Flow to find Balance

 

 

 

 

 

Flow to Find Your Balance

Balance. Just the word conjures up a surreal image of a sunny, stress-free life in which work, friends and family peacefully coexist with plenty of time for shared meals, sleep and museum-hopping. But is that idealized vision really what finding balance is all about? 

Yoga has a lot to teach us about balance; the physical practice revolves around dualistic relationships—strength and flexibility, push and pull, engaging and softening. The play between these opposing forces mirrors the fundamental relationship a yogi has with the ground below and the air above, the body serving as the connection between the two.

Take a simple pose like Tadasana, mountain pose. The feet root down into the earth and, in reaction to that, the heart lifts a little higher and the crown of the head rises up a little taller—you push down to lengthen up. Your sense of connectedness to the earth helps you to find an expansiveness up and away from the earth. This kind of oppositional energetic movement is something you can recognize most easily in balancing postures.

Explore your balance with this sequence. Hold each pose for 3 to 5 breaths.

• Start in downward-facing dog pose.
• Inhale to lift your right leg up in the air. As you exhale, step your right foot in between your hands and lift your arms up by your ears to come into a high lunge. 
• As you inhale, bring your palms to meet in front of your heart in a prayer gesture and exhale to angle your torso forward. On your inhale, lift your left leg up into a Warrior III pose. Modify by placing your hands on blocks beneath your shoulders if needed.
• Inhale to come up to stand, balancing on your right foot. Bring your right hand to your hip and take your left big toe in yogi toe lock with the first two fingers and thumb of your left hand. On an inhale, extend your left leg straight out in front of you and lift your right arm up into the sky. Modify by keeping your left knee bent and interlacing your hands beneath your thigh. 
• Open your left leg out to the left side of the room and extend your right arm out to the right side of the room. 
• Come into tree pose by bringing the sole of your left foot to the inside of your right thigh and extending both arms up towards the sky.
• As you inhale, bring your hands into prayer at your heart and exhale to point your left knee to the front of the room.  Move through Warrior III pose with prayer at your heart into a balancing standing split, lifting your left leg even higher behind you and bowing your head closer to the earth. Keep your gaze on the floor for balance. Modify by placing your hands on blocks.
• Gently step back into a low lunge with your hands on either side of your right foot.
• Exhale to step back into downward-facing dog pose. Repeat the flow on the opposite side.

The Well Wisdom:

Life is full of ups and downs. Sometimes we encounter things that are hard and challenging, while other times life feels nothing but smooth. Just remember: these two opposite realms must both exist in order for us to practice living in the middle ground in between—it is there we will find balance.

(*by Jen Guarnieri
August 8, 2011)

BlissFlow: Vinyasa 101

Tomorrow morning's 1st class is blissflow.  Blissflow is a dialed down intro class to a normal vinyasa.   This class helps one learn the vinyasa.. or sun salutations.. in their practice.  The teachers also space asanas in sequence with the vinyasa.  I have taken both classes and I like them both so much that it would have to come down to my mood.  The way you feel after any of the classes.. especially the hot classes. That's the reward.  Not just the weight loss and tone up.. or the detox.. but that feeling you get.. the natural endorphins releasing.  Peace.

These photos illustrate Surya Namaskara A (Sun Salutation A)

Vinyāsa	breath	Dṛṣṭi	explanation of movement
1	IN	añguṣṭhamadhye	raise arms overhead
2	EX	nāsāgre	spread fingers, hinging at the hip fold forward, hands to ground Uttanasana (उत्तानासन, Uttānāsana)
3	IN	bhrūmadhye	come half-way up with straight spine, lift head
4	EX	nāsāgre	hands down, float back, ellbows close to chest Chaturanga Dandasana (चतुराङ्ग दण्डासन, Caturāṅga Daṇḍāsana)
5	IN	bhrūmadhye	roll on tops of feet, open the chest, straighten arms, Urdhva Mukha Shvanasana (ऊर्ध्व मुख श्वानासन, Ūrdhva Mukha Śvānāsana)
6	EX	nābicakre	tuck toes, push back, lift hips, straight arms Adho Mukha Shvanasana (अधो मुख श्वानासन, Adho Mukha Śvānāsana)
	5BR	nābicakre	Adho Mukha Svanasana (अधो मुख स्वानासन, Adho Mukha Svānāsana)
7	IN	bhrūmadhye	glide forward, lift Head, stretch Back
8	EX	nāsāgre	Head to knees Uttanasana (उत्तानासन, Uttānāsana)
9	IN	añguṣṭhamadhye	raise Arms over side, straighten up with straight back
-	EX	nāsāgre	lower Arms over side Samasthitih (समस्थितिः, Samasthitiḥ)