Sustaining a practice can be hard, we are warned in the Yoga Sutras about many of the obstacles that come up on the path.
Luckily we are given antidotes these obstacles, and cultivating gratitude is one of these. Often negative experiences stick to our minds like Velcro, whereas positive ones tend to slide off like teflon. Gratitude helps these positive experiences to stick. I recently joined in with a capturing gratitude project. I'm not a very good photographer, but taking great shots wasn't the aim of the project. It of course made me very aware of how grateful I am for my yoga practice. The practice of yoga is an offering of gratitude to ourselves. We offer asanas to our body, pranayam to our breath, meditation to our mind. As I went through this practice, I also developed a yoga sequence to practice gratitude on the mat and thought I would share it with you. 1. kneeling prayer pose or cross legs. Feel the breath moving in and out. Cultivate the feeling of gratitude for your body, mind and breath. 2. Dynamic child's pose. From kneeling with buttocks on your heels inhale to high kneeling as you raise your arms out and up. Look up if it feels ok. As you exhale sweep your arms to your sides as you lower your body over your knees to child. Rest your head on your fists if needed.Inhale back up, repeat 3 times or so. 3. Extended child's pose. From child's pose extend your arms out. Allow the spine to start to lengthen. Hands spread on the floor, tailbone reaching back. Your bum can lift up away from the heels if needed. Stay for 3 breaths or so. 4. Cat pose. Lift to all fours. Inhale as you lift your sternum and tail bone, exhale as you draw the navel in and gaze down. 5. Dog pose. Tuck your toes under and reach back through the tail bone as you exhale. Stay for a few breaths. 6. Strong lunge. Take one leg forward, foot in line with the hands, keep the knee over the ankle as you come into a lunge. Feel free to put the back knee on the ground, or keep it lifted. Step back to dog and try the other side. Feel free to rest in child any time in between. 7. Squat. From dog pose, take one foot to the outside of your hand, and then the other to the outside of your other hand, then brig your hands to prayer in a wide squat. Stay for a few breaths. 8. Boat pose. From squat, guide your bottom to the floor (use hands in you need!) and lift your legs in front- they can be bent or straight as you come to boat pose. Again stay for a few breaths. 9. Seated bound angle. Bring the soles of your feet together. Lift the sternum, breathe for a while. You could go straight to bridge pose (no 12) from here, or stay seated for 10&11. 10. Janusirsasana (head to knee pose). Extend one leg out, while the sole of the other foot stays connected to your inner thigh of that extended leg, knee bent. Inhale lift the spine, exhale forward, moving from the pelvis. Extended leg can also be bent, and just because the pose is called head to knee pose, it doesn't have to look like that (and probably won't!. Swap legs. 11. Seated twist. Keeping one leg extended, step the other one over the thigh. Hug the opposite arm around the bent up knee. Inhale to left the spine and exhale to move into the twist. Again stay for few breaths and then repeat on the other side. 12. Bridge pose. (Dynamic version) Lie on your back, knees bent, feet in line with hips and close-ish to the buttocks. Inhale to lift the pelvis and spine. Arms can come up and over to the floor behind as well if you want. We are opening the chest here. Do 3 rounds or so. Stay in the last round for a few breaths if you want. 13. Apanasana. (wind relieving pose) Hug the knees over the chest. As you inhale guide the knees away so the belly can lift, as you exhale guide the knees in. Practice a few rounds. 14. Lying twist. Bring the soles of the feet to the floor, arms out at shoulder height. Turn one hand up and the other down. Look towards the upturned palm as you allow your knees to fall to the other side. Swap hands, allowing the whole of the arm and shoulder to be part of this movement. Swap head and knees as well. Find a slow smooth rhythm with this that allows you to feel like you are wringing yourself out like a cloth. 15. Savasana. Find stillness in the body. Allow the eyes to close, find the natural movement of the breath. Stay for about 3 minutes. When you come out, roll to one side, give your self a hug. Remember to offer gratitude to your body, mind and breath. As an extra gratitude practice, list in your mind 10 things you are grateful for before you get up and roll away your mat.
