Blissful Body Yoga is in Gastonia, near Charlotte, North Carolina and brings yoga to the Charlotte, South Charlotte, Mathews, Gastonia, Belmont, Cramerton, McAdenville, Concord, Pineville, Metrolina areas...to name a few!
I get ALL my yoga supplies from HUGGER MUGGER. They are really AWESOME!
Sometimes at the beginning of my yoga classes I tell my students:
As you settle into your mats meet yourself where you are...right here...right now...in the "sukha" the sweetness of this moment. No need to strive or try to be something other than you are. You are already radiant, perfect and whole and loved eternally by all.
It is an easy thing to come to the mat full of expectations that moments later turn into harsh criticism. Next time you move on to your mat leave those things behind and just abide in your own True Nature...already perfect and whole.
Doing this on the mat helps us to recognize how often we move through our day setting up expectations for everything we do and then creating a hostile assault we wouldn't wish on our worst enemies if we don't meet those ideals.
How easy could your yoga asana be, how sweet could each moment of your life be, if you just met yourself in each moment full of love and acceptance just as you are?
The Subtle Body, An Encyclopedia of Your Energetic Anatomy, by Cyndi Dale.
I've been interested in the study of subtle energy systems since I was a young girl. My father used to do a form of Polarity Therapy on my legs whenever I got a leg ache, I started meditation at the age of five, yoga at age ten, etc., so a deep understanding that these energy systems exist has been a part of my paradigm for as long as I can remember. As a result I have accumulated a lot of books on these subjects. I have books on the chakras, Shiatsu, Polarity Therapy, Chinese Medicine, Ayurveda, Reflexology and many more. The Subtle Body, An Encyclopedia of Your Energetic Anatomy could replace a whole stack of them!
They put the word "encyclopedia" in the title for a reason; at 487 pages this book covers all the major energy systems I have been exposed to, plus a few I knew nothing about (you can take a peak at the table of contentshere.)
The book is well organized and filled with clear and detailed color illustrations and extremely useful reference charts. Author, Cyndi Dale does a great job not only outlining complicated subjects that range from modern physics concepts, to acupuncture and the chakras, but also illuminates the deep interconnectedness of these different ways of understanding our "Subtle Universe." As a yoga teacher this is an awesome reference book to keep on-hand in my studio, and I think it would be incredibly useful for anyone studying or working in fields that deal with the subtle energy systems.
So, if you've been looking for a few great books on Sacred Geometry, Tibetan and Hindu chakras , Chinese, Ican and Cherokee energy systems, Shiatsu, Reflexology, Kabballah, Auyurveda and color and sound healing, save yourself some money and bookshelf space and pick up this book where you will find all of those subjects and many more.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Cyndi Dale has been a natural intuitive since young, and offers these gifts to clients and groups seeking to make real and positive change.
Live simply and take life more easily. Happiness lies in giving yourself time to think and to introspect. Be alone once in a while, and remain more in silence. - Yogananda
Take some time to just sit today. Sit and be with yourself. Just sit.
I saw a news story today on signing up for WIRELESS AMBER ALERTS and wanted to share it with everyone. Please take a moment and pass it on to everyone you know. This is a FANTASTIC idea. Sign-up and you will receive Amber Alerts to your phone and email for the zip codes that you list. It is amazing how many children have been saved since Amber Alerts came into effect. Let's do all we can to help Law Enforcement find Missing and Exploited Children.
Sometimes in the evenings I like to flip the channels on the TV to relax. I can do this better then most men...flip...flip...flip.... I don't really watch a lot of TV, but I like to flip. There is something relaxing to me about getting these brief snap shots of what is going on in the world (or at least the world of TV.)
As I do my evening "flip flip" I FREQUENTLY see an infomercial for this fitness program called P90X. I'll be honest with you it doesn't look all that bad; it seems to combine a lot of different simple strength building exercises, plyometrics and cardio that should work very well if you do them consistently (that's always the key.) But, the part I LOVE...just LOVE...is that they have an yoga component that they call...wait for it...drum roll please...
EXTREME YOGA!
Wowzie! Really? Extreme yoga? I mean extreme running, extreme kayaking...I went ice climbing once, that was pretty extreme, but extreme yoga? It seems like a contradiction in terms to me. Yoga is all about "medhum," being moderate in all things; walking the Middle Path.
But, then I started to think about it and yoga really IS extreme.
And most of all it is an EXTREME experiment and exercise in the development of our Inner Selves. It is perhaps one of the most radical, most extreme journeys, a human being can undertake. To make a commitment to the exploration and development of oneself takes the heart of a warrior and the patience of a saint; and man-oh-man is it worth every moment of effort on the journey.
May your journey be wild, wonderful, enlightening...and what the heck, even a little extreme:-)
Kate S. from California! (who writes a really awesome and very funny blog herself)
Thanks for participating Kate! You won the awesome (if I do say so myself) handmade necklace (by me — see more of my stuff at www.tealdesigns.net) featuring amethyst (which symbolizes the Spirit), Indian crow beads, and Czech glass. The center pendant is a pewter Celtic cross.
Kate downloaded my Progressive Relaxation from yogadownload.com and I think she liked it because she left the following review...
"Teal Chimblo could read the phonebook to me, and I would relax. Having her gentle voice instruct me on the relaxation of each part of my body is a step beyond! I chose the version with the music, and I would recommend it. The music is lovely, soothing, and very much in the background. You almost don't realize it's there. I highly recommend this lovely meditation. I suffer from chronic anxiety, back pain, and TMJ. If I can relax with this, ANYONE can!"
Well, with a review like how can you resist heading on over to yogadownload.com to get your own copy.
For less than the cost of a cup of coffee ($2.95) you can give yourself a little bit of bliss today.
While your there check out my Sivasana Meditation as well. It's really yummy too!
AND...
This week TWO NEW offerings will be up on the site. One is a 20 minute yoga class where you learn 3 of the foundation breaths for yoga practice: 3-Part Complete Breath, Nadi Shodhana, and a Measured Breath.
The other is called Sleepy, Sleepy Moon and it is just the sweetest bedtime meditation and breathing exercise for children. It is guarrenteed to put your child and YOU to sleep.
This is such a great opportunity to give a little that will mean SO much to families who have lost so very much. We are receiving a lot of applications, please help us to help them.
The practice of lovingkindness (or Metta, in Pali) comes to us from the Buddhist tradition, but its essence is a tenant of all major religions. The instructions are simple and universal: love yourself, love each other; and yet, we struggle with its application. It is easy enough to love ourselves or someone else when they are doing things that we like, but the challenges can be great when we are confronted with those whose actions are seemingly “unlovable,” or when we are faced with aspects of ourselves that we find hard to accept with love and compassion. Thomas Merton expressed the challenge, and heroic nature of our struggle to embrace with lovingkindness that which we like least in ourselves, and others, when he said, “True prayer and love are learned in the hour when prayer becomes impossible and the heart has turned to stone.”
