Welcome! Happy Holidays, it has been several weeks from my last blog entry. I thought it was well past time to check in and bring some awareness to yoga practice. I have taken from my meditation the whole concept of slowing down. It was the one thing that really stuck out for me these last few weeks. So I took this into my Asana practice and spend longer on each pose and do less. Trying to feel exactly where I am in it on any given day. Which translates back to own life very well. Where am I in any given moment? I am connected and aware to what is going on around me?
I also took the time to break down what I felt I wanted to do for the holidays, I made a short list for each day and then let go of the rest. And it was wonderful to look at my calendar day to day do what I needed to do and then move on and not worry about the rest. It was much more peaceful and it felt calm.
I am doing a restorative practice for the next 7 days to allow myself to rest and recoup!
I was so pleased for the reminder in class on Wednesday from Laura that this is the perfect time of year to focus on restoratives and refresh ourselves for the New Year.
So to everyone out there, if you have not slowed down to enjoy the season, it isn't too late.
Enjoy the holidays, best luck and wishes to all in the New Year!!
Namaste' Denise
Saturday, December 22, 2007
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Gratitude
Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! I love this time of year when I can spend time cooking, doing yoga and giving thanks for all that I have. Although, gratitude is something to experience all year, at this time it is especially a perfect reminder.
I am so grateful for my yoga practice, teacher and yoga buddies. I have received so much strength, comfort and release spending time with others doing yoga or just at home in my own practice.
So how do we practice gratitude in our own poses? I spend much of my time thinking of the pose and how to be best aligned to receive the most physical benefit, then I have to be there a moment and get beyond the physical in my pose and experience it for what it is. I then need to experience gratitude for what it is doing for me and my body. It means that sometimes I have to hold the pose longer and really feel what I am doing.
I hear many times students feeling pushed too hard or if they do not "do the actual" pose then what is the point? My answer to them is, "what is the actual "pose" for you. Let go and be where you are, feel the benefits of what you are doing."
I love this reminder for students it brings me back to when I started yoga and even now(we are always still students), I need the reminder, when I can start to push myself.
Let go and enjoy this lovely holiday.....bring gratitude to your next yoga pose!!
Namaste' Denise
I am so grateful for my yoga practice, teacher and yoga buddies. I have received so much strength, comfort and release spending time with others doing yoga or just at home in my own practice.
So how do we practice gratitude in our own poses? I spend much of my time thinking of the pose and how to be best aligned to receive the most physical benefit, then I have to be there a moment and get beyond the physical in my pose and experience it for what it is. I then need to experience gratitude for what it is doing for me and my body. It means that sometimes I have to hold the pose longer and really feel what I am doing.
I hear many times students feeling pushed too hard or if they do not "do the actual" pose then what is the point? My answer to them is, "what is the actual "pose" for you. Let go and be where you are, feel the benefits of what you are doing."
I love this reminder for students it brings me back to when I started yoga and even now(we are always still students), I need the reminder, when I can start to push myself.
Let go and enjoy this lovely holiday.....bring gratitude to your next yoga pose!!
Namaste' Denise
Friday, November 2, 2007
Bridge pose
Today, I was inspired to write about bridge pose. So for you yoga practioners out there, it is one of the most amazing and frankly, challenging poses.
For those of us who over the years always lifted the chest and crunched our necks and compressed the SI, step up to the plate!! I have been undoing my past habits. Keep in mind that many times we develop these habits is because of our resistance and compensation in other areas of our body. I am particularly by nature more rounded in the shoulders and collapsed in the chest so during my yoga journey much of my focus has been on opening this area. As of late my favorite pose has been upward facing dog, now I turned my focus to bridge.
I have experienced many ways of learning this pose over the years by many teachers and you learn what you need to at the right time. At the Grand Geneva yoga conference I attended an anasura yoga class with Desiree Rumbaugh. We did bridge pose and during the class she came around and did an adjustment on me and wow......what a wake up call. I had no idea that that was where I was heading and to actually feel it at the time was amazing. But how to do that on my own is always the challenge after a teacher does an adjustment. It brought me to a new place of "what do I need to learn to experience that again". It just so happens that through our advanced study with Laura, we explored that pose again. Which was amazing to me, because I had a whole new fresh outlook on the pose itself. I came to our exploration in class with a whole new mindset. Many of the things we explored rang true for me---working in the legs more, keeping my neck neutral and of course opening the heart center. I took the notes from this class and have been playing with them more in my own practice.
