Thanksgiving Special: The Moment’s Peace Practice
This is practice is for when you need a time-out. Perhaps after the meal is underway, after cleaning up, or after company has finally gone. It is a quiet practice designed to restore and rejuvenate.
If you have an eye pillow or a face cloth, place it over your eyes in the supine poses.
Thanksgiving Special: The Family Friendly Practice
All this week, in celebration of the Thanksgiving Day holiday that we’re having here in the U.S., I thought I would do a special series to help you cope with the trials and tribulations of guests, entertaining and too much time off.
The aim of this practice today is to find you some peace of mind in the face of stressful interpersonal relationships. You could practice this in anticipation of the arrival of company, after company has left, or even in the midst of the holiday if you can get away.
The thought behind the sequence is to give you a gentle warm-up, followed by some relatively quick pose progressions that you don’t have to think about too much, culminating with Ardha Chandrasana (Half Moon Pose), a balancing pose that will require a certain amount of presence of mind to do well. All of this will get the blood moving and hopefully facilitate unblocking any emotional holding. The inversions will then help to stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system, reducing the effects of stress and bringing you to a more serene state, which can then be consolidated by the restorative poses at the end of the practice. Keep this in mind if you find you need to edit the practice to fit within your capabilities and the time available to you. (more…)
Restorative Practice: Releasing the Organs 4
In our previous restorative practices in this series we have been releasing different sets of organs: the lungs and the heart; the stomach, liver and intestines; the kidneys and the bladder. In this practice, we will support the adrenal glands and support the functioning of the parasympathetic nervous system.
- Give the full weight of the head to whatever prop is supporting it. Soften the neck and the throat. Soften and widen the upper back, between the shoulder blades.
- Soften the abdomen and the buttocks. Create space and freedom inside the pelvis, especially around the inner face of the sacrum.
- Create Space around the kidneys and the adrenal glands, inside and below the floating ribs. Allow that space to envelope and support the organs.
- Allow the exhalations to be soft and easy. Take care to allow the abdomen, ribs and diaphragm to be completely relaxed at the end of each exhalation and for the inhalations to roll in easily, without being forced.
- In the final poses of the sequence, allow the exhalations to get slightly longer than the inhalations, but again, without forcing. (more…)
Restorative Practice: Releasing the Organs 3
In our third practice focused on supporting the organs, we will turn our attention to the heart and lungs.
- Allow the abdomen to soften and open, releasing away from the chest.
- Allow the chest and front ribs to soften and widen.
- Follow each exhalation al the way to the very end.
- Allow the ribs to soften and drape down the length of the body every time you exhale.
- Allow the lungs to gently deflate inside the rib cage with the exhalations.
- Allow the heart to settle back towards the spine as you exhale. As the breath rolls back in, allow the lungs to fill and gently wrap around the heart, gently cradling and supporting it.
Restorative Practice: Releasing the Organs 2
This week our focus is on creating softness and space around the kidneys and bladder.
The Sequence:
- Take a few moments to gather the mind and body up into the present moment, letting go of the day that’s been and releasing any anticipation or apprehension over the time to come.
- Become aware of the movement in the torso as you breath. With the exhalations it empties, narrowing and lengthening. With the inhalation it fills, widening and deepening. Become aware of the inner volume of the body, the chest and abdominal cavities, and the way it changes as you breathe.
- Become aware of the movement of the abdomen and the lower back. With the inhalation, the diaphragm moves down and the abdomen and lower back expand. With the exhalation, the diaphragm moves up and the abdomen and lower back narrow. Observe the contents of the abdominal cavity and the way they move and are reshaped with the breath.
Restorative Practice: Releasing the Organs 1
For our next restorative theme, we are going to be working with releasing the organs. In this practice, our focus will be on the stomach, the liver and the intestines.
The Sequence:
- Take a few moments to gather the mind and body up into the present moment, letting go of the day that’s been and releasing any anticipation or apprehension over the time to come.
- Become aware of the movement in the torso as you breath. With the exhalations it empties, narrowing and lengthening. With the inhalation it fills, widening and deepening. Become aware of the inner volume of the body, the chest and abdominal cavities, and the way it changes as you breathe.
- Become aware of the movement of the abdomen and the lower back. With the inhalation, the diaphragm moves down and the abdomen and lower back expand. With the exhalation, the diaphragm moves up and the abdomen and lower back narrow. Observe the contents of the abdominal cavity and the way they move and are reshaped with the breath.
Restorative: Movement of the Breath 4
In this practice we will begin by observing the movement of the breath in the torso. From there we will delve deeper to observe the movement of the organs, particularly the lungs, the heart, the stomach and liver, the kidneys and the intestines.The Sequence:
- Take a few moments to gather the mind and body up into the present moment, letting go of the day that’s been and releasing any anticipation or apprehension over the day to come.
- Become aware of the movement of the ribcage as you exhale, following each breath to the very end, allowing it to be soft and free: the ribs soften and drape down the length of the body. Allow the lower back the abdomen to remain soft and wide as the sides of the waist gently narrow. Watch to see if you are reaching for the next breath, even at the most subtle level, and let that go if you are.
Restorative Practice: Movement of the Breath 3
In this restorative practice, we continue our exploration of the movement of the breath in the torso by observing the diaphragm itself. In particular, we are going to observe the exhalation, when the diaphragm releases and is drawn deeper into the rib cage by the deflating of the lungs. This particular emphasis will help the entire body to soften, surrendering to gravity.
Restorative Practice: Movement of the Breath 2
In today’s practice we are going to look at the movement of the abdomen and the lower back with the breath. You can think of the lower torso as a great big water balloon. As you exhale, the diaphragm moves up and the water balloon becomes slack: the abdomen and lower back soften; the pelvic floor moves up the length of the body towards the head. With the inhalation, the diaphragm moves down and the water ballon expands in every other dimension: the abdominal wall and the lower back expand; the pelvic floor descends.
As with our previous sequence in this theme, the first few poses stretch out the lower torso, while the latter half of the practice focuses on observing and freeing up the area to allow the movement to develop. (more…)
Restorative Practice: Observing the Movement of the Breath 1
The theme for this month is observation of the movement that the breath creates in the body. In today’s practice we will observe the movement of the ribcage. With the exhalations, the ribs drape down the length of the body from the head towards the hips. The sternum drops towards the pubic bone and the curvature of the thoracic spine lessens. The volume inside gets smaller, the ribcage itself getting narrower and shallower.
On the inhalation the reverse happens. The ribs expand and lift towards the head. The sternum lifts, swinging up like the handle of an upright water pump. The curvature of the thoracic spine increases as does the volume inside, the ribcage itself getting wider and deeper.
The first few poses of the practice serve to release the muscles and connective tissue around the ribcage so that, in the later poses, you might more easily observe the movement. (more…)
© 2010 Witold Fitz-Simon.
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