The idea behind the Buddhist approach to lovingkindness practice is that it is, a practice. Something we must do repeatedly and with discipline until it becomes an integral part of our deepest selves; an automatic reaction to people and events in our world. The process of turning a heart of stone into a heart that is softened with the deepest compassion and love is a step-by-step process that we have the opportunity to practice in every moment of our lives.
One of the most effective ways to begin a lovingkindness practice is through the use of Metta meditation. In this simple meditation we offer a wish for freedom, happiness, and the cessation of suffering for a particular person, group, or the entire world. A basic Metta meditation for all beings is:
May all beings be happy. May all beings be free from suffering. May all beings be at peace.
An example of Metta directed towards a particular person is: May _________ be happy. May _________ be free from harm. May _________ be filled with peace.
You can repeat one, or all three of the phrases over and over, aloud or in your head, for 2-5 minutes while visualizing the person or group you are focusing on, and imagining that you are sending this lovingkindness out to them. Because it can be challenging to focus on and offer this sort of energy to those who we have negative feelings towards, it is recommended that the practitioner proceed by first offering Metta to themselves, then to a benefactor, a friend, a neutral person (bank teller, someone you see on a walk), a difficult person, and finally, All Beings. It is important to start the focus of our practice by offering lovingkindness to ourselves, because only by having a truly deep and abiding love for ourselves can we have this same love for others.
As part of the self-love aspect of a lovingkindness practice we can reflect back to the yogic practice of Ahimsa (non-violence, non-harming.) We must remember as we strive to fill our hearts, minds and actions with lovingkindness that we are only human, and we will often fall short of our ideals. In those moments we must embrace Ahimsa and not react violently towards ourselves, but rather use the next moment as an opportunity to start once again in the mindset of lovingkindness by offering it with gentleness and compassion to our selves.
Because Metta meditation is formed from such simple phrases it is a wonderfully portable tool that we can bring into our daily application of lovingkindness. When we find ourselves in a long line at the supermarket, or being cut off in traffic, or treated unfairly in our workplace, instead of becoming angry, and slipping to what author Joseph Goldstein calls, “the seductive habit of finding fault,” we can pause for a moment and offer a pledge of lovingkindness to the person that is causing us distress. By slowing down and being less reactive, we can often see the good qualities of the person we are confronted with, or “put ourselves in their shoes” for a moment. From this calm, centered point-of-view we can better see the reality of the situation and act in a logical manner that will bring the most wholesome outcome for all those involved, rather then reacting from a place of fear, irritation and anger. In time, lovingkindness removes the illusion of separation from each other that we often feel.
As the Dalai Lama says, “Through the practice of lovingkindness and compassion I have found that all human beings are just like me.”
May you be happy. May you be free from all suffering. May you be filled with peace.
Lovingkindness Practice Resources Lovingkindness: The Revolutionary Art of Happiness by Sharon Salzberg Radical Acceptance: Embracing Your Life With the Heart of a Buddha by Tara Brach The Gift of Loving-Kindness: 100 Meditations on Compassion, Generosity, & Forgiveness by Mary Brantley and Tesilya Hanauer DailyBuddhism.com (Website) from Brian Schell
A pic from our wedding in November and a few thoughts on love.
Love has no other desire but to fulfill itself. But if you love and must needs have desires, let these be your desires: To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night. To know the pain of too much tenderness. To be wounded by your own understanding of love; And to bleed willingly and joyfully. To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving; To rest at the noon hour and meditate love's ecstasy; To return home at eventide with gratitude; And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart and a song of praise upon your lips.
Today Matt Logelin and his sweet little cutie pie, little girl Madeline were on the Rachel Ray Show (I felt super special because I was on there for about 10 seconds too!:-) If you don't know Matt's story it is a really tough one...
On March 24, 2008, little Madeline Elizabeth Logelin came into this world.
The next day, her mother left it.
From this impossibly tragic event, a community was born. A community of individuals, united in their desire to help and support Madeline and her father, Matt. This community formed the basis for what would become a worldwide charitable foundation:
What is so wonderful about the story is the out-pouring of support Matt has received. I've been privileged to play a small part by creating the foundation logo, but there is a group of amazing women out there (helloooo Creepies) that have done an ASTOUNDING amount of work to help Matt, and now the Liz Logelin Foundation.
But, the work has just begun.
The foundation is just getting started and really needs your help. To make this easier consider the $7 on the 7th program. "Skip the latte" for a couple days and do a little karma yoga (selfless service) by helping families in crisis.
(If you would like to add this widget to your blog, click here.)
If you'd like to help by donating your services to the foundation, making a contribution, adding the LLF widget to your blog, you can find out information on how to do this on the Liz Logelin Foundation homepage.
Check out these beautiful malas (prayer/meditation beads) from Mayhem Arts. They are having a really good sale on these beautiful handmade pieces. A good time to pick up a mala for your practice.
Win this beautiful amethyst and Czech glass necklace made by me!
This necklace was handmade by me and contains beautiful chunks of amethyst (which symbolizes the spirit), Indian crow beads, and Czech glass. The center pendant is a pewter Celtic cross. The necklace is 15.5 inches long and has a safety clasp. Jewelry making is a meditation for me and I infuse all the pieces I make with good energy and light for those who wear them.
How do I win?
FIRST
If you have already downloaded one of the classes - AWESOME- and thank you! Simply go to the yogadownload.com site and leave a review for either or both meditations. You will be entered once for each review you leave.
SECOND
If you haven't downloaded a meditation yet, do so and leave a review between now and March 6 and you will be entered to win!
DESCRIPTIONS AND LINKS TO DOWNLOADS
At only $2.95 per downloadable class (less then a cup of coffee!) you can give the gift of bliss to yourself, or a friend.
Two meditations are currently available:
Progressive Relaxation #1 will take you to a place of complete and utter serenity. "Teal's warm and meditative voice is ideal to help you get deep into a state of calm and tranquility. In this meditation Teal has you visualize a white light as it moves through you body and rids it of any and all stress and tension. Ahhhhhh!"
Sivasana Relaxation #1. Sivasana is a posture often practiced at the end of a yoga class, but you can do this relaxing Sivasana meditation any time you need to take a break and rest. Sivasana helps the body, mind and spirit to relax, integrate, and restore. This Sivasana Relaxation meditation will take you into a deep state of calm and is also great as a cure for insomnia.
I can not express my gratitude to all the people who downloaded my guided meditations over the last 3 months. It was wonderful to see such a positive response and it makes me happy to know they are helping to bring stress relief and relaxation into so many lives. There will be many more to come, so stay tuned...
This story was sent to me by my awesome college roomate Joya Lonsdale. Is this not the most beautiful idea??? I can't imagine a more peaceful environment for a class...unless we could really be under the sea with them:-)
Utthita Trikonasana (extended triangle pose) is a foundational yoga posture that engages, stretches and strengthens the entire body.
