Open Your Heart

    Yesterday was amazing- both informative and transformative.  It all began in the church basement.  I have taught the yoga class there for over 9 years.  One would think that by now it would be routine.  This Tuesday was anything but routine.
      Upstairs in church there was a 6 year old girl's funeral.  Our church has been praying for her for months.  I gave it a lot of thought; how to reconcile the two, death and healing.  I had thoughts, but no coherent plans.  On the way over I received a call from a student who had arrived very early. Some of the people who were preparing for the reception after the funeral had expressed concern at the lack of respect holding a yoga class would have for the funeral above.  This balance, however, is one of the great skills of living.  How to be present and have life in the middle of awful things.  The world is always with us; how to be of the world, yet not in it.
       Before we began class, we set a few guidelines for the length of class (it would be shorter) and the least conspicuous way to exit the building (so a bunch of ladies in workout clothes carrying yoga mats would not disrupt the reception).  All of these things worked out well. We left the building just as the service was ending, but this was not the important part.  What was amazing was the powerful impact this shortened class had.
        Recently I have been experimenting with using the breath to let me know which aspects of my body are holding tension, where should I target my practice.  Let's begin.  Stand comfortably with your eyes closed.  Take a deep breath.  Without exhaling, breathe in some more and if possible a little more.  Notice where your feel tension in your body, then let all that air out in one long slow exhale. The part of the body where you are holding the most tension feels all jammed up as you try to bring more air into a full body.  This exercise feels different every time it is done.  Watching a class full of people perform it, give the teacher a strong idea of how to structure the upcoming class.
        Tuesday morning the tension was in everyone's upper chest.  Given the stress of the funeral and shorter time span, I put together a very different class.  If you'd like to try it out, here is a link to a 20 minute version.  Let's just say, the class was unique enough  that I wasn't sure how effective it was.  Did the heart openers work, and would they hold over after the students left?
        My question was answered on my way home.  Now, a class is much less physically powerful for the teacher than the student, because the teacher is focused outward on demonstration and her students, but I found a huge change had taken place in myself.  On my way home I had to stop at the grocery store because I was completely out of produce.  As I walked around the store, I noticed something strange. People kept staring at me in the face,  like they knew me and expected me to talk with them.
        Now I'm not talking about the produce manager or all of the people who work the checkout lanes; those are people I know well and we talk all the time.  These were people I had never met before.  a Japanese man, an Indian woman, a mother with small kids, the man picking up salt for his driveway (in anticipation of the "white death").  They all seemed to expect me to address them.  I had never realized how "in my own world" I was when I shopped.  Turns out when my heart is open and I am looking around, everyone I met wanted in on the joy.
       This phenomena was well described in How God Changes Your Brain: Breakthrough Findings from a Leading Neuroscientist.  "As many studies have shown, the more compassionate we become, the more generous those around us become... Thus, when we treat others with kindness and respect (in my case, just noticing that they were there), even those who hold different beliefs will respond in kind.  An upward spiral is created that stimulates the anterior cingulate, a crucial part of the true heart ans soul of the brain."  He calls it "reciprocal altruism."  Noticing my neighbor allowed them to notice me as well.  It was a great shopping trip.

It's Worth the Pain

      This morning I was at the vet with my cat, Joy.  Let's just say she was less than thrilled.  She was in for a recheck of dermatitis on her chin.  A few weeks ago she had scratched her chin hard enough to draw blood.  What we had not really noticed was how she slowed down, stopped playing.  I marked it down to age.
        Ten days and a few antibiotics later, Joy is running around like a mad woman.  With all this joy also has come two vet visits, 4 shots, oral and topical medicine twice a day.  It is such a strong parallel to my feelings about 2012.  There has been progress, I am feeling better, but there has been unpleasantness along the way.  The cage I have felt was for my own good, but seriously, ick!