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I love my counselling work, but there is a lot of sitting. I do stand whenever I can, and also try and adapt my workstation to a standing work station for when I need to write, but this isn’t always possible.
However I have found that some of the chair yoga I have been teaching comes in very handy for short movement breaks during the day. Here is a variation of a sun salutation I practice during my sitting work days. To start: Gently rock back and forth, find your sit bones at the bottom of your pelvis and make sure that you are placing your weight through these bones, and lengthening through the back of your spine. Inhale and lengthen through the front of the body. Exhale and ground through your feet making sure the ankles are under the knees, feet parallel. The following sequence only takes a few minutes, perfect for a movement snack a few times a day. It will ease tension through the lower and upper back, and neck. Chair salutation Start by bringing your hands together in prayer pose. Inhale arms out to the sides Exhale stay, turn palms up and draw shoulder blades together and open chest. Inhale arms up Exhale roll forward, hands come to floor Inhale roll up half way, hands on knees Exhale roll down hands to floor Inhale up to sitting Exhale twist to right Inhale neck /head to front while torso stays twisted (be gentle-no force!) Exhale head back to join twisted spine Inhale whole body back to centre Exhale twist to left Inhale head to front while torso stays twisted Exhale head back Inhale everything back Inhale arms up Exhale to start. Repeat whenever you have a quiet moment and need to ease out your back and neck. I love introducing new people to the experience of yoga. I often recognise the same feeling in them that I encountered over 20 years ago after my first class- it works! Yoga can simultaneously energise, and calm the body and mind. It doesn't make stressful situations go away, but it does help us deal with the various challenges, be they physical or emotional. But how does it do this? More and more studies on yoga are being conducted, many of which show the benefits for various conditions from rheumatoid arthritis, to cancer recovery to Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. Other researchers are curious about why - what actually happens in our brain and body through the practice of Yoga? The Journal Frontiers in Human Neuroscience published a study in September last year with a detailed theory for how yoga works. The simple answer is that it increases our capacity for self regulation. The ability to self regulate allows us to moderate stress and overwhelming emotions as we develop the capacity to monitor how we automatically respond to situations. The really interesting thing I found about this theory is that they talked about the way yoga helps us self regulate through both a top-down and a bottom-up approach (see their diagram below). A top -down approach used in yoga is the use of focused attention through concentration. Bottom- up processing arises through allowing our body sensation to feed into our experience, such as when we practice asana and feel into our body. The practice of yoga was broadly described to include ethics (yamas and niyamas); meditation; asana; and breathing practices. Breathing practices in particular are known to affect the nervous system. Slow breathing can influence the Para Sympathetic Nervous system and is interpreted by the body that we are safe and secure. Many specific breathing practices, and various postures or asana also stimulate the Sympathetic Nervous System, which can shift low moods and lethargy. I find this theory of how yoga works, by being both top-down and bottom-up fascinating because the Yogi's of old have always known this. Yoga was described as: The uniting of consciousness in the heart, where we can abide in our true essence of joy (1.1,1.2) (Based on Yoga Sutra translation by Nicola Devi). The sutras also go on to tell us: Enthusiastic practice, self enquiry and acceptance of life as it is enhances our inner awareness and guides us to liberation (2.1, 2.2) In other words- regular practice of the tools of yoga- postures, breathing, meditation and ethics will help us self regulate and have better control over our reactions. Its great to have scientific language to help explain what the ancients have always known- Yoga works! All life is change, every breath, every sunrise, is an opportunity to notice this. However that doesn't make change easy, especially if it's beyond our control or traumatic. But even when life moves in an exciting, hoped for direction, change often means letting go of something; and that can be hard.