There is a sacred geometry inherent in all yoga asana. Placing the body mindfully and with proper alignment into yoga asanas activates the energy meridians in the body thereby increasing the flow of Prana (vital life force) throughout our bodies.
In Trikonasana, as in all standing poses, the foundation is in the connection the feet make with the earth and the energetic activations of the muscles in the legs. It is an excellent posture to build strength in the legs, core and back. The intense lateral side stretch and opening of the chest also aid in developing deep breathing.
Often when students new to yoga (and old, for that matter) move into Trikonasana they mistakenly focus their attention on getting the hand down to the floor. This is TOTALLY unnecessary. The hand may never reach the floor, and it if reaches it only by shortening the side waist on the extended side, collapsing the chest forward, or over straining the legs (sometimes all three!) then the sacred architecture and the great benefits of the posture are lost. What is more, serious injury may occur. Keep the hand as high up on the leg as necessary to keep the integrity of the pose (never press on the knee), or use a block as an excellent prop to assist in the pose.
Enjoy making yourself into a glorious extended triangle! Jai Bhagwan!
HOW TO DO IT: This is very good clear instruction for Utthita Trikonasana (extended triangle pose), given by John Schumacher, a senior Iyengar Yoga teacher and director of Unity Woods Yoga, in Washington, D.C.
AND FOR FUN: This is just TOO cute and clever, and quite good instruction, except for the hyper-extended knee:-)
One of my favorite morning reads is my battered old copy of the Bhagavad Gita (The Song of God.) I purchased it in high school at Peace of Mind Bookstore, and my copy was old and used when I got it. Now it looks to be almost as old as the 3,000 year old Vedic scripture contained within; but the message is ever shiny and new, and as deeply relevant now as it was when it was first told. Whenever I read it my heart fills up with love, peace and a deep sense of purpose for my life.
The Gita is nestled within a larger poem The Mahabharata, the longest epic poem ever written, which tells many wonderful stories of "Great India" (another fascinating and illuminating read.)
In the Bhagavad Gita, the great warrior Arjuna is on the battlefield, faced with the horrible dilemma of impending war. He is soul sick about how he should proceed and calls on Lord Krishna for help. The poem is a conversation between Lord Krishna and Arjuna, and is a deep metaphor for the struggles facing all of humanity on the "battlefield" of Life.
There are many lines from this poem that come back to me again and again, but none more than these:
The Atman* is light: The light is covered by darkness: This darkness is delusion: That is why we dream.
* One's true Self.
This is the primary meditation for my own journey with yoga. To constantly return to where I truly am; to lay down the cloak of darkness that swallows me in delusion and makes me think that I am something other than a being of light in union with all things. I repeat the mantra to my self: Sat Nam. I am That, I am.
As you move through your day with yoga, or head to the mat for your sadhana, I encourage you to write these words from the Gita on a peace of paper and make them a part of your contemplation and meditation into your own true nature.
Thank you to Carolyn, and all the other lovely people who signed up for the Blissful Body Yoga Newsletter in January.
If you haven't signed up yet, today is a great day to do so! FIRST, because then you will be entered to win the February tote bag, and SECOND, because I am sending out a new newsletter tomorrow and it will be chock full of goodies, and details on yet another great giveaway (this one involves jewelry... people...I'm just saying! (sign up is easy, just fill out the form in the right hand column, and hit submit.)
Have a great day, and ::b r e a t h e:: deeeeeply.
In case you needed another reason to eliminate products containing high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) from your diet (and believe me if you haven't started doing this, you will want to after reading this article) here is one more: mercury. Not exactly something we want to be ingesting.
Mercury is a heavy metal and loves to store itself in the fatty cells of the body. The fattiest cells of all are in our brains, and this is not good news for this delicate organ. Remember the Mad Hatter in Alice in Wonderland? That was actually based on the fact that "hatters" used a glue in the binding of hats that contained mercury. Constant exposure to this substance actually caused brain damage and "madness," in some cases.
When you begin the crusade to eliminate HFCS from your diet, you are going to discover it is in everything; not just things you would expect like sodas. It is in salad dressings, mustards, crackers, etc. Check your labels...buyer beware!
There are lots of healthy alternatives out there for products you commonly use, and the more consumers demand with their dollars that this is what they want, the more manufacturers will eliminate this nasty stuff from their mixtures.
The yogi strives to eat a wholesome Satvic diet that nourishes the body. This is always best accomplished by eating a whole food diet. Basically, if it doesn't come out of the ground or off a tree, try to avoid it. Packaged foods, even the best quality ones, are always going to be less nutritious, have less Prana (vital energy) then a natural food.
Make small changes every day, and it won't be overwhelming, I promise! You will feel and look better, and be on your way to a longer and more blissful life.
Namaste.
The original article (shown below as well), along with a lot more information on HFCS and mercury can be found on the great web site GRIST: Environmental News and Commentary, here.
High-fructose corn syrup rose from obscurity to ubiquity starting in the late 1970s, borne up by an informal public-private partnership between grain-processing giant Archer Daniels Midland and the federal government. For me, HFCS is at best a highly processed, lavishly subsidized, calorie-heavy, nutritional vacuum.
I recently visited a public high school in Boone, N.C. The main hall literally hummed with machines peddling variations on Coca-Cola's formula for success: fizzy water with artificial flavor, artificial color, added caffeine, and a jolt of HFCS. Other machines displayed snack "foods" tarted up with HFCS. Why are we feeding our kids this crap, again?
Now comes news that makes even an HFCS cynic like me do a spit-take over my home-brewed morning coffee. Turns out that HFCS is commonly tainted with mercury -- a highly toxic substance -- according to a peer-reviewed report published by Environmental Health (abstract here; PDF of the must-read full text here.)
The Environmental Health study draws on samples of high-fructose corn syrup taken straight from the factory. But no one drinks the stuff straight. What about, say, cookies sweetened with HFCS? The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy plucked HFCS-containing products from supermarket shelves and tested them for mercury. The result?
Overall, we found detectable mercury in 17 of 55 samples, or around 31 percent
Traces of mercury turned up in name-brand products from makers including Quaker, Hunt's, Manwich, Hershey's, Smucker's, Kraft, Nutri-Grain, and Yoplait.
That a ubiquitous industrial-food ingredient such as HFCS should be tainted by mercury is bad enough. But it gets worse. The FDA has apparently known about this since 2005 -- and done nothing to publicize it or change it.
In 2005, EH study lead author Renee Dufault was an FDA researcher. At that time, she conducted the tests now cited in the EH report. Her results found mercury in 9 of 20 HFCS samples -- 45 percent.
