PEACEFUL WARRIORS

Whoo-Boy!  This election season has been a doozy!  So many times I've shown up at Yoga Circle angry and agitated about what I just saw on social media, read in the newspaper, or heard on the morning news.  There has been plenty to react to and reactions have been swift and at times dramatic as people supporting either of the Presidential candidates have become more and more polarized.  I've been grateful for the respite yoga allows my spirit.

I guess the public perception of Yoga is that it is some hippie-dippie woo-woo thing, all peace and love and chanting Om while sitting on the floor cross-legged.  It is pretzel-y shapes and patchouli, yoga butts and buff biceps.  It is assumed to be divorced from the "real world" of rough and tumble politics, policy-making, the art of compromise, and fighting for change where change is needed.

To quote one the of candidates for President, leaning into the microphone, "Wrong".

Yoga is so much more.  It serves the deepest desires of humanity -- the union of mind and body, the the desire for connection.  There are varying schools of yoga, led by various teachers, emphasizing one or another aspect of the ancient tradition, just as there are various parties, politicians, and ideas about how best to address a collective desire for safety, security, and human potential in a world that seems at times to challenge more than nurture.

Our response to these challenges comes from our own desires, our own experiences, our own vision.  To take a step back from habitually responding in the same way to the same stimuli requires focus and attention, the desire to break old habits and to see things anew.  This process applies to asana as well as our pattern of mind.  Yoga teaches us we can try a new way; it serves us in all aspects of our lives, on the mat and off, and especially in the political realm where common ground seems impossible to find.

I attended the first ever "Spark" event last week, hosted by the Snohomish County Arts Commission.  Twelve local artists from various artistic genre spoke about what stimulates their creativity.  Karen Guzak, owner and teacher at Yoga Circle, spoke of her life as an artist, yoga teacher, and politician.  She drew parallels between each endeavor, pointing to a desire to unite disparate people and ideas in a union of common experience and shared humanity.

Can we find this union in the next two weeks and beyond as this presidential campaign finally comes to an end and the work of governing anew begins?  Can we find compassion?  Understanding?  Forgiveness?  Can we come together, rather than scream each other apart, to find a way forward?

Can we, all of us, set aside stereotypes, break molds, ditch old habits,?  Can we strike a Warrior Pose -- strong, solid, and steady --  standing up for fairness, equality, and justice for all living beings?  Can we be Warriors for Peace?

Yes, because we are stronger together, in union, in compassion, in peaceful community.  Yoga leads the way.©

Namaste,
    donnajurene

PEACEFUL, EASY FEELING

"Move from your shoulder blade..."  What?  Nothing's happening!  Focus.

"Don't move from the shoulder joint; don't move the arm or wrist.  Just concentrate on making tiny micro-movements of the shoulder blade."  How is that even possible???
Well, it is.  Because about every fourth time I do it, I am able to isolate the movement and feel the subtlety of moving ever so slightly and can almost "see" the shoulder blade sliding around, the skeleton adjusting, the muscles loosening.  I trust that the more I do these little moves, the more adept I will become.

Some days I leave yoga class feeling like I've barely moved at all, but my body is "floating" as if I'm walking on air, as my joints and muscles have loosened enough to allow a feeling of freedom that is so often locked tight with old body habits taking over without my noticing.  My scoliosis fools me into thinking I'm standing or sitting straight when I'm actually jutting out one hip and lifting one shoulder.  To become aware of that is to shift what feels "natural", but one look in the mirror proves I'm not "tipping" with the adjustment; I'm actually now standing straight!

I'm so loving finding therapeutic benefit to yoga.  Elizabeth's interest and expertise in this area is motivating me as she has helped me make tiny adjustments that wake up my body awareness and move me out of living in my body in a habitual (and not always beneficial) way.

I wrote recently also about Karen's approach to using restorative slow poses to bring us into a place of peaceful rest...so often neglected in our hustle, bustle lives.

I was thinking of this on Friday afternoon at my strength class.  I mentioned in a previous post that I've started a Stretch and Strength class for older adults.  After a few weeks the instructor must have identified me as an advanced student (ha), because she asked if I'd like to join her "semi-private lessons" with 4 other students.  Sure!  I was eager, since the class I was taking was starting to feel way too easy.  I wanted a bit more challenge.  Be careful what you ask for.  I'm challenged PLENTY in the new class.  It's a circuit training course; the activities change each week and target different muscle groups.  She has us rotate through the stations for 40 minutes of almost non-stop resistance training and aerobics.  I actually love it, but what a contrast to the slow, subtle yoga movements I'm also appreciating.

Last Friday, as the music blasted and I tossed a 6 pound medicine ball in the air simultaneously leaning back on the bench in a "boat pose" for ab work, I looked longingly 4 stations ahead at the mat on the floor where I'd get to "rest" in a Spinal Balance pose for one minute -- holding 30 seconds on each side.  I love when she throws in some familiar yoga asanas!

When I got there I settled in, tuned out the pounding beat, and let my breath carry my mind to Yoga Circle, where the soft sounds of Jami Sieber's cello music, the swirl of flowing fabric and circle mandalas surround us and the mat is my whole world.   I held my pose easily and with gratitude for my body and all it can do, whether it's gripping an 8 pound dumbbell for a bicep curl or a lying on the mat almost imperceptibly moving my shoulder blade.

