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Have a Cuppa for Holiday Tension

November 28, 2012

Posted by Sharon

Many of my yoga students confide in me that they “can’t meditate.” In most cases, this is based on a misunderstanding of what meditation is. In many cases, I inform my students that, in fact, they have been meditating with me for years in our practices together! Here is a meditation in the form of a tea drinking ritual that everyone can enjoy and an added breathing exercise with aromatherpy for even more emotional balance.

Making an excellent cup of tea takes time. Use this time to focus on what you are doing. This ritual starts with the selection of your tea making equipment and mug. If at all possible, boil fresh water in a kettle on the stove or an electric kettle. If you must use a microwave, then you must, but for this ritual, it would be most effective if you boiled the water using heat generated from electricity or natural gas so that you can listen to the sound of the water bubbling and boiling. The type of tea that we will be using for our tension taming ritual is Earl Grey tea. Use whatever brand and either caffeinated or non-caffeinated, but you want a delicious and full-scented Early Grey. This type of tea is scented with Bergamot, an essential oil derived from the peel of a citrus fruit. It is a very special and effective form of aromatherapy that has deeply healing benefits. This beautiful organic black tea has both the benefits of bergamot and lavender. I’ve never tried it myself, but it looks delicious! Please let me know if you do try this tea and let me know how you like it. If you are looking for a recommendation, I have tried this loose leaf tea and it is absolutely fabulous. If you prefer tea bags, then I find that Tazo Tea’s Earl Grey is very smooth and has a lovely bergamot aroma. I like the taste of Twinings, but find that it is light on aroma and perhaps not as affective for this ritual as these others might be. Avoid a “Lady Grey” tea as they tend to be light versions of Earl Grey. Again, nothing wrong with Lady Grey teas! It’s just that we want a full bodied aroma for this ritual. There are also green tea versions of Earl Grey tea if you prefer lower caffeine and the benefits of green tea as well as caffeine free roobios versions. Find a great tea that works for your diet and lifestyle considerations. These links are just suggestions to get you started on your Earl Grey tea selection journey. These companies are not paying me and I don’t get any benefit when or if you purchase your teas. Please experiment and find the best tea for your taste. Enjoyment of your cuppa is a big part of this ritual!

Does it have to be Early Grey tea?

For this particular ritual, yes, it has to be Earl Grey tea. This being said, if you don’t like drinking tea or know that you don’t appreciate the flavor or aroma of Earl Grey tea, then don’t torture yourself! The whole point of this ritual is to decrease tension and increase joy. Consuming a beverage that you can’t enjoy is going to negate any benefit you might receive from this ritual. All this means is that this particular ritual is not for you. I plan on designing many little ritual-based meditations, so search the blog and try another idea that works for you.

This ritual is based on the healing aspects of bergamot—both the oil and the aroma of the oil. Here are just a few of these benefits:

*relieves tension, anxiety and depression

*the oil itself can be gargled to disinfect the mouth and used for cold sores (especially cold sores that appear when stress arises)

*the oil is excellent for preventing urinary tract infections

*create a spray mist of bergamot to clear stale air (especially effective if you have a tobaco smoke smell to deal with)

This ritual is about dealing with tension and not about perfection. So, don’t clean your kitchen first or delay the ritual until you run the dishwasher or clear the table of all the present wrapping and junk mail that comes with this time of year. Just do it. Personally, I always have to laugh when Yoga Journal or even Martha Stewart Living magazines (both of which I love by the way!) offer advice on how to relieve stress that involve pictures of women who are clearly well-rested, not covered in baby food or bits o’ toddler snacks and live in homes that have been cleaned by a team of others. The advice usually starts with setting yourself up in a quiet space where you can be left alone in your fabulously new and clean “relaxation practice outfit”………..HA! For this ritual, all you need is a (relatively) clean mug, a way to boil water and about fifteen minutes. You don’t have to be alone. You don’t need a special outfit. So, just push that “stuff” to the side and make it happen! This being said, as this ritual involves boiling water and a very hot beverage, you may want to wait until your baby or toddler has gone to sleep for a nap or is having quiet time if you are in the care of young children……..you don’t want anyone to get hurt.

