With an Eye on Nature

This guest post reminds me to be aware of everyday miracles.

Eye on Nature December 2012

On this winter day I find myself transfixed by a tree. Its leaves are gone, cut off by stem, shed by wind to the ground. Its bare branches are stark against the December gray as they reach toward a sun obscured by cloud.

The surface of this tree is rough and furrowed; it presses back against the flesh of my finger--solid. Yet the source of this rigid column, the weight of this tree, its very substance, comes magically out of thin air. Indeed, it is almost entirely made of carbon pulled from the byproducts of animal respiration and the release of gases from ancient plants burned as fuel.

The enormity of this idea stuns me, stops my forward progress, as I contemplate the reality that, through this tree, I can touch the breath of the past. It is alchemy—that this tree, through the process of photosynthesis, has taken something invisible, ethereal, and rearranged its chemistry to make solid form. Lead to Gold.

And this tree, standing silently before me, has done even more. It has gathered light and tied this energy to the molecular matrix of its cells. A branch of this tree sits in my fireplace at home. And when I place match to bark I will witness a miraculous transformation. From this tree I will feel, on a dark December night, the light and heat of a nearby star. Sequestered beneath layers of bark, contained within rings of growth, released as fire in my living room, the sun will shine again.

With an eye on nature,
Wally

Wally Shriner is an MHCC biology instructor and the Natural Resources Technology program faculty adviser. Eye on Nature is his monthly column. http://www.advocate-online.net/columnists/wallyshriner/ 

Happy New Year. May we all bring peace to ourselves and each other. Namaste, Sara

Myth of Aging ~ Week 6

This week in Somatics we explored twisting and worked to free our shoulders and eyes from being bound together in twists. Warning: this exercise can cause some discomfort. You may feel nauseous or dizzy but your twists will become deeper and more free. Here's a link to a blog which describes why it is a good idea to practice these movements: Essential Somatics.

Picture from Essential Somatics.

To Start
Sit on the floor in a side seated position: both legs off to the left (see image). If you cannot keep both sit bones on the floor, use props under your butt to raise yourself off the floor (like a folded blanket or two) until you can sit evenly - no tipping off to one side. If this does not work in your body then sit on a chair up at the very front edge and walk your feet to the left so you are also seated in a side seated position.

Begin Twisting
With legs off to the left, bring your R arm behind you and your L hand to R shoulder and practice twisting R. Let your L hip lift up. Turn your head R and look R. Look to the wall and notice what your nose is in line with. Practice coming into and out of this twist - slowly. Rest.

Add Opposite Head Movement
Come into your R twist again but this time turn your head L and look L. Practice this a few times. Rest.

Add Moving Head
Come into your R twist again, turn your head and eyes R. Keeping the twist, turn your head and eyes L (look distainfully over your shoulder). Turn your head and eyes back and forth a few times, keeping the head and eyes in synchronicity. Rest.

Add Opposite Head and Eyes
Come into your R twist again, turn your head R while eyes look L. Keeping the twist, turn your head L (opposit direction as your body) while your eyes look R. Turn your head and eyes back and forth a few times, keeping the head and eyes in opposition. Remember to breathe. Rest.

Back to the Beginning
Practice your basic twist again: legs left, R arm behind you and your L hand to R shoulder, twist R. Let your L hip lift up. Turn your head R and look R. Look to the wall and notice what your nose is in line with. Notice if you are twisting more, how does your back feel, how does your neck feel, etc.

Rest and Repeat 2nd Side
Take a break between sides. You might practice a few rounds of Arch and Flatten.

To Finish
You might want to take another round of Arch & Flatten and Arch & Curl or add on a few other movements from the cat stretch (see links below for review).

Enjoy!

Read more:
Myth of Aging Week 1
Myth of Aging Week 2
Myth of Aging Week 3
Myth of Aging Week 4
Myth of Aging Week 5 

Note: After this class I had a big SI joint adjustment when I laid down. It didn't hurt but I felt it and I heard it. It felt like my whole pelvis went "kla-klunk!" and settled into place. Weird but good.

Myth of Aging ~ Week 5

This week in Somatics we learned Inversion/Eversion - rotating your legs from the hip sockets while allowing a natural arch and curve to happen in each side of your back.

Jodi started us off doing one leg at a time and later we combined the movements to move our legs together in mirroring and then synchronizing. Sound confusing? I'll break it down.

To Start
Lay on your back with your knees bent and take a couple of Arch & Flattens and Arch & Curls. When you feel ready, straighten your legs and make sure they can slide freely along the floor (move your sticky mat out from under your legs if you were using one).

Rotating Legs Outward and Inward
1) Rotate your R leg as far outward as you can - moving from the hip to the foot not the foot to the hip - and then reverse that movement and roll your R leg as far inward as you can - again, moving from the hip socket. Rest in neutral. Repeat 3-5 times on the R and then 3-5 times on the L, remembering to rest completely (no holding any tension or anticipating your next move) between each rotation.

Rotating Outward with Lift/Bent Knee
2) Rotate your R leg as far outward as you can and draw your leg toward your body, letting your knee bend and open to the side - as if you were doing one half of bound angle pose. Slowly release the leg back to straight. Pretend that your leg is immobile from the knee down. Let all the movement originate from the hip on both the drawing in and the straightening out. Repeat 3-5 times on the R and then 3-5 times on the L, remembering to rest completely between each movement.

Rotating Inward with Lift/Bent Knee (the Marilyn Monroe)

3) Rotate your R leg inward (from the hip socket) as far as you can and draw your leg toward your body, letting your knee bend and skimming your R leg up your L leg into a "Marilyn Monroe" leg, as shown. Again, pretend that your leg is immobile from the knee down. Let all the movement originate from the hip on both the drawing in and the straightening out. Repeat 3-5 times on the R and then 3-5 times on the L, remembering to rest completely between each movement.