She doesn't comment on why, but the FDA apparently did nothing with her results in the years since they emerged. She retired from the agency in March 2008 -- and evidently decided to go public. She deserves praise for the decision to publish her work -- essentially blowing the whistle on what looks like an egregious attempt to hide key information from the public.
So how does mercury work its way into our the food industry's favorite sweetener? It finds its way into Pop Tarts and the like through the stunning array chemicals required to transform corn into a cane sugar substitute. (As you read the following list, marvel that the FDA recently ruled that manufacturers can label HFCS-sweetened foods "natural.") According the the EH study:
Several chemicals are required to make HFCS, including caustic soda, hydrochloric acid, alpha-amylase, gluco-amylase, isomerase, ilter aid, powdered carbon, calcium chloride, and magnesium sulfate.
Two of those charming-sounding chemicals -- caustic soda and hydrochloric acid -- can contain traces of mercury.
Caustic soda and hydrochloric acid are made through the same processes that produce chlorine. It can be done in one of two ways. The first involves pumping saltwater through a vat of mercury. The stuff produced this way is known as "mercury grade."
The second process involves no mercury. The industry is shifting to the second process, but the mercury style has by no means been phased out. According to IATP, "Today, the chlorine industry remains the largest intentional consumer (end user) of mercury."
So you've got this "mercury grade" caustic soda and hydrochloric acid floating around. Guess who's using it? According to the EH study, "mercury grade caustic soda and hydrochloric acid are primarily used by the high fructose corn syrup industry."
Not only did the FDA fail to inform the public of HFCS's mercury problem; food manufacturers that use HFCS may have been in the dark, IATP reports.
There is one hopeful tidbit from the highly disturbing Environmental Health and Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy studies. Several years ago, then-Sen. Barack Obama introduced legislation that would have forced the chlorine industry to phase out mercury.
That bill failed. I hope the new Congress revives it. And I hope the Obama FDA investigates precisely why the agency sat on information that could have saved consumers from mercury exposure. The officials who made that decision -- as well as the HFCS industry, led by Archer Daniels Midland -- must be held to account.
Yesterday was certainly a day full of immense energy here in the United States, and around the world, as we witnessed the inauguration of President Barack Hussein Obama. The swearing into office of this president was particularly significant for many reasons, but I think the thing that struck me most about the ceremony, is the same thing that amazes me each time we have a new president: the peaceful transfer of so much power. We need only look around the world today, or in the annals of human history, to see what a rare, and impressive occurrence this is. It makes me very proud of my country.
As I watched the inauguration yesterday it was wonderful to see so many happy, hopeful people. As a yogini I know that there is nothing more powerful, more initiating of great change, then the power of unity, optimism and positive thinking. I feel this country has suffered a great, "dark night of the soul" in recent years, and I too, feel that yesterday was the dawn of a new day, in many ways.
However, I also felt a great level of concern about the unrealistic, and somewhat excessive nature of the enthusiasm. Without getting into what I personally perceive Barack Obama's strengths and weakness as the leader of our country may be, I am absolutely certain that he is a man, not a messiah. And man, does he have his work cut out for him.
Listening to the almost frenzied way that some people have been talking about him over the last year, I've really come to feel a bit sorry for the guy. People have put him up, I think unfairly, on a very high pedestal, and it is a very long fall from there.
I am also concerned by the ferocious hatred I see coming from both "sides" of the political spectrum. I feel it in myself. I have opinions, strong ones, and sometimes it is hard for me to accept that others are entitled to theirs. I can feel the tightness and separation this causes in myself, and I see it in other people. We must work with great vigor to recognize that this separation is illusion. We must, as the Dalai Lama says, "find through compassion that all human beings are just like me." This is the tallest order of all, but I believe it is a worthy goal that we must strive towards.
How can yoga inform a situation like this?
Yoga is at it's core a set of teachings focusing on union, and on staying firmly rooted in "the middle path," where we are not subject to the highs and lows of excess in any area, including emotions. As the Bhagavad Gita teaches us, "A lamp does not flicker in a place with no wind." Powerful emotions can set us on fire with enthusiasm and energy, but they may not sustain us over a long haul when the initial "glow" of an exciting situation has worn off.
I say all this not to rain on any one's parade, not to diminish the excitement and power of this time, but to offer a call for a level of rationalism and realism, that will help us as a country, and throughout the world, to sustain a positive momentum for all the hard and long work we, and our new president, have ahead of us.
On this day I have a wish and prayer, from the bottom of my heart, for this man, for my country, and for this planet.
It is a portion of the Saha Navavatu Mantra that we often recite at the beginning of a yoga class, and it helps to define the scope and the nature of the work before us. I think it beautifully expresses the energy of enthusiasm, realism, and unity, we must have on our journey of "the middle path."
OM saha navavatu saha nau bhunaktu saha viryam karavavahai tejasvi navadhitamastu ma vidvishavahai OM shanti, shanti, shanti
Om May we be protected together May we be nourished together May we work together with great vigor May our study be enlightening May no obstacle arise between us Om peace, peace, peace
As one year comes to a close, and we begin to contemplate the next, a lot of us make these interesting lists called, New Year's Resolutions. They are usually brimming with hope and optimism, and chock full of things we want to “fix” about our selves, and our lives. So, how does the modern yogi or yogini go about creating a New Year’s Resolution list; and what does the ancient science of Yoga have to offer us as we consider the changes we want to make?
Yoga says,
“ You are already whole, already perfect. There is nothing to do, nothing to fix.”
Wow. Do you feel a tremendous load off your shoulders? You are done! Hooray! There was never really anything you needed to do. You are already perfect, beautiful, radiant and whole, and you always have been.
Yoga teaches us that our feelings of inadequacy stem from the illusion of separation. We often experience this “duality” or sense of separation as feelings of isolation, loneliness, and fear. We may constantly criticize our bodies, actions, and thoughts. Yoga teaches that there is no need to do this, and that these himsic, or harming, thought patterns, are toxic and keep us from enjoying the full experience of our lives.
Yoga also teaches us to practice santosha, or contentment by letting go of our grasping to the negative stories we tell ourselves, and cultivating right thinking and equanimity. This does not mean that we do not experience all the ups and downs of life, but that we are able to view them with perspective and balance.
However, there is a paradox in the idea of Contentment. If we were all completely content all of the time, we would never do anything. A feeling of discontent is what motivates all of our thoughts and actions; from getting up to get something to eat because we are “discontent” with hunger, to making a major life change because we feel a deep dissatisfaction with something in our lives.
This brings us back to the idea of making a “self-improvement list” for ourselves in the New Year. There is nothing wrong with wanting to change or “improve” something about our selves; tremendous good can come from making changes to our lives. The problem comes when we use the opportunity for constructive change, as another means for destructive self-abuse. The first and foremost aim of any yogini should be to practice, ahimsa, or non-harming, toward herself and all other sentient beings. So, as we make our lists we need to check our approach constantly against this benchmark, to insure that we are being kind and loving to ourselves, and others, in the process.
