more musings on breath-sighing and yawning

Managing oxygen level through the breath is one of the recent themes. Using the exhale as a means of relaxing tension is a constant theme. On this same theme managing pain using the breath, oxygen level, and relaxation becomes possible.

Yawning relaxes the jaw, and is a spontaneous contraction of the diaphragm that brings in more breath. Sighing extends the exhalation and relaxes the jaw neck and diaphragm. These are your bodies natural regulatory processes for too much or too little oxygen.

Try the following breathing exercise if you constrict your breath by tension or are used to breathing shallowly due to pain or tension, or if you yawn when you do yoga or other physical activities. This may be your bodies natural response to not getting enough oxygen because of tension and/or shallow breathing.

Start by sitting in a comfortable position, on the flour, in a chair, or lying on your back. Observe your breathing. Become aware of the way your body breathes itself. Take note of how deeply or shallowly you breathe...without judgement. Just take the first several breaths to observe with curiosity, equanimity, compassion. Observe the length of the exhalation in relationship to the inhalation.

Next allow yourself to inhale and drop your jaw making a whispered "ha" throughout the entire length of the exhalation. You can make a sound like the ocean or pretend you are trying to fog a mirror. You may want to put your hand a few inches in front of your mouth to feel the heat of your breath. Dont try to open your mouth wide just let your jaw be heavy. Focus on how heavy your jaw is or imagining sand flowing from your upper palate through the hinge in the jaw to your increasingly heavier lower jaw. Control the exhalation for a long expelling of all the air like a sigh. Exhale fully all the air from your lungs and then allow yourself to inhale. Exhale 3 times in this way and then again observe your breathing and observe how you feel. If there is any light headed or dizzy feeling, observe. Observe how your body deals with it. If there is more or less tension in the process of your breath observe...without judgement.

Repeat for 3 more breaths and observe, 2 more times to start. Increase or practice again throughout the day or when you notice your jaw neck and shoulders are tense or you are shallow breathing. To further tone your diaphragm to gain control over your exhalation, practice also making a hissing sound-an "s." Try to make the sound consistent throughout the entire exhalation and until you have to breath in again. Dont forget to observe after every 1 to 3 breaths and when you are finished your breathing exercises.

Breathing in this way creates the following benefits:

Relaxation in the jaw neck and shoulders
Deepens the breath and allows more oxygen for previous shallow breathers
Allows more oxygen by expelling all old air making way for more new air
Begins to tone the diaphragm by consciously extending the exhalation
Teaches a relaxed full exhalation process to your body

prana sanskrit life force, vital energy, breath, spirit

ayama sanskrit extend, control, lengthen

Pranayama is the means by which we gain control over the flow of energy or life force in our bodies. Prana is sometimes translated as breath, but it is the life force in the blood and other bodily functions as well. It is similar to Qi in Chinese medicine and martial arts practices. It travels through the nadi's-subtle energy channels that connect to the chakras. The body breathes. I like the definition of extending the life force rather than controlling the breath or energy because trying to control an autonomic process may be impossible or even damaging where as learning how to extend life by living and breathing more healthily is wise.

Happy Valentines Day, I love you

Metta is the cultivation and practice of loving kindness or compassion. It is an expansive heart centered meditation practice with tremendous possibilities for self transformation.

I googled metta in hopes of giving you a link. In my google search I found some information, but there was nothing I have found yet that stresses the important fact that I do not want you to move on to the more advanced steps of loving others until you have mastered loving yourselves. I did find some grand advice about only loving and serving others and the world through compassion and non violence, which is beautiful and noble. However, I DO NOT recommend it with out a strong foundation for loving yourself. Practice every day for a year before moving on to loving others. I have experience in moving to the next steps before I was ready and I only caused myself harm and inhibited my ability to give loving kindness.

Remember the yamas and niyamas are practiced in thought speech and action towards the self as well as others. You are included in the universe of beings so if you are not loving yourself you are not loving a part of the universe.