Rotating Both Legs Outward with Lift/Bent Knees (Bound Angle)
4) We are doing the same movement as in step 2 but we are doing it with both legs at the same time, legs mirror each other. Rotate both your R & L leg as far outward as you can (from the hip sockets) and draw your legs toward your body, letting your knees bend and fall outward - as if you were coming into a loose bound angle pose. Slowly release the legs back to straight. Pretend that your legs are immobile from the knee down. Let all the movement originate from the hip on both drawing in and straightening out. Repeat 3-5 times, remembering to rest completely between each movement.

Rotating Both Legs Inward with Lift/Bent Knees (Knock-Knees)
5) This is the same movement as in step 3 but we are doing it with both legs together, legs mirror each other. Rotate both your R & L legs inward (from the hip socket) as far as you can and draw your legs toward your body, letting your knees bend and skimming your feet along the floor - feet will probably slide outward, accentuating a "knock-kneed" look. Again, pretend that your legs are immobile from the knees down. Let all the movement originate from the hips on both the drawing in and the straightening out. Notice how your back is moving. Repeat 3-5 times remembering to rest completely between each movement.

Rotating Both Legs Together with Lift (Skiing / double Marilyn Monroe)
6) This is a combination of steps 2 & 3 moving both legs together in synchronicity, not mirroring. From the hip sockets, rotate both legs to the R (R leg outward & L leg inward). Keeping legs glued together, draw your legs up and to the right, letting your knees bend and sliding your feet along the floor. Send the legs out straight again, rotate both legs to the left, draw the legs up and to the left, sliding your feet along the floor. Again, pretend that your legs are immobile from the knees down. Let all the movement originate from the hips on both the drawing in and the straightening out. Notice how your back is moving. Repeat this skiing motion 3-5 times remembering to rest completely between each movement.

To Finish
You might want to take another round of Arch & Flatten and Arch & Curl or add on a few other movements from the cat stretch (see links below for review).

Enjoy!

Read more:
Myth of Aging Week 1
Myth of Aging Week 2
Myth of Aging Week 3
Myth of Aging Week 4
 

Pelvic Floor - to Kegel or not to Kegel?

My attention was recently brought to the Mama Sweat blog and a post about the pelvic floor. I feel like my world was blown up after reading this:

Mama Sweat: And kegels. Everyone on my blog has heard me preach about kegels. I want to make sure all my readers are doing them right. Suggestions?

Katy Bowman: A kegel attempts to strengthen the PF, but it really only continues to pull the sacrum inward promoting even more weakness, and more PF gripping. The muscles that balance out the anterior pull on the sacrum are the glutes. A lack of glutes (having no butt) is what makes this group so much more susceptible to PFD. Zero lumbar curvature (missing the little curve at the small of the back) is the most telling sign that the PF is beginning to weaken. Deep, regular squats (pictured in hunter-gathering mama) create the posterior pull on the sacrum. An easier way to say this is: Weak glutes + too many Kegels = PFD.

What??? Everything I thought I knew seems wrong all the sudden. Well, not exactly. After reading this interview and visiting Katy's website it turns out that many of the things I have learned and taught about the pelvic floor are in alignment with what Katy teaches but I had never thought about the sacrum being pulled toward the pubic bone as a result of over tightening the pelvic floor and thus creating a loose/hanging pelvic floor.

Read the whole article here.

Apparently this topic was so popular Mama Sweat did a follow-up interview to clarify a few points. Here's a quote:

Back to Dr. Kegel. Now he had all these women who were noticing weakness and invented the Kegelizer, or something like that. It was equivalent to the Kegel-exercisers you see now. Just insert and squeeze. The squeeze improved the lost mental connection between a damaged PF and one that was firing correctly. Firing correctly meant that when the PF was done contracting, the muscles could restore to their optimal length. This part of Dr. Kegel’s research protocol has been left out and the only part that has been passed on is the contracting part.

Science Note: The muscle tissue in your PF is the same as the muscle tissue in your biceps. When you’re done realllly working your biceps, you’d like your arm to go back to its original length, right? What if, when you were done doing your curls, your elbows stayed as bent as they were when your muscles were the TIGHTEST? If you equate strong with tight, then you’d have “strong,” contracted arms with bent elbows all the time. Tight muscles. Unusable arms.

That’s not what TONE is. Tone is having the MOST strength and the MOST length.

Doing Kegels all the time will get you a TIGHT, unusable pelvic floor. This is why people’s ORGANS ARE FALLING OUT OF THEIR BODY.

Read the whole article here.

Well this is making sense to me now. Yoga teaches us that a strong muscle is toned not tight and stress is not strength. I biked a lot this summer and I found that I "felt it" in my inner thighs and butt. I know my pelvic floor is strong (or perhaps over strong) and after biking I realized how much I needed to tone some of the other major pelvic girdle supporter muscles. These articles are falling right in line with what I have been feeling in my own body. Excellent couple of articles on pelvic floor health.

If you are interested in learning more about toning the pelvic floor, pelvic girdle and the "helper muscles" here is a link to a series of articles I wrote on this topic:  Restoring and Rebuilding the Inner Core.

Myth of Aging ~ Week 4

This week in Somatics we learned "The Washcloth." Think: ring yourself out. Yep, all about twisting. Previously we had learned to contract one area while simultaneously relaxing another area (like in Arch & Curl where you engage the belly and relax the back and then switch and engage the back and relax the belly - see week 1 & week 2).

The Washcloth got us moving in all directions at once it seemed. There's legs, arms, shoulders, head, belly, back & breath involved so I'll see if I can break it down.

Legs:
Start by laying on your back with your knees bent and feet a bit wider than shoulder distance apart. Let your knees rock slowly from side to side and notice what your hips are doing (one should be lifting while the other sinks more into the floor).

Arms & Shoulders:
Out like a T. One arm rotates up while the other rotates down. For example, R palm turns up, thumb pointing to the wall behind your head while the L palm turns down, thumb pointing to the wall beyond your feet.