       This was the year I tried to do all the business stuff by the books.   I bought a professional website, started a blog, made a professional Facebook page (or two), bought the computer software... (I could go on, but you get the picture.)  The business had always done well enough, but never well.  I was going to make it shine (and hopefully pay for college...).  It was kind of like this puzzle.  All of the pieces are bright and shiny, but they are in a remarkable jumble.

      The good news is that persistence pays off.  The pieces are beginning to fit and form something.  It will be interesting to see what it is.  All of the computer work has turned into creating a blog for my friend.  Today's post about the Mayan calendar is great.  For me the Great Transformation that everyone is talking about this year, has been in how I look at things.  I've learned how to relax and be at peace in a lot of situations that I really wish I wasn't in.  It has been on the job training of the worst sort, but now, I'm getting pretty good at it.  I also have a lot of tools to give to my clients and students.
     Can't wait until 2013 to see what the puzzle looks like!

Your Inner Fountain of Youth: Yoga for the Face

He reminds me of Jackie Chan
"Take this, wrinkles!"

    Do you remember how your mother said "If you keep making that face, it might stay that way forever!"  Turns out she may have been right.  We hold so much tension and suppressed emotions in our faces, often we don't look our youthful best.
    Over the past weekend I had a booth at the Victory of Light festival in Sharonville, Ohio.  I was lucky enough to be right next to Sebastian Rey Skin products.  The men at the booth were so much fun, it was like having a floor show all weekend.  Even more important, they looked so young!  As the Expo began to wear down, we had more free time to talk.  Now, a girl never tells, but these men looked about 20 years younger than they were.  Talk about a ringing endorsement for self care.
     Tuesday's yoga class brought this into the physical by relaxing and restoring the face from the inside.  It is always so interesting to find how much tension we store in the eyes and jaws and how easy it is to release it (if only for a little while).  Here is a shorter version of the practice to use at home. (Writing this blog post has been very relaxing, because I keep doing the acupressure points to figure out how to accurately describe them.)
     (The beginning massage is loosely derived from Acupressure's Potent Points: A Guide to Self-Care for Common Ailments.  I highly recommend this book! It explains acupressure, then offers relief for what ails you.)

image from Healing Journeys

• Begin by taking a comfortable seat in a chair or on the floor. Settle into the present time and place. Notice your breathing for several rounds.
• Move to more conscious breathing.
• Inhale and imagine it enters through the front of your throat (your fifth chakra).
• Exhale and imagine it exits through the front and back of the throat.
• Allow the breath to settle and bring your hands into prayer pose (anjali mudra).
• Tip your head gently forward and bring the joined hands to your forehead, touching the index fingers to the third eye (the point between your eyebrows). Rest here for a few breaths.
• Keeping the index fingers in place, spread your palms (keeping palms facing one another) and gently place your thumbs on the bone at the outside our your eyes (right where crow's feet begin to form). Rest here for a few breaths.
• Place the index fingers on your jaw, right below your ears.Keep hands off of your face. Rest here for a few breaths.
• Move the index fingers to the back of the neck, about half way between shoulders and base of the skull.  Slide the index fingers about an inch from center line and gently hold. Rest here a few breaths.
• Place index fingers on the base of the skull (occiput). Rest the index fingers about two inches out from center line on the big tendons.  Hold for several breaths.
• Complete by brushing down the whole body. Begin by gently brushing the face with your hands, moving down the neck and whole body. Crown pull, moving the fingers out from center line on your whole scalp, massaging the head. Pull hands out from center line for the neck, top to bottom and finish by pulling hands over base of the neck to shoulders.

Cat-cow (Majariasana)
from Women's Health

• Come to table pose (svanasana) on your hands and knees.Exhale, round your back into cow. Inhale, arch back and look up into cat. Move through cat-cow (majariasana) with your breath for several rounds.
• Allow the body to settle back into table pose (svanasana).
• Move through cat-cow again, but this time inhale into cow (not cat!), arching your back high.  Imagine that you are inhaling through the back of your heart. Exhale, opening the front of your chest, moving into cat. Continue for several rounds.
• Now time to add the face. As you exhale for cat, open your mouth and eyes wide, sticking your tongue out just like the guy in this picture (keep those eyes open). Continue for several rounds.