Seven Step Cuppa Ritual for Tension Relief

Step 1: Boil fresh cold water. While you wait for the water to boil, wash your mug if it isn’t already clean and really experience the process—-the texture of the sponge, the way the warm water feels on your hands, smell the soap. If your mug is clean, you may want to take this time to wash your hands and perhaps apply some sandalwood, grapefruit, rose or lavender scented lotion. As the water starts to boil, listen to the qualities of bubbling and the energy of heat acting on the water. That’s a nice sound. Perhaps your kettle whistles or your electric kettle has a tiny bell to alert you to the fact that the water has come to a boil? Really listen.

Step 2: Pour the water over your tea bag or tea leaves either in a cup or a teapot as you wish. Listen to the sounds. Feel the weight of the kettle in your hands. Feel the weight of the water shift from the kettle to your mug or pot. When you are done pouring, place your face a comfortable distance from the rising steam and smell the first aroma of the Earl Grey tea. Light. Feel the warmth of the scent when accompanied by steam. Feel how your breath changes as you inhale the warm and damp air above your cup or teapot.

Step 3: Wait for it to brew. I’m not sure how long you would need to brew a green tea or a roobios tea version, but for black tea, no longer than 3-5 minutes or the Earl Grey tea can get bitter. Set a timer so you don’t have to think about it. As you wait, take deep breaths into your body and count. When you exhale, take longer to release the breath than you did to inhale the breath. If your sinuses are open, try breathing in and out through your nose. Inhale and slowly, slowly, slowly release the breath.

Step 4: Make your cup your own. I like to add a teaspoon of honey and a splash of milk. Perhaps you prefer lemon? Do whatever you need to do to make your cup of tea as delicious as possible.

Step 5: Find a place to sit. Yes, that’s right. Sit down. Push all the stuffed animals, socks and cheeze-it crumbs to the side, make room for your butt and then sit. As you wait for your tea to cool, become aware of your environment. Listen to the sounds of the room, feel the temperature of the air on your skin, notice the sensation of the parts of your body that are touching your seat and then feel your body, your skin, your feet.

Step 6: Don’t rush! Burning your mouth is not pleasant. When you feel that your tea has cooled to a temperature that is appropriate for you, then take your cup to your mouth and take a sip. Feel that each warm smallow of tea is bringing liquid calm to every cell in your body. Be confident that this cup of tea is going to improve your well-being. Through this ritual and this cup of tea you are giving yourself the greatest gift possible. The gift of the present moment.

Step 7: After you have finished your tea, do a gentle scan of your body before you stand up. Starting with your toes, feel and relax your whole body: feet, legs, belly, low back, middle back, upper back, heart, arms, hands, throat, neck, jaw, face, skull and all the space around you. Enjoy this feeling. Your whole body relaxed. That’s a nice feeling!

Repeat your little ritual as often as you like! Take the time to make time for the present moment and you will be delighted in how even a minimal investment is returned to you exponentially.

Bergamot Oil for a Calming and Balancing Pranayama

For this aromatherapy enhanced breathing exercise, you will need to purchase some high quality bergamot oil. I exclusively recommend and sell Floracopeia essential oils. They are very high quality and you can count on them to be pure and magical. If you are a new customer to Floracopeia, then Sharon offers a special 25% off discount to all of her clients. In order to receive the 25% discount off your entire order, you will follow this link and enter the DISCOUNT CODE: SharonRudyk. As bergamot oil on the skin increases your chance of experiencing photo-sensitivities, it is best to do this exercise during the winter or in a climate and environment with low light. If you live in a place with a lot of sun (lucky you!), then please stay out of the sun for at least 30-minutes after you use the bergamot oil on your hands. Also, you can become sensative to bergamot over time, so switch up your oil use. You can do this calming pranayama with different aromas and you are not likely to develop sensitivities to bergamot if you rotate your oils (other choices include clary sage, lavender, rose, cammomile or sandalwood).

Before you start the breathing exercise, place a drop of your chosen essential oil with a little carrier oil—–I like almond oil or jojoba oil if you have nut sensitivities—in the palm of your right hand and then rub your hands together. Come to a seated pose, either in a seated meditation pose on the floor or sitting upright in a chair, and place your left hand in gyana mudra (thumb tip to index finger tip—like giving the OK sign) on your left thigh or anywhere on your left leg that you can comfortably rest it. You will be using your right hand to alternatively open and close your nostrils.