Tip: Let your hands receive the twist. Begin each movement from the shoulder. So when you want your palm to turn down, make that happen by rolling your shoulder inward and down toward your belly. When you want your palm to turn up, press your shoulder blade into the ground and roll your shoulder open.

Head:
Just like in a regular twist the head will look in the opposite direction from the way the knees fall.

Belly, Back & Breath / Putting it all together:
While your knees are falling L and your L back of hip is pressing into the floor, your head is looking R, and your R shoulder blade is pressing into the floor, causing your R palm to turn up. The L shoulder is lifting slightly and drawing toward the R hip, causing your L palm to turn down. These movements are creating a slight diagonal arch from the back of the R shoulder to the back of the L hip and a slight diagonal curl from the front of the L shoulder to the front of the R hip.

Taking it to the other side, your knees are falling R and your R back of hip is pressing into the floor. Your head is looking L, and your L shoulder blade is pressing into the floor, causing your L palm to turn up. The R shoulder is lifting slightly and drawing toward the L hip, causing your R palm to turn down. These movements are creating a slight diagonal arch from the back of the L shoulder to the back of the R hip and a slight diagonal curl from the front of the R shoulder to the front of the L hip.

For me, it works best to exhale as I come into the twist and inhale as everything comes back to center. The slower you move and the more mindfully you practice the better the results (relieving pain, increasing range of motion). Sometimes this means that I have to take multiple breaths per side vs. flowing with the twist in a one breath per movement pattern.

Enjoy!

Read more:
Myth of Aging Week 1
Myth of Aging Week 2
Myth of Aging Week 3

Myth of Aging ~ Week 3

In week 1 we learned to use and release our back body muscles. In week 2 we found our front body muscles and this week Jodi guided us in learning to use and release our side body muscles with the Somatic technique, Side Curl.

Why would you want to do this? Maybe you feel like one leg is shorter than the other, or maybe you slump more on one side, or maybe you feel weaker on one side. This practice will help release side body slumping, will strengthen the side bodies, and can lengthen the torso to relieve the experience of having one longer leg (one leg actually being longer is extremely rare - it is more likely that the torso muscles are contracted unequally).

 Here's what we learned. I'll break it down:

1. To start, lay on your L side, head resting on your extended L arm, hips and knees bent at 90 degrees (like you were siting in a straight-back chair and you tipped over sideways).
2. Place your R hand on your R hip and try to use your side body muscles to "hike" your hip up into your hand. Repeat 3-5 times, resting completely after each hip hike.
3. Lay your R arm on top of/along your R side body. Practice pulling your R armpit down toward your R hip using your side body muscles. Repeat 3-5 times, resting completely after each engagement.
4. With R arm still resting on your R side body, draw your R armpit and your R hip toward each other and then slowly release them away from each other, even lengthening at the end of the release. Repeat 3-5 times, again stopping and resting between each rep.
5. Adding load: Bring the R arm up and over head, holding the top of the L ear. Draw your R armpit and your R hip toward each other while at the same time letting your head float up (R hand supports the head) and your R foot float up (knees remain glued together). This should really concentrate the effort into the R side torso muscles. When you release from the contraction, release very slowly and even lengthen the R arm and R leg away from each other, extending them straight away from the body. Rest in this lengthened position.
6. Repeat these steps on the other side.

I'm not noticing any different body habits or patterns changing this week but I feel like this exercise is really good at strengthening my side bodies.

Read more:
Myth of Aging Week 1
Myth of Aging Week 2

Myth of Aging ~ Week 2

Last week I described Arch & Flatten and the Back Lift. These are the exercises needed to help release the "Go" pattern in your body. This is the pattern that looks like military posture: chest out, knees locked, a little bent at the hips and leaning forward, ready to go, go, go!

This week we learned the antidote to the "Stop" posture: chest slumped, chin jutting, tail tucked, slumping into our desks, slumping into defeat. To combat this slumping posture, we learned how to contract and release our front body muscles with Arch & Curl and Diagonal Arch & Curl.

We began with the basic movement, Arch & Curl. This is done by laying on your back, knees bent. On the inhale the belly rises, the lumbar arches, and the sacrum presses into the floor. On the exhale pull your belly toward your spine, releasing the back muscles and engaging your belly muscles. Draw your lower ribs down and in toward your hip bones, your lumbar flattens to the floor and your tail curls up a little. Relax back to neutral. Repeat 5-10 times.

You can add load by placing the hands behind the head and supporting the head as you take your curl, letting the muscles of the belly lift the head if they are able. Try Arch & Curl without co-contracting. Use only the front body muscles or only the back body muscles.

Next we practiced Diagonal Arch & Curl. Same set-up: lay on your back, knees bent. Hold your L knee in your L hand, R hand behind the head. Exhale and push the belly toward the floor, letting the muscular contraction lift your R shoulder and L hip toward each other. The hand supports the head but does not really lift it. The head will lift when the muscles in the belly are able to engaged in the right way. On the inhale relax the R shoulder and L hip back to the floor and even press the R shoulder and L hip into the floor creating a small diagonal arch. Relax to neutral in between each round. Do this about 3-5 times and then repeat on the 2nd side.

What I've noticed this week is that my sleeping pattern has changed. I don't want as much of a pillow, if any, and I keep waking up on my back with both arms over my head. Usually I am supporting my "stop" pattern by elevating my head (on a pillow) and keeping my arms by my body. Maybe something is changing?

Myth of Aging ~ Week 1

Myth of Aging ~ Week 1

Last Tuesday I started my 3rd Somatic series at Yoga North. I wrote about the first series, Delicate Backs, but got too busy to write about the second series, Soma Yoga for Hips & Legs. Now I'm on to a 7 week practice to learn the full "Cat-Stretch" or "Daily Somatic Essentials" taken from Thomas Hanna's book, Somatics.

