::Thoughts on centering
::Left/Right Breathing for Kindness & Calm
::Resources for Trauma Recovery/Integration: Register
::Will Restorative Yoga Make me Happier?
::Free Downloadable Yoga Nidras
How are you holding up friends?
I want to acknowledge all that we are holding right now, in our hearts, heads and bodies. Here are some ways to help you out, try them out and let me know what is helpful. I am here with you, feeling it all, like Kwan Yin, feeling the pains of the world. And, seeing the great changes and grateful for it all, it is taking this to make the change we have been working towards.
Navigating life invites us to pay attention, become aware and notice. Without these skills, it is pretty certain we will be deeply depressed, feel unfulfilled and overall not thrive. If you experience boredom, malaise, overwhelm, panic or a myriad of other nerve wracking feelings, consider this…
Stretch…
into new edges,
into new ideas,
new perceptions,
new habits.
Let go of the strain, when you notice it. In our online yin/restorative yoga classes, I found myself saying this a lot lately…”Stretch, don’t strain.” I found it a metaphor for my everyday life. When I noticed I was straining, whether to
express myself,
learn something new,
feel deeper into an asana (pose)
or sit longer or at all,
or to listen more consciously without forming opinions,
it really hit me, why am I straining? Why is this a strain?
I am working on this. Stretching with ease.
Stretching into these places that feel uncomfortable (like listening to opposing points of view),
like living on a mountain that so much of it burned down,
like riding my bike past the burns and feeling it all,
like letting go of the decisions that are not mine to make
and encouraging those I love to make their own decisions.
Like experiencing the changes in my body and mind as I age, and doing so with so much gratitude and grace, like loving a totally grey, white and silver head of hair!
Like allowing myself to feel glad that our home did not burn and sending as much love and light and support in any way I can to those that lost their homes.
Like accepting that staying home is the safest and most generous way I can be of service to community right now, even though I miss my sisters and friends and want to go visit them so much.
We are all going through a lot right now, and I am absolutely stretching to find kindness and grace. This hit me the other day…
Kindness and calm are free.
They cost us nothing.
We can choose kindness and calm.
Kindness is strength, and calm is powerful.
Violence and anger, frustration and impulsiveness are expensive.
On every level,
Financially(cleaning up the mess is $$$),
Emotionally (wrecks the nervous system and relationships),
Psychologically (disturbs Doshas and mind), and
Physically (digestion, circulation, respiration and
Energetically we disrupt and destroy harmony and function).
It is a destructive, painful, and costly path to take.
Feeling emotions like anger, frustration, disappointment and sadness are real, important and necessary.
Acting on them in ways that bring harm are not helpful. When I pay attention to my feelings, when I notice the waves of emotions that rise and fall, when I take a moment to be aware of what I am feeling and where it is coming from, I feel more empowered, strong and centered. I notice curiosity rising.
Curiosity takes the attention to a place that can be enlightening. It is fun, playful and restores a sense of childlike joy back into our lives.
Get out of your head and get into what is right here, a walk in nature, a pondering of how many snowflakes are falling, a wondering of the sounds you are hearing, notice how shallow or deep your breathing is. It will calm things down, and calm is a good place to be.
When you feel calmer, you may notice a renewed generosity of heart, a sense of kindness, less inner criticism coming.
If it feels like a strain to be kind and calm, then take some time off to understand why. It may be a new stretch to feel into kindness, to extend it to those that really cause your disharmony, and yet, so much wisdom is gained when you do. It is like a secret doorway into understanding yourself when you notice, become aware and pay attention to why kindness and calm may not be a regular habit.
Left/Right Nostril Breathing for Kindness and Calm
Sit anywhere, anytime, straighten your spine, inhale fully, exhale out of your mouth. Ahhhhh!
Use your right hand, close off Right Nostril,
INHALE left,
Close off Right Nostril,
EXHALE Left,
INHALE Left,
EXHALE Right. Keep alternating with an Inhale and Exhale from each nostril, by closing off the opposing nostril. SLOW DOWN, bring a slight pause in between the Inhale and Exhale.
Slow it down, open your belly for the breath, soften your shoulders, your Jaw, your face. Try for at least 3 minutes, work up to 30! Note how you feel! Start each day with a special time, just for you to sit, breathe and feel into your deep tender hearts.