Now you will begin Nadi Shodhana Pranayama which is also called Alternate Nostril Breath or Channel Clearing Breath. Here is a link to full information and instructions on this breathing exercise. As you have applied the essential oil to your right palm, each time that you breathe-in, you will draw the healing properties of the oil into your body and mind. Continue in this process for 3 or 5 minutes. Set a timer so that you can relax, focus on the breath and the scent of your palms and not on the time.

Step by Step

Sit in a comfortable asana and make Mrigi Mudra. Beginning pranayama students may have some difficulty holding their raised arm in position for the length of the practice. You can put a bolster across your legs and use it to support your elbow.

Gently close your right nostril with your thumb. Inhale through your left nostril, then close it with your ring-little fingers. Open and exhale slowly through the right nostril.

Keep the right nostril open, inhale, then close it, and open and exhale slowly through the left. This is one cycle. Repeat 3 to 5 times, then release the hand mudra and go back to normal breathing. (NOTE: some yoga schools begin this sequence by first closing the left nostril and inhaling through the right; this order is prescribed in the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, 2.7-10).

Benefits

Lowers heart rate and reduces stress and anxiety
Said to synchronize the two hemispheres of the brain
Said to purify the subtle energy channels (nadis) of the body so the prana flows more easily during pranayama practice

(Instructions and pranayama information all thanks to Yoga Journal)

This little ritual for real people is brought to you by Sharon Rudyk of Sharon Rudyk Yoga based in Squirrel Hill, Pittsburgh, PA 15217. Sharon is an independent yoga instructor offering mindful yoga and meditation practices, teacher training programs, mindful approaches to pregnancy, childbirth and parenting and classes for all ages and abilities. If you aren’t in Pittsburgh, Sharon would love to come and visit you and also works with long distance clients using SKYPE technology. Call Sharon at your convenience for a free consultation (412) 855-5692 and visit Sharon’s website for more information: http://www.sharonrudykyoga.com.

Week 2: Day 1: The End

April 22, 2012

Posted by Sharon

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During my “day of rest” in the 8-week series designed by Rodney Yee yesterday I not only took the opportunity to do a home practice that I really wanted to do, I also looked over my blog entries from the first week of the series. What was painfully obvious is that I don’t want to be doing this practice.

A home practice is not about self-punishment, it should feel really good. It should be about commitment, dedication and making choices that reflect a very personal and intimate evaluation about state of mind, breath and body. I really enjoy my home practice, but doing the series as designed by Rodney Yee felt a little bit like punishment—–I was really forcing myself, albeit unsucessfully, to do his program even when I didn’t feel like it.

This is precisely what makes a home practice different from a group practice. If I go to a group class and the instructor has us do six tree poses, then I am going to do those six tree poses to the best of my ability and depending on how I feel, the energy of the instructor and the energy of the group on the class, I’m either going to feel like I enjoyed the class or not or that I learned something new or not, but you can’t choose your own adventure when you go to a group class. When I practice at home, I always start out with some warm-up poses and seated grounding poses and then I organically move in a way that supports exactly where I am. Tight in the hips, I throw in pigeon pose. Tense through my spine? I’ll start with some twists. Basically, I start with a few poses that allow me to self-diagnose and then I do what feels best after that. It just doesn’t feel right to be by myself, all alone, doing what doesn’t feel right.

This is not, in any way, a judgement on the book or the series or sequences as designed by Rodney Yee. As a matter of fact, I think that, for someone who is relatively new to yoga and who wants to explore what it means to have a home practice, this is still a truly valuable reference. But, for someone who has been doing yoga for almost 20-years and already has an established home practice, this series feels like I am being asked to deny the wisdom of my practice, a practice that has served me well for quite some time now.

