Out at the Heel, Yoga Theraputics part 1

                Here is the first of the fruits of a marvelous class by Sianna Sherman, given the last week in February 2012 at Shine Yoga Studio, Cincinnati, Ohio.

                Starting from the ground up, let’s begin with a great way to get your feet in alignment.  In tadasana (i.e. standing, or more properly, mountain pose), we are taught to stand feet hip distance apart, second toe in line with the midline of the heel.  For many of us, it feels a bit pigeon-toed at first.  This is because the hip rotators, which help rotate the leg out (or externally) are so strong, they have taken over some of the role of the hip flexors (which lift the leg forward, as in walking).  You can discover if this is true for you by taking a little test.  Walk around a bit, and then come to standing.  Without moving your feet look down.  If one or the other (or both) of your feet are pointing out (even just a little bit), learning how to tame the hip rotators is the lesson for you.

                When instructed to come into tadasana, we are often told to look down at the feet to make sure they are parallel through the midline.  Should this not be the case, we are told to bring them into alignment.  Since my big fall on the ice 5 years ago, I have never once looked down to find this alignment though I have practiced hard to rediscover it.  This weekend I learned a good step to repatterning this area of the body.

                First, let’s experience the feelings of different kinds of motion. Starting from your standing position (tadasana), turn one foot out to the side.  Lift the toes and turn the foot into alignment with the other.  Which muscles move the foot when you move the toes?  For me, I notice most of the sensation in the quadriceps (front of the thigh).  Turn the same foot out to the side.   Now, lift the heel (rather than the toes) and move it outward to bring the foot into parallel.  As the heel moves out feel how the lower back opens, freeing the tailbone and decompressing the piriformis muscle.

                To expand on this idea, apply it to many other areas.  When stepping the feet wide for standing poses, always finish by widening from the heel. As you step forward to utanasana (standing forward bend) from lunge in your sun salutation, widen the heels slightly.  After this class, I noticed that my right leg turned out when operating the gas pedal in my car, so I have begun to periodically check and move the heel out when necessary.  Look when you wash dishes, brush your teeth, stand in church.  All times are fair game to teach your body divine alignment. 

Who Just Said “I Can’t?”- Wait, That Was Me

I love it when Sianna Sherman comes to town.  She is my favorite travelling yoga teacher.  I save up to take her classes and rearrange anything short of a wedding or a funeral to make sure I can attend.  You would think that the mental preparation would be as important as the physical, but somehow I was mentally unprepared for the classes I took during her February visit to Shine Yoga Studio in Hyde Park.

I show up to class, new mat in hand, ready to learn everything that she could teach so I could pass it on to my students.  The classes were so full there was only a few inches of floor between each mat in every direction.   There were two dedicated teachers just to help adjust the numerous students.  The first afternoon was devoted to therapeutics.   We worked with partners, each giving and receiving guidance and therapy.  I enjoyed working with my new friend, learning all kinds of different ways to help my students and clients release the tensions within the body.  Our teacher called it clearing, just like we talk about clearing blocks in Reiki.

                On the way home, I realized something embarrassing.  One of the teachers who was adjusting posture really got on my nerves.  I actually told her “I can’t” twice and I didn’t even realize it.  There is no “I can’t” in my vocabulary! Or maybe there is, but it’s not something I want in there.  I didn’t want to miss the next class, but the teacher would be there so I needed to figure something out to fix my issue.

                In any relationship there are two or more people.  Unfortunately the only one I can fix is me.  Wouldn’t it be great if everyone else would just accommodate me?  Not gonna happen.  As I started to ruminate on the problem, I just couldn’t get a handle on what was going on.  In a blinding flash of the obvious, I realized that I didn’t have to.

This is one of the true gifts of reiki.  There is no need to figure things out.  Just send reiki to “whatever is the cause of the behavior I don’t like (insert the name here).”  I spent some time Friday night, then Saturday on the ride back to the studio just sending reiki to whatever was blocking my reception of her gift of teaching.