Here's the idea behind this movement based therapy:

In the revolutionary Somatics, Thomas Hanna demonstrates that so many problems we accept as inevitable over time-chronic stiffness, bad back, chronic pain, fatigue, and even high blood pressure -need never occur if we maintain conscious control of nerve and muscle, a state which Hanna calls sensory-motor awareness. This gentle, lifelong program can help almost anyone maintain the pleasures of a supple, healthy body indefinitely, with only a five-minute routine once a day.

The Cat Stretch is a short routine (8 exercises) which can be done in 15-30 minutes. We began with the very basic movement, Arch & Flatten. This is done by laying on your back, knees bent. Inhale and arch your spine (belly sticks up) exhale and relax back to neutral - no pushing. The idea is to reconnect your brain with your movement. You want to move very minimally: less is more.

The second exercise we learned is called the Back Lift. I've always avoided doing this one because it is so uncomfortable on my neck. Here's how it's done:

Lay on your belly with your L arm down by your side and your R arm bent and hand up by the head, palm flat down and cheek resting on the back of your hand. Now, this would be ok for me except now you turn your head to face your R elbow and rest your L cheek on the back of the R hand. This feels like a really big neck twist to me and caused a sensation of strain. But I did it anyway (carefully) and by the end of the exercise I was feeling better.

Here's how our teacher, Jodi, broke it down.
1. Laying as described above (L cheek on back of R hand), lift your head and look over your right shoulder for a breath or two. Come back to resting the cheek on the back of the hand and relax your neck completely (no bounce backs). Repeat three times.
2. With your L cheek resting on the back of your R hand lift your R elbow by drawing your R shoulder blade toward the spine. Return to neutral and completely relax. Repeat three times.
3. With your L cheek glued to the back of your R hand, lift your head and arm and look back (tiny twist) over your R shoulder. Return to neutral and rest completely. Repeat three times.
4. Rest your neck by turning it to center and taking Crocodile Pose.
5. Return to L cheek glued to back of R hand.
6. Lift your L leg toward the sky, leaving your head, arm and shoulder still. Repeat three times.
7. Integrate all movements together. Lift your head, R arm and shoulder, and L leg, keeping your L cheek glued to the back of the R hand. Try not to clench your jaw or use unnecessary force. Repeat three times and then relax in Crocodile.
8. Repeat all these steps on the L side.

By the time we were done my neck was ok to turn so far to the right. I was amazed. What is different about Somatics is the practice of actually moving into the contraction (in this case my chronically tight R side of neck), thereby resetting the muscle's spindle cells and allowing them to release.

Each time I have practiced the Back Lift this week it has gotten easier on my neck.

Dreamland: Adventures in the Strange Science of Sleep

Ah, sleep: one of my favorite topics (as expressed here in a quote from The Princess Bride):

Get some rest. If you haven't got your health, then you haven't got anything.~ Count Rugan

So true.

For folks who fall asleep as soon as your head hits the pillow and for folks who stay asleep through the night, you might think it's silly to worry about getting enough rest. But for those of us who are or have ever been afflicted with insomnia you will appreciate this book.

The author, David K. Randall, takes us from mundane to murderous, exploring various sleep scenarios and the beliefs, ethics and treatments surrounding our multiple issues with sleep (or lack there of).

Although sleep walking (and sleep eating, sleep driving, etc.) are interesting to me, it's the everyday topic of lack of sleep which is close to my heart. Randall does a great job of covering sleep deprivation whether by parenting, disease/genetics (think snoring and sleep apnea and the partners of those people), or employment (think military, doctors, pilots, truckers, etc.) - and the resulting lack of coherency. This is truly frightening. The military is starting to realize that many cases of "friendly fire" are strongly correlated to their troops lacking sleep. Also, sleep deprivation studies show an increasing inability to make good decisions the more sleep deprived we are.

I think one of the scariest things I read in this book is about a genetic anomaly which thankfully does not affect very many people. The anomaly is this: at about age 40 there are certain people who slowly lose the ability to sleep - at all. They do not feel tired and they do not lose coherency. According to Randall, every one of these people die within a year. This is what lack of sleep does to us.

It makes me wonder, for every hour of sleep we missed, are we shortening our life span?

One topic not covered in as much depth as I would have liked is the effect of yoga, meditation, and in particular, Yoga Nidra (not mentioned at all). Regardless, this book is worth a read. I highly recommend it.

Book's website: Norton Books
Author's website: David K. Randall
Reviews: NPR Review, Salon Review, NY Times Review

Recap: 2012 Fall Adventure Yoga Retreat

It was another fabulous fall retreat at Camp Amnicon. 

Here's a few highlights in pictures...

Quiet, peaceful space waiting to hold us on our adventure. 

The lodge

the outdoor chapel,

and the quiet waters welcomed us.

We practiced living our adventure with blindfolded yoga

and dry-land paddle practice,

followed by a river-to-lake paddling adventure.

Post paddle recovery with restorative yoga.

And this year, a brand new yoga retreat addition: 

Wine Adventure with Savvy Nomad.

(Thanks Dave! that was super fun!)

And our final adventurous yoga practice: Partner Yoga! 

The energy in the room was beautiful!

Most of our group is pictured here, belting out "This Little Light of Mine" as a final mantra.

Look for more pictures at www.facebook.com/DoRestorativeYoga.

Fall Adventure Retreat this Weekend!

Click image to see larger.

October 19-21, 2012 ~ Fall Adventure Retreat @ Camp Amnicon, WI

Fall Adventure Retreat. This is an opportunity to be in community and reflect on your life, settle into your body with yoga, expand your mind with yogic philosophy and explore your life with the practice of adventure. Activities: Restorative, Therapeutic & Hatha Yoga, Meditation, Lecture & Reflection, Guided River Canoe Trip, Fall Color Hiking, Wine Adventure, Campfires, Sauna, Rest & Community.
Location: Camp Amnicon / 8450 East Camp Amnicon Road / South Range, WI 54874. Please register with Yoga North as space is limited.

