Peaceful Warrior

I love to hear my yoga teacher utter "Peaceful Warrior". As soon as I hear these two words, my mind calms down and I transition out of Warrior 2 and into "Peaceful Warrior" smoothly, one hand wrapping around my back, the other gracefully lifting up obliquely like an elegant wing. I look up, eyes closed, my face settled into tranquil bliss. Today when I transitioned into "Peaceful Warrior," I felt I could stay in this asana for a long time. I simply melted into it. Words have more effect than we can imagine. And the effect of positive words, signifiers that carry energy, gosh, they can move mountains. My warrior soul that is forever trying to live from moment to moment could rest blissfully when it heard "Peaceful," the word resounding solidly in the ears and reverberating into the whole body, lifting it out of itself.

Teaching chair yoga

I started teaching chair yoga a few weeks back. It has been the most amazing experience. I have been creative with finding ways to do asanas while sitting or standing with the support of the chair.  My student has trouble sitting on the floor, and I wanted her to get the full benefit of paschimottasana (seated forward bend). So, I first asked her to stretch her calves one at a time while standing, leaning forward with both hands holding on to the back of a chair. Once she felt she had stretched her calves enough, she sat on a chair. I placed another chair facing her and asked her to place one foot on it, straight. She then raised her arms above her head and stretched over her leg with her back straight, looking ahead of her. Then she placed her hands on her knee and took a few breaths. Then she rounded her back and relaxed over her leg and slowly came up. She repeated this with her other leg, and after that she placed both legs on the chair and repeated the whole stretch.

I am discovering new ways of doing small segments of the asanas each time I teach chair yoga.

My student gives me feedback instantly about where she can feel the stretch, which muscle is stiff and which asana makes her feel blissful.  Her progress since we began has been remarkable.

Getting Rid of Charley horses

Ever got an attack of charley horse in the middle of the night? When I do, I hold the toes of my leg with one hand and gently bend them toward me. If you are standing up, place your foot against the wall and press your toes against the wall by getting as close to the wall as possible. The pressure on the toes tightens the calf muscles thus relieving the pain of the cramp.
My friend, Harsha, informed me of another magic trick she uses when she has a bad cramp. She dissolves a spoon of salt substitute, which is essentially potassium, in water and drinks it. A few seconds later, she is free of the charley horse.
I find that malasana or the garland pose is also helpful in relieving charley horse. But don't do this if you have bad knees or you have trouble getting up from your sitting position, for you might hurt your back. In malasana, the trick is to put as much weight into your buttocks as possible so your back is not affected.

Locking gate asana

Today, as I did the locking gate pose, vasishtasana, I experienced the closing of my flank as I leaned into my side. And the wonderful opening of my chest as my arms flew out like wings. After this asana, I transitioned into side plank asana quite easily. My entire torso suspended in a smooth plank, supported by one arm and the side of my foot, did not buckle one bit.  I felt light, upward rising.

transitions

In yoga class this morning, Linda led us from the locking-gate pose (parighasana) to side plank to plank (chaturanga). I loved these transitions from pose to pose. The control that I had to have in parighasana, so that my torso did not turn aside or my bent knee lean forward, I realized, is crucial for the series of transitions. Once this is achieved it is easy to shift into side plank, which requires the core to do its maximum work, so the torso is held up by the balanced weight on part of the foot and the hand holding the body up. Today I was able to execute with grace the movement from side plank to downward dog (adhomukhasvanasana).

watercolor painting

We are creatures of light and color. Paint on canvas and feasting our eyes on nature fulfills us more than riches.