Five Senses Meditation
Five Senses Meditation. When experiencing anxiety, stress, and overwhelm one of the most helpful things you can do is to connect with the here and now. Often anxiety and overwhelm can be a result of worrying about the future, thinking about the many things you have to do, and feeling helpless. The solution to this is to connect with the simplicity of the present moment. One way to do this is to practice a Five Senses Meditation. This helps you connect with reality instead of the imagined reality you're worrying about. In a five senses meditation you spend about one minute meditating on each sense: sight, touch, smell, taste, and hearing. After doing this you might find that one sense felt particularly good to sit with. Perhaps you’ll want to linger a bit longer on listening to the sounds around you, or just sitting and feeling the sensations in your body.
10 ways to reduce stress + overwhelm
Are you feeling burnt out? Is your nervous system feeling taxed? Maybe you’ve recently been pushed to your limit or perhaps stress just feels like a normal part of your life.
Throughout my twenties I reached my limit far too often and stress-related (or at least stress-exacerbated) health issues had me brushing shoulders with … d e s p a i r. I was desperate to slow down, to find my way to peace, to feel joy.
I thank the universe every day that I was given the opportunity to spend a year at Kripalu Center where I deepened my practice of yoga and meditation and discovered a lifestyle that allowed me to have the peace, joy, and freedom I sought.
Below I’m sharing 10 practices and actions I now employ to shift my inner experience when I’m feeling stressed and overwhelmed. Everyone is different so I’ve offered a variety of options. You might find they all suit you, or only one or two feel right to you. If any of them feel like they exacerbate anxiety then try a different one. For some people closing their eyes and meditating feels wonderful, and for others it feels awful. You have to find what works for you.
Five Senses Meditation. When experiencing anxiety, stress, and overwhelm one of the most helpful things you can do is to connect with the here and now. Often anxiety and overwhelm can be a result of worrying about the future, thinking about the many things you have to do, and feeling helpless. The solution to this is to connect with the simplicity of the present moment. One way to do this is to practice a Five Senses Meditation. This helps you connect with reality instead of the imagined reality you're worrying about. In a five senses meditation you spend about one minute meditating on each sense: sight, touch, smell, taste, and hearing. After doing this you might find that one sense felt particularly good to sit with. Perhaps you’ll want to linger a bit longer on listening to the sounds around you, or just sitting and feeling the sensations in your body. You can try my Five Senses Meditation here on Soundcloud and here on youtube.
Take 5 minutes for conscious breathing. Another way to get present is to breathe. The breath is always happening in the present moment. When we’re aware of each inhale and each exhale we are fully present. If your mind is going wild set your timer for anywhere from 1-5 minutes and stay present with your breath. You could say “in” as you breathe in and “out” as you breathe out, or “rising” as your belly fills and “falling” as your belly empties. Or you might try the 4-7-8 breath: breathe in for a count of 4, hold for a count of 7, exhale for a count of 8. Making your exhale longer than your inhale activates the Parasympathetic Nervous System (rest+digest). You could also try “box breathing” where you inhale on a count of 4, hold for a count of 4, exhale for a count of 4, hold for a count of 4, and continue with this rhythm. To learn a bit more about taking full and deep breaths into your whole torso check out my post on the yogic three part breath known as Dirgha breath. . You could also try alternate nostril breathing, Nadi Shodhana.
Restorative Yoga. If you’re feeling totally burnt out and just want to lie down and do nothing give restorative yoga a try. Taking 20-60 minutes to practice restorative yoga could be just what you need to let go of what’s been on your mind and give yourself a break from worrying about what’s next. The more you practice restorative yoga the better you’ll get at just dropping into the pose and giving yourself the time to just rest. Click here to learn more about restorative yoga and to try a 30 minute practice click here.