Delicate Backs Week 4

This Tuesday was our final session for Delicate Backs. I have not been to the chiropractor in almost two months. This is a long stretch for me. But I really wanted to see if the somatics work was effective. And after attending for 4 weeks and doing the homework at least 5 times a week I would say yes, it works. My ribs are not popped out, my SI joint is not stabbing me and I've only had one headache this month.

I am now signed up for the next 4-week series: Somatics for Hips & Legs. I've been having an issue with my L knee for many months. I'm curious to see if the somatic work will take care of it. I hope so because I don't like feeling like there is a knife in my knee when I go biking. And I need to bike to help build strength and stability in my legs and pelvis to help stabilize my SI joint.

Everything's connected.

Delicate Backs Week 3
Delicate Backs Week 2
Delicate Backs Week 1


 

Book Review: Om Love

This was a hard book to like and also a hard book to put down. The characters were too real for me to feel comfortable and yet I wanted to know what happened to them. The writing style was choppy, raw, and stream of consciousness. At first I couldn't stand it. As an editor I wanted periods and capitals. And then my mind went with the flow and I didn't mind. I was compelled to finish. I can't say that I recommend it, but I wouldn't say don't read it either. Oh, it's a maddening book to describe or categorize. You'll have to see for yourself.

Delicate Backs Week 3

Molly worked us into semi-reclined, seated, and kneeling postures. We started off with the standard arch and flatten on our backs but worked on this from a deep awareness of the cervical and lumbar spine. The goal was to free our necks, which would in turn free our backs even more.

After a few rounds of arch and flatten and 6-points practice, Molly brought us up to a semi-reclined position: on our backs, resting on our elbows, knees bent. We worked arch and flatten from here, exaggerating it to arch and curl if our necks would allow such movement. Next up, easy seated arch and curl with a slight twist and special head arc. It's too complicated to describe but the over all effect of the class was to bring more ease and more freedom of movement to our spines and necks.

We worked this same pattern from cat-cow and finally brought ourselves to standing to see how our bodies felt. I felt tall, straight and at ease. It was lovely.

Delicate Backs Week 2
Delicate Backs Week 1

Delicate Backs Week 2

Last week we learned Arch & Flatten and the 6-Points Practice. I tried to do a little bit of both of these at least once a day and sometimes I would do it twice a day, in the morning and before bed. I definitely noticed that my back felt less tense. My R ribs were still acting up (and have been since last Feb) but I felt like something was going right with this new somatics practice.

Last night we added on to our practice, learning to isolate movement in the hips and shoulders. We moved in four directions: up, down, forward and backward. OK sounds simple but have you ever tried to move one hip? Not so easy. Plus, each shoulder is so different. One might move just fine and the other might be frozen.

After isolating these movements while laying on our backs (and practicing them on both the R&L) we were instructed to lay on our sides and repeat the same series of movements. Then we had to really get complicated. We had to move our hips and shoulders at the same time in a rolling fashion, in a complementary pattern. Like this: Laying on your left side move R shoulder forward, R hip back; R shoulder down, R hip up; R shoulder back, R hip forward; R shoulder up, R hip down. Repeat x3-5 then reverse and repeat x3-5 and take the second side. This is called "walking" - although we did not get up. These are the same movements our body makes while we are walking but we generally don't notice.

After class my R ribs were super flared up. Definitely got some stuff moving there. It hurt to breathe. Thankfully, Molly (my teacher) had some time after class to work with me one-on-one. She had me do a couple of very simple movements, engaging and releasing my quadratus lumborum muscle on the R side. Interestingly (to me) Molly told me this muscle has an insertion point in the front, underside of the armpit and runs all the way down to the pelvis girdle. I tend to have trouble with my R neck, shoulder, ribs and SI joint. Wonder if this muscle is a culprit?

This morning I woke up with no rib pain and I could breathe without discomfort too. Yay!

New Somatics Practice

I signed up for "Delicate Backs" - a new class at Yoga North. It's a 4 week Somatic intensive and we met last night for the first time. We learned the 6-Points Practice from the work of Thomas Hanna. We started out with Arch and Flatten, moved to Arch and Curl, and refined with the 6-Points Practice.

Here's what our homework guide says about the 6-Point Practice: "To do this, get a sense of the right shoulder, right hip, tail bone, left hip, left shoulder, and back of the head. Gently alternate pressing and lifting each of these points in succession while focusing on what is working and what is releasing to move them up and lower them down."

This is a super slow, super intense practice. Not intense as in "worked out big time" but rather, intense as in "mind-body connection." Basically, we just laid on our backs on the floor with our knees bent and practiced moving each point individually and in conjunction with each other. It's hard to describe and better to experience. But my feeling is that this will be really helpful in easing chronic muscle tightness and also in creating stability where there is weakness.

I'm challenging myself to a little bit of this work every day - not just going in for the 4 meetings.

Hatha I Tonight 7 pm

Hi All - I am subbing for Jodi at Yoga North tonight. I'm teaching her Hatha I class from 7-8:15 pm. Hope to see you there.

Ahhh....Relaxation

I haven't been very good about relaxing this summer (or doing anything yoga related except teaching my classes). It's been a summer of family get-togethers and house projects. Both wonderful things, but not relaxing in the same way as a good session of Yoga Nidra.

Last night, after staring intently at the computer for many hours (yes, I know it was a holiday and I wasn't supposed to be working), I finally got my behind down to my yoga room and settled in with some Yoga Nidra mp3s. It was so great I couldn't stop. I listened to three Yoga Nidra sessions in a row.

By the time I was done I was so relaxed I could barely open my eyes or wipe the smile off  my face. I took the dog for a walk, grinning like an idiot and barely looking where I was going. I didn't care where I went or how long it took.

It's good to be back in the relaxation zone.

