7 reasons to love child's pose

1-Relaxation-Childs’ pose is a great opportunity to release all the tension in your muscles, and just be supported by the floor.  If Childs’ pose isn’t relaxing to you, use props, maybe behind the knees, or under the head & chest.

2-Grounding-How often, in daily life, do we put our foreheads to the floor?  Not much.  And yet, it’s a great way to connect with the earth again.  Placing the forehead on the floor can help to bring you out of the monkey mind, and into the body once again.

3-Pranayama-One of the things I love about Childs’ pose is how my breath seems amplified when I’m all curled up like that.  The sounds of my breath reverberate back to me off my legs.  This allows my focus to remain firmly on my breath…just where it needs to be.

4-Yin time-The ‘yin’ side of life is the calm, quiet, solitude side.  In Childs’ pose, I feel like I’m totally alone in the world.  I feel protected by my strong back, and I feel I can spend some time just being me.

5-Low back stretch-This posture is a great counter pose to some of the back-strengthening poses we do in yoga.  When we’ve done several locust poses, or camel poses, it can feel so good to just shift backward and stretch the lower back.

6-Neck softness-All day long, we hold up this 8-10 lb bowling ball we call a head.  Our necks get tired and stretched, often causing neck pain, headaches, and more.  But in Childs’ pose, all the weight of the head is on the floor.  What a nice break from our daily chore.  The muscles of the neck can relax and become soft, leaving that big head to be supported by the mat.

7-Breath consciousness in the back-We are often aware of the breath coming & going through the front of the ribcage, but it also moves through the back.  In Childs’ pose, because the front of the chest is compressed, we can focus on opening the back with the breath.  Our intercostal muscles rarely get such a great workout as when we’re actively bringing the breath into the back.

5 Keys to Tree Pose

5 Keys to a better Tree Pose

1-A firm foundation-Begin by mindfully placing all four corners of your foot on the floor (both sides of the heel, big toe mound & little toe mound)  Lift & spread all your toes & place them down firmly.  Imagine your toes to be like roots, grounding into the floor.  Strength and flexibility in the foot and lower leg can make all the difference in your Tree Posture.

2-A solid gaze-Find a spot that’s not moving, a “Dristi” spot.  Hold this spot clearly in your vision.  By keeping your eyes on the Dristi, you will increase your balance dramatically.

3-A gathering energy-When you bring the foot to the inside of the leg, it’s important to gather your energy in and up.  Think of squeezing in, and lifting.  One of the chief complaints I hear about Tree Pose is that the foot slides down the yoga pants.  To keep this from happening, the foot AND the standing leg must press against each other, gathering energy toward the center.  Also, we want to lift the pelvic floor, for strength and stabilization, gathering the energy upward.

4-An open heart-Often we find ourselves just focused on the balance in Tree Pose.  But we also must remember the upper body to obtain the lightness and freedom associated with this posture.  Shoulders are back, and the sternum (the big bone in your chest) is lifted here.  Imagine floating your collar bones closer to the sky, and spreading open the front of the chest.

5-A humble ego-While we all want to do the perfect ‘Yoga Journal” pose, that’s not always in the cards.  Honor your body.  Maybe you need to keep your toes on the ground, or just barely bring the foot up.  That’s ok.  Maybe, especially if you’re just beginning yoga, you might even want to put a finger on a wall, until your balance gets stronger.  Listen to your body, and practice in the NOW.

Why I do Yoga: part 3

Do you know what a type-A personality looks like?  Always stressed, always hurried, always freaked out about one thing or another.  That’s me.  Or at least it used to be me.  And I still fall into that habit every now & then.  But it’s not how I live.

I come from a long line of worriers.  I could worry about anything.  I’m sure if there were awards for worrying, I would be a finalist.  If you’re a worrier, you know how hard it is to live that way.  Never peaceful.  Never content. 

The first time I tried Sivasana (the meditation at the end of each yoga class), it was just 10 minutes to worry, uninterrupted!  My monkey mind was all over the place.  How did these people lie still so long?  Aren’t they dying to get up & do something?

Slowly, very slowly, Yoga, Pranayama (breathing) and meditation have changed all that for me.  Most of the time, I can quiet my mind.  Now, I’m more likely to be thinking of just one thing, instead of many things at once.  I still worry, but not as often.  Now, with practice, I can breathe, calm my mind, and stop freaking out.  I can prioritize and accomplish my tasks in a calm and peaceful manner.

This has been another liberating aspect of yoga.  Slowing down, letting go.  Most of my friends and acquaintances now wouldn’t know what a type-A I used to be.  I like that.

Recognizing Automatic Negative Thoughts

Do you suffer from negative thought patterns?  (samskaras)
In The Mindful Way Through Depression,  by Williams, Teasdale, Segal and Kabat-Zinn, the authors offer the following practice:

"The following is the same list of automatic thoughts reported by people who were currently depressed that we saw in Chapter 1.
1-I feel like I'm up against the world
2-I'm no good
3-Why can't I ever succeed?
4-No one understands me.
5-I've let people down
6-I don't think I can go on
7-I wish I were a better person
8-I'm so weak
9-My life's not going the way I want to.
10-I'm so disappointed in myself
11-Nothing feels good anymore.
12-I can't stand this anymore
13-I can't get started
14-What's wrong with me?
15-I wish I were somewhere else
16-I can't get things together
17-I hate myself
18-I'm worthless
19-I wish I could just disappear
20-What's the matter with me
21-I'm a loser
22-My life is a mess
23-I'm a failure
24-I'll never make it.
25-I feel so helpless
26-Something has to change
27-There must be something wrong with me.
28-My future is bleak
29-It's just not worth it.
30-I can't finish anything
As you look at the thoughts on the list, think about how strongly, if at all, you would believe each of the thoughts if it popped into your head RIGHT NOW.
When you have finished, think back to a time when you were at your most depressed and then return once more to the list.  Think now about how strongly you would have believed each of those thoughts had they occurred AT THAT TIME"

If you've ever struggled with depression, or if you know someone who has, I recommend you read The Mindful Way Through Depression.  It might just change your life.

What does it mean to 'ground'?

Often, in class, you'll hear an instructor talk about taking a moment "to ground", or describing a pose as "grounding".  Grounding is an energetic term, referring to the feeling of being connected to the earth.  As humans, we connect energetically to the earth, with a downward pull, and to the heavens, with an upward pull.  If either of these is out of balance, we can have trouble concentrating, focusing, or even trouble being creative.  When we spend too much time thinking, worrying, or planning, we need to balance that energy with 'grounding'.

Here's a simple exercise to help you get your feet back on the ground:

Sit or stand with both bare feet on the floor or your mat.

Take a few deep breaths, bringing your attention away from outside interferences, and into your body.

Using the sensory nerves in your feet, notice how the floor feels beneath you.

Is it cool? warm? firm? soft? sticky?

Next, invite your attention to your feet themselves. 

Can you feel the skin on your feet?  What sensations arise?

Sit with these feelings for 10-15 breaths, or as long as you need to feel connected and grounded again.

Use this grounding technique anytime you need to come back down, out of your head!