Lavender eye pillows comfort and soothe

I collect eye pillows, mostly ones that I make myself on my grandmother’s 40-year-old Sears Kenmore sewing machine. I have a whole basket of different eye pillows–cotton, silk brocade, flannel– you name it, I have one. I learned how to sew myself, and it was no easy feat, given that I didn’t grow up with many domestic skills. My mother died when I was five years old, and I grew up under the careful guidance of my father and brother. Sewing just wasn’t something I learned as a child. At age 47, however, I wanted to try to start making and selling a unique product that my fellow yogis would love just as much as I do.

My lavender eye pillows are made with soft pre-washed cotton fabric and filled with flax seed, rice and organic dried lavender. They’re 9 x 4 inches and weigh about 8 ounces. I wrap each eye pillow individually in a hygienic poly bag. They can be placed in the freezer to create a cold compress, or microwaved for 30 seconds to warm them. Great for yoga practice, headaches, or for insomnia.

Compliment your yoga practice with a luscious lavender eye pillow, to comfort, soothe, and guide you further into yourself for a totally relaxing experience. Affordably priced at $10 each, plus shipping and handling. Buy one today!

Cost: $10, plus shipping

See my other eye pillow selections by clicking here!

Feel sad during Winter? Try restorative yoga

Do you feel depressed in winter because you’re not getting enough sun to brighten your days?  Do you want to curl up under a blanket and not come out until Spring? The dark, cold days of winter affect about one in 10 people, according to Dr. Phillip Keller, a family medicine physician with Clarian Arnett Health, quoted in an article entitled Seasonal affective disorder affects some people during the cold, wintry months  (jconline.com, 1/12/10). Dr. Keller says that seasonal affective disorder, or “SAD” can have different symptoms than depression, such as “increased appetite, an increase in sleep, irritability and interpersonal difficulties.” If you’re suffering from any of these symptoms, chances are you’re not getting enough sunlight. You’re hybernating indoors and feeling the effects of cabin fever. Most people don’t seek help but just wait for their feeling to pass.

Don’t want to wait for blue skies and the bright, warm sun to feel better?  Sink into restorative yoga poses to rebalance and restore your central nervous system. In an article entitled Beat the Blues by Carol Krucoff (Yoga Journal, February 2010), Carol describes her journey from winter blues to a form of emotional salvation after she trained with clinical psychologist and Integrative Yoga therapist Bo Forbes. Forbes recommended a regular yoga practice, pranayama and meditating in front of a lightbox to ease her SAD symptoms. 

Forbes highly recommends doing restorative yoga poses to treat SAD. “Restorative yoga may look passive from the outside, but it’s very active internally on both subtle and dramatic levels.” She further says that “Many people don’t realize that SAD has three distinct phases. In the dead of winter [December through February], it looks like depression, with symptoms such as lethargy and carbohydrate craving.” Forbes advises her students to follow a series of restorative poses, such as supported corpse pose, reclining bound angle pose, and supported legs-up-the-wall pose. You may want to do a few active poses first, especially if you’re feeling anxious or restless.  Deepening into restorative poses all year long, and not just during the cold, dark days of winter, will strengthen your emotional health and help you rise above those gray skies with a new spring in your step.

Yoga for Active, Older Adults

By Karen Scully

I began my yoga practice about 10 years ago with an incredible teacher, Julie Wright. I was in my early 40’s, and had been a runner for many years. I developed calcium deposits on my left thigh which caused great pain after my runs, to the point of crying while trying to go to sleep. When my doctor informed me that I had to stop running, I spent the next year looking for some form of exercise that I could do the rest of my life and would give me the “highs” of running along with the benefits – mainly weight loss. That was also when my doctor informed me I was in my early 40’s and should find a form of exercise I could do for a lifetime.

So I practiced yoga almost daily for about two years. I took mainly power yoga classes, some Bikram, some meditative. I was amazed at how strong and limber a 43 year old could be. Through different injuries that were a result of my job as a personal trainer, I turned to yoga to cure my aches, pains and depression at no longer being the young thing I thought I was. So my yoga experience grew out of a need to find health through exercise and that is what my focus is on – health for all through yoga, but specifically for the “mature adult.”

The one thing I have run into with active older adults is the need for yoga for therapeutic reasons, be it physical or mental. One of the incredible things about practicing yoga is that yoga strengthens all different areas of the body: heart, lungs, muscles, cardiovascular and nervous system. Yoga can also improve our digestive systems, send oxygen to all our different systems to bring them to a healthier state, and helps our psychological well-being. All of these are a like a jewel found in one place for a person needing to remain healthy for life. Another thing I find with active older adults is stress caused by either injury or physical conditions plaguing them, such as diabetes, etc., and the stress leads to depression. It is like a vicious cycle: injury or poor health leads to stress leads to depression leads to stress leads to poor health and so on.

