Super-asanas -Super-safe

Super-asanas are yoga moves which are clever, but not super-strong. The eight given below, combined together, 'work' the entire musculo-skeletal system - and all the other body systems, too. They are very safe & very vitalising to the body, extremely calming for the mind, activating to all the chakras and can be practiced gently or strongly by everyone. 
Adapt your practice according to your health ON the DAY. If weak or unwell, do the minimum, if strong and well, do what feels right. Regular practice will strengthen the flow of prana and increase Self-Awareness. That is YOGA.

An ideal first asana/pose. Stretches muscles the backs of the legs, bring the hands onto the floor beyond the head to also stretch the spinal muscles. Gentle AND powerful. Hold for 3 rounds of very very slow breath. Repeat twice.

This asana is brilliant for vitalising all the body systems even if practiced minimally.It acts as a counter-pose to the first asana, contracting, or squeezing, the muscles in the backs of the legs and spine. Inhale, then lift holding the breath in, hold and count to five, exhale while lowering back to the floor. x3 to each side.

Kandharasana - fabulous for stretching the front of the torso, back of the neck, and the quads. The pecs are opened and the shoulder blade muscles are squeezed.  Inhale while lifting, hold the breath while lifting the pelvis to the ceiling, exhale while lowering back down.  x5

This relaxed forward-bend allows for a gravity-driven whole back stretch AND an inversion which stimulates the brain. The opportunity exists to really let go of head and neck tension. Drooooop and hang, softly, softly for 1 - 3 minutes.

After completing asana above, go into this seated forward bend caringly and carefully. This asana provides an inner thigh stretch FIRST and, once that becomes comfortable, the process of stretching forward to bring the face onto the floor, begins. Slide the hands straight forward along the floor in front, hold them there. Hold and breathe slowly for 1-3 minutes.

After the two previous forward bends it is important to have a follow-up back bend. Keep the heels together to help push the lower back vertebrae into place, and strengthen the muscles there. At first it might be difficult to lift the chest off the floor, but with time you will find the way to curl upwards, head, shoulders, then chest. Pelvis remains on the floor.   x5

This piece de resistance asana provides some free-flowing, easy release through the body. Twist from the feet to the base of the skull. Let the arms flow right out and then around to hug the body, from one side, to the centre, to the other side, to the back.

Finalise the asana sequence with this super-pose. It increases the heart rate, stretches through the digestive system, encourages deep breathing and works to strengthen prana. After this practice lie down for a deep relaxation OR sit for pranayama, or meditation.  After completing these wonderful asanas all your chakras and all body systems will be recallibrated.

Thoughts, Memories, Vrittis

Thoughts are related to how we have conceptualised something, and, from that, emotion can be triggered. What has been conceptualised resides in the higher mind, vigyanamaya kosha. It lives there unseen, but is affecting us on a daily basis.
If for example, we have conceptualised that it's okay to smack children, no emotion will be triggered when we see it happen. If we have conceptualised that that is not okay emotions such as grief or anger (two sides of the same coin) will be triggered.
Once emotion is triggered, that can easily trigger a whole swathe of memories and concepts, ones which may or may not be directly related, each one in turn has the capacity to trigger more emotion - keeping the whole emotional thing going. 
All of this expressed activity is taking place in manomaya kosha. The part of the mind responsible for 'expressing stuff'. Eventually, the triggering and the emotions, subside, manomaya quietens. The concepts are still there, in vigyanamaya kosha, just not triggered.

All mindful yoga & meditation helps to thin and soften the stuff stored in vigyanamaya kosha, helping us in turn to function at a higher level of calm and wisdom. Antar mouna meditation works directly and profoundly.

Thoughts - categorised into five types

According to the ancient yogis, these are:  

Thought comprising correct data. 

i.e. actually correct, not just believed to be correct.

Thought comprising incorrect data.

Thought comprising as yet uneventuated data. 

i.e. wishful, imagined past or present, ideas, etc.

Thought comprising memory data. 

i.e. experiences stored as perceived, although perception can alter.

Thought comprising no data. 

i.e. drawing a blank, inability to retrieve data due to shock, shame, hunger, etc etc.

Every one of the five categories can trigger emotion. Some thoughts with correct data will activate joy, some will activate deep pain, or wounding. That is to say thought in each category can be pleasant or unpleasant. If it is neutral it is considered to be pleasant.

A thought from one category, can then trigger thoughts and emotions from other categories. Depending upon the intensity of the experience this can cause emotional outbursts which go on for many minutes/hours. The manomaya becomes enthralled by the experience and gets right into it. Eventually though, manomaya tires of it, and the outburst slowly subsides. 

How nature created all this is a mystery, superb, daunting and thrilling!  

The expression of thought and emotion comes from a part of the mind known ads manomaya kosha. Also referred to as the lower mind because it is not the part of the mind which contains the material, it is the part which expresses it. The container of experiences is known as vigyanamaya kosha, and as the higher mind.

Meditation such as antar mouna, taught for decades by Swami Satyananda, encourages greater self-awareness through knowing thoughts are subject to change, and do not represent the Real us. The Real Self. All yoga is actually a means to self-awareness. All yoga is meditation. If, that is, it is practiced mindfully.

Asana, whether practiced with kindness, moderation or harshness can trigger contentment, or sadness. The response in the mind, to any yoga practice will NOT always be the same.  An asana one day can trigger profound affection, the next day tears of loss, irritation, and so on. All other yoga techniques, including mudra, bandha, pranayama, kirtan, meditation, all act on the mind afresh each day. This is because just as the river is not the same river every day, nor is the mind always the same. The ebbs and flows of life, people, requirements, circumstances and environments, all stir the mind, just as the weather and debris stirs the river.

