Hello Yogis & Yoginis,

Just back from the Singer Songwriter Cape May Fest in Jersey and from Boston, where I had the pleasure of visiting NPR station WUMB.  Great time, though I managed to contract a pretty severe head and chest cold, burning the candle at both ends in the wind and rain…

Which prompts me to blog about an ancient & affordable (free!) yoga remedy for congestion, Pranayama.  In Sanskrit, the meaning of Prana is ‘energy’ or ‘life force’ (breath) and ayama means ‘extension’ or ’stretch’.  So Pranayama or controlled breathing is just energy management.  Kapalabhati and Bhastrika Pranayama are pretty simple.  It’s more from the diaphragm than the chest and a bit more forceful and rapid than regular breathing.

First, get a box of tissues, then sit comfortably on the floor, preferably in lotus position or cross-legged.  Rest your hands in your lap and take your shoulders up then back then down to open your chest.  Inhale fully, allowing your belly to inflate and diaphragm to descend.  Then exhale fully, drawing your abdomen in as the breath leaves the body.  After a couple of breaths, try holding your breath at the top of the cycle for a few seconds, then again at the bottom of the breath.  Do this for about 20 breath cycles and afterward, take a few slow breaths to keep form feeling dizzy.

This is especially effective after using a neti pot.  And if you want to go all out, boil a large pot of water with fresh ginger sliced into it and breath in the steam before or even during the exercise.

… or you could just do some drugs.  Kidding!

Take it easy,

Suzi

creeky but not creaky

Well, here it comes again, Valentine’s Day. Wonderful holiday for lovers … but I propose that we take it out of the realm of romance and widen the scope to include all genres of loving. Love for friends, family, co-workers, pets, strangers on the street … hey, why not go really crazy and love yourself! Or better yet, open your heart to the people you don’t understand or with whom you strongly disagree? (That’d be love from afar. ☺)

Yoga, meaning literally to unify or yoke together, brings harmony & balance to the body, mind and spirit (your own little triumvirate) … so while you might practice opening your heart in your thoughts and emotions, you can also experience heart opening in the physical body.

Our hearts live in a bony cage. 24 ribs, sternum, spine … all connected with soft tissues – muscles, cartilage, ligaments, etc. When we forget to breathe deeply and easily, those soft tissues can lose their elasticity, resulting in our heart and lungs having less space to expand in their temporary cages. So my first recommendation is to intentionally and regularly practice some form of Pranayama or controlled and aware breathing. In addition, bending and flexing and twisting the components of the cage will help to open and free your heart space.

Though there are many heart opening poses, the one I’ve chosen to blog about here is Supta Virasana, the reclining hero pose. It’ll also give a great stretch to your quadriceps (front of the thigh muscles) and hip flexors. Before trying this pose, be sure that you can easily sit with your seat between your feet. You can fold a blanket to elevate your bottom slightly and alleviate some of the strain if necessary. And keep your knees from splaying out too much – in a straight line down from your hips if possible. Then give yourself a little foot massage as you lean back and place your elbows and forearms on the floor.

This is as far as I went in the photo above, due to the slippery, mossy riverbed … but you can either stop there and rest the crown of your head on the floor or come all the way down on your back like this dude:

with your arms either by your side or stretched overhead, which feels really good.

Stay in the pose as long as you like, starting with 1 minute and building to 10 minutes even, breathing deeply into any area that’s resisting the stretch and exhaling that tension away. Great pose for meditation … or if you get bored in the supermarket line … or … waiting for your Valentine to show you how special you are. (though my inexpert and largely unsuccessful advice is not to wait, don’t hold back, show them first!)

Love Always,
Suzi

URDHVA MUKHA SVANASANA – that’s Sanskrit for Upward Facing Dog…  Sanskrit’s one of the 22 official languages of India…  it’s also one of the earliest attested members of the Indo-European language family, the family which includes English and most European languages.

That’s why it’s even conceivable that I can kinda sorta understand it, in regard to naming yoga poses. It’s akin to Latin & Greek and pronounced very much like Spanish …

Anyway, urdhva is upward, a mukha is a face (like a mug!) and a svana is a dog … asana is what the name of most yoga poses ends with, meaning .. POSE!

This pose can certainly be done on it’s own but is traditionally part of a vinyasa flow sequence or sun salutation, usually preceded by chaturanga (2 inch push up with elbows close to the ribs, like a cricket’s front legs) and followed by downward facing dog (adho mukha svanasana).

SO – here I am in a creek in Leiper’s Fork, TN (where else would I be?), being photographed by the great Anthony Scarlati in a pretty respectable up-dog. Checkpoints for this pose:  I’m on the tops of my feet.  My shoulders are back & down, not up around my ears because I’m not hanging from my shoulders.  My ribs are pressed forward, sternum lifted … somewhat because my leg muscles are engaged, lifting me up on the tops of my feet.  My nose & chin are slightly raised but not so much as to compress the back of my neck or strain my throat.  The inner creases of my elbows are facing forward.  And you can’t really see it, but my fingers are spread wide with the index and middle fingers pointing straight ahead… and this is important if you have any wrist issues like carpal tunnel – most of the weight in my hands is to the inside, the thumb and index side.

WHY do it?  well, it feels good (especially if you’re wet, in a creek , plus, it strengthens your spine, arms & wrists, stretches your chest, lungs, shoulders & abdomen, firms your glutes (medius, maximus & minimus) & helps relieve sciatica, mild depression, fatigue & asthma!

CAUTIONS:  If you’re pregnant, this pose is contra-indicated after the first tri-mester because it stretches the muscles of the abdomen, strains the uterus and puts pressure on the womb.  The hormone, relaxin, that’s produced to facilitate baby delivery, makes that area more soft & malleable, therefore more fragile.  ALSO, if you already have a wrist injury, you can try up-dog with the knuckles of your balled fists to the mat, palms facing each other… but bottom line:

IF IT HURTS, DON”T DO IT!

Peace, Love & Namaste,

Suzi