Breath of Joy -- Orchestra Style -- inhale, inhale, inhale, exhale (take a bow)
shoulder rolls
neck rolls
Thunderbolt
Kneel with your heels under your chicken cheeks. Grasp a strap widely in front of you. Inhale and raise both arms overhead. Exhale and move your arms in a arc, to take them behind your back. Inhale and raise your hands once again then exhale as you bring them in front of you. Continue the movements with your breath.
Put the strap aside and reach your right arm over head, reaching down your back with elbow to the sky
gently pull the elbow back, breathe
Keep your right arm in place, drop your left hand by your side. Rotating from your shoulder joint turn your left thumb behind you Bend your elbows to catch hands or use a strap to extend your arms. breathe.
Repeat stretching left arm.
Table top for a tea party
inhale cow
exhale cat
down dog
plank
inhale right heel to the sky, exhale kick between your hands
right knee behind right hand for a pigeon stretch.
move your right foot toward your left hand (parallel to the short side of your mat), okay to have right foot at left hip joint. Place your fingertips on the floor in front of you. Use the muscles of your spine to arch into a long, even backbend and gaze straight ahead for slow breaths. Keep hips square.
repeat on left
transition--Partly Cloudy, Sun A
bring feet together for plank, tailbone to sky for down dog. Look between your hands, walk or jump to forward fold.
inhale halfway lift and lengthen
exhale dive to the floor for a forward fold
inhale arms overhead for extended mountain
exhale thumbs to heart
tree
dead bug
corpse--story of walking in the woods, Worry Woman, bubbling brook, clouds
3 part body blessing
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Sunday, February 10, 2013
Wrapping My Brain around . . . Samkhya
Graduation Cap
Radical Metaphysical School
400-200 B.C.E.
Sage--Kapila
Thinking Cap
Dualism (much like how science of the Enlightenment Period competed with religious explanation during the 1600s & 1700s)--Kapila believed the visible world was not a manifestation of the Divine.
Tree and Brain
Nature separate and completely distinct from the universal consciousness, a radio signal we can all tune in.
Glasses
Cosmology--"study of the origins and eventual fate of the universe" Wikipedia--difference between the seer (purusha) and that which is seen.
Brick
So the school failed but . . . these ideas were incorporated and carried on as building blocks:
Girl and Boy
separate forms of reality
(1) PURUSHA--Male--all knowing, without beginning and without ending, no features or characteristics, exist without motion or form as pure CONSCIOUSness
(2) PRAKTRITI--Female--UNCONCIOUS--constant motion, active, distinct, creative, formative--qualities assigned to all of nature, material world. Everything created through the manifestations of her nature (gunas).
Gotta Yoga YTT manual, p. 3-4
Radical Metaphysical School
400-200 B.C.E.
Sage--Kapila
Thinking Cap
Dualism (much like how science of the Enlightenment Period competed with religious explanation during the 1600s & 1700s)--Kapila believed the visible world was not a manifestation of the Divine.
Tree and Brain
Nature separate and completely distinct from the universal consciousness, a radio signal we can all tune in.
Glasses
Cosmology--"study of the origins and eventual fate of the universe" Wikipedia--difference between the seer (purusha) and that which is seen.
Brick
So the school failed but . . . these ideas were incorporated and carried on as building blocks:
Girl and Boy
separate forms of reality
(1) PURUSHA--Male--all knowing, without beginning and without ending, no features or characteristics, exist without motion or form as pure CONSCIOUSness
(2) PRAKTRITI--Female--UNCONCIOUS--constant motion, active, distinct, creative, formative--qualities assigned to all of nature, material world. Everything created through the manifestations of her nature (gunas).
Gotta Yoga YTT manual, p. 3-4
Sunday, February 3, 2013
How Yoga Works
Thoughts after reading How Yoga Works by Geshe Michael Roach:
p.284, A pose is perfect only when you are doing the very best you can--gazing steadily, breathing sweetly, and thinking of how it will help someone else.