To practice sit comfortably. Breathe and focus your attention. Focus your attention on your self and how you feel in your body, how you feel emotionally, and observe your mind without judgement. Is it still, active, focused, spacey? Observe your body mind and emotions without judgement as a way to check in. Then turn your attention to your heart. Check in with how you feel in your heart center. If there is a feeling of compassion there you may focus on it. If you want to repeat the following phrases feel free.

May I be Happy
May I be Well
May I be Peaceful
May I be Free from suffering

If you repeat the phrases and it cultivates the feeling of compassion for yourself continue...

If you chose not to repeat the phrases or you would like to try to cultivate the compassion first try the following...

Bring to mind an act of kindness from you to another, or from another to you and concentrate on that act as you watch the feeling in your heart.

Or you could think of a person, child, baby, or pet that makes you feel loving kindness. Dont chose a complicated relationship because other feelings may come up and Dont judge yourself.

When the feeling of compassion is present and strong you may chose to repeat the phrases to keep your mind focused and allow the compassion to grow. Or you may chose to focus on the feeling and allow it to open and expand. It may grow throughout your whole chest, your whole body, your aura, or the whole room and beyond. Dont judge yourself if it is difficult or easy. Just allow yourself to bask in whatever amount of compassion there is. Direct it toward yourself. Believe me, you deserve it.

After a period of time 5, 10, 20 minutes or so take a deep breath and bring your attention back to the room. You can allow the compassion to remain and continue to direct it toward yourself as you move throughout your day. Just make sure you are directing it toward yourself, especially if you are experiencing a challenging moment. Protect yourself with it. Dont allow your heart to remain open with no protection. If you need to imagine a flower closing for the evening in your heart center until you have time to sit formally again.

If you like Metta continue to practice everyday and remind yourself throughout your day to practice compassion toward yourself.

After a year of practicing everyday you may extend your compassion to a friend, a loved one, an enemy, and eventually all beings, but not before your foundation for compassion toward yourself is strong and solid. This is the most important step, do not skip it.

With loving kindness, Kim

musings on breath...

Here are 2 different ways I use inhalation and exhalation...

In this one contracting on the exhalation - bringing the belly in and up, lifting up on the pelvic floor and diaphragm, and then contraction the muscles in between the ribs for a more full exhalation...

These last few weeks we are working with the breath...specifically the exhalation. Control of the exhalation, I am told, is where the power of health and well being lies. Practice contracting on the exhalation and completing fully the exhale, then relax, allow expansion and the breath to flow back into the body. In this way we tone the middle and create strength in our center.

In this next one we use the exhalation to relax the body...

The exhalation also serves to relax the body. What is a sigh? It is an attempt to release tension. The more relaxed the body, the more healthy, the more efficient, the more effective. Allow the exhale to relax you and the inhale to invigorate you. Try consciously allowing tension to flow out during the exhalation. For more on exhalation and relaxation see post from 10/22/09 "Exhale and Relax."

If I taught hour plus classes I would take some of the class time for formal breathing exercises. I demonstrate them once in a while for my students who would like to practice them at home. Since I teach in places that allow only hour classes, instead of formal breathing exercises, I would like my students to learn to breathe in a way they can take with them throughout their day. I ask them to concentrate on their breathing throughout the hour and work with the particular concept through out the class if it is appropriate.

I used to have a neighbor that worked at night and each night someone would pick him up for work and beep the horn outside my front door. It was annoying for a while and then I realized it was a regular sound in my environment. I used it like monks use bells in meditation. To remind myself to come into the moment and breathe consciously. Are their regular sounds during your day in your environment that could remind you to take a deep breath and come into the moment?

Peace prayer and translation

Aum, saha naavavatu,

Saha nau bhunaktu.

Saha viryam karavaavahai.

Tejasvi naavadhit amastu

Maa vidvishaavahai,

Aum, shantih shantih shantih.

----------------------------------------

Let us be nourished together.

Let us put forth great effort.

Let our learning be enlightening

and the conflict between us vanish.

Aum, peace peace peace.

