Tag: exhale

Attitude of Gratitude? Not so much.

November 23, 2016
Posted by Sharon

While we all know that cultivating an attitude of gratitude is a part of living our most joyful life, how can we authentically do this when we are less than grateful?  Feeling ashamed or guilty about the “real” nature of our feelings, or pretending to be thankful for what we would have very much preferred to say “NO thank you” to in our lives gets in the way of happiness and creativity.  What if your heart is broken?  What if you are in terrible pain without relief in sight?  What if you have received terrifying news that has changed your life in an even more awful way?  Even with all the joyful self-help gurus and happy, shiny, advanced yogi specialists beaming at you from their glossy magazines promising peace and abundance for all your expressions of gratitude, and even as much as you wish to crawl into their tie-dyed yoga pants and bask in the bliss of all that they proclaim and stand for, the truth is that when your life is going to Hades in a hand basket…….well, no matter how thin you slice it, it’s still baloney.

But, if you are reading this, you DO have something to be grateful for.  This something does not, in any way, diminish however awful things are for you right now.  As the Buddha taught us, suffering is a part of the human existence.  We suffer because we desire things to be anything other than what they are right now.  We suffer because we are afraid, when things are wonderful, that we will lose that fabulous feeling.  Therefore, we know that our suffering can exist at the same time as our one thing that we always have to be grateful for.  What is this one thing that is ever-present?  Breath.  Yes, if you are reading this or even aware enough to listen to someone else who can read it to you, then you have this one thing that you can be grateful for in this moment.

You don’t have to pretend that all the suffering isn’t there.  Well, at least, don’t pretend on my account!  I don’t even own a single pair of tie-dyed yoga pants for you to covet or crawl into. (Although, if anyone reading this is inclined, I would absolutely LOVE a pair!)  I’m suggesting that there is a way to cultivate gratitude even when all hope is lost.  The beauty of observing the breath and being genuinely thankful that it is with you, of you, and through you, is that you create a little hope and space where there just didn’t seem like any could be found or made.  No, all your problems aren’t solved.  But, the subtle shift may be just the little miracle you need.  If not, you were taking those breaths anyway and so nothing gets lost through your effort.

I was recently reading a book about the subtle body by Tias Little.  I randomly opened it to a page with a breathing exercise that described the lungs as an upside down tree with the branches (lung tissue) towards the earth and the roots in the upper palate/roof of the mouth. I love this visualization because, in Chinese subtle body mapping, the color of the liver energy is green.  In Hatha yoga chakras, green is the color of the heart-chakra.  Therefore, when we breathe in, we can grow green leaves and fill the branches of our respiratory tree making it more and more lush with each in-breath.  As you exhale, you can feel those roots reach towards the crown of your head and pull up on the roof of your mouth.  There is actually a pleasure center of the brain that is located right above the upper palate of the mouth.  When you exhale, the palate lifts and stimulates this center.  Thinking about this tree helped me stay focused on the breath in a very powerful way.  When I am very upset, using a strong visual tool like this helps me stay present with the breath.  Otherwise, my mind tends to wander and feed my sadness, fear, or pain.  Sure, when times are calm and good we can be aware of the in-breath, breathing in, and aware of the out-breath, breathing out. But, in times of chaos and confusion, using visualization can mean the difference between a nourishing and a frustrating practice.

Please do not feel that accessing these few moments of peace require that you deny the reality of your sufferings.  Feel all your feelings, know what is true for you, and be authentic in your expression and communication!  All the while, know that you can also create a sanctuary of peace and beauty through the practice of breath awareness.  Although the in and out nature of the breath happens without your explicit effort, you can still find some gratitude in the presence of breath.  How lovely to feel and hear the breath coming in!  How amazing to be able to feel the release of the breath and all that is no longer needed!  It is happening right now.

Posted by Sharon Fennimore, a yogini, teacher, and writer based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  Find out more here.

 

 

Art of the Inhale

October 24, 2010
Posted by Sharon
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At Yoga Matrika, an intimate community-based yoga studio in Squirrel Hill, Pittsburgh, I offer a class three times a week called Body, Breath and Mind.  These are intermediate level yoga classes with a holistic approach to yoga practices including asana, pranayama, energy anatomy,philosophy and ethics and meditation.