Take a break….from your senses. One of the most helpful things you can do for your nervous system is to take breaks for sensory deprivation…or at least sensory reduction. For example, have you tried a media fast? What about a social media fast? Taking a break from the news, tv, movies, facebook, instagram and the like can give your nervous system a break. In yoga the practice of sensory deprivation is known as Pratyahara (the fifth limb of the eight limbs of yoga). Whereas in the Five Senses Meditation we found peace and stillness through connecting to the senses, here my suggestion is to disconnect from the senses. This might mean going into one of those sensory deprivation float tanks, it might mean practicing restorative yoga on your own without any audio and with an eye mask on, or it could mean just taking a break from tv for a week, or facebook, or even music! You’ll see further down that music is on my list of things that are helpful for the nervous system, but I really recommend seeing what happens when you take a break from different kinds of sensory stimulation. Many of us don’t even realize how over-stimulated we are. Because of smart phones we have access to sensory stimulation 24/7. Give yourself a break and see what happens. (One of my favorite ways to practice Pratyahara is to take a day of silence…I’ll write a post about this soon!)
Shift Your Perspective. Sometimes this feels impossible, and you’ll know when this feels appropriate or not, but at times shifting your perspective by reflecting on what you’re grateful for can be just the pick-me-up you needed. And yes, I know, gratitude. It’s one of those words that’s been used so much that I feel it’s lost some of its power. But it keeps coming up because there’s actual research proving its positive effects on the mind/body. If you can’t stop thinking about what’s going on in the world, you feel totally drained, and you can’t imagine taking positive action because all you want to do is curl up in a ball and sleep, it might be time to…curl up in a ball and feel grateful. Stress and fear can narrow your perspective so all you see is what’s upsetting, but gratitude can expand your perspective by filling your body and mind with a sense of aliveness opening your mind to possibility.
Don’t let what you can’t do get in the way of doing what you can do. This is my favorite quote and something that I remind myself of at least once a week. Having dealt with chronic pain and an overwhelmed nervous system for most of my twenties the most important thing for me to remember was to focus on what I could do and not on what I couldn’t. This is a potent mantra for the times we’re living in when many of us feel overwhelmed by the profound injustices in our society. I know at times I get discouraged when I think about everything I want to change in the world and how helpless I feel, but thinking like this doesn’t help much of anything. What does help is sitting down and making a list of what I can do to make a change.
Transform Stress into Creative Energy. Transforming your pain into something else through creative means can feel very empowering. If you’ve got an hour to spare and the weight of the world on your shoulders why don’t you take 5-10 minutes to stream of consciousness pour your heart mind and soul out into a journal, then choose a sentence or two that really stick out to you, and let it inspire a collage, or a painting, or a song, or a dance!
Commune with Nature! Hug a tree! Smell some grass! Eat some dirt! Lick a toad! Whatever you gotta do! Get out there! Marvel at the expansive sky. Walk barefoot on the earth. Swim in the ocean, a pond, a lake. Gaze at a tree, a flower, a bush. Remember you are nature. Remember you are part of something bigger. Breathe it in. Marvel at it. Move with it. Breathe it in. Breathe it out.
Mantra Meditation. Mantra meditation can be very steadying for the mind. Choose a mantra that makes you feel grounded. To learn more about mantra meditation click here and try out the mantra “my roots run deep into the center of the living earth” as you visualize your energy rooting down into the ground beneath you. You might also use the Bhu mudra which has grounding effects.
Music! As someone who has a deep love for music, both playing and listening, it blows my mind that sometimes I forget what an amazing tool this can be for relieving stress and anxiety. I am a compulsive playlist maker which really comes in handy when I’m feeling overwhelmed and just need to lie down and be cradled by the music I love. Take some time to make playlists of music that makes you happy, that soothes your soul, that makes you feel optimistic, or maybe that helps you to cry and makes you feel all the feels! While you're at it make a playlist to dance to and dance your cares away!
There is no one size fits all when it comes to what will make you feel better. I made this list so that when you start feeling overwhelmed you know there are things that can be done. I have a lists like this in my phone for when I’m sick, if I have a pain flare up, if I’m feeling anxious, feeling down. It’s in those moments that we forget that there are things that can be done.
If you have anything to add to this list share them in the comments below! What have you been doing these days to keep your mood up, to feel grounded, to mitigate stress?
Wishing you deeper breaths and greater joy.
Restorative Yoga: The antidote for 2020.
2020 has been no joke. We all have experienced it in different ways, but it feels safe to say that for many of us there has been a huge increase in stress levels.
There’s a lot going on.
There’s always a lot going on, and everything is always in a state of flux, but when we’re all sitting at home it’s harder to ignore it.