Studies have shown that people who practice yoga recover from surgery faster, reduce symptoms of diabetes, high blood pressure, asthma, just to name a few. Why is that? Is it that yoga helps to reduce stress? Is it because the breathing sends healing energy through the body? Is it because their muscles and bones move more easily because of the asanas? Is it because you become more toxin free because of the twisting poses? Does meditation play a part? It’s because of all of these things, which is why yoga is perfect for anyone but specifically for the active older adult. And since no two people are alike – everyone has different strengths and weaknesses and different degrees of health, we have different types of yoga available for everyone.

Let’s begin with breathing, the most important part of a yoga practice. We are taught different types of breathing in yoga to help us in our asana practice and in our meditation. But anyone knows just from having to go in for, say, a big test and slowing their heart by taking deep, slow breaths that you can indeed rule your heartbeats and in turn, rule your blood pressure by slow, deep breathing. We take oxygen into our lungs that is transmitted into our bloodstream and carried to our muscles to increase our ability to exercise and stretch without muscle fatigue. Proper breathing techniques can relax a person immediately and anywhere and we know that because of studies done regarding shifting the balance of the nervous system to the parasympathetic side causing the relaxing to begin almost immediately. We know that relaxing muscles can help chronic pain, most commonly found in older adults from either physical illness or treatments used to help with their illness. So breathing is an essential part of anyone’s yoga practice, and it will be discussed again.

Yoga is a great stress reducer. Stress can come from lots of different things: daily work, issues with income/health, poor muscle alignment, chronic pain. As a matter of fact, arthritis and back pain are the two most common forms of pain, exacerbated by stress, found in older adults. Stress makes our muscles more likely to go into spasm, causing more pain/more stress. Stress can interfere with our deep sleep, essential for health, and common older adults. Lack of sleep increases pain. It is another vicious cycle. A regular yoga practice can help relax muscles, relieve stress and relieve pain.

Older adults also tend to slump, especially in their upper spines, causing muscle fatigue around their upper back and necks, ultimately causing pain. If continued, either due to sitting for hours watching TV or on their computers, or by the beginnings of arthritis or bone loss, their bones can slowly start to fuse in this manner so they can no longer stand straight. That’s why you see lots of older people stooped over from the middle of the back up. That is what happened to my father. Regular use of different asanas to strengthen our upper backs, using something like locust pose or cobra pose, can help strengthen these muscles and relieve the stress in the upper back, in turn relieving the pain.

Yoga also helps a person differentiate between whether they are feeling pain or are suffering. Pain can cause suffering but it is important for a person to know the difference and the difference is mostly a matter of the mind. This is where meditation comes in. Generally an active older adult cannot avoid pain, but they can control how much the “suffer” from pain. Studies have been done to show that long-term meditation can change the “wiring” of the brain in beneficial ways. Meditation activates the left prefrontal cortex which has been associated with greater levels of happiness. Personal happiness has a great deal to do with a person’s pain and suffering from the pain. Also, studies have shown that meditation can help reduce the pain signals from the thalamus to the higher brain centers where our brain interprets pain. Meditation is a huge part of biofeedback which has been shown to greatly help with a person’s pain. And where does our meditation always begin – proper breathing.

Studies have also shown that the vibrations we use, the Oms or the chanting (here we are back to breathing properly) helps to regulate the inhalations and exhalations we do. Regulating our inhalations/exhalations will regulate our involuntary muscle control, such as our heartbeats and blood pressure. Also, chanting helps us to redirect our thinking away from the pain we feel, giving a release, even for a short time, to our brain interpretation of pain, and we can learn to lengthen these periods of not necessarily removal of pain but ceasing to think out pain, thus teaching our bodies to do/think what we wish instead of the other way around. This has been found to be really helpful in older adults dealing with things such as fibromyalgia or even chemotherapy.

Older adults also seem to become depressed more easily than younger adults. Maybe our kids are grown and gone, we are unable to participate in golf or tennis the way we did due to illness or injury, whatever – depression is a huge problem in older adults. Many doctors want to treat depression with anti-anxiety drugs but yoga really leans toward a loftier goal. Yoga wants to quiet a restless mind, put us in touch with our deeper purpose in life, give us an inner source of calm and joy. Does this mean that older adults should not follow their doctor’s instructions and just do yoga? No. But it does mean we can incorporate the two to help a person to become well again, both in body and in spirit. And as we get older, we are less worried about our bodies than we are about our spirit.

If a person is physically able to do the sun salutations, these truly do bring energy into our bodies. Deep inhalations breathe energy into our bodies, and vigorous poses, such as the sun salutations or balance poses actually keep us from thinking about what may be our problems because we are too busy just trying to do the poses. The most important thing for people we work with who we know are suffering from depression is to not worry too much about their alignment (as long as we know they are not hurting themselves) but to just focus on their movement and breath. This keeps their mind focused. While they are focusing on the various movements and breathing, their body is taking in essential energy, stress relief, relaxation to help them combat depression. It works for everyone, no matter what their age but is particularly useful in older adults. Good poses for them are, along with the sun salutations are back bends because sending blood to their brains helps. It is always better to get quickly into the poses with persons who are depressed instead of focusing too much on relaxation or meditation because sometimes they can sink deeper into their depression and dark thoughts. It is also important to remember when you are doing their relaxation or savasana to keep their eyes open because closing their eyes causes them to focus inward and can lead to dark thoughts which are counterproductive to our practice.

