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Give Yourself Some Space

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Out for a walk the other night, I was stunned to see how groups of people were all looking at their phones instead of talking with each other, let alone noticing the brilliant sunset.  Even the bikers were glued to their devices while riding their bikes.  I was surprised that people weren’t crashing into one another. More folks were glued to their screens at the restaurant too.  We all know that too many people text while driving – another recipe for disaster.

Living in a fast-paced 24/7 world, it’s easy to get overwhelmed.  We’re pushed to work harder, take care of our family, and keep up with current events along with a constant social media stream. clockExpectations are high all the way around.

Pico Iyer, a lifelong travel writer says ““In an age of acceleration, nothing can be more exhilarating than going slow. And in an age of distraction, nothing is so luxurious as paying attention. And in an age of constant movement, nothing is so urgent as sitting still.”

His Ted Talk video is well worth watching.  It will inspire you with ways to take back your time in ways that will replenish your body, mind and soul.

https://www.ted.com/talks/pico_iyer_the_art_of_stillness?utm_source=tedcomshare&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=tedspread

Why not take a few moments out right now?  Here’s how …

  1.  Turn your phone, TV, radio and other electronic devices off for a while.
  2.  Focus your attention on the moment by breathing fully and mindfully.  It is calming and refreshing for your nerves and it will light up your energy.  Try out yoga’s ocean-sounding breath (ujjaya breath).
  3. Blink your eyes a bunch of times till they water.  The moisture will help your vision.
  4. Yawn.  It cools the brain, gives you a burst of oxygen, and refreshes your eyesight and hearing.  If you’re lucky, you’ll catch some flies.
  5. Take a “2-hour nap in less than 1o minutes.“
  6. Give “The Inner Eye of Awareness Meditation” a shot.
  7. Add your own ___________________________.
  8. Bone up on mindfulness.  It’s easy with this “Stop ~~ Look ~~ Listen”  meditation.
  9. You guessed it, practice yoga nidra – yogic sleep. It’s totally replenishing. Experience yoga nidra at a virtual class with Julie Lusk, author of Yoga Nidra Meditations and 5 more books and dozens of recordings.

The Art of Traveling

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Are you planning a vacation?  Good for you!  It’s important to expand your horizons and take a break from day-to-day routines.

When you pack your bags to explore the beauties of your own country or to travel around the world, consider these keys to a happy journey.  I wish I could give credit for these wise travel tips, but I don’t know who wrote them.  

Travel lightly. You are not traveling for people to see you!Half Dome at Sunset

Travel slowly. Jet planes are for getting places not seeing places; take time to absorb the beauty and inspiration of a mountain or cathedral.

Travel expectantly. Every place you visit is like a surprise package to be opened. Untie the strings with an expectation of high adventure.

Travel hopefully. “To travel hopefully,” wrote Robert Louis Stevenson, “is better than to arrive.”

Travel humbly. Visit people and places with reverence and respect for their traditions and ways of life.

Travel courteously. Consideration for your fellow travelers and your hosts will smooth the way through the most difficult days.

Travel gratefully. Show appreciation for the many things that are being done by others for your enjoyment and comfort.

Travel with an open mind. Leave your prejudices at home. [Read more…]

Honoring Mother’s Day with Story, Poems & Quotes

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The idea for Mother’s Day originated in 1870 by Julia Ward Howe, the author of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.”  She IMG_1258believed that peace and equality were two of the most important world causes and challenged women to rise up against war in all its forms.   She wanted women to unite by coming together across national lines to recognize what people have in common over what comes between us in a “Mothers Day for Peace.”  Although this didn’t happen, Julia inspired Anna Jarvisto to start her own crusade to celebrate a memorial day for mother’s in 1907.  The rest is “herstory.”

Here’s to peace and equality for all.  Julia’s declaration follows:

Arise then…women of this day!
Arise, all women who have hearts!
Whether your baptism be of water or of tears!
Say firmly:
“We will not have questions answered by irrelevant agencies,
Our husbands will not come to us, reeking with carnage,
For caresses and applause.
Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn
All that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience.
We, the women of one country,
Will be too tender of those of another country
To allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs.”

[Read more…]

Mouth Yoga

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According to the yoga tradition, 80% of your problems can be solved with mouth yoga.  That is, what you eat and drink and put in your mouth, what you say, and who you kiss makes a big difference.