You want to know what you can do that takes only thirty minutes and will take you from feeling like a stressed mess to feeling like an ocean of bliss?
R E S T O R A T I V E Y O G A !!!
I’ve hardly wanted to practice Vinyasa or Hatha in the last few months. All I’ve wanted and needed is Restorative or Yin Yoga.
Read on to learn what a restorative yoga practice could do for your life, and then watch the video below to experience it for yourself!
After practicing restorative yoga I feel C A L M, S P A C I O U S, K I N D, J O Y F U L, S O F T, O P E N, and READY for whatever is next whether that’s a difficult conversation I need to feel cool calm and collected for, wanting to feel connected on a deeper level to friends and family, getting work done with a focused and clear mind, getting a deeply restful night’s sleep, or just living my best life!
How does restorative yoga help me with all of the above?
Restorative yoga will shift you out of your sympathetic nervous system (fight/flight) to your parasympathetic nervous system (rest+digest).
In 2017 the WHO estimated that “by 2020, stress-related disorders will be the second leading cause of disabilities in the world”." Wow. Did they have a psychic working for them? Did they know that stress would sky-rocket in 2020?
We know it’s important to take time to relax, but the question is: do you know HOW to relax? How to relax in a way that leaves you feeling restored? That boosts your immune system? That makes you feel like a delicious puddle of bliss?
How often do you have time to relax and you reach for a bottle of wine that might make you feel less than fantastic after, or reach for your phone to mindlessly scroll through social media only to bombard your mind with photo after photo of what other people are doing with their lives which then sends you into a self-comparison spiral, or maybe the moment you are done with work you are planning for what you have to do the following day.
We need moments of silence.
We need moments of nothing.
We need moments to just be.
When practicing Restorative Yoga you take a shape with your body, sometimes flat on the floor and sometimes propped up with lots of pillows and blocks and blankets, and you hang out there for anywhere from 5-20 minutes and just let yourself BE. That’s the key. Letting yourself BE instead of making yourself DO. There’s nothing to DO.
The time you spend practicing Restorative Yoga might be the only time of the day that you allow yourself to really rest, that you allow yourself to feel supported, that you allow yourself to L E T G O.
Ideally you want to set yourself up with enough props in each pose that you feel fully supported, super comfy, and you can fully surrender your body weight into the props and into the ground.
With a restorative yoga practice you will learn to soften your mind and to soften your body. As your body softens you will have more room for breath. As you take deeper breaths (in particular longer exhales), you will activate your parasympathetic nervous system (PNS). When you activate the PNS you can finally relax. When you relax your body softens even more. When your body softens more your breathing becomes easier…and so on and so on…until you melt into a puddle on the floor ;)
It’s time for you to take a break, give your weight to the earth, and let yourself be. Learn to be soft with yourself, kind with yourself, and to just be with yourself. Life is hard. It just is. It’s full of struggle, suffering, and the unknown. But there is also an opportunity to create more space for peace, for joy, and for bliss.
One roadblock some people encounter when practicing restorative yoga is that we are so used to doing, taking action, working, and planning that sometimes we don’t quite know how to relax. If you find that your mind won’t stop going, that’s totally normal. This is a practice. As you practice restorative yoga, yin yoga, or meditation over time you gradually get better at being with your thoughts and feelings and softening into the present moment. Over time you will also get better at detecting habitual holding patterns of tension in your body and mind. Eventually you will notice the tension in your body even when you’re not practicing yoga and you can mindfully let go throughout the day. Relaxing is a practice.
On a meditation retreat I did at IMS last year I kept repeating this phrase to myself:
(I love a nice alliterative phrase).
I came up with this phrase when I realized that every time I got lost in thought (concepts) my body would contract, but when I connected with the present moment (reality) my body would relax. In restorative yoga, and yin yoga, meditation, and in every day life I practice this again and again. I notice my body is tense, perhaps take note of what “concept” or thought was in my mind, and then I consciously relax my body. I do this all day long, and I know I wouldn’t be as good at letting go as I am if I didn’t have practices like Restorative Yoga in my life.
When you’re able to carve out 30 minutes follow along with the video below. You’ll just need a couple of pillows and a nice little corner of your home to get cozy in.
