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Yoga Journeys to the Heart Newsletter
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This is the THIRD issue
| Cold... January 2011
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Welcome to my newsletter sharing and celebrating my life long journey into YOGA!
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VISION. Happy New Year 2011!!
So, after the holiday season, and a bit of a break from my classes and normal schedule, I find that it is time to get back to my Work. The new year and the ongoing cold brings a chance to sit, have tea, cozy up by a fire and seek a vision for the future. What does that mean, to seek a vision? For me, it is a time to review where I came from, how I got here, to ponder what works and what doesn't work, and then to rewrite, add to and dream about the future and where I want to go. This is true for my vocations as well as my personal life. I have found many guides along the way to help me with my ponderings. First, I have surrounded myself with Mentors who have guided me along my path. These are wise people, teachers, friends whom I trust, wise people who have lived full lives. I also look to Nature as a guide. Nature helps me find peace within. A long walk in the woods or sitting quietly on a rock in Sedona opens me up to hearing many messages. I also am gifted with a loving soul mate Red Bear, who is a reader of oracles, the I-Ching and the Tarot. These oracles guide me to ancient wisdom read through Red Bear's intuition. I always consult my heart, my "gut", and my experiences to find my way. If something does not resonate within, then I go along another path. I find it important to give myself quiet time in meditation to help me find my way. I sit and wait, listen to music, watch a candle or the birds or the sky and wait for something to bubble up from within. As I ponder my vision, know that I will be sharing the wisdom from these ponderings in my teachings and in my newsletters. This type of pondering, vision work, has guided me to where I am today, in this moment. No regrets! Living Life to the max!!!
With Gratitude and Peace,
DL, nancy Desert Lizard heraty
Yoga for Scoliosis Trainer
Yoga Teacher
Artist
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The Pose of the Month is: Adho Mukha Svanasana
 (In Sanskrit, Adho = down, Mukha = face, Svana = dog, Asana means pose.)
If you have a dog, this is a favorite stretch that she does (and dogs do it best!) Many yoga poses are borrowed from other beings (or even non-beings, nature, or gods). This is one of them. I have developed a love/hate relationship with Down Dog over the years. It used to be so hard to hold, hard to get my legs straight, hard to stretch my arms and spine. Just plain hard! Then, as I continued to practice it, it became friendlier, more accessible and now restful. Add a block or bolster under your head for support to bring more rest and restoration to your body.
Start out on hands and knees with hands in front of the shoulders, toes tucked. Take an inhale, press hands and feet down, then exhale and lift up starting from the leg creases as if a crane is helping to lift you up. Straighten arms and legs and tighten the muscles. Stretch up and back with your entire body to make an inverted V shape.
Here are a few of my favorite cues for AMS: 1. Ground your feet and hands like you are connecting to the earth. Spread them well and root them evenly left to right, front to back. Start the pose from the root up, earth to sky. Imagine the palms and balls of your feet are connected to the latitude and longitude lines that wrap the earth like a grid that you are plugged into. Draw in the Earth's energy. 2. Keep your top thighs pressed back and tail up, and roll your inner thighs from front to back. This stretches your low back. 3. Tighten your arms and roll the triceps down toward the mat to widen the shoulders and broaden the collar bones. Then lift from the palms to the tail. Press the shoulder blades into your body. These actions stretch the upper spine.
Overall, this pose stretches the whole spine well and strengthens the entire body. Done in repetition, the body becomes strong. Done with long holds, the body builds endurance. Find the way to LOVE this pose by practicing it A LOT!
Benefits: There are many!
- Calms the brain and helps relieve stress and mild depression
- Energizes the body
- Stretches the shoulders, hamstrings, calves, arches, and hands
- Strengthens the arms and legs
- Helps with menopause
- Relieves menstrual discomfort when done with head supported
- Helps prevent osteoporosis
- Improves digestion
- Relieves headache, insomnia, back pain, and fatigue
- Therapeutic for high blood pressure, asthma, flat feet, sciatica, sinusitis
Hold for 30 seconds to 3 minutes. Then come down and rest curled up in child's pose. Then, DO IT AGAIN!
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Yoga for Scoliosis Pose of the Month is...
Tadasana/Samasthiti
(in sanskrit Tada = mountain, Asana = pose...Samasthiti = pose of balance)   
Tadasana is a foundation pose. It is the pose that sets up the alignment for the standing poses and many other poses as well. It re-educates the body, reminds and teaches it to find good posture. It is important to integrate the idea of a plumb line, vertical and straight. From front view, the middle seam of the body, and from side view, the tips of the joints plumb, vertical and straight. It looks easy, but it is full of Work, a class in itself. Especially if you have scoliosis, where it is difficult to find alignment since your scoliosis mind/body thinks curvy is normal. (Actually, that is the scoliosis leading the thinking brain, not your body's true mind and true memory.) Tadasana is a pose to master. It helps to work in front of a mirror, and/or stand against a wall or at a jutting corner of a wall. So, lets begin! Start at the Earth, connect and ground yourself well, then reach up toward the sky like a mountain does.
- ROOT: Stand on an even flat surface. If your balance is off today, then have your feet hip wide, not together. Look at your feet. They must be evenly placed, toes wide, bones wide. Imagine a line running from the center of the ankle to the 2nd/3rd toes on each foot and make those parallel. Lift your arches by lifting your toes and holding that action as you lower and stretch your toes. Then check that you are evenly balanced on each foot, left/right, front/back.
- Align and strengthen the shins and thighs, the muscles pressing the bones.
