What I'm Reading Now: The Daily Bandha: A Cool Tip for Deeper Breathing in Yoga

More important reading for Pranyama Month! I absolutely LOVE this blog and I learn something new every time I read it. And especially in light of my focus this month, I am learning more.

I have Ray Long's books and use them constantly to inform and reaffirm my teaching. The illustrations by Chris McIvor make it all come together so well. (Image courtesy of DailyBandha.com)

This is what Ray has to say:

So, here’s a cue for activating one of my fave accessory muscles—the serratus anterior (SA) and his buddies, the rhomboids. Pause for a second. Rest your hands on your thighs. Now, exhale naturally and then gently draw the shoulders back to bring the scapulae (shoulder blades) towards the spine. As you inhale, imagine pressing the sides of your shoulders and upper arms against an imaginary wall, like a doorframe. Feel how this expands your chest. Repeat this cue two more times before reading on . . .

Click on the link to read on....

The Daily Bandha: A Cool Tip for Deeper Breathing in Yoga

And, as always, IF YOU FEEL like commenting... please do so. Really, I know people read my blog but sometimes I feel like I am talking into a VOID!

Just saying, is all.... ;)

More Pranayama appreciation....

It seems that pranayama awesomeness and awareness is all around me this month! I subscribe to the blog My Five Minute Yoga and the following posting arrived in my inbox this morning - Five-Minute Yoga Challenge: find a time of day to watch your breath. Couldn't be any clearer to me that this is where I need to be directing my energies this month! If you would like to read Eve's posting, please click on the link: MyFiveMinuteYoga.com

I love that she sets up these mini challenges for the reader to take part in and they are all achievable and realistic. I like that she tells it like it is. We are all human and starting a new habit or changing old habits can be difficult. So break it down to 5 minutes... that's all it takes. And give it some time to settle in so that the new practice becomes... well, a new habit!

So this week's challenge from Eve is to find a time of day to watch your breath. It's that simple and she gives wonderful, detailed instructions on how you can do that. Instructors always talk about that in class but the challenge (there is that word again ;)) is to take that OFF the mat and into your regular life. To catch yourself when the time is right and carve that 5 minutes to STOP... listen to your breath and let the process begin...

Will you take the time?

I hope so... :)

Pranayama Month.... Surya Bhedana

So February is here! Wow... as I sit here with blazing sunshine outside my window, it is hard to believe that it is still WINTER. Well, at least here in the PNW.

The American Heart Association calls February American Heart Month... I find it a wonderful way to incorporate heart opening poses into my practice and infuse my teaching with all manner of poses relating to the heart, both physically and emotionally. And, to me, delving deeper into pranayama is just a natural extension of that theme.

Last week, as a prep, we explored how our breath affects us on a daily basis: in our practice, at work, at play, as we sleep... under stress, in happiness, relaxed or busy. Then we began to explore how we change our mood, our perceptions and indeed our body through our breath... our power, our source.

Here is a great link to a site that asks some great questions such as what IS pranayama. Also suggested reading - Light on Pranayama: The Yogic Art of Breathing by BKS Iyengar

We all talk about Ujjayi Breath, aka Whisper or Victorious Breath and throughout practice I often remind my class come back to the breath, but this month we will reconnect to what it really means to practice Ujjayi Pranayama.

As an aside: It is thought that the best way to correctly learn pranayama is with a teacher, so I would suggest that, if you have never practiced some of the breathing techniques I write about this month, that you take a class.

This week I am introducing Surya Bhedana Pranayama (also known as warming single nostril breathing) during the beginning portions of class. This breathing technique stimulates the heating energies in our body. The sun or Ha (right side of body) or Yang energy is called forth through this breath and is thought to stimulate the brain and indeed the body. I am also linking here to Yoga Journal's page on Surya Bhedana Pranayama so you can compare what is written.

My experience in this morning's class was that I began to feel energized and ready to take on our practice with a clearer head. Unfortunately we had so many things to talk about after class that I forgot to ask my students... if any of you are reading this, please comment below.

I would love to hear from anyone else familiar with this technique to let me know your experiences...

Enjoy your yummy breaths.

Breath of Fresh Air...

What a wonderful class today! Thank you to all who were there. This is why I love to teach... when I look around the room at my fellow yogis of all types that are doing what they need to do to get into a pose and find that balance between effort and ease. Allowing the breath to guide them into and out of poses and to help them find that sweet spot. Ahhhh, love it.

Well, it also helps that the sun is shining brightly!

But this class did help me firm up my resolve and intention to bring more pranayama practice into class. We did some breath awareness (as always) to understand the importance and different qualities of our inhales and exhales. How does our inhale make us feel? How does it change the body? And the same with the exhale. We then branched out to alternate nostril breathing and next week we will explore more breathing techniques. Learning to listen to our breath to understand ourselves a little better....

I am really looking forward to sharing!

Happy New Year 2011

Well, 2011 is here in FULL force. And I think it has taken me this long to let it all sink in. I often sense the need for time to allow things to settle in me before I know how I feel. This year will be full of changes and I am feeling a little unsettled so perhaps I was avoiding my blog (AKA my conscious thoughts) for a couple of weeks.

