4 amazing things you can do with your breath

From Huffington post.

Get a Core! Perfect Posture Stand Up Straight! with Psalm Isadora

Hello. 

Just wanted to real quickly share this video from Psalm Isadora about the simple act of standing. 

I say "real quickly" because honestly, this post has been a draft for at least a week. If I don't get it posted now, i never will. 

Good posture is not just for the yoga mat. Good posture, or a "strong  mountain," on the mat will eventually translate to a "strong mountain" in the grocery line, if you let it. 

Take a minute to practice along w/Psalm. 

Notice how you feel as you stand connected to your center. 

See if you can bring this posture into your day. 

& just for grins & giggles, notice how stress affects how you stand and move. 

Personally, when my day gets rough, my right foot tends  to turn outward. I sink into my hips & drop my belly forward. My shoulders, especially the left one, begin to round & my chin kind of juts out and down. And i begin to just hurl myself forward, kind of like a boulder tumbling down a hill picking up all kinds of muck becoming heavier and well.... muckier.

The really interesting thing is, the more I hunker down, the less I am aware of what is going on in my body. I can stay low to the ground and thrash my battle axe around, than wonder why my shoulders & arms hurt so damn much.

I guess, this is what I feel that I am:

Found here

Except.... you know, without the armor & .... the boobs & not nearly as cute. 

Not that there is anything wrong with being a dwarf my Tolkien friends. & in no way, NO WAY, is this intended to be malicious towards little people. 

A fantasy style dwarf is just what comes to my mind when I try to define how  my posture changes under stress. I just bear down and stomp about. & I have arthritic toes and popped ligaments and all around crazy feet problems to prove it. 

And really, the inner me is just more elfin. 

Like this:

http://www.wallfox.net/Abstract/Fantasy/water_fantasy_rocks_fairies_elf_sprites_1280x1024_wallpaper_28543

O.k. Maybe more like this: 

http://moviesmedia.ign.com/movies/image/elf-10-10-sm.jpg

At any rate, bringing awareness to how my posture really changes when I am stressed has helped me to truly feel how I am physically being affected as opposed to being a victim to the after effects of a day filled with mindless bolting to & fro. 

 This awareness allows me to work on regaining and maintaining the quiet strength of my center. 

I would like to say that I frequently stop and practice this itty bit of breath work. But I can say that i do so more often than i used to & when i do, I am happy that i did. 

Upon noticing the effects of stress on your posture -  

 - inhale acknowledging

 exhale accepting those feelings as they are in that moment 

(easing tension in the feet, facing toes forward & resting on the 4 corners of the feet)

inhale accepting 

exhale remembering that all is impermanent.

(relaxing my knees, internally rotating my thighs, scooping my tailbone, engaging my abs)

Inhale surrendering to the feelings

Exhale sending positive energy to others who may be feeling the same as I in that moment. 

(sliding my shoulder blades down, lengthening and softening my neck, relaxing my jaw, easing my gaze)

Inhale - welcoming energy from earth & sky into the core of my body

(lowering my ribs, re-scooping and connecting through tail bone and core)

Exhale sending that energy back out

Of course, I don't always get through all of the above. lol

However, the process is interesting if nothing else. 

If you have minute, give it try. See what is going on. & if you feel inclined to do so, share your findings in the comments. 

Would love to hear from you. 

Peace

We have come to be danced

Stumbled upon the poem "We Have Come to be Danced" by Jewel Matheison on Stumbleupon.

I was going to type it all out but found this video.

Enjoy.

benefits of early morning yoga

Number 5 is my favorite.  :)

Photo found here

"Take hold..."

“Take hold of your own life.
See that the whole existence is celebrating.
These trees are not serious, these birds are not serious.
The rivers and the oceans are wild,
and everywhere there is fun,
everywhere there is joy and delight.
Watch existence,
listen to the existence and become part of it.”
― Osho

another short morning sequence

This morning I found this cool online meditation timer. It's simple and, best of all, free.

My personal practice has fallen by the wayside of late. But this morning, instead of saying "screw it" to doing something good for myself because I have places to be and things to do, I said "screw it" to those places and things & took a few moments for myself. I mean, shoot! I am worth a few moments of my day. Aren't you?

And I fit a very nice simple practice into about 10-15 minutes w/the help of the online timer. It chimes a start, midway and ending tone. The midway chime is very helpful because I tend to lose track of time and either end up lopsided or running very very late into my day.

And man, did that short sequence of stretches feel gOOOOD.

So, I will share that sequence with you.

