 The Inner Voice A weekly newsletter from Debbie Jensen-Grubb, RYT500 January 14, 2013 - Issue 20 |
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This weeks reading can be seen here at The Daily OM:
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| Greetings! |  Welcome back! It's so good to be back. Now the new year is here and we return to a normal routine, which feels so good, doesn't it? It is good to take a break and it is good to get back to normal too. That is how life flows, it is ever changing. To welcome change is the key. To be OK when things don't go your way, and when they do, without all the drama and anxiety. It requires one to stay centered within one's self. To see the world from behind your eyes, to feel the breath, and be comfortable with yourself - just as you are. It's a whole new year with so many promises, let's start it off with a smile, a pause, and to be grateful for all of the blessings we will discover in each and every day ahead. |
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Head Alignment in Yoga
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It is not until we come to yoga that we slow down enough to notice our alignment habits. There are many we things we do when standing, sitting, and lying down that throw our spine out of alignment. One of the most prominent factors in spinal misalignment comes from how we balance our heads on top of our body.
Our skulls weight anywhere from 10 - 15 pounds! That is as much as a bowling ball! Now think of your spine; it is vertical, flexible, built of 30 bones stacked one on top of another with cushy discs between them. Now imagine this adjustable spine balancing a bowling ball. You can see why many people have back pain.
How to begin to help use your head (ha ha) to realign your spine? Think of the roof of your mouth. Notice, as you did this, how you felt the front of the roof of your mouth. Now move your focus along the roof of your mouth towards the back, nearer the throat. Did you notice that as you moved your awareness towards the back of the mouth that your chin came down? By just shifting our focus we can begin to change a chronic habit that many of us have of jutting our chins out and compressing the cervical spine. Now think of lengthening the neck. Let your jaw relax. Feel your spine dangling down from the skull. Let it hang. Let the tailbone drop down towards your seat. Breathe into the back of the lungs.
Just by freeing the neck you can help to realign the spine. You might feel a twinge or pull on the neck muscles and down the spine into the back so do please take it easy. Your spine is not yet used to being in alignment. Breathe into the discomfort and never go into pain.
By practicing this slightly different and simple pivot of the head you can soon help alleviate your back and neck pain. Please click on the picture to watch the YouTube video of me explaining this method a bit more.
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| Rib-Tickler of the Week - hee hee | |
I didn't really plan much for the new year with all of the end-of-the-world predictions. So now that I am still here what did I learn from the Mayans?
That if you don't finish things...it isn't the end of the world!
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| Mantra | |
A mantra is a sound or phrase that aids in the concentration of meditation. It is a Sanskrit term and literally means 'instrument of thought'. Here you will find a suggested mantra to use during the week (from Louise Hay's 'Heal Your Body'). Just repeat it whenever you need a lift.
I am balanced and peaceful in all changes of cycles, and I bless my body with love. |
| Nutrition Prescription - Healing Cabbage Soup |
 I once had a student in my class who loved life and was an inspiration to me in how she enjoyed every day, no matter what was going on in her life. One day she told me her story of how just a few years earlier she was given just six weeks to live by the doctors. She had gotten a disorder in her intestines which prevented her from absorbing nutrition from food and she was wasting away. In desperation she went to see an alternative healer (an iridologist) who told her to start drinking the broth from cabbage soup (she couldn't even eat the cabbage). She did and because of that she healed and lived.
Cabbage is one of the most healing foods that you can eat. It is used in an old folk remedy to heal ulcers because of its high glutamine content. Glutamine is an amino acid which becomes essential during times of illness or high stress. Our brain and muscles prefer to use glucose as their energy source, but our GI tract prefers glutamine instead. So when you eat cabbage you are giving your intestines the food it prefers to repair and heal itself. Raw cabbage has a higher glutamine content than cooked cabbage does, so cole slaw or chopping some red cabbage into your salad would be a great way to eat it.
