Life, Explained By Down Dog

Have you ever thought about how life is like Downward Facing Dog Pose?  I have, so I thought I'd share my rambling ideas on the subject.  Please share in the comments your agreements and other thoughts.

Sometimes in life we feel stiff and stuck, that maybe we won't be able to do all that needs done that day, that's like the first down dog of the day. You come into the pose and it's like "hello shoulders, hello hamstrings." You take a deep breath and let it out slowly, you got this.  You can put the chili ingredients in the crock pot, a load of laundry in the washer, go to the bank, work, and be ready to volunteer all afternoon at the school.

Sometimes in life we'd rather stay in child's pose, all snuggled down and softly resting.  Curled up on the couch with a good book or a great movie we could wile away the afternoon.  But soon we must rise up and find our strength to clean the room or do the dishes, maybe mow the lawn, or answer some emails.  We stretch our arms forward, we spread the fingers wide, the toes tuck under in anticipation and we breathe, the body rising, with hands and feet rooting gently into the earth, the arms and legs pressing equally up and downward facing dog takes shape.

Sometimes in yoga downward dog is hard.  Maybe it's the beginning of a journey for us, finding strength where maybe there was none before.  Testing new muscles, learning new things.  A new job, a new friend, a new stage in life for our child, ourselves, our parent.  Maybe we might fall or we might do it "wrong." But you know what, we do it.

Sometimes in yoga downward dog is joy.  It's steady strength, the comfort of the familiar routine, of getting things done in the best way we can that day. It's feeling equal, balanced, even if just for a moment.  It's feeling inside all the love we can for ourselves and all the others in the world around us.  It's the knowing of a job well done.  It's the finding a place of ease within a place of work and feeling that joy.

5 times you really need yoga, and the number one pose for each situation

There are a ka-billion times that a person needs some yoga, but I thought I'd start with 5 common ones and the pose needed to make it all better.

1. The car ride.  Whether it's a long drive, a commute to work, or a bunch of short to medium drives shuttling kids to and from, many of us spend lots of time in the car.  So at the next stop, get out.  You need pyramid pose.  Close the door and stand next to the car.
Step one foot back a moderate amount, feet hip distance apart is fine.
Back heel down, and toes turned in slightly.
Press the back hip forward, front hip back, hands on hips.
Inhale your spine tall and keeping both legs mostly straight, hinge out over the front leg.
Go slow and don't worry about going far. Enjoy the stretch to the back of the front leg.
Breathe 5 long deep breaths (or count to 20).
Come up, step the back foot forward and do it all again.  Then back in the car you go.

pyramid pose

2. Before getting out of bed. Anyone out there have a bit of occasional back pain? This is a pretty easy cure to feeling pretty good as you start your day.  So you're awake, turn off the alarm and stay under the covers.  If your hot, push them off first.  Start your day with knee to chest pose.
Laying on your back, pull one of your knees in towards your chest.
Hold onto the knee or behind the thigh, whichever feels best.
Breathe thoes 5 long deep breaths or count to 20.
Gently release the leg and stretch the leg back out.
Pull the other knee in, breathe again.
If you've got the time, then pull both knees in at the same time.
After the 5 breaths, roll gently to your side, sit up and get out of bed. Let the day begin.

knee to chest pose

3. Stressed out. It happens to the best of us. Too much, too little of life.  But carry on we must. We need to breathe.
Sit or stand up tall.
Roll your shoulders back and down.
Inhale through your nose (mouth is ok if the nose isn't working properly).
Think the words as you do the action ("I inhale").
Exhale through the nose slowly.
Think the words as you do the action ("I exhale" if you need extra good mojo, think "I exhale, I smile").
Go with that magic number of 5 breaths if you can, but one really careful breath can be pretty helpful/healthful all by it's self. Carry on.

breathing pose

4. You ate too much. What ever the reason, it doesn't matter.  We won't go into the details, let's just get ourselves settled down. A gentle head tilt is needed.
Sit or stand up tall.
Roll the shoulders back and down (sounds like the beginning of number three, yes? It's really a great way to start almost every pose).
Gently lean your right ear towards your right shoulder.
Maybe close your eyes.
Breathe, 3-5 breaths should do it.
Gently bring the head back to center.
Do the same on the second side. Step away from the food, it will be alright.

head tilt pose

5. Too much sitting at the desk/table--usually computer related. A standing forward fold is just the pose for this situation.
Stand up.
Face the desk or chair.
Put your hands evenly upon it.
Keeping your hands there, walk your body away from it.
You'll start to hinge at the hips.
Only go as far as you can keep your back pretty straight.
Head between the upper arms.
Legs mostly straight.
Breathe the 5 long deep breaths.
Walk yourself back up to standing. If you must, sit back down and get to work, repeat every hour or so.

standing forward fold

So there it is, 5 times we really need yoga and the number one pose to make us feel good. Hope this helps. Let me know what worked/works for you.  The ordinary yogi closing down and getting ready to do number 5.