We also understand that chanting and other devotional practices associated with yoga can help because they go directly to our emotions, again stimulating the left prefrontal cortex that is associated with calmness, happiness and emotional resiliency. Learning to bypass our bad thoughts and emotions through these practices can help us better deal with the emotional ups and downs of our lives.

Yoga also stresses a mind/body connection that some people think is elusive but yogis believe is essential. A good example of mind/body connection is does our mouth water when we think of apple pie? Does it elicit a good mood – a mood of contentment? On another level, are we so caught up in thinking of our problems that we cannot sleep? Are we so stressed about the difficulties we face as older adults that we develop an ulcer? Our physical bodies can affect our state of mind. We can’t walk as well as we used to so we become depressed. We take a hot bath to relax and relieve stress. Certain backbend poses can elicit a state of happiness in us. We can use different poses in yoga to make ourselves feel a certain way, and we can direct those poses specific to the older adult.

We need to remember to work on proper alignment, being careful to avoid poses that could cause problems with people with osteoporosis such as twists, lateral flexion and spinal flexion. We move gently through our poses incorporating spinal stabilization poses in every class, we feature poses that are comfortable and steady and encourage rest whenever necessary, we are cognizant of problems associated with older adults such as heart or blood pressure problems, and we urge the use of props, including chairs or walls for balance.

I have talked about asanas but I haven’t really covered the benefits of practicing yoga poses. Let’s take Big Toe pose – just a simple folding over of the body and holding your big toes. It, of course, benefits the low back. It also calms our brain to help relieve stress and anxiety, stimulates our liver and kidneys, stretches our hamstrings and calves, strengthens our thighs, improves digestion and helps relieve symptoms of menopause, headaches and insomnia. Next let’s take a look at a high lunge. It focuses on our ankles, calves, thighs, groin, abdomen, chest, shoulders, armpits and neck. It also helps with sciatica, heart problems and blood pressure problems. Warrior I focuses on the same as a high lunge, but also incorporates the lungs. It also strengthens the shoulders, arms and muscles of the back along with strengthening the thighs, calves and ankles. So even though I glossed over the poses a little, it would be exhaustive and take up the whole essay to discuss the benefits of each pose. Every pose strengthens, stretches and relaxes.

The purification we achieve from our twisting asanas help keep our systems working as God intended. As we wring our out visceral organs and the toxins are released into our bloodstreams, we flush them with water. Any twisting asana helps our bodies purify themselves.

Lastly, yoga also teaches us that the more we think something, the more likely we are to do it again. Our habits become deeper with more repetition. So our negative thinking or our self-flagellating inner dialogue may fuel depression. And the more an active older person sits alone or is inactive, the more they fuel their depression. So if we’re going to have a habit in our old age, let it be yoga. Let it be breathing properly, strength through asanas, meditation and purification through yoga. Let it be health in our mature years through yoga.

Karen Scully teaches Power and Hatha Yoga classes in Dallas, Texas.

Yoga for Office Workers with Back Pain

By Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500

Therapeutic forms of Yoga have been around for thousands of years. Among the many ailments of humankind is back pain. Long before the personal computer was invented, people suffered with pain in their backs. Albeit, the usual source of our ancestor’s pains and aches were often related to manual labor.

From within Hatha Yoga, many therapeutic styles have sprung up. One of the most common ailments Yoga teachers observe, in students today, is pain that originates from the spine or the muscles surrounding the spine. Therapeutic Yoga techniques can be practiced as a form of prevention or as a remedy to chronic pain.

A physically, active lifestyle is beneficial to anyone who spends excessive time sitting. When we spend time sitting – during our commute, at our desk, operating a laptop, and watching television when we get home, we then need to spend time on good posture all day long.

In fact, we have to sleep in good posture with the best possible alignment. This requires the use of pillows, a firm mattress, and knowledge of proper skeletal alignment. However, most people are advised, by their family doctor or chiropractor, to practice Yoga or adopt an exercise routine which is beneficial to skeletal alignment. This may involve any form of exercise, which stimulates your body and mind or by attending Yoga classes.

During work hours, it would be advisable to drink a fair amount of water. Sometimes, the act of hydrating can create more fluids throughout the body. As the body sits still, the vertebrae tend to squeeze moisture out of the discs. With that said, it may be wise to lower your coffee intake during working hours. This is not a mandate to give up coffee completely, but to be moderate in your consumption.