Let’s take a very common New Year’s resolution as an example: the desire to loose weight.
A common scenario is that we begin in January filled with a fire to loose weight and get in shape. We are joined in yoga studios, gyms and walking paths by others trying to “whip themselves into shape.” By the end of January those places are far less full, and we are home feeling increasingly dejected, eating more, exercising less, and feeling pretty bad about our selves.
The Yogic perspective on loosing weight would say, “Anything can be done in time, and with kindness.”
Making changes takes time, and it takes a plan; add in the component of kindness and you are bound for success. Without kindness, self-doubt and self-criticism beginning to chip away at our “resolve”, and make us feel like the task in insurmountable.
Let’s take a look at what a Yogic New Year’s Resolutions for Loosing Weight List might look like:
I (your name here) love my body and support and nourish myself with healthy food and exercise.
I give myself this love and support to increase my physical strength, cardiovascular health, and mental health.
I show my commitment to loving and nurturing my physical and emotional growth by attending a yoga class 3 times a week for 60 minutes, and walking in my neighborhood, 3 times a week for 30 minutes.
I have a positive relationship with food, and I choose foods that will give my body the optimum nutrients and calories I need to thrive in radiant health.
I am living in a healthy body, at a weight that is beneficial for all my physical systems. My body is energetic and strong and contains all the vitality I need to live my fully realized life.
As you can see this kind of list combines concrete actions with positive affirmations. This enables you to formulate a realistic course of action for self-improvement that harnesses the power of creative visualization, and reinforces the focus on self-love and the practice of ahimsa (non-harming) toward yourself and others.
Keep your list short, affirmative and in the present tense, as if you are already living the life (in this case living in the body) that you desire to have. Remember, once you think and believe these things, they already exist, all the remains is for you to manifest them into your life in a physical way. If you cannot imagine yourself in the body, or leading the life you want to lead, it will be difficult for you to realize those things fully in your life. See it, then be it!
Another helpful concept brought to us by the science of Yoga, is the focus on action, rather then outcome. The great yogic scripture, the Bhagavad Gita states, “Have no attachment to the ownership or result...” instead the focus must always be on each individual action.
We can apply this to our weight loss example by releasing our concerns about how much weight, or how many inches we will loose, and instead focus on each thing we are doing moment to moment to reach that goal. For example: focusing on the quality and attention we bring to each yoga posture, in each class; or by placing our attention on the energy we put into cooking each healthy meal, and eating it slowly with loving care for each bite.
This focus on one thing at a time, keeps us deeply grounded in the present moment, which in reality is the only thing we can influence, and the only thing that really exists. We may start with a certain goal, and find that it ends in a completely different outcome due to circumstance beyond our control. However, if we have cultivated mindfulness and focused on actions, instead of outcomes, then it is easier for us to release that result, and know that we have done our best, and that is all that we can do.
So, as you continue working on your list of resolutions for the coming year remember to keep them positive, be kind to yourself, focus on action instead of outcome, and remember that you are already perfect, beautiful, radiant and whole, and you always have been.
Image by kristin pfannkuchen via FlickrJust a few quotes to inspire your practice of Yoga, on, and off, the mat this weekend...
Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be bent out of shape. ~Author Unknown
Yoga is bodily gospel. ~Reaven Fields
Yoga, an ancient but perfect science, deals with the evolution of humanity. This evolution includes all aspects of one's being, from bodily health to self-realization. Yoga means union - the union of body with consciousness and consciousness with the soul. Yoga cultivates the ways of maintaining a balanced attitude in day-to-day life and endows skill in the performance of one's actions. ~B.K.S. Iyengar, Astadala Yogamala
Inhale, and God approaches you. Hold the inhalation, and God remains with you. Exhale, and you approach God. Hold the exhalation, and surrender to God. ~Krishnamacharya
Yoga is 99% practice and 1% knowledge. ~Sri Krishna Pattabhi Jois
Fear less, hope more; eat less, chew more; whine less, breathe more; talk less, say more; hate less, love more; and all good things are yours. ~Swedish Proverb
Image by wallyg via FlickrLooking for some new tunes to enhance your yoga practice? I just found Yoga Radio this morning and it is a cool way to hear some new music. Check it out:
My students are always asking, "what was that song?" So, I thought this would be a nice way to share some of the play lists I create for my yoga classes, and just mixes of music that I enjoy. Hope you will enjoy it too, and that it infuses your practice with energy and ananda (bliss).
Image via WikipediaThose of you who are long-time students of yoga are already familiar with two of the great ethical precepts of yoga: the yamas and niyamas.These two short lists of abstentions and observances, respectively, create a clear road map for the yogini's life. They are as follow:
YAMAS (abstentions/restraints) Ahimsa: non-violence Satya: truthfulness Asteya: non-stealing Aparigrapha: non-coveting Bramacharya: correct use of energy
NIYAMAS (observances) Saucha: purity Santosa: contentment Tapas: right-effort or discipline Svadhyaya: self-study Ishvara Pranidhana: surrender to the highest ideals, to Source, or God.
I am not going to address each of these in detail in this post, but check back as I will be forming discussions of each of them in the coming year, and I greatly welcome and encourage your reflections and input on the meaning and application these precepts have in your own lives.
For now, I would like to focus on Ahimsa: non-violence, or non-harming. This yama is the one I have been most preoccupied with in my personal study in the last few years. In part this is because of what I see externally in the world around me, and in part, as a result of what I observe within myself. In my mind, the two are inseparable. If each of us was not consistently practicing some level of harming within ourselves, and in our actions in our lives, it would be impossible for us to live in world that is fraught with fear and violence; that sort of world simply cannot exist without us each individually contributing to and supporting it with our own brand of violence.
While that may seem like a fairly heavy indictment, in truth I feel it to be really, really good news. This concept reminds us of the deep and far reaching power of our own personal thoughts and actions. And since our own personal thoughts and actions are the only thing we really have dominion over, we have an exciting opportunity to practice peace in every step.
At this time of year many of us are forming resolutions and plans of action to make changes to many areas of our life. I would offer the yogic precept of Ahimsa as an incredible spring board for any inquiry you undertake. Whether you are trying to loose weight, break an unhealthy habit, become a better parent, or start a new business venture, consider making Ahimsa the corner stone, and benchmark, for your efforts.
To do this simply check each thought or action against the standard of non-harming. Simply ask yourself, "are my thoughts, or proceeding with this particular set of actions, bringing harm or perpetuating violence in anyway?" If the answer is "no," you can go forward knowing that you are adding, in a powerful way, to the forces if good in this world; if the answer is "yes," then you have a wonderful opportunity to consider an alternate thought pattern or plan of action.
