Yoga Traveler

The Wall.  Not just an excellent Pink Floyd album or a phase for exasperation (you drive me up the wall), but a useful yoga prop. Have you ever used the wall to assist your practice?  Here are some ideas to get you started: I love this restorative pose.  We can relax our core and back as we reap the benefits for our circulation and metabolism. Move the couch out of the way and swing your legs up the wall! The wall can be a powerful assist when learning the alignment needed for a handstand or head stand.  It is just simply less scary to be upside down when there is a strong wall behind you! The wall can assist us in alignment while in forward folds.  It is easy to lean too far back on our heels when in Uttanasana or Prasarita Padottansana.  The wall will push us to line the hips with our heels and get a deeper stretch for the hamstrings. Try out this sequence that uses the wall as an assist.  I think you will enjoy your experience! https://youtu.be/V7yfdWejPu8   Get started the right wa

 Let's talk about the yoga block!  I love that to practice yoga, we do not need a lot of fancy equipment.  A block or two, a strap, and a mat and we are ready to go.  The tools are pretty portable too so we can use them in the studio, at home, or on the road.  If you don't have a set of blocks, I suggest you remedy that! Amazon has plenty- just search yoga block sets. How are blocks used in a yoga practice?  Let me suggest some ways for you to try out today: The block can be used as a gentle chest opener.  You can place it along the spine or under the shoulder blades lengthwise.  You will open your chest and heart by letting the shoulders roll back.  Your throat is open, stimulating the thyroid.  Knees bent will release pressure in your lower back.  If your head does not reach the ground, use a second block under the head. Use the blocks as a guide for alignment in chaturanga.  Placing shoulders on two blocks will help you to feel the angle of elbows and wrists for building up

Meditation...Let me admit something to you.  I am not great at meditating.  Most of the time, my meditation involves lying on the floor with a Mexican blanket on top of me, my Calm app talking to me, as I promptly fall asleep for ten minutes.   I know that this is not what I am supposed to do in meditation, but most days lately that is what my body needs.  And I always feel better when I am done.  There was a period of time when I got pretty good at sitting without falling asleep.  I was teaching a 200 Hour Yoga Alliance Teaching Training program and I regularly meditated between 10-30 min a day.  I felt the benefits, I craved the silence, and I need the mental break.  But now I am in a different place in my life and my meditation has evolved into "active rest."   Yoga is a practice.  We practice the principles as we move through our life, through the ebbs and flows that we have.  Meditation makes up one of the eight limbs of yoga (dhyana) and so is part of a yogic lifestyle.