Life is like riding a bicycle.
To keep your balance you must keep moving.
" -Albert Einstein This month I connected with my need to slow the level of activity (movement) down just enough that I can become still enough to listen inwards.
If you are moving, what are you moving towards or away from? Is your movement preventing you from being present or taking you deeper into Being? Stoking the Fire - Are we tending it or adding fuel? Living in the Las Vegas desert, I feel the heat penetrating my being without doing a single sun salutation.
My teaching has given me the luxury and joy of recently traveling to the relatively cooler climates of Chicago, New York and California over the last month.
I felt happy to be leaving the dry desert imagining that my days would go much smoother when I wasn't fighting the heat in every moment.
However, I found that even though the temperatures were certainly cooler in other cities, the activity level in my brain was often at record highs! Without realizing it, I was slowly but surely overheating.
Very quickly I was confronted with my limited notions of heat and how I unknowingly have been contributing to raising the temperature of my inner fire.
What a teaching! Sanskrit Word of the Day: Langhana -Practices to Cool the Body and Calm the Mind Langhana is Sanskrit means 'to reduce' or 'to fast'.
In yogasana, we use the term to describe the practice of lengthening the exhalation or suspending the breath after the exhalation but it also used to describe poses that have a calming and cooling effect on the body.
The perfect time to do such practices is during the warmer seasons or when your body/mind is over-stimulated.
Remember to soften your effort and infuse ease into the body as you try these out: Calming Meditation: Observe the natural rhythm of your breath and then focus on lengthening the exhale by 2 counts.
Gradually increase the counts until the exhale is twice as long as the inhale.
So, for example, if your inhale takes 4 counts, try making your exhale 6 or 7 or 8 counts.
Notice the effect.
Cooling Pranayama: Try this Sitali breath offered by http://www.
abc-of-yoga.
com/pranayama/basic/sithali.
asp.
Langhana pose: Viparita Karani (legs-up-the-wall pose) Place a bolster (or 2-3 firmly folded blankets) about 5-8 inches away from the wall.
Sit on the edge of the bolster so that one hip is touching the wall.
Using your hands for support, lean back and lower your body to the floor so that it lies perpendicular to the wall and swivel your legs up against the wall.
Keep the buttocks close to or against the wall, with your tailbone hanging off the bolster.
Your shoulders and head are resting on the floor, the arms are out to the side and relaxed.
Remain in this position for 5-15 minutes.
[Note: If legs straight up against the wall is too intense for your hamstrings, bend your knees into an easy cross-legged position.
] This pose is excellent for fatigue, jet-lag and winding down after a long day.
Let me know how it feels for you via the comments section! Pajama Days To bring a langhana (cooling) effect into my life after being on the road for 2 weeks I took a 'pajama day'- a day just for me that I did nothing that I didn't wish or have to do.
On pajama days, I rarely talk to anyone.
I do not always stay in my pajamas(!) but I do generally unplug the phone, email and anything else which could serve as a distraction.
This is a time for me to go deep into my sadhana (practice) and connect with what is alive in me.
My yoga this week has been about tuning in so that I know what to stimulate and what to quieten.
In doing so, I awakened to the realization that the cooling needs to happen from the inside out.
It is my responsibility to maintain my equilibrium- to cool down not only by cranking the A/C, but to also quieten the mind when it is unnecessarily over-stimulated.
Create a similar ritual for yourself once a week or once a month and notice the difference it makes in your life.
To keep your balance you must keep moving.
" -Albert Einstein This month I connected with my need to slow the level of activity (movement) down just enough that I can become still enough to listen inwards.
If you are moving, what are you moving towards or away from? Is your movement preventing you from being present or taking you deeper into Being? Stoking the Fire - Are we tending it or adding fuel? Living in the Las Vegas desert, I feel the heat penetrating my being without doing a single sun salutation.
My teaching has given me the luxury and joy of recently traveling to the relatively cooler climates of Chicago, New York and California over the last month.
I felt happy to be leaving the dry desert imagining that my days would go much smoother when I wasn't fighting the heat in every moment.
However, I found that even though the temperatures were certainly cooler in other cities, the activity level in my brain was often at record highs! Without realizing it, I was slowly but surely overheating.
Very quickly I was confronted with my limited notions of heat and how I unknowingly have been contributing to raising the temperature of my inner fire.
What a teaching! Sanskrit Word of the Day: Langhana -Practices to Cool the Body and Calm the Mind Langhana is Sanskrit means 'to reduce' or 'to fast'.
In yogasana, we use the term to describe the practice of lengthening the exhalation or suspending the breath after the exhalation but it also used to describe poses that have a calming and cooling effect on the body.
The perfect time to do such practices is during the warmer seasons or when your body/mind is over-stimulated.
Remember to soften your effort and infuse ease into the body as you try these out: Calming Meditation: Observe the natural rhythm of your breath and then focus on lengthening the exhale by 2 counts.
Gradually increase the counts until the exhale is twice as long as the inhale.
So, for example, if your inhale takes 4 counts, try making your exhale 6 or 7 or 8 counts.
Notice the effect.
Cooling Pranayama: Try this Sitali breath offered by http://www.
abc-of-yoga.
com/pranayama/basic/sithali.
asp.
Langhana pose: Viparita Karani (legs-up-the-wall pose) Place a bolster (or 2-3 firmly folded blankets) about 5-8 inches away from the wall.
Sit on the edge of the bolster so that one hip is touching the wall.
Using your hands for support, lean back and lower your body to the floor so that it lies perpendicular to the wall and swivel your legs up against the wall.
Keep the buttocks close to or against the wall, with your tailbone hanging off the bolster.
Your shoulders and head are resting on the floor, the arms are out to the side and relaxed.
Remain in this position for 5-15 minutes.
[Note: If legs straight up against the wall is too intense for your hamstrings, bend your knees into an easy cross-legged position.
] This pose is excellent for fatigue, jet-lag and winding down after a long day.
Let me know how it feels for you via the comments section! Pajama Days To bring a langhana (cooling) effect into my life after being on the road for 2 weeks I took a 'pajama day'- a day just for me that I did nothing that I didn't wish or have to do.
On pajama days, I rarely talk to anyone.
I do not always stay in my pajamas(!) but I do generally unplug the phone, email and anything else which could serve as a distraction.
This is a time for me to go deep into my sadhana (practice) and connect with what is alive in me.
My yoga this week has been about tuning in so that I know what to stimulate and what to quieten.
In doing so, I awakened to the realization that the cooling needs to happen from the inside out.
It is my responsibility to maintain my equilibrium- to cool down not only by cranking the A/C, but to also quieten the mind when it is unnecessarily over-stimulated.
Create a similar ritual for yourself once a week or once a month and notice the difference it makes in your life.
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