Wise yogis ask us to consider 3 things before saying something:

  1. Is it true?
  2. Is it necessary?
  3. Is it kind?
Thich Nhat Hanh
Thich Nhat Hanh

Practice smiling, whether you feel like it or not, is the advice given by Thich Nhat Hahn, a Vietnamese Buddhist monk who was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize by the Rev. Martin Luther King,   He said you will feel more positive and at peace.  He says in his book, Be Free Where You Are, he gives us the exercise of “Breathing in, I smile. Breathing out, I release.”

If you’re wondering why you should smile when there isn’t joy inside, he answers, “Smiling is a practice.  There are over three hundred muscles in your face. When you are angry or fearful, these muscles tense up.  The tension in these muscles creates a feeling of hardness.  If you know how to breathe in and produce a smile, however, the tension will disappear – it is what I call “mouth yoga.”  Make smiling an exercise.  Just breath in and smile – the tension will disappear and you will feel much better.”

Belleruth Naparstek calls smiling “affirmations for your face” and promises you’ll start getting smiles back from others.  I call it smile-asana.  Go ahead… and Smile Now!

Smiling may help you live longer.  Wayne State University researchers studied major league baseball card pictures from 1952. They found that smiling players lived an average of 7 years longer than non-smiling players.
Smiling stimulates the brain equivalent to eating up to 2000 chocolate bars or getting up to $25,000 in a study by UK researchers who used electromagnetic brain scans and heart-rate monitors to generate “mood-boosting values.”

Do you have jaw tension?  Do you grip your teeth tightly?  Try opening your mouth and moving your jaw up and down and sideways to relieve tension.  Another method is to rub your scalp around the half-moon circling over the top of your ears.  While you’re at it, rub your outer ears with your fingertips and thumbs for a nice energizer.  Lowering your caffeine levels may relieve jaw tension too. Come on now, let go … and smile!

Do you know what the yoga police say?  “You have the right to remain silent.”

What you see and hear matters too.  Habib Sadeghi writes about a phenomenon called the Illusion of Truth Effect. Basically, it says that repetition increases our mental validation of anything we’re exposed to whether or not the information is true or not.  Hearing or seeing something consistently is viewed as more valid than messages we’re exposed to only occasionally.  A weak message repeated twice becomes more valid than a strong message heard only once, according to research from the University of California at Santa Barbara. Therefore, be careful of the messages you’re being exposed to since repetition matters. Think again about all those political messages and evaluate their accuracy with facts.  Sadeghi offers these recommendations in his article:

1. MAKING WORDS WORK. To consciously harness the power of words for your benefit, start with the ones you’re using.

2. NO NAME-CALLING OR SELF-CRITICISM. Everyone is doing the best they can at any moment in time with the consciousness they have to work with, including you. Be kind and offer yourself the same empathy and compassion you’d extend to anyone else.

3. STOP ALL SELF-DEPRECATION. Never make your body, or something you’ve accomplished, or anything else in your life the butt of a joke. Words have power, and quantum energy doesn’t have a sense of humor.

4. RESIST GOSSIPING AND SPEAKING ILL OF OTHERS. It’s impossible for your words to resonate in anyone else’s body but your own.

5. GO ON A NEGATIVITY DIET. Instead of saying that a meal was terrible say, “I’ve had better.” You’ve basically said what you wanted to say without putting negative energy through your body—you even used a positive word to do it!

6. BOOST THE POSITIVE ENERGY OF WORDS. Instead of saying something like you had a good time at a concert, ramp up the positive energy by saying great, terrific, or fantastic, instead. These feel much better and generate a bigger energetic response in the body.

7. IF YOU HAVE SOME NEGATIVE NOAHS OR NANCYS IN YOUR CIRCLE OF FRIENDS, limit the time you spend with them or find better friends. Negative energy has a way of dragging everything surrounding it in, like a big black hole. Avoid it when you can.

8. SURROUND YOURSELF WITH POSITIVE, UPLIFTING WORDS. Put affirmations on sticky notes around your home and office that say wonderful things about you, your family, or your goals. Wear clothes that have positive messages or phrases on them. Imagine the kind of positive energy you’ll be generating for yourself when you’re wearing positivity all day long. As you keep doing these things, you use the power of repetition in a highly effective way for your benefit. You have the power to change your world, and using words consciously is one of the quickest ways to shift the energy you bring into your life.

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Alternate Nostril Breathing: Nadi Shodhana

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Alternate nostril breathing, also called Nadi Shodhana or Nadi Suddhi, creates a sense of physical, mental, and emotional well-being. It is done by alternating nostrils while breathing. Doing so balances right and left-brain integration, promotes mental clarity, and whole brain functioning. It can relieve headaches and sinus problems. It calms emotions and fosters feelings of deep inner contentment and balance. Due to its soothing effect, it is ideal preparation for deep relaxation or meditation.