The New Year is a wonderful time to set and reset our Intentions. A time to recalibrate and renew. To come back our Centre. And the best way I know of to do that is with the Breath. Over the last weeks, I have sensed within me a yearning to connect to that Vital Essence. So I am (re)reading and practicing and will be (re)infusing my teaching with Pranayama practice over the next months. Connecting our breath with our movement.

The image with this post is from the artist Melanie Wiedner. Click on her name as I linked it to see more of her stuff. I found it when I googled breath, yoga, pranayama....

As I write this I am listening to Wade Imre Morissette's Maha Moha: The Great Delusion . The song that is playing right now is: Burn It In The Fire. The lyrics resonate with me as we start this New Year:

burn it in the fire
(© 2008 w.morissette)

Sarveshaam swastir bhavatu~ auspiciousness for all
Sarveshaam shantir bhavatu~peace for all

Sarveshaam poornam bhavatu~fullness for all
Sarveshaam mangalam bhavatu~prosperity for all

Sarve bhavantu sukhinah~happiness
Sarve santu niraamayaah~free from disabilities

Sarve bhadraani pashyantu~ looking to the good of others
Maakaschit duhkha bhaag bhavet~may none suffer from sorry

Burn it in the fire

****

I am, as always, learning to see the beauty in the ebb and flow, the dance of our lives. Our lives are not static, nor should they be. I have to say that I don't always feel that it is wonderful to see that change, but I do strive to embrace impermanence and change. You know the feeling: things are going along swimmingly and then all of a sudden they are not. On the other side, things are stuck or not going as they "should". We just want to rush through this moment and come out on the other, better (real or perceived), side. Learning to embrace the moment, learn from it and then leave it behind. Sometimes that is painful!

Especially when we have children... as infants, you are their whole world. They are these incredible, wide-eyed babies and then, seemingly the next minute, they are pushing you away! Wanting and needing to "do it mySELF"... to live their lives. We see this in tiny increments from the moment they are born. I have learned SO much from my children, from the moment they were conceived. I am truly blessed to be their mother and am as awed by that now, 21 years later, as I was when I had my first child.

As both my children (for they will always be that in my heart) embark on their own lives, I am recalibrating, renewing... enjoying the dance of my life and learning to embrace the impermanence of that life. And to know that it is all good.

So 2011 will be an awesome, life changing year full of love, hope, challenges and adventures.

Namaste... the light in me honours the light in you.

On NPR today - Just Breathe: Body Has A Built-In Stress Reliever

I just love it when I turn on my radio in the morning and hear more about yoga in mainstream media. WELL, let me clarify that... POSITIVE things about yoga! :)

Here is an excerpt of the piece here, courtesy of NPR.org. (Thanks to the author of this piece, Gretchen Cuda!)

"There are plenty of ways to relieve stress — exercise, a long soak in a hot bath, or even a massage. But believe it or not, something you're doing right now, probably without even thinking about it, is a proven stress reliever: breathing.

As it turns out, deep breathing is not only relaxing, it's been scientifically proven to affect the heart, the brain, digestion, the immune system — and maybe even the expression of genes."

Read more here: Just Breathe: Body Has A Built-In Stress Reliever .

Ahhhhh, take a deep breath and enjoy it!

Change....

This time of year is so amazing.... I always love fall. Well, maybe it is a love/hate sort of thing. I LOVE summer (OK, so that is not something that my friends and family will find as a surprise) and I am not ready to give up those wonderful warm rays of sunshine, the beautiful light, the flowers and the fun we have outdoors... not to mention wearing FLIP-FLOPS. But as an easterner, I simply love the reds, oranges and yellows of the trees, the crisp air, the CHANGE in the air. And Halloween. Thanksgiving: sharing & gratitude.

Also, I do so love winter... LOTS of snow: skiing, snowboarding, cold air making your nostrils stick together, hot coco, snuggling under the covers... even shoveling snow. I LOVE shovelling snow, yes that is strange. I know.

It is just such a bother to have to change from one to the other when I am not ready.

But when are we ever ready?

Change can be disorienting, so uncomfortable.... but also so exciting.

Transitions..... breathe through them... embrace the change.

In my practice I use this time to shake things up a bit. I find I need to look to different poses to engergize and engage me. In summer I look to cooling poses. At the change of seasons, twists are always good although I prefer them in the spring. However, I still am attracted to those twists... they are just slower and more meditative, perhaps reclined. Helps to increase the blood flow to vital internal organs.

In fall I focus on de-toxing, but my practice is more gentle. As always the yummy forward folds, energizing back-bends, the wonderful Warriors. The air-ways may need some support so I find I am also attracted to a deeper breathing, full and slow Ujjayi Pranayama.

Perhaps that is the urge to ponder, share and embrace the gratitude for all that we have in our lives. All that challenges us, all that makes us be the best we can be.

___Update after yoga class_______________________________________________

Somehow that topic of change came up in my noon class today, perhaps because a few of us were feeling a little creaky, maybe a little sore. So we had a slow, meditative flow practice, focussing on grounding through sitbones when sitting, through our hands & feet in other poses. Coming back to centre between sets. Moving mindfully through our sun salutations and when need be modifiying poses to make sure we were right where we needed to be..... ahhhhh....... ommmmmmmm.


I love my yoga community.

Namaste