Which brings me to my insight on this pose. Exloring it from the back of the body and not the front. When I think of opening the heart center it is not only expanding across the chest and opening my shoulders but it is what is happening in the back body. Laura has tryed many times over the years to bring my focus here but until recently I have not entirely understood why. This is my tightest area of tension in the upper back and trapezius so if I am tight how can I possibily feel the energy in this area? Does this sound familiar to anyone? Perservering practice as Laura always says, so what I have done is work into it more slowly. Lots of upward dog and downward dog, Supported bridge on a bolster, garudasana arms etc. Anything to loosen up that region then moving into bridge, doing it several differant ways modified until I am focusing my attention on the upper back between the shoulder blades. This takes time and is not a quick do once or twice. It is a complete focus on this one thing in order for me to find a stable balanced pose with more benefits. Then this translates into shoulderstand which is so much more grounded and benefical. Keep exploring!!!!
Peace, Denise
For those of us who over the years always lifted the chest and crunched our necks and compressed the SI, step up to the plate!! I have been undoing my past habits. Keep in mind that many times we develop these habits is because of our resistance and compensation in other areas of our body. I am particularly by nature more rounded in the shoulders and collapsed in the chest so during my yoga journey much of my focus has been on opening this area. As of late my favorite pose has been upward facing dog, now I turned my focus to bridge.
I have experienced many ways of learning this pose over the years by many teachers and you learn what you need to at the right time. At the Grand Geneva yoga conference I attended an anasura yoga class with Desiree Rumbaugh. We did bridge pose and during the class she came around and did an adjustment on me and wow......what a wake up call. I had no idea that that was where I was heading and to actually feel it at the time was amazing. But how to do that on my own is always the challenge after a teacher does an adjustment. It brought me to a new place of "what do I need to learn to experience that again". It just so happens that through our advanced study with Laura, we explored that pose again. Which was amazing to me, because I had a whole new fresh outlook on the pose itself. I came to our exploration in class with a whole new mindset. Many of the things we explored rang true for me---working in the legs more, keeping my neck neutral and of course opening the heart center. I took the notes from this class and have been playing with them more in my own practice.
Which brings me to my insight on this pose. Exloring it from the back of the body and not the front. When I think of opening the heart center it is not only expanding across the chest and opening my shoulders but it is what is happening in the back body. Laura has tryed many times over the years to bring my focus here but until recently I have not entirely understood why. This is my tightest area of tension in the upper back and trapezius so if I am tight how can I possibily feel the energy in this area? Does this sound familiar to anyone? Perservering practice as Laura always says, so what I have done is work into it more slowly. Lots of upward dog and downward dog, Supported bridge on a bolster, garudasana arms etc. Anything to loosen up that region then moving into bridge, doing it several differant ways modified until I am focusing my attention on the upper back between the shoulder blades. This takes time and is not a quick do once or twice. It is a complete focus on this one thing in order for me to find a stable balanced pose with more benefits. Then this translates into shoulderstand which is so much more grounded and benefical. Keep exploring!!!!
Peace, Denise
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Fellow yoga enthusiasts
this is my first blog and I am so excited to be taking yoga to another level. I love discussing yoga with fellow students and teachers and getting more insight into how others live a yogic lifestyle.
I am now finishing up my 500 hours and am overwhelmed with the possibilites that are before me. I find that this can keep me very scattered and unsure as to what direction to take. Thank goodness for yoga. Of course, my yoga practice is scattered too so to help on and off the mat. Finding a practice that works for me was essential. Although I teach and I do yoga quite often I am not thinking of it in regards to myself, so as a teacher I notice I need to do a solid yoga asana practice twice a week. These are never the same length of time but I am always focusing on something for myself. The other days if my body is up for it I do asana, meditation and breathing. I also enjoy a good walk or run. Yoga is also experiencing many things and taking in the present moment. I also tune into myself and get inspired on walks many times in the form of what asana I would like to do when I arrive home. There is always something to explore!!
I am now finishing up my 500 hours and am overwhelmed with the possibilites that are before me. I find that this can keep me very scattered and unsure as to what direction to take. Thank goodness for yoga. Of course, my yoga practice is scattered too so to help on and off the mat. Finding a practice that works for me was essential. Although I teach and I do yoga quite often I am not thinking of it in regards to myself, so as a teacher I notice I need to do a solid yoga asana practice twice a week. These are never the same length of time but I am always focusing on something for myself. The other days if my body is up for it I do asana, meditation and breathing. I also enjoy a good walk or run. Yoga is also experiencing many things and taking in the present moment. I also tune into myself and get inspired on walks many times in the form of what asana I would like to do when I arrive home. There is always something to explore!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)