It's comforting to me when Ajit teaches Busuku's boys. He is not handicapped, but handicapable! I cannot do many of the yoga postures but I am doing the best I can and that's "good enough" or even better--that's the goal. The opportunity to build strength or improve through practice is exciting but where I am today is PERFECT. I also think I am helping others through my "weaknesses." If I am comfortable with where I am today, I invite others to feel "good enough" too.
p.284, instant brilliant faith of the young
p.213, "I love to teach children," I said. "They are wonderful students. Very open-minded to new ideas, even very big ones."
I have worked professionally with children for over 20 years, and I am so excited to teach "how yoga works" with kiddos for my next adventure. This endeavor will build a better world. Much like the vision of the Crown Prince and Queen Mother in rearing the Prime Minister with the common people, I too believe what kiddos learn in youth they carry into their adulthood, influencing their decision-making and priorities. It is a wonderful opportunity to work at the ground level. To help establish a strong foundation for future structures. A school system recently allocated personal handheld devices for high school students and then middle school students. I wonder if these devices had been first shared with elementary students if there would be as many issues with the implementation process? Primary teachers may have laid a foundation for students to incorporate this tool in their learning in a more responsible and productive way. Building a house from the ground up seems common sense, but sometimes we go for a more glamorous, quick fix, an achievement of a short term goal. The building process takes perseverance, dedication and commitment It may be costly in time invested . . . but I think it is an investment well worth the effort.
p. 38, You can't rush it, you see. Fixing your back is not like fixing a broken chair--just pop in a new piece and sit on it. It's more like straightening out a young tree that's been growing a little crooked.
I liked this illustration of "cultivating your practice over an extended period of time." With the advent of the microwave oven, ATMs, fast food restaurants, and other technologies, we are groomed to be impatient and not-so-good at waiting. We also tend to look at a problem singularly instead of wholistically--I'm not sure if I'm making up words here--but we do not address the connectedness or the worldview. If I am working with a kindergartner who is having difficulty listening and following directions in class, and then I hear his single parent works before he goes to school and is too tired to do more than put the child to bed when he gets home . . . I've got more to work on than helping a child be successful at school . . . I like the idea of starting small, planting seeds, holding steady, watering, weeding, practicing patience and contentment, building and growing over time.
p.247, "These ideas--I can't accept them. I mean, they go against . . . they go against what well, just what everybody knows; and what everybody says. And of them, they are just, you know, old-fashioned, I mean. Modern thinking has gone way beyond them."
Now this totally cracks me up since the setting for this story is 1101 A.D. . . .
p.366, It is a commitment to be content with what we have . . . None of the great ones who followed this path before us--none of them, over the centuries--possessed perfect circumstances either. And so they just worked hard with what they had available to them, and they reached their ultimate goals."
I remember a Bible song from my childhood, "well, it was different back them . . . remember they were only just men!" There are no perfect circumstances. We have to start right where we are, making the world a better place, one seed at a time. We are each uniquely designed to garden in a way only we can do it. Finding balance in all parts of us, our physical and emotional states, our work and play. Cleaning up, moving on, letting go and being content with today.
I appreciated the style of this book because I think we learn best through story. Although, I don't understand everything I've read, I know the seeds are planted. I know that continued practice, study and helping others will nurture what's been planted. I am thankful and contented. I am sitting on my front porch, breathing, soaking in the sun, enjoying the journey and the miracle of the garden.
p.284, A pose is perfect only when you are doing the very best you can--gazing steadily, breathing sweetly, and thinking of how it will help someone else.
It's comforting to me when Ajit teaches Busuku's boys. He is not handicapped, but handicapable! I cannot do many of the yoga postures but I am doing the best I can and that's "good enough" or even better--that's the goal. The opportunity to build strength or improve through practice is exciting but where I am today is PERFECT. I also think I am helping others through my "weaknesses." If I am comfortable with where I am today, I invite others to feel "good enough" too.
p.284, instant brilliant faith of the young
p.213, "I love to teach children," I said. "They are wonderful students. Very open-minded to new ideas, even very big ones."