Dealing with change is my theme for 2015. I will be taking on extra counselling work, which while exciting- means letting go of some much loved group yoga classes. Travelling to Melbourne for some exciting new training in yoga and mental health is also on my agenda for this year, but travel takes me out of my comfort zone! And I will be assisting my children as they transition from primary school to the next stage of their schooling in the coming few years, changes which are likely to be challenging; especially for my boys with learning difficulties. I have noticed that change creates a sense of anxiety for me; my sleep is more disturbed by thoughts about how to move ahead; my immune system doesn't function as effectively as it could with more minor colds and inflamations. Yoga, of course helps me during these times. The yogis of old recognised that change is difficult, and holding on (becoming attached) can create physical and mental suffering. Difffculty adjusting to change is not a new thing! The Yoga sutra states: Excessive attachment is based on the assumption that it (what you are attached to) will contribute to everlasting happiness. (2.7) Insecurity is the inborn feeling of anxiety for what is to come. It affects both the ignorant and the wise. (2.9) So, how to we do this? How do we avoid excessive attachment to things we have to let go of, and avoid feeling anxious about things that we don't quite know how they will pan out for us in the future? Any of the tools of yoga (breathing, asana, meditation, mudra, mantra) can be useful, but here is my current go to sequence to help me navigate change: 1. Sit still. Any comfortable position. Just stop, tune in. Notice where you hold tension. For me its the jaw, and if I stop and notice I can feel my teeth clenched slightly and stiffness through the sides of my neck. 2. Breathe. Lift up the head slightly as you inhale through the nose, lower the head, open the jaw and sigh the breath out through the mouth. This releases my tension in the jaw, and neck, and also brings me easily into ujjayi breathing, where you make that soft ocean sound on inhale and exhale. Do a few exhales through the mouth and then return to exhaling through the nose, keeping ujjayi. 3. Move. Trust yourself. Practice self enquiry. What does my body need to do in this moment? For me its neck rolls, seated cat/cow movements for my lower back and side bends to open my chest. Go slowly with the breath. 4. Apanasana. This is one of my favourite yoga moves. It is designed to move stagnant energy from the lower abdomen- a place where many of us store nervous tension. Start from easy rest on your back and bring your knees over your chest, hands gently resting on the knees. The variation I enjoy at the moment is guiding the knees into the chest as I exhale and extending the legs to the ceiling as I inhale, keeping my hands connected to the knees. You can also just guide the knees over the chest (on exhale) and away (on inhale), or you can also raise the arms overhead to the floor on inhale. 5. Twist. Again, your body will guide you to the right variation for the moment. I have been enjoying revolved belly pose with one leg extended. Take the right leg long along the floor and bring the left leg in, bending the knee, move it across the body to the right, rest the knee on a bolster or blanket. Stay for 5 breaths or so and then change sides, noticing any slight differences as you go. Using props in this pose allows my shoulders to anchor to the floor, which helps me feel grounded- a really important feeling for me in times of change. It also allows the hip of my bent leg to lengthen- another place I store tension- and my chest to open to the breath- and to future possibilities. 6. Lie still in shavasana. Even if its just for a few more breaths, remember this is The Pose of surrender, where we practice letting go! Practice self enquiry again. How does the body feel now? What has changed? what's the same? What do I neeed to do next? Perhaps there's a need for more movement, or longer stillness, or perhaps other things call more loudly. Always thank yourself for your practice, and your life journey, acknowledge that life spirals, change doesn't happen necessarily in a straight line!