The transformation was nothing short of miraculous.  What a great class, only due to the gift of reiki.  My body has had many falls and minor car accidents. This makes it hard to find the yoga motions within my own body, though I can see and find them in others as I teach.  Now I have a template within my body for the actions I create in others.  There was so much energy moving in my body, I’ve had a hard time speaking for several days after class.    My thanks to my guides and all the experiences that brought me here.

The Incredible Edible Egg

I am sitting here, eating breakfast with a smile that goes from my toes to out the top of my head!  My egg is delicious!  Last night I picked up eggs from a friend of mine who has a large family.  The children keep chickens that lay some very happy eggs.

                It was so great to pray over them.  As I blessed those who “…sowed, harvested, and prepared this food…”  I could see the faces of the kids as we talked last night.  What a gift I have been given.  I hope you all have as good a day as mine has begun.

Careful What You Ask For

For years I have been praying for, working towards and sending reiki energy to many goals- flourishing business, having good friends, helping my son with the Forensics team- all with only moderate success.  I wasn’t really floundering, but it seemed all of the energy was not hitting the target.  I began to feel like the plate spinner in the circus.  I’d get one aspect of my life really moving, like the plate balanced on the end of a stick, held up only as long as it keeps moving.  It seemed I could only do one plate at a time.

                Starting about two weeks ago, more plates began to spin at once.  The products I believe in began to sell.  I was invited to give a presentation.  I started receiving more emails.  Part of the Forensics team began to practice at my house.  My son wrote a good speech about something he really cares about.  Yeah! Aack!  I was overwhelmed!

                All of the details that come with success, better accounting, returning emails promptly, crafting talks targeted to your audience, and helping with speech revisions began dancing in my dreams.  I kept trying to keep all of the plates spinning at once.

Last Sunday morning, the day after my talk, I woke up in a sorry state, feeling just miserable.  I pulled off my Pendant of Eternal Light necklace and it looked like I felt.  The pendant is a coiled piece of metal with 3 crystal balls and a piece of lodestone inside.  If you are not careful, the chain gets caught up in the coil and it ties itself up in knots.  It had never gotten this bad before, maybe I should just cut it free.  That felt a little extreme so I went downstairs, made a cup of coffee, blessed it and began to unravel my pendant.  First pulling on one piece of chain, then on another.

 As I worked and massaged it back to freedom, I began to see the parallels with my life.  Each knot needed to be addressed as an individual, without worrying about all of the others.  Each bit unwound made me feel more hopeful.  Being present, in the present moment, with the present task made all of the difference.  Now I just need to remember it and enjoy the plates as I keep them spinning.

Be Yourself

“…every flower created by Him is beautiful, …the brilliance of the rose and the whiteness of the lily do not lessen the perfume of the violet or the sweet simplicity of the daisy.  I understood that if all the lowly flowers wished to be roses, nature would lose its springtide beauty, and the fields would no longer be enameled with lovely hues.”

Story of a Soul, St Terese of Lisieux

Pain Free!

                There are days where I think “How did I ever end up here?”  When I graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1988, not in my wildest dreams did I ever see myself as a wife, mother or even wilder- a reiki master. I was an officer and an engineer.  I love real, tangible things, yet here I am spending all of my time with the reality of the unseen.

                To help one of my most recent clients, I really had to dig through the dusty archives of my memory (and the even dustier basement) to unearth what I was looking for.  What I found was Pain Free: A Revolutionary Method for Stopping Chronic Pain by Peter Egoscue. As I reread the book it was such a great trip down memory lane.  This was the beginning of my explorations into alternative medicine.

                On Martin Luther King Day in 1989, my husband and I had a head on collision with a bus that left both of us with long term aches and pains.  I had found temporary relief from many sources, but by 2001 I was spending as much time as possible on the couch.  There was nothing more to be done short of surgery.  I knew that this was note for me, but where was I to go.