The tracks I listened to were from these albums:

Book Review: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

This book is a mystery, a science tale, a personal story, and an excellent review of medical ethics. The book description on Amazon reads:

Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. She was a poor Southern tobacco farmer who worked the same land as her slave ancestors, yet her cells—taken without her knowledge—became one of the most important tools in medicine. The first “immortal” human cells grown in culture, they are still alive today, though she has been dead for more than sixty years. If you could pile all HeLa cells ever grown onto a scale, they’d weigh more than 50 million metric tons—as much as a hundred Empire State Buildings. HeLa cells were vital for developing the polio vaccine; uncovered secrets of cancer, viruses, and the atom bomb’s effects; helped lead to important advances like in vitro fertilization, cloning, and gene mapping; and have been bought and sold by the billions. 

This book is a true tale which reads like a novel: you don't want to put it down, but there is so much to think about ethically that you have to take your time. I did anyway. I would read a bit, let the book rest, go back to it and read a bit more.

The author, Rebecca Skloot, tells us the facts about HeLa cells and about the (billion dollar) medical industry which grew from these immortal cells. She gives an insider's view of the family of Henrietta Lacks, especially Henrietta's daughter. In particular, how she was kept in the dark about all the science happening to her mother's cells (and all the money being made).

Ms. Skloot explores the ethics of growing human cells for profit and explains how most of do not have any rights over our own cells once they leave our body (ever get a wart removed? it's probably in a medical freezer somewhere just waiting to be experimented on), all without seeming to pass judgement on any one person or any institution. This is great writing. We all get to make up our minds about how we feel.

Yoga Nidra Coming Up

Join me for Deep Relaxation.

Thursday, August 23rd is Yoga Nidra/Deep Relaxation: Class will consist of a variety of relaxation techniques including guided meditation & imagery, breathwork, and restorative postures. In the state of deep relaxation, tension is released from the body on a physical level, and the mind completely switches off. The relaxation response brings your system into balance. When practiced regularly, you will reduce your everyday stress levels and boost your feelings of wellbeing. You will also build deeper awareness and bolster your health with deep relaxation. All levels welcome.

This class takes place at Yoga North. Please visit their site or call them at 218-722-YOGA to sign up. Each class generally fills to capacity so I recommend that you sign up early.

Free Yoga Nidra Podcast

My friend Satyam posted a new blog post with a free Yoga Nidra practice. Listen to it here: Renaissance Yoga.

He says, 

Join us for this soothing practice of restoration where we use the mind itself to calm and center our being, from the inside out. This session features breath work, visualization, and ideation to release, heal, and bring balance.

The Forest Unseen ~ A Year's Watch in Nature: Part II

In my previous post I shared an insight from the author of The Forest Unseen ~ A Year's Watch in Nature which I felt was relevant to the 30 Day Meditation Challenge. But I liked the book so much that I want to share a few more passages.

On the topic of declining wild forest health and the rise of the industrial (monoculture) forest David Haskell says,

The scale, the novelty, and the intensity of this change are unquestionable threats to the diversity of life in the forests. Whether or how we respond to this erosion is a moral question. Nature seemingly provides no moral guidance; mass extinction is another of her many flavors. Neither can moral questions be answered by our culture's obsession with policy think tanks, scientific reports, or legal contests. I believe that the answers, or their beginnings, are found in our quiet windows on the whole. Only by examining the fabric that holds and sustains us can we see our place and, therefore, our responsibilities. A direct experience of the forest gives us the humility to put our life and desires into that bigger context that inspires all the great moral traditions.

I was struck by this quote because I am so strongly in support of preserving our forests that to question the morality of it was surprising to me. Thankfully, the author, who is much better with words than I am, goes on to answer this riddle for me.

Can the flowers and bees answer my questions? Not directly, but two intuitions come to mind by contemplation of a multifarious forest whose existence transcends my own. First, to unravel life's cloth is to scorn a gift. Worse, it is to destroy a gift that even hardheaded science tells us is immeasurably valuable. We discard the gift in favor of a self-created world that we know is incoherent and cannot be sustained. Second, the attempt to turn a forest into an industrial process is improvident, profoundly so.

The problem with our modern forest economy lies in the unbalanced way that we extract wood from land. Our laws and economic rules place short term extractive gain over all other values. It does not have to be this way. We can find our way back to thoughtful management for the long-term well-being of both humans and forests. But finding this way will require some quiet and humility. Oases of contemplation can call us out of disorder, restoring a semblance of clarity to our moral vision. ~ David Haskell

The thoughtful and precise language in this book fed my soul. I couldn't tear through this book as I would a novel. This book is one which deserves a slow, mindful read. Many thanks to the author and to the publisher. Great book!

Book Review: Yoga Cures

Yoga Cures, by Tara Stiles, offers up advice for a multitude of problems ranging from PMS to diabetes to jiggly thighs. The routines are simple and easy to follow by using the pictures and descriptions in the book.

She has a very conversational style of writing which I came to appreciate. She makes yoga accessible to all people.

At times though, I felt she was a bit too informal, even a bit flip. For example, in writing about diabetes Ms. Stiles says, "The yoga cure for diabetes is first to prevent getting this sickness by keeping a regular practice and healthy lifestyle."

This feels like a judgement to me. Not all people develop diabetes due to an unhealthy lifestyle.

Also, I would have liked to read the science behind each pose. I wanted to know why she chose what she chose for each problem. She does give an overview, sharing her reasoning, but I guess I would've liked something more in depth.

That said, this is still a worthwhile book. I came away from it knowing a few new poses to introduce to my students and I do appreciate the down-to-earth approach of Ms. Stiles.

Recap of Shanti Yoga Workshop

I had a lovely teaching experience at Shanti Yoga in Vancouver Washington. The studio was beautiful, the students were friendly and curious to experiment with the new core learning, and the owner and staff made me feel as welcome as if I were home. (And there were so many props in the prop closet that my mouth dropped open and my jaw just about hit the floor!) Here's a short photo recap.

Shanti's sandwich board on the corner outside the studio.

The prop closet. I was so excited I was almost drooling.

The workshop set up. And the prop closet was still so full.

Shanti Yoga has lots of nice touches like this small corner shrine all over the studio. Really calm and welcoming.

Here's where the teacher sits.

