.... just breathe

Don't stress.... just breathe

We've all been there. Confronted with a tense situation. A disagreement with a co-worker, a near miss with another driver, or maybe a day-to-day situation that creates stress.

Stress is a part of life. Good stress leads to creativity and growth. But, bad stress turns on your sympathetic nervous system, creating physiological changes that trigger the fight or flight response. When this happens, the heart rate increases to suply more blood to different parts of the body and the kidneys secrete adrenaline for a boost in muscle strength. It's important to return the body to it's normal state as soon as possible after a stressful event.

Here are some little known facts about stress:

• Your body reacts the same way to a big stress or a little one
• Stress makes us do dumb things
• We are so accustomed to stress, sometimes we don't even notice it

But did you also know:

• You can control your reaction to stress
• It is best to handle stress when it happens

The best way to reduce stress is by doing something we do everyday: breathing.

In acute situations, you may have been instructed to, or told someone to, "Take a deep breath." This advise is perfectly fine and it does work.

Deep breathing reduces stress by turning on our parasympathetic nervous system, which turns off the stress hormone pump. It also gives your mind a place to land, reducing distraction from thoughts drifting to the past or the future.

A simple breathing exercise done every day may help reduce overall tension so when a stressful situation does arise, you will be better able to handle it.

Try this once a day for 5-10 minutes, preferably in the morning, but anytime of day is fine.

Find a comfortable place to sit and align your shoulders over your hips so your spine is straight. You may sit on a pillow on the floor with your legs crossed, meditation style, or you may sit on a low stool or chair. If you are sitting on a chair, please be sure to sit up tall and not lean against the back of the chair. Place your hands on your knees and let your elbows hang below your shoulders. Close your eyes and take a few deeps breaths. Slowly let your breath return to normal, breathing gently through your nose. Continue to observe your breath and try not to get distracted by outside noises or your own thoughts. When you find your mind starting to wander, return your focus to your breath. After a few comfortable breaths, start to lengthen your inhales and exhales by counting to four. Inhale, two, three, four... exhale, two, three, four. Keep going, continue this breathing pattern for at least five minutes. Once you get accustomed to this exercise, you may want to take the count to six or eight, depending on how comfortable you feel doing this. You may also start to increase the length of time you sit, going to 10, 15, or even 20 minutes.

When you are done, slowly open your eyes, wiggle your fingers and take a deep breath. Stand up slowly and notice your relaxed body and mind.

How I see my practice as a process

Over the last seven years I have practiced yoga asana on a regular basis. I was drawn to yoga initially for exercise, but as my practice continued on a regular basis, things started to happen. I found myself a little more relaxed, more confident, less anxious, more focused, better organized, and with a clearer memory. Still, not stellar, but better.

The more I practiced asana, the more I saw how physical and emotional experiences were drawing me closer to other aspects of yoga. I discovered several important concepts that thread their way throughout the system. One is the concept of finding the balance between effort and ease. Another is the  combination of practice (abhyasa) and non-attachment (vairagya).

I know I desire to continue to grow in my practice as my body gets more fit and capable of deeper poses. I also know that this is a process, and I can't get attached where I have very little control over the outcome. Merriam-Webster defines the word process as: "a natural phenomenon marked by gradual changes that lead toward a particular result."  I guess that's where I am, always heading toward that elusive result.

I know I'm supposed to check my ego at the studio door and come to my mat from where I am at that moment. And if that moment says, "No, you are not getting into tree pose today." I can live with that. Someday I will not be able to stretch and bend and move the way I can today. I will keep practicing and traveling forward. The result here, to me, is more organic, it continuously changes with my practice.

turning upside down

Yoga inversions are poses that position your body so your heart is higher than your head, such as downward facing dog, standing forward fold or pyramid pose. With inversions like shoulder stand, headstand and handstand your feet are also higher than your head.

Flipping yourself upside down creates a change of perspective both mentally and physically. Physically your body is using muscles, bones and organs in a very different way than it is used to. When your body inverts, gravity causes the blood to flow to your head, this may temporarily reduce blood pressure and heart rate. Inverting also allows blood to flow from the lower to upper lungs, ensuring a more even exchange of oxygen in the blood promoting healthier tissues.

Aside from the physical effects, inversions also allow the student to see the world from an unfamiliar, opposite perspective. Judith Hanson Lasater said, "When you do headstand you can only see the world, not yourself. When you do shoulderstand you can only see yourself, not the world. They are the perfect yin/yang, king/queen, mother/father energies."

Going upside down requires balance, strength, and trust. If you are in good health and have none of the contraindications for doing inversions,(high blood pressure, recent back or neck injury, or pregnancy) then why not give them a try.

A good place to start is by building strength in your upper body. Plank pose and Dolphin dives are good for working the muscles in the upper arms and across your chest. Dolphin dives have the added benefits of also being an inversion where your head is lower than your heart and placement of the forearms on the floor is the same base used for sirsasana (headstand).

