Extend a Hand, utthita hasta

Standing in line with my daughter at her school book sale tonight I picked up a copy of Soul Surfer. It's the amazing story of Bethany Hamilton, a talented surfer who at 14 was attacked by a shark and survived. But the shark got her left arm, almost all of it.


soul surfer

I don't know if you've stepped on a skate board (or surf board) in the last decade, but I have. Balance can be tough. And that's with two arms. She surfs, with only one.

The pictures in her book and on her web site are fabulous.

When you look at her pics you can see my obvious yoga tip for today. When your balance is shaky, regardless of the pose, extend your arms like a surfer. I do this a lot in tree pose, vrksasana. I extend one arm out to the side in utthita hasta padangusthasana, also.


vrksasana, tree pose, arms extended


utthita hasta padangusthasana

Think about a tightrope walker. He carries a long pole that dampens sudden side-to-side shifts. You can stretch your arms out to the sides to steady your balance, too.


tree pose on a tightrope

By the way, "extend a hand" hand in Sanskrit is utthita hasta. The phrase is used in some pose names when one or both arms are extended. We use the same phrase in English to imply that we're reaching out to others to offer help.

That's probably the most striking thing about Bethany; when she took a big fall, she got back on the board and used her notariety to extend a hand of help to others. Incredible.



Maybe extending a hand to others in generosity will bring better stability to your life. When you're feeling shaky, not quite steady, try helping someone else.

Don't just read about it. Get up. Experience it. Experience yoga!

Kevin Perry
www.ExperienceYoga.org

p.s., Tomorrow I'll write about another surfer. It's the surfer variation of virabhadrasana 2 and what you can do to stand tall like a warrior, instead of crouching low like a surfer.


surfer


virabhadrasana 2, warrior 2 pose

p.p.s., Would you like to extend a hand of help today? Surf over to www.WearOrange.org where your purchase of an orange I DO YOGA wristband guarantees $1 in aid, through the American Red Cross, to victims of the Asian Tsunami. Think how good you'll look (and feel) with your arms extended, wearing an orange wristband!


I DO YOGA wristband at www.WearOrange.org

Copyright 2005. All rights reserved by Mo Yoga LLC.

Put a Little Bounce in Your Wellness Routine

Another day in a hotel room.

If you read my tip yesterday, you know I'm in Kansas City on a business trip. Travel can be a hassle when you're trying to take care of yourself with healthy food, restful sleep and mind/body training.

When I travel I like to do something I never do at home (I guess my mom trained me well.) I bounce on the bed.

I'm sure you remember REALLY bouncing on the bed (or should I say JUMPING on the bed) when you were a kid. It was a sure way to really get adults mad at you.


jumping on the bed

So I save my bed bouncing for when I'm using the hotel's bed. I just sit on the edge of the bed and gently bounce up and down for six to eight minutes.

It's easy, it feels good. And it's great for your lymphatic system. When your lymph, which tends to get thick and sludgy, is moving freely, your immune system funtions better. You get rid of some waste materials more efficiently. Bouncing, gently and enjoyably, helps keep the lymph moving.


gettin ready to boost my immune system 

The lymphatic system, unlike the vascular system, has no muscular pump of its own. So you can help it out by getting on the ball.

When I'm at home I bounce most days on one of those big Swiss balls.


they know how to bounce!

And my students begin each Breakthrough Training class with at least 5 minutes of bouncing. It makes you feel great. And often it makes me feel happy--like a kid again.

Don't just read about it. Get up. Experience it. Experience yoga!

Kevin Perry
www.ExperienceYoga.org

p.s., I wrote about how practicing inverted poses also helps drain your lymphatic system in one of the very first Daily Yoga Tips I wrote. You can read it at http://experienceyoga.blogspot.com/2005/04/get-upside-down-give-your-heart-break.html

p.s.s., I teach Breatkthrough Training classes at Show Me Yoga center in Jefferson City, MO on Mondays (5:30 pm), Wednesdays (7 pm), and Thursdays (noon). Click here for a description of the Breakthrough Training progarm. Or read about it on the News Tribune web site.

