Smile
Smiling is infectious, you catch it like the flu
When someone smiled at me today,
I started smiling too.
I passed around the corner, and someone saw my grin.
When he smiled, I realized
I'd passed it onto him.
I thought about that smile, then I realized its worth.
A single smile, just like mine
could travel around the earth.
So, if you feel a smile begin, don't leave it undetected.
Let's start an epidemic quick
and get the world infected!
The days have been murky, mushy and mellow but all of us have brilliant points of light within us, ready to pierce the clouds. So crack open that smile even if just for a moment, let that light escape. Remind yourself how much you already have. See things in a whole different perspective. To the robin, the warbler, all of this wetness is the Kingdom of the Worms!
The Eyes Have It
Eye Exercise for relieving stress in the eyes and head. Calming when you need some downtime from sensory overload, helps with focus and jump starting the parasympathetic nervous system.
Begin seated in Sukhasana (Easy pose). Visualize a clock in front of you. Inhale as you look at 12 o'clock and exhale to 6 o'clock (3x's). Follow by rubbing hands together and cupping them over your eyes for 5 breaths. Continue with 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock, working your way around the clock and cupping eyes after each step.
The Poses
Supported Seated Badda Konasana (similar to Supta Badda Konasana Reclined)
Props: bolster, 4 blocks (or firm cushions, pillows, rolled up blankets), 4 blankets, one extra blanket for warmth or for wrapping feet in, strap, eye pillow.
Benefits: opens the hips and groin facilitating blood and energy flow to the urinary tract and reproductive organs. Opens the chest and abdomen benefiting breathing problems. Resting pose.
Place a block lengthwise under one end of a bolster to prop it up on an incline, add another block under bolster for stability. Prop inclined bolster next to wall. Place a double-fold blanket on floor next to low end of bolster and a long rolled blanket on top next to bolster (for sacral support). Sit with your back to the short, low end of the bolster. Place two blocks where your knees will rest (can top with a soft blanket or use other props as necessary for propping knees) Bring your legs into Bound Angle Pose with the soles of your feet together. Wrap a blanket around your feet to create a feeling of containment. Lie back on the bolster. Place supports under your arms so that they are not dangling and there is no feeling of stretch in the chest. Stay in the pose for 10 to 15 minutes.
Elevated Twist on a Blanket
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| Not a shot of the pose but a pretty picture of sun-kissed tomatoes! |
Props: 2-4 blankets
Benefits: Gentle twist for the spine (quadratus lumborom) Releases stress on the back muscles and a stretch to the intercostal muscles. As muscles relax, breathing is enhanced. Aids in digestion. Good stretch for upper chest.
Make a double fold blanket, place on your mat so that when reclined your lumbar spine rests on blanket. Bring knees to chest and as you release both knees to the right, extend arms out to the side, palms facing up. Extra blankets may be placed between knees, along spine to support and ground the pose, on top hip to access the release into the pose.
Journaling
What are my bright points of light in my life? Write a few words, sentences of gratitude towards those points of light. Meditate on them for a few minutes before writing in your journal. If those darker places begin to surface, acknowledge them as the expansion that you may need. Write them down but don't elaborate on them right now. Come back later and maybe they will be points of light uncovered.
At all times and in all places, always be the first to smile....
And at sometimes in some places, be the last to ask "How much?"
TUT - The Universe.com
Labels: Elevated Twist on Blanket, Eye Exercises, Journaling, Reclined Bound Angle