I have worked professionally with children for over 20 years, and I am so excited to teach "how yoga works" with kiddos for my next adventure. This endeavor will build a better world. Much like the vision of the Crown Prince and Queen Mother in rearing the Prime Minister with the common people, I too believe what kiddos learn in youth they carry into their adulthood, influencing their decision-making and priorities. It is a wonderful opportunity to work at the ground level. To help establish a strong foundation for future structures. A school system recently allocated personal handheld devices for high school students and then middle school students. I wonder if these devices had been first shared with elementary students if there would be as many issues with the implementation process? Primary teachers may have laid a foundation for students to incorporate this tool in their learning in a more responsible and productive way. Building a house from the ground up seems common sense, but sometimes we go for a more glamorous, quick fix, an achievement of a short term goal. The building process takes perseverance, dedication and commitment It may be costly in time invested . . . but I think it is an investment well worth the effort.
p. 38, You can't rush it, you see. Fixing your back is not like fixing a broken chair--just pop in a new piece and sit on it. It's more like straightening out a young tree that's been growing a little crooked.
I liked this illustration of "cultivating your practice over an extended period of time." With the advent of the microwave oven, ATMs, fast food restaurants, and other technologies, we are groomed to be impatient and not-so-good at waiting. We also tend to look at a problem singularly instead of wholistically--I'm not sure if I'm making up words here--but we do not address the connectedness or the worldview. If I am working with a kindergartner who is having difficulty listening and following directions in class, and then I hear his single parent works before he goes to school and is too tired to do more than put the child to bed when he gets home . . . I've got more to work on than helping a child be successful at school . . . I like the idea of starting small, planting seeds, holding steady, watering, weeding, practicing patience and contentment, building and growing over time.
p.247, "These ideas--I can't accept them. I mean, they go against . . . they go against what well, just what everybody knows; and what everybody says. And of them, they are just, you know, old-fashioned, I mean. Modern thinking has gone way beyond them."
Now this totally cracks me up since the setting for this story is 1101 A.D. . . .
p.366, It is a commitment to be content with what we have . . . None of the great ones who followed this path before us--none of them, over the centuries--possessed perfect circumstances either. And so they just worked hard with what they had available to them, and they reached their ultimate goals."
I remember a Bible song from my childhood, "well, it was different back them . . . remember they were only just men!" There are no perfect circumstances. We have to start right where we are, making the world a better place, one seed at a time. We are each uniquely designed to garden in a way only we can do it. Finding balance in all parts of us, our physical and emotional states, our work and play. Cleaning up, moving on, letting go and being content with today.
I appreciated the style of this book because I think we learn best through story. Although, I don't understand everything I've read, I know the seeds are planted. I know that continued practice, study and helping others will nurture what's been planted. I am thankful and contented. I am sitting on my front porch, breathing, soaking in the sun, enjoying the journey and the miracle of the garden.
Sunday, December 9, 2012
Meditation Journal Entry #4
After a "quiet time," I feel calm and relaxed. It is difficult to to quiet the mind when thoughts are flying . . . but the investment has a BIG pay off . . .
Gratitude for--
breathing, I am especially thankful since my nose has been stuffy
a working mind that I have to slow down, dementia is cruel
legs that can get me from here to there, sometimes my knees work better than others
comfortable bed, it makes it hard for me to get out of it!
family that is loving, husband that peels a clementine for me when I'm not feeling my best :-)
Optimism -- trying hard to find the positive, the "sunny-side"
I am my own worst enemy. I AM enough, I HAVE DONE enough, I HAVE enough. It is a journey and I will NOT "arrive" . . .
Gratitude for--
breathing, I am especially thankful since my nose has been stuffy
a working mind that I have to slow down, dementia is cruel
legs that can get me from here to there, sometimes my knees work better than others
comfortable bed, it makes it hard for me to get out of it!
family that is loving, husband that peels a clementine for me when I'm not feeling my best :-)
Optimism -- trying hard to find the positive, the "sunny-side"
I am my own worst enemy. I AM enough, I HAVE DONE enough, I HAVE enough. It is a journey and I will NOT "arrive" . . .