This week, one of the pranayama exercises we will practice is Anuloma Krama.  This beautiful breathing practice starts with a complete exhale.  The empty lungs are then filled in two sips of breath with a pause between.  In this sweet ode to the in-breath, we pause to appreciate what it feels like to be full of potential, energy and life.  Then, we realize that we can open just a little bit more.  Then, we pause in this great state of expansion and life before returning to where we began, with a complete exhale.

While these instructions are given here for general use, it is important to note that:

  • Many people should not hold their breath, including women who are pregnant.  Please ask your doctor if you have any questions about whether or not this type of breathing exercise is appropriate for you.
  • If you are not a regular yoga student, the pause between breath might be too long for you.  Start with less than 5-seconds of pause and build your way up to 5-seconds over time.
  • While practicing pranayama, it is important to practice in a comfortable way.  If you experience discomfort on either the in-breath, out-breath or the pause, reduce your effort to a comfortable level.
  • It is best to have a competent pranayama instructor when you are first learning.  Please ask your instructor to work with you on this exercise.

ANULOMA KRAMA

Step 1: find a comfortable seat in a chair or on the floor.  Breathe in and out through your nose if you aren’t congested.  Let your belly fill with breath on the inhale and gently pull your navel towards your spine on the exhale.  Enjoy these deep and rhythmic breaths.

Step 2: Exhale completely

Step 3: Inhale the first 1/2 of your breath by filling from the pit of your throat to your sternum is about 5-seconds.

Step 4: Pause for 5-seconds

Step 5: Inhale the second 1/2 of your breath by filling from your sternum to your pubic bone in about 5-seconds.

Step 6: Pause for 5-seconds.

Step 7: Exhale completely

[Return to step 3 and continue for 5-8 minutes.  Then, breathe in and out naturally for 2-minutes and just notice how you feel.]

Mindful Focus of the Week

December 1, 2009
Posted by Sharon
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Last week, the focus for Mindful Yoga was “the organs.”  We learned to support asana using the internal structures of the body and acknowledge our organs for all that they do. 

This week, our focus is the sacral center (2nd Chakra).  I always pick a focus based on what I am working on in my personal practice and recently, for the first time in years, I managed to aggravate my sciatic nerve.  It’s hard to say how I did it—-Demonstrating a reverse triangle when I wasn’t warmed up?  Carrying a heavy messenger bag on one shoulder?  Sitting with my legs crossed for too long?  Good news is that it doesn’t matter how it happened, only that it’s over now and the experience provided inspiration to give some juicy love to the sacrum this week.

The sacral area is associated with creativity and when we create and acknowledge sensation here we are filled with optimism, passion and direction.  Life is vibrant!

If you can’t make it to Mindful Flow on Tuesday night at Yoga Matrika in Pittsburgh, then here is a little exercise that will take less than 10-minutes that you can do anywhwere to change your energy and open up to a little creative juice:

SIT
On the floor with your legs crossed OR on the edge of a chair.

BREATHE
Take at least 10 deep breaths so that the in-breath takes a minimum of 4-counts and the out-breath is released to an equal count.  It may take a few minutes to slow the breath down and open to this depth.  Take as much time as you need.

MOVE
For one minute, start to take your upper body in circles over your hips.  Keep circling in the same direction for the entire minute, inhaling as you circle forward and exhaling as you circle back.  The breath should be relaxed and the movement should be at a speed that allows you to take full deep breaths.

After a minute, change directions and take your upper body in circles over your hips in the opposite direction.  Breathing in as you circle forward and exhaling as you round back. 

LIE DOWN
For five minutes, lie down on the floor with your hips propped up on a folded blanket or pillow.  If this causes any pain in your lower back, then bend through your knees and place your feet flat on the floor.  Breathing in, feel your belly rise towards the ceiling.  Exhaling, feel your belly release towards your spine. 

 

Slowly sit up and move on to the next wonderful thing with a little more spring in your step, oxygen in your blood and a juiced up pelvis—-Vroom! Vroom! 

Posted by Sharon Fennimore Rudyk
Owner and Director of Yoga Matrika
https://www.yogamatrika.com/

This great idea is inspired by Gurmukh’s wonderful book, “The Eight Human Talents” published in 2000 by Harper Collins.  Highly recommended!

Desire & Deserve

October 17, 2009
Posted by Sharon
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I was recently supervising my preschooler in the tub and, while he engaged in an imaginary battle between a Thomas the Tank Engine bath squirter and a Fisher Price fisherman, decided to pick up my shampoo bottle and read the text.  This text informed me that, by using this particular product, I would obtain results that would give me the hair that I both desired and deserved.

