Christmas Tree Pose

Ground your roots down, focus the gaze, soften the belly, breath deep.

Inhale down to the pelvis, let the ribs open and expand. Exhale slowly.

Repeat as needed throughout the holidays.

Om Shanti Namaste.

Snowed In

Some might have heard--we got rather a lot of snow this weekend in the Twin Cities.  And really, it felt so nice to to just . . . do nothing.  To watch the trucks get stuck on our street and get the message.  To let the weather be in charge, to stay home.

Winter is meant to be a time of hibernation, turning inward, waiting.  These days the pace of our lives never seems to vary--perpetual summer, full speed ahead.  I wonder if that might be damaging, if our bodies need the variation--savasana at the end of practice, winter after summer.

So I called in to work, and waited.  It wasn't like I was going anywhere anyway.

The Foot Book Mala

Jasper recently reached the stage of wanting the same book read over and over again.  We get to the end, he carefully turns it over to start again.  The current favored volume is The Foot Book by Dr Seuss.  Left foot, left foot, right foot, right.  Feet in the day, feet in the night.  Over and over.

And so I was speculating that at this point, I probably have read the Foot Book 108 times--a full mala.  While it may not be as spiritual a mantra as Om namo bhagavate vasudevaya it is something I can strive to do mindfully and wholeheartedly, rather than grudging starting over again.  I can be present to this moment in Jasper's life, which will pass (or so I hope).  And off we go again. . .

Front feet. Back feet. Feet feet feet.  How many different feet you meet!

Inspiration from unlikely places

"If there is a sin against life, it consists perhaps not so much in despairing of life as in hoping for another life and in eluding the implacable grandeur of this life"

--Albert Camus 

Yoga Hands

And now for something a little different: this is a nice variation for the classic anjali mudra or prayer position.  Called Kapota Mudra, begin with the hands in prayer and draw the palms away from each other, leaving the fingers together.  Imagine you are holding something precious.  Kapota translates as dove (or pidgeon, but in this context I like dove better).

I enjoy using this mudra at the beginning of my practice, and place my intention or dedication within my hands.  One of my friends at teacher training suggested distilling an intention down to a single word.  I like that idea, as I usually set a long and complicated intention about staying present, moving with grace and embodying my personal power, etc etc, which I will have completely forgotten by the second pose of class.  Going with grace, or now, or something similar seems to stay with me longer.

Urban Yoga

I used to believe that I had to run away to the woods to find calm.  But it's still running away, and it seems I can't leave myself behind.  So I'm trying to breathe in the city these days, and to stay present with all this crazy kinetic energy and life beating all around.