 My missed blog posting from Week Sixteen completely escaped me until I read a three day old email from home asking about it. My work here, organizing and leading a Strategic Planning Retreat had me so fully engaged in mind, body and spirit that the time flew by without my realizing it. I hope no one was disappointed or worried about me.
At the end of the retreat, word came of tropical storm Erica increasing in intensity with the possibility of hurricane status and heading toward the Bahamas. Senior staff here have experience and amazing presence in the face of natural challenges. Once it was shared that a plan was in place, and assignments were given out for help with boarding and preparations, the rest of us were told to go about our regular routines. My immediate focus shifted to getting as much wrapped up and done, as possible before internet connection might be lost and the evacuation was to occur. As a precautionary measure, guests were asked to return home by Friday at the latest and were reimbursed for expenses associated with the situation. Staff were told that we would leave the Ashram on Saturday for two days until the storm/hurricane passed. As I write this, we have been assured that the storm turned and is no longer headed directly toward us. There will be thunderstorms and heavy rains likely, but we are out of harms way:) I have yet to check on the status of this storm myself, feeling very comfortable that those who need to know are fully informed. To complete the series of basic Sivananda Poses, this week I am sharing poses, 10-12, plus the Final Relaxation Pose. Part of the balancing series, Crow Pose looks to be mostly about strength and initially it felt that way to me too. I felt I wasn't strong enough to do it, and then when I was able to do it, I could keep my feet up for a second or two. I still cannot hold the full minute that is suggested, but I feel pretty steady for about 15 seconds, depending on the day. I now can tell that balance is the focus of this pose, and the balancing actually strengthens the muscles of the arms and increases the breathing capacity. Standing Forward Bend is one of my favorite poses because it feels so good to me. I'm glad to know that the pose is particularly good for the spine and reduces excess fat in the abdominal area, plus develops a graceful figure. Triangle Pose is a great stretch for the whole side, but it is a challenging pose for me. I've learned this pose so many different ways, that it is difficult to do it in the Sivananda style. Keeping the hips facing straight forward, with the legs apart as I have them and then stretching to the side is not as easy as it perhaps looks. When I get a day with a really good stretch, as I come slowly back to standing, usually I will feel some spinal adjustments in my neck which feel fantastic. I have some neck issues that are long standing from whiplash years ago, when I was rear-ended by a truck. It is my hope that yoga and my Ayurveda prescriptives will steadily improve my neck stiffness. Final Relaxation, also called Corpse Pose, is taken very seriously in Sivananda Yoga. We do a number of Savasanas throughout the series of poses, and the final Savasana incorporates tense and relax moves, plus a teacher-led autosuggestion technique that helps to relax each point of the body, starting from the toes and working our way to the head. The yogis believe that the energy created from doing the yoga poses or from doing other physical exercise should be distributed throughout the body for optimum health. Modern social life, food, work and even entertainment make it difficult for the the civilized man of today to relax. In relaxation pose, we release any unnecessary tension of the muscles in the body and try to still the mind with slow, rhythmical breathing. The feeling is one of calmness and peace. May you make time for calmness and peace in your life. It is a wonderful way to feel! Sending You Love from the Bahamas,🌞 If you haven't signed up for the blog post updates, please do. I also welcome you to leave a comment below or post one on my BestYOU facebook page. Sharing your thoughts is a gift to all of us! Thank you for taking this journey along with me!  It’s fascinating to me how connected we are these days via electricity - whether phone, internet, computers - all are impacted with a single crack of lightning from Mother Nature.