Be the light you seek

I spend the time that I ask my students to center at the beginning of classes praying. I pray for the proper atmosphere and conditions for the class to take place and ask for support in my teaching. I pray that my students are connected to their higher selves or own place of power so they will keep from harm. I do not pray to a god or in a particular religious style. I am inclusive of all religions and spiritual but not religious. I have a concept I use called the divine light of truth love and wisdom, because personally that is what I seek.

While I was praying at the beginning of one of my classes this week, I entered the divine light. I just decided in the moment to allow that concept into myself and I sat and basked in its beauty. I have so often prayed to be connected to, protected by, etc the divine light of truth love and wisdom and finally I just sat in it and became one with it and allowed myself to be it... in those moments.

musings on my process...

Since my car accident 5 years ago I have taken a very gentle approach to practicing yoga. It has served me very well. I have managed my pain with out medications, I have become stronger and healthier, I have mindfully looked into the emotional losses for me caused by my injuries and become happy.

Now that I am stronger again and have a better understanding about my physical condition and limitations I am exploring going deeper( although sometimes in my gentle practice I went so deep into my joints by softening that I would injure myself-both gentle and vigorous can be deep and powerful.) I don't mean to push through pain and into a deeper stretch. I mean deeper breath, deeper focus, and balancing the strength and flexibility in my body for optimum alignment in each moment. I have started to explore the benefits of a more vigorous practice. Also I have been using a flow to build up heat and lightness of movement, warm up my body, and deepen my breath.

It came to my attention that I need a little more yang in my life. I think rather I noticed that I avoided yang, and thought maybe to explore what I want to avoid would be a good idea. I also realize I rarely get my heart rate up. I also miss the athlete I used to be.

I took a class recommended to me by a friend. I was teaching more and more and didnt have a regular class that I could attend. I feel teachers need to be students. I allowed myself to go more slowly than others and drop into childs pose as I needed and watched my tendency to compete and achieve. I found that on some days I was very strong and other days I was very achey. On the strong days I could follow the flow and on days of bad weather I would spend more time warming up and a lot more time in childs pose. Soon my students were asking for more flow and I started to incorporate it into one of my classes leaving the others for those that needed a place to learn alignment, mindfulness, and breathwork, or work on healing from injuries as I had.

I know that more vigorous is often more popular, in gyms especially, but I feel strongly that vigorous needs to be balanced with proper alignment breathwork and mindfulness to prevent injury as well as to be yoga instead of exercise. I feel that to progress in yoga takes more than being physically able to do the postures and series. Yoga is more than asana. It is breath, it is community service, it is meditation and mindfulness, it is right speech and action, it is spiritual growth. Although some may not agree. To guide students to check in with their breath and become more mindful can be spiritual. I separate spiritual from religious.

Yin and Yang need to be in balance for health and well being. If you find yourself only working out vigorously, examine whether or not you have relaxation meditation a slow stretch or a mindful walk somewhere in your life as well. I was the opposite-avoiding movement from fear and trauma. And now I feel I have the potential for both again... in balance... even more so than before my accident.

Just a word or so on Spirit. Spiritual. Spirituality. To me this is not religion and does not require a set of beliefs in gods or afterlives(which to me are fine as long as they do not prevent personal growth.) We all have an essence soul or spirit that grows and changes throughout our lifetime. The miracle of life on this planet is a mystery, but we are here and have choice. I chose to continue to grow and learn and enjoy it.

Serenity is not a plastic face, or even a porcelain one...

I was inspired by an article in the Yoga Journal(November 2009) about Sri T Krishnamacharya as I practiced on my own mat. I tried to apply a steadfast focus in each posture and to my entire practice. The title phrase above came to me..."serenity is not a plastic face..." I started to think about my students. I ask them to enjoy moments of difficulty all the time. I put them into a posture and say as my teacher said to me, "Please enjoy this moment." I see tense jaws and intense expressions from trying to get it right. It is true that although we try to control it, we have little control over the world outside. We can change ourselves only, so we try so hard to do it right, or cheat because we can't. Bad things happen and good things happen. Serenity is the steadfast place inside. In this place we are not shaken by the good and the bad. Our physical bodies are effected by life and time, but in this place we chose how to respond to life experiences. When we connect with that place on our mat it is practice for the rest of our days.

