Category Archives: Breathing-Pranayama

Stillness And The Ability To Listen Inwardly

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Be still and listen..rather an art form.

Here are some tips to start cultivating this art :
1. Make notes of anything in your life that is difficult, painful, joyful, and notice how your breathing, heart rate and other bodily sensations respond to each of these.
2. Pay attention to what your body feels like. For example, do you feel fluid, numb, or stuck? These feelings are your body’s wisdom; clues in your inner guidance system.
3. When you experience a bodily sensation such as “gut reaction,” back pain, a headache, a stomach ache, pay attention to it. Are emotions such as anger or fear connected with any areas of your body? When a sensation arises, stop, lie down, breathe and wait with the emotion or sensation – what insights come up through this process?
4. Notice how you routinely talk to yourself. Do you chastise or appreciate when you look in the mirror? Are you hyper critical or do you give your body positive messages, and gratitude. Your body digests meals, breathes in and out, and your heart beats 24/7… Cultivate a positive chain between your inner mental dialogue and the rest of you.
5. Understand that you risk your health when you consistently undermine your body. Burning the candle at both ends, worrying incessantly, food choices, activity choices, friendship choices…it all affects our system as a whole.

stillness

Pranayama Practice Of The Day

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It’s incredible how the breath can give us clues-be a barometer for-what is on our mind. Perfect example, navigating traffic in a foreign place. Not Europe. Jersey City. I just moved here but my GPS is on the fritz and gives me directions that are way off. I noticed how panicky I was and made a conscious effort to slow my breath down. Of course, the first step is always noticing the natural, essential breath and if it is anything but, that is a sure sign you are stressed out.

The photo shows a pranayama called alternate nostril breathing which is also balancing, though more of a formalized practice, not one you can do in your car. Yoga is a practical system and helps us in many ways contend with the daily grind. So when you get up and go don’t forget you are not leaving home without a built in anti-anxiety tool.

 

pranayama

Monday Punday

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Too cute not to share.  Laughter is great medicine; contentment breeds calm ~ or here’s to hoping! Naturally, a balanced Yoga practice will stimulate the endorphins; you can also do a lot with breathing exercises.

A great yoga therapy technique to simulate laughter is Kapalabhati

Kapalabhati Pranayama (pronounced (kah-pah-lah-BAH-tee). Kapala = skull and bhati = light (implying perception, knowledge).
The effect of this energizing pranayama is to clear the mind, release emotional tensions, improve digestion, and leave you feeling “brighter,” almost as if your brain was standing in a warm and happy sunbeam.
Build up slowly!
Step by Step Guide:
Sit comfortably, using any support or props.  Try seated tadasana on a chair, if you like.
Focus on your lower abdomen, placing your hands there, one atop the other. Breathe in and then try laughing.
Notice the activity under your hands, as the belly contracts in short bursts.
Inhale, and as you exhale next time, repeat the same “ha ha ha” action but using short exhales through the nose.

Your inhales can be long, passive and slow, the exhales will be shorter bursts.  You can keep your hands on the belly and use them to pump the abdomen until you are comfortable and feel more adept at the rhythm.

Monday Punday

 

Fighting the Mind

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Who do you identify with?

If you plan to sit with your breath, I give full details on how to set up on the Yoga Mind cd; there should be no anxiety or discomfort in your posture, so use a few yoga props to ensure the spine is straight. My curiosity goes to the man on the left – he needs to sit on at least one(or two!) folded blanket(s) so his knees are not higher than the hips and bolsters fit under the outer hips is always welcome relief. Sukhasana = happy seated pose…

Also just know that meditation is a process and involves practice, patience, and replacing old patterns of thinking with a relaxed focus. You are undoing tension to uncover the calm that predates the anxiety..but just coexisting rather than resisting – honouring and accepting and gaining some distance from the busyness of the mind.

Once you are comfortable in your posture, and you are ok with touching base with your witness self, there is no need to force anything. Just bring yourself to the feeling of the breath touching the inside of your nostrils and focus on this sensation.

We can replace panic with peace as a destination  🙂 just stop fighting the mind long enough to practice taming it

thinking:notthinking

Breathe

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It is still so cold outside as I look out my window, this is not what I see, but it is the energy I wish to invoke…fresh, growth, potential, possibility, encouragement, calm. I cannot help but take a picture of my houseplant, the new little shoot is just beautiful and symbolic of this season which is upon us.  I actually wrote a blog about purification, if you are interested in reviewing it – click here

new growth

The breath is one of the foundations of yoga practice ~ when breath and body movement are coordinated, energy circulates into the musculature and the opportunity for postural change is enhanced ~ a sunken chest becomes more open, shoulders release away from the ears, digestion improves and so on!

