April | 2020 | The Yoga Path • Omaha, NE

April 28, 2020 • 12:47 pm 1

Yoga for Sleep

Most of us don’t think about doing an asana practice before going to sleep. When it comes to the time when we’re ready to crawl into bed, the last thing we want to do it unroll the mat and do yoga poses. We also might believe that the stimulation of doing asana before bed would tend to keep us awake, like a shot of caffeine or adrenaline at bed time. While this could be true, often when going to sleep, we’re bringing the same states of mind that we’ve carried with us throughout the day. Sleep doesn’t cancel this condition out, but often carries it over into our resting state. So when the initial exhaustion wears off, our sleep becomes more restless and shallow.

The following sequence is for helping with your sleep. It’ll aid in calming you down both physically and physiologically by settling the nervous system, thus preparing for a rest-state.

Uttanasana: getting the head or upper body supported on blocks or chair. Hold for 1 minute or more.

Prasarita Padottanasana: Do this with head down on block or supported from the chair with hips on the wall. Try to get the chest lower than the hips, but head and arms are supported. Hold for 1 minute or more.

Adho Mukha Savanasana: do this with head resting on block or cushion. Hold for 1 or 2 minutes.

Adho Mukha Virasana supported as shown. Try to find a cushion or blankets to get the head the same height at the hips. Hold for about 3 minutes

Paschimottanasana it doesn’t matter how low you get in this pose, just try to get the head and front torso supported. Your back may release as you hold.Hold for 1 or 2 minutes.

Janu Sirasana: As with the previous pose, get the front of the body supported. Hold for 1 or 2 minutes.

Supta Baddhakonasana: use the strap if you have one and get the outside of the legs propped. Hold for 3 minutes or more.

Supta Virasana: try to do this pose, but if the knees won’t allow hold the previous pose longer. Hold for 3 minutes or more.

Sirasana: again don’t skip. Preparation pose is acceptable. Hold for 1 or 2 minutes.

“The aim of yoga is to calm the chaos of conflicting impulses.”
BKS Iyengar

Salamba Sarvangasana: Obviously this poses is not accessible without a chair, so you can use the wall for support. Hold for 1 or 2 minutes.

Halasana: do this right shoulder-stand. The legs don’t have to drop all the way to floor, but it would be good to get them supported. Hold for 1 or 2 minutes.

Setu Bandha Savanganasana: As you can see from the picture the hips and feet are supported. You can raise or lower the blocks to the height that works the best for you. Hold for 3 minutes

Swastikasana: Sit with back very upright. Sit on blankets to get the hips higher than the knee. Shift into both positions with the legs.Hold for 1 or 2 minutes each side.

Viparita Karani: do this on the wall with hips raised if possible. Notice the arm position and emulate. Hold for 3 minutes.

Savasana: Get the chest open on a blanket or bolster. (It doesn’t have to be done on blocks as pictured, unless that is comfortable.) Don’t skip this pose and try to do it in bed, deliberately make a point to do it.

You can see the essence of this sequence is to get the body supported. This is not, however, to be thought of as a restorative practice. Move efficiently from pose to pose, holding each pose and going deeper with your breath while in it. If you stay focused, the sequences takes about 45 minutes.

Filed under: Education, Home Practice, Uncategorized, Virtual Yoga, Iyengar yoga, yoga, yoga for restlessness, yoga poses

April 27, 2020 • 4:00 pm 0

Luminous Thoughts

When experiencing thoughts that are luminous and free of sorrow.
Yoga Sutra Ch.I v.36

Okay we are still working on different techniques for removing the obstacles/distractions that make the body restless, breathing coarse, and the mind agitated. You know, those things that result in suffering. That next technique is captured in this opening statement. Experience thoughts that are luminous and free of sorrow. Sure, yeah let’s just do that. No problem. Got it! Done.

