Welcome to your very own special restorative place. Stay awhile, stroll around, put up your feet.
*You will create your very own neck roll to use in class and bring home with you next week.
**Note in all poses, you may want to cover yourself up with a blanket to stay warm.
Legs On Chair Pose
Props chair, 2-3 blankets, neck roll, eye pillow
Extras Sandbag, Webkinz stuffed animals
Benefits: relaxes the muscles of the lower back, legs, refreshes the legs, relaxes the muscles and organs of the abdomen. Blanket on belly or legs.
Place a blanket on chair so you don't feel the hard surface. If you need to elevate the body, you can place a triple fold blanket in front of chair, then place your hips on blanket to one side, swing the legs up onto the seat of the chair as you lower your upper body onto the mat or floor. Use a neck roll to support cervical spine. Place a blanket or sandbag on legs to ground you in the pose. Arms release to the sides with palms turned up. Use an eye pillow to shut out any light for ultimate relaxation. An eye pillow or some type of weighted object (I've used stuffed animals) can be placed in open palms to move and free up energy. Stay for up to 10 minutes. Your beginning practice may consist of only 5 minutes. Feel the legs drain, the stress melt away.
Babbling Brook Pose
Props: bolster, 2-3 blankets, block, neck roll, eye pillow
Benefits: counteracts the slumped position of our posture from sitting, computer use, driving, everyday activities. Opens the best to help breathe easier. Improves digestion, reduces fatigue and can lift your mood.
Just like a babbling brook with boulders (soft ones!) laying down over these soft, supportive blankets and bolster will allow the natural curves of the body to be held up gently and the breath to flow like water over the rocks in the water.
On your mat, place your bolster where your knees will be, one blanket rolled up, lengthwise where your bra line is (base of scapula), a block for the feet and a neck roll placed for the cervical spine. Lay yourself over these supports. Shoulders rest in space between neck and back roll are, palms facing up.A rolled up dish towel might work for ankle support. Eye pillows can be used to lay across the eyes, in the open palms, along the shoulders. Basically anywhere you need to release some tension which is inherent in tight muscles. In the beginning, stay in pose for 10 minutes working up to 20 minutes. Feel the heart open, the strain from holding yourself up all day evaporate.
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Variations - For ankle support, rolled up dish towel; single or double fold blanket under lumbar spine, or a rolled up blanket next to wall with feet on blanket.
Supported Childs Pose
Props: bolster, two blocks, 2-3 blankets
Benefits: Gently stretches the lower back, relieves shoulder tension and quiets the mind. Give a sense of security. Feeling support and release.
Extras:sandbag for sacrum
Place the two blocks at either the lowest or medium height, equidistant from each other bolster lengthwise on top of blocks. A s-fold or triple fold blanket on top of bolster. It may be more comfortable without blocks. Legs straddle the props at one end, and lengthen body over them. Head will rest on props. Additional blanket(s) may be used behind knees. Ideally props should extend all the way to the pelvis area but this may not be the case with your body structure. Stay here for 10 minutes to begin with, rotating head side to side.
Equal Breath
Find a comfortable seated position or laying down. Focus in on your breath, becoming aware of its pattern before beginning this breath. Make a conscious effort to inhale and exhale for the same count (2 to 3). Find a calm, steady awareness of the breath, the feel, the temperature, the way it enters and exits the body. Practice this breath anywhere. Continue this for 2 to 3 minutes.
Sankalpa
This is not your usual New Years Resolution. Spend the time to really tune into what your wishes, desires are. Journal about those during the next few days. Incorporate the Equal Breath as you sit down to journal. Read more below from Yoga Journal on Sankalpa and hints on how to begin to develop one. As you progress through the series, this Sankalpa may be your mantra, your inspiration to continue with bringing more relaxation into your life.
Give your New Year's resolutions a yogic twist—set an intention and infuse the new year with positive change.
By Catherine Guthrie
A new year's resolution is a noteworthy concept—start off the year with a change for the better. So how did it devolve into a subconscious exercise in self-loathing? Lose 10 pounds! (Message to self: You're fat.) Stop drinking caffeine! (You're unhealthy.) Call Mom and Dad once a week! (You're ungrateful.) Why not celebrate this new year by trading in your tired (and probably familiar) resolutions for a
sankalpa instead?
LOOK INWARD For several days, set aside time to write in a journal and meditate. Mull over your typical resolutions. How do they make you feel? Anxious? Unsettled? Incomplete? Now contemplate how you would like to feel during the coming year. Is there any way you can reframe your results-oriented resolutions into something that will make this year's journey more joyful and worthwhile?REPHRASE IT Create a short sentence or phrase for your sankalpa. Be careful not to set limitations based on fear. For example, instead of "May life bring me only happiness and joy this year" consider "May I be happy and open to what life brings me."BE FIRM BUT FAIR Change doesn't happen overnight. When you stray from the essence of your sankalpa, don't berate yourself. Instead, gently remind yourself of your intention. But be firm in your resolve—it's a good idea to incorporate your sankalpa into yoru daily routine. Use it as a mantra during pranayama or meditation practice; post it on your computer, phone, or mirror; or simply say it to yourself quietly before going to sleep. —C.GCatherine Guthrie is a writer and yoga teacher in Louisville, Kentucky, and a regular contributor to Yoga Journal.
Finally, a few ideas for props around the household
- blankets (the firmer the better), pillows (can be stacked), phone books (instead of blocks), rolled up hand towels, washclothes, stuffed animals, belts as straps, cushions from the sofa (firmer than bed pillows).
You may have not felt completely comfortable in all the poses from our first class. This is entirely possible for many reasons, alignment may have been out of whack, the props may have needed adjusting, and not all poses will be blissful at the beginning. You can even come out of some of them downright cranky. Give it time and practice. Try the poses from above at home, work on developing your sankalpa and bring back "Remembered Wellness" to all aspects of your life.
I'll leave you with this inspirational poem from Walt Whitman.
Beginning My Studies
Beginning my studies, the first step pleas'd me so much
The mere fact, consciousness - these forms - the power of motion
The least insect or animal - the senses - eyesight - love
The first step, I say awed me and pleas'd me so much
I have hardly gone, and hardly wish's to go any farther
But stop and loiter all the time, to sing it in ecstatic songs.