Copyright 2005. All rights reserved by Mo Yoga LLC.

Throw Cold Water on Fatigue

I woke up in Kansas City today. And yesterday, too.

It's really no big deal, but usually I wake up in Jefferson City.

This morning I'm thinking about when I've been outside in the hot sun. Working or walking or whatever I'm doing. After a few hours on my feet moving around in the heat of the day sweating, I start looking for shade and relief.

This reminds me of a few years ago when we went to Disney World. Guess what we did at the end of the day when we got back to the room? We jumped in the swimming pool.

After 5 minutes in the cold water of the pool I was refreshed and energized. The fatigue and lethargy vaporized.

That's my tip for today. If you're feeling droopy, listless, and in need of energy, TAKE A COLD SHOWER or if, you're lucky, jump in the pool for a swim.

Cold Shower!? Yes!

It really works. And it's great for your immune system. When you feel like you're getting a cold, start taking cold baths several times a day.

Showering in cold water strengthens your nervous system, too.

I've been talking to students in my Saturday morning class about how sometimes we can't hold a yoga pose because it's very intense. As I've practiced yoga, my nervous system has gotten stronger; I can handle nervous intensity longer. Cold showers boost your nervous system, too.

Which brings me back to where I started. I woke up in Kansas City today. And there was no hot water in my hotel room. So I took my first cold shower in almost a year. It was intense. But I feel great.

Don't let fatigue stop you from doing what you want to do (practice yoga). Jump in a cold shower, get refresehed, and do what's right.

Don't just read about it. Get up. Experience it. Experience yoga!

Kevin Perry
http://www.experienceyoga.org/

p.s., On Saturday mornings I teach at alleyCat Yoga in Columbia, MO.

Copyright 2005. All rights reserved by Mo Yoga LLC.

eka pada sirsasana, one leg head balance 

revolved seated angle pose, parivrtta upavistha konasana 

Sequence and Intention

translucentaidesstridentorlandocapsuleyogaheparinpeanuts
gentlenessopium

ahsportsgroovyfallenemyyogabubblecommunistincredible
lucky

Huh? What's this?

The first line is the response I get when I type "yoga" in the search box at www.wordcount.org.

"WordCount™ is an artistic experiment in the way we use language. It presents the 86,800 most frequently used English words, ranked in order of commonness."

Play with it. It's fun.

The word "yoga" is number 18,879 on the list. "Asana" isn't in the database. "Pose" is 6,640.

"Pain" is 1,402. And "bliss" is 13,185.

"Enlightenment" is 11,113, right next to "insolvency."

"Stretching" comes in at 6,183 while "aerobics" hits the chart at 15,329.

"Workout" sits at 30,379, right next to "clydesdale" and "unicorn". That must mean something.

I know scads of people who work out; only a small fraction of them do yoga. But the word "yoga" is used more than "workout"--by a long shot. Maybe it means we work out a lot, but we hardly talk about it. Or maybe it means that English speakers want to do yoga, so they talk about it a lot.

The creators of the web site say:

"Observing closely ranked words tells us a great deal about our culture. For instance, “God” is one word from “began”, two words from “start”, and six words from “war”. " "As ever, the more one explores, the more is revealed."

Seems obvious to me that one of the things we do as human beings is look for and create meaning. We design. We intend.

Here's the big yoga tip for the day: To make your yoga practice more meaningful, pay attention to sequence. Create an intention and order your poses to reflect that intention.

This is not rocket science.

You can begin by experimenting with a few principles that are easily stated:
1) I'm going to practice easier poses before harder ones.
2) Whenever I do headstand I will always follow it sometime later with shoulder stand.
3) Seated forward bends seem easier if I do twistings first.
4) I finish each practice with a quiet, restful relaxation.
5) I follow an intense back bending practice with poses that release the muscles in my back.

These principles are not prescriptive. I'm giving them as examples of how you can organize your practice.

As you practice more, you'll get a feel for principles you want to apply from time to time, or all the time.