Sometimes the sutra’s are so simple we often just pass over a sentence and move on to the next. But this directive it packed full of underlining assumptions. Aren’t we always experiencing luminous thoughts that are free of sorrow? My dictionary defines the word luminous as — full of or shedding light; bright or shining especially in the dark. Sources that emit their own light. The opposite word would be dark. One other translation uses the term “inner radiance”. So to the question: Don’t I do this anyway, the answer would have to be — No. Not if I’m being honest. And what does this have to do with sorrow. How does sorrow have anything to do with luminous thought. Perhaps a story might serve to illuminate?

I went for a bike ride yesterday. Just this year I’ve discovered gravel riding. Recently bike and tires have been redesigned to handle the rough back roads that in the Midwest are typically gravel roads. This gets the bicycles off the busy highways that are more traveled and thus more noisy and dangerous. In contrast these back roads are quieter and safer. Often times though they are hillier and the going is slower due to conditions.
This day the weather was somewhat unusual for the Midwest. It was ideal. Temperature was around 65, no clouds, no noticeable humidity, and the most amazing phenomena of all, no wind. The lack of wind is something that almost never occurs here. This is almost a constant presence in our region of the world, so it’s absence is significant. Such weather days are rare when bicycling in Omaha and to be treasured

However, I ride with this underlying thought that there are always better places to ride in the world. I read about and watch videos of people riding in other places. The Great Divide in the Rockies, the Baja of Mexico, Patagonia in South America, the Highlands of Scotland, the Tian Shan Traverse through Kyrgyrstan to name a few such rides. Foreign faraway locations with expansive landscapes that seem remote, beautiful and beyond my imagination. So not experiencing these places, these exotic roads brings me sorrow.
Yet on this Sunday through the back roads of western Iowa in this perfect weather, I realized that this ride contained all the elements I’d been longing for all along. Rolling hills, winding roads, flowering trees, and quiet roadside lakes. I saw deer running through fields and leaping barded-wire fence, eagles flying overhead, and wild turkeys running across the road. All of this less than ten miles from my home on roads that I have bypassed and overlooked for years. In Iowa of all places, I was able to put aside my regrets and sorrow to luminously look in at the present moment to see that what I was longing for was right here, right now, with no sorrow.

ASSIGNMENT: So how do we practice having thoughts that are luminous and free of sorrow? I don’t have a precise answer to this question. But maybe the sutra is itself pointing the way. Start by noticing the sorrow or regret that you are bringing to any given situation. You might be surprised by how this “sorrow” underlines and influences many things you see and think about. Then notice just the energy awareness behind this looking, bringing light to this present moment. Just that: the awareness. The luminous quality of the bare awareness in this present moment, bypassing the sorrow or regret that may be underneath it. You might discover this quality of luminous thought, takes you where you need to go.

Filed under: Education, Virtual Yoga, awareness, buddhism, yoga

April 24, 2020 • 11:30 am 2

Doing It Right

Today is Friday, so again any who wish can join in the Noble Silence Meditation offered through the Honey Locust Sangha. As mentioned last week it is very beneficial to meditate with others, if not in space at least in time. And you don’t have to join us for the full hour, but can just sit for one 20 minute period if you choose.

The schedule is is the same as last week:
We begin the first sit at precisely 6:00 p.m. for 20 minutes.
The time for mindful walking will begin at 6:25,
Followed by the second sit at 6:40 for another 20 minutes.

If you have a bell, I encourage you to use it. To begin there is the half sound of the bell, then three full sounds. To end the sit there is a half sound the two full sounds. Begin and end walking with one sound of the bell. The Bell, when invited by you, makes the experience so much richer.

One of the biggest obstacles to meditating consistently is the belief that we are not doing it right. How do I know meditation is working? I feel like I’m just sitting there daydreaming; nothing is happening. I’ve recently shared this story in classes at the Path to help address this discouragement. The story comes from Dean Sluyter, who taught a workshop on Natural Meditation. This version comes from his book with the same title.