If you take the class and enjoy it let me know in the comments on the video (and subscribe to my channel!), or come back here to let me know what you thought!
If you love listening to music during class try this playlist I made especially to go along with this video! Start from the beginning and play all the way through if you like music during meditation and savasana, or start on the second song when you take the first pose and turn it off before savasana.
Wishing you deeper breaths, and greater joy.
-Eve
the miracle is now
The Miracle Is Now #thingsthatcometomeinmeditation#meditationrevelation
Miracle: “a surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divine agency.”
To me that definition means every moment is a miracle. Can you explain your very existence? The existence of this earth? This universe?
Some of you might try to reason your way through it and talk about the big bang. Sure, we sort of understand some of how this all came to be. But what existed before the big bang? Some scientists say “the universe was an infinite stretch of an ultrahot, dense material, persisting in a steady state”. Oh ok cool, and what existed before that? Did it exist forever? How long is forever? Can you wrap your head around the idea of the possible nothingness that existed before that ultra hot dense universe?
The fact that any of this exists is some kind of miracle.
We pray, meditate, visualize, imagine, hope for miracles.
Can you feel the miracle of
the present moment
your breath
your existence
The origin of the word “miracle” is the latin “miraculum”
which means “object of wonder”
Can your very existence be
the object of your wonder?
Can you feel that every moment
is a miracle?
When I find myself grasping, striving, wanting, needing…
it relaxes me to know
the Miracle is Now.
Dhyana Mudra
Dhyana mudra.
It’s possible you’re familiar with this mudra from paintings or statues of the Buddha.
Dhyana mudra is helpful for grounding yourself in reality and for letting illusion fall away. The right hand symbolizing wisdom rests on top of the left hand which symbolizes illusion.
This mudra is also meant to help you connect with a sense of inner peace.
The best way I can describe how I feel when practicing Dhyana mudra is “connected”. I feel connected to myself and very tuned in to what is going on in my body and mind. I find that the feeling of contact between my two thumbs keeps me focused in the present moment- especially if I rest the hands on my belly and feel the thumbs draw slightly away from one another on the inhale, and feel them press deeper into each other on the exhale.
If this is the first of my mudra posts you are reading and you have never tried a mudra I suggest starting with this one! Dhyana mudra is simple to remember how to do and can be very helpful to you in your meditation practice if you have trouble staying tuned in to the present moment.
It is said that the triangular shape formed underneath your thumbs and above your palms represents the three jewels of Buddhism: Buddha, Sangha (community) and dharma (teachings).
It is also said that Dhyana mudra helps with healing—though I think that is true of all the mudras!
To practice Dhyana mudra
1. rest hands palm face up right hand on top of left.
2. lightly bring your thumbs to touch.
Add this to the beginning or end of your yoga practice, at the beginning of your meditation practice to help focus your mind, or just sit and breathe while holding this mudra for five minutes.
Let me know if you try it!
In this week’s mini yin practice I’m contemplating the “powerful unbounded consciousness” that I am. As I practice I visualize softening the boundary of skin and flesh that “separates” me from all that is. I allow my mind to soften along with my skin, my muscles, my ego. As I allow all this to melt my breath is allowed more room to expand and my spirit to expand with it. I am not “trying” to expand, but allowing it to be as powerful and unbounded as it is.
Shoelace: this pose can be quite intense in that it creates a lot of sensation in the hips. The knees are meant to be stacked one on top of the other but if this is too uncomfortable feel free to place a block/blanket between the knees or outstretch and straighten the bottom leg so only the top leg is bent. Breeaaaathe deeply in this pose. Continuously remind yourself to soften your face. Often the pleasure in this pose is in the release! Stay upright for 3-5 minutes or begin to fold forward after a minute if it feels good in your body.
When you release this pose you might feel creaky and achey. Take your time as you outstretch your legs, lean into your hands and let yourself feel the echo of the pose in your body.
Melting Heart: If hanging out here feels uncomfortable you might like to try this with a prop under your elbows/triceps! Inhale expansive energy through the crown of your head, exhale limiting beliefs through the heart center.