- If you have a hip that juts out to the side due to your curvy spine, (I call this your lateral hip) bend that knee, shift the hip to mid-line with your hand, hold it there while you straighten that leg again.
- LIFT: Then to stretch the spine to the sky, take your arms up and reach up. Hold that spinal lift as you bring your arms back to your sides, sliding the shoulders back and down.
- Lift the neck out of the spine, and the head out of the neck, back skull up.
- Another cue you can add, is to lean to the vex side to get more lift on the short/compressed side. (see right photo) To do this, open the concave side, have the vex hand (hand on the convex side) hold the wrist of the cave hand (hand on the concave side) and lean over to the vex. Breathe well into the cave area to open it up. Then come back upright keeping that opening in the cave intact.
These are just a few of the basics. This pose has hundreds of cues I could give you that I have learned and integrated over the years. I could even give each of you very unique cues to your body as well. I suppose you will have to take a class to glean them all!
Benefits: Again, there are many. Basically this pose answers to that voice of your grandmother who always chided "STAND UP STRAIGHT!" Walk with this pose 24/7 in all situations and you will straighten up!
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Frequently asked questions about a Yoga practice...
1. Do I really need to practice? Yes!
2. How do I get started? First, it is helpful to make it a fun experience, not one where you end up beating yourself up for not doing it. You simply have to BEGIN. Bring home with you the experience that you had in class. My classes are fun, at least that is what I hear and see while you are smiling! So, pick your favorite pose from the class and DO IT. Don't wait for the perfect time, or the room you want to redecorate to put your home studio in. Just throw out the mat in the middle of your favorite room (could that be your kitchen?) and "HIT THE MAT!" (that is a direct quote from my mentor Gabriel...) Then get creative and add another pose that is similar to the first one...then again where does that take you...move from the floor to standing, to a forward bend, to a back bend, from a twist seated to a twist standing...then lay out for a luscious Savasana (last month's pose, remember?), 5 minutes at the minimum. If that doesn't spark you, then get a book or a DVD or go to Yoga Journal Magazine (.com) and set up a sequence on their pose finder. So, you don't have an excuse now do you? Grab your mat, RIGHT NOW!
3. So really, where do I practice? Do I need a separate space? So, let me share my path with you. I started out in front of the TV as I practiced to Rodney Yee's videos. OK, I admit it, he was one of my first teachers way back in the day, before I was a teacher. It was a start. Then, I found that if I left out my mat, the dog and cat would join me, then my daughters as well. (Penny our dog did the best AMS! The best dog ever!) Then, as my path grew and I became a teacher, my practice went eclectic. I started buying props, and filling the corners of my living room with them. They were out as great reminders to hit the mat. These days, I do have a sacred space all for myself (at least when the cats are not sleeping there, or there isn't a party.) Some of you know that my dining room transforms into a legitimate studio, with a rope wall and a closet full of props. Move out the table and chairs and voila, studio! I reserved a small corner of it for my daily practice, with my sacred objects and music, books and my mat. It is where I start my day and maybe end my day, with a quiet meditation, pranayama, asana, or whatever I need. Remember this, "Yoga is here to serve you, not for you to serve yoga"...(direct quote from Barbara, another great friend and mentor). Make it your own!
4. When is the best time to practice? Anytime. Some days I practice in the morning, especially if I wake up stiff or in pain. Other days in the evening, when I feel more flexible after a day of moving around. Some days I practice several times based on my activity and whether I am working out a pain issue. Then you will find me doing a quick AMS off the kitchen sink in the middle of cooking dinner, or stopping at a rest park in the middle of a long drive and doing a standing leg stretch off the picnic table. I am quirky and not at all shy about practicing "yoga anytime, anywhere" (hey that's the name of the book by another mentor Elise...). Just remember, do not practice on a full stomach or you will have that for your practice! Work around your meals, at least 1.5 hours after you eat, just like swimming!?
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Schedule of upcoming events for 2011:
YOGA FOR SCOLIOSIS WORKSHOP
at Yoga Circle, Chicago
February 20, 2011 2-6 pm cost: $50
Preregistration required. Call DL to schedule a pre-workshop private to assess your scoliosis and curve pattern, and learn 3 poses to begin a personal practice. $100 for 11/2 hour session.
2011 DATES FOR BACK CARE CLINICS at Yoga Among Friends in Downers Grove
once per month, Saturdays, 2:30 - 4:30 pm
Cost $35, preregistration required
January 15, "free the strain" whole back practice
February 12, focus on the lumbar, low back
March 19, focus on the thoracic, upper back
April 16, focus on the cervical, neck and shoulders
2011 Dates for Yoga for Scoliosis Classes in Downers Grove
Session 1: January 18 - February 22, 2011
Session 2: March 1 - April 6, 2011
Tuesday or Wednesday 6:30 - 8 pm, $90 for 6 week session
at Yoga Among Friends in Downers Grove
Preregistration required. Call DL to schedule a pre-class private to assess your scoliosis and curve pattern, and learn 3 poses to begin a personal practice. $100 for 11/2 hour session.
Ongoing Yoga for Scoliosis Class in Chicago
at Yoga Circle, Chicago
Thursdays 12:30 - 2 pm
class packages available
Call DL to schedule a pre-class private to assess your scoliosis and curve pattern, and learn 3 poses to begin a personal practice. $100 for 11/2 hour session.
Check out my Website for my regular classes and workshop schedule for Yoga, Yoga for Scoliosis, and Yoga for Back Care. |
nancy Desert Lizard heraty
3640 Prairie Avenue
Brookfield, Illinois 60513
708-404-9642
lizardwocw@comcast.net |
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