Tag Archives: child’s pose

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The Breath as a Window into Your Experience

by dan

The breath is a clue to what you are experiencing. If you are doing yoga, watching where the breath speeds up or catches are clues to how poses make you feel and where you can make attempts to let go. Holding the breath is common when people concentrate or feel some strong emotion arise. Notice what it is that happens for you as you work with the following poses:

1. Tree – Vrksasana

2. Chair – Utkatasana

3: Triangle – Trikonasana

4. Child’s Pose - Balasana

5. Downward-Facing Dog – Adho Mukha Svanasana

How does the breath move in each of these poses? See if you can watch without trying to change your natural habits at first. Just let what happens happen. Then, as you move through the poses a second time, see if you can keep the breath calm and steady. How much of a challenge is it? How does it feel to breathe in the poses rather than hold the breath or speed up?

Practice this during class and with other poses. It will give you a lot of insight into your own breath habits. In yoga, we say that the mind follows the breath. How does your mind seem to follow the breath when you hold or speed up? How does the mind follow when you are able to relax and smooth out the breath?

Pose of the Day: Whichever pose above produces the most change in breath, when you first try it.

Yogic Concept of the Day: Watch the breath as you go through your day to notice when you hold it and when it speeds up. Try just to observe without changing it at first. Notice how this seems to affect your thinking. Does the mind seem to follow somehow?

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What Was Your Favorite Way to Play as a Child?

By: Vlado

I want you to think for a moment of an early memory, whatever time you end up in, when you admired something someone else was doing and thought things like ” I wonder what that’s like,” or ” I could never do that, but I bet it’s fun.” Can you remember a favorite game in second grade, or the way that you waited in rooms by yourself as a child? I waited in rooms alone by dancing. Music or no, in my head I was a ballerina. My favorite games were unique games held in trees and that one where they play music so you dance, and freeze when the music stops. These have all been clues to finding my talents and special ways I can connect with others.

How we play holds clues to our gifts and talents. How we played as a child holds clues to where we began with our abilities and interests.

As you are reminiscing, take some notes about what you remember and why you were drawn to those things. In some ways, the “why” is more important than the “what.” If you think it is lost information, think back to favorite movies or songs and then the games you played with others. The information may come from there.

Take some time today, and the next day, and maybe each day for the next week to just play. Try on some of the types of experiences you used to enjoy or be curious about. Yes, I am talking about dancing with yourself. Or painting, drawing, or picking up that instrument you haven’t looked at since middle or high school. Maybe you need to go tinker with some woodworking, or start a garden… whatever comes, try to do something each day this week.

You could spend your shower singing more than washing. Buy some cheap tempra paints to use while waiting at home. Dedicate time ( I suggest an hour, but it can be whatever works for you) each day for the next week to really goofing off. It is not serious, it is play. Attempt to recapture the feelings of a child during this special time. If you are not having fun, change the game. Do whatever else you remember, or what comes to mind. Allow unexpected trips to petting zoos and the of purchase chemistry sets.

So, how does this play become useful? You are already sensing it. That wonder is returning. Your creativity comes to you in waves as you recall special games, secret hiding places, mud pies, building a special ramp for your matchbox cars, and chosing materials for your fort in the woods. Perhaps you feel compelled to go camping this weekend, or find that old recipe for play-doh.

It has begun. There are no rules except that you show up for yourself as you would for your own child’s tea-time.

Some thing that is really important is already happening here. Tomorrow we will talk about what that is.

 

 

Yoga Pose of the Day: Child’s Pose

Yogic Concept of the Day: Any memory of childhood play remembered should be expressed somehow.

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Sometimes it is okay to stay behind the scenes

There are so many pep talks out there these days. You can find them online, in books, on tv. It seems like more and more people are trying to give us pep talks to do more, be more, and expand into new areas of life. This is great, and often inspiring. Sometimes, though, it is almost like someone is suggesting that if you aren’t famous then your work and your efforts won’t matter. But we all know this isn’t true. Don’t we?

There are things of worth in this life that aren’t about being bigger, bolder, or more exposed. 

Do you know if you are an extrovert or an introvert? It is a good thing to know about yourself. If you are an introvert, you may at times feel like something of an alien. We aren’t necessarily afraid to speak up, but we like to think on our own, and spend time with our thoughts before engaging others. It is an orientation, not a fear. Sometimes it is an asset, it is okay to stay behind the scenes and work from there. And don’t worry. There are tons of us!

I ran across this really cool TED talk about the Power of Introversion by Susan Cain:

Cain does a great job of explaining how much can get lost when we encourage so much extroversion. Even extroverts may benefit from spending some time in the quiet and with introspection. People can find creativity in such new ways if they will allow some quiet and provide more balance in their own lives and the lives of those around them.

I think yoga really is a beautiful way to explore this for yourself. If you have not yet begun a home practice… here’s your invitation!

It is good to push ourselves a little and to learn to speak up no matter what our orientation is. But that is not the only place from which to gauge whether our lives have been lives of worth.

If you want to live bigger, bolder, more exposed – I am so happy for you, and I will cheer you on! We need this! But for the quiet person in the corner who just wants a little peace to hear himself think a minute… I just wanted to say, I am feeling it too. We have so much to share in our own way.

… Just sayin’…

Yoga Pose of the Day: Child’s Pose

Yogic Concept of the Day: I can use my own methods to find my mind, my heart, and my courage to share what I find is my contribution.

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Beginning A Gratitude Practice

If you can believe it, Thanksgiving is a little more than a week away. I don’t know about you, but I like to begin my practice of gratitude before Thanksgiving Day. It is a time to notice all that I have received, regardless of how difficult the year has been. For some people I know, this was a particularly difficult year filled with challenges and difficulties no one would have wished on anyone. Still, there have been highlights of beauty and warmth from friends, neighbors, and the environment itself. It is a good time to start a gratitude journal.

This idea came to me, as it did many people, from the book Simple Abundance by Sarah Ban Breathnach. She runs a web site which provides daily resources for not only starting a journal, but generally enjoying each day using the principles which guide her and her lovely book. You can see her web page here. If you have ever looked at the book Simple Abundance, she provides a wealth of resources and ideas throughout the year for engaging in seasonal activities in new and creative ways, while honoring the simplicity that can be achieved. You won’t be getting a book about all the things you have to buy, and a person can likely do much of the suggestions without a penny.

So to start a gratitude journal, you need only some paper and a few minutes each day before bed, or in the morning if that suits your schedule better. Breathnach suggests writing five things each day that you are grateful for. Doing so each evening allows you to begin to look at each moment of each day for little moments to write that night.

But why do something like this? There is a way being grateful and feeling appreciation changes us in how we engage with others. If you are looking for the good in any situation, that certainly can help to stabilize your own mood. If you share your feelings of appreciation with others, it helps to foster a sense of connection and harmony. If you bring the attention to what is available and the abundance that represents, for example with a person or a group, it sets in motion an attraction and a joy which allows more of that giving and appreciation to flow. When we close ourselves off from others, or do not express our appreciation, it can act as a block for exchange.

So, should you begin a gratitude journal tonight, you will have a list of 50 things you are grateful for by Thanksgiving dinner. I would imagine some of those are things you wouldn’t have noticed unless you were paying attention, “putting the feelers out.” But all of us are enriched by your gratitude. Sometimes when another person expresses what they are grateful for we ourselves are reminded of how wonderful it is to live in this world, even if it is not all roses and ice cream.

 

For extra benefit: try sitting in a relaxing yoga pose such as child’s pose or simple seated pose to think through your day as you unwind.