The Taoism of Strength & Flexibility in Your Asana Practice

We humans tend to understand earth in terms of duality -- like light/dark, male/female, winter/summer, but the symbol of yin/yang illustrates clearly how in the height of any duality , the seed of the balancing concept is being planted and germinating (hence, the dots).    This concept of working in opposite directions applies directly to your yoga practice to find and maintain a balance by playing with the dualities of strength and flexibility and opposing isometric actions.

Many people mistakenly think yoga is all about flexibility.  I don't know how many times I've heard people comment, "I'm not flexible enough to do yoga".  Or others feel that only certain poses build strength.   And while its true that some poses will clearly illustrate to us if we are lacking in flexibility or strength in certain areas, there is no pose that is all about one or the other........just like yin and yang shows us. 

In some poses, you will have to activate strength in one area of your body to find true flexibility, length, and openness in another.  Think uttanasana & forward bends in general.  The legs must be fully engaged to allow the spine its full release.  

The same is true for for awakening your core strength -- in order to do so, you must lengthen and extend yourself beyond your normal limits with your limbs.  Think plank.  You must reach out through the crown of your head and heels in opposing directions and trust that your core will wake up and sustain you.  

Similarly, to engage the full strength and grounding support of your legs, you must work the thigh and calf and sometimes even the bones and muscles in opposing directions.  Think Virabhadrasana (Warrior) I.  The head of femur is internally rotated in the hip and moving back toward the hamstrings while the lower leg muscles work in external rotation, helping to ground the outer heel down toward the floor. 

And in Parsvakonasana it is important that the upper arm is externally rotated and the forearm is internally rotated.  This opens the chest and stabilizes the shoulder.  Yin and yang at work to bring out your best yet again!

I have found in my personal practice that embracing the dual nature of my body in poses has made a significant difference in how I experience the poses.  It is the key to finding balance, comfort, and ease in any asana.  

Namaste~
Tammie

New Year's Resolution

my new year's resolution is that i don't need a new year to make a fresh start. 

every morning the sun is risen again and a day dawns new and every morning i, too, can be resurrected, or perhaps just re imagined....

yes, re imagined. 

because i don't need to start all over; i just want to tweak myself into a bolder, truer version of me -- the woman who reverberates with joy in each moment. she who is fierce with joy instead of cowering in fear -- that is the me that i long to be.

 the beautiful part is, i don't even need to wait for a sunrise -- every breath i take holds the same opportunity -- a reminder that there is infinite possibility and that i am the architect of my life.

In the Moment

When practicing Vrksasana (tree pose), or Lord Dancer, or Crow, or any other yoga pose that requires balance; if you are not in the moment, if you're mind strays away from what you're body is presently doing, you will fall over; or at least trip..... Literally.

Its that simple.

And, similarly, I have learned that when you are not in the moment during your everyday routine that is exactly when you will fall over or get tripped up.  Literally or symbolically.

Truth.


Simple tips for being in the moment:

hang out with children or puppies.

breathe.  mindfully.  in for 4.  pause.  out for 4.

practice yoga or run or dance or exercise in any way that you prefer.

create:  arts, music, crafts, writing, words, movement.

focus fully on one task at a time instead of multitasking (as a mom, i am fully aware that sometimes multitasking is necessary and a timesaver, but i also know that sometimes its just a distraction and nothing gets done well or quickly.  know the difference).

unplug from technology.  (after you read this blog)

plug into nature.

Namaste~
Tammie

Peace

My guru tells me:

"The world is in turmoil because the minds of men are in turmoil."

  

If you want to help the world, help yourself...... care for yourself, feed your soul, nourish your spirit.    

Find the activity or outlet that helps you commune with the contentment and peace that naturally dwell within you, then:

Emanate that peace.

Speak that peace.

Share that peace.  

(With everyone, even the difficult ones who make it hard.......they are ones who need it most).  

Namaste~

Tammie

Play, Snow Angels, & Yoga

One of the best things about yoga is that, in a lot of ways, it is simply play.  It is frolicking, exploring, and engaging your body in a non threatening way and finding out what feels good to you.  It is trying on different roles (poses) and investigating whether they are a good fit for you -- hhhmmmm......does this sound like playing "school" or "doctor" as a child?  

Play is fun.  

Yoga is fun.

Making snow angels is fun.

Making "snow angels" into yoga is at least 2x.... maybe 3x the fun.  

I think.  

I  did an impromptu experiment with it this week when inspiration struck like lightning.  I was hanging out with a fun group of 5-7 year-olds when one student decided to lay down on his back, wave his arms up and down, and giggle "snow angel!"  

Well, why not?  I thought.  First off, rubbing your back against the floor is great for grounding which a lot of people, especially children, (and dogs) find to be a pleasing sensory experience. Secondly, I had picked up a great technique for doing Trikonasana (Triangle Pose) at a conference a couple of years ago.  And its as simple as lying down.  

So I said, "Hey, let's all make snow angels!" (we did some traditional style angels on the floor and I then I wiggled over to the wall to show them how to make a yoga snow angel.  Enthusiastic exploration and lots of wiggling followed (which I interpret as a sign of success).

Recipe for Yoga Snow Angels:

Warm up with traditional snow angels on an indoor surface without the snow.

Wiggle to a wall that you can place your feet against. 

Wiggle your feet to a width that roughly matches your wingspan.

Turn your right foot open, so the right toe and right knee cap both point fully to the right and the baby toe side of your foot is flush against the floor, while your arch faces the ceiling.

Turn your left foot slightly to the right (about a 45 degree angle)

Press your feet firmly against the wall and keep them in place.  The whole time.  No matter what.

(Here's where it gets a little tricky and you may try to cheat.....)

