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Backbends are a sure thing for unleashing prana

Natarajasana B (Image © Yoga Robin®)This pose feels so good with the strap. The Ashtanga way is to hold the toes, no strap (and for me, this means that all of my energy goes toward not dropping the foot, or even getting it). My favorite Iyengar teacher instructs this one with a strap.

It is a wonderful shoulder opener (euphoric) and doing it this way I'm feeling the Prana in my shoulders, entire back, up and down legs. I'm even smiling. Using resistance against the strap (foot and shoulders higher up) feels even better. I forget I'm even balancing. My favorite backbend...

Backbends are a sure thing for unleashing all kinds of emotional holding. For me, it's a guarantee and always leaves me happier. Some people experience fear and sadness in backbends (and I'm also one of them) as these feelings hide inside a broken heart or cold heart that doesn't feel much...but can't help but rise to the surface in backbends. Getting the energy to express itself is a wonderful way to release it.

Namaste.

Eka Pada Rajakapotasana (Image © Yoga Robin®)

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Start here, self that hides: A vision into the yoga self

 

i write whatever you say to meMy yoga stirs up emotions in me and sometimes speaks as pasts and present all intermingle. As my body moves, and as I breathe, my stories are told. Here is a conversation with karmas that were burned one morning.

 

vision of yoga self

Dear self who hides,

I don’t want to leave you, or myself, behind. When your words are near (and I hear you speaking through me), I cannot help but smile inside. When I am my body, standing in front of myself, sometimes my heart shuts down. Why? I feel you more after I leave you, as if a piece of me is still with you. And so it is; you are me, left floating through the yoga studio room, melting onto the floor.

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You transfix me: You are my chakras

 

you are balanced. i live with you.

You are a work of art. It’s not easy but you do it. You live true to who you are and know it. When you are open, chakras, in my yoga practice, I don’t question it. 

dear chakras, you help me walk with strength, enchanted. i’m open to each of you as you arrive, speak and feel. i know who you are…

 

-->> chakra article moved to here.

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Surrender to your heart: Let go of anger, sadness and stories that cover up your love

 

find your peace

Maybe it doesn't seem like it at times, but there is peace within you. Sometimes it's hiding on purpose, so that you cannot find it easily. Let's say you find the source of a problem and throw it out the window. But your inner chaos returns. Why?

Surrendering is a process. You need to believe that it relieves you. And then know that this action needs to be repeated.

But what does surrender even mean?

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Nurturing your body by taking it easy in yoga vs. being lazy: How do you know the difference?

Is your yoga sometimes an escape? Do you go to class when you are feeling bored or escaping life, and therefore give life its purpose through your yoga practice? It doesn't matter if it's hardcore or not.

take it easy some days

It's not necessary to expend a 100% effort during every yoga practice. Some days your body needs more tender loving care, and it's better that you show up on your mat than not at all. These can be the most transformative days that rewire your brain, in fact—the days when you are not motivated to go to class and you go anyway.

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What happens after yoga class: Where do the toxins and emotions go?

 

capture who you are

After yoga?

What do you do after yoga class? You went, you opened, twisted, sweat and stretched it all out. You unleashed emotions and thoughts, and sealed it all in with intention in the end (savasana).

Do you then just go on with your day?

Yoga—if done mindfully—can create euphoria and bring you to your happiest self. It can also bring you to the opposite as it acts as a sort of catalyst to making you face your darkness, as all that you hold inside your tightest body parts rises to the surface and begs for your attention.

Yoga opens you

This happens without notice with yoga poses that open the hips and shoulders, abdominal twists and mainly yoga breathing (i.e., ujjayi pranayama). With yoga, you are not only wringing out toxins, but also releasing emotions and setting energy free...

Be with what you find

Whether magical or disturbing, you can capture the essense of all that comes up in your yoga class by working with it. You can write it down (to share or not),

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Soften into your muscles: Flexibility within strength

the answer to all questions is 'yes'

The opposite of muscle contraction is softening and lengthening. Flexibility is the opposite of muscles.

Balance hardcore with softness

Going hardcore to get what bothers you most out of you, using your own internal fire, is all good. Using the rajas to their fullest is great, while you let them subside into a peaceful state. But there is a balance to that sun energy expended.

Cooling down, stretching out, and really listening in the silence you've created is the whole point of yoga. To get rid of your mind's stories, your insecurities, your anger... is to feel more tranquil.

You are waiting to listen

It is in this place that you are able to listen to your intuition, your own internal teacher.

 

© 2013 Yoga Robin®

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Are you more right-brained or left-brained while you practice yoga?

