yoga4healthyliving

Dunstable yoga class

'If you don't use it you lose it' is one of my favourite sayings in my Dunstable yoga class. Last week I had to eat my words.

The class begun with some standing Qi Gong warm ups to create heat and energy in the system.  Then a little floor work to explore various spinal twists and forward folds.  It was then time for some back bending.  Bridge is a great pose as there are many variants to it and the benefits include increasing flexibility in the spine, stimulating the thyroid and thymus along with increasing emotional balance by opening the solar plexus.

On this occasion one of my newer students quite surprised me!  This lady has been practicing yoga for many years and performs her sun salutations daily.  Still, I was quite surprised when she took her body into a full bridge.  And, she did it with such ease!  I remarked that I didn't know she could do it and she said neither did she!  As a child she had found it easy and thought she would have a go...and with what success!

This confirms to me a couple of things.  A)  Humans enjoy and need challenges.  B) The nervous system holds memory and can access even childhood memories.  Granted this lady had kept her body flexible with years of yoga, but still, it is pretty amazing that this Grandmother could achieve such a strong pose again after decades!

Yoga Class Dunstable

One of my favourite sayings in my Dunstable yoga class is, 'if you don't use it you lose it!'  Well last week I had to eat my words. 

The class had begun with a little Qi Gong warm up which was a little different but great at generating heat and energy in the body.   We moved on to some floor movements, exploring different spinal twists and directing the breath into different parts of the lungs.  It was time for a back bend and we moved into bridge.  For those of you familiar with bridge you will know that it is marvellous for increasing the flexibity of the spine, balancing the emotional centre in the solar plexus, stimulating the thyroid and much more!

One of  newer my students, who has been practicing yoga for many years and performs her sun salutations everyday thrilled us all by moving into the full bridge posture!  I remarked that I didn't know she could do that and she said neither did she!  As a girl, she found it easy and thought she'd have another go and lo and behold  held  this beautiful full bridge.  Now it would be  indiscreet of me to  take a guess at her  age, but I do know that she has grand children. 

What this story demonstrates is that your nervous system holds memory.  Her body could remember how to perform this bridge and because she had kept her body supple with many years of yoga she could easily achieve it again.

Sciatica and yoga

Sciatica can be helped by yoga.  Spinal twists are particularly helpful as they work with the piriformis muscle that sits across the buttock.  In many people the sciatic nerve runs through this muscle so if it is a muscle under tension the sciatic nerve will be squeezed and pain can often be felt from the lower back to the heel.  Regular practice either in class or at home can help open up spaces between your vertebrae so that there is less likelihood of nerve entrapment.  Come along to my classes in Great Brickhill near Leighton Buzzard and Milton Keynes or Dunstable to try out a selection of spinal twists.  You can call me on 07817959161 to find out more.

Yoga wisdom

Jump and the net will appear.  The art of living dangerously.

Yoga can Protect the elderly from falls

This was the headline in a national newspaper recently.  Only two months of yoga classes improve muscle strength, balance and flexibility, making falls and fractures less likely.  Women who took part in the exercises, specifically designed for over 65s, also felt more confident and upbeat, the US study found,d  Falls are one of the most common causes of death in the over 75s.  Studies show half of elderly women die within two years of a fall.  Research Dr. Jinsup Song said that women's walking speed, strength balance, flexibility and confidence had all improved by the end of the nine week course.  'This can help elderly women maintain their mobility and independence' he said.

Yoga thoughts - Creating Awareness

Sometimes I wonder what is the essence of my yoga teaching.  I know that students come to my class looking for different outcomes and that is absolutely fine. 

It seems that over the seven years that I have been teaching I have come to understand that 'awareness' is the key.  Not only in yoga, but in all things.  Awareness of how we sit, what we say, how we breathe, what and how we eat, what we choose to watch on TV, who we spend time with etc.  This could also be described as 'mindful'. 

In our yoga practise, we can use the breath to keep awareness in the body, that may be by using the ujayi breath, or as I call it misting the mirror breath, or by sensing the space between the shoulders or between the vertebrae or length in the spine.  Whatever keeps the mind occupied in the body.

What this ultimately gives us in the ability to be 'in the moment' and that is a place where we can manage life well.  When we are in the past or the future, neither of which we can control, then we can be stressed.  It is impossible to know what the future will bring us.  My understanding of quantum physiscs tells me that I get more of what I focus on.  If I let anxiety take root in my mind, then I am stressing myself and am more likely to bring that negative outcome to me, or if you like, manifest it.

So we need to be careful what we focus on and bring our awareness back to the moment whenever we can.  All it needs is a little practise.

Discovering your Inner Song

In a village in Eastern Africa, when a child is born, they don't count the birthday of the child as the day it comes from its mother's body, nor when it's conceived, but from the day that it was a song in its mother's heart...let me explain.