In applying Ahimsa to your New Years Resolutions, or just to your life in general, remember that the most critical place to stay grounded in kindness and non-violence, is in relation to yourself. If you do something "himsic" (harmful) in your life, and then use that as a way to think angry, disappointed thoughts towards yourself, you are only perpetuating more violence. Remember, we are only human, and we will make mistakes on our way along our path, but intention is everything, and we can always begin again... in the very next moment.
Ahimsa is at its root a path to non-suffering. I hope you will welcome this yogic ideal into your life in 2009. May it bring you peace, and peace to our world.
Great article from Psychology Today on how yoga can help us to overcome stress and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Yoga: The Strongest Stretch
An ancient tradition, yoga gains modern muscle.
By PsychologyToday.com
After the tsunami ripped through Southeast Asia in 2004 came a tidal wave of psychic devastation. The depression and posttraumatic stress that ravaged many residents of coastal villages from India to Indonesia provided a living laboratory for testing the most powerful cures available. What wound up providing the best help to some of the most afflicted refugees? Yoga.
Yoga is an age-old practice with roots in India—bas-reliefs depicting yoga asanas, or poses, have been found on 5,000-year-old archeological artifacts—but yoga as most Americans know it is only part of the picture. The hatha yoga popular here emphasizes the exercise element. There are many forms of yoga and all share an attempt to create a state of blissful enlightenment, called ananda. En route, specific forms of breathing and exercises encourage physical purification.
As a professor of psychiatry at New York Medical College who studies the effects of yoga on posttraumatic stress, Patricia Gerbarg seized the opportunity to test whether it could help tsunami survivors in India. To one group of 60 victims she gave a four-day yoga breathing course. Another group of 60 survivors was given the yoga course along with psychological counseling. A third group served as controls.
All the yoga users experienced a huge drop in scores for posttraumatic stress disorder and depression after just four days. And the effect was so persistent that Gerbarg and her team introduced yoga to those in the control group too. Counseling provided no added benefits over the yoga training alone.
While some forms of yoga have long been shown to reduce hypertension, cholesterol levels, and other signs of physiological stress, the effects of the ancient practice on psychological stress have been less studied. But a slew of research published in peer-reviewed journals in the U.S., Europe, and India is documenting the ability of yoga to decrease mood disturbance, reduce psychic stress and anxiety, and reduce PTSD symptoms. Effects have been seen within days of initiating instruction, and have been documented up to six months after a course of yoga training.
You don't have to weather a natural disaster or receive a clinical diagnosis to benefit from yoga, says Lorenzo Cohen, director of the Integrative Medicine Program at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. Calling it "the quintessential mind-body practice," Cohen predicts that yoga "can and will be shown to be helpful for managing the stress and mild anxiety we all experience in daily living."
A group of healthy senior citizens in Oregon embodies Cohen's claims. They experienced improved energy and a greater sense of well-being after six months of yoga training. The study was particularly valuable because it compared the yoga group with seniors engaging in walking exercise classes. The non-yoga exercisers reported no such benefit.
In her yoga course, Gerbarg trains trauma sufferers in four types of yogic breathing that range from focusing on slow, complete exhalation to taking 30 breaths a minute. She and her husband, psychopharmacologist P.L. Brown of Columbia University, have found that yogic breathing physiologically affects the nervous system to produce profound changes in emotional states.
It acts via the vagus nerve—the "rest and digest," or calming, pathway of the autonomic nervous system extending from brain stem to abdomen; when activated, it slows down breathing and heart rate and increases intestinal activity. It not only carries signals from brain to body but ferries signals from the body back to the brain. "Your breathing pattern changes with emotional reactions to things," Gerbarg says. "Well, it goes both ways: If you change your breathing pattern, you can change your emotions."
Lynn Waelde, a psychologist at Stanford University and a yoga teacher, explains yoga's mind-body benefits in more metaphorical terms. "When we teach yoga, we teach people to let go of physical tensions," she says. "When you sit them in a chair in meditation, they get it. It's an easy step to see how you can breathe and focus on emotional or mental tension and let it go."
Could yoga save the world? It improves fitness, it doesn't cost anything, it has minimal side effects, it acts quickly, and the benefits endure. The advantages are especially important when applied on a large scale to impoverished people. Gerbarg and Cohen believe the value of yoga is just beginning to be documented. "We're in the early phases of something very exciting, and there's a lot more to learn about it," Gerbarg says. "This is not something you need to religiously incorporate into your daily life and do for years before you start to feel the benefits."
This Sunday is the Winter Solstice, and a great opportunity to go inside, evaluate what has passed this year, and set intentions for our lives in the year to come. Take some time this Sunday, December 21, to "find your seat" in meditation and reflect on your life.
meaning all that we need, all that is sacred and sustaining, already lies within us.
Natalie Maisel, yoga teacher and ritual guide, of goddessdownload.com offers this information about this solstice and the time of Yule:
Winter Solstice is the longest night of the year, after which the daylight hours begin to grow longer. This time is known as the birth of light. The Anglo-Saxon word for this time is “Yule”. Yule in ancient Celtic terms means “wheel”. This was celebrated as the day that the chief Druid cut the sacred mistletoe from the Oak. Huge bonfires were lit with Yule logs to welcome the return of the Sun. Yule is a time to leave old regrets behind as the light makes its way back to the Earth and back to you, as well. The old year has completed its cycle, just as some of our habits have completed their cycles. This is a time to shed what no longer is useful in our lives.
This ritual will include a guided meditation to a cozy winter cottage to reflect on the end of the year and what you would like to release and transform, as well as a candle-lighting ceremony to welcome the return of the sun and the igniting of your own inner fire and strength.
Natalie Maisel's guided ritual for Yule is available at goddessdownload.com, click here.
Check out the new COEXIST t-shirt, hoodie sweatshirt and gift designs at the Blissful Body Yoga Store on Cafe Press...there is even a Coexist Flip MINO HD design....enjoy!
I often hear the lament from my yoga students, "I have so little time for practice!!" Believe me, I understand, I never feel like I have enough time for sadhana; and practice is the most important element of Yoga. We can read a hundred books, go to lots of workshops, but unless we practice every day, progress will not take place.
So, one thing I have done in my own life that I would suggest, is to look for opportunities for practice in the activities of your daily life. The "have tos", like washing the dishes, doing the laundry, picking up a child, sitting at your desk, are all opportunities to bring Yoga's principles of strength, balance and focus into practice in your daily life. Yoga is all about mindfulness, so when we bring awareness into our actions and movements, moment to moment, we are "practicing," and expressing yoga, in the very fullest sense.
Here are some examples from my daily life, that you can bring into yours:
Tadasana at the kitchen sink: while you are standing and doing the dishes, notice your body position. What are your feet doing? How are your shoulders articulated? Where your pelvis? Press your feet firmly into the ground so that you can feel all four sides of your feet making contact with the earth. Take a deep breath as you do this, and feel the rest of your body rise up out of the firm base. Continue to elongate though your crown chakra (top of your head). Notice also your feelings about this activity. Do you feel rushed? Irritated? Acknowledge however you feel, and then, if your feelings are hurried or negative, see if you can bring them in a more positive direction with mindfulness. Just do what you are doing. Just do the dishes. And savor every minute detail of this activity.