What Rocks Your World?
Resources for Trauma Recovery
My world got rocked off its center this summer, and it took me months to restore my inner equilibrium. Every tool I have, I used. We had finished our first 6 Week On line Trauma Resources course and after returning home (from the evacuation), I joined in teaching our on line Trauma Informed Yoga Teacher Training course. Every tool in this course is a solid and viable resource for somatic healing, integration and getting your life back on track after or from trauma. My life has been defined lately as “Before the fires” and then “after the fires”. I do not bemoan this catastrophe, and I am well aware how phenomenally fortunate we are. I do understand now how it feels to truly believe that your sacred space, your home, your sanctuary may be reduced to ashes. It did for so very very many. My heart still breaks for those friends and neighbors. And, I am inspired and heartened to see their plans to rebuild, how our community came together and the ways we accept and move forward.
PS: Do you want to help our community recover from the fires? Join us in donating or planting daffodils!!
Whether you have experienced an acute or chronic level of trauma, no matter the type, depth, or features, having resources to restore your inner harmony is phenomenally essential to finding your way home again.
I could feel as my entire nervous system, inner harmony and essence came “back on line”, when I began to settle again into my self. And this did not come easily just because I returned home. Just as when a trauma is over, it still lives inside of us. I used these tools to find my way back to my center and I hope for you to learn them too.
There are many resources for integrating trauma, and without understanding how to access them and even what they are, you may keep reliving the somatic results. “Our issues live in our tissues”. The beauty of these tools/resources, is that we don’t need to go over the traumatic event, this is NOT talk therapy. This is a way to recognize our trigger and change course to elicit a new and healthier outcome.
Please join me, online LIVE for 6 weeks discover a new, healthier path for integrating what knocks you off your center and to restore a grounded, joyful equilibrium.
We cannot change what happened in the past, but we sure can change how we respond to it now.
Winter is Kapha Season
In the northern hemisphere, we are in Winter season, even here in California, the rains are bringing dampness, the baby green grasses shoot up, and as the ground softens, the air is cooler and slightly damp. Nothing like how I lived on the East coast for sure! Watching the rolling hills turn green is a strange and new phenomena for me, as that would normally signify springtime, but here, it is winter. We slow down, more cozy fires, hot soups and stews, Dals and heating exercise. Here is some excellent info for you, I love Banyan Botanicals ( a site that informs on Ayurveda and sells a myriad of herbs and supplies for it). I receive no compensation, just wanted to share, as their info is so delightful! Read on and use these tools for keeping healthy this winter.
Will Restorative Yoga make me Healthier? Happier?
For all ages, restorative yoga is essential for true health and well being. I LOVE a great deep sweaty yoga flow. I love a long slow luscious Yin practice. I love feeling the surges from Pranayama and the calming effect afterwards. Grounding, strengthening, healing, feeling, loving and being aware are just some of the benefits of a yoga practice. It is so much more than just movement. It brings you home to your true, natural self, to your essence. It feels great and it builds on itself, the more you do it, the more it feeds you.
But what about Restorative yoga? So how can lying about, all cozy and propped up with blankets, pillows, blocks and bolsters truly be essentially beneficial? Because with a concentrated awareness of breath, relaxation and physical ease, your entire central nervous system heals, you return to Parasympathetic mode (rest and digest) and you begin to restore a deep sense of well being that cannot be replaced with anything else. A restored sense of calm and self is priceless.
Here are some more detailed benefits, most especially for Seniors, and truly, these apply to us all, regardless of age.
Hope to see you on the mat, LIVE on Zoom, Mondays and Wednesdays, 7:00 pm. All classes are donation based and Zoom links are on line.
NEW Yoga Nidras for YOU!
Yoga Nidra is a way for your mind to reach a deep Alpha state of relaxation, providing you with long term health and well being benefits, reducing stress, enhancing coping skills, healing your adrenal cortex, and offering you a new way to problem solve and spark creativity!
Changing our perspective is a readily available tool we can learn to use immediately, most especially when we cannot change a current or past situation we are suffering with. Being able to even consider a new approach, a fresh viewpoint or an alternative answer to the issue is a powerful action to take, and you can choose that once your nervous system is more settled.
Neuroscience clearly shows that once we shift gears, and the brain slows down, a cascade of benefits are available to us. Alpha waves for change!