Bridge: In the image the block is at the highest setting but you could even try this with a couple of pillows under your sacrum for a more restorative version. What is your relationship to having your heart open and vulnerable? Do you feel better able to allow the heart to be open when the back feels supported? As you lie here, with each exhale can you soften your resistance to allowing the front body and the heart to open?
Legs up/snail: Lie here and contemplate the existence of your toes! If it feels good in your body you can drop your legs straight back behind your head into Snail pose (or what you might know as Plow Pose) either keeping you legs straight, or bending them and bringing the knees to the ears.
Always take several breaths between each pose to rest+feel
Hakini Mudra
Finding it easier to drop in to your meditation session when using a mantra but want to take your level of focus (dharana) to the next level? Hakini mudra to the rescue! This is the mudra for focus, concentration, memory, and clarity.
This is my go to mudra before I need to sit down for a couple hours of paper writing.
In Hakini mudra we create a complete circuit of energy in the body by bringing the fingers to touch. It is said that this mudra helps to bring together the right and left hemispheres of the brain.
When I practice Hakini mudra I like to imagine all my scattered energy being drawn back into the center where I can allow it to settle.
Sit with this mudra for anywhere from 2-10 minutes or until you feel ready to focus on your task at hand!
Let me know if you try it out!
This sequence begins with 3 forward folds for encouraging introversion and focus.
Hold each pose for 3-5 minutes.
1. Caterpillar: unlike your classic seated forward fold make sure your feet are not flexed and the muscles in the legs are relaxed. USE AS MANY PROPS AS NEEDED! Sit on a blanket/cushion. Place blocks/bolster/blanket under knees. Place a bolster/pillows on your legs to support your torso. Prop up your head with fists. As you rest here you might imagine thoughts draining out of your forehead as you allow the earth to absorb them. After 3-5 minutes slowly release the pose by bringing your hands behind you to prop yourself up. Sit & feel the echo of the pose in your body.
2. Butterfly: Same rules apply here: make sure you support yourself as much as necessary. If you find it hurts to have your knees bent in this way make sure you place something underneath. Now that you have dropped in to your body with caterpillar you might be ready to begin shifting into the “flow” phase. Connect with a sense of flow in your body. Even if you do not feel any flow you can encourage it by deepening your breath and/or visualizing that the sensations you feel are flowing through your entire body instead of remaining stagnant.
3. Sleeping Swan: (aka pigeon). This pose often stirs up a lot of sensation. Can you take a step back from the sensation and observe it without judgement? Notice the ebb&flow of sensation&breath. In this pose practice cultivating your ability to witness your experience without reacting. Even when you have a desire to move can you observe the sensation and just let that be? (if you have a desire to move because you are in pain- please move!)
4. Supported Side Bend: in this pose you place a bolster/pillows under the side of the torso underneath the armpit. You can have the knees bent or straight. The arms can be alongside the ears if comfortable. After a minute or so you might keep the knees/legs where they are as you roll on to your back into a supine twist. This is the pose to “let go”. To let yourself be. Allow. Surrender. Nothing to do but just be.
Taking 20 minutes to do this could totally turn your day around! Let me know if you try it!
Mantra Meditation
"Dharana", the sanskrit word for “concentration” is the sixth limb of the eight limbs of yoga. Once the mind is focused you can meditate, which is “dhyana” the seventh limb. Then comes “samadhi”, or “enlightenment”, the eighth limb. These three final limbs can also be thought of as “focus, flow, and let go”. (I think I first heard that from my teacher Sudhir Jonathan Foust). ⠀
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For there to be freedom in the mind there must first be focus. We can find that focus through mantra meditation.⠀
As I mentioned last week 98% of our thoughts are the same thoughts we thought yesterday, and the day before, and the day before that! Mantra meditation is a great way to insert a new thought into your daily thought carousel, and a great way to focus the mind for meditation.⠀
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So far I’ve shared the mantra “my roots run deep into the center of the living earth” and I will continue to share more. You also can make up your own phrase or just choose a word.