So, my 8-weeks of yoga with Rodney Yee ended after a week. In the end, I have learned many valuable things from this experience of just one week:

Moving Toward Balance: 8 Weeks of Yoga with Rodney Yee is an excellent reference book for yogis of all levels (including teachers) who want to learn how to sequence a yoga practice, to explore alignment and desire very clear written instructions that are complemented by instructive photographs. Regardless of whether you do the sequences as described, there is a lot of valuable information in this reference.
A home practice should never feel forced or like a punishment. While you shouldn’t shy away from poses or only do the same exact poses, yoga isn’t poses and pose practice isn’t yoga. If you take group classes regularly and want to try to do yoga at home, make sure that your home practice is something you look forward to. Even if you just roll out the mat and enjoy an extended savasana, that is just as valid of a home practice as anything else. Love it, enjoy it, benefit from it—–may your home practice be peace.
My current advice to students who want to start a home practice is actually the most helpful thing I can offer (I’m patting myself on the back here……). I suggest that you roll out your mat. Sit on your mat and breathe and see what happens. If you feel inspired to practice a particular asana or move in a particular way, then do that. If not, then do 5-10 cat/cow movements and see if you feel inspired. If no inspiration comes to you, move into child’s pose and do a few sun salutations. As you move through sun salutations, see what you feel inspired to—-perhaps a warrior pose or two, or maybe an eagle pose or maybe a tree pose or half-moon pose or…..you get the idea. Not inspired, come on down and do a bridge pose and then wind relieving posture and hug your knees into your chest. End with a 10-minute savasana. Whatever you do, end in a 10-minute savasana. I repeated that twice on purpose. Even if you just sit, breathe and then end with savasana, that’s a lovely practice. It might just be all you needed to start your day in peace or energize yourself in the middle of the day or close the day for a great night’s sleep. Whatever it is, it’s yours and yours alone.

I’ll keep writing my blog and practicing and hope you’ll keep reading. And, we’ll all sleep better tonight knowing that I’m no longer forcing myself to practice in a way that doesn’t bring peace to my life. Oh home practice, I missed you last week! Welcome back! Welcome home!

Day 5, Week 1: 8-Weeks with Rodney Yee

April 19, 2012

Posted by Sharon

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I just couldn’t help myself. I am not doing well with this meditation after savasana routine. Honestly, I’m exhausted. I’m doing my practice after a long day and night of mothering, working full time and dealing with the world and all the thoughts rumbling in my head. After savasana, the only thing left is to have a cup of tea, blog and take myself to bed. I understand completely why the meditation is after the savasana, but it isn’t a realistic order of things for me personally. So, yet another night of modifying the prescribed practice…….legs up the wall, meditation, savasana.

Please feel free to join me in my 8-week program with Rodney Yee. You can share your own experience by leaving comments on this blog. It’s OK if you start on a different day or we get out of sync. This is going to be fun!

Posted by Sharon Fennimore Rudyk, the fearless leader of Team Matrika. Are you in Pittsburgh, PA? Join us for a great class at Yoga Matrika in Squirrel Hill.

Day 4: Week One, Yoga with Rodney Yee

April 18, 2012

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“It is crucial to learn how to open your upper chest and your arms with increasing relaxation in your neck and sense organs (Yee, 54).”

“The repetition of Tree Pose and Warrior I in the following sequence lets your body make its own
subtle adjustments to bring understanding and ease in the poses (Yee, 54).”

Ever since I went back to working a job where I spent the majority of my time sitting in a chair in front of a computer screen, I have felt my chin migrate forward and I can just FEEL my whole head in front of my spine. It’s awful and it feels wrong. I try to remember to draw my chin in towards my heart and release my shoulder blades down my back during the day, but it is really challenging. When I finally get a chance to stand up, I feel desperate for a stretch. I just want to get into downward facing dog and feel the weight of my head releasing down from my spine instead of creating compression and tension as my atlas bone shouts for relief. So, yes, I agree—–it is crucial to keep the upper chest open with a relaxed neck and sense organs. Of course, easier said than done! I find it easier to address this task on the mat than in my “real life.”

As a teacher, I feel my students who are frustrated about the way their bodies perform and find shape in the asanas. The idea that we can allow the interior intelligence of the body to find full expression through the practice of asana is one that we all want to believe, yet we find it hard to imagine. We want to believe that we could yank or pull ourselves into a certain shape. Or, better yet, if our instructor could just help us “make it happen” with a magical adjustment. Even after many years of practice, I was rather skeptical that the repetition of Tree Pose and Warrior I was going to do much else but strain my body. Amazingly, it did not strain my body and, by the third set of tree poses, I felt significantly taller through my entire body. My arm pits seemed to rise with greater ease up and away from my hips and I felt elevated. Really. Almost without trying!