If your office permits, it might be good to sit on a stability ball while you are at your desk, part of the day. This gives relief to the lumbar region, sacrum, pelvis, and hips. It is only natural to gently rock in circular and linear movements, as you are doing your office work, while sitting on the stability ball. To receive proper instruction, on how to use a stability ball, you may want to attend a specialized Yoga or Pilates workshop.

If you spend an hour of constant sitting, you should get up for at least five minutes and walk or practice Yoga postures. You could easily practice lunges, balancing poses, forward bends, back bends, lateral bends, or twists from standing or seated positions.

If you add small five minute segments of Yoga movement to your daily routine, your back pain will be reduced or eliminated.

© Copyright 2009 – Paul Jerard / Aura Publications

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Yoga Techniques to Prevent Problems that come with Aging

Author: AffiliatePro

It’s no secret that yoga increases flexibility. With practice, you will notice that you can bend and stretch your body in ways you never have before. Yoga teachers say that an individual’s age can be identified with the flexibility of the spine, and not through number of years. Yoga helps you in preventing body’s degeneration. The years have put a strain in your bones with the wrong diet, abuse with work, and wrong posture.

If you’ve gone through these active years without regular exercise, then your body will ultimately collapse. Like a machine, it needs proper care and maintenance. The best way to care for your body and bones is through yoga. This exercise has proven to dramatically increase your health if you do it regularly. There are poses you can do as you age. These are great in preserving your age and maintaining your body because it slows down the aging process by: providing suppleness to your abdominal muscles, flexibility to your spine, eliminating tensions, firming up your skin, improving your posture, and removing your double chin.

First and foremost, keeping your spine healthy is ultimately important, especially if you lead an active life. The stretching and breathing exercises involved in yoga help increase agility and flexibility. There are no age requirements in yoga. Whether you’re a strapping youngster or a meek senior, you can get into the routine and enjoy the benefits.

The secret is to start slowly after consulting with your physician. The warm up exercises that go with it is just as important because it prepares your muscles before it stretches and pushes itself. The moment you feel discomfort, stop and rest. With time and patience you will see that you will soon be doing the difficult poses with ease. If you have avoided exercise but would like to be flexible, it is never too late to begin. Yoga enthusiasts believe that they get into the holistic experience to refresh the mind, body and spirit.

Recent studies reveal that older people who started practicing yoga poses have slowed their aging process and felt better than they ever have. Yoga aims to unite and balance your body’s different components. It is an integrated system for the benefit of the body, mind, and spirit.

If you are really serious about getting into yoga to slow down aging, look into the practice of asanas. The said practice involves breathing exercises and meditation to remove digestive disorders, varicose veins, chronic weaknesses, and other conditions that come when you age.

Regular yoga practice also helps in weight management by making you more aware of your body. You will be trained to respond to your body’s call and get you attuned to your mind.

There are books and websites that talk about your ability to enhance your body and to start on a new healthy lifestyle. With the help of yoga, you will naturally live longer because you are able to influence all the significant determinants of a long life: brain, glands, spine and internal organs. As you grow older, your body will need to take in more oxygen. Each and every cell in your system will be affected due to lack of oxygen. Yoga feeds all those cells that are greatly looking for the oxygen they need. Reinforce your back, stretch out your lung capacity, and make yoga a part of your routine.

Article Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_1041521_23.html

Props are a yogi’s best friend

Props are silent instructors that teach directly to the intelligence of the body, and through that direct perception the harmony of mind, body and spirit can be experienced. - Mary Dunn, Yoga Teacher (from the book “The New Yoga for People Over 50,” by Suza Francina.

I can’t say enough good things about props. I have several blocks, both for my students to use in class and I keep four of them in my private yoga room. I also own five mats, two bolsters, several straps, a sandbag, a metal chair, several blankets, and assorted varieties of eye pillows. I carry four extra mats to the class I teach because there’s always someone who either forgot their mat or they just don’t own one. We have to be prepared.

For those of you who aren’t all that familiar with what props really are or what they can do, “A prop is any object that helps you to stretch, strengthen, relax or improve your body alignment. By providing more height, weight or support, props help you to extend beyond habitual limitations and teach you that your body is capable of doing much more than you think it can!” (quoting Ruth Steiger and Kay Eskanazi, co-founders of the company Yoga Props and authors of the Yoga Prop Usage Guides.

For people who are stiff and haven’t ever exercised but want to give yoga a try, using props will help them to get into poses they ordinarily wouldn’t be able to accomplish. If you’re over 50, chances are you have some kind of back, neck, or knee problems, or you’re suffering from an old injury. Perhaps your doctor prescribed yoga therapy to heal you and bring you back to life. Here’s where props can be your best friend.

With props you can hold poses longer, and go deeper and feel their healing effects. Props can support, allowing muscles to lengthen and improve blood circulation and allow for easier and deeper breathing.  Placing your hand on a block while bending forward will allow you to reach further without trying to strain to reach your fingertips to the floor. As you become more flexible and advance in your practice, you’ll be able to remove that block and feel the earth all by yourself. Those who can’t do the more strenuous poses can use props, such as a chair, for support and encouragement so as not to overextend themselves.

