Vipariti Karani

ByElizabeth

I just finished day two of three of training in “Coaching and Mentoring for Excellence.” It’s at the OPM building, which is just a couple of blocks west of the White House. Given rush hour commuting traffic and where the building and my house are situated relative to mass transportation, it doesn’t take much more time to walk-especially if I jog intermittently-the just over three miles each way. (See posts on Facebook and Instagram to see photos). I also took a walk at lunch.

Sometimes–for those of us fortunate enough to have a safe comfortable space and be healthy and well-nourished–nothing suits like several intentional minutes in vipariti karani (legs up the wall pose). Time to relieve my feet and legs after all that walking on pavement, even with the right shoes; time to be still and quiet, after a day of interpersonal exercises with strangers.

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    Politics and “Inner Work”

    ByElizabeth

    The other day, an acquaintance whom I met through yoga asked in an email whether I was still into politics or whether I was now more focused on my “inner work.” He lives in suburbia and voted for both Bushes and, at least in the early years, thought this country belonged in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He practices asana and meditation, and eats a vegetarian diet, but he does it entirely for his own health and looks and not out of any evident intention of aligning with the flows and forces of nature or concern for all beings and the environment. For him, politics and yoga and meditation practices have nothing to do with each other.

    I think it is wonderful that anyone takes care of their health and diet in a way that maximizes a health and a sense of well-being and minimizes the need to resort to medication and other Western medical care, which is a boon not only for the individual, but for the environment and for society in terms of cost.

    For me, though, there is no separation between inner and outer work if one is living in the world and not in the cloister or the monastery. It is true that if one is out of inner alignment or unhealthy, it is not possible to be best aligned with nature, and thus, there is a need to do work for our self personally. But the true point of the practices is to help provide inner quiet, steadiness, and wisdom in our daily lives, which for a householder includes being an educated and active citizen.

    Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.

  • Guest Bedroom Restorative Yoga

    ByElizabeth

    Let’s face it.  When we are on travel and staying at someone else’s house or in a hotel and doing all the running around that comes with visiting or working or sightseeing out of town, we can get out of balance.  This disruption of routine can upset our sleep and our digestion.  You don’t need the exact collection of pillow shown in these photos.  The point is that you can use whatever pillows and blankets (or even towels or your own coat or sweater to make the shapes of yoga bolsters and blankets) to do a nourishing and balancing restorative practice.  I like to travel with a hot water bottle in the colder months; there is little more comforting than yoga restoratives with a hot water bottle.

    1.   Legs up the headboard (sometimes there isn’t enough room on the floor to do any yoga even to do vipariti karani (legs up the wall pose)).   Here, pillows are stacked against the head of the bed because it otherwise would be uncomfortable (and risky for the art over the bed).  I suggest this pose first to surrender to being turned upside down, to undo the effects of gravity and too much walking around and carrying things, to relieve the legs and feet and to allow more energy to recenter itself in the heart.  Stay for 10 minutes, or even longer.

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    2.  Supported twist.  Start with your left thigh against the pillow stack, so that the energy follows the natural direction of the large colon, thereby helping relieve the impact of travel disruption to the digestion.  The gentle twist also wrings the adrenals, allowing them to release the toxicity of travel and disrupted diet.  After 7-10 minutes, switch to the other side with the right thigh perfectly parallel to the pillows before bowing forward.

     

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    3.  Balasana.  Place a pillow or two between your heels and your seat.  With your toes touching and knees wide apart, bring a couple of pillows, or folded blankets between your knees back to mid-thigh and then bow forward over the support, adjusting your makeshift props as needed to feel at ease in the pose.  The pose invites a fullness in the back body, letting the adrenals rejuvenate after the cleansing action of the twists.  This is good.  Stay for 10-12 minutes or so, remembering to turn your head to the other side half way through.

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    4.  Supported supta badha konasana (bound angle pose).  After you’ve relieved the feet and legs, nurtured the digestion and the adrenals, now is the moment to surrender to bliss (ananda) and open the heart to being right where you are–wherever that might be.  Key for this pose is to make sure that the support under your back is right up against your sacrum.  Shown by the fabulous yogini model are three possible ways to use the hot water bottle.  I wouldn’t have thought to put it on my face, but she delighted in that idea, and I can see how it would be good for sinuses stressed by travel.

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    As with any physical practice, you should approach even gentle poses such as these with appropriate awareness, honoring your own body’s limits.  If you want to learn how to practice yoga  asana safely and optimally, it is best to take classes to supplement a personal practice.

  • The Green Film of Pollen (and how yoga can help)

    ByElizabeth

    With the spell of hot, sunny weather, the tree pollen has arrived.  Everything is covered in a haze of green.  It is beautiful in its own way.  Even if one is not particularly allergic, though, the sheer density of the pollen, coupled with the degraded air quality from car emissions and other city pollution without any cleansing rains, can make it hard to breathe easily.  You may have noticed that you are feeling especially sluggish.  I do not have significant seasonal allergies, but when there is this much pollen, we are all breathing in a lot of particulate matter, and I notice I am fatigued for no apparent reason.  That by itself is a challenge.

    What can you do to feel better?  Listen to your body.  You may feel a need, after our long, snowy winter, to get out and run and play, but take it a little slowly.  Drink lots of water, juice, and herbal tea to flush out your system.  Use a neti pot to clear the pollen out of your sinuses so that it doesn’t stay there bothering them.

    Do cleansing practices.  Kapalabhati can be especially effective.  Make sure to use ujayi breathing while doing your poses.  I find that the action of channeling the breath with ujayi makes it much easier to breathe through the nose.  Incorporate some extra twists into your practice for their cleansing action.  Instead of giving up your practice because of allergy symptoms and fatigue and choosing to just lie around, make the effort to set up some restorative poses.  I find supported twists for the cleansing effect and supported backbends, which expand the area of the heart and lungs, making it easier to breathe, feel especially good.

    It may be hard, but instead of looking at the green film and your dirty tissues, notice the beauty burgeoning around you.  The flowering and leafing trees, the greening grass, the proliferation of flowering bulbs and bushes are extraordinary.  Where we put our attention is what we feel and experience the most.

    ps Using cloth handkerchiefs and napkins instead of paper and just throwing them in with your other laundry, will make breathing easier in the long run if enough of us do it.  Fewer trees killed.  Less pollution.  Better air.

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