We can’t evaluate what’s going on while it’s going on. Meditation consists of resting the attention on some object of experience, such as the breath and remaining neutral and non-engaged with whatever’s going on. When we try to judge or evaluate the meditation, we give up our neutrality and become engaged. It’s like scowling into a mirror while complaining about the lines on your face . . . which is caused by scowling.
Also, because subjective experience is so, well, subjective, it’s an unreliable measure of what’s going on objectively. A friend of mine was one of the key researchers in some of the pioneering studies on the effects of meditation. By studying changes in such functions as brain waves, oxygen consumption, and galvanic skin resistance, he helped establish the physiological reality of the meditative state. At the end of the session, as he was taking the electrodes off a subject’s scalp, the subject would often say something like, “Ah! That was a nice, deep silent meditation. I’m glad you got that one on the record,” or “Oh, that was one of the those shallow, choppy meditations. All I did was think thoughts. I hope this one doesn’t throw off your averages.” To my friend’s surprise, once he examined the results he found that, physiologically, both subjects had undergone s similar degree of settling down. You just can’t tell.
That is, you can’t tell during practice. The point of meditation is not just to have some pleasant experience during meditation, then come back to the same-old-same-old. The real effects are experienced during the other twenty-three and half hours of the day.

Also this story helps us realize that even when we don’t think we’re getting any benefits from meditating, we actually are. If we can look at the doubts were having while sitting as just another thought, more thinking, then the doubts begin to lose their power over us.

Filed under: Education, Virtual Yoga, Honey Locust sangha, meditation, mindfulness

April 23, 2020 • 10:00 am 1

Are You Sure?

There is a Zen story that you have perhaps heard. This condensed version is borrowed from the writings of Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh.

One day a farmer went to the field and found that his horse had run away. The people in the village said, “Oh what bad luck!” The next day the horse returned with two other horses and village people said, “What good fortune!” Then the farmer’s son was thrown from one of the horses and broke his leg. The villagers expressed their sympathy, “How unfortunate!” Soon after, a war broke out and the young men from the village were being drafted. But because the farmer’s son had a broken leg, he was the only one not drafted. Now the village people told the farmer that his son’s broken leg was really “good luck.”

It is difficult to judge whether an event is fortunate or unfortunate, good or bad. Success contains failure and failure often offers lessons we wouldn’t learn any other way. And many of these judgements arise from our perceptions of how we think things ought to be. This is good and this is bad, right or wrong. Then these perceptions lead us to creating a story about what will happen in the future or if only something different had been done in the past.

Wrong perceptions can create a host of problems. So much of our suffering and dissatisfaction arises from our failure to recognize things as they are. There is a phrase; a question in Buddhism: “Are you sure?” Asking ourselves this question can sometimes stop the story and give us space to reflect what is really happening.

‘There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.’
William Shakespeare, Hamlet

Filed under: Education, Stories, Virtual Yoga, buddhism, Thich Nhat Hanh, vietnamese zen

April 22, 2020 • 1:00 pm 1

Depression

The sequence presented here is to help with feelings of depression. Without going too deeply into the implications of this term, given the current environment of a global pandemic, it seems safe to say we’re all experiencing some feelings of depression, sadness, or despair in the midst of our social isolation. Listed below will be a chart in the two ways these feelings might be manifesting.

Type of depression	Qualities	Symptoms	Typical Breath
Rajasic	feeling agitated	anxiety, restless impulsiveness	quick & erratic hard to exhale
Tamasic	feeling lethargic	inertia, dullness, hopelessness	shallow, hard to inhale

You can probably tell the emphasis here is to get your arm-pits and upper chest open, while by-in-large getting the head supported. This aspect of the body can be very helpful Try to hold the poses long enough to you can reside in the shape of your breath.

In regards to how to practice this sequence, you will see that some props (blankets, bolsters, chair) would be helpful. If these are not available, please try to improvise with furnishings or cushions you may have around the house. Just make sure the props aid in supporting your position in the pose. If it doesn’t feel safe or helpful then get out and try to readjust.

Supta Svastikasana: In this pose the ankles are comfortably crossed. Hold for about 2 minutes then switch ankle position.