Steady balance requires a stable pelvis and spine which can be acquired by strengthening the core muscles around your trunk. Plank pose is great for this, causing the core muscles to fire in order to keep the hips in line. Work in side planks to engage the muscles on the sides of your waist as well challenge your balance.

Along with strength and balance, flexible hamstrings can make sirsasana and pinchu mayurasana (forearm balance) more attainable by allowing you to walk into the inversion rather than jumping into it. Walking in makes you less likely to lose your balance and you will get up with better control.

Now that your body is ready to go upside down, will your mind go along also? Fear is probably the biggest obstacle when it comes to balancing inversions. There is fear of falling, or fear of not being able to get into the pose, or fear of being disoriented once you are up. B.K.S. Iyengar said, "The best way to overcome fear is to face with equanimity the situation of which one is afraid." Fortunately, disorientation subsides fairly quickly.

Trust your body. For headstand, start in Table pose facing a wall. Place your hands about 6-8 inches away from the wall and rest on your forearms. Grab opposite elbows to determine how wide your arms should be. This ensures proper alignment of the elbows under the shoulders. Keep the elbows where they are and bring your hands together. Interlace your fingers. Tuck the bottom little finger in towards your palms. Turn the crown of your head toward the floor and rest your head in your hands. Push your forearms down so the top of your head barely touches the floor. Push your feet down and lift your hips up. Start walking your feet in closer to your body. When you've walked into the pose as far as you can, bend one knee and lift your foot off the floor, tucking your heel in toward your buttocks. Then bend the other knee and bring your foot off the floor. Find your balance with your hips over your shoulders. Slowly start to straighten your legs, bringing the souls of your feet to face the ceiling. Pull your belly in to engage the core and squeeze your legs together as you reach your heels toward the sky. Gaze straight ahead and breath. You can only see the world, not yourself. Try to stay for at least 3 breaths. Bend your knees and lower them toward your chest to come down and take Child's pose.

Approach your inversions with respect. Taking such a different view of the world can be daunting at first. Trust in the process. Once you start to feel at ease with this perspective, you may notice events in your life that once sent you upside down emotionally, are now handled with greater confidence and stability.

Practice being present.

At the beginning of our yoga classes we take a few minutes to breath and center. As we turn our minds inward and remove attachment to outside stimulus we are experiencing "presence". The more often we can practice this in our day-to-day lives, the more positive our life becomes. Being present is about surrendering to what is, what's happening in the moment. Not the way we planned it or the way we think it should be or the way we want to control it. But allowing it to take us where it will.

This is not to say, don't make plans or set goals, but to not react negatively when things don't go as planned. Remain neutral and aware, allow events to happen and keep moving forward.

Make Room

Among the many things that yoga can teach us, one of them is that nothing is permanent. The first two limbs of the eight limb yoga path are the Yamas and Niyamas. The last of the yamas is Aparagraha which is translated as either non-possessiveness or non-hoarding. This is a hard one. It's human nature to cherish our possessions and hold dearly to people and ideas. And this is good, we need that connection in order to grow and learn. But, while there is and should be great value in possessions, there is also value in practicing non-possessiveness. When something has served it's purpose, it's time to let it go. Let go with grace and move forward.

So as we enter another new year, remember there is a time for non-possessiveness. Letting go of things that no longer serve us, whether they are old clothes or old ideas, we make room in our lives for new experiences and possibilities.

Gratitude everywhere

The more often we feel grateful, the more we perceive a life of fortune and abundance.

 At the end of my yoga classes I ask students to take a moment and thank themselves for coming to practice yoga. That one fleeting moment when gratitude is expressed inward toward one's self can go a long way in establishing a connection of inner awareness to the outer world. In that one moment it is not so hard to imagine that we are part of a greater whole.

 Expressing gratitude towards others is great and humbling. We let go and accept the love of others toward us. When the gratitude is directed inward we can let go and surrender to the love of our own self.

 If we can be grateful to others and acknowledge the basic goodness and wisdom in that person, then we can be grateful to ourselves and see the goodness in us that is always there.

 When we feel the same sentiments of love and gratitude towards ourselves as we feel toward others, we awaken to the union of ourselves with a divine community expressed in a sincere message, "How blessed we are to just be."

rolling up the straps

I love that small period of silence after a class. After savasana and the closing ohm, but before students start to roll their mats, gather belongings and quietly start talking to each other as outside stimulation slowly becomes part of the consciousness again.

Some classes end with students walking out in total silence, still reverent after so much inward reflection. Other times chatter comes quickly, mats are rolled in a hurry and students rush on with their day.

Today, there was purposeful movement in the silence after the ohm when all the students simultaneously picked up their straps and rolled them up, very neatly, with intention, and mindfully put them back in the basket.

They probably didn't notice the quiet choreography or feel the weight of the stillness, as I did, while enjoying the bliss of  this very present moment. Maybe they were aware, I don't know. But I certainly took in as much as I could, as my atman peeked outside and thought, this is why I teach yoga.