Please feel free to join me in my 8-week program with Rodney Yee. You can share your own experience by leaving comments on this blog. It’s OK if you start on a different day or we get out of sync. This is going to be fun!

Posted by Sharon Fennimore Rudyk, the fearless leader of Team Matrika. Are you in Pittsburgh, PA? Join us for a great class at Yoga Matrika in Squirrel Hill.

Day 2, Week One: Home Practice

April 16, 2012

Posted by Sharon

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I was surprised, but I really loved the opening sequence of one-minute downward dog poses followed by one minute standing forward bend poses. This opening sequence was both grounding and inspiring.

Otherwise, I’ve got three words about today’s practice: Too Much Triangle. And, really, I’m a big fan of triangle pose. It is both challenging and comforting. But, I just stopped doing the prescribed number of triangle poses in this practice because they didn’t feel right to me. I also added a child’s pose into the mix and closed my practice with a chanting session.

Perhaps, after years of having a regular home practice, it is just impossible to go back to following instructions when the instruction doesn’t make sense for how I feel? I know that, before I had a home practice I might not have even known how I felt and would probably have blindly followed the pictures and the practice as published.

Please feel free to join me in my 8-week program with Rodney Yee. You can share your own experience by leaving comments on this blog. It’s OK if you start on a different day or we get out of sync. This is going to be fun!

Posted by Sharon Fennimore Rudyk, the fearless leader of Team Matrika. Are you in Pittsburgh, PA? Join us for a great class at Yoga Matrika in Squirrel Hill.

Day One, Week One: Attachment & Weakness

April 15, 2012

Posted by Sharon

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A few weeks ago I threatened to start Rodney Yee’s 8-week Home Yoga Practice program from his book, Moving Towards Balance: 8-Weeks of Yoga with Rodney Yee and blog about my experience. Today, I’m making good on my threat. It’s Day One of Week One.

Today’s practice involved practicing multiple versions of some standing poses. Already, I’m kind of frustrated. After twenty-years of practice, I like doing these poses the way I like doing these poses. So, today, I met the beast of attachment head on and I did the poses the way Rodney wanted me to. I’m still going to keep doing the poses my way, but once I got over my attachment issues, I did find that doing the poses in the variety of ways that the practice suggested, I was able to find different sensation in the poses. It was really an invitation to feel the poses in a variety of different ways and this brought me into deeper awareness of sensation in my body and the alignment and use of my skeletal system.

I also discovered that I am weak. Seriously W-E-A-K. For each of the asana variations, we were instructed to hold the pose for 30-seconds. I confidently came into Warrior II only to find that my whole body wanted to give in at around five seconds. I have been holding poses for a mindful period of time, but only some poses that are a part of my regular Vajra Yoga practice. Being forced to hold other poses took me out of my strength-zone and I was surprised to find out how weak I felt when holding poses. In all fairness, I have been either pregnant or nursing a baby for the past 19-months and that is bound to exhaust a person and change strength and endurance in some ways and enhance it in others.

Finally, I should divulge that I did this practice in the center of my home’s family room with a sick five-year old sitting on the couch watching Pokemon videos and playing fruit ninja on my iPhone and my 9-month old dumping blocks out of a canvas bag near my head. While in downward facing dog, my 9-month old crawled under me and pinched my boob. Yes, you read this correctly—-she pinched my boob! But, I have to say that I felt a whole lot more open, centered and, if not really relaxed, more prepared to continue with the day than I did before practice. I mention this because so many adults feel that they can’t mke time for yoga because they keep waiting for the perfect moment, the perfect place or the time when they can have some peace and quiet. Yes, ideally you can make your practice about taking some time for yourself, but if you can’t, then just push aside the crumbs and the toys—–roll out the mat over the chaos and make it happen.

Please feel free to join me in my 8-week program with Rodney Yee. You can share your own experience by leaving comments on this blog. It’s OK if you start on a different day or we get out of sync. This is going to be fun!