Uttanasana and hair dryer: ...no, seriously...you'll love this one. Most women (and some men) that dry their hair with a hair dryer lean into a forward bend so their hair will hang down and they can dry underneath. This is a great time for uttanasana (standing forward bend!) Again, begin building your posture from the ground up: press your feet into the ground, feel all four sides of your foot; feel the energy move up from the earth into the legs, and create a circular inward rotation of the thigh bones to make more space in the sacrum. Take care how you move in this posture as you are drying your hair, bend the knees a little or don't come forward so far if the movement and weight of the dryer make this posture awkward and straining for your back. Let your back stay long and light.
Sukhasana wherever you sit: any where you sit, and whether you sit cross-legged, as in the posture sukhasana (easy pose), or with the feet on the floor as you sit in the chair, you still need to employ the same basic postural elements. The next time you are sitting in your chair at work come forward on the seat a bit so that your feet are flat on the floor and you can feel your sitz bones firmly against the seat. In the sitting position your sitz bones are your base, so press them firmly against the seat, as you would push your feet firmly against the floor. Notice how this immediately causes your torso to lengthen, your shoulders to drop and your neck to elongate. This will give you the same open line of energy from the base of your spine, through the crown of your head, and the same openness in the rib cage for breath to move, that we cultivate in all the sitting asanas.
There is no substitute for cultivating a vigorous, and focused Yoga practice in our lives, but bringing our awareness of how the postural components of Yoga asanas translate into the everyday movements of our lives, can add a whole new dimension to our practice.
Discovered this recipe one of my favorite blogs, the Post Punk Kitchen blog (great resource for all things vegetarian and vegan), and I will be making it sooooon!! All my favorites in one yummy, health giving bowl!
David Morgan is a Kripalu Yoga Teacher, and he also has bipolar disorder. His blog Yoga for Bipolar Disorder, just won the 2008 Top Ten Bipolar Blogs Awards from PyschCentral, the oldest and largest mental health resource online. Here is an excerpt from David's "About" page:
As you are well aware if you have sought and found this page, bipolar disorder is a devastating illness that can destroy families and lives.
My name is David Morgan. I have bipolar disorder.
I’m also a yoga teacher. I teach yoga full time.
I can speak from personal experience as someone with bipolar disorder who has stared over the cliffs of despair more than once.
There is hope. Proper medication, nutrition, exercise, and sleep can go a long way in managing the symptoms of bipolar disorder. (Let’s start by drinking a glass of water — get one now.)
But that’s just a start.
If you, or someone you love, are struggling with bipolar disorder, please visit David's site, it is a wealth of information, and a window to hope.
The post below is a good place to start to discover the benefits yoga can provide to those managing bipolar disorder.
If you happen to be in the Knoxville, Tennessee area you can visit David in person, and enjoy one of his wonderful classes, at Yoga with Santosh.
Relaxation and meditation are key components that can drastically decrease the symptoms of bipolar disorder.My audio meditations, Progressive Relaxation Meditation, and Sivasana Meditation, are both excellent resources for calming the nervous system, and creating greater integration between mind, body and spirit.
Jai Bhagwan, and may you be happy, may you be free from all suffering.
The following came to me via Susi Hately Aldous'I Love Anatomy: Anatomy and Asana Newsletter. Susi is a yoga teacher, anatomy expert and owner of Functional Synergy.
Susi's book, Anatomy and Asana: Preventing Yoga Injuries, is required reading in the Kripalu Yoga Teacher Training, and is one of my favorite anatomy books. It is well-written, clear, and accessible both to the professional, and the student of yoga.
An example of Susi's clear style can be read below in her excellent discription of the proper approach and mechanics neccesary to do revolved triangle pose (parivrtta trikonasana) safetly.
Enjoy!
In order for Revolved Triangle to occur safely and smoothly, a few things need to happen.
1. There needs to be balance of the legs on the pelvis. As the twist occurs, the legs and feet can’t collapse on each other. If they do, the twist also collapses, and strain can enter into the neck, shoulder girdle, or back. 2. Although much of the initial twist is meant to occur around the base of the thoracic spine, the muscular engine of the twist is at the obliques. Because of the structure of the facet joints, the lumbar spine doesn’t have much of a bandwidth for twisting. The base of the thoracic spine however, does. The obliques, with their attachments at the ribs and the pelvis, help to gently drive that movement. Allow yourself to feel that oblique movement (or lack thereof). 3. The cervical spine (neck) twists only after the spine below has found its position. As many teachers know, students often move the neck too soon and too far. Feel the rotation in the torso below before moving the neck. 4. The shoulder girdle follows the spinal rotation. Sometimes this happens in reverse and the student gets into over-leveraging (a very easy mistake to make). Let's look at an example with your right leg in front. If your right leg is in front and you are twisting to the right, you may be inclined to have your left hand move to your right leg to . . . jusssst . . . squeeeeze a bit morrrrre . . . twwwist . . . out of the pose. In this example, the left hand and arm are driving the twist as opposed to the spine leading the twist and the shoulder girdle following with the support of the left arm and hand. It is something that I often see in students who really want "to feel SOMETHING" in this pose. Small note: I am not against leverage, but if it happens before the lower thoracic spine has been connected to the obliques and pelvis, then leverage can be downright dangerous. I think Revolved Triangle can freak people out in a similar way to back bends. You can’t really see where you are going, and you are relying on your legs and your pelvis to be stable while the spine moves. Nonetheless, Revolved Triangle can be truly remarkable, as many participants in the workshops can attest. If you would like to dig down a bit more, I have a Revolved Triangle teleclass ready to download. In this recording I speak more about the shoulder girdle and hip mechanics as well as the nature of the twist. Just click, here.
When I did my Kripalu Yoga Teacher Training I had the great, good fortune to meet Randal Williams. He is a senior instructor at the Kripalu Center in Lenox, MA and he is one of the most wonderful, compassionate and knowledgeable teachers I have ever encountered. If you are looking for a winter retreat that will revive you, and bring focus and peace to you life, please consider his upcoming offering below.
He also has a special offering of a free audio meditation (details below). I highly recommend this. Randal's voice and words are soothing beyond description. His CD, Gentle Yoga: Blade of Grass - A mindful yoga experience is one of my favorites.
At this time we are all in the process of a tremendous change. The world today is unlike anything we've ever experienced or been challenged by and if you pay attention you can even sense the collective contraction and breath holding that is finding it's way around the globe.
Now, however, is also an opportunity for personal transformation - as Viktor Frankl stated, 'When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.'
