Tag Archives: relaxation

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

Savasana Funny

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This is hilarious!

Everyone is different of course, some people “can’t” relax, some people fall asleep instead of relaxing. I find in many classes that I have seen, there is only a 5 minute savasana; it isn’t enough. Mostly I think people just want to come in and bang out a work-out, but you really aren’t doing your Yoga justice to omit the very core of practice ~ integration, calm, witness, awareness, dropping into your light body…..

You can build a sustainable relaxation practice on your own. By that I mean, time spent on the mat that cultivates the calm tools for getting through daily stress.

There is one track on my Yoga Mind cd that I like for learning, called Diving Deeply into Relaxation, I think you can listen to a clip on I Tunes

If you are a bit overloaded by Saturday, which many of us are, just taking some time to lay out your mat, cover your eyes, and turn the world to mute will refresh you. Try it 🙂
Savasana funny comic

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.

Let Peace Begin With me

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This is beautiful. I led a class yesterday and found myself reflecting, as I talked students through the transition from savasana to the end of class, about how peace is our innermost self, beyond the masks we wear during daily life. Easy to doubt that, for sure. Life can be a frickin’ roller coaster. So it is definitely a choice to live completely stressed out or at least have a way to neutralize and re-balance. I believe my yoga practice does that for me and I am grateful for each day of insight and intentional movement.

I have seen some classes here which include 3-5 minutes of relaxation – in fact it does take around 15 minutes to really get to that altered state. You can give it a whirl any time. I have a few longer practices on my Yoga Mind Cd. Click here for some easy steps to build a home practice. I am available for private yoga classes as well. Let Peace Begin With Me.

let peace begin with me

The benefits of finding calm through Yoga

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“What makes the mind so powerful and difficult to ‘still’ is its rajasic impulse to do – to think about what to do, and about what to do about what it is thinking, and so on” ~ Doug Keller

Sometimes the body needs to do less as well.  What I love about restorative yoga is that it helps the mind settle as the body learns to let go into gravity. This prepares us for the sweet practices of yoga such as meditation and relaxation which help us so much in daily life.

The benefits of silence are numerous. Click HERE for the top 7 that come to mind and HERE to check out my cd, which will help you along the way.

If you typically think a lot during the physical practice of yoga, it could be that you haven’t quite got the right alignment information – so – I am available for private yoga classes to help you get in touch with the power of silence within. For now: food for thought: The benefits of finding calm through Yoga  are numerous and silence is stress relief…

silence is a place

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

 

Weekend – To be active or to take a nap?

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By the week end you may be exhausted or raring to go…Bottom line is about listening to your body – for some free tips click here

My YOGA MIND cd has some great short and longer practices; for some free tips on meditation and relaxation just click on the highlighted word.

There is nothing like a private, one on one yoga session to help you learn/deepen your practice or a Yapana® Stretch One on One session to get your body/mind/spirit totally refreshed and stretched out ~ or you can join my Monday public yoga class in Tenafly for a practice that will nourish you all week long.

And, there is nothing like a nap 🙂

the reward of a nap

Yoga is a great way to nurture yourself

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The “goal” of practice is to quiet the mind and this in turn leads you closer to your highest self.  There are options: in this very moment you can start breathing and relaxing with a few tips from my Yoga Mind Cd; – join one of my public yoga classes in Tenafly or book your private yoga class with me ~ In a private yoga class, we focus on your goals, it is a very nurturing time for the student

always take time for soul searching