Look in yoga books at pose sequences the authors provide. It's great fun, and rewarding too, to try to figure out why the author put some poses in but left others out of a pose sequence. Just why does she suggest practicing downward facing dog pose (adho mukha svanasana) before full arm balance (adho mukha vrksasana)?

Don't just read about it. Get up. Experience it. Experience yoga!

Kevin Perry
www.ExperienceYoga.org

p.s., One great way to sequence poses is to group poses with similar actions and structures together. Similarities in structure and action are often revealed by the Sanskrit names of the yoga poses. We show you how to group similar poses together, by name, in the Experience Sanskrit workshop. Our next Experience Sanskrit workshop will be held in St. Louis, in June at the St. Louis YogaSource. See you there.

p.p.s., I almost forgot this. What does the second row of words above mean? WordCount.org also has a function called QueryCount. It displays the freqency with which web site visitors query the system looking for the position of a particular word. The first dozen words are basically unprintable. But "Jesus" was right up there at 14 when I looked last. If you're the voting sort, you might want to go to WordCount.org and search on "yoga" a bunch of times. Maybe it'll move up from its current rank on the QueryCount of 1,356.

Copyright 2005. All rights reserved by Mo Yoga LLC.

The Springtime of Yoga Practice

I was in the car yesterday when I heard someone commenting on the radio about the Opera. While describing the winter scene in La Boheme in which Mimi and Rodolfo, torn by the wonders and troubles of intense love, are debating their own romantic demise, I could hear in the background the singers belting it out in Italian.

In the dead of winter they were describing vividly the beauty of the arrival of Spring. While I'd be inclined to just say "Spring has sprung," they said, " [w]hen the flowers bloom in Spring,we'll have the sun as our companion!" "The chattering of the fountains in the gentle evening breezes...spreads a healing balm on human suffering."

Spring is here. While Pucini can say it better, I'll just say, "it is so beautiful." Did you see the pictures on the news of the cherry blossoms in Washington, DC? Amazing!



What I liked about the scene from La Boheme was its example that we have an amazing ability to participate in the beauty of spring, even in the coldest darkest times of winter.

It's just as true, however, that at this glorious time of year we can use our attitudes and intentions to sink deep into the dark cold depression of winter, if we choose.

Every time you begin a yoga posture or a yoga practice session you have the opportunity to declare an intention.

Escpecially when you've been practicing a particular pose for a long time, I see a tendency to become jaded. You start the pose, not anticipating a breakthrough, but resigning to a present moment that's just like the past.

One of the gifts of Anusara yoga is what John Friend has called "the Three A's of Anusara": attitude, alignment, and action. The first principle is attitude!

You can start your asana with resignation, or as John suggests, you can be open to Grace. You can begin each practice anticipating Divine intervention. It's like imagining the beauty of spring in the dead of winter.

How do you open to Grace? Try dedicating your practice to a higher purpose. For example, "I dedicate this practice to the memory of my Grandmother who loved me and cared for me selflessly."

Or begin your practice by considering a list of everything for which you are grateful. Count your blessings.

Or simply begin each pose with the mindful habit of hopeful expectation! I wonder what incredible experience this pose holds for me?

The feelings and emotions you invest in your practice transform dreary exercise into rewarding and refreshing adventure.

Mimi and Rodolfo could experience what we have now, the intense beauty of spring, on a winter roof-top. You can, too!

Don't just read about it. Get up. Experience it. Experience yoga!

Kevin Perry
www.ExperienceYoga.org

p.s., find out more about Anusara yoga at www.Anusara.com. And if you want to read the libretto from La Boheme, Act III, click here.

Copyright 2005. All rights reserved by Mo Yoga LLC.

Toes Up Against Your Arch Enemy

The arches of your feet have many enemies. I wrote Sunday about how gaining weight or pounding your feet on a hard surface could lead to a flattening of the arches and an irritation of the plantar fascia.

A great way to re-form the natural shape of the arches is to sit on your feet in vajrasana, the thunderbolt pose.