Some students relaxing prior to the workshop.

Me and Sundari, Shanti's owner.

Thank you Shanti Yoga. I had a wonderful time!

Look for more pics on Do Restorative Yoga's Facebook photo page.

Restoring and Rebuilding the Inner Core in Vancouver, WA

I will be teaching Restoring and Rebuilding the Inner Core at Shanti Yoga Center in Vancouver, WA, Sunday, July 15, 2012 from 3-5:30 pm. In this introduction to the Inner Core we will discuss the main elements of the Inner Core, what can cause Inner Core dysfunction, and what you can do to gain or regain positive function. Please pre-register for the workshop with Shanti Yoga as space is limited.

Location: 800 Franklin St. Suite 204 / Vancouver, WA 98660
Phone: 360.750.YOGA 
Email: info@shantiforeveryone.com
Website: www.shantiforeveryone.com

Visit my workshops page for more information about the Inner Core and what this workshop can do for you.

Looking forward to seeing you there! Namaste ~ Sara

The Forest Unseen ~ 30 Day Meditation Wrap-up

Throughout the 30 Day Meditation Challenge I was reading a wonderful book, The Forest Unseen ~ A Year's Watch in Nature. This book is a cross between meditation and biology. It was not a book to hog down like The Hunger Games. Rather, it was to be taken in small sips, savored and let to bubble inside.

The author, David Haskell uses the idea of a Tibetan mandala, in this case a patch of old-growth Tennessee forest, as a window into the natural world. He committed to visiting this mandala, as often as he could, for one whole year. As I read, I was continually delighted with both the learning I was gaining through his knowledge of the natural world, and with his obvious connection to meditation / yogic philosophy. And, I am amazed at his perseverance; committing to sit every day for 30 days seemed like something - but committing to sit for a year? Wow.

I would like to pass on one of the author's insights, a summing up of his year, based on his idea of taking a meditative stance while sitting in nature:

The interior quality of our minds is itself a great teacher of natural history. It is here that we learn that "nature" is not a separate place. We too are animals, primates with a rich ecological and evolutionary context. By paying attention, this inner animal can be watched at any time: our keen interest in fruits, meats, sugar and salt; our obsession with social hierarchies, clans and networks; our fascination with the aesthetics of human skin, hair, and bodily shapes; our incessant intellectual curiosity and ambition. Each one of us inhabits a storied mandala with as much complexity and depth as an old-growth forest. Even better, watching ourselves and watching the world are not in opposition; by observing the forest, I have come to see myself more clearly.
~ David Haskell

Lovely perspective. Is that not what we are each trying to do as we sit? We are looking to know ourselves better; to know our light and our shadow; to know ourselves as one with all.

Day 30: 30 Day Meditation

Yea for us - we made it! I hope everyone enjoyed practicing the discipline of quiet. For me it was both a challenge and a pleasure. I like to think that I will continue my practice but I know myself and I doubt I will be as diligent now that the challenge is over. (And I'm ok with that.) I would love to hear your final thoughts as well.

As I said yesterday, I recorded my Yoga Nidra class from Thursday and for a special treat of leaving you with a longer practice, I am posting a link here. The practice includes gentle yoga in the beginning as a body warm-up and soother, then moves on to Yoga Nidra (guided deep relaxation and meditation). This includes a practice of healing and a short gratitude meditation.

Just like the Deep Relaxation with Gong practice, the audio from this live recording is fairly quiet and there are background noises too but maybe that will make you feel like you are in class, practicing with the group.

Here's the link to the free, guided, deep relaxation and meditation practice (1 hour, 13 minutes - 34.13MB): Yoga Nidra + Healing
Note: To  download, click or right-click the link and select "save file," "save link as," or "open with iTunes."

I would suggest resting in Supported Savasana for your Yoga Nidra practice. Like this:

Again, here is a list of links to support your home meditation practice as we finish up our 30 day community practice.

1) All posts from this challenge: 30 Day Meditation Challenge
2) Facebook Event page: 30 Days of Meditation
3) More on meditation on this blog: Meditation
4) More on guided relaxation: Yoga Nidra / Deep Relaxation
5) Audio files for breath work, meditation, and relaxation: Audio Files
6) "Like" Do Restorative on Facebook to continue to be part of the learning: www.facebook.com/DoRestorativeYoga.

I have enjoyed practicing with you all.

Namaste ~ Sara

Day 29: 30 Day Meditation

Today I felt settled in mind but not in body. My stomach hurt, my back hurt, and I had a hard time sitting still. I ended up doing more of a restorative yoga practice than a seated stillness practice. By this I mean that I let myself come into a couple different poses and then I rested in those poses as long as it felt good. I did sufi rolls, child's pose, and I laid in reclining 1/2 hero's pose with my back resting on  the therapeutic spinal strip. This ended up working well for me. Here's what my sequence looked like.

Child's Pose

Reclining 1/2 Hero's Pose

Prepping for the Therapeutic Spinal Strip

Laying on the Therapeutic Spinal Strip

Last night I taught a Yoga Nidra class and I recorded it on my iPhone. I plan to listen to it today and if the recording works, I will post a link to download this 75 minute guided deep relaxation.

Today is the 2nd to the last day of our 30 day challenge. I will continue to list links to support your home meditation practice as we finish up our 30 day community practice.

1) All posts from this challenge: 30 Day Meditation Challenge
2) Facebook Event page: 30 Days of Meditation
3) More on meditation on this blog: Meditation
4) More on guided relaxation: Yoga Nidra / Deep Relaxation
5) Audio files for breath work and meditation: Audio Files
6) "Like" Do Restorative on Facebook to continue to be part of the learning: www.facebook.com/DoRestorativeYoga.

Day 28: 30 Day Meditation

Yesterday I enjoyed the guided meditation from my friend Satyam of Renaissance Yoga so today I decided to enjoy another one of his podcasts. This one was called Pranayama Meditation. We practiced Nadi Shodhana (alternate nostril breathing), imagined ourselves able to breath in the beauty and vastness of space, and practiced 2-point and 3-point breath. A very lovely practice! Here's the link to the post: Pranayama Meditation, or you can download the file here.
Note: To listen, click the link. To download, right-click and select "save link as."