I've recently returned from an amazing family holiday in the Northern Territory. One of our highlights was a day exploring Twin falls and Jim Jim falls in Kakadu. We loved seeing the ancient landscape and learning about the ongoing traditional connections. One of the things we learnt about was the role of fire in the management of the land, and we witnessed slow fires burning in selected areas of the park. Our guide explained that cool fires are used early in the dry season when there is still lots of greenery and moisture retains much more biodiversity than hot fires that burn later in the season. Many plants, including my beloved Banksia require fire to help them reproduce, so fire is a vital part of life. This reminded me of Manipura Chakra, our own fire centre; and how we manage our bodies. Manipura chakra is responsible for generating a lot of our energy and drive, our internal fire if you like. It is located around the navel centre and connected to our digestive system. Our bodies have their own biodiversity, we rely on microbes to assist with digestion and health. Often however, to feed our internal fire and create energy we create the equivalent of hot fire in the body and loose a lot of this internal biodiversity. Using coffee, alcohol, sugar, refined grains and processed foods as energy sources all give our system a rapid boost,a bit like an intense hot fire- but often at the cost of our internal environment. Over time, the imbalance to our gut microflora can contributes to diseases such as diabetes, heart disease etc. . There are many ways yoga practices can be used to encourage a slow 'cool' burning of our system, to maintain our energy levels and drive. Yoga encourages a "satvic" (pure) diet of whole foods, especially plant based foods, so nutrition obviously plays a vital role. However diaphragmatic breathing into the belly is also important. If you allow the diaphragm to move when you breath the internal organs that deal with digestion and elimination are all squeezed and massaged to keep them stimulated. Focusing on the exhale breath also supports the nervous system, especially stimulating the vagus nerve, which allows us to go into the "rest and digest" response as opposed to the "fight flight freeze" response that much of our hectic lifestyle encourages. This will obviously also help the body to absorb nutrients better so they can be used as fuel. Dynamic movement and asana using the breath, including twists, side bends, forward and back bends also help to maintain tone and flexibility through the entire torso, supporting the internal organs as well as the muscles and the bones of the spine. One of my favorite poses is the Dynamic standing Twist. As well as massaging the internal organs, this pose helps to strengthen your legs and your shoulders, and is one of the poses that will support a cool burn for the Manipura chakra. To try it at home start by Standing in Tadasa (mountain pose), and breathing for a few breaths into the belly. Then Step the feet wide apart. Bring the hands to prayer position in the chest and as you inhale bring the arms out wide and draw the shoulder blades together gently. Using an exhale, move the trunk and arms together as you bring the right hand to the floor in the centre of the legs, (or to the left foot or knee). Use an inhale to come back to standing, arms wide and exhale to the other side. In hale to raise once again and release the arms by the side before doing another round. You can continue doing this movement dynamically, or you can hold each side and allow the breath to flow for 3-5 full breaths.
“my mission in life is to not merely to survive, but to thrive, and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humour and some style” It’s easy for my eyes to glaze over when I think about the ethics of yoga. I can easily start to feel guilty about yet more things that can’t fit in to the schedule, or that I really should be better at doing. However, when I realised Niyama- the second ethical limb of yoga is actually a form of Radical Self Care, it became easier to engage with ways I might incorporate these teachings into my daily life. The first two limbs of yoga, Yama and Niyama encourage us to consider our foundation. Yama encourages us to consider the attitudes we have to the world around us. Niyama encourages us to consider our relationship to ourselves. This is where the radical self care comes in. Saucha: cleanliness and purity, is not just another call to make sure we turn up to yoga class with clean undies and deodorant. It’s a reminder that the home we inhabit is the body, and that in its essence it is pure. Diet, thoughts and toxins can all influence our experience of this purity so that we become more distant from our pure essence. Saucha is a reminder to connect with this whenever we can, to eat well, sleep well and stay away from nasty chemicals. Santosha: experiencing peace and contentment is again, a call to remember that this is our birthplace, not something we have to struggle for. In this modern time of achievement based living we always strive for something better- bigger house, more well-paid job, newer gadgets. Santosha is radical in that it reminds us that we already have all we need to be content. We just need to shift our perception to see it. Tapas, encourages us to live with the light of ourselves burning