A traditional naturopathic remedy is to chop raw cabbage, put it in a blender with some water, blend it up, and then let it sit for a few days before you drink it. (Not something that sounds mouthwatering for sure!) The reason this remedy is so good though is because of the fermentation. Cabbage carries on it beneficial bacteria that, when it is allowed to sit, grows into acidophilus and other good probiotics (like in yogurt and kefir) for healthy functioning of the large intestines. It also inhibits the growth of h. pylori which is associated with ulcers. Sauerkraut and kimchee are both good ways to eat cabbage in this way.
Once the weather starts getting colder I make a large pot of my healing cabbage soup to keep on hand and eat each day. This winter storage vegetable is the basis of my soup that has beets, parsnips, turnips, squash, onions, garlic, and what-ever-I-have-on-hand thrown into it. I then add mustard powder, coriander, thyme, kelp (for salt), ginger, or cayenne to it depending on whether I want it spicy or calming.
You can check out these cabbage soup recipes to find one that you like or make something up that suits your taste. Give it a try and enjoy this nourishing vegetable. It will help keep you healthy all winter long. |
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Ponderings - Pausing
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 There is more to life than increasing its speed. ~Ghandi
Our lives can be so busy and hectic. The world constantly pulls on us to go in a million different directions. It can be overwhelming at times...and exhausting. What's more many of us are conditioned to think that this is the way it should be. Multi-tasking, getting as much done in every single day, every moment, that we can. We risk our lives in cars, breaking the speed limit, rushing from one place to another. We risk our health, stressing ourselves out to constantly DO. Feeling the need to be continually learning, doing, watching, managing, working, cleaning, socializing, always having to be in contact with our phones, computers, iPads, notebooks, Blackberries, etc, etc, etc.
I think that is why yoga has become so popular. For many it's the only time that they allow themselves an opportunity to stop, slow down, spend some time with themselves, and just live in the moment. Perhaps that is why Savasana (sha-va-sa-na) the pose that is done at the end of each class is the one the students look forward to the most. To really do yoga one must slow down enough to realize how they are moving, how they are breathing (or if they are breathing), and how they are feeling within the context of the pose. To rush through it leads one to injuries, which is not what yoga is about.
Rushing produces errors. Hurrying produces too much noise in our head. We never really pay full attention to any one thing when racing through our days. In so doing we lose out on life. We lose the ability to savor the moments of our lives. We lose contact with the quiet that the mind needs to enjoy profound thinking, to create, and find peace.
There are many ways that you can begin to slow down. Learning to say no is one. Take on less, focus on the quality of actions rather than on quantity. Practice disconnecting from the internet or phone, maybe even for a whole day. Give yourself time to get ready if you are going somewhere so that you aren't driving crazily to get there. Rehearse doing nothing, just sit/stand and observe people or nature, allow yourself to just BE (this takes practice).
Prioritize and focus on 2-3 important items and realize that it's OK if the rest doesn't get done. Begin to eliminate commitments by choosing the few that you really enjoy and have time for. Practice mindfulness by appreciating every moment, every morsel of food you eat, every person you spend time with.
It's really up to you, take responsibility for your life. The peace you seek is within you. To find it you must slow down, pausing long enough to listen to the quiet voice from within, to see the beauty that surrounds you, to appreciate the love of the people you share your life with, to do your work with consciousness. Life really is meant to be enjoyed and savored one day at a time.
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Many see a year as a circle of time and January 1st as a new beginning, a new start, as though they have completed one circle only to start another. I like to think of it as more of a spiral. Yes, we have come back to the start AND we have moved ahead a bit with each circular motion. So honor yourself on what you have achieved as you pause on the edge of this new year, and openheartedly take that first step forward to greet 2013 with all the goodwill, surprises, challenges, and growth that it will bestow upon you.
Namaste,
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The next TWO workshops are:
Healthy Joints Workshop: FEET
Saturday, January 19th
2:00 - 4:00 p.m.
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Yoga Nidra
Sunday, January 20th
1:00 - 2:30 p.m.
You can register at 410-720-4340 or online at www.columbiayoga.com
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