Props can be adapted to anyone’s level of flexibility, body type, and level of ability. They encourage, build confidence, help decrease pain, and support a student’s body so that he or she can be guided correctly into poses they never thought they could do before.

Going Upside Down: The Benefits of Yoga Inversions

Scared of going upside down?  You don’t have to be. You can enjoy the benefits of yoga inversions without wearing yourself out trying to get up into a perfect handstand.  There are many yoga inversions that are perfectly doable, if you learn what they are, what the benefits are, and how to do them properly.

Yoga inversions are a gift you give to your circulatory, respiratory and immune systems. Poses such as shoulderstand and plough pose improve blood flow to your endocrine glands, as they squeeze, soak and massage your inner organs, efficiently ridding your body of old toxins and allowing new blood to flow. The result is a renewed feeling of overall health and vitality, akin to giving your body a tune-up.  By going upside down, you literally energize and stabilize your entire endocrine system, by pushing new blood into your skin and bone marrow. Most people who engage in shoulderstand, for example, radiate feelings of joyfulness, balance, energy and peace.

So, what are some inversions that you can do? Here’s a sampling of some of the best:

Shoulderstand (Sarvangasana)

Lie down on your back with two folded blankets supporting your neck and shoulders.  Your head should be resting on the floor. Exhale, and bend your knees into your chest. As you press your hands into the floor, swing your legs with knees still bent over your head. Keep your elbows pressed firmly into the blanket, and place your hands on your lower back to support it.  Slowly raise your torso so that it’s perpendicular to the floor, and bring your knees to your chest. Raise your legs so that your thighs are parallel to the floor, then extend them toward the ceiling  (see photo).  Your body should feel long and straight and there should be no strain. Be sure to move your shoulders away from your ears and keep your head steady.  Stay in this pose for two minutes or more. When you’re ready to come down, slowly bend your knees and roll down.  Shoulderstand will surely lift your spirits and calm any anxiety or irritability you may be experiencing.  Note:  don’t do this pose if you have high blood pressure, are menstruating, or have neck or shoulder problems.

Plough Pose (Halasana)

Lie down on your back with two folded blankets supporting your neck and shoulders.  Your head should be resting on the floor, your arms are by your sides, and your legs are out in front of you with feet and knees together. Exhale, and bend your knees into your chest. Expand your chest and move your shoulders away from your head.  Exhale again, and extend your legs up and over your head, placing your toes on the floor behind you. If you can’t get your toes to the floor, then place a block or two for foot support. You can either extend your arms flat on the floor (see photo) or place your hands on your lower back for support.  Breathe deeply and slowly, and stay in this pose for several minutes or for as long as you’re comfortable. To come out, roll out slowly, one vertebrae at a time. Lie back and breathe deeply for a little while.  Plough pose will surely quiet your nerves, tame irritability and anxiety, and offer your body complete relaxation.  Note: don’t do this pose if you have neck problems.

Headstand (Sirsasana)

The best way for beginners to do this pose is to do it against a wall. Place a folded blanket on the floor against the wall and kneel in front of it with knees and feet together. Some people do the pose without a blanket, but I think a blanket gives more soft support for the arms, which will be holding all of your weight.  Interlace your fingers and place your hands about three inches from the wall, keeping your elbows shoulder-width apart. You’ll be putting all of the weight of this pose into your wrists, forearms and elbows, so be sure to give yourself a firm foundation. Place your head on the blanket. The back of your head should touch your hands. Pressing your forearms into the floor, lift your shoulders away from the floor, straighten your legs and raise your hips toward the ceiling. Walk your feet in until your spine is almost perpendicular to the floor, then exhale and lift one leg at a time until your feet touch the wall.  Keep your eyes and throat soft, and your tummy relaxed.  Hold this pose for as long as you’re comfortable, up to five minutes.  To come out, exhale and lower one leg at a time.  Bend your knees and sit back on your heels and rest for a few breaths. Raise your head slowly.  Headstand encourages freshly oxygenated blood to circulate freely into your head and chest and rejuvenates your entire body.  Its a great pose if you’re feeling agitated or depressed. Feelings of joy may follow, so be forewarned! Note: don’t do this pose if you have high blood pressure, are menstruating, or have neck or back problems.

There are other yoga inversions that can be done.  Some can be done with a chair, against a wall, or with the aid or other props.  Get a copy of The Woman’s Book of Yoga & Health by Linda Sparrowe if you’re interested in learning more.

Discover the Benefits of Yoga Meditation Practice

By Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500

What is more valuable to you – a trained body or a trained mind?  Most people would think about this for a second and decide that physical appearance, through training the body, is more important to them.  In Hatha Yoga, we can easily see the number of students who pursue physical mastery through asana practice.