Supported Backbend: You can do this over a bolster or rolled up blankets to get the upper chest opened. Head and hips should be on the floor, with arms as shown or in a cactus position.

Adho Mukha Virāsana: with support. Try to find a cushion or blankets to get the head the same height at the hips. Legs are apart, arms are forward.

Adho Mukha Svanasana / downward-facing dog pose: Get the head supported and bring feet apart wider than the hips. Notice your breath while holding.

Ardha Chandrasana/half-moon pose: Do this pose as pictured against the wall with a support under the lower arm. The upper heal presses into the wall. Remember to get in and out of this pose from trikonāsana/triangle pose

Prasarita Padottanasana from the chair with hips on the wall. Try to get the chest lower than the hips, but head and arms are supported.

Sirāsana: headstand (against the wall if you want or do the “preparation poses” for as long as you can. Try to do some version of this as as safely as you can, but don’t skip it.)

Ustrasana/camel pose: This is a variation on the camel pose. Do this as pictured with arms supporting the shoulders and chest lifting. If the neck will allow, let the head go back looking up.

Viparita Dandāsana: This could be done over any chair or ottoman you may have at home. Make sure head it supported. Again opening the upper chest.

Adho Mukha Svanasana / downward -facing dog pose: This poses is repeated, but this time no support for the head.

Supported Sarvangāsana/shoulder stand supported: Obviously this poses is not accessible without a chair, so you may have to go the second variation.

Setu Bandha Sarvagāsana / supported bridge: As you can see from the picture the hips and feet are supported. You can raise or lower the blocks to the height that works the best for you.

Savāsana with a supported head and chest. You could do this on a folded blanket instead of the blocks. Should be comfortable but chest opened. Upper torso is similar to the first pose Supta Svastikasana:

BKS Iyengar found that many students with depression hold tension in the outer portion of the their eyes. He would ask students to try to: “move the edge of the eyes toward the temple and ears,” while doing a challenging pose.

Filed under: Education, Home Practice, Virtual Yoga, depression, Iyengar yoga, yoga, yoga for restlessness, yoga poses

April 19, 2020 • 10:24 am 0

Finer Levels of Senses

Moving on down the list of ways to free the mind of those pesky obstacles, we come to the next practice. One translator of the sutras describes it as follows:

“Experience of the finer levels of the senses, establishes the settled mind. “
another interpretation is
“Consciousness settles by steadily observing as new sensations materialize.”

For those of you who are just coming to this conversation or haven’t read or don’t remember what is being discussed here, we are talking about how to “settle the mind and body” from the constant obstacles that distract it, thus leading to suffering. If suffering seems too strong a word we could refer to it as a sense of dissatisfaction, unease, dispersion, or just an inability to focus. In Sankrit the word is dukkha, and its presence in our lives generally underlies the motivation for all our actions.

In past teachings, we talked about how yoga guides us in different ways to settle consciousness thus diminishing this suffering.
We can —

Practice the four brahmaviharas
Allow yourself the opportunity to do a deep relaxation
Stop and take a Diaphragm Breath throughout the day

“Life does not consist mainly–or even largely–of facts and happenings. It consists mainly of the storm of thoughts that is forever blowing through one’s head.”
Mark Twain

So now here is another offering from classical yoga: Experience the finer levels of the senses to aid in settling the mind. But how do we practice this? How will we implement these finer levels of sensation?

ASSIGNMENT: Go outside. Sit outdoors and experience the sensation around you. Pick one sense to bring all your awareness on. It could be the sounds around you: wind blowing, birds singing, dogs barking, children playing. Or you could just feel the wind on your face, a sense of warmth or cold, the position of your body in space, comfort and discomfort. Or the smells, odors, and scents around you. Look with your eyes at what is in front of you. Since eyes are so distracting, try to just keep your head still and gaze steady to frame just what’s in your present field of vision. You don’t have to do this anymore than 3-5 minute, but surrender your attention to just that one sensation. Notice how new sounds, feelings, or smells arise, change, and perhaps disappear. If you don’t have the luxury of a yard, go out for a short walk. Maybe find a bench or place to sit, or just pause and stand still for the time.