bright. To bring enthusiasm and effort to the things that we do. To see our own inner light, nurture this and tend to our own flame. I love the quote from Howard Thurnman to remind me of Tapas: "Don't ak what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive" Svadhyaya: self study; is a reminder to always take opportunities to learn, grow and understand ourselves. It is easy to react with our shame bodies when we make mistakes, or feel disconnected in some way. This radical self care practice instead reminds us that we are constantly learning our whole lives, and that we can continually reflect on our behaviour. Not in a judgemental beat ourselves up kind of way, but in a way that lovingly allows us to connect more closely to our expression of essence. Ishvara Pranidhana: celebrate the divine is also a radical practice. Encouraging us to celebrate the divine, it does not prescribe any particular religion or world view, but instead invites us to celebrate the miracle of life itself. Rejoice that we are alive, that we are here, that we are part of the rich tapesty of life, with all our quirky foibles we are still pure, peaceful beings of light, capable of self awareness and self reflection. What a great thing to celebrate! If we give time in the day to eat well, experience gratitude for what we have, to do the things we have to do with passion and enthusiasm, to always learn and celebrate the miracle of life, then we are caring for ourselves in a very deep way. Thanks Patanjali for the reminder. Think of water and tell yourself that you can follow its example. Yes, water, which is so transparent, so innocent, comes down to earth to absorb all the impurities of the creatures here. Then, one day, it merges with the ocean, and recovers its original purity. If you complain of being defiled, taken advantage of, and diminished, it is quite simply because you think of yourself as a pond, or even worse, a small puddle. Instead of identifying with a puddle, identify with the ocean and you will feel that nothing and no one can soil you. Omraam Mikhael Aivanhov Saucha is the first of the Niyamas of the Yoga Sutras. While many think of Yamas and Niyamas as ethics, I prefer to think of these, especially Niyama, as radical self care reminders. Yoga is about living with awareness in our body. Many of the asana practices help with inner cleanliness, especially twists and practices that encourage heat in the body, but there are also a range of lifestyle and breathing practices for self care that promote inner purity. Here are some of my favourite lifestyle/Yogic Cleansing Practices for inner health and wellbeing. Lemon and Ginger drink This is usually how I start my day. I chop a small amount of fresh ginger, put it in a cup, cover it with boiling water, add a squeeze of fresh lemon juice, steep for around 5 minutes and drink. Some people add honey, I don’t. I couldn’t imagine not having this refreshing drink in the morning, in the same way many people can't imagine going without coffee. Ginger contains gingerol, which possesses anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties and aids healthy cellular activity in the gastrointestinal tract. It also helps fight off colds and is great for your skin. Lemons contain high levels of potassium and vitamin C. They support your liver and kidneys in their job of flushing out toxins. Neti This is a great practice for cleaning the sinuses and keeping the mucus membrane of the nostrils healthy, which are one of our first lines of defence against illness. I practice this at the first sign of a cold. It requires a neti pot, which is a special container with a long spout. I can help you find one if you want to buy one, or one of my earliest yoga teachers suggested you could use one of those plastic refillable sauce bottles- but I haven't tried this! The practice uses warm salty water- as salty as tears and as warm as blood. Using the neti pot, pour the water through one nostril and let it come out the other. You need to be at the bathroom basin for this! Repeat on the other side. It is really important that you dry the nose carefully afterwards, a few rounds of Kabalabhati or Bellows breathing works well. Pranayama Pranayama, or breathing practices are great for creating clarity and focus to the mind and freeing us from anxiety and doubt. These are some of my favourite...... Nadi Shodhana -Alternate Nostril Breathing This pranayama practice is also cleansing for the nostrils and sinuses, and I also find it really good at the onset of headaches. I use the deer mudra, first two finger of the right hand folded in to the palm. We close off the right nostril with the thumb, breath in through the left, close of the left nostril with the ring finger and breathe out through the right. Breathe in through the right, close this off again and breath out through the left. This is one round. Make sure you are sitting in a comfortable position with the spine upright, and do 6-12 rounds. Kapalabhati (skull shining breath) and Bhastrika (Bellows breathing) Both of these practices involve short forceful breathing. Kabhalabhati involves an active exhale while pumping the abdomen in. The inhale is completely passive, while in Bhastrika both the inhale and exhale are active, a bit like a bellows. I am not going to give instructions here, we will learn and practice these