Not everyone feels asana is the “Holy Grail” of Yoga, but physical prowess is still an attraction.  However, for one to pursue physical mastery over mental mastery, one must feel that his or her mental health is going along just fine.  If this were so, why are so many people experiencing chronic stress, anxiety, panic disorder, depression, and a variety of mental disorders?

Meditation may not be the solution to all the mental ailments humankind experiences, but it sure can help.  Many Western medical doctors recommend meditation as an adjunct therapy.  Many counselors, psychiatrists, and psychologists, also recommend Yoga to stabilize the mind.

The most common reason why Yoga students want to learn meditation is to relax the mind when needed.  To relieve the mind and body of negative nervous energy is the result of a complete Hatha Yoga practice.  In other words: Physical exercises (asanas), alone, will not produce optimum results for holistic health.

Asanas will help purge negative energy from the body and mind, up to a limited point.  This is the reason why Maharishi Patanjali mentions eight limbs in the Yoga Sutras.  He mentions Yoga as a way of life and higher levels of concentrated meditation.  He does mention asana, but it is just one of the eight limbs.

The last four of the eight limbs – Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana, and Samadhi, are concerned with meditation and preparation for it.  Therefore, the value and benefits of daily practice, go much further than the skin’s surface.

What are the benefits of meditation?  Meditation is the most natural of today’s methods to bring the mind under control.  Prescribed drugs, alcohol, and illegal drugs are often used or abused, with the goal of relaxing the mind.  Based on the cost of chemical addictions, people will pay a high price, in many ways, to relax their minds.  Meditation does not have negative side effects.

In comparison to many forms of therapy, meditation is extremely cost effective.  An intermediate practitioner will have no difficulty practicing alone.  A few asanas and pranayama (Yogic breathing) techniques will aid to relax the body before a meditation sessions.  The end result is a focused and relaxed mind, which is prepared for daily tasks.

© Copyright 2009 – Paul Jerard / Aura Publications

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How to Use Restorative Yoga Props

In restorative yoga, we focus on simply being rather than doing. Restorative yoga is not power yoga where you work up a sweat in vigorous Ashtanga or Vinyasa yoga sequences, but rather it’s a style of yoga that allows you to sink into a supportive environment that can rid your body of stress and make you feel like a new person. If you want to know more about this style of yoga, read my prior post What is Restorative Yoga? Right now, though, we’re going to talk about what kind of props you need to get started.

Some restorative yoga poses require only a couple of props, such as a belt and a blanket, while others require a more complicated setup, but it’s worth it, though, so stay with me.  It’s important that as you learn how restorative yoga works you also learn to use props effectively.  Restorative yoga poses shouldn’t hurt and they also shouldn’t stretch you to your limits.  Restorative yoga props should support and nourish and hold your body weight so that you can sink down in delicious repose, and when you come out of them, make you feel like a million bucks.

In Judith Lasater’s book Relax & Renew: Restful Yoga for Stressful Times, she provides the reader with a handy chart that illustrates the many props used in restorative yoga.  She also guides you into general restorative pose sequences, a sequence for busy times, and sequences for neck pain, lower back pain, insomnia, jet lag, breathing difficulties, and headaches.  She also gives us restorative sequences for menstruation, pregnancy, and  menopause.  If you’re truly interested in cultivating a regular restorative yoga practice, Judith Lasater’s book is a must and can be purchased now by clicking here.

Blankets

Blankets are the most important and versatile restorative yoga prop and you should have a few of these on hand.  Not only can they serve as insulation to place over your yoga mat, but you can also cover yourself to keep warm, and fold or roll for various supported poses.  Lying in restorative yoga poses can sometimes cool the body so keeping warm is essential.  Although you can use an old quilt from your bed or Grandma’s knitted afghan, the best kind of blanket is made of wool or at least of a firm material, should be twin-sized, and easy to fold and roll. Wool or firm blankets provide better support than, say, plush or thermal blankets. You can get good yoga blankets at discounted prices at most online yoga accessory stores. Click here for Discount Yoga Blankets.  You can also get good wool blankets from your local Army Surplus store. I bought a few blankets this way and they are very versatile, although they are a bit larger than I would have liked.

Bolsters

A large, firm bolster is a necessity for many restorative yoga poses.  A bolster can be used to drape your body in a cleansing twist, to fold your body over for supported child’s pose, or to lie back in supported bound angle pose, for example.  If you don’t have a bolster, then you can use three or more folded firm blankets in its place.  It would be wise, however, to invest in one or two bolsters.  They come in varying sizes, such as rectangular, round, junior or large, for example.  Some bolsters can run as high as $65, but there’s no need to pay top dollar for a bolster.  Click here for Discount Yoga Bolsters.  A bolster is especially important for Supported Bound Angle Pose and Legs-Up-the-Wall Pose.

Belts or Straps

Most belts or straps are six to eight inches long and about two inches wide. Some have a D-shaped buckle or a cinch ring.  Straps are used to bind the legs in poses such as Supported Bound Angle Pose so that your legs and feet don’t slip.  You can get belts for under $10 at most online yoga accessory stores. Click here for Discount Yoga Straps.