Time: 2 minutes of daily practice. Increase gradually to 10 minutes or longer

The nadis (pronounced NAH-deez) are the non-physical nerve channels within the body.  The nadis deliver prana, the life force, throughout the body.  While there are thought to be over 72,000 nadis that travel throughout the body, there are three primary ones that run along the spine.  Alternate nostril breathing balances these nadis.

  • The ida (pronounced EE-dah) is energetically to the left of the spine and is activated by the exhalation. It is associated with the receptiveness, intuition, and passivity.
  • The pingala (pronounced pin-GAH-lah) is activated by the inhalation and is energetically on the right. It is associated with activity, logic, and objectiveness.
  • The sushumna (pronounced sue-SHOOM-nah) is the central channel. It is activated by the gap between breaths. It is linked with wisdom and the balancing of our active and receptive nature.

The first step to the practice is to learn the proper hand position to aid in the alternation of the breath. Two hand positions (mudras) are offered.  Both are effective. Try them both to find out which feels easier for you. Take a few minutes to get used to switching between nostrils with the hand positions before adding the breathing patterns.

Vishnu Mudra

The first way, named Vishnu Mudra, is to take your right hand and bend your index and middle fingers toward the palm. Your thumb, ring, and pinky fingers are upright. Next, get used to gently closing your right nostril first with your thumb, and then release the thumb and close your left nostril with the ring finger of your right hand. Switch back and forth until it feels smooth.

 

Nasagra Mudra

Nasagra Mudra is another hand position that can be used. Begin by making the peace sign with your right hand. Next, bring your pointer and middle fingers together and then release your thumb. Place the pads of your index and middle fingers in the center of your forehead or between your eyebrows and then use your thumb and the knuckle of your ring finger to alternately close and release your nostrils.

 

The rhythm of the inhalation to the exhalation is usually uneven at first.  With practice, it will smooth out so they become equal in length. When this is easy for you, begin slowing the exhalation down so that it becomes longer than the inhalation until eventually the exhalation is about twice as long as your inhalation.   More breathing ratios are below.  Maintain alertness of your breath instead of breathing mechanically.

Process

While either hand position can be used, the Vishnu Mudra is used to describe the pattern for the sake of clarity. The pattern alternates nostrils after each inhalation like this:  Exhale – inhale / change nostril / exhale – inhale / change nostril, etc.

Here’s how to practice one round of alternate nostril breathing:

  • Come into a comfortable seated position with your spine erect.
  • Form your fingers of your right hand into Vishnu Mudra by curling your index and middle fingers into your palm, straighten the ring and little fingers, and place your thumb against your right nostril.
    1.  Gently exhale and then inhale through your left nostril.
    2. Close the left nostril with the ring finger.
    3. Release the thumb. Gently exhale and then inhale through the right nostril.
    4. Close that nostril with the thumb and continue with step 1.
  • In other words, repetition is done by alternating nostrils after each inhalation.
  • Begin practicing for two minutes and gradually, very gradually, increase to ten minutes.  Avoid strain or force.

Breathing Ratio Variations for alternate nostril breathing:  Take your time with these ratios.  Never rush.  Do not force or strain.  Do not use breath retention if you have hypertension or other cardiac conditions.

The examples given are to the count of 4. This can be adjusted to 3, 4, 5 or 6 depending upon your comfort level. Count by silently saying Om 1, Om 2, Om 3, Om 4, etc.

  • Ratio of 1:1 – Develop breath control so that the inhalation and the exhalation are exactly the same length of time. Inhale for the count of 4. Exhale for 4. . Do not proceed until perfected.
  • Ratio of 1:2 – Double the length of the exhalation. Inhale for the count of 4. Exhale for 8. Do not proceed until perfected.
  • Ratio of 1:2:2 – Addition of breath retention. Inhale to the count of 4. Hold the breath for 8. Exhale for 8. Do not proceed until perfected.
  • Ratio of 1:4:2 – Inhale to the count of 4. Hold 16. Exhale 8. Do not proceed until perfected.
  • Ratio of 1:4:2:3 – Inhale 4. Hold 16. Exhale 8. Hold the exhalation 12. Do not proceed until perfected.

Note:  Alternate Nostril Breathing was adapted and reprinted with permission from Julie Lusk’s books

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