Some to get you started:
OM
I am that I am
I am enough
I am where I am meant to be
Peace
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In meditation you can choose many things to focus on: breath, sound, sensation, etc… no matter what you choose to focus on all you have to do is come back to your point of focus every time you realize you have wandered off into some fantasy or a rabbit hole of thoughts. In this case you will come back to your mantra. ⠀
You can repeat the mantra in your mind until you feel you’ve “dropped in” to a flow state and are ready to let go of it. You could also begin by repeating it out loud, then whisper it, then just repeat it in your head. ⠀
Try it out and see how it goes!⠀
Happy mantra-ing! ⠀
Ksepana Mudra
The mudra for letting go. ⠀
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I have experienced feeling fairly “empty” after practicing this mudra so If you would like to add Ksepana mudra to this week’s Yin practice (see previous post) I would suggest sitting in meditation with the mudra for a few minutes and then transitioning into the yin poses to ground you and get you back into your body. ⠀
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Ksepana mudra is for emptying yourself of negative energy to make space for new and positive energy! Negative energy includes physical ailments and negative thoughts, experiences, and memories. ⠀
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As you hold the mudra visualize what you want to let go of and imagine you can let go a little bit more with each exhaaaaale. ⠀
You can hold the mudra in front of your heart, or point your fingers down in a gesture of letting go and releasing. If you are lying down you can point the fingers towards your feet. ⠀
Sit with this mudra for a few minutes, add it to your meditation, or begin and/or close your yin or other asana practice with it!
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Let me know if you try it- and how it feels!! Happy mudra-ing! ⠀
Allot about 20 minutes for this sequence. No props needed!
Hold each pose for 3-5 minutes. (Insight Timer is a wonderful app with tibetan bowl sounds for the alarm instead of the harsher alarm sounds that come with our phones.)
1. CHILDS POSE: knees as wide as feels comfortable, big toes together, arms extended but remember to allow the muscles to be passive! If too much weight is in your knees when you bring your forehead to the floor bring something under your forehead so the weight goes back towards your heels.
2. SPHINX: if you have tight neck and shoulders this pose can be uncomfortable at first but stick with it! See what it’s like to just be supported by your bones and let the muscles “melt”.
3. HALF FROG: take just 1 minute on each side to give your lower back a break after all that compression from Sphinx pose!
4. STIRRUP: for those of you who have done Happy Baby in a yoga class you might be surprised at how holding Stirrup for a few minutes can be a bit uncomfortable. What is it like to breathe into the discomfort? (note: do not breathe into pain! If it’s pain just let the pose go/back off. Discomfort is different than pain!) Between the poses take a minute to just breathe and feel the echo of the pose in your body.
I heard someone say once that Yin yoga is a bitter practice with a sweet result (was it Bernie Clarke who said this?). Some of the poses can be very pleasurable when holding them, but more often than not the real pleasure comes from the release.
PRANAYAMA FOR LETTING GO:
To deepen the experience of letting go of the old to make room for the new add some breath and a visualization to your Yin practice! This breath works especially well in Childs Pose and Sphinx.
1. as you inhale imagine drawing the breath in through the crown of your head and visualize the breath/energy moving down your back all the way to the base of the spine.
2. as you exhale visualize the breath/energy moving back up your spine and pouring out of your heart (or you might visualize it pouring out of your chest)
3. Continue like this or add the visual of drawing into your body on the inhale what you would like to draw into your life and on the exhale releasing what you would like to get rid of.
note: illustrations are a collaboration between me and my mom but most of the credit goes to her
letting go
Instead of writing new years resolutions take a moment to choose one habitual thought you have about yourself that you’re ready to let go of.
Researchers have found that as many as 98% of the thoughts we have each day are the same thoughts we thought the day before…and the day before…and the day before…
It can be extremely challenging to implement a new years resolution when you’re thinking the same way you were thinking the year before!
Take a moment to meditate and ask yourself “what is distracting me from who I truly am?” Or “what thought is distracting me from who I want to be?” Thoughts like “I’m not good at…xyz” “My problem is…xyz” are distracting you from the reality of who you are.
Once you have chosen the thought you feel prepared to let go of you can begin to question it, challenge it, consider its opposite might be true, and then let it go.
Now notice what you feel in your body and notice your breath. Is there a physical shift when you let go of the grip a thought has on your mind?
Later this week I’ll be sharing a yin sequence and a mudra to help with the process of letting go. Stay tuned!