I find this practice especially fruitful in the early morning or evening close to sunset. Notice how your thoughts and opinions about some sound or odor emerges and just smile at these intrusions , going back to the sensation. Or maybe some random thought just pops in that have nothing to do with what’s going on around you. These are the sneakiest, because they hook us and take away for finer levels of sensation, but again just smile a the obtrusive thought and come back to the sensation.

Settling the mind is not the same as silencing the mind. It is nature of the mind to have thoughts, like wind blowing, or rivers flowing. But yoga is the practice of calming the fluctuations of the mind-stuff. Intentionally directing our attention with these exercises is the prescribed way in yoga. Even a little practice allows us the opportunity to rest in this marvelous present moment; our true home.

Filed under: Education, Virtual Yoga, buddhism, yoga, Yoga sutras

April 17, 2020 • 1:00 pm 0

Meditate Together

In practicing meditation we don’t always have to sit alone. There is a great support in being with other people. This was a revelation to me after years of meditating by myself. That to be in community with others helps to nurture and cultivate this what seems like a silent, solitary endeavor. Yet think of going to a basketball game where the crowd brings it combined attention and focus on one singular event and supports their team. Usually by screaming and shouting. We perhaps think that the support needs to loud and raucous to be beneficial, but this isn’t necessarily so. We can do many activities together without talking or yelling. We share living space with each other, we cook together, we congregate church, theater, concerts, or dance recitals giving our attention to one thing collectively which adds to spirit and energy of an event. Meditating in community is just as powerful and just as helpful.

Now we’ve come to a place in history, where coming together in groups is not prudent for our health or the health of the community. At least not our physical presence. However, like many group activities we are meeting up on virtual platforms like Zoom to we can be present for each other. The Honey Locust Sangha does this every Monday evening and we average about 25 -30 participants a week. But also on Friday evening we have continued with what we’ve titled “Noble Silence Meditation.” This was started by members of the sangha who wanted to meet for an hour while having no discussion or dharma talks. Just quietly gather at the Yoga Path, set up, sit-walk-sit, then end. No talking. Just a smile, the sound of the bell, and the presence of one-another.

Since the beginning of the social distancing and the pandemic measures, we have been meeting not physically or virtually, but temporally. We schedule our meeting every Friday evening, synchronize our sit/walk/sit to we can be together in time with noble silence. Some people email to announce that they will be there. Some don’t. But of those who do check-in, we know there are about 10 -12 people attending; probably more.

If any reading this, would like to join us in the Friday Noble Silence meditation, please do so. The schedule is as follows.

We begin the first sit at precisely 6:00 p.m. for 20 minutes.
The time for mindful walking will begin at 6:25,
Followed by the second sit at 6:40 for another 20 minutes.

If you have a bell, I encourage you to use it. To begin there is the half sound of the bell, then three full sounds. To end the sit there is a half sound the two full sounds. Begin and end walking with one sound of the bell. The Bell, when invited by you, makes the experience so much richer.

If you wish to sit, but just one 20 minute period or just mindfully walk, that would be fine. You don’t have to practice for the full hour. Just know that we’re here for each other. And you can surrender yourself to the sangha for help and support. And all you need to do is stop, come to your breath to dwell in the present moment, and know that your practice helps to support everyone. If you would like to let me know you are attending you can email me at omyogapath@gmail.com, but this in not required.

“Meditation practice isn’t about trying to throw ourselves away and become something better. It’s about befriending who we are already.”
Pema Chodran

Filed under: Education, Virtual Yoga, meditation, mindfulness, yoga

April 15, 2020 • 2:30 pm 1

Lucid Memory

don’t know about the rest of you, but in the midst of the pandemic and social distancing, I’m finding the world a more quiet place. While this life of unfamiliar patterns, routines, and expectations is unsettling, there is a kind of collective yet nurturing stillness that didn’t existed before now. At least not in my memory.

