Self Healing

ByElizabeth

A few weeks ago, I began having symptoms of “trigger finger.” My reaction was to look up good exercises to counter it and then create a suitable exercise routine. I have done some of the exercises before, although it is the first time using them to address this particular condition of embodiment.

Of the suggested exercises, making a fist and then stretching the affected finger out by itself has been the most effective. This means that I am walking about the house sticking out the middle finger of my left hand.

While I am at it, I figured it couldn’t hurt if I imagined I was showing what I think of the patriarchy. Just saying.

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    Web Version of Holiday E-Newsletter

    ByElizabeth

    Dear Friends,

    May your inner light shine brightly for yourself and others through the holiday season.  I wish you all much joy and safe travels.  As I get ready to take some time off and celebrate with friends and family–with a little sojourn in New York as part of the plan–I wanted to let you know the schedule to make it easier to plan.

    There are no Willow Street classes for the rest of the year–though a number of my friends and colleagues are offering what look like a fantastic array of workshops at Willow Street from 12/29 to 1/2.  There is William Penn House this coming Tuesday, 12/21 and also 1/4, but not on 12/28.  There will be two special house practices for regular students on Thursday 12/23 and Monday 12/27.  Please email me if you wish to attend.

    Free class week,, which runs from 1/3 to 1/9, starts the new Willow Street session.  I will be offering two classes at Willow Street Takoma Park during free class week:  restoratives on Monday, January 3rd, and gentle/therapeutic on Saturnday, January 9th.

    In addition to continuing the gentle/therapeutics at noon on Saturdays in the Winter Session (registering is great, but drop-ins always welcome), I will be offering the last Saturday of the month from January to March “Relaxing into Optimal Alignment with Anusara Restoratives.”  After a little gentle stretching and self-massage to bring awareness to the breath and body, we will enjoy the exquisite application of Anusara’s Universal Principles of Alignment to restful and supported restorative postures to release old patterns and invite in the new to find greater ease of body and mind. The workshop is designed to be a great practice for all levels; sign up for the full 3-class series and save $15!  The workshop series–or even just one–makes a great holiday gift for yourself or a friend or loved one.

    Also please mark your calendars in advance for “Yoga for Gardeners,” which is for all levels of yogis and gardeners alike.  It will be on Saturday, March 18th. A portion of the profits, as is my tradition, will go to benefit the Youth Garden at the National Arboretum.

    Peace and light,

    Elizabeth

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    Avilokitesvara

    ByElizabeth

    Avilokitesvara– god(dess) of compassion had one head and two arms. Zhe didn’t have enough ears to listen to all the stories of suffering, so one of the buddhas busted one head into eleven. Avilokitesvara’s two arms broke from the weight of helping, but instead of two arms broken and worn out, two arms broke into a thousand arms.

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    Sankalpa (Intention)

    ByElizabeth

    In the tradition of our culture’s “new year’s resolution” I like to practice yoga nidra at this time of year to help establish a new sankalpa or intention.  A sankalpa is different from a new year’s resolution.  It is short, affirming, and is both in the present and forward-looking.

    Usually it takes a couple of weeks for me to be certain of what sankalpa is right for me to work with for a period of months.  One year, I had been very sick for the entire fall and early winter, so it was easy to choose “I am healthy.”  For the past two years, as I struggled with my place this time of war and societal struggle and thought about my own role in creating and avoiding conflict, I chose the sankalpa “I will come from the light in all I do” (“light” for me meaning an inner place of peace, compassion and spaciousness).

    In the past several months, mostly due to having thoroughly enjoyed creating meals from the garden and the farmers’ market, I am a little heavier than works with the clothing I own and my sense of comfort with my body image.  Instead of having a new year’s resolution to lose five pounds, which would likely fail, I am working with the sankalpa “I love and respect my body.”  The former buys into societal expectations of what my body should look like, imposes mental will over my body, and reinforces a mindset of negative judgment and denial.  The latter is joyous and affirming.  I believe that if I truly love and respect my body, I will eat in a way that is healthy for my body and the earth.  I will either lose the few pounds or be more accepting of my body as it is.  This sankalpa thus gives me much to contemplate in terms of my relationship to the mirror, my clothes, my asana practice, and my way of eating.  How much it gives me to contemplate expands if I think of the body extending beyond just my flesh and bones and physical appearance, but also to my energy body and all that I bring in through the senses.

    What sankalpa would be transformative for you this year?  What would help you embody your sankalpa (other than, of course, establishing a regular yoga nidra practice — see yoga nidra resources).

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