As soon as the mother and her partner realise they would like to have a child, the mother would go off into the forest and sit under a particular tree and start to listen inwards, she waits and listens until she can hear the song of the child that wants to be born in her heart.  As she begins to become aware of the beginnings of the song, she begins to hum it to herself and as it turns into a song she sings it to herself and returns to the village to teach this song to her partner.  When they come together again in love, they sing this song and invite their child to be conceived.  Later as she become pregnant, she begins to sing this song t to the unborn child in her womb, she also teaches the song to her family so the first moment the child is born, the first sound the child hears is their own unique song.  As the child grows, all the people close to the child in the village learn the song.  If the child falls, whoever picks up the child can sing the song and soothe them.  When the child grows and marries, both songs would be sung, at the wedding.

When the child becomes an old person the song is sung by all the villagers at the funeral for the very last time, and the song dies with the person and is never sung again.

From Yoga of the Ancient Kashmir Tradition - Jay Rossi

British Wheel of Yoga Foundation Course Bedfordshire

The British Wheel of Yoga is offering a Foundation Course in Bedfordshire beginning September 2008 for those interested in a career in Yoga Teaching.  The course is being run by Rosie Wright, whom I met last year on a one day seminar.  She is a lovely lady, vibrant, open minded and easy to get along with and has been teaching yoga for 20 years.

The course is held at the lovely Tofte Manor Retreat Centre, Sharnbrook, Bedfordshire http://www.toftemanor.co.uk/.  The gardens are beautiful and you will be sure of a peaceful time there. 

An introductory date is to be held on Sat 21 June.  The course itself will run on ten Saturdays 9.30-4.30 from September with a follow up Diploma course beginning in October 2009. For more information either call Rosie on 01234 772431, email her at rosei.wright6@btopenworld.com or go to www.sourceravensden.co.uk.

Tofte Manor 

Triangle - Yoga

the Yoga Triangle posture is a really beautiful posture which is said to tone every tendon in the body.  I personally love the feeling of my lower back opening and a dynamic lengthening from the outside of my back foot all the way along the side of my body, energising my hip and shoulder through to a tingly feeling in my finger tips. 

There are a few ways you can establish yourself in Triangle.  One of my favourites is to stand at the front of my mat with feet hip width apart, hands on the chest in prayer, namaste, position.  Then I step back with my right foot, checking that my back foot is tucked round towards me at an angle of about 35 degrees.  Once I am steady, I let my arms float out so that my right arm is over my right leg and left over left.  It's good to check that the shoulders are relaxed here, and the elbows are a little soft.  I decide whether I want my palms to up or down facing.  Then I look towards my left middle finger and imagine that a very kind friend is gently drawing that finger forwards towards the wall so that my upper body moves out horizontally over my left leg.  When I feel that I have moved as far as I comfortably can, I think about my left femur (thigh bone) drawing in towards my hip, this will give me a sense of wanting to tilt down to allow my left hand to rest somewhere on my left shin for support.  At the same time I allow my right arm to be vertical, turning my head towards my right hand if it feels OK. 

So now I am in the asana fully and it feels good.  I can consciously allow my chest to look towards the wall in front of me and feel the expansion of the widest part of my rib cage; I can enjoy the sense of the connective tissue drawing away from the top of the pelvis around my right lower trunk; my back foot is well rooted into the floor and the inside of my front foot feels firm against the mat.  I sense that my right shoulder and right hip are back and open and that my head is over my left leg.

I notice my breathing....unlaboured.  I could do the 'misting the mirror' breath here - imagine that a mirror is about 12 inches in front of your mouth, and as you exhale through your open mouth you think about misting the mirror.  Stay for as long as it feels good.

To release, I turn my head down to look at my left foot, again feel my back heel and front inner foot rooted into the floor and, with ease, push myself back up. 

To continue on the other side, I twist your right foot round to point at the wall on the right and bring my left foot in to about 35 degrees.      

Yoga remedy for sore throats and colds

Having recently had to cancel a class due to sore throat and later the whole cold thing, I thought I would share a great preventative posture - too late for me of course!

Ok, so Lion is a moving posture designed to stimulate the white blood cells in the neck and throat to help gobble up that bacteria.

Sit comfortably.  I prefer to kneel with my legs apart.  Rest your hands on your thighs.  Take a couple of easy, deep breaths.  Inhale deeply, as you exhale, let your body move forwards, open your mouth as wide as you can, push your tongue as far out as you can, and make a sound like a lion.  At the same time, stretch your arms forward, spread your fingers wide as if you were an angry lion.

So, off you go.  Not bad for a first try but make that lion roar!  Usually my class has to perform this three times before I am happy that we have communicated with the lions in the local wild animal parks!