Pose For The Day – Bhujangasana (Cobra)

Bhujangasana or Cobra pose is a wonderful, energizing backbend that heals the spine and strengthens the back.  Begin lying flat on your stomach. Place hands by the rib cage.  With your legs together, engage your buttocks as you press your pubic bone firmly to the earth. As you press the hands to the earth, begin peeling your torso from the earth into a back bend.  Stretch your neck and lift your eyes towards the ceiling.  Hands can remain on the earth or for a more advanced version, bring your hands to your thighs and lift your torso higher.

If you have back issues, decrease your range of motion.

Quote For The Day

“Science may have found a cure for most evils; but it has found no remedy for the worst of them all — the apathy of human beings.”

~ Helen Keller

Quote For The Day

“And in the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.”

~Abraham Lincoln

Quote For The Day

“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”

~Martin Luther King Jr.

Practice – Yoga For Meditation

Yoga brings comfort and stability in the body.  When the body is relaxed, meditation can be accomplished with less effort.

Yoga Sutra 2:46 – STHIRA SUKHAM ASANAM. Asana is a steady, comfortable posture.

The following yoga sequence can bring comfort for meditation practice.

Baddha Konasana (Seated Bound Angle)

Cat and Dog

Lunge

Downward Facing Dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana)

Pigeon (Eka Pada Kapotanasana)

Seated Triangle (Upavista Konasana)

Lotus (Padmasana)

If you have knee or hip issues, please refrain from attempting Lotus.

Quote Of The Day

“Anyone who proposes to do good must not expect people to roll stones out of his way, but must accept his lot calmly if they even roll a few more upon it.”

~ Albert Schweitzer

Ask The Yogi

Q:  ”What is all this CYT and RYT stuff after yoga instructors names?”

A:  CYT stands for Certified Yoga Teacher and RYT stands for Registered Yoga Teacher.  This is a way of telling the public that the teacher has taken the “required” teacher training in order to be a safe instructor.  The idea for certification started years ago when some yoga instructors were concerned about untrained people teaching yoga to the public and risking injuring people. While this is a valid idea, it is still no guarantee that your teacher will be safe.  Many teacher training programs are hastily put together and some will even pass people through their program like a fast food restaurant.  Some programs will even accept people who have NO yoga experience.  The reason – yoga teacher training programs are extremely lucrative and a full program equals big bucks.

RYT means that you are registered with the Yoga Alliance.  What is the Yoga Alliance? It is a group of yoga teachers who are supposed to monitor other yoga teachers and make sure that ethics are “enforced”.  Do they actually do this?  In my experience, no.  There are plenty of questionable people on the Yoga Alliance roster and my opinion is that they (Yoga Alliance)  collect money and do little else.  You really can’t enforce anything in yoga nor can you truly organize it.  My question to those who want to “police” yoga is this: who is policing the police and what is the criteria to make sure those in charge are also following “ethical guidelines”?  Personally, I refuse to be a part of it.  But many beginning teachers find the lure of those little initials gives them credibility in the public’s eye (and perhaps confidence about their own abilities).

If you are searching for a yoga teacher, don’t be fooled by the those initials.  Ask the teacher about their experiences, how long they’ve been personally practicing yoga, who they’ve studied with, what their philosophy is and how they feel yoga benefits them.  Take a class in person and see if you are a good fit.  Ultimately, what matters most is how you feel about the teacher, not some fancy (or dubious) credentials.

Shanti,

Theresa

PS Although I refuse to be part of the Yoga Alliance, I do put the CYT (Certified Yoga Teacher) initials after my name (this has nothing to do with the Yoga Alliance) as a way to let those who need to see it know that I have had over 200 hours of training.  But my students usually don’t give a rip about that – all they seem to care about is getting their yoga on!  :)

Quote For The Day

“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.” ~ John F. Kennedy

Pose For The Day – Marichi’s Pose

Twists are the perfect for detoxing (what better thing to do after a holiday of feasting?).  They get the digestion working better and tone the inner organs.  Marichi’s Pose (named after the god who was the son of Brahma).

Sit in Dandasana (Staff Pose).  Bend right knee and put the foot on the floor.  Keep the left leg engaged and straight, gently pressing out through the heel.  Inhale, lengthen your spine. As you exhale, twist to the right, wrapping your left hand around your knee and putting the right hand on the earth behind you.  You could also bring the elbow of the left arm to the outside of the right knee (pictured above) to deepen your twist.  Look to the right.

Unwind.  Repeat on the other side.

If you have back issues, especially herniated disks, please be GENTLE.  Decrease range of motion as needed.

Quote For The Day

“If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly, our whole life would change.”

~Buddha

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