                As always, my first stop was the library. I read through the pain management, anatomy, yoga moving on to psychology (just in case it was all in my head).  In this search I found Pain Free.  The idea that all I had to do to relieve the pain was 30 minutes of exercises per day was unbelievable.  I spent the summer on the deck (listening to a Harry Potter novel) putting my hips back in alignment.

                I am a big fan of western medicine for acute injuries, but before you have the hip replaced, the bones shaved or the next shot into the nerve, check out this book and try the exercises for a few weeks.  All it cost me was a bit of time, but it gave me my life back.

Put The Oxygen Mask on Yourself First

One of my favorite television shows for years was What Not To Wear.  Each week, Stacey and Clinton would take a woman who had forgotten how to take care of herself and remind her (through a shopping spree, hair cut and new makeup) how beautiful she truly is.  In my practice I use reiki, BioGenesis tools and Hanna Kroeger techniques to help people deal with all types of things that get in the way of them being the most beautiful expression of themselves.  Somehow I forgot to help myself.

                We see it all the time in people in the caring professions; nurses, teachers, mothers and others.  So much energy is externally focused that they forget to take care of themselves.  Thirteen years ago both of my children spent time in the hospital, so I lived there as well.  What struck me was how unhealthy all of the staff was.  No one was on the stairs but me.  They worked such long hours and ate such poor food.  The good news is that has changed a lot.  This year a family member had a horrific car wreck so I spent a lot of time in the hospital again.  The stairs were downright crowded (at times I longed for the “good old days”).

                Two days ago, in a blinding flash of the obvious, I realized that I had to put the oxygen mask on myself before I could be of use to others.  As I alluded to in a previous post, I have put on a few pounds recently.  None of my dress clothes fit. Ick.  All this while eating my fruits and vegetables and healthy lean proteins.  How annoying.  Something had to change, but it couldn’t be my diet because that hadn’t changed from 8 pounds ago.

                What had changed was my business.  All of the sudden opportunities I have been working towards for years are presenting themselves.  I felt like I was rushing all of the time to catch up to my present rather than surfing the wave of life.  So I sat down with my BioGenesis Manual, first flipping through with irritation then settling down to business.  Using my pendulum I went through the wheels and other tools.  The interesting thing was that what came up over and over was the same wheel.  The Clear Regeneration Wheel for greater physical energy, digestion, and weight (when one eats too much because his/her body needs the energy).

                The result, in the last three days I have lost 2 pounds without changing anything.   I am also more attentive to my mood.  When I feel stressed and overwhelmed, I slow down, take a few long exhales and grab the BioGenesis wand to calm stress and anxiety.  It feels so good to surf the wave .

Reiki Music and the Wonders of Nature

Woke up this morning out of sorts and behind the power curve already.  What great music to set me straight!  Brought to my attention by Starfloating at Tumblr

The Best 5 Pounds I Ever Gained

When I began to teach yoga I was thirsty for knowledge.  I checked every book out of the library, went to other local libraries for more, and perused all of the bookstores.  One book sticks out even after all these years.  The content was not for me, but the pictures remain in my mind to this day.  One of the models for the book was a heavy woman.  She was amazing!  It was so clear how her body moved.  She could do everything.

For years I told students what matters is how you move what is under the skin.  Your weight does not matter for yoga.  I believed it, but never had to live it.  This year (yes, 2012) I put on a few pounds. All in the belly.  Though I hope it’s gone soon, what a gift it has been for me!

Yesterday’s yoga class was a revelation.   The class focused on being in the present in every pose.  Each pose was held for a long time with attention to the small details.  In pigeon pose forward bend this was expressed in square hips and internal alignment.   As I performed the pose, yes, my belly was touching my thigh the whole time, but all the internal parts were in the right place.  Low belly lifted, though no one could see it.  What a great moment of validation.

Of course I hope to regain my former figure (and quickly mind you!).  Not sure I believe that everything happens for a reason, but I do know that there is something to be learned from each situation we encounter.  I am grateful for the opportunity to experience from the inside what I have always taught.

Just a Bit More Joy

     As I was doing my morning prayers, I came upon another great expression. “Shout out in triumph on this joyous morning!”  I am glad there are poets who can express my feelings.