Thought is an amazing construct of the manomaya mind, but it is not the mind. Mind is something most of us cannot imagine. It is the barely recognised, or even recognisable, field of pure potentiality. Many of us have learnt how important it is to liberate ourselves by leaving some things behind and embracing other things. Some people have learnt how to activate greater potential within themselves, others barely at all. The same is true with emotion some have learnt how to master it, others have not.

Try not to take your thoughts for granted, nor believe they represent you in any permanent way. They need you to master and shape them.

Deeply quiet meditation activates a part of the central nervous system called the insula, this is responsible for increasing self-awareness. Self-awareness provides endless opportunities for self development. Out of the extreme calm of meditation comes wisdom and happiness, better quality thoughts and emotions. A happier you.

All meditation is mindful.

Mindful Relaxation Meditation

Mindful Relaxation Meditation is similar to the carefully designed steps of Yoga Nidra as conceived by Swami Satyananda. This practice involves total body stillness in the supine position, to help relax all the layers of the mind. First the BODY (the physical mind) relaxes, then the THINKING mind, and finally the EMOTIONAL mind.  It is practiced with an appropriate covering for warmth, or soothing, with head-phones on a low volume.

Experience one of the MRM mp3's

at www.beautifulyoga.net

https://www.beautifulyoga.net/yoga-nidra

Rest the body down into the pull of gravity, settle the body and become still.

Stillness starts the magic.

To begin the practice lie down and allow your muscles to soften to the floor; eyes & mouth closed softly; and gentle, easy breathing, through the nose.

... and like this the simple, subtle (and so very practical) process which leads to joyful, healthy living, begins. Wonderful for everyone. The general public would do well to practice MRM as often as they have a shower.  Relaxation not only calms but also strengthens the central nervous system, and therefore, the body and mind.

Specific techniques are used to progressively deepen relaxation. First the body is addressed, then the conscious mind, sub-conscious mind and finally the unconscious mind, inducing immediate relaxation, at the time of practice, but working very deeply over months and years, gradually and softly, easing tensions which we may not be able to identify in everyday life, but which we can feel affecting us, influencing our behaviour. Slowly, but surely, one grows lighter and happier.

According to yogamag, in a 1979 article by Dr. Karel Nespor, Czechoslavakia

"Yogic relaxation is a concentrated form of rest. It has immediate effects upon one's vitality and production during the working day. Some people I have met have the ability to stay relaxed throughout the day. For example, one of my university teachers appeared to be carefree and loose to the point of laziness. It surprised me to learn from a doctor collaborating closely with him, that he was actually a highly productive, active man."

http://www.yogamag.net/archives/1979/ajan79/relimp.shtml 

                                                           

Personal mentoring

The great thing about the human being is that we can improve our lives by creating new neural pathways in the brain. We can increase happiness, develop resilience, change our frame of mind, and deliberately create new paradigms for ourselves. 
We can face our fears, face our success, increase our potentiality and intentionally cultivate a better life, we don't have to wait for it to 'happen' to us. 
Improving our lives is not so much about making mountains of money - its more about becoming happier, stronger, more creative, inter-dependent and more contented despite circumstances.

Chances are that even though you are intelligent, motivated and independent, you may come across unexpected pitfalls and problems in life that cause you to lose heart, focus or motivation, you are just too busy coping with daily life as it is presenting to you. These can be small, or huge. But the toll they take on you can be slowly eroding, or devastating.

A wide variety of yoga practices, not just asana, gradually strengthen the mind and nervous system helping to systematically reduce fears, addictions/cravings to alcohol, drugs, unhappiness, anxiety, depression, PTSD, unwellness, etc, and increase your behavioural potentiality, which resides in each chakra.

Meditation (all meditation is mindful-based) covers topics such as the body, breath, heart chakra, all chakras, connections with others and should be a part of your personal set of yoga practices which strengthen your nervous system and body. 

Common situations that can be eased and transcended, are:

• Personal issues solved more effectively with yogic insight
• Design, plan and implement successful strategies for any aspect of life 
• Learn how to deal wholesomely with a recurring emotional tensions, problem or situation
• Discover and change negative, subconscious, habitual thinking or actions 
• Clarify your goals/desires - see what is blocking you from achieving them
• Understand how pitfalls, failures and detours are gifts or opportunities
• Increase your focus, action and playfulness in areas of interest in daily life

There are times when life is overwhelming and it can seem impossible to get out of the situation or pattern of thinking you find yourself in. If you feel you are hitting the same brick wall with the same outcome and are experiences, have the urge to ask the doctor for drugs, or take illicit drugs, or have decided you want to make your way beyond these, then contact me.

While it’s nice to talk to family & friends about your issues or concerns, it often doesn’t help because friends or family may be perceived as biased, or uninformed, or telling you what you want to hear rather than challenging your way of thinking.

YOGIC COACHING is very different to other coaching because it utilises yogic  techniques and yogic wisdoms which have stood the test of time. Practices might include deep relaxation meditation, mindfulness meditation, creative breathing techniques and asanas which make the body and the mind, clear and strong.

Breathe new ideas into the way you live your life. Yoga may be a far more savvy, wise and beautiful creature than you had previously thought.  

Gve yogic mentoring a try.    Text enquiries to 0470 522 593
TEXT me for an appointment. A brief text gives me instant clarity. Personalised yoga addresses body, mind and soul in a very profound way.