My 59th birthday party was celebrated doing yoga with 12 wonderful women I know, including my two daughters (very special). We gathered at 6:00 on a bunch of all different colored mats. With candles lit and the sounds of James Taylor and Nora Jones and George Harrison, we moved together doing qi gong and lots of Warrior poses......staying grounded, staying present and staying with the breath best we could. Each person found a place where their bodies, minds and spirits were one  and collectively we breathed for happiness and wholeness and sat with our fears that we know are shared with hundreds of millions of people all over the world. We asked that those fears leave us. Leave us and liberate us. Then we went and drank wine and ate vegan cupcakes - we went out to play.

Play today. Find some moments to play.

Time To Play

A busy executive was speaking to her six year old niece at the end of a particularly frustrating day. She'd spent the better part of the day trying to get a new printer installed. Nothing had worked, and she was exhausted and very frustrated.

On the phone with her young niece, she described in general terms how frustrated she was.

Her niece asked, "Did you try hard?"

"Yes," she replied.

"Did you try really, really hard?"

"Yes I did."

"Well then," said the six year old, "now it's time to go out and play."

                                                      Copied from the book Perseverance by Margaret J. Wheatley

YOUR BEAUTIFUL BODY - A LITTLE GIFT YOU CAN GIVE IT........


POSTURE

How much do you think your head weighs? 

The average head weighs 15 pounds!! It's your brain, your skull, your eyes and teeth - everything from your neck up. That's a lot of weight sitting right on top of your spine. Next time you're at the grocery store pick up a 15 pound bag of potatoes - that's what your head weighs! 

Because your head weighs so much, over time it's easy to get out of alignment. 

So many people have developed "forward head". It's caused by poor posture while doing computer work or anything that places your head in an unnatural forward position in relation to the rest of your body. When that happens it throws your entire body out of balance and can cause all kinds of neck problems and back problems. 

THE STICK EM UP

This is a simple and great exercise to help prevent forward head and help restore posture.

*Go to a wall. Place your back up against the wall with your shoulders and low back pressed into the wall as much as possible

*Bring your arms up to the side in "stick em up" position - your arms will look like little goal posts. As much as possible make sure your arms and hands are touching the wall

*Now, slowly, I mean slowly, scooch your arms up along the wall until your hands touch above your head

*Slowly return them down to goal post position.

*If your arms want to leave the wall, it's OK. At the point where they want to leave the wall, take a moment, pull your shoulder blades together in the back and stretch those tiny muscles in your back, your shoulders, your neck

*Do this exercise 3 times - it will help to keep your head over your body.

It will help you have good posture and good poise and help you to feel good because it will help you to hold you head high folks.

Blogging out grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr - DR

          Be playful today! (notice arms are almost in "Stick Em Up" position - elbows a little too high)