Om, how I love you

It has been many months now that I have been comfortably ensconced in my "hurray! I found time for yoga while baby sleeps" practice.  I was feeling pretty good about it and merrily practicing on my way, when all of the sudden one night, I realized my old yoga nemesis, Sir Wandering Mind, had come back to visit in a big way. 

One of the reasons I practice yoga is to work toward union of the body and mind, which in turn helps me feel fully present, both on the mat and beyond.  Before I get to that union, however, I really need to focus my mind on the poses, and then just let go and still my mind.  Sir Wandering Mind isn't so in to that scenario.  He creeps up on me and starts playing back the events from the day at lightning speed.  Then, he starts asking, "why didn't you do this differently, how could you even think that, did you know you forgot to do what you absolutely needed to do?"  Generally speaking, he is not a helpful guy. Specifically speaking, he is a real damper on my yoga practice.

I wasn't going to take his visits lying down (except, of course, when I am in savasana).  Thankfully, yoga teaches that there are things that can be done to lessen Sir Wandering Mind's effects on me.  I thought back to my yoga classes and how I was able to feel pretty darn present during asanas in class, and how great that left me feeling afterwards. 

What was I doing in class that was missing at home?  Om!  The answer is chanting om!  In most classes I have taken, particularly with teachers I really loved, we always began class by chanting om.  When I first started going to yoga classes, I felt spectacularly silly chanting om.  But it didn't take long to realize that I loved it and it really affected me.  I loved chanting om even more, when I found out what it meant: Om is the true sound of the universe.  If there were no other sounds, om is what we would hear and feel.  Now, that's deep, and I bought it, lock stock and barrel.  I totally felt it.  In addition to yoga class, I began chanting om whenever I felt I needed a little calm: at work, in traffic, before I went to bed.  Om, how could I forget you?

So, I tried chanting om three times at the beginning of my practice.  While not a miracle cure to banish Sir Wandering Mind, it is an antidote.  And, I love how the universe sounds and feels!

Go ahead, try it.  Sit comfortably (on the floor, cross-legged, if possible, if not, a chair will do).  Take a long breath in through your nose.  Open your mouth and as you are exhaling, say ooooommmm.  Stay on the "o" as long as feels good and then finish with the "m," again, staying with it as long as feels good.  Repeat at least two more times.

Even if you feel silly at first, just give it a try.  You might just end up in love with yourself and the universe!

I missed twists (say it three times fast!)

The benefits one reaps from the category of asanas known as twists are numerous. Twists squeeze and detoxify the organs, they can ease upper and lower back pain, they improve circulation and they nourish tissue for a suppler spine. And that's just to name a few.

Yet, before I was pregnant I didn't like twists. Not because they were difficult. I found them rather easy. I didn't enjoy twists because they were boring. I really didn't see the point and I didn't feel anything when I practiced them. They weren't so much uncomfortable as they were unfamiliar. I am a veteran of many exercise regimes and none had ever really required me to twist. (Note to self, whenever I feel uncomfortable, there is probably a lesson to be learned.)

So, since I didn't like them, mostly I just didn't do them.

Then came pregnancy. One really shouldn't do twists when pregnant. At least not deep twists. The reasons are probably obvious. The twisting occurs right where that little baby is. Not only would it be extremely uncomfortable, it could also be unsafe.  Additionally, it's probably not a good idea to detoxify organs while pregnant.

So, there I was pregnant and not practicing twists, when, lo and behold, I missed twists! Who knew?  At first I thought it might just be because I wasn't allowed to do them. Generally I don't appreciate being told not to do something. But no, it was more than that. Like some women crave ice cream or chocolate when pregnant, I craved twists.

Now that I'm no longer pregnant, I have happily incorporated twists into my regular practice. The funny thing is that they aren't so easy anymore. As it goes with most poses, I wasn't really practicing twists correctly. That's why they felt so easy and boring. Now that I've learned about the benefits of twists as well as correct alignment, I love the challenge. I also just love how they feel. I’m learning to love all twists, but my favorites are Bharadvajasana I (simple twist), Ardha Matsyendrasana (half lord of the fishes pose), and Parivrtta Trikonasana (revolved triangle pose).

Twists, it's nice to have you back!

Yoga and my pregnancy

My son Josias is almost 10 months old, and I am still amazed at what my body did.  It wasn't without discomforts, but when all was said and done, it was not a difficult pregnancy.  I was huge, mind you, so that's saying a lot.  I ate well during my pregnancy, walked an hour almost everyday with my dog Liam, and did yoga at least three times a week.  I had three pregnancy yoga videos and I went to a pregnancy yoga class on Sundays from my sixth month on. And, I gained almost 60 pounds.  Toward the end I couldn't go out in public without strangers asking if I was having twins or if I was past my due date; I was neither.

My theory is that my baby needed the weight.  I don't know why, but he needed it.  I say that because even with all the healthy, good stuff, there was no other word for me except gargantuan.  But, as big as I was I felt pretty good, most of the time.  I attribute this largely to yoga.  And not just the physical exercise of yoga, but the heady stuff as well.

The physical aspect of yoga was invaluable.  At one point during my pregnancy, I was suffering from sciatica.  It made walking and sitting painful.  I looked it up on line and found a few poses that were supposed to help, but they didn't.  I asked my yoga teacher and she suggested a few poses that helped a bit.  In the end I closed my eyes, thought about the baby, my heroic vessel of a body, and imagined what would feel good and make the pain diminish.  After a few moments, the thought: triangle pose and extended side angle pose popped into my head.  I almost disregarded these thoughts, because I had never thought either pose really did anything for my back.  Wrong!  As soon as I did the poses, the pain was gone.  While it may seem like an exaggeration now, it was a miracle at the time akin to loaves and fishes.

The sciatica lasted about a week, but with triangle and extended side angle poses, I was able to get through it.  I was also able to continue walking for an hour a day, another factor that contributed to my physical, emotional and mental well being.  Looking back on it, though, the real miracle to me is that I listened to my intuition and my body and they saved me.

The transformation yoga brought to my life started a few years before my pregnancy, but during my pregnancy, it was a life line.

I wonder what poses got others through pregnancy?

 Namaste. Thank you.