The woman on the right is sitting in thunderbolt pose, vajrasana

But...you can't always plop down and sit like that throughout the day...so,

I like this exercise because you can do it all the time, any time.

It's simple. While standing, lift all ten of your toes up off the ground.


Sometimes it's hard to really lift your toes up.


Just lift your toes up!

Then spread your toes, stretch them long, and rest them back on the floor. Repeat...often.


Spread and stretch your toes.

When you lift your toes up, see if you can feel your arches tone and lift. You should intend for your arches to lift. As you get better at this, you'll feel the feeling of your arches lifting more vividly.

Regular practice will make your feet stronger.

Don't just read about it. Get up. Experience it. Experience yoga!

Kevin Perry
www.ExperienceYoga.org

p.s., The contents of this message are not to be considered as medical advice. Always consult a physician before beginning or changing any fitness program.

p.p.s., Here's a fun variation.


A fun variation..

Copyright 2005. All rights reserved by Mo Yoga LLC.

Yogis Contribute $5,725 to Tsunami Relief through www.WearOrange.org

April 19, 2005. Sallie Keeney, right, presents Melissa Friel, Executive Director of the Capital Area Red Cross, with a check for $643 for Tsunami relief from www.WearOrange.org

Did you know that the yoga community world wide has donated $5,725 to the American Red Cross for Asian Tsunami relief aid?

So many other stories are hot in the news: a new Pope, Terry Schiavo, iPods, American Idol. You name it, there are hundreds of reasons to forget about the victims of the Asian Tsunami.

But you don't have to forget. You can still help. Just buy an orange I DO YOGA wristband at www.WearOrange.org. For every wristband sold, $1 is donated directly to the American Red Cross for Tsunami relief.


Here's what my orange wristband looks like as I sit at the wheel of my pick up truck.

Even though my arm looks funny, the wristbands look great. Double click on the pic to see a larger version.

The Devangari script of Patanjali's first YogaSutra is inscribed on one side: atha yoganushasanam. It means "now, yoga" or "now is the time for the exposition of yoga."

The phrase I DO YOGA is inscribed on the other side.

Here's something no one else knows about. Just you! When we ordered our wristbands from China the manufacturer threw in some extra wristbands, as samples, in colors we didn't order.

So we now have just a few, very rare, I DO YOGA wristbands that we will soon give away!


Two sets of rare I DO YOGA wristbands in gold, purple and blue

Two of you will be the lucky winners. When you win, you'll have something no one else has. They just don't exist!

Each of the two winners will receive a set of three I DO YOGA wristbands, in the colors you see in the picture above, gold, purple and blue.

What do you have to do to win? We haven't set the deadline yet, but soon we will. All you need to do is take a digital pic of you (or anyone!) wearing the orange I DO YOGA wristband. Submit your picture now, so you won't miss the deadline.

The picture can be of you alone, or a group of people. You can be doing yoga, or anything else.

It can even be a picture of someone wearing the I DO YOGA wristband at a famous or unusual landmark. The leaning tower of Pisa! The Capitol steps. The Louvre. Whatever! But we've got to be able to see the orange I DO YOGA wristband in the picture.

One winner will be drawn at random. The other winner will be selected by Sallie and me as the one we like the best. So get busy. Start taking your pictures. And email them to us at info@wearorange.org.

More contest details will follow. Until then check back here to view the pics we'll be posting.

Submitting your pic constitutes your giving permission for us to post it. We do not guarantee that we will post all entries.

Thanks everyone. Get busy. Go get a wristband and take a picture, too.

PLEASE pass this information on to your yoga friends. It's a great opportunity to have fun and help the victims of the Asian Tsunami. They still need our help.

Kevin Perry
www.ExperienceYoga.org

p.s., Speaking of iPods...did you catch that reference above? Everyone who buys an orange I DO YOGA wristband from our booth at the Yoga Journal Conference coming up May 13-16 in Grand Geneva, WI will be eligible to win a drawing for TWO iPods we are giving away! Can you stand the excitement?


Here they are. Two iPod Shuffles that will be given away at the MayYoga Journal Conference in Wisconsin.