Exhale and Relax...

I like to relax into my exhalations whether sitting in meditation or holding a posture or lying in savasana http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savasana. What I mean is to allow them to deepen by relaxing consciously any blocks or tension or constriction. As I finish the exhale I wait for, or allow, the inhale to come on its own... deepening on its own... due to the release of the previous exhale.

When I am trying to consciously relax a specific area, I keep my mind focused on that area and watch without judgment each breath allowing the relaxation to come, never forcing the exhale or sucking in air on the inhale, but just gently waiting and watching.

Musings on the Mountain...Tadasana

Stand as if you had a little magnetism at the bottom of your feet, like mother held you safely. You stand on your home...our Earth...and let there be also magnetism towards the divine light...our Sun perhaps, maybe something beyond that. Let those two very gentle magnetic forces allow you to suspend between earth and sky. You are held safely without effort in these moments...let your Self completely relax and expand only as far as feels good to you in this moment and the next. Each moment may change. Please don't hold on to yesterdays moments...

I stand as if I had a little magnetism at the bottom of my feet...like my mother held me safely. I stand on my home...our Earth... And l let there also be magnetism through my crown toward the divine light of truth love and wisdom...perhaps our Sun...or maybe something beyond that. Is divine love infinite? I let those gentle magnetic forces allow me to be held effortlessly in my stance in this moment...suspended between earth and sky. I allow myself to relax and expand only as much as feels safe for me in this moment and then the next and the next... And I try to remember... to cherish... but not to hold and suffer with yesterdays moments...

When I was a child I was terrified of infinity. I used to go so far away from the room I was sleeping in, in my mind. I was terrified to comprehend that there was always something beyond... farther, and farther, and farther...could I ever return? Not that it is bad to face ones fears and learn, but what if when I was a child my mother held me and said, "beyond that is more love... and beyond that even more and yes beyond that yet more and more...?..."

Live what you want...

Hi,

Today I am dealing, a little, with my shoulder tension and I found an exercise to do. (I would like to post it so check back at a later date for posted video and pictures.)

I realized while doing the exercise how important it is to keep the shoulders relaxed and not to push... not to try to make a perfect shape based on a picture in my head of something outside myself that is what the posture or movement should look like... but to try to go no further than a place of discomfort-pain, tension, emotional resistance, resistance, excessive will power... and to try to accept the limit of today and be in this moment...for the purpose of allowing the energy to flow... before moving on...to extending to the boundary... maybe a slight bit beyond, as long as the energy is still flowing and there is not tension or other blocks beginning to form.

I feel in this way I can progress the fastest and furthest... though fastest and furthest is not the goal... the goal... is to be... in this moment and enjoy it.

Jai Bhagwan

Kim

Jai Bhagwan

"Jai" from what I understand means "I see" or "I honor" or "With respect I hale"

"Bhagwan" is "the light within you"

Jai Bhagwan from Hindi is similar to "Namaste" from sanskrit

"Namas" I bow

"te" to you

"Namaste" also translated as "I bow to the spirit within you" or even "the spirit(or light) in me bows to the spirit(light) in you."

Yamas and Niyamas talk...

I am emphasizing mindfulness and alignment. I talk about the niyama "santosha" finding well being in each moment-difficult or easy, and the yama "ahimsa" nonharming-practiced toward the self. Use the breath to move the body into postures gently and without pain or tension. This practice will build strength and flexibility through the concept of "less is more" rather than the use of force.

santosha sanskrit contentment, the greatest happiness, unfaltering joy

ahimsa sanskrit the avoidance of violence

yamas sanskrit restraints

niyamas sanskrit observances

Note: I make these terms look like I got them from the dictionary, but these are my translations gleaned from many different sources and my own experience. I do not have a translation of The Yoga Sutras. I learned about Patanjali's Yoga Sutra while studying hinduism for my teacher training certificate in the Sivananda style of yoga.