• Settle back to table, relax your face, turn your toes under and stretch back to downward facing dog (adho mukha swanasana). 
• Since this is our first down dog, stretch out your legs, moving from side to side to open the backs of the legs and hips.
• Settle back to your downward facing dog, then begin cat-cow just like the last time on your hands and knees. Inhale, round your back up to the sky, breathing in through your heart. Exhale, open your mouth and eyes, sticking your tongue way out.  Move through cat-cow for several more rounds.
• Walk your feet up to your hands, coming to uttanasana (standing forward bend). Place your hands on your hips, inhale to mountain pose (tadasana).

    Now that your face muscles are awake and alive, on to your regular practice.  Do a few sun salutations paying attention to relaxing the face, particularly the eyes and jaw.  Soften the eyes and give a small smile (think smiling Buddha, not Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland).

    I like the first sun salutations to be very gentle, walking back and forth rather than jumping, and making the poses very gentle variations, continuing to pay attention to the face.  Work your way gradually up to jumping back and forth between uttanasana and plank and more vigorous poses, always softening the eyes and jaw. 

    Continue to inversions and standing poses while relaxing the face. End with corpse pose (savasana), setting an intention to relax your face consciously every day. Dip into your inner fountain of youth.

Not Tonight, I Have a Headache: Yoga for the Head

    Until this last week I would have said I don't get headaches very often, but I was wrong. It is one of the curious things about long term pain.  So often we forget it is there, just like the static on a stereo system or the twinge in your knee.  If you can't fix it, ignore it.  Over the past week, I have been using the poses described below and the relief is amazing.
    Recently, I attended the closing classes of Shine Yoga Studio (here's a post on what a gift the studio has been to me for many years).   Not only are classes with the traveling teachers like Sianna Sherman  fun and interesting, but they tend to use poses that we may have let drop from our daily practice.  She used several facial expressions in various ways throughout the classes.  What I have discovered in my home practice is they are wonderful in releasing facial tension, relaxing the head and shoulders, and, best of all, relieving stress headaches!

source

        The class was about opening to change in our lives, becoming a bit like this guy here on the left.  He is Hanuman, the Hindu monkey god.  Hanumanasana (the asana or pose of Hanuman) is the splits, one very open position that I love watching other people do.  One thing you will immediately notice is his very puffy cheeks (here is the story of how it came to pass). Sianna mentioned making his face is a great way to open up the muscles in your face, but we didn't do it in class. So here is what I came up with at home....
            - sit quietly, becoming more aware of your cheeks and jaw
            -  inhale, filling your cheeks up with air
            - swish the air around in your cheeks, pressing the ball of air into anyplace that feels tight
                                                        - remember to go into the lower jaw, the hinge of the jaw and the area between your nose and mouth
                                                         - exhale, noticing how the cheeks and jaw feels

source

      Our other facial expression was from the god, Kali.  She is often pictured with her tongue sticking out.  Unfortunately, the only pictures I could find had her mouth closed and that is not the posture we are looking for.  This lovely cat, on the other hand, has the mouth just right. Kali face (as I call the expression in my mind) is much more active than Hanuman's.  To find the Kali face....
            - inhale with the face relaxed
            - exhale - open eyes wide
                         - open mouth wide
                         - stick your tongue way out
                         - make an audible Hah! with the breath
            - repeat
     I noticed that this expression really digs in and releases the tongue and jaw muscles.  Hanuman's face releases the cheeks and lips.  Once I let go of the tension in the lower half of my face, my head begins to feel better.  The more I relax it, the feeling begins to spread to the base of the skull and down the neck and throat.
      The funny thing is how making these faces also makes you laugh.  You feel ridiculous and that can be lots of fun.  I'm sure the laughter helps in stress relief as well.  Play around with them and let me know what you think.  Blessings and laughter. Pam

