Svadhisthana chakra

Soften your belly is the instruction. Wow, I didn’t realize how tight I was holding on. Mad at myself and a quick judgement come first. Ok, so I tense my stomach. Bracing myself for what I don’t know?

In mountain pose, I rest deeper into my back body. Taking the agitation away from “what’s next”. How do we learn to go with the flow and find a sense of home inside ourselves? We have the planner head butting with the spontaneous imp. Planning has helped us, right? But why take it so far? That intermittent reinforcement is strong, but something deeper knocks and waits to be heard.

You and I don’t need to be “on” all the time. But “off” doesn’t just mean a glass of wine and Netflix. Can we be “off” in the midst of daily busyness? Let your belly receive the nourishment of your breath. Right now, where you’re most constricted, breathe there. Bring your attention and fluidity and sweetness right there. Center yourself in that breathing. Visualize more space and breath in your belly than any worry or fear.

Make space around any obstacle or situation that is making you sad or frustrated or angry. Make more space in your belly than that situation or feeling.

Here I sit, breathing deeply into the waters of my belly. They settle into glassy calmness. Trust overrides my fear, and my Dad’s health issues feel more manageable. I have a dwelling place inside where fear and worry can dissipate replaced by rich, healing breath. You do, too.

Namaste, Lynn

Silence and Stillness

Just a pitter patter of rain. Light coming through the slats of the wood blinds. Although the house is full of guests, it’s quiet now.

I peak my head out to see if anyone is up. The smell of coffee wafts upstairs. My little puppy friend, Finn, waddles over and gets lost in the folds of sheets and blankets on my bed.

The quiet invites me to linger over the highlights of the party last night. So grateful for the ease of extended family.

There’s time to do some yoga in the narrow strip at the end of the bed. Beads of water collected on the bare tree branch outside the window catches my eye. A single bird gracefully dips and rises in the sky as I find strength in Warrior 3, groundedness in tree pose, joy in half moon, stillness in gomukasana.

People get up. The silence is broken. Replaced by laughter, stories, coffee, pets, bacon. We drive home refreshed by the friendship and restored by the silence.

This week’s class took us deep into our breath and our strength while allowing periods off silence. Students received poses as they arrived, staying present to their breath, their movement and their intentions.

“In stillness, the world is restored”. Tao Te Ching Namaste, Lynn

One powerful word

One powerful word to guide your day.  How does one choose?  Sounds like a simplification, a gimmick.  One word isn’t gonna do it.  Ok, well, have you picked your word yet?  ( Students this week picked one power word to cut through the clutter and get straight to the marrow of what would bring them more fully into life).

When asked to focus on one word, I almost always pick trust.  I generally need to trust life more.  I’m a big planner, and it has paid off for me in many ways.  Planning is irresistible to me.  It’s in my bones.  Yet, I’m the one that suffers when there is no plan or structure.  I’m not trying to be someone I’m not, but I usually relax and have a better go of things when I trust a little.

How about you?  Do you want to move a little in some direction?  What word describes that?  This week, I was more fanciful than usual, and I picked the word imagine.  Imagine that :)  As I read more Alice Hoffman books with her worlds of magical realism, I am drawn into that creative realm.  So I imagine myself losing myself in writing and learning and unplanned time.  The inner child in me wants to move with no expectations, just what’s right in front of me.  No clinging, but letting go into the flow.   I see her now … spinning around, laughing, stopping for a piece of cake and then back to the monkey bars.

Maybe your inner child holds your word.  Ask him or her. 

Namaste, Lynn

Muladhara chakra

Are chakras real? Should I suspend my belief? Is this new age mumbo jumbo?

With a sparkle in her eye, Sally tells me of her adventures in Cambodia. She also mentions how her system is off and she didn’t sleep well and that she aches for home.

Sally speaks of the first chakra, the muladhara chakra. This site in the body is where your mind and body process information and store experiences connected with the feet, legs and base of the spine.

Sally continues on, “ I feel really ungrounded right now, just not myself. I need to hug my dog, make a protein shake, sleep in my own bed”.

Who hasn’t been there? Energy scattered, relationship turmoil, moving house, traveling?

Take off your shoes. Feel your feet on grass. Go sit in your favorite chair, have a good meal, take a bath. Muladhara chakra’s color is earth red. It’s about earth energy, Ganesha energy. When we’re balanced in the first chakra, we are grounded, rooted, have a sense of self, a sense of home, solid in our foundation.

Find your home on the mat. Let these beautiful, enriching asanas root and ground and balance you. We revisit Sally later that week. Rested she looks. Her face soft, her shoulders lower. She’s heading inside after walking her dog. The strain of travel is removed, but her giddy laughter speaks to good adventures and good returns. Namaste, Lynn

Natarajasana

Happy New Year! Thank you for spending 2019 with me. I wrote a yoga story about Shiva, Lord of the Dance, to share with you as we close this year. May 2020 bring you great ease and great vitality.

With foot upturned, the statue came alive in me. I dropped the worry stream. My hair felt electric. My bottom foot felt life beneath it.

Was I standing? Was I balancing? Was I dancing?

Something bigger took over. Dare I say delight? Hearts around me popping open as mine stretched to capacity.

Everything became sound; my heart pounding rhythmically like a room full of clog dancers. A deeper drumming, like the low roar of a lion. It felt like the sound could be heard for miles.

For how long did I become Shiva, Lord of the Dance? Probably 5 or 10 seconds. But in that time it felt like the whole universe was created, and I was part of the whole. Namaste, Lynn