If you know someone who is going to the Yoga Journal Conference in Wisconsin, will you please email this message to them by clicking on that little icon below that looks like an envelope with an arrow on it? Thanks!

Copyright 2005. All rights reserved by Mo Yoga LLC.

Kyphosis and Bending Backwards

Never say "never."

I once told my yoga students no one ever bends backward in ordinary daily life. For instance, you don't do "the limbo" to pick your socks up off the floor. Of course, you don't.


The Limbo

But we bend forward all the time...to pick things up, to look at the computer screen, even to put our pants on in the morning.

I think, because we constantly bend forward and never bend backward, I see a lot of people with "rounded backs," or kyphosis. When the upper back is bent dramatically forward, it's called hyperkyphosis.


obvious examples of kyphosis

"Kyphosis is a curving of the spine that causes a bowing of the back, such that the apex of the angle points backwards leading to a hunchback or slouching posture." That's what the medical dictionary says. This is what it looks like:


kyphosis

Our spines were constructed to bend backwards. But you've got to do it. If you don't use it, you lose it.

I started this message by reminding us all to "never say never." I learned this lesson (once again) in church about a year ago. Up until then, I frequently made the pronouncement that no one ever bends backward in everyday life.

Then I saw it. The woman just ahead of me was holding her baby on her hip. Rather than turning around, she continued to face the front of the church, bent backwards and reached down to pick her baby's pacifier up off the pew.

People really do bend backwards in real life! When you look up at a bird flying overhead, you bend back. Sometimes when you reach for something on a high shelf, you bend backward.

Probably the most common backbend I see in real life is the posture of an expectant mom. As the baby gets bigger, moms bend backward to counter-balance the ever increasing weight of the baby. Here's an illustration that exaggerates the point:


back-bending mom

You might be surprised to learn, however, that you can bend backward and still slouch. Yes! You can lean back and still have your upper spine slouched forward into that kyphotic shape that crowds the internal organs, makes breathing difficult, and dooms you to a future of neck pain.

Look at these pics. When people lean back, they still collapse their chests!


You can lean back and still round your upper back. See the shoulders rounded forward?


See how he's leaning back, but rounding his upper spine and neck forward?

To get all the benefits of backbending you've got to learn to lengthen your spine (lift the breast bone away from the navel) and dig the bottom tips of your shoulder blades into the back of your ribcage. That action--using the shoulderblades--transforms posture and opens the chest.

When you do it, you relieve compression on your organs and breathing comes easier.

I think the best way to get the feel of using your shoulder blades for backbending, or in regular upright posture, is practicing the supported chest opener. Sometimes I just call it lying over a rolled up blanket, as shown here.


supported chest opener

It may take some getting used to, but you'll eventually love this practice. Enjoy it. Feel yourself breathe easier when you come out of it.

Don't just read about it. Get up. Experience it. Experience yoga!

Kevin Perry
www.ExperienceYoga.org

p.s., Here's a challenge to you readers. Get out your digital camera and take a picture of you doing the limbo, bending backward, to pick up your sock off the floor. Send it to me by email with permission to post it here. I'll send the first two of you who respond a free copy of my WristFix report, "Be Wrist Pain Free in Four Weeks" along with the Chinese exercise ring that goes with it. This is a $39.95 value that you get FREE!


The WristFix report and Chinese exercise ring

See www.WristFix.org for more details about the report, the Chinese exercise ring, and how these exercises can eliminate pain, numbness, tingling, weakness and other hand or wrist problems.

My email address is info@experienceyoga.org.

p.p.s., The contents of this message and everything on this web page do not constitute medical advice. This material is not given for the purpose of diagnosis or treatment. For diagnosis or treatment, you should consult a licensed medical professional.

p.p.p.s., Digging your shoulder blade tips into your back ribs is just one component of the shoulder loop. The shoulder loop is just one of the many loops and spirals of Anusara yoga that, when practiced, return the body to its optimal blueprint for alignment. Want to know more? Click here.

Copyright 2005. All rights reserved by Mo Yoga LLC.