Right-brain? Left-brain?

Do you associate more with the right side of your brain while you practice yoga or the left side of your brain?

The two hemispheres of the brain have fascinating connections (Photo credits: Simeon Schatz)

Creative vs. logical

The right-brain/left-brain theory grew out of the work of Roger W. Sperry in the late 1960s, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1981. The cerebral cortex controls rational functions and is made up of two halves, connected by masses of nerve fibers which pass messages between each other. These halves, or hemispheres, are commonly referred to as right-brain and left-brain.

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How Yoga Robin was born: Why private yoga instruction?

Private vs. group yoga

Many people drop into their favorite group yoga class, with usually a number of studios, teachers and times to choose from. With an unlimited membership at a studio, why would a student choose private instruction instead?

Robin in Death Valley 108 degrees (image © Simeon Schatz)

How I began teaching yoga

I started teaching private yoga exclusively

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Headstands and how they benefit you

Five-minute headstands

I used to do 5-minute headstands every day. They influence pure calm and also reverse the aging process, as the blood flow switches directions. Headstands require arm strength and balance.

Protect your neck

Staying up in a headstand at all costs is not a good idea though—the neck needs to be protected with safe technique.

I, indeed, learned the hard way. One morning I woke feeling hospital-bound; the day before I did a 7-minute headstand, and felt my shoulders sinking in the last 2 minutes but did not listen to my body. Sadly, I allowed my ego to guide me instead.

It was through the several weeks to follow that I remembered the articulate words of my austere—and very experienced—teacher. I remembered all of her demonstrations before headstands to properly place the hands, lift—pull-down, although inverted—the shoulders, setting up before inverting (and keeping that structure no matter what). I remember all of the partner exercises surrounding this. I also remember rolling my eyes, believing that I didn't need any of that "beginner instruction."

I was wrong. I did. 

Act with a "beginner's mind"

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The medicine of yoga and herbs

Energy or emotional boost

While hatha yoga stretches out your body, lubricates the joints, pumps blood and healthy fluids through your body while also reducing inflammation, what can you do—outside of yoga—to aid the process? When you could use an energy or emotional boost, a cool-down, or even stress management, how can you gain some holistic assistance?

Herbs.

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This wondrous life

image by simeon schatz

A poetic thought

A pose is just the life force concentrating on its next move... Held steady within the vessel body, our minds are free form as time becomes unified without limit or boundary.

 

© 2012 Yoga Robin®

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The secret of breath

Stop what you are doing now

 

Stop what you are doing now, no matter what it is, and for 15 minutes do nothing but close your eyes and breathe deeply. Try to breathe using ujjayi breath used in Ashtanga yoga or Pranayama meditation.

Make sure that you don't cheat yourself on your inhale or your exhale. Make them equal in length. Try 5 second inhales and 5 second exhales all through your nose, breathing through the back of your throat.

This breath is like an ocean with waves ebbing and flowing slowly. With your eyes closed you can even imagine waves moving to the rhythm of your breath as you look with the eyes of your soul.

While working a busy day, living a stressful moment at home, or feeling anxiously happy, this will be like transporting yourself to the beach...

You will be releasing toxins from the body and mind with this practice.

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Darkness found in your yoga practice

Are you scared to face something?

If you are scared to face something within yourself, you may sometimes feel that time is against you or that you cannot fulfill your wishes because of your fears.

The answers might be in your dark sides that you refuse to see. Yoga can have the potential to be the place to confront what's most deep inside you. This means that you have the power to confront your darkest side of you in your yoga practice.

A place for the bold... But ask yourself, "What am I scared of?"

We hide our darkest parts within our bodies

Deep within our bodies. The best parts stay locked up in our joints and tightest places: hips, necks, shoulders, backs, and even feet. When moving through yoga with deep breath, these gems—as secrets—can become free...

In a big way.

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Find the right work-life balance: The key to happiness, health, well-being

 

Do you balance your life?

Are you a workaholic? Do you work extra hours because you really need the money, or do you believe your job really needs you, and that it's ok to take care of your job more than yourself? Or do you, for one reason or another, find yourself addicted to your computer whether it's work or personal?

Staying busy all the time does not help you

You do know that if you are working too much, you are acting like you are not very important.

Maybe, without knowing it, you are covering up something basic in your existence and doing it through your work. Staying busy all the time with a task that does not cultivate your soul can be like a drug that you continually allow to drive you. But you can beat it if you recognize who you truly are.

Nurture yourself

If you need rationale outside of yourself in order to ease up on workaholism, remember that no one really gets the best of you if you don't nurture yourself first.

