This Little Light of Mine: Winter Solstice Flow

Winter Solstice is one of my favorite days of the year. It’s not only the darkest day, but also serves as a pivot point as we witness the light coming back, day by day, after it’s over. While some celebrate this as a religious holiday, everyone can embrace the great qualities that Winter Solstice has to offer as a day for meditation, stillness, and cultivating your own inner light for the coming year.

As 2012 comes to a close, there’s been some big, awful, dark moments in the USA and the world. Personally, I feel the need to embrace and shine my own light as an offering to those that are in need, suffering and enduring atrocities I can hardly imagine. And that’s just what I’m gonna do tonight, via this slow-flow practice. 

Join me by practicing this flow at your own pace. I’ll be practicing in a dark room only lit by a few candles and playing some of my favorite quiet classical music (Chopin), but you can adjust your environment and speed to suit your own inner light. Times listed for seated pieces are merely a suggestion 🙂

Winter Solstice Flow

Opening, 10min: Sit in Padmasana (lotus) or Sukhasana (easy pose/criss-cross applesauce), with your hands at heart center in Open/Blossoming Lotus Mudra. Close your eyes and begin breathing in slow, dirga pranyama (3 part breath).

Focus your intention on your inner light, the glowing good of your being. Visualize your brilliant, beautiful goodness radiating from your open lotus hands and spreading, washing light warm, thick, shimmering radiance outwards to your entire being. Think of a time in recent memory when you have given to others, yourself, a stranger, the world at large in a completely selfless way. It doesn’t have to be elaborate, it can be as simple as smiling at someone you don’t know, comforting a friend in need or embracing a family member. Use this visualization to tap in to your basic goodness and let it shine, reaching the boundaries of your body and spreading into the darkness around you. Visualize yourself as a radiant star of compassion, a beautiful burst of light in a black, dark sky. Now imagine that your radiance is growing further, from a twinkling star to a brilliant sun, gaining energy and burning brighter, shining onto those you love, every being you’ve come to contact with and those you’ll never know. Sit here, focusing on your radiance until you feel you’re ready to blink your eyes open and begin your flow.

Kindling: Section I

Breath of Fire: 40 breaths- Once your eyes are open, let your hands drop to your knees, still staying seated. Begin breath of fire, warming up your being and sparking energy in your body. If breath of fire becomes to taxing, take one-two deep breaths in and out, then resume breath of fire. 

Stoking the Fire: From seated, reach your hands forward and roll over your legs to a hands and knees position. From this point on, use ujjayi pranyama (victorious breath) during the flow, unless otherwise noted. Curl your toes under and push your hips to the sky, coming into Adho Mukha Svanasana, Downward Facing Dog, then flow, jump or step up to Ardha Uttanasana (halfway lift), then fold to Uttanasana (forward fold), and reverse swan-dive, scooping up radiance as you take your arms overhead to Urdhva Hastasana (upward hands), then hands to heart center in Open Lotus Mudra.

Radiating: Section II: Take this slow, but with each breath in focus on inhaling shimmering light from around you. With ever exhale, radiate your own light for the benefit of the world.

Sun Salutation A X3, Sun Salutation B X3 

Radiant Flow: Start on Right, then Repeat Left where indicated.

Five Pointed Star 

Warrior II

Peace Warrior

Extended Triangle

Half Moon Pose

Warrior I

Vinyasa (cartwheel your hands to frame your foot -> Chaturanga -> Up Dog -> Down Dog -> Ardha Uttanasana (halfway lift/flat back), -> Uttanasana (forward fold), reverse swan-dive to Urdhva Hastasana (upraised hands), -> Samastitihi (hands at heart center, open lotus)

Repeat on Left Side

Vinyasa (cartwheel your hands to frame your foot -> Chaturanga -> Up Dog -> Down Dog -> Ardha Uttanasana (halfway lift/flat back), -> Uttanasana (forward fold), reverse swan-dive to Urdhva Hastasana (upraised hands), -> Samastitihi (hands at heart center, open lotus)

And to make sure our light is balanced, Right then repeat on Left:

Utthita Hasta Padangustasana

Natarajasana

Vrksasana (with slight backbend, upraised arms and radiant heart)

Burning Bright: Section III- Pick up the pace a little, still focusing with each breath on inhaling shimmering light from around you, but gathering heat to make your light burn brighter. With ever exhale, radiate your own fiery light for the benefit of the world.