My Roots Run Deep Into the Center of the Living Earth
Post holiday rest *part 2*
Did you do the yin poses from part 1 but still feel a bit disconnected, scattered and ungrounded ? Calm and center the mind and body even more by adding the very grounding “bhu mudra” either in seated meditation before and/or after the yin poses, or even incorporate it into the yin poses.
To do the Bhu mudra simply place the tips of your peace fingers on the ground as shown in the image.
Option to add the mantra:
“my roots run deep into the center of the living earth.”
(not sure if the credit for this mantra goes to Jennifer Reis or Joseph LePage?)
Close your meditation practice or yin practice with the intention of offering some of the peace and joy you experienced in the last 20 minutes to those who made it possible for you to have these 20 undisturbed minutes to yourself 🙏
A post holiday rest
Part 1
Whether you’ve gone to your parents home, someone else’s home, are hosting, or have even fully escaped social activities over the holidays take 20 minutes to drop all thoughts of a to-do list, to-bake list, conversation topics to avoid list, haunting memories of holidays past list, naughty or nice list, and take a respite that’s just for you.
If all your holiday celebrations are over this could be a particularly nice time to rest, reflect, and let everything settle.
If you have a yoga bolster + blocks- awesome! If not- grab a few pillows and a blanket, find a cozy corner, light some candles, and let’s get to relaxing!
For a little info on yin yoga check out my last post.
—Hold each pose between 3-5 minutes. You can set a timer. I’d recommend the app Insight Timer for having pleasant sounding tibetan bells as your alarm.
—make sure you are comfortable enough to hold the pose for a few minutes, but that you still have just enough sensation to keep it interesting. Only move if there is pain or your body invites you to go deeper.
—As you hold the pose focus on breathing, softening the body, softening the mind, and surrendering the body to gravity as you allow yourself to rest on the earth and on the props.
—Scan the body for your habitual holding patterns (where you normally hold your tension)—the usual culprits are the jaw, the space between the brows, neck, shoulders, and hips. In yin yoga we don’t contract the muscles. See how much you can let go and just be supported by your bones.
YIN POSES
Pause in a seated kneeling position for about a minute between each pose to bring your spine back to neutral and feel the echo of the pose in your body.
Dragonfly
Saddle
Supported fish (knees bent and knocked together or legs straight. Bolster length wise under spine, or blocks, or pillows/folded blanket)
Twisted Roots (reclined twist).
What is Yin Yoga?
In the future I will go even more in depth into Yin yoga but for now here is what you need to know:
Yin yoga has its roots not only in the yogic practices from India but also in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and Taoist yoga. Just like TCM uses acupuncture to help unblock Qi/energy by inserting needles along meridian lines (channels in the body through which energy flows) the practice of yin yoga unblocks energy by applying pressure to those same meridian lines. (If you’re familiar with yogic “nadis”, meridians are essentially the same thing).
Yin yoga accesses the fascia, connective tissues, tendons, and ligaments instead of the muscles (which we access in yang yoga styles like vinyasa). We do this by entering the poses without warming up and holding the pose for 3-5 minutes which is the amount of time it takes to rehydrate the connective tissues and restore flexibility.
In the 3-5 minutes we hold the pose we only move if we are in pain and need to modify or if the body begins to open up and allows us to sink more deeply into the pose. Otherwise we find stillness and surrender. In Yin yoga we have the opportunity to allow, accept, and be (as opposed to do).
Sometimes when we come out of a yin pose we feel a bit stiff and achey- this is normal. Exit the pose slowly and take a minute to just sit and feel the effects of the pose.
A COUPLE OF MY THOUGHTS ON YIN YOGA…
People who practice yoga often talk about having an experience of a “yoga high” after practicing and I have to say that the particular yoga high I experience after a yin yoga class is what really got me hooked on this approach to yoga.
After ten years of trying different meditation techniques I finally figured out how to approach meditation after diving deep into yin yoga. Yin yoga taught me how to be with discomfort and observe my experience without needing to change it. This profoundly shifted my meditation practice, and my whole life.
Have you tried yin yoga? what did you think?
Stay tuned for the first in my 20 minute self care series!!
Introducing: The 20 minute Self Care Series
Over the coming months I will begin to share motions and potions for all seasons and reasons!