 

It's OK to challenge yourself

Last week I wrote about going easy in your yoga practice so it's perfectly fitting that this week I write about going hard.  Again, both ends of the spectrum are either nodding "yes" or "no".  And you know I  am saying that we need a bit of both in our lives.  The yin and the yang.

If we are drawn to a softer practice, sometimes we need to step on our mat and get a bit sweaty.  We need to hear our breath in a different way.  We need to lose focus for a bit on the "I can'ts" the "I don't want tos" and the "it's to hards". Then we focus and breathe and do what we can, the best that we can that day.  Without causing harm we find our line--the line between too hard and too easy, and we hold it.  We sink into our pose and we expand out of it with joy and the happy energy of a challenge well met.

Wow! I'm sitting here in this Starbucks (they have wifi and most importantly power as my lap top no longer has a battery and it's a great time to write) waiting while my son's at marching band practice and  after writing thoes last two lines above--I even just now re-read them and I want to get off this stool and enjoy the most awesome triangle pose ever!

So here I am enjoying triangle pose some where a little more awesome than Starbucks

Alright back in focus. Put some challenge in your yoga, maybe hold your poses a bit longer or practice some sun salutations.  Try some yoga at a different place or with a different teacher (of course come back to your favorite teacher--me) mix it up.  A well rounded practice should have a little bit of everything.

If you are that lover of "hard" yoga, don't forget to go soft sometimes.  Read my last blog, It's OK to go easy.  Remember any questions or comments, I'm here to help.  Enjoy this bit of a yang practice, my take on Paul Grilley's, warriors advances and retreats.  Find your inner warrior and enjoy. (Ordinary yogis can be warriors).

click here to view video

It's OK to go easy.

Did you know that OK is the most recognized word in the world? Coke is the number 2, but that's a blog for a different day.  So, it is OK to do "easy" yoga.  It's OK for your yoga to not be super sweaty or feel really hard, and you know what you can still be practicing great yoga.  Many already yoga fans and yoga teachers are nodding their heads "yes" right now just as many (especially yoga avoiders) are shaking their heads "no."

So no matter your stance, just sit back for a moment and read on.  Our yoga can be gentle and accomplish many things.  If you are a go hard or go home exerciser, yoga of the gentle variety might be just what you need.  It might take you out of your comfort zone and challenge you in a different way.  This type of yoga could very well be the key to making all of your other exercise stronger, better, and more fun.  A body that works hard needs rest to heal and strengthen.  And there are not many of us out there saying "I'm flexible enough."

A gentle yoga class or practice can give our bodies permission to rest and move gently.  We can work on range of motion and bringing fluidity to our joints.  We can rest and listen in to what our bodies are really saying.  Pretty much most of us want our backs to feel better and for the tension to leave our necks and shoulders.  Gentle careful mindful movements can get things going in the feel good direction.  A gentle practice can keep us going so that we can go hard again another day.

If we are a person dealing with injuries, lack of current exercise, or other ailments, some gentle yoga can get us started on the road to recovery or just to feeling better in our bodies.

If we have no limitations and we are mostly drawn to gentler yoga, that's not such a terrible thing either.  But we may need to on occasion challenge ourselves to move more, and that will be the topic of a future blog post.  Think yin and yang, two halves that make a complete whole.  We want to be as complete of a person as we can and both types of yoga can help us.

The following video is from a few years ago, but it's some gentle, easy feel good yoga.  The video also stars Lissa the dog and the sweetest (some what large) cat named Lloyd who died a few months ago, and boy does my home practice yoga miss him.  So lay on down to practice and remember that it's OK to go easy.  I'm Audra, the ordinary yoga, practicing easy with you.

click here to see video on youtube

Just Breathe

Breath. Essential life force. Always present, sometime ignored. Our yoga can be our breath.
What if we just pay attention?

Stop for a moment, sit up tall wherever you might be.  Roll your shoulders up towards your ears and set them gently down and back.  Soften your eyes, and breathe (in and out through the nose if you can, if not gently in and out through the mouth).  Inhale think "peace" and exhale think "just let go".  Inhale peace and exhale just let go.  Inhale peace and exhale just let go.

Don't you feel wonderful?  When stress or life starts to get the better of you, just pause and breathe.

Here is a meditative flow which might be fun to do.  Let me know how you like it.

if video doesn't work properly, click here to go to youtube.

your pose is your pose

OK, so we all look different in our yoga poses. And that's OK. Really. I'm serious, don't worry about what you look like in your pose. How do you feel? Is it a good stretch, is it good work? Does it feel tight, blocked, sticky? These are the questions we should be asking ourselves. Explore.

I'm not saying that your pose should not change. And I do think alignment is very important, we need to practice our poses safely. Let's protect our knees, ankles, hips, and shoulders. We want to continue to practice another day so we should practice safely today. Find a good teacher for you, someone who gives you the basics of the poses so you can get into and out of them safely, but then let's you be. Allow yourself to feel wonderful in your yoga pose, to feel the work and change happening in your body. When you settle into the pose, embrace it. Practice your yoga for you, for the body you are in today. It is called a yoga practice, not a yoga perfect, or a yoga just like the person next to me.