Start on the Right, Repeat on Left:

Urdhva Hastasana -> Uttanasana -> Ardha Uttanasana -> Chaturanga Dandasana -> Up Dog -> Down Dog -> Anjaneyasana  (get as much of a back bend and radiation of the heart as is possible) -> Hanumanasana -> Pidgeon (or king pidgeon, with arms upraised and heart open) -> Down Dog -> Wild Thing -> Down Dog ->Ardha Uttanasana -> Uttanasana -> Urdhva Hastasana -> Samastitihi

 

Twinkling: Section IV- Now we begin to reel it back in. Don’t want to burn out! (get it… HAR). Focus now on smoldering inside like a dwindling ember, calming down your brilliant energy and becoming quieter, more internal. For each posture in this sequence, return to dirga pranyama to calm the energy down.

Vinyasa to belly (Urdhva Hastasana -> Uttanasana -> Ardha Uttanasana -> Chaturanga Dandasana -> lower to the belly.

Bhjangasana- Cobra Pose

Ardha Shalambasana- Half Locust

Shalambasana- Locust

Dhanyurasana– Upward Bow Pulling Pose

Then release back to the belly, coming to stillness as you breathe for as many minutes as you need, coming back down to earth.

Push back to Balasana, child’s pose, then walk your hands up your thighs and come to a seated position. 

Dandasana

Purvottonasana (upward plank)

Paschimottonasana (intense western stretch)

Baddha Konasana (bound angle pose)

Upavishta Konasana (seated angle pose)

Baddha Konasana 

Ardha Matsyendrasana R (Half Lord of the fishes pose)

Fire Log Pose

Ardha Matsyendrasana L 

Now gracefully get on your back by sitting in easy pose, then lowering down to the mat.

The Embers: Closing Section- Slow your breath down further and begin to let it all go. We have a few more postures left before our final pose, Savasana. Take these last postures as a final place where you experiment with what light you can give and what light you can ask of from the universe. Slow, dirga pranayama throughout.

Setu Bandhasana (bridge pose) 

Urdhva Dhanurasana (upward bow/wheel pose)

Salamba Sarvangasana (Shoulderstand)

Plow Pose

Karnapidasana

Matsyasana (fish pose)

Savasana- Settle into corpse pose and let it all come down. Once you’ve come to stillness, allow your breath to come back to normal, releasing all effort in the practice. Come back to the same focus as our opening, meditating on your basic goodness and drawing your light back in to your heart center. Stay here for as long as you need. 

 

 

 

Spirit is something no one can destroy… aka My Spiritual Biography

At the last teacher training weekend, we were given an assignment:

Write your spiritual biography.

Rules:

1. It’s due by the September training weekend.
2. It can either be 100 percent grounded in “the real world” or it can include miracles, perceptions, daydreams, magical realism or any way you experienced your journey.
3. It should be honest.

It seems like a simple enough premise, but it’s actually really daunting for me. My spirituality is a very intimate subject and even though I have big, fat opinions like most do about spirituality and religion, my own experiences are something I don’t readily share with everyone. While I can be a loud and boisterous gal, I’m not the first to trumpet what I feel, think and have experienced deep-down throughout my spiritual journey. While I’m sure the biggest reason for this is that I’ve found that talking about what I believe in causes, in more cases than most, for the person I’m talking to to either:

• try to challenge what I think, believe or have experienced;
• ask me a lot of questions about why I think one thing or another, with a wise, knowing face;
• explain to me why what I feel/believe is wrong;
• look at me funny because I believe in “crazy” things.