So breathe in fresh energy and release anything with your exhale that you do not need; in this way you are using the breath like spring cleaning even when it is still pretty frozen outside! After a few moments, your nervous system may just move from panic to peace and with very little cost, you have added a dose of regeneration and relaxation to your day 🙂

breathe

Meditation Funny

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Wouldn’t this be great since most of our thinking is worry/stress based?

meditation funny

If you have a lot on your mind, it takes more effort to push thoughts away than to cultivate the witness…just be yourself, honour, and spend 15 – 20 minutes on relaxation in addition to your yoga mat practice.

Yoga Therapy : A great ‘clear the mind’ pranayama is Kapalabhati Pranayama (pronounced (kah-pah-lah-BAH-tee). Kapala = skull and bhati = light (implying perception, knowledge).

This wonderful breathing exercise will clear the mind, release emotional tensions, improve digestion, and leave you feeling energized and “brighter,” almost as if your brain was standing in a warm and happy sunbeam.
Build up slowly!
  1. Sit comfortably, using any support or props.  Try seated tadasana on a chair, if you like.
  2. Focus on your lower abdomen, placing your hands there, one atop the other. Breathe in and then try laughing.
  3. Notice the activity under your hands, as the belly contracts in short bursts.
  4. Inhale, and as you exhale next time, repeat the same “ha ha ha” action but using short exhales through the nose.
  5. Your inhales can be long, passive and slow, the exhales will be shorter bursts.  You can keep your hands on the belly and use them to pump the abdomen until you are comfortable and feel more adept at the rhythm.

I am available for private yoga classes, great way to build your home practice safely and should you need guidance, my Yoga Mind cd has several tracks that will lead you to that mindful altered state of deep letting go.

Breathing: A Yogatherapy Perspective

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breathe into this moment

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The breath, from a yoga therapy perspective, is both tool and toolbox.

Read on : My latest blogpost is now available on MindBodyGreen “Why Breathing Isn’t As Easy As It Seems (And How To Do It With Intention)”

As always, I am available both for workshops and private yoga lessons and you can download further options on my Yoga Mind cd

A yoga therapy breathing practice for joy

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celebrate what is rightThe breath is the link between the mind and the body; the key to finding the peace and joy that resides within. This is an exercise that anyone can do, you can do it at the end of your savasana, or meditation, or as a yoga break anytime.

Choose a comfortable set up for your practice. I have 3 different ones to choose from on my Yoga Mind cd. I was always told that palming the eyes creates a fresh perspective, it is also super important for our ‘staring into screens’ culture as it brings relaxation to the the eyes themselves as well as triggering a parasympathetic response in the nervous system.

Gently rub your palms together for about 15-30 seconds, feeling the warmth and visualizing it as healing energy.  Place your palms on the brow and cheekbones – as opposed to the sensitive eyeball area.  You can let the top throat pull up and back lightly and allow your head to be somewhat heavy into your hands. Tune into your breath, and let the thoughts and images fade into the palms as you feel the warmth from your breath passed back to you from the palms. Let your face feel hollow. When you are ready, let your eyes open from bottom to top and notice how you feel, how the breath feels. Focus in on any new sensations of release of tension, that is always a place of peace and joy.

If you would like any personal assistance, and to learn more breathing practices, I am available for workshops and private yoga classes

 

All you do is

 

Being Kind To Your Body Through Yoga

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“You have to learn how to listen to your body, going with it and not against it, avoiding all effort and strain and centering your attention on that very delicate point, the back of the waist (where the spine moves in two opposing directions). You will be amazed to discover that, if you are kind to your body, it will respond in an incredible way” ~ Vanda Scaravelli , Awakening The Spine

What a beautiful picture this is ~ flowers blossoming where the rib cage is and the pelvis mirrored as a butterfly. If we can learn, and I believe yoga therapy assists this, to open our body with mindful intentionality ~ whether that be with a well placed yoga prop, or just an acknowledgement that we don’t need to ‘attack’ asana, we get better results in the way of improved range of motion, ease and transformation of pain into peace.

Patience and perseverance matter as does practice (time and frequency)  Tissues will adapt according to the demands imposed on them.  That means any ‘stretch’ once a week probably won’t be sufficient  to counter the demands of the rest of the hours of the week.  Make sense? There is no fast track to flexibility, but this does not mean that all yoga therapy is ‘gentle’ however, it can be used as a treatment plan for a healthy and pain free body, or just for better performance in your daily life/sport etc.  Approach practice with kindness and you will be surprised at the benefits.

In reality, we are all individual and should be assessed and treated as such.   I’m available for private yoga classes to help you get on the right track for you.

the body as a miracle of nature