Let's work towards the safest strongest pose for our body that day. As we gain experience with the poses and knowledge of how our individual bodies need to move we can begin to refine our poses.

Let the refinement of the pose come from within. Think energetically, pull in the belly and allow or encourage the energy to spiral out. The energy can lengthen the spine and strengthen the legs and arms and maybe make the pose more comfortable. When you find the place of comfort within the strength of your pose, your pose is your pose! Enjoy it, enjoy being you.

The video today is my interpretation of Paul Grilley's yang sequence The Flying Dragons. It's a somewhat challenging vinyasa, but that's OK. Watch the first round once, you'll be intrigued. Get out your mat, start back at the beginning and enjoy. You can do it, make it yours. I'm Audra, the ordinary yogi enjoying my poses.

if video doesn't play correctly, click here to go to youtube.

Yoga is for Every Body

Yoga is for EveryBody. You can do yoga, I’m serious.  It doesn’t have to be that hard, or that serious either. It really doesn’t matter how big or small or how old or young you are. Your journey is to find what yoga works for you. I’ve been teaching yoga for ten years and I don’t think that I’ve ever had someone say to me after, “well, I wish I would not have done that.”

Your quest, if you choose to accept it (and I really hope you do) is to just start.  You don’t need to get in shape to do yoga.  Just get started.  Find a book, a DVD, a youtube video (check out audrayoga) go to a class.

Yoga doesn’t necessarily need to be right, it just needs to be right for you.  And the only way to make it right is to do it.  I think the most amazing thing about yoga is how amazing you feel after and often during your practice. I remember my very first yoga class and the neat feeling I had as I was leaving.  I wondered if what I had just done was “exercise” and then I decided it didn’t matter, as what I was feeling was wonderful and I wanted to feel it again.

So, it began, my absolutely awesome journey with yoga. If you have not yet begun, start now (if your already on your journey even better). My journey continues to this day. Travel with me, the ordinary yogi and find out how extra-ordinary it can be.

A Little Yoga is OK

The Ordinary Yogi, A Little Yoga is OK

Yay me! I may actually be doing this blog thing. I’m writing this at a Starbucks, my youngest son is across the street at the high school for his Youth Orchestra rehearsal, so I’m writing this while I wait for him. So anyway, let’s get to the yoga.

Many of us really enjoy our yoga class, that’s why we show up every week, but how can we bring a little of that yoga home with us? I’ve heard and probably used all the excuses out there. There’s no time, no space, I don’t know what to do, etc. All valid reasons, but all easily overcome when we just accept what we can do.

You may not know it, but I just took a five minute break to check Facebook. Maybe you use social media, or follow blogs (like mine) or like to check out your favorite online shopping places. All these things are fun and just take a few minutes.  Wait, yoga is fun and we could spare just a few minutes! I bet reading that sentence found you nodding your head a bit and saying I could do a little yoga right now.  If so, watch this video and do a tiny bit of yoga right now. It’s less than three minutes.

Don’t you feel better? I do. You can do your little yoga anywhere. Right there in the Starbucks, at your desk (maybe use some headphones), at your kitchen table, in the car waiting to pick up your kids, sitting on the couch as you fire up the TV.  Let it start small, it will grow.

I’ll share more videos and ideas to grow your yoga practice in my next blog update. I’ve been feeling springy, thus the blossoming trees pictures, and I've been feeling crafty, so enjoy this card I made to celebrate the little things. Then take a nice deep breath (inhale and exhale, no really take a nice deep breath and say in your head "inhale, exhale"while you do it) and back to your life you go. I’m Audra and I’m an ordinary yogi.

The Ordinary Yogi

The Ordinary Yogi

So this is day one of my soon to be almost famous blog (you gotta dream big).  I have never even kept up with a journal but for the past year it’s been swimming around in my head that I should write a blog.  And since I’ve “cooked” the idea for a bit, I decided no time like the present.

The name of this blog comes from one of my students years ago.  She was new to yoga and like many became an enthusiastic practitioner of the discipline.  One day after class, she told me one of her favorite things about my class was that I was just an ordinary person, a mom with kids and a regular life, who loved yoga and shared it with others.

Her comments really inspired me.  I did love this thing called yoga and it fulfilled me in so many ways to share it with others.  So here I am 5 or 6 years later still sharing yoga with others.

I’m writing this on my husband’s laptop as we drive back from Lewes (pronounced Loo-is) DE (one of my favorite places that I am sure I’ll share with you in the future).  We went for a quick get away with the boys, just needing a day or so away from the house and regular life.  And although I talked about and thought about yoga, I didn’t actually do any yoga poses (yet, there is always tonight).  And for me that’s all right.

So to some up this intro, I’ve been teaching yoga for 10 years and I still love it.  I like to do lots of things: read fiction, take pictures, make cards, scrapbook, organize things, eat out, bake, walk my dog and take care of my family.  My name is Audra and I am an ordinary yogi.