Mountain
Bring hands to low back, interlace fingers, stretch arms down the spine.
Release the hands bring arms overhead.
Fold forward.
Jacknife 3x
Step back into low lunge.
Exhale into arda hanumanasana
Inhale - low crescent lunge
repeat 3 x
High lunge
forward fold
Mountain
Repeat on other side

Mountain
forward fold
plank - 5 breaths
cobra - 5 breaths
downward dog - 5 breaths
forward fold
Mountain

Raise arms overhead interlace fingers, palms turn up & pinkies turn away. Stretch up from soles of feet to palms of hands. Keeping shoulders away from the ears. 3 - 5 breaths
standing crescent moon to one side.
Switch the hands so the opposite index finger is in front.
Repeat.

Tree - 3 - 5 breaths on both sides

Qi gong twist - dragon slithers up the column ( I practice this a bit differently than described here. But the link provides sufficient instruction)
4 x - holding on the last for 3 - 5 breaths.

2 minutes of tantric power breath

2 minutes meditation.

Aaaaaaaahhhh. That's better.

Yum-delicious Yellow Springs

A few weeks ago I had the good fortune to spend a couple of days in the sweet little town of Yellow Springs Ohio and attend a workshop w/ Angela Farmer & Victor van Kooten. And finally, I have a minute to talk about it.

Yellow Springs was a fascinating place to me. Granted, I do not get out much so I am easily impressed w/places outside my neighborhood. But Yellow Springs seems to be a small bastion of art and liberalism. An oasis for free thinkers in a mostly conservative area of a mostly conservative state. (Don't let the fact that Ohio voted blue in the past 2 elections fool you.).

During the breaks I was able to explore this place a little bit. After the workshop, I tended to go back to my motel and crash. Tuning into your inner body can be quite exhausting.

I stayed at The Springs Motel, a very cute and colorful 1950's styled motel that sits about 5 minutes outside of downtown.  Loved this place! The new owner, Kat, is incredibly accommodating and makes a killer spiced tea.

And it's so freaking adorable!

The room I had was one of their larger rooms, but it was pretty tiny by most hotel standards. However, I did not feel claustrophobic or boxed in like I usually feel in a motel. The decor was homey and had personality. And most importantly, the place was very very quiet. Some of the rooms are dog friendly as well.   Of course, I didn't think to take a picture of the room.

 This lovely reminder to respect was hung beside the door. 

I definitely recommend staying here. 

Yellow Springs is a very small town of about 4,000 people. There are plenty of places to hike and bike including the Clifton Gorge State Nature Preserve (which sounds de-lovely but does not allow pets) and the Little Miami Scenic Trail. There are bike rental places in town too if you don't want to bring your own. 

Downtown is a gathering of art stores and eateries. The coolest thing about this town is that it seems that every restaurant has vegetarian options - & not just a grilled cheese and french fries. Ha Ha's Pizza offers a tofu calzone. ( This tasted better the second day than the first & I don't know that I would order it again.). & there was an ice cream place .... can't remember the name ..... but they have vegan ice cream.

Yep. Just as the sign says - all flavors available in vegan. They also had a very delicious sounding veggie quesadilla that I didn't get. 

Should've written down the name of the place but it's right next door to here. 

Yeah. That's right! Indian food cooked in a beat up trailer in a parking lot. Goddess bless Yellow Springs. 

So this one guy cooks all the food to order and from scratch. The wait time can be extreme. There were quite a few people in front of me. So, I just ordered soup and nan. Freaking delicious and just enough. I had the feeling some of the people in front of me were put off by the wait time, but it's really part of the experience and well worth it to enjoy some tasty Indian cooking. 

While you're waiting for your Indian food, you can check out one of the many artsy shops in Yellow Springs. Too many to name or describe. I am not a big shopper, more of just looking arounder. And I tend to get overwhelmed easily when in an area with a bunch of cool stuff to buy.  So.... I didn't go into too many places. 

The coolest thing to me about the town is the number of people who have dogs. Loved this. Dogs dogs everywhere. Hanging out with their owners in front of coffee shops. Milling about the streets. And it appears that many of the stores allow dogs. 

In fact, I complimented the gentle nature of a woman's black lab. She indignantly told me about just being kicked out of the glass store. I watched as the lab's tail swished side to side & thought about the horror of taking my own waggy butted lab mix into a glass store.  I asked her why she asked to leave. "Because he has a cat in there. My dog would never hurt the cat." Hahaha.  I love this place. 

The workshop was good and interesting and all that. I will write more about it at a later time.