Yin yoga and essential oils for PMS, yoga+mudra+mantra to amplify joy, meditation+movement+breath for creative inspiration, and lots more.
All do-able in twenty minutes.
When it comes to helping others find ways to bring these practices into their lives I am most interested in how to gently ease them in instead of suggesting they suddenly start doing an hour of yoga every morning (though there’s nothing wrong with that!)
First up: yin yoga, mudra, and mantra for a holiday respite!
📸: thanks to @katherine.sadhana and @allyoganyc for the photo!
Home Is: Breath
Stressed? Anxious ? Overwhelmed?
Stop what you’re doing. Drop in to your body. Now breathe.
There are many things you don’t have control over but you do have control over your breath. Knowing how to use your breath to calm your nerves and shift your state of mind can feel like a superpower. Take it from my 13 year old client who says it used to take him one hour to fall asleep but now he does his breathing and he falls asleep in two minutes 🧡
In the face of stress, anxiety, and overwhelm many of us turn to substances, and/or TV, and other external distractions. Next time these feelings arise see what it’s like to turn inwards and discover the power of this tool that is available to you at all times. Check out my previous posts/videos to learn more about how to take a slow, deep, satisfying breath and turn it into a daily practice!
Coming Home with Dirgha
Dirgha Pranayama is useful in and of itself, but you can have fun taking it a step further by adding a visualization and seeing where that takes you.
As I’ve mentioned before, one of my goals when practicing yoga and meditation is to feel at home within myself: comfortable, at ease, totally, and vibrantly…”myself”. I love layering a visualization on to Dirgha to help me get to that place. One visual I use is imagining myself growing large enough to contain ALL that I am on the inhale, and letting go of everything cluttering my mind, body, and spirit on the exhale.
You might have to put this into your own words to make it work for you, so, experiment !
You might imagine it is your body that is growing large, or perhaps your sprit, or your mind. Whatever helps you to feel that you are big enough to contain all that you are. Your quiet self, your loud self, your daughter self, your sister self, your lover self, your angry self, your musician self, your wild self, your student self, your spirit self... all of it. Or perhaps you want to focus on being big enough to contain all that a moment is, all that another person is, all that a place is, etc.. alter it to fit what it is you feel you most need.
And for the exhale? You likely know what it is you need to let go of. Thoughts, feelings, concepts, c l u t t e r of the mind, body, spirit.
This is just a suggestion. Your experience of Dirgha doesn’t have to lead to a certain place. Experiment and find what feels good for you. Perhaps you love Dirgha without anything else added!
p l a y ! Have FUN on this journey. And when in doubt? Just breathe.
Let me know your thoughts ! Do you find it helpful to use visualization, or do you prefer the simple and straightforward act of intentional breath work? Feel free to comment here or contact me directly with any questions or for further guidance!
Happy Breathing!
Why bother breathing?
Have you tried Dirgha yet? (pronounced DEER-GAH)
You already breathe all day…and all night…so why take the time to breathe a little differently?
Breathing slowly and deeply can take your autonomic nervous system from fight or flight (sympathetic nervous system) to rest and digest (parasympathetic nervous system).
In other words: it’s r e l a x i n g.
Have you already tried out Dirgha but didn’t find it particularly relaxing? Try making your exhales longer than your inhales. This has been proven to help activate the parasympathetic nervous system.
B E N E F I T S I’ve experienced from Dirgha Pranayama:
- Helps my mind to s l o w down, let go of unnecessary thoughts (which is…most of them), and press a mental reset button!
- Breathing slowly and deeply into the three parts of my torso has helped me develop body awareness- i.e. awakening sensitivity to what my body needs.
- Breathing with intention helps me return to the present moment. (studies have proven that people are FAR happier when they are focused on the present moment).
- I feel as if I’m creating space in my body on the inhale and releasing tension on the exhale- both physically and mentally!
- I’m able to let go of external influences and return back to my home within- my homebase- a sense of returning back to a place that feels more authentically "me".
- In a world where there are so many things to draw my attention outwards it is vitally important to my mental health that I have a practice that can help draw me back inwards.
So, have you tried Dirgha yet? If so, let us know in the comments what benefits you’ve experienced! If not- check out my last post for a little instruction, and feel free to reach out with any questions! Happy breathing!