Tuesday, March 23, 2010

*Upavista Konasana


The name of this pose always sounds like a party to me, especially when you accent the "vista" part. This is also a pose that turns just about anyone who does it into a 3 year old child.
Try it with a friend. Sit with the legs open to a comfortable width. Sit up on a blanket or cushion if your legs are really tight. Face your friend or your own lovely self in a mirror and smile really wide ~ you'll see, you will turn back the clock for that luscious moment, years and years and years.

This **picture is a few years old, but upavista konasana joy is everlasting.

ooopaveesta konasana to you all!

*The full Upavista Konasana pose is to bend forward in this shape, and if you want to quiet your mind and stretch your hamstrings more, please do. For fun, and lengthening core strength, do it this way.

**if you are on my website please go to my blog to see this picture ~

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

An idea to combat speeding

To slow down, we need to open up to what is right before us.

To speed, we shut all our doors and windows and just zoom.

The zooming can be a defense mechanism, a habit, or a combination of both.

When we are open, we have no choice but to slow ourselves. Speeding in an open state would be dangerous and uncomfortable.

A good place to practice being open is in final relaxation pose, Savasana.
Imagine as you lie on the floor that your body, mind and breath are open like a window, and let the breeze come in and ruffle your curtains.
Remember that you have nowhere to be and nothing to do but to just lay there, open.

Friday, March 12, 2010

Speeding


Why are we all moving so very quickly!?

Try this: Sit down and stop moving your eyes,arms, legs, mouth, just for a moment. See if you can still feel the speediness.

How can we/I (!) slow down?
Oh I try, but I feel like a wind-up doll that an overactive child can't stop playing with.
Its seriously exhausting.

Monday, March 8, 2010

What lies beyond your bones


Beyond your body is your mind. And beyond your mind is your Self.
The lovely body you get from practicing yoga is really just a bonus, and possibly even a distraction! :)
The real thing happening as you press the foot bones down and lift the arm bones up, is that you learn to find equanimity in the face of adversity, and that brings you closer to your Self.

That is really why I fell in love with yoga in the first place; yoga can take you from the far reaches of your own personal pendulums, and lets you float right there in the middle.

In the middle there is clarity, space, and many heartbeats.

~