But a deal’s a deal and a journey’s a journey and I have to write what I’ve experienced. So, here’s what I’m going to be doing. I’ll be writing my spiritual biography over the next few months and will be locking it in this journal. Like some ridiculous Easter egg from a DVD (remember when those were The Hotness??) it will be hidden in this little blog, with only my eyes on it. If anyone out there decides they want to read what I’ve written they can do so by:

• posting to this thread
• hitting me up with an email or Facebook message
• magically hack into this blog and receive its bounty as payment for the Lamest Hacking Job Ever.

And maybe when I’m done, if I have the yogiCohones, I’ll post it here for all the view. But for now it will be under wraps while it’s in its infancy, adolescences and so forth. The purpose of this post is not to be an Epic Tease, but to start the inquiry and to keep myself honest, I swear.

Ok maybe to be an eeensy weensy bit of a tease, but mostly for the inquiry.

Namaste.

The Fear Monster

Fear can be a terrible thing. It sneaks up in your brain, makes a home, then seems to follow you around, sabotaging your days and eroding confidence. When I think about the vision of fear, I instantly see Fuseli’s Nightmare paintings: a dark little monster sitting heavily, immobilizing us from our true purpose.

One of the funny misconceptions I had about Yoga when I started was that it was always a relaxing, liberating and joyous practice. I was ignorant of how extremely terrifying it can be sometimes. Like when you get to a pose that you know is a challenge, or you have to get to a balance point in an inversion or hell, even the basic fear of , “I’m just no good at this!” In times like these, I find that my inner voice starts to fold in on itself like a nautilus, yelling, “retreeeeat!” and flashing comfy images of my couch, The Real Housewives and a big bowl of ice cream (pretty much my favorite formula for combating fear and bad emotions).

I’ve had a lot of fear in my life lately. Fear that if I do find I love teaching yoga, that opens the possibility of leaving behind what I know career wise and embracing a new calling. If I’m being totally honest, my main fears don’t like in being any good at teaching yoga or completing my training, but in leaving behind the lucrative career I’ve built and the security of the “daily grind.” It’s horrible and totally non-Yoga-like to admit that it’s all bout the money money, but there it is. I’m afraid that leaving what I know behind and taking a risk will hurt my life, my career and my family.

Because, like a lot of people, I was raised to believe that the course of life is: grow up, go to school, get a good job in a stable environment that pays well, keep excelling at it, have kids, make more money, take vacations, retire.

One of the most terrifying things I’ve done lately is put my deposit down on teacher training. It was like tattooing my soul, saying, “this is going to happen, no matter what your fears say.” It was my own declaration of trust in myself and kicking my fears in the face. All that said, I’m still terrified sometimes. Well, a lot. But I have to trust my true purpose and go with it.

Here’s an awesome quote I’m keeping around lately:

Our deepest fears are like dragons guarding our deepest treasure. (Rainier Maria Rilke)

Just something amazing to think about. Whether your fear is rocking out a hand-stand or leaving behind comfort and predictability for what you truly love, I wish this for you and for me: Let’s kick our fear monsters in their fat fat faces.

That’s all. Namaste

You’ve got a “Friend” in me

OMG terrible pun I know. But I have to admit, I’m so tied up in this John Friend Yoga Controversy 2012 that I can’t stop reading about it. Both from the side of me that is fascinated with human behavior, how we create and tear down idols and the duality of yoga as a practice as well as a money making machine and from the part of me who just enjoys sitting down at the computer and watching the drama fly.

While there’s so much craziness going around about it (check out Yoga Dork) that I don’t feel the need to summarize, the latest and most brilliant thing I’ve seen lately is not from a post, but in comments…. It’s a random act of brilliance that needs to be spread to the yoga community in general, all thanks to a poster on HuffPost on Elena Brower’s statement re: quitting Anusara and her part in the JFC2012…

It’s the concept of Yoga Glitter.

Yoga Glitter: Co-opted from queer culture, the act of throwing virtual glitter on Yoga teachers, bloggers, etc. when they start to get too serious about crap.

LOVE!

OK, off to work.