I will continue to list links to support your home meditation practice as we come into the last few days of our 30 day community practice.

1) All posts from this challenge: 30 Day Meditation Challenge
2) Facebook Event page: 30 Days of Meditation
3) More on meditation on this blog: Meditation
4) More on guided relaxation: Yoga Nidra / Deep Relaxation
5) Audio files for breath work and meditation: Audio Files
6) "Like" Do Restorative on Facebook to continue to be part of the learning: www.facebook.com/DoRestorativeYoga.

Day 27: 30 Day Meditation

I listened to another guided meditation from my friend Satyam of Renaissance Yoga. It's a recording he made while teaching a class. It includes a really great guided breath practice. Here's the link to the post: Breathing and Meditation, or you can download the file here.
Note: To listen, click the link. To download, right-click and select "save link as."

We are coming into the homestretch of our 30 day practice. To continue your support I've listed a few links:
1) All the posts from this challenge on the blog: 30 Day Meditation Challenge
2) Facebook Event page: 30 Days of Meditation
3) More on meditation on this blog: Meditation
4) More on guided relaxation (Yoga Nidra): Yoga Nidra / Deep Relaxation
5) Please remember to "like" Do Restorative on Facebook to continue to be part of learning: www.facebook.com/DoRestorativeYoga.

Day 26: 30 Day Meditation

Yesterday I listened an interview podcast with Anodea Judith from Sounds True. One of the things she mentioned was that when you find yourself moving spontaneously in your meditation (rocking or gently circling) this is an indication of your chakras aligning. (If you join Sounds True you can download the podcast for free.) As was discussed earlier on the Facebook Event page, some of us do find ourselves moving or feeling like we are moving or spinning. So I thought it was interesting to come across this explanation.

Today I listened to 33 Tibetan Bowls while I sat and it was lovely. It was as if I were in a sound healing session. I did find myself moving a little bit from time to time. When my timer went off I reset it and sat a bit more.

Note: This CD has 2 songs, one is 27 minutes and one is 45 minutes, and they are both available as mp3 downloads for 89 cents from Amazon.com. I highly recommend this CD.

Enjoy!

Day 25: 30 Day Meditation

This is Yoga North's gong:
the very one you hear in the recording.

Today for my meditation I listened to my own recording of the Deep Relaxation with Gong. This is a live recording from my Yin Yoga class. I really enjoyed the gong. In person, of course, it is much more intense. The sound waves transport you. You can feel them coursing through your body. But the recording is very relaxing and enjoyable to listen to also. Time passed very quickly and my mind did not wander much.

FYI: For folks who missed the explanation for the Deep Relaxation with Gong recording, (posted on Day 19) here it is: this was recorded on my iPhone during class and the audio quality is only so-so. The audio is fairly quiet and there are background noises too but maybe that will make you feel like you are in class, meditating with the group. My students were all in Savasana so you can choose to sit up or lay down to start.

I think you can just click on the link to download, but if that doesn't work try right-clicking and then choose "save link as" in order to download this file and listen on your iPod or mp3 player. This file is 12 minutes, 10 seconds and about 6 Megs.

Enjoy!

Day 24: 30 Day Meditation

Although I wanted to sleep in, I woke up early and couldn't fall back asleep. So I decided to go ahead and do my meditation. Even though it is not recommended to do meditation laying down, I didn't get up. I just laid in bed and listened to my breath, noticed my thoughts, noticed when I was planning (my fav mental activity), brought myself back to present moment, and enjoyed the quiet. After my 15 minutes were up I turned over on my side and promptly fell back asleep for another 2 hours. I guess meditation really is relaxing.

Enjoy your Sunday!

Day 23: 30 Day Meditation

Today I sat with awareness of the present moment and practiced deep listening. I caught myself drifting into thoughts and plans time after time. I noticed that every time my mind wandered, my body slumped. Then when I brought myself back to the present moment, I would lengthen my spine again and set my head more comfortably at the top (vs. neck bent, head tipped a bit back and chin jutting - aka, the neck slump).

A student shared a poem with me a few days ago and I thought I would share it here for the rest of us.

Meditation Poem

From  The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching, by Thich Nhat Hanh (pronounced Tick-Not-Han)

"The fourth element of our body is air. The best way to experience the air element is the practice of mindful breathing. "Breathing in, I know I am breathing in. Breathing out, I know I am breathing out." After saying these sentences we can abbreviate them by saying "In" as we breath in and "Out" as we breath out. We don't try to control our breathing. Whether our in-breath is long or short, deep or shallow, we just breath naturally and shine the light of mindfulness on it. When we do this we notice that, in fact, our breathing does become slower and deeper naturally. "Breathing in, my in-breath has become deep. Breathing out, my out-breath has become slow." Now we can practice, "Deep/slow". We don't have to make an extra effort. It just becomes deeper and slower by itself, and we recognize that.

"Later on, you will notice that you have become calmer and more at ease. "Breathing in, I feel calm. Breathing out, I feel at ease." I am not struggling anymore. Calm/ease." And then, "Breathing in, I smile. Breathing out, I release all my worries and anxieties. Smile/release." We are able to smile to ourselves and release all our worries. There are more than three hundred muscles in our face, and when we know how to breath in and smile, these muscles can relax. This is "mouth yoga." We smile and are able to release all our feelings and emotions. The last practice is, "Breathing in, I dwell deeply in the present moment. Breathing out, I know this is a wonderful moment. Present moment/wonderful moment." Nothing is more precious than being in the present moment fully alive and aware.

"In, out
Deep, slow
Calm, ease
Smile, release
Present moment, wonderful moment.

"If you use this poem during sitting or walking meditation, it can be very nourishing and healing. Practice each line for as long as you wish.

Enjoy!