Thursday, December 6, 2012
Meditation Journal Entry #1
My daughter and I started on Monday having a little quiet time, a little stretching together in the mornings. Being she's in the 10th grade, it's a very special 15 or so minutes together, and we do a little devotion to prepare and strengthen ourselves for the day.
In my quiet times, it's becoming increasingly important that I think of the tasks at hand, not the task "list." The "list of what to do" is created by me. The "tasks at hand" are divine.
People first--ALWAYS before "stuff." We are designed for relationship. It's relationships we take with us when we leave this world. "Stuff" will burn.
I have enough. I do enough. I am enough. Enough is enough.
The awareness that I am causing most of my trouble is alarming. God wants me to be with him. Do His will. "Men tend to multiply duties in their observance of religion . . . lulling the soul into a comatose condition."
It's not about me . . .
Words are important. What I say does matter. We taught kiddos the "Kids at Hope" pledge today:
In my quiet times, it's becoming increasingly important that I think of the tasks at hand, not the task "list." The "list of what to do" is created by me. The "tasks at hand" are divine.
People first--ALWAYS before "stuff." We are designed for relationship. It's relationships we take with us when we leave this world. "Stuff" will burn.
I have enough. I do enough. I am enough. Enough is enough.
The awareness that I am causing most of my trouble is alarming. God wants me to be with him. Do His will. "Men tend to multiply duties in their observance of religion . . . lulling the soul into a comatose condition."
It's not about me . . .
Words are important. What I say does matter. We taught kiddos the "Kids at Hope" pledge today:
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Breathe
Breathing is a natural "reset" option that we don't nearly explore often enough . . .
This past week my daughter was upset when transitioning from one responsibility to another and my husband said, "breathe."
I was upset about a family squabble, and I was getting louder and louder as my emotions escalated and my husband again said, "breathe."
A parent at school stopped to share something, and I could tell she was trying to share something big. I gently said, "take a deep breath."
A kindergartner lost her head today and hit another child trying to do "her job." We talked about impulsivity--how do you stop yourself when you have a bad idea? We reviewed the breathing toolbox, and tried some choo choo breathing.
I try to incorporate breath work in every lesson, and I'm always amazed how the entire class, the physical space, seems to calm with the deep breathing.
What an amazing tool in your toolbox?! Breathe. You can think more clearly. Your body can work more efficiently. And the price is right!
Sesame Street has a great Belly Breathing Song out on youtube! My kids love it, and I love sharing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mZbzDOpylA
The Breathing Toolbox -- https://sites.google.com/site/mrsbroam/home/breathing
This past week my daughter was upset when transitioning from one responsibility to another and my husband said, "breathe."
I was upset about a family squabble, and I was getting louder and louder as my emotions escalated and my husband again said, "breathe."
A parent at school stopped to share something, and I could tell she was trying to share something big. I gently said, "take a deep breath."
A kindergartner lost her head today and hit another child trying to do "her job." We talked about impulsivity--how do you stop yourself when you have a bad idea? We reviewed the breathing toolbox, and tried some choo choo breathing.
I try to incorporate breath work in every lesson, and I'm always amazed how the entire class, the physical space, seems to calm with the deep breathing.
What an amazing tool in your toolbox?! Breathe. You can think more clearly. Your body can work more efficiently. And the price is right!
Sesame Street has a great Belly Breathing Song out on youtube! My kids love it, and I love sharing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mZbzDOpylA
The Breathing Toolbox -- https://sites.google.com/site/mrsbroam/home/breathing
Balloon Breath
Bees Breath
Breath of Joy
Bunny Breath
Candle--Flower
Choo Choo Breathing
Cooling Breath
Darth Vader Breathing
Dragon Breath
Flower Breath
Hands Flower Breath
Humming Circle
Square Breathing
Switch Breath
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Ocean Om Yoga
I've enjoyed "Ocean OM Yoga" with Deni Ashby at Edisto Beach this month! If you are visiting Edisto, be sure to attend an 8:30 class on a Tuesday or Thursday morning at the Pavillion Tap Room.
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