Posted by Sharon Fennimore Rudyk, the fearless leader of Team Matrika. Are you in Pittsburgh, PA? Join us for a great class at Yoga Matrika in Squirrel Hill.

Practice What You Preach

March 18, 2012

Posted by Sharon

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For a couple of years now, the book I have used as a reference when planning Matrika Flow classes and that I consistently refer to my students that wish to develop their home practice is Rodney Yee’s text, Moving Toward Balance: 8-Weeks of Yoga with Rodney Yee. I am very familiar with this book and feel that it has wonderful pictures, very clearly written instructions and well-conceived sequences. I’ve always felt confident when I refer students and other teachers to this book.

But, if I’m going to be completely honest, I’ve never actually done the eight-week program. So, it’s time for me to step up to the mat and practice what I preach. My excuse has always been that I have a wonderful daily practice of yoga and meditation that I enjoy and I have never wanted to disrupt it. Why would I change a good thing? Well, there are LOTS of reasons why shaking things up a bit might be a good thing and I am going to make a commitment to this 8-week program. My intention is to blog my experience and hope that you might join me on this two-month journey either by reading along or trying the program yourself and commenting on my blog entries with your own experience.Who knows, maybe I will read the Guide to Career Education
and get a start on writing my own book!

I am going to start my eight-week practice journey on Sunday, April 15th and end on Sunday, June 10th. If you want to join me, please obtain a copy of the book before April 15th. Want to let me know you are joining me? Just comment on this post so I know I am not alone. I’ll blog about my experiences and hope you will keep me company by posting about your experience with these practices or this 8-week program in general.

Meet you on the Mat!

Posted by Sharon Rudyk, the fearless juggler mamma at Yoga Matrika, an intimate space for the exploration of yoga, meditation and generosity of spirit in Squirrel Hill, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Holiday Weekend Home Practice

July 3, 2010

Posted by Sharon

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One of the main foundational texts on the Buddha’s teachings on meditation, written by Upatissa in the first century after Christ, is called The Path of Freedom (Vimuttimagga). It is interesting to me that a path that requires dedication and practice, things that we tend to see as un-liberating, would be seen as producing a sense of freedom. In addition, this work that we do in yoga and meditation helps us to promote compassion for all living beings. In our American culture, there is significant value placed on being “independent.” When I was in the last few weeks of my pregnancy with my son, I visited with my future child’s pediatrician and he gave me a little booklet put together by the pediatric practice on how to prepare to care for a newborn. This booklet informed me that it was of the utmost importance that I obtain a crib and that my newborn sleep by itself. The booklet did inform me that this was the safest way for baby to sleep, but it also made clear that it was important for the baby to sleep alone so that it would gain a sense of independence. What a strange way to talk about a little one that so very clearly relies on its caregivers for everything. We even try to make complete dependence look like independence in our culture.

So, in honor of this holiday of independence, I give you this short home-practice that fosters inter-dependence and helps us to find peace in our relationship to the earth and to one another. Peace and love to everyone in the extended Yoga Matrika community–ENJOY! This is designed to be a very simple and mindful practice that is appropriate for everyone, but please be careful and if you have any concerns about practicing yoga, wait and talk with a teacher first.

Step 1: Grounding, Establishing our Relationship to the Earth (Vertical Relationships)

Find a place outdoors to stand (if you need to, please feel free to practice sitting in a chair) in your bare feet (ideally) or indoors if weather or environment requires it. Stand in Mountain pose with your feet hip-width apart. Legs are strong, but relax a bit through the knees. Roll your sitting bones under you and lengthen through the sides of the body. Roll your shoulders back slightly and let them drop down away from your ears. Stretch the crown of your head towards the sky.

Bring your awareness to your feet. Notice the weight of your body pressing down on the earth through the soles of your feet. Then, shift so that you bring your awareness to the pressure that the earth is exerting up into the soles of your feet. As you inhale deeply, focus on the weight of your body connecting with the earth. As you exhale all the air out of the body and the energy rises out through the crown of the head, feel the energy of the earth rising up through your feet through the entire body.

You can do this for as long or as little as you like, but I recommend 3-5 minutes. At the end of your grounding meditation, do some gentle stretching. Inhaling, reach your arms over head and stretch—-come up onto your toes if balance isn’t a problem for you. Explore your relationship to the earth and sky. Inhale stretch and reach. Exhale and release the stretch.