I Arise and Greet the Day

                Some mornings I get up knowing there is nothing that cannot be fixed by the dawning of a new day.  Yesterday was fraught with phone calls and decisions and running about.  This morning as I complete to morning rituals of showering and preparing breakfast all of the pieces fall into place. How could I have missed this thought yesterday?

     
          This is captured  by the picture above and one of my favorite hymns from the Liturgy of the Hours.  This song has been ascribed to St. Patrick:           

I sing as I arise today!

I call upon my Creator’s might:

The will of God to be my guide,

The word of God to be my speech,

The hand of God to be my stay,

The shield of God to be my strength,

The path of God to be my way,

O Father, this we ask be done,

Through Jesus Christ, Your only son,

Whom in the Spirit we adore:

One God who reigns forevermore.

Amen
My prayer for all is that this is your experience as well.  Blessings, Pam

Entrainment- or How to Make Others Happy Just By Being

                Why is it that when the teacher explains that math technique in class it is so easy, and then when you get home, it is so difficult?  When the yoga instructor makes one subtle adjustment and everything works, but it is so hard to find at home?  When being with someone you love makes you happy, but being alone is morose?  The answer is entrainment.

                Here is Van Morrison’s musical take on entrainment.

  He describes how another, in their happiness and joy of life entrains him into a trance.  The physical expression of this was described by physicist Christian Huygens in 1666, after he noticed that two pendulum clocks had moved from out of sync into the same swinging rhythm.  One clock “taught” the other into rhythm.

                As a scientist at heart, I love finding evidence that validates what I “know.” Right now there is some interesting research proving that entrainment exists between people, even at a distance.  My personal favorite is from IHM Director of Research Dr. Rollin McCraty. He measured the connection between his son Josh and the boy’s dog, Mabel.  When Josh loved Mabel, it changed both of their electrocardiogram readings. They became similar in a very good way, becoming more coherent.  Here is the full article http://www.heartmath.org/templates/ihm/e-newsletter/article/2010/spring/pets-making-a-connection.php.

                In my practice I see so many people who feel underutilized, like they are not making a difference in the world.  They have not cured cancer, or started a charitable organization, or have a high-powered job.  It turns out to change the world, you don’t have to do any of these things.  The Beatles got it right, all you need is love. 

Love Meditation

“

LOVE MEDITATION

Deep within the centre of my being is an endless source of love.
I allow this love to float to the surface.
It fills my heart, my body, my thoughts, my consciousness, my being itself and shines out from me in all directions and returns manifold to me.

The more love I use and give, the more I have to give.
The supply is endless.

The use of love makes me feel good. 
It is an outward expression of my inner joy.

I love myself, therefore I take loving care of my body. 
Lovingly, I feed it with wholesome food and drink.
Lovingly, I clothe and care for it and my body reacts lovingly to this with sparkling good health and energy.

I love myself, therefore I provide myself with a comfortable house, which satisfies my every need and in which it is pleasurable to be.
I fill the rooms with vibrations of love, so that all who enter, myself included, shall feel this love and be nourished by it.

I love myself, therefore I have a job that I truly love doing and in which I am able to use my talents and creativity.
It gives me a good income whilst enabling me to work with and for people I love and who love me.

I love myself, therefore I think and behave in a loving way, because I know that what I give will be returned to me manifold.
In my world I attract only loving people, because they are a mirror of what I am.

I love myself, therefore I forgive the past and all past experiences.
I let everything go, so that I can be free.

I love myself, therefore I live in reality, experiencing every moment as good and knowing that my future will be glittering, joyful and secure, because I am a beloved child of the Universe and the Universe takes loving care of me now and forever.

That’s the way it is.

”

—

“Love Meditation” by Louise Hay (via day355 on Tumblr), one of my favorites.  Another way of looking at the heart.  This one is particularly good for people who have a problem charging for their reiki services, since reiki is a gift from God.  As they say on the airplane, you have to put the oxygen mask on yourself first before you help others.