I am writing my update this week, while the internet access is down, due to a lightning strike at the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Retreat Bahamas. Luckily no one was seriously injured, and the beautiful clear blue skies right now show how quickly weather changes. An incredible Crack! was heard, and my phone conference call went dead. I had another call scheduled to follow the one that suddenly ended. The sound was like a jolt to my heart, it was so loud! We were instructed to unplug all electrical devices, and thus alerting anyone about why the phone went dead or why I was not available for the other scheduled call was not possible. After helping to make sure that everyone knew to stay indoors and to unplug all their devices, I returned to the office and realized how awesome it was to have some ‘free time’ to write or read. I chose to write my update and am enjoying being ‘unplugged’. I actually feel more connected in a different way to my thoughts and feelings and sharing with each of you. I have nowhere else to be and nothing else to do, and it feels great! This week I am sharing poses 6-9 of the 12 basic Sivananda yoga asanas. The Cobra is a great chest opener and the first of the backward bending series that is done here everyday. The Cobra helps to relieve back tension that may have been caused by overwork; abdominal muscles are strengthened; and every vertebra and its ligaments are pulled back, getting a rich blood supply, increasing bodily heat and destroying a host of ailments. My biggest challenge is pulling my shoulders back. In time they will go back more. After the Cobra is the Locust, and this is the most difficult pose for me, of all of the poses. For the first three months, I couldn’t raise my legs from than a few inches from the ground. No matter how hard I tried, the pose seemed to hurt and I wasn’t getting anywhere. I dreaded the pose and knew I was going to be miserable trying to do it. About 3 weeks ago, when I was taking a course, during the yoga class, the instructor lifted my legs in the back quite high, while I had my arms in the Locust position under my body. It was such a surprise to me that it didn’t hurt at all with the legs up, and my arms weren’t really under any strain. Even my chest didn’t hurt, which always seemed to be an issue before. From that day on, my mindset about the pose was a little different. I thought that maybe I could actually do it. While I am far from doing the pose completely or holding it steady for long, I am doing the pose now:) And I do not dread that part of class any longer. I’m actually looking forward to seeing just how steady and high I can get my legs over time. The Bow is another great chest opener, shoulder opener and wonderful massage of the internal organs when it is done rocking forward and back. This pose also reduces fat, energizes digestion and is good for constipation and gastrointestinal disorders. The Spinal Twist is a favorite of mine. It’s not that I have the flexibility to do it as well as the yogis who have practiced for many years, but it feels fantastic! According to the yogis, the flexibility of the spine is an indicator in the aging process. In yoga, they say that the body is as old as the spine is flexible. It’s great for all of us to do careful, twisting movements to strengthen and stretch the muscles of the back along the spine. The guidance of a good teacher is critical, so that each of our movements and poses are done with proper alignment, good breathing and are healing for us. Incorrect posture positioning can be harmful and do damage to the body over time. I’m finding the Sivananda style yoga practices to be strengthening, as well as increasing my flexibility and balance. The classes are energizing, relaxing and calming. Each pose is done with a focus on deep yogic breathing, and for each pose, there are counter poses. The overall effect is to energize the body while maintaining a sense of calm. I love the asana practices and cannot wait to take my teacher training course in November! I daily continue to follow my Ayurvedic prescriptive of herbs to supplement my vegetarian diet in Paradise, with the guidance of expert herbalist and Ayurveda specialist, KP Khalsa. For those of you interested in learning more about Ayurvedic products, check out the Banyan Botanicals website. Their herbs are of the highest quality, and online ordering is quick and easy. Sending You Love from the Bahamas,🌞 If you haven't signed up for the blog post updates, please do. I also welcome you to leave a comment below or post one on my BestYOU facebook page. Sharing your thoughts is a gift to all of us! Thank you for taking this journey along with me!  My week had its ups and downs - both literally and figuratively:) I mentioned last week that Sivananda Yoga is based on 12 basic asanas (steady poses). The graphic shows poses 2 through 5, with last week's headstand being #1.