In the midst of this quiet stillness emerged a lucid memory of a poem that had some relevance to our current situation, though I couldn’t recall how. It was a life time ago in my college days, that I helped to print this with Harry Duncan, during an internship at Abattoir Editions at University of Nebraska at Omaha. The poem was from Father of Waters: Poems 1965 – 1976 by Ben Howard. I thought of it without remembering a single word of it, but knowing it is important that I find it. It was something to do with our present situation. Funny how stillness brings on lucid memories. Perhaps you’ve experienced this too?

APOLOGY

The soul’s communiqué arrived
On Friday morning. Some insist
The present crisis might have been
Avoided altogether had
There been more time. Had there been funds
Forthcoming, that would certainly
Have helped, considering how poor
Conditions had become. Of course
The public dutifully deplored
Our ignorance and languor. All
Winter we were treated to
Its cries. But just that kind of conduct
Kept us from hearing anything
Until too late. And who can say
That they’d have gone about things better
Or shown more care? The care we showed
Was quite unusual, I think,
In the situation. Meeting after
Meeting, hour after hour,
And no conclusions! After a while
You cease to think about distress,
Knowing there’s nothing you can do.
When all is added up, perhaps
That’s what they’ll find: a heart inclined
To help, but absolutely no
Inclusive strategy, no means
That could be trusted. And don’t forget
The soul’s communiqué itself,
Which even when it reached us seemed
Unclear. We did our best, you know,
With quick dispatches, full supplies.
And in the end you have to blame the soul
Itself for not being more explicit
Or getting word to us in time.
~ Ben Howard

Filed under: Education, Virtual Yoga, quiet, shamata, yoga

April 14, 2020 • 12:30 pm 0

Home Practice Level II, 1

Level II sequence starts with this practice. the sequence moves us from standing poses – to revolved standing poses — to inversions. The practice is very active and energizing. Try to begin with a strong focused attention, letting the breath do what it needs to do, but quieting the breath so as not to force or strain it. Don’t skip the inversions. They are a key component to this practice. If it seems to difficult move back to the Level I sequences for more days.

Tadāsana: Use the mountain to pose to focus and center yourself for the beginning of your practice. Root your feet into the floor while extending inside and outside leg. The quality of this pose will translate into the other standing poses.

Urdhva Hastāsana: Extending the arms up to lengthen the side body. Repeat 2x.

Trikonasna/triangle pose: Use a block or prop as need be, but repeat 2x each side and see if you can get lower on second attempt. Keep both legs very strong.

Utthita Pārśvakonāsana: Use a block or prop as need be, but repeat 2x each side and see if you can get lower on second attempt. Keep both legs very strong.

Ardha Candrāsana: Come up on down into this pose from trikonāsana/triangle with the back leg very straight and strong. Extend out through the lifted heal. Prop the bottom arm up with a block or a chair as needed. 2x

“Yoga is a light, which once lit will never dim. The better your practice, the brighter your flame.“
BKS Iyengar

Vimāmāsana: Stand with legs wide apart, bring arms out, turn and bend into the knee you are facing, lifting and pivoting the back heel. Lift chest forward and up utilizing arms to help with balance and strength. Repeat 2x on each side. You’re beginning to revolve with this pose, so move from the hips and belly.

Parivrtta Trikonāsana/revolved triangle: Turn toward the right leg as you begin to twist, so actively move from the hips and core. Change sides. Use a prop (block or chair) as needed to support the bottom arm so the spine is free to lengthen. Repeat 2x each side.

Parivrtta Parsvakonasana/revolved side-angle pose: Again actively twist at the core here getting the bottom arm to the outside of forward knee for leverage. Drop hips low. Repeat 2x each side.

Uttanāsana: There a two variations to choose here. The important thing is to lift the core toward the hips and extend the spine. Repeat 2x.

Prasārita Pādottāsana: Start with hands on floor, straight arms, and concave back. Then lower head to floor or block. Repeat 2x.

Sirāsana: headstand (against the wall if you want or do the “preparation poses” for as long as you can. Try to do some version of this as as safely as you can, but don’t skip it.)