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Can you find stillness and not stiffness?

stillness

Can you find stillness and not stiffness?

Yoga is, no doubt, a great place to work on this. Some yoga classes are all about moving fluidly with your watery nature, as you, like a dance, find your way to balance. This can help with flow in life, moving with the body we are dealt in life and becoming one with it.

life and chaos

Life brings chaos and challenge sometimes. A challenging yoga class can help you mimic this challenge and give you the chance to relax into it. You can come out ahead of the game with your head on your shoulders.

Ashtanga yoga, invigorating and fast-paced, can be a place to find stillness and calm. A serious voice that instructs while also inviting you to find softness in the strength is important, especially in your neck and trapezius muscles that support your neck—a common place to hold tension. 

expansion and contraction

Can you find the perfect balance between expansion and contraction of your muscles so that the end result is soft and still? If you cannot, your yoga could be harming you. Better yet, can you find it in your mind and spirit? It takes patience to traverse your oceans of time...

Other activities such as surfing require focus and strength. Learning how to ride nature's gem—the ocean—allows you to give yourself to it. It is pure fluid so you have no choice but to move with it. Can you find the strength in your muscles to protect you, fuel you, and help you get the most enjoyment possible, while still remaining soft and fluid, especially in the back of your neck?

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Diving deep, where are you my fears?

go to the edge

I am now wondering where my fears are, going off the edge to find them in myself, in the depth of who I am. If I am bold enough and I don't turn back, I will be able to renew my patterns. This action will set me free.

In the dark shadows, I imagine I will sail through my depths as if a dream and find the silence I need and have searched for all my life. I know that the best stuff is at the very bottom.

gems and secrets are beacons

More conspicuous and offset against the darkness, the gems and secrets are easier to see and feel. Sometimes they shine with luminosity like a beacon, with my name on them!

The bottom must be a bed of soft sand which I can dig my bare feet into and feel rooted, maybe for the first time. The ground of my soul. To touch this part of me is to release all that I previously imagined was hidden.

Transforming itself, no longer in the dark, I will invite it to be a part of my waking life.

freedom lies in our minds and bodies

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Whispering words to your soul

poetry of the body

As yoga speaks the poetry of your body, words speak the poetry of your soul. Yoga and words complement each together. Any type of activity can also be a way of living your yoga.

there are no mistakes

No stranger to a community of poets and those who like to verbally relay their words to others? Many have a vibrant and active lifestyle to go along with this love of words.  

Like the wind off a clear blue lake blows its answers to the mountains, take time to whisper the secrets to your heart. Listen to every touch with your sacred ears. Sit with the words as they write themselves. There are no mistakes. It is all yours. You write it to share, so that you can touch something other than the normal, regular you. 

As you move the prana in your body, and work through the chakras, you experience your purpose in the moment. Through your desires, your energy and your heart, you will most likely find the soulful words whispering to you gently. 

continue moving

Continue moving and you eventually can surrender to that which you've activated, feeling it clear out all that gets in the way of knowing your true intuitions and spirit connection.

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Savasana: A true art

Reflection

Savasana, the final pose of any decent yoga practice is the place where you reflect upon your entire practice as it comes before your eyes from a distant cloud.

Savasana is one of the most important poses in yoga, reflecting true peace as the culmination of your practice.

This final resting pose, otherwise known as Corpse Pose, is a pose in which to wrap the fruits of your labors, your joys of movement, and your love for your body.

Wring out toxins

After moving the precious prana within your body through movements that flow through you, twists that wring out toxins, and peaceful moments in between that take your breath away, savasana is a time to celebrate and smile within. It's a place for stillness.

Celebrate

Celebrate your life force. You may have a tendency to ignore it as you move along in your busy day.

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Receive your gift in silence

what is your intention?

We go to yoga class. We start the class by making an intention. Then what?

Do we hold true to its energy every second of the class? No. We tuck it away in our heart and let it speak its own words to our soul.

be patient for the prana to do its work

For, the energy of a wish comes from within us and can hardly hide its wings when we are allowing the prana to circulate as we move our bodies in twists and waves.

What we feel comes from within. Before the words even articulate themselves to our being, we know what it is we are trying to say.

sometimes no words

Sometimes we are silenced. Sometimes this is a blessing. In this inability to find words, our soul is telling us to go deeper. Look into the still pond of your being. Do not always rely on words. Look to the swirling space that doesn't want to hear your words and give it your thanks.

There is more to living.

Namaste.

 

© 2010 Yoga Robin®

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