As you can see, my shoulder stand is far from straight, but I can hold it steady and comfortably for a few minutes, and that is the main goal. Some days I can get a little straighter than other days, but each day is different. The shoulder stand and the plough have the same cautions as I mentioned last week for headstand. Practicing safely is stressed over and over, here. The shoulder stand is particularly good for the thyroid and parathyroid by providing them with a rich supply of blood flow. The thyroid regulates functions of growth and repair, protects the body against poisons, plus regulates waste processes, mental development and attainment of sexual maturity. Beginners are suggested to do the pose for one minute, and fifteen minutes is the maximum suggested for this pose. I like the plough, fish and forward bend - probably because they are easier for me. It is fascinating to observe how each of us have different areas of flexibility. For a flexible spine and good mobility, the plough pose is a great posture. The classical way of doing it is to have the arms outstretched with palms down flat. I am doing a variation above that also stretches the shoulders. Fish or Matsyasana (I like the sound of the word:) is a counter stretch for the shoulder stand. It is a nice stretch of the neck, shoulder muscles and chest, when we breathe deeply in the pose - and it removes stiffness. Seated Forward Bend (I still struggle to pronounce this one in yoga terms) is an excellent abdominal exercise and stimulates the kidneys, liver and pancreas. Hamstrings are also strengthened and the spine becomes more elastic over time. It is also called a surrender pose, as we surrender into the pose to maximum comfort after the initial stretch. Small improvements are more noticeable to me these days, and I'm appreciating them more than I used to. It may take years to notice bigger changes, but I can feel changes each and every day. As for the rather unattractive photo in the middle, I also managed to get an eye infection, with accompanying swelling and bruising resulting from the infection - not sure from what, and I had a few miserable days and nights - but after a visit to the clinic, I am now on the mend. Lesson learned - don't wait so long to go to the clinic if I need to. Even in Paradise, with the guidance of an expert herbalist and Ayurveda specialist and with yoga as my anchor, life maladies strike. How we react, the actions we take and how we bounce back are what's important in this journey of life. Sending You Love from the Bahamas,🌞 If you haven't signed up for the blog post updates, please do. I also welcome you to leave a comment below or post one on my BestYOU facebook page. Sharing your thoughts is a gift to all of us! Thank you for taking this journey along with me!  As you might imagine, after three months of daily yoga practice and taking a few courses on the basics of Sivananda style yoga, I've learned and improved along the way. You can also see that there is plenty of room for more improvement in my poses - but that's part of the fun! Each day is a new challenge.
Last week, I showed the sun salutation warm up that is done before the 12 Basic Poses - the first pose is called sirsasana (promounced shear-SHAHS-anna) the King of the Asanas - the headstand(above)! (also a very good natural facelift) Yoga Teachers also daily caution anyone with uncontrolled high or low blood pressure, neck or spinal injuries, glaucoma or recent eye surgeries, pregnant women and those women in the first day or two of their menstrual cycle to not do the headstand. Putting legs up against the wall, making the body into an L-shape is a good alternative inversion. The teachers here explained that Sivananda yoga is based on a long lineage of classical yoga originating in India. A common misconception is that all people of India practice yoga, and that yoga is their religion. Yoga is not a religion, and at the Ashram I am at in the Bahamas, all faiths and beliefs are welcome. The common denominator to the yogis is a strong belief in God, and that God is found within each of us. Thousands of years ago, the yoga practices were quite secretive and only for select few people. Yoga has actually become more popularized in India, alongside the increasing popularity in the West, especially the United States. A clear and practical approach to yoga came from Swami Vishnudevananda, who founded the Sivananda Teacher Training Courses in the West and this Sivananda Ashram Yoga Resort. The 5 Points of Yoga:
I hope that each of you are fully engaged in your lives, in the way you want to be living. Living in an Ashram was never in my wildest imagination, let alone on any radar screen of what I thought would be along my life path. Yet, here I am in the Bahamas for a year, exploring What is Possible? Sending You Love from the Bahamas,🌞 If you haven't signed up for the blog post updates, please do. I also welcome you to leave a comment below or post one on my BestYOU facebook page. Sharing your thoughts is a gift to all of us! Thank you for taking this journey along with me! |
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