Adho Mukha Virāsana: with support. Try to find a cushion or blankets to get the head the same height at the hips. Legs are apart, arms are forward.

Catuspādāsana: Hold the ankles in this pose. If unable to reach, then us a strap or a belt. Hold and breath for about 30+ seconds. Repeat 2x releasing slowing and mindfully. .

Sālamba Sarvāngāsana/shoulderstand: Set up with at least two folded blankets so the head is lower than the shoulders. This can be done supported on a chair or from the wall as we practiced in class. Be very strong in extending the legs up to the ceiling. Try to hold for 3+ minutes.

Eka Pāda Sarvāngāsana: move from full shoulderstand to this using the wall as pictured. Maintain stability in shoulder and torso. Hold this in conjunction with sālamba sarvāngāsana. Repeat 2 or 3x with each leg.

Halāsana/plow pose: Hold your shouldstand and keep legs straight as you lower them. Use the wall if there is pressure on the neck or head. Hold and breath.

Savāsana: Don’t skip this pose, but very intentional allow yourself to rest with awareness in this corpse pose.

Filed under: Education, Home Practice, Virtual Yoga, Iyengar yoga, yoga, yoga poses

April 13, 2020 • 11:00 am 0

Parasympathetic Nervous System

Back earlier in the month there was a Deep Relaxation practice offered. This is just one of the practices suggested here to help engage the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS).

Your body has of course, numerous systems: cardiovascular, digestive, immune, circulatory, endocrine (hormone), and nervous to name some. The stresses we’re undergoing right now aren’t just personal but also collective, given the current environment of the Covid pandemic. So if we want to use yoga to lower our stress, calm the fires, and improve overall health, the optimal entry point is the nervous system.

Specifically this is referred to as the autonomic nervous system (ANS) which is a label for the overall nervous system that regulates every other system in our body. So mental and physical activity have a direct influence over the ANS. So we’re talking about how yoga works. Through this practice you stimulate the parasympathetic wing of the ANS, calming, soothing, healing waves move through the body and mind.

So the practice of yoga is tailor-made for helping us manage stress, anxiousness, and malaise we experience in our lives. But the thing is: we need to do it. This is includes our asana practice, but also intentionally and mindfully applying practices like deep relaxation and mindful breath to our everyday life.

So on this subject of mindful breathing, here is the very helpful practice of DIAPHRAGM BREATHING:

The practice only takes a minute or two, though you may find you want to take more time. You know from class, the diaphragm is the muscle beneath your lungs that acts as a bellows to move air in and out of your lungs. What we at the Path refer to as the mid-band.
Place your hands above you belly a couple of inches beneath the bottom of the sternum. Look down, breathe normally, watch and feeling the movement of your hands. If you don’t observe much movement, try to breathe into your hands with mild effort, but not forced. Feel the expansion and contraction of the diaphragm by noticing the travel of your hands. You can also substitute a yoga strap for your hands, as we’ve learned in class. Just loop the strap around you mid-band with a just bit of snugness, but not too tight. You still look down when using the strap.
After practicing this a few times, you can try doing without your hands or strap, gradually bringing the gaze up to level. Eventually and with a little practice you can do this anywhere.

This simple technique is very effective for activating the PNS thus reducing anxiety while boosting the immune system. Here are five other ways it helps:

1. Effectively reduces fatigue or infections.
2. Helps by increasing cellular metabolism capturing and removing toxins in the body.
3. Greater clarity, less stress, calmness and alertness.
4. Increased oxygen levels in your cells help them to also function with increased vitality effectively slowing down cellular degeneration and the aging process.
5. By breathing correctly, you also can slow down your heart rate and lower or stabilize your blood pressure.

“Mindfulness isn’t difficult, we just need to remember to do it.”
Sharon Salzberg

Filed under: Education, Home Practice, Virtual Yoga, diaphragm breathing, parasympathetic nervous system, yoga for crisis, yoga for restlessness

The Yoga Path • Omaha, NE