Blocks

Blocks are a must for restorative yoga poses and are used mostly to elevate bolsters or to drape your body in soft back bending poses, for example.  Blocks are pretty inexpensive, whether they be made of wood, cork or foam, and can be purchased at most online discount yoga supply stores. Click here to purchase Discount Yoga Blocks.

Sandbags

Sandbags are used to apply pressure to certain parts of the body.  For example, while lying in Savasana you may want to elevate your legs on a folded blanket and place a sandbag over your ankles to anchor them to the blankets.  It can also be placed on your lower back while lying in supported child’s pose. Sandbags can be purchased for under $10 at Yoga Accessories.com, for example. Click here to visit YogaAccessories.com. If you’re a good seamstress, you can also make your own sandbag.  Be sure that the fabric is strong and non-porous.  Fill it with sand that is coarse and doesn’t contain bleach, and should weigh at least 10 pounds.

Eye Pillows

Eye Pillows are one of my favorite props to use, especially when I lie in Savasana or in Legs-Up-the-Wall pose.  Eye pillows offer soothing and gentle pressure to the muscles around the eyes, and provide a soft, comforting and sensual end to a restorative yoga practice that allows you to sink deeper into relaxation.  Eye pillows are usually made from a soft silk or cotton fabric and filled with uncooked rice, flax seed or beads, and could be lightly scented with dried lavender or chamomille for an aromatherapy effect.  Eye pillows block out light, ease headaches, and relax tired eyes.  

Other Props

Restorative yoga props should be sturdy enough to support your body weight, so if you’re improvising with certain props be sure that they don’t flop around or cause you to fall.  If you’re using a chair for restorative yoga poses, such as for Supported Cross-Legs Pose, be sure that it doesn’t have wheels.  A metal folding chair is best. Other props that can be used are a doorknob, a table, or a wall.

If you want to buy inexpensive props that are high quality, Click here for Discount Yoga Supplies.

Shop for Yoga Props, Accessories, and DVDs on Gaiam.com, plus Free Shipping over $49

Restorative Yoga: Supported Bound Angle Pose

Do you feel stressed from work or family obligations? Do you feel like you’re being pulled in too many directions and you’re about to crumble physically and emotionally? Then you need a gentle and effective restorative yoga pose to quiet your mind and calm your nerves. Try Supported Bound Angle Pose, also called Reclined Bound Angle Pose, or, in Sanskrit — Supta Baddha Konasana.  This important restorative yoga pose relieves anxiety and stress, soothes menstrual cramps, and benefits those going through menopause.  Supported Bound Angle Pose opens the chest, abdomen and pelvis, and benefits those with high blood pressure and breathing difficulties.  It also helps hemorrhoids and symptoms of indigestion (in case you were wondering what else it could do!).

In her book, Relax and Renew: Restful Yoga for Stressful Times, Judith Lasater says, “In The Yoga Sutras, Indian author and sage Patanjali writes about hiranyagarbha, a Sanskrit word which means ‘the great golden womb of the universe.’ Patanjali teaches that the entire universe is held within this golden womb.  As we practice Supported Bound Angle Pose, we are reminded of this primordial place of complete rest and ultimate protection. While lying in this pose, I have experienced being held within this force.  This experience was profoundly comforting and left me with a feeling of equanimity and well-being.”

How to do the pose:

Place a bolster lengthwise behind you and sit in front of it with your knees bent so that your sacrum touches the edge of the bolster.  Place a strap behind your sacrum and drape it forward over your hips and across your shins, and fasten it securely under your feet (see photo).

Lie back and rest comfortably over the bolster so that your legs and buttocks are on the floor.  If you feel any discomfort, place a folded blanket or two over the bolster to add some height.  You can also place a folded blanket under your head for neck support as well.  For optimal support, place a rolled blanket under the top of each thigh, and also under each arm.

Close your eyes and breathe deeply. For an even deeper relaxation experience,  place a soothing lavender eye pillow over your eyes to block out light.  Add tranquil meditation music to soften the effect even more.

To come out of the pose, bring your knees together and remove the strap.  Slowly roll over to one side and use your hands to come up to sitting.  Sit in quiet contemplation for a few minutes before getting back to your normal life.

What is Restorative Yoga?

When I found restorative yoga a few years ago I discovered the very best therapy for relieving stress. Whenever I have a particularly hard day or don’t feel like doing a regular yoga practice, I sink into a restorative yoga pose and just let everything go.  After lying in complete repose for ten or fifteen minutes, such as reclining bound angle pose (shown in photo), I seldom want to come out of it because I’m so deliciously absorbed in my own conscious relaxation that nothing else matters. Together with deep breathing and a sense of grounding, there’s no better antidote to healing both the body and the soul.

What is restorative yoga, anyway?