The desired part, I could identify with.  Of course, I desire healthy, shiny, full, fresh smelling and bouncy hair with appropriate fullness.  I certainly desire to protect my hair from anything that might cause damage.  This may be a whole lot of hope to place in dead skin cells, but I could not deny as I read the back of that bottle that, yes, I desired these things.  Admittedly, I also made my purchase with some hope that using this particular product would, in fact, help me obtain a head of hair that had just this list of delicious qualities.  For those of you who know me, I currently have a head of hair to rival Elvira—-it’s super long, grey at the temples and generally swept up in a casual way with a clip.  So, if I have desires for my hair, it’s both a whole lot of desire and a whole lot of hair to desire it with.

The deserved part, well, this seems problematic (at best!).  Exactly what kind of hair do I deserve and what have I done to deserve hair with these qualities?  I was immediately brought back to a Bill Crosby sketch where he made fun of folks who got drunk to the point of being physically ill at happy hours on Fridays because they had worked so hard that week that they deserved to get drunk. [Curious?  Need a good laugh? Check it out here:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYsko_tc3a0 ] After an immediate chuckle at this remembering, I started to think about the relationship between our yoga practice and what we desire and deserve.

In general, although we may not be honest with ourselves about the nature of our desire, we start taking yoga classes or start any specific class or practice with a certain goal or want or need that we would like to have satisfied.  We want to relieve stress, feel better, have more energy, look younger, be more fit, lose weight, make friends, be able to say that we too do yoga and fit in, lower our chances of heart disease, get pregnant or find some kind of blissful state.  These desires can be helpful in our practice when we acknowledge them with honesty (satya) and a certain level of willingness to release the desire long enough to focus on our breath and the practice at hand.  Perhaps our practice will show us that we have passions and desires that we were not aware of or not able to name.  In this sense, our practice can help illuminate certain truths about ourselves that may have been hidden.  This type of self-awareness is priceless and our practice, as it evolves, will reveal a revolving set of desires as well.

Thinking about the concept of deserve is at once very non-yogic and what yoga is all about.  It’s at the heart of so many philosophical debates about why bad things happen to good people.  Exactly what does anyone deserve and what role do we play in facilitating our own receipt of that just reward or just punishment.  In some ways, this is part of our exploration of satya (honesty) and ahimsa (non-violence).  When we are honest during our practices and create a flow of movement and breath that is steady and rhythmic that, in turn, steadies the mind, then we are also honoring our limits.  We are, one might say, getting the practice we deserve.  What happens when we fail to honor our limits?  The breath is short and our muscles are shaky and our footing is un-centered.  We feel weak, overwhelmed and our minds jump from one instruction to the next, one pose to the next, one shaky and aching shoulder/neck/thigh to the next.  In this case, one might also say that we are getting the practice we deserve.  On the other hand, we may just be re-enforcing the beliefs that we have about what we deserve that we carry with us on and off the mat.

I would like to suggest that you deserve a calm breath, ease through body and mind and a relationship with spirit that is both an inspiration and guide to act according to your highest ideals.  I desire this for you.  While you may desire a toned and lighter body, less stress, greater sex appeal or a sweaty romp through a familiar and anonymous flow—-you might get what you don’t deserve!  Injury, headaches, a racing heart, exhaustion, shallow breath and negative thoughts racing through your mind about how you would have been able to keep up if you were just a little younger, thinner, or more fabulous.  Desire is an intention that we can guide to a variety of opportunities and possibilities.  This week, in your practice, notice what you desire and see if you get what you deserve.

If all seems a great failure, I assure you that, apparently, bliss is available from an easily obtained bottle of shampoo straight off the shelf at Rite Aid—-for less than $4.00.  So, with a guarantee so close by and so economically obtained, what do you have to lose if you expand these concepts and take them onto your mat with you this week?  Before coming into a pose, honestly ask what it is that you desire from it.  When you come out of the pose, experience what it is that you deserve. Exhale.  You are beautiful!

 

Posted by Sharon Fennimore Rudyk
Owner and Director of Yoga Matrika in Pittsburgh, PA
https://www.yogamatrika.com/
http://www.sharonrudykyoga.info
http://www.prenatalyogapittsburgh.com