Step 2: Relax the Spine and Explore the Horizontal Relationship to the Earth

Come down onto the ground on your hands and knees. As you inhale, open your heart, let your belly drop towards the earth and stretch your sitting bones back behind you (wise cow). As you exhale, round through the spine, spreading the shoulder blades and bringing your chin towards your chest (cat). Continue on in this movement for 6-8 repetitions of Cat/Cow. Inhaling and opening the heart and exhaling and rounding the spine.

After these repetitions, come into Child’s Pose and hold it for 2-3 minutes.

Step 3: Stretch the Hips and Groin in a Seated Pose (Cobbler’s Pose)

Sit here for at least one minute, but preferably 2-3 minutes. Breathe deeply into the body and feel the connection between your pelvis and the earth beneath you. As you exhale, feel the energy rise from the base of the spine up through the crown of your head. Feel open and confident.

Step 4: Explore the Back Body and the Legs with Head to Knee Pose

Relax through your shoulders, face, neck and jaw and just allow gravity to do the work. You should feel a nice stretch through the sides of the back and the leg, but do not strain to touch your toes. Actually, do not strain at all. Allow this stretch to be pleasurable and be curious about sensation in your body as you stretch and breathe.

Step 5: Happy Baby

Have fun! Wiggle your toes. Roll around and move and smile. There you go!

Step 7: Savasana

Do not skip this pose. Find a comfortable place to lie down and just be present for your thoughts, for your breath, for your feelings and body. Try not to judge and just BE for 5 to 10 minutes.

Interdependence

Gentle

By Sharon

1	Tadasana Mountain Pose
2	Bitilasana Cow Pose
3	Marjaryasana Cat Pose
4	Baddha Konasana Bound Angle Pose
5	Janu Sirsasana Head-to-Knee Forward Bend
6	Ananda Balasana Happy Baby Pose
7	Savasana Corpse Pose
Yoga Journal Sequence Builder, Patent pending This sequence designed by Sharon Rudyk, Owner and Director of Yoga Matrika. You can design your own sequences at Yoga Journal online. We hope you’ll stop by our beautiful studio in Squirrel Hill, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania sometime soon.

Yoga & Pittsburgh Rain

September 30, 2009

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I can’t help but notice that, when it rains, less people come to yoga classes. There’s something about the damp, grey and chilly weather that re-directs intentions and leads people to their home destination rather than to the studio or their mat. Rather than write this to make all of you who have been skipping your yoga classes in Pittsburgh for the past couple of rainy days feel guilty, I am writing this because it has inspired me to think about yoga practice as a way of grounding and coming home that provides the same comfort as skipping school and cuddling with your cat instead.

When we feel this need to “go home,” there are ways to shift our practice so that we create an embrace of asana and breath that warms the heart-mind and body. First, honor your mat. Make a ritual of your practice and have placing your mat on the earth as one of the elements of that ritual. Your mat becomes the sacred place where you can explore the embrace of spirit and mindfulness. When you take your seat and you want to set a cozy tone for your practice, make it a soft seat. You can do this by placing a cushion under your sitting bones and blankets under your ankles and knees. If you are in a cooler space, drape a shawl or light blanket over your shoulders.

Start your practice with a heart warming chant of the seed syllable “Hung.” First, watch your breath and then, as you deepen the breath, sing “Hung” using your diaphragm muscles and slowly allowing the vibration to ease tension in your heart. You can chant this syllable for as long as you like, just repeating it over and over again. Notice where you feel the sound vibrations and give yourself a few minutes after you are done to feel the differences in your body and the quality of your thoughts and breath.

Finally, give yourself permission to stretch and open to movement in your practice in a more organic way. Not sure where to start, get on your hands and knees and so a few cat/cow and see where the spirit moves you. Perhaps, you will want to move into some seated stretches or maybe a series of heart opening back bends? Maybe you will come into downward facing dog and move through a series of lunges and warrior poses. Maybe you will realise that what you really need is to take your legs up the wall and daydream! Whatever it is, keep the cozy intentions of your practice and make yourself feel at home.

Cheer up Pittsburgh!

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