Expand Your Heart

                As I was ruminating on this post today, I was given such an opportunity to practice what I preach.  I was driving a “new to me” car and was unsure just how much gas might be left in my tank when the gas light goes on.  So I pulled into the nearest gas station.  The station has 18 pumps and 25 cars jockeying to get in first.  I’m not sure if I have the gas to go anywhere else, so I resolve to wait (with patience).  As I sat there in line, giving plenty of room for cars to pull out, a little car zooms in and cuts us all off.

                Now there are several possible reactions to this and much as I hate to admit it, I took the least attractive option.  I gave the car the evil eye and proceeded to get a good, righteous anger on.  In the midst of this revving up to ramming speed, I remembered my blog post and changed my attitude. At first I just released caring, but then moved on to loving all of the people at the gas station.  They weren’t any different from me.  We all just wanted to get gas quickly and get out of there.  As I pulled away with a happy heart I realized the whole maneuver had taken just over 11 minutes.  Definitely not worth losing your inner harmony over.

                In yoga we do heart openers, in BioGenesis creating we feel the warmth of the heart, in HeartMath we focus on heart coherence, but where to begin to find this feeling place?  How to find ease and harmony with any situation?  Though I had heard all the words before, tried meditation, practiced yoga, read the books, the first technique that ever worked for me came from Dr. Amen’s HeartMath.  What follows is a summary of his Quick Coherence Technique and this is a link to the webpage  http://www.heartmath.org/free-services/tools-for-well-being/quick-coherence-adult.html.

1. Heart Focus. Focus your attention on the area around your heart, the area in the center of your chest. If you prefer, the first couple of times you try it, place your hand over the center of your chest to help keep your attention in the heart area.

2. Heart Breathing. Breathe deeply but normally and feel as if your breath is coming in and going out through your heart area. As you inhale, feel as if your breath is flowing in through the heart, and as you exhale, feel it leaving through this area. Breathe slowly and casually, a little deeper than normal. Continue breathing with ease until you find a natural inner rhythm that feels good to you.

3. Heart Feeling. As you maintain your heart focus and heart breathing, activate a positive feeling. Recall a positive feeling, a time when you felt good inside, and try to re-experience the feeling. One of the easiest ways to generate a positive, heart-based feeling is to remember a special place you’ve been to or the love you feel for a close friend or family member or treasured pet. This is the most important step.

I am a scientist at heart so I have included a small explanation of why this works below, copied directly from the HeartMath store website http://store.heartmath.org/.  Please feel free to skip it if this is not your thing, but give this wonderful method a chance.  It can change your life.  The least that can happen is restore your peace of mind and that is no small thing.

                 

The heart is a primary generator of rhythmic patterns in the human body, and possesses a far more extensive communication system with the brain than do other major organs. In addition, the heart plays a particularly important role in the generation of emotion. With every heart beat, the heart transmits complex patterns of neurological, hormonal, pressure, and electromagnetic information to the brain and throughout the body. As a critical nodal point in many interacting systems - physiological, cognitive and emotional - the heart is uniquely positioned as a powerful entry point into the communication network that connects body, mind, emotions and spirit.

Doc Childre and the research team at the Institute of HeartMath (IHM) have shown that techniques which combine intentional heart focus with the generation of sustained positive feelings lead to a beneficial mode of physiological function they have termed psychophysiological coherence. Correlates of psychophysiological coherence include a sine wave-like pattern in the heart rhythms, increased heart-brain synchronization (alpha rhythms become more synchronized to the heart) and entrainment between heart rhythm patterns, respiration, blood pressure rhythms and other physiological systems. Although psychophysiological coherence is a natural state that can occur spontaneously while people are feeling genuine positive emotions and during sleep, sustained periods are generally rare.

 As an interesting side note, my husband had a great example of the difference between our "normal" state and coherence.  I love some of the songs from The Pogues, a celtic punk band.  One day my husband played me some of their other music...
Here are The Pogues

Here are The Pogues on HeartMath. Reach inside and expand your heart.