in class, or you could perhaps have an individual lesson to learn these. These are stimulating practices that can increase metabolism and ease feelings of sluggishness and congestion. Kapalabhati also helps the mind feel clear and calm, and is one of my favourite practices when I need a pick me up. Asana, especially twists From easy rest position on your back with the knees bent, take the arms out to the side. Inhale here in the centre, and as you exhale allow the legs to fall over to the left and your head to the right. Inhale back and exhale to the other side. This revolved lying twist will help massage your internal organs, especially digestive and reproductive organs. It can be especially helpful to do this before the above breathing practices. You can move with the breath, or just hang out on each side for a few breaths, letting your body ease into the pose. This is also a great pose to do while lying in bed, even when we are unwell and really dont think we can manage anything else! Often during yoga class, especially during the extended relaxation practice of Yoga Nidra, I invite people to make a Sankalpa, or resolve. I also call it an affirmation, prayer, wish, thought. However none of these terms do justice to the importance and the effectiveness of the practice of Sankalpa. Sankalpa means Heart felt view of who we are, from San meaning highest truth, and Kalpa meaning idea or view. It is a tool to tap into our specific gifts, strengths and desires; a practice to help us be the best we can be in every moment. Sankapla is a radical practice; in that it reminds us that we have everything we need in this moment. Sankalpa puts us into connection with our inner most expression of who we are, right now. This yogic understanding -that we already have all we need to be ourselves - is easily lost in the modern culture of achievement based living. Even in our yoga practice we strive to be better, more flexible, stronger, even more relaxed! But right now, in this very moment we are already ourselves; and that is enough (even with our many perceived or real imperfections). We invoke sankalpa deliberately while in deep relaxation so we can access intention beyond the layer of thought. To develop sankalpa we must have the willingness to listen inwardly, stepping away from any objections or doubts created by the mind. We must welcome what we hear and be willing to do what our heart-felt desire requires of us. If we make sankapla from the thought layer then often it puts us as a problem to be fixed…eg; "I need to be more loving and compassionate", rather than the very powerful acknowledgment "my true nature is love and compassion itself". Hareesh Wallis, one of my yoga philosophy teachers describes sankalpa as a rudder for life. While turning the rudder slightly may not alter where we perceive ourselves to be initially, he says, it will have a very different effect as to where we eventually land. He stresses the importance of sankalpa to realising our highest truth. Richard Miller, a Yoga Nidra teacher specialist says there are two forms of sankalpa; a heart felt desire, and a specific intention or goal. The heart felt desire is literally a statement of who we are, which offers deep guidance for the arc of our lives. A specific sankalpa is a way of aligning our choices on a moment to moment basis in alignment with heart felt desire. The language used in formulating a sankalpa is extremely important. Because we already have everything we need to be ourselves, our sankalpa must reflect this by using positive current language. “I am happy and healthy” for example rather than “I wish for health and happiness” This puts our health and happiness somewhere into the future, rather than in the present. The language of Sankalpa may also change and evolve. Often this is sign that we are able to attune more subtly to our inner most desires. My teacher says that we know we are moving towards our deepest desires when there is an intention that our actions be for the benefit of others around us. We may notice that this subtle shift from sankalpa being an ego driven desire all about ourselves, to a way in which our unique gifts, whatever they may be and however they are expressed through our life, be of benefit in some way to others. Because sankalpa is an expression of truth, it will generate the level of practice required to support itself. Giving voice to our deepest desires during deep relaxation practice allows the sankalpa to be felt on all the layers of our being: physical, emotional, pranic (energetic). For example if your heart felt desire is "I am healthy and active", the sankalpa taps into the will power that you have and leads you to make choices and actions that support being healthy and active. You can also more easily access the wisdom of what choices lead away and what choices lead toward your heart felt view. (for example choosing to exercise in this moment rather than have a cigarette affirms the truth "I am healthy and active"). Once created, sankalpa can be visited at other times and places, such as waiting for traffic lights, when children (or others) test our patience and move us away from truth, or before going to sleep each night. This re-visiting acts as an ongoing re-setting of our heart-felt expression - which will help keep us on course to living it as truth, moment to moment. |