4/22/10

Happy Earth Day! Love Your Mother!


Today, in honor of the earth, take many mini retreats:
Fill up a glass with cool fresh water, drink slowly, savor it, repeat often. Say thanks!
Stop often and take a deep breath, smell the fresh spring air, stand next to a lilac bush and let yourself get high on it's perfume. Say thanks!
Eat local fresh fruit and vegetables. Slowly. Savor each bite. Say thanks!
Dig in the dirt, plant a seed. Marvel at the abundance arising from the soil. It is a miracle. Say thanks!
Look around you. Like a small child notice all the little miraculous gifts of spring: earth worms, flowers everywhere, emerging plants, baby squirrels, birds nesting, birds calling, birds returning to the Valley for summer. Say thanks!
Feel your body. You too are part of the earth. Your physical, primal, animal body is the biggest gift you have. Say Thanks!

Happy Earth Day! Love you Mother! Love yourself!

4/20/10

yoga desk posture

you're probably sitting in a chair right now.
stop and look at your shape:
  • are you slumped into the back of the chair?
  • are your shoulder rounded toward your ears?
  • is your belly loose and collapsed?
  • is your upper chest concave?
  • is your head forward of your chest?
  • are your knees or ankles crossed?
while a chair slump might feel comfortable in the short term, it will yield significant long term body pain. so, lets make some adjustments:
  1. draw yourself forward so you are not leaning into the chair back;
  2. place the soles of both feet on the ground, steady, parallel, and comfortable;
  3. rock your pelvis back and forth and side to side to soften the hip sockets;
  4. find a central alignment for your pelvis, neither hollowed in the belly nor the low back, but balanced, your pubic bone and tail bone feel almost level;
  5. lift your pelvic floor (the trampoline beneath your digestive and reproductive organs);
  6. lift your lower belly;
  7. interlace your fingers and place your palms on your upper chest;
  8. float your heart toward your hands and breath into your palms;
  9. turn your palms away and stretch your arms out in front of you, move your shoulder blades forward and back a dozen times or so, and then gently hold the shoulder blades loose and low on your back;
  10. bring your palms and your interlaced fingers behind your head;
  11. rest your head back into your palms like you resting your head on a pillow;
  12. stretch your elbows wide while you gently lift the back of your head, lengthening your upper neck;
  13. release your hands and arms;
  14. let your upper arms dangle from your shoulder blades;
  15. bend your elbows to rest your hands on your thighs or the desk in front of you;
  16. close your eyes and tune into how your body feels right now.
this position takes strength: ab strength and back strength. When you go back to your work you may find yourself unconsciously returning to your slumped posture. Don't berate yourself. Just notice and then take a moment to bring yourself back into alignment. You may need to do this 100 times a day. And you will be in less pain, happier and stronger at the end of the day for effort.

Here's to a happy and healthy body! Cheers!

4/19/10

be a puddle: savasana

lie on the floor
feel the back of your body on the floor
notice all the places where you touch the floor
soften into those places
let your weight fall into the earth, like sand melting through an hourglass
release deeply
release so deeply that your tissues seem to melt
and your bones fall to the back of your body
your abdomen begins to feel like a mountain lake
deep, clear, and dark
your breath blows gently across the surface of the lake
and you see the reflection of the sky, the stars, and all that is
you are a reflection of all that is