Bloomin'

I love yoga. It makes me feel good. It's strengthening and grounding and relaxing and energizing. At the end of a session I always feel so good, better than at the beginning. 


I could stand in Mountain Pose for a solid hour - just feeling my feet-sies connecting to the earth, keeping my spine long and my chest open and my back broad...... listening to my breath. The in, the out, pausing at the retention of the breath just for a moment. Living in that little moment right then and not being or doing any other thing. 


Yoga enriches my life teaching me to connect to the moments. Not just on the mat but when I'm looking at a new flower or even looking at some dried up ole flowers with the petals falling down or when I'm emptying the dishwasher or folding nice warm clothes just out of the dryer or cutting up purple and green and red veggies to cook in some fun way. I love yoga for the simple, individual moments I have learned to recognize and connect to without even trying.


It's as little as that and as big as.......


Yoga will change your perspective. It helps you recognize more accurately who your true self is. It helps you experience life in a non-judgemental way and helps you embrace your limitations and work through them, breath through them.


It helps you face obstacles off the mat, breath through them and think through them. I find myself  psychologically and emotionally always coming back to Mountain Pose for a bigger perspective. 


I'm learning that it's even better at times not thinking so much. Just breathing and recognizing "issues", "problems", "challenges" for what they are and letting them go. What the heck are they serving? In my 60th year of living I'm finding that the negativity around old "stuff" isn't worth hanging around for. It's old worn out energy that looks like a crapped out old pair of flip flops, the edges all worn away.


I love this paragraph from Eric Shiffman's book - Moving Into Stillness


Your feet cannot be comfortable in a pair of shoes that has become too small. Nor can an emerging flower be comfortable by staying inside its protective husk that has gradually become too tight. nor a growing chick inside its shell. Nor can you be comfortable in old belief structures and limited self-concepts. You must slough off the husk and allow yourself to open and bloom. you must willingly let go of any belief structure that limits your awareness and causes your experience of growth to be painful. You must let go of that which until now has been a protective coating or shield .....and bloom. With the blooming will come a new sense of self and new appreciation of life.


 Erich Schiffman is the man! - here is a photo of him. 

                                                     Urdhva Mukkha Upavista Konasana
                                              or Upward Facing Spread Leg Forward Fold

I enjoy doing a yoga pose that physically represents the intention I have. For instance this wonderful pose stretches hamstrings and adductors. It also strengthens hands and back. It's a pose that parallels "opening up" to new possibility. It's a very relaxing pose with the neck and back completely resting on the floor. Very little effort with this pose. You can hold your calves or grasp your feet.

Try it -

*Lie on your back and feel your spine along the floor. Move your shoulders toward the floor so that your chest rounds.

* Pull your knees gently in toward your chest.

*Extend your legs up toward the ceiling. Grab hold of your inner thighs or calves or feet.

*Spread your legs sideways. Energize your legs by pressing the ball of each foot away from you. Spread your toes out the way Eric has his! Ha!

*Try your best to straighten your legs fully. Some of the time simply allow your arms to relax and be passive, and some of the time apply downward pressure with your hands, gently squeezing your legs closer to the floor

*With each exhalation press the legs downward. Let your breath be slow and smooth.

*With each inhalation back off a bit

*Keep doing that and then find your final "edge" as Eric calls it and just be there. Just be there. You've made it. Don't try to go any further. Just be there and breath. Always breath. It's not yoga if you are not breathing smoothly.

*If your breath is jagged because you are uncomfortable, back off the pose a little until you are comfortable.

                               I love the shadow in this photo - it looks like a whole other person is
                                                        there with me doing "partner yoga"!                                  
















This book is one of the first yoga books I read front to back and studied. I refer to it often. I've never met Erich. One day maybe. His writing has always spoken to me.

Yoga - The Spirit and practice of Moving Into Stillness by Erich Schiffmann
Pocket Books 1996