The Universe Speaks

   As I posted on Wednesday, two weeks ago one of my fundamental beliefs was really challenged. I believe that anything can be healed. After all, to be in the healing business, you need to believe that healing is possible.  How could I square the words of these two doctors (who told me I'm basically in a holding action with my body) with my healing business?  All I can say is, we ask, God speaks (or the Universe or whatever term works for you for a Higher Power).  This week I asked and He delivered!
     On Thursday I went to mass then had a singing lesson.  There I am, running on no sleep, tired and cranky but also present and accounted for.  In my experience, this is the best time to hear because all of your defenses are down.  Our first reading was from Ecclesiastes 1: 2-11.  This selection begins with "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.  What profit has man from all that he toils at under the sun?"  For the first time ever I understood.  The author is not saying that labor is not worthwhile, rather that all things pass away.  So, I have labored fruitlessly my whole life to heal my eyes, but the knowledge that I gathered gave my son back his perfect vision. (As I read this, it doesn't make much sense, but the truth I glimpsed in mass is hard to put into words).
     Also, all of this physical stuff is just the shell.  I want to take good care of my body, not as the end itself, but rather so that I can continue to help others and take care of my family.  There are also times to accept help, and I need help from my eye doctor and chiropractor and yoga teacher and husband and sons and.... (you get the idea).  Darn it.  I can't tell you how many times I have told others that their infirmities give others an opportunity to serve.  Guess the advice has come home to roost.
    At the singing lesson, God struck again.  These lessons are very hard for me.  Singing very loud, very high is like running around naked, every flaw shows (sorry for the picture that just conjured up...).  I so did not want to show up.  We warmed up, sang a few songs, worked on ways to sing differently.  Somehow, right in the middle, we got to talking.  I told my teacher how devastating the news had been.  We talked back and forth for a while and I could tell that she was searching for inspiration.  At the same time I was praying for God to speak to me through her because my mind was so crazy I couldn't be quiet and listen.
     All of the sudden, her face clears and she asks me "Does this close any doors?"  You know what, it doesn't.  Just because, barring a miracle, my eyes won't be perfect in this lifetime does not negate all of the learning and practice that has gone into trying to heal them.  One of the techniques I learned gave my son perfect vision.  All of the pain in my neck and back had created a great yoga practice and lots of techniques, to help both clients and friends.  Looks like these actually opened doors.    We always get help just sometimes it is hard to recognize.

Yoga for a Quiet Mind

      Today's yoga class was great!  It really crystallized some thoughts that have been running through my mind.  We always begin sitting and I ask for requests for a focus for the class.  One student asked for yoga to cool a "hot" brain.  Without thinking much, I was up and running.  What I realized about halfway through the class was that I was teaching my "Take the Sting out of Stress" class in yoga format.  Who knew?
     Here is a YouTube video of a highlights version of the class.

      Better yet, if you are looking for the yoga version, here is an outline of a home practice to accomplish the same steps.  For clarity I will use the common English terms for each yoga pose.  This is going to be a bit long, so here are two versions (the Readers Digest and the full length...)

Short Version

Breathe- Sit quietly, noticing your breath.  Encourage the exhale to become longer than the inhale.

Affirm- Give your mind something concrete to focus on, rather than running loops around whatever subject is currently driving you crazy.  In class we used 4 alignment points (feet, hips, shoulders and hands).  For our purposes, pick one and as you do your active practice, notice the alignment in each pose.  A few sun salutations would be a good choice.

Relax-  Come into a wide legged forward bend, resting your head on a block (or stack of blocks).  Let the mind begin to quiet.  Do a few standing poses like Warrior 2, side angle and triangle.  In each pose, place your back hand on the base of your skull and relax into it. If your toes are turned toward the right, use your left hand.
             Lay down in corpse pose (savasana) or sit for seated meditation.  Set a timer for 5 minutes and allow the body and mind to rest.  Enjoy.

Long Version