Wiggle your right hand toward your right leg and/or foot.  See how far you can go without allowing your back and hips to leave the floor.  Your shoulder blades, back body, and hips must all stay flush against the floor.  This is important.  Very important.  

Stretch your left arm above your head, turn to look up at it.

Breathe deeply and enjoy how spacious you feel through your legs, spine, and chest.  Notice the intense lengthening of the side rib area.  Breathe right into it and fill yourself with a warmth, energy, and a sense of wonder and fun that only comes from play.  

Enjoy for several breaths.  Then wiggle around and try the other side.

Namaste~

Tammie 

Up cycling yoga pants

So.... its basically been the long weekend of my dreams.  I've had lots of extra time to sleep, dream, eat, practice yoga, paint, create, research, read, practice yoga, play games with my kids, play ukulele and try something new.  Well.......new to me, anyway.

I've been checking out all kinds of upcycled goods on Etsy and this weekend I decided to jump on the bandwagon and create one of my own.  I stumbled across some wonderful soft jersey knit yoga pants and a bamboo blend yoga shirt packed away from the move 7 months ago and that was just the jump start I needed.

When I discovered them, I realized hadn't worn either in over 2 years.  I think there is some kind of rule on that.  If you haven't worn it in a certain amount of time, get rid of it.  (I probably heard that from Oprah or one of her guests)  But I hated to ditch them.  They were so comfy and lovely, but just not practical for my everyday yoga practicing wear.  (Someone really needs to figure out the whole yoga pants and underwear dealio, you know what I'm saying????)

So, I took a deep breath, inhaled some courage and cut them apart.  Oh, man!  It was way scarier than I thought it would be....I was plagued with doubt....with what ifs....but once I started, I felt empowered.  Through destruction there is creation.  

So, I created one of those knotted, messy, no-sew, infinity, a little bit braided and a little bit spaghetti t-shirt scarves I know you've seen on the internet.   

........Except......... I thought I was awfully clever because I decided to use my yoga foldover waistband with the lovely embroidery to create a nice cowl and I also got out my hot glue gun and embellished it with tiny flowers.  

To be honest, I'm not completely sure this scarf is my style.

(It sure does look cute on my girlie, though, doesn't it?)

But I enjoyed the process and learned a lot.  You might not catching me wearing this one, but I will be busy concocting and hatching plans for my next upcycled yoga pants concoction because its all about the process.  Living and learning and evolving....

Namaste~

Tammie

Simple Tricks to Help Children Who Are Overstimulated

My lovely daughter accosted me today while I was practicing.  She has a fiery personality with boundless energy and a quick mind.  I love her dearly, but sometimes her energy is not easily compatible with mine, especially when I'm attempting to decompress while practicing.  We'd already had one blow out for the day and I could feel her energy was agitated (probably from the virus that was about to overcome her), so i stopped what i was doing and attended to her.

Before:  Being silly in Warrior 3.

"Do something relaxing to me, mama," she said.  

This means she wants me to do some therapeutic yoga techniques (basically I do yoga to her, instead of her doing it herself) which also sometimes includes massage and accu-pressure.  I agreed and began by "grounding" her.  Grounding is an important technique for relaxing children or any person who is overly stimulated and/or not able to process normal sensory input.  Learning to ground myself changed my life and I hope that exposing her to it early will change the quality of her life as well.

Grounding is a really simple idea.  Its about getting into your roots.  Some simple things, like massaging your back body against the floor (visual:  think of dog enjoying rubbing its back on the grass) or putting weight on your front body while you lie back, can be enough to calm the nervous system.  These things take the focus away from your front body and all the sense organs and allow you to sink away from the source of over stimulation.  

Now, those are great techniques, but I like to use my super yogi mom knowledge to take grounding to a whole new level for my baby, so:

1.  I lay her down in a savasana position on her back, smoothing and pulling down her back body and stretching out her limbs.  

2.  I stand on her.  Yes, you heard me right.  (I'm careful.)  

I found out many moons ago in my yoga teacher training that if a person carefully places their heels in the center of the crescent of your groins and then places their palms on your shoulder joints, the weight of their body is evenly distributed right into your joints that most need grounding (the hips and shoulders).  If the person is in savasana properly and the placement of the hands and feet is done properly and slowly, the effects of this procedure are miraculous.  I'm not kidding.  Not even a little bit.

3.  I breathe with her.  This is a valuable tool.  I breathe slowly and diaphramatically with great awareness and through our touch and energy sharing, she begins to follow into the same pattern of breathing with me.  My lovely daughter is usually phenomenal at this, but.....

On this particular day, she was reverse breathing (gasp!)....which was I'm sure adding to or causing the agitation.  Reverse breathing is a breathing pattern where you are breathing the 180 degree opposite of how you were designed to take in oxygen.  (Its a lot like a gasp, actually.  Catch my keen play on words?)

During reverse breathing, your belly sucks in and you pushes all of the air into your chest and upper respiratory muscles that aren't designed to engage in that way.  The result is agitation from not breathing into your pelvic floor and abdominal region (your roots -- think grounding!) and tightening of the chest and secondary respiratory muscles that aren't designed to work as primary muscles.

She was giggling and nervous as she struggled to join me in diaphragmatic breathing.  It took much longer than normal, but I stayed there, hands on her, firm and insistent in the energy I was sharing with her and finally, she broke the pattern.  I felt her body immediately release to the ground in a significant way when she was able to break the pattern.  I could see and feel her relief and the relaxation was palpable.  That's when I had two thoughts. 

1. "Whew."  
2.  "Boy, I bet this could help a lot of parents, especially those with kids who might have special sensory needs.  I better blog about this."

Namaste~
Tammie
      

AAAAHHHH....after some grounding.