Monthly Mantra September

Cultivating Peace. It’s not an easy task. Yogis come bustling into a studio with so much to shed; their day, their week, their shoes, their stresses; their fatigue; their tension; their distractions; their keys; their cell phones.

Lately we’ve been playing with weight and props, like sandbags, to connect to the breath, to ground ourselves into the moment, and quiet literally ground ourselves to the mat. Sometimes we start on our backs in supine bound angle pose, knees open, soles of the feet pressed together with a sandbag across the hip bones. The weight settling us when sometimes our minds can’t. The rooting down of the back foot in Warrior I. The press of the palms to the mat in Downward Facing Dog. The fold and surrender in low lunge, gravity bringing the hip flexor lower with each breath, sinking… melting… giving into the hip. Then, a twist on the floor to release the back, shoulders connected to the earth. Finally, legs up the wall pose, with a sandbag across the feet, pushes the hips more firmly to the floor. Here, we took the stillness and peace of savasana for several minutes.

Inspiration found in the most unsuspecting moments: bathroom wall of my amazing chiropractor at West Hills

Chiropractic Clinic. www.westhillschiropractic.com

Peace.

It does not mean to be in a place where there is

no noise, trouble or hard work. It means to be in the midst of those things

and still be calm in your heart.

I can’t credit the originator of the quote, but I wanted to share it with all of you.

~ jibean

Monthly Mantra August

Yoga is an important part of my life and of whom I am. I can’t profess to be all yoga, but it is definitely a key piece of me and my journey. Each month it’s my intention to share one of the theme’s from a class I’ve taught.

For August, the monthly mantra from yoga classes I’ve taught is Learn to do nothing.

The summer is such a fun time of year, the sunlight, activities, outings. And, yet, for myself and my students I can feel sometimes the fun becomes hectic feeling and fast paced. Any mom, or parent, can tell you about multi-tasking, the zip of the day from wake up to bedtime. It’s from this place, that I asked my students to focus on learning to do nothing.

We spent several minutes in supta badha konasana, a reclined position with feet together, legs relaxed, palms facing up. My talk was about doing nothing, being with the breath, the stillness, the quiet. With each breath trusting that this moment doing nothing was what we were doing, was what we were supposed to be doing.

Throughout practice, I’d call them back to this nothing. To doing nothing. Physically, we were moving, but with a mindfulness approach to not strain or force the posture. It was important in this practice that we, “not argue with a pose” but give into it and just letting the body go to where it could go.

In some ways it was a mellow practice, yet it always maintained a very purposeful flow. Flowing through a yoga practice is beautiful in the dance it creates between body and breath. Learning to do nothing took us to a new level of release in the muscles and the mind settled into a beautiful, calm state of grace for savasana. Namaste.

~ jibean