some tips for binding ‘Half-Lotus’ and Marichyasana - A, B, and C variations. In the second video I look at how you can begin to work on Marichyasana D, which is one of the most difficult twists in the Ashtanga yoga practice… The great sage Marichi was born as one of the mythical “mind-born” children to the creator god Brahma. He is said to be sustained by the energy of the god Vishnu, and was the first of several Prajapatis (rulers of the people). He is counted among the “seven great seers” Saptarishi.
Walking Meditation
This kind of meditation practice can be a very helpful way to feel grounded and connected to the earth, while bring more awareness and presence into both your body and mind. Each mindful breath, each mindful step, reminds us that we are alive on this beautiful planet…
Learn how to do this practice… read more.
Simple Ways to Stretch Your Quadriceps
Feeling like your hamstrings are a little extra tight these days?
In this Wellness Wednesday video I offer several ways to stretch your tight Quadriceps. Creating more length through the front of your thighs can help deepen your back-bends and also open up other yoga postures.
Here you will find a few variations you can play with to stretch those tight quad muscles in the front of your legs!
A Conversation on Yoga and Motherhood
Are you are passionate about practicing yoga, but struggling to balance the demands of “Seventh Series” (having a family) with your desire to create or maintain time for yourself and your yoga practice?
Recently, I had a conversation about this struggle and especially the understanding that, wow, things will never be the same again.
Supta Virasana - Sleeping Hero's Pose
This is an excellent restorative yoga posture that can be of great benefit to your back-bends and can also help heal minor aches and pains in the knees. With time and practice, this restorative posture can very easily become a resting pose that can deeply renew and rejuvenate the entire body.
Heal Your Eyes With A Few Easy Steps
With all the online work happening these days, you might find that your eyes are sore and tired. Taking care of your eyes is an important part of your daily self-care routine that is often overlooked. It can also be a rich part of your yoga practice. The good news is that eyesight improvement is within the reach of everyone. You can heal your eyes with some conscious effort, mindful pauses, and by taking short breaks throughout your day to implement some of these fast and easy exercises. And, as your eyes start to heal and improve, you might notice some interesting changes within your mind!
An Introduction to Meditation
Are you’re feeling anxious or stressed-out and you’ve heard that meditation can help?
But is it safe to just sit down and try to meditate?
And what the heck does it mean to meditate anyway? Where should you begin?
Relax, you’ve come to the right place. In this video, I will answer all your questions, and guide you through a short practice that you can easily start to use on your own.
But first, a little about how I became interested in Buddhist meditation practices…
Self Care Tips While Doing The Work
Finding the right balance of self-care practices are important during times of stress or deep inner work. If you have been feeling a lot of different emotions coming to the surface these past weeks, or feeling overwhelmed or just plain old stressed out, you need to be sure you are making time to take care of yourself.
Ways To Make An Easy Exit
Last week I gave some tips and exercises to help you find stability in the Second Series posture, pinchamayurasana. This week I have some tips for getting out of it!
The “peacock feather pose” can be a challenging forearm stand all on its own, without having to exit it by jumping and landing in chaturanga dandasana also known as the "four limb staff pose." In Mysore, India, this posture is taught with a very specific exit that must also be mastered before the student will be able to move on to the next pose, karandavasana, which shares this same exit!
Five Signs That You Need A Retreat
Do you feel like your life is on autopilot? Are you exhausting yourself by burning the candle at both ends? Maybe you're beginning to feel a little burnt out?
Although yoga is a very therapeutic practice, healing (on any level) can only take place when we are relaxed. Right now we need the healing benefits of yoga more than ever, but we also have to create the space to allow it's effects to work on us….
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How To Make A "Peacock Feather"
Pinchamayurasana translates as the “Peacock Feather Pose.” This is a challenging Intermediate Series asana that many students struggle with, especially the naturally flexible ones, as it requires a degree of stiffness and strength in the arms, shoulders, and deep in the core muscles…
One identifying feature of Lord Krishna is the peacock feather in his crown. In India the feather of a peacock is a symbol of good luck, prosperity, beauty, and wisdom. It is a protection against evil and is thought to destroy all poisonous emotions like anger, greed, and jealousy…