It’s a therapeutic style of yoga that uses props such as blankets, bolsters, pillows, blocks, sandbags, straps and eye pillows to create a nurturing and supportive environment for total relaxation.  Some people may find that restorative yoga takes too much time to set up, but the therapeutic benefits are enormous and it’s worth the effort, it really is. By using these various props, you can lie back effortlessly into poses that will soothe your nervous system, release tension, quiet the mind, and ease your body into a state of balance.

I invite you to discover the healing qualities of restorative yoga.  Read more about restorative yoga in this article by Yoga Journal.

Neti pot a good remedy for sinus trouble

What does “neti” mean, anyway?  Well, its the practice of nasal cleansing, and it’s more than just using a tissue to blow away congestion. Recommended by alternative health practitioners, it’s been widely used by people everyday along with a saline solution to keep their nasal passages clean and their sinuses in tip top shape.  Once tried, a neti pot can be a soothing and pleasant experience that will prove invaluable. Using warm water with a little salt, a neti pot will gently irrigate the nasal passages, washing away the offended irritants. Used mostly for allergies, sinustitis, and upper respiratory infections, such as hay fever, a neti pot will become your best friend and to a whole new way of breathing.

If you’d like to try a neti pot, may I recommend Oprah’s favorite from Mother Nature.com. Click below for more details and to order your very own neti pot today!

Deep relaxation transported me to a place of bliss

I can’t adequately describe the feelings I had when I left a two-hour Deep Relaxation class yesterday at Avenues Yoga in Salt Lake City, except that I wanted to cry tears of relief as I was rolling up my mat.  I was able to let go of a lot of old baggage, and my body felt wonderful!

I had only learned about Avenues Yoga from Charlotte Bell, who recently started teaching a Monday evening restorative yoga class there.  The studio had just opened its doors this past May, and already it has eight instructors and a full schedule of classes, including restorative yoga, prenatal yoga, kids yoga, moving meditation, vinyasa, yoga for climbers, mat pilates, and others.  With one large studio graced with shiny wooden floors, soft track lighting, and tall windows overlooking a tree-lined street in the Avenues section of Salt Lake City, the atmosphere of Avenues Yoga is very soft, and environmentally inviting indeed.

Aside from attending a restorative yoga class there last Monday evening, Saturday’s Deep Relaxation workshop was my second encounter with the studio, and with owner Erin, whose quiet and sophisticated demeanor immediately made a positive impression on me.  Will I finally find a comfortable place in which to practice yoga? Yes, I think so. It seems to be a place that will draw me closer to my practice and to myself.

During the Deep Relaxation class, Erin led us with her gentle and beautiful voice through a combination of therapeutic movements, restorative poses, guided meditation and imagery, and a powerful but simple yoga nidra practice that released stress and nourished our bodies and our souls.

When class was over I couldn’t believe that two hours had passed.  I literally felt rooted to the earth, not wanting to move but to remain in that blissful state.  My heart was overflowing with grateful thanks for the opportunity to participate in such a simple yet profound relaxation experience.

I went home feeling like a new person.

Yoga can help women recover from mastectomies

Women suffering from breast cancer may have to accept the painful news that they will lose one or more of their breasts, and that’s not something that’s easily digestible. Although there are many types of mastectomies, it is, no doubt, a life-changing experience, both physically and emotionally, so it’s important to take good care of yourself.  

If you already practice yoga regularly, you know it can offer calmness and clarity during difficult situations, and you’ll probably be eager to get back on the mat to start the healing process.  But engaging in a vigorous practice after undergoing a mastectomy may not be in your best interests.  First, you must be careful not to put pressure on your arms and upper body area too soon, as your range of motion will be compromised and you’ll experience weakness in one or more muscles near the affected tissue.  You may also experience a condition called “lymphadema” which occurs because the body isn’t draining fluids normally like it did before surgery, so you’ll need to stay away from arm balances and other strengthening poses that affect the upper body until you feel better.

So, take it slow and easy, and if you can, find a teacher who is trained in yoga therapy for breast cancer patients and who can sensitively and knowledgeably ease you along your path to recovery.  Another way to help your recovery is to practice some restorative yoga poses, such as reclining bound angle pose, corpse pose, and legs-up-the-wall pose, which promote deep breathing and relaxation to guide you back to emotional health.

“The first thing postoperative patients should do before trying yoga is to ask their surgeon what he or she recommends,” says Dr. Vivien D’Andrea of the Palo Alto Medical Foundation, quoted in an article “Gentle yoga may speed recovery after surgery,” (Las Altos Town Crier, by Pam Walatka (June 17, 2009).  “Starting yoga right after surgery, if you have not done yoga before, would be a terrible idea. Yoga students learn to listen to their bodies and know when to stop. If you were to jump into postoperative yoga without experience, you could hurt yourself,” notes Pam.

Having any type of cancer is not an easy thing to accept, but yoga can help you manage it more effectively. Although it’s not a quick fix, an ongoing practice will reward you with a more meaningful and radiant life, regardless of the challenges we face.