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Blessing in the Chaos

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To all that is chaotic   
in you,
let there come
silence.

Let there be
a calming
of the clamoring,
a stilling
of the voices that
have laid their claim
on you,
that have made their
home in you,

that go with you
even to the
holy places
but will not
let you rest,
will not let you
hear your life
with wholeness
or feel the grace
that fashioned you.

Let what distracts you
cease.
Let what divides you
cease.
Let there come an end
to what diminishes
and demeans,
and let depart
all that keeps you
in its cage.

Let there be
an opening
into the quiet
that lies beneath
the chaos,
where you find
the peace
you did not think
possible
and see what shimmers
within the storm.

      –Jan Richardson

Loving Kindness Face Lift

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Many thanks to Dan Leven for sharing this Loving Kindness Face Lift.  He was inspired by Sharon Salzberg’s book, Real Love.

As he puts it, “It begins with “may my face be happy, may my face be peaceful.”  And then you continue moving through each body part wishing them well in this way… “may my neck be happy, may my neck be peaceful … may my shoulders be happy, may my shoulders be peaceful,” and so on.   You open your heart’s kindness to your whole body (including to your own heart).”

It’s a great way to start and end the day.  I love it.  I really go to town with spreading happiness and peace throughout my entire body.  I enjoy coming up with new places to shower with loving kindness with each practice such as for my brain, blood, eyes and ears – even my hair.  Before long, it’s going out to family, friends, pets, strangers and to all kinds of situations.  This meditation is especially handy when my attention is restless since it lets me jump all around.  It can be any length too – long or short.  It sure feels uplifting.

Dan goes on to explain the science underpinning it.  He says, “the vagus nerve is a core part of our parasympathetic nervous system that has two branches.  One branch is associated with surviving in a perceived life or death situation where our whole body slows down, feigning death (a primitive survival mechanism).  The other branch is about helping us relax and soften into the loving support of others and is associated with the release of oxytocin (the cuddle or bonding molecule).  Both branches are about our relationship to “others”: dangerous “others” or safe and loving “others.”

Here’s the kicker he reports, “the vagus nerve has many fibers that connect to our facial muscles where we reveal our emotions through a plenitude of expressions.  Scientists have logged 21 different emotional expressions that register within the face and there are 8 universal emotional facial expressions that you don’t need a translator to interpret.  So our face can register the vagal response from shock and terror, like a deer in the headlights of a moving car (survival vagus nerve), to happiness and peace, like a contented Buddha face (loving vagus nerve)!  However, we can also create the response as we bring happiness and peace to our faces!”

So the KEY point, according to Dan, “is that as you invite or train your facial muscles to discover happiness and peace you are strengthening the relaxation response that’s linked to feeling supportive or loving connection with others -to feeling safe in the world.”

Come on – Give it a shot!

PS.  May you be happy and peaceful!

Strengthen Bones with Yoga & Diet

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Good to the Bone  is a Yoga Journal article about using yoga and diet to help with the prevention and treatment of bone loss (osteopenia – osteoporosis).  The article describes the yoga postures listed in the table below that increased bone strength in 85% of the study participants with a 10-minute sequence that was practiced for a 2-year period.  Each posture was held for only 20-30 seconds each. The article, Good to the Bone, is worth the read.  Here is the pilot study detailed in the article.

The Twelve-Minute Daily Yoga Regimen Reverses Bone Loss  is the full study that was published in Topics of Geriatric Rehabilitation, a peer-reviewed journal.  It followed 741 patients over a 10 year period.  It showed that yoga improved bone mineral density (BMD) in every-two-year follow-up study that followed.  Impressive, eh?  Watch the video below to get instructions on what to do along with more info on Dr Fishman’s book and CD.

The posture sequence below flows nicely and incorporates the recommended postures in the pilot study. It’s very important to practice a  combination of balancing postures and ones to strengthen bones and muscles.  The sequence can also be done in reverse order, beginning with the standing poses, ending lying down in the supine poses and Shavasana.    As always, remember to b-r-e-a-t-h-e fully and completely, slowly and deeply.  Get all the details here. 

Download a PDF of Strengthen Bones with Yoga & Diet

English NameSanskrit NamePurpose
Bridge PoseSetu Bandha SarvangasanaBone strength
Cobra / Locust / Boat SequenceBhujangasana /Salabhasana / Navasana SequenceBone and muscle strength
Sunbird (Alternate and hold arm and leg lifts from the Table Pose)

Plank Pose (or variation)

Surya Bakāsanasama

 

Kumbhakasana

Bone strength and balance
Downward Facing DogAdho Mukha SvanasanaBone and muscle strength
Mountain PoseTadasanaBone strength and balance
Chair PoseUtkatasanaBone strength
Tree PoseVrksasanaBone strength and balance
Warrior Pose IVirabhadrasana IMuscle strength
Warrior Pose IIVirabhadrasana IIMuscle strength
Relaxation PoseShavasanaStrengthen bones, muscles, balance, and focus.

As usual, please consult your health care provider and a qualified yoga educator for their recommendations for your needs.  This is not intended to be a substitute for appropriate medical care.

Have fun and good luck!

Friendship Blessing

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I’m still on Cloud 9 from our recent Yoga Women’s Retreat & Slumber party.  What a joy to be surrounded by friends – soul friends!  They are the people, whether known a long time or briefly, that have shaped and supported you into being who you are today, and who you’re growing into.

The Celtic tradition calls one’s soul-friend the Anam Cara. John O’Donohue explains “With the anam cara, you could share your innermost self, your mind, and your heart.  This friendship is an act of recognition and belonging that did not set limitations of space or time on the soul.  It cuts across all convention, morality and category.   In it, you are understood as you are without mask or pretension.”

A Friendship Blessing by John O’Donohue
May you be blessed with good friends.
May you learn to be a good friend to yourself.
May you be able to journey to that place in your soul where
there is great love, warmth, feeling, and forgiveness.
May this change you.
May it transfigure that which is negative, distant, or cold in you.
May you be brought in to the real passion, kinship, and affinity of belonging.
May you treasure your friends.
May you be good to them and may you be there for them;
may they bring you all the blessing, challenges, truth,
and light that you need for your journey.
May you never be isolated.
May you always be in the gentle nest of belonging with your anam ċara.

Please tell us about your anam cara by sharing under comments.  

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