So grateful for all my teachers, for the opportunity to practice, for the health and vitality I work to maintain, for the weights and the mat and the peaceful, easy feeling of walking on air. ©

Namaste,  donnajurene

Photo Credit: Copyright: <a href='https://www.123rf.com/profile_ostill'>ostill / 123RF Stock Photo</a>

SLOW WAY DOWN

Slow way down.

Often when fewer students show up, Karen will ask if it's OK to do a gentle class, a class where poses are restorative rather than uber challenging.  Rarely is there a protest or complaint in response to this suggestion.  It's easy to understand why.

Our lives are chock full of "doing".  We have homes, families, gardens, careers, volunteer commitments; we shop, we drive, we cook and clean up, we pay bills, and chauffeur children.  We plan and organize and keep all the balls in the air every single day from the time we get out of bed in the morning until we fall back into it at night.  I've found retirement makes some difference in the content of my schedule, but often the schedule is just as full.

A yoga class that allows us to put down the burden of doing and just "be" is a welcome respite.  I find every yoga class, gentle or challenging, lets me quiet my mind as I focus on the poses and my breath, but a gentle, restorative class also lets me quiet my body.

Karen often admonishes us to "slow way down" in moving through our poses.  This is good advice about life too.  The rush of busyness becomes the norm and we forget how to relax.  Going slowly feels antithetical to getting everything done we have to do!  Hurry, hurry, hurry is usually our inner mantra.

My husband and I had a conversation just this week about the trickiness of finding balance in our lives -- time alone, time for fitness, time for family, time for meditation, yoga, for yard work and housework and friends and ... well, you know.  I find most days fly by, whether they are "busy" or whether I've been able to take time for quiet.  But I know that slowing down at least puts me in a place of mindfulness so that balance is easier to recognize.

Today I was up at 6:00 a.m. to greet my 18 month granddaughter who is spending the day with us.  I went to Yoga and then to a strength training class while "grandpa" hung out with our girl.  Then I was home to some housework, more childcare while my husband ran his errands, took a few moments for this blog post, and soon will gear up for our other granddaughter to arrive after school and both will spend the night.  The balance between child-centered energy, sometimes joyful and sometimes chaotic, hopefully will be struck by my yoga and fitness classes and trying to keep a lid on the entropy all around us that little ones can create.  Tomorrow afternoon I imagine more balance will come when I spend a quiet few hours reading!  Through it all my goal is to slow way down, to stop  anticipating what will come next and just be in the moment of what is.

Slowing down is a restorative practice no matter what's going on in our lives.   And that's a good thing.

Namaste,  donnajurene

Photo Credit: pixabay.com

SICK BED YOGA

It's no fun to be sick.  Over Labor Day we took a trip to Idaho where we planned to meet up with friends for a few days of outdoor adventuring and lots of food and laughter.  My husband and I got there a couple of days ahead of our friends and prepared the space to welcome them.  But the night before they arrived, out of the blue, I was struck by a wicked intestinal virus.  The details are not pleasant so I won't recount them.  I trust you've likely had some similar experience with this scrounge in your lifetime.

Unable to sleep a wink, up all night, I sat in the living room bundled in a blanket noticing in my best "mindfulness" manner my sore back, headache, chills, and cramps.  I talked to my body and reassured it all was well; I breathed deeply; I closed my eyes; I opened my eyes; I took some medicine; I drank lots of water to stay hydrated.  Nothing seemed to help.  I was miserable and it seemed the whole ordeal would go on forever.

Desperate times call for desperate measures.  I decided to do some yoga.  Seriously.  I Googled "Yoga for Diarrhea" and stunningly there are actually several sites that address this situation.    Here's one:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mV67aFURSxw&feature=youtu.be

I've never done a full headstand in my life, so the beginning of this video was of little use to me.  I was able to do the shoulder stand for a bit and I'd already tried the pranayama breathing thing; it's my go-to for anxiety.  None of this helped.

I decided to focus on my headache.  But what I found were poses purported to work great for headache, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/15/yoga-for-headaches_n_3574848.html but were to be avoided if one had diarrhea. AND the site for what NOT to do if you have the tummy yuk  https://www.yogajournal.com/poses/contraindications-modifications/diarrhea said NOT to do Shoulder Stand, which the other guy in the video recommend you DO do.   This type of conflicting advice might be commonplace in western medicine, but in yoga?  Oh no!

I felt Yoga was starting to fail me in my hour of need.   But it did distract me and by dawn I was feeling a smidge better.  I went to bed and slept most of the day, missing a lot of the socializing with our friends, but I was in no mood for that anyway.  Not my best weekend, all in all, and it took several days for me to regain my usual vim and vigor.

I have not, however, completely lost faith in yoga as a curative because I also discovered this guy and have found laughter to be the very best medicine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDtfHl1v9xI ("advocate yoga as a cure for everything"... LOL!  That's me!) ©

Namaste,  donnajurene

Photo Credit: pixabay.com