Across cultures throughout the world, the winter solstice is such a celebration that honors change. Set amidst the cosmic dance of change, the solstice also invites us to effectively clarify the depth and direction of our lives. Wherever you find yourself and however you celebrate this particular solstice season I wish you the kindest regards and blessings for you and your family.
Consider also that when you make time for personal retreat you can effectively reflect on, appreciate or simply be with the quality and content of your life, and support a conscious turning point in the direction of your life, personal narrative and path. If you are looking for a supportive experience for solstice retreat then look at the opportunity to come and enjoy some time for yourself through 'a mindfulness retreat' with me and like-minded others at the beautiful and supportive Kripalu Center this December 19-21 - for more information select Solstice Retreat.
In this retreat weekend of communal celebration and exploration, you will
Access the intelligence of life force
Learn to cut through obstacles and meet your needs, discover purpose
Practice mindful walking, yin (restful) and yang (engaging) yoga postures, and meditation.
Come away refreshed and inspired to step into the next chapter of your life
I would also like to use this opportunity to share a link to FREE guided relaxation audio - 20 minutes in length - which you can enjoy - I recommend laying in bed with headphones on to listen to the track after a warm bath.
If we are practicing yoga asanas with attention and care, we should be able to avoid most, if not all, injuries. However, some muscle and soft tissue soreness is a normal part of the process of working with the body in this way. As we proceed patiently and intelligently, our body will unfold and blossom, much like the ancient symbol of the lotus flower, so closely associated with yoga.
In the meanwhile, it important that we develop a "gift bag" of sorts. A set of things we know will help to nurture and support the recovery and growth of our body. Here are my Seven Ways to Sooth Sore Yoga Muscles:
1. Take a word from the master, and take it easy. The yogic sage Patanjali tells us in the Yoga Sutras, Sthira Sukham Asanam (the posture should be strong/steady and light/comfortable.) So, first and foremost, we most always begin by practicing with kindness and ahimsa (non-harming) towards ourselves. As the adage goes, "an ounce of prevention, is worth a pound of cure!"
2. Be constructive...rest. If you suffer an injury the first thing you must do is make room for yourself to heal. This means making time to heal, and this is a hard one for those of us in Western societies to grasp. Our credos tell us, "No Pain, No Gain," and so we are conditioned to push through, thus injuring ourselves further. The human body has miraculous healing abilities, but it needs constructive rest in order to accomplish this, so don't be afraid to take the time to let yourself heal, and learn to rest when you are becoming fatigued, so that you can avoid injuries in the first place.
3. RICE...it's not just for dinner anymore. If you have ever taken a basic first aid course, you know this acronym well: Rest, Ice, Compress and Elevate.
R = REST: see number two! Love your body, let it heal.
I = ICE: ice is the MOST amazing healer I have ever come across. You really can't go wrong with ice, and it is especially critical to use it the first 24 hours after an injury. Often we tend to lean towards heat because it seems more soothing, but you can get yourself into a bit of trouble with heat, it can actually add to inflammation. Use ice packs on the injured area, ten minutes on, ten minutes off, for the first 24 hours. After that you can alternate ten minutes of ice, with ten minutes of heat. This alternating technique, and the application of ice alone, both help to reduce swelling and flush the area with new blood which promotes healing.
C = Compress: Compression helps to reduce swelling, pain and provides support. The most common method of compression is to wrap the site lightly in an ACE bandage. If you feel throbbing, or see discoloration, the bandage is inhibiting circulation and needs to be removed and re wrapped more loosely.
E = Elevate: Elevation also helps to reduce swelling. Elevation is most effective if you can raise the area above the heart. You can use pillows or bolsters to aid in elevation.
4. Drink lots of water. This one is pretty simple. I hydrated body, is a healing body. If your cells and tissues are not well hydrated it makes it very difficult for them to heal. Drink lots of pure filtered water, and seek out pure vegetable and fruit juices (juice them yourself if you can!), as these will add heaps of vital nutrients to your system in an easily digested and assimilated form.
5. Massage and Bodywork Touch is a great healer. There is a type of body work out there appropriate for every injury. Find an experience chiropractor, massage therapist, Reiki master, Positional Therapist, or other professional in a healing modality NOW, before you are injured. Put the names and numbers of these people in your "gift bag" so you are ready to take care of yourself if you have an injury. It can be challenging to have the energy to seek help, when you need it the most.
6. Create a care bag. Create a literal "gift bag" of healing tools. Here are a few I keep in mine:
Muscle Treat: this massage lineament from one of my favorite companies, Heritage Products, contains: Light Petroleum Oil, Mineral Oil, Olive Oil, Witch Hazel, Tincture of Benzoin and Sassafras Oil; which come together to provide and oil that goes on smoothly and soaks into the skin quickly. I use it twice a day over an injured site and find it helps significantly reduce pain, swelling and even bruising. Another thing I like about this lineament is that it has very little scent, just the fragrance of the natural oils, and like all of this company's products, all of the oils are of extremely pure and high grade. It is also suppose to be very good for use on varicose and spider veins (pat on gently, don't rub.) Benzoin oil is well known for its ability to strengthen and heal skin.
Microwave Heating Pads: I have several of these in different shapes and sizes and they are terrific for applying heat once the site is ready for that treatment. I also use them after an injury has reached the point where I am ready to slowly move back into practice. I apply the heat packs before my yoga sadhana to warm the soft tissues, making them more pliable and ready for the stretching elements of asana.
Leg Warmers: Don't laugh! I am so serious! I have a couple of pairs of legwarmers and I find them so useful. I put them on toward the end of my practice, or when I am teaching a class, before sivasana so that my legs will retain the heat of practice and the muscles won' be shocked by cold air (especially in the Winter when I am going out to a cold car.) The tighter variety can actually do double duty by providing a little bit of compression and support. Try them out and you will see why dancers swear by them. Healing Meditations: visualization is one of the most powerful healing tools we have available to us. The healing power of our minds is unlimited when use it to tap into our spirits and the prana which permeates us. Try lying down in a comfortable place with a blanket over you, and an eye pillow or small towel covering your eyes to encourage pratyahara, or sense withdrawal. Visualize your body healing on a gross and subtle level. Imagine it right down to the very cellular structures of your body. See yourself as already well; radiantly health and whole.
7. Return to activity slowly and with intelligence. When we return to activity after an injury it is natural to want to jump right back in, and pick up from where we left off. Unfortunately, this is not right mindedness on our part. If you have been laid up with an injury for 6 weeks, it will take at least that length of time to get back to your pre-injury level of practice; it may take double the amount of time you have been on constructive rest, or longer. This is a time for the utmost practice of patience and compassion towards ourselves. Take your time, go slow, remember the words of Sri Patabhi Jois, "Practice, practice, all is coming." You will beyond where you left off in your practice in no time if you proceed in this way.
May your lives be filled with radiant health,May you honor your body, mind and spiritwith lovingkindness and compassion.
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