"Looking up" is a positive expression that we often use when things begin to look better after a period of tough times. Yet when your calm and composure is put to the test, and yes, you're feeling more than stressed, where are your resources? Sometimes the road has too many big bumps and deep potholes to be avoided. These are the times when most people will finally look up to something beyond themselves for help. As the Christian apologist, C.S. Lewis, has said, "Pain is God's megaphone to rouse a deaf world." But why do we wait until things get so bad that there is no where else to turn but up? Why don't we give God our full attention at the beginning of every day?
If you're getting the gist of my weekly blogs that began in January of 2009, you just might be starting each day with prayer and yoga as I've done for the past ten years. Let's say that my connecting-with-God time (yoga) is the wheel that guides my way through all the twists and turns, the bumps and blocks, so that I can experience peace in the midst of it all.
This week we can practice connecting with God by continuing to flow through a series of "warrior" (virabhadrasana) postures (asanas) and then adding a third warrior called "Cleansing Warrior Pose" or Kriya Virabhadrasana. The Sanskrit word kriya literally means a cleansing process, which is something that we should all experience from time to time.
May you practice yoking with the God of the universe every morning, and don't forget to look up! plf
If you're getting the gist of my weekly blogs that began in January of 2009, you just might be starting each day with prayer and yoga as I've done for the past ten years. Let's say that my connecting-with-God time (yoga) is the wheel that guides my way through all the twists and turns, the bumps and blocks, so that I can experience peace in the midst of it all.
This week we can practice connecting with God by continuing to flow through a series of "warrior" (virabhadrasana) postures (asanas) and then adding a third warrior called "Cleansing Warrior Pose" or Kriya Virabhadrasana. The Sanskrit word kriya literally means a cleansing process, which is something that we should all experience from time to time.
- Physically---This bending backwards warrior, "Kriya Virabhadrasana," serves to compress and massage the back of the kidneys, which are the two kidney-bean-shaped organs located at the level of the bottom ribs on each side of the spine. They perform the crucial function of filtering waste products and toxins from our blood while maintaining a proper balance of salts and liquids in the body. To practice these physical postures, first begin by warming the muscles and joints with the vinyasa flow series referred to as "Dancing Warrior" and described in this year's January 4th blog. OR if you are pregnant or have physical limitations that would benefit from practicing on a chair as described in last week's blog called "Rational Adaptations" please be rational and use a chair!
- To "flow" or move with the breath, begin with a deep inhalation while lunging the right foot forward from "Downward-facing Dog Pose" into the "Warrior I Pose" that was described in detail last week. Exhale and ground firmly into both feet, with even pressure on the front right foot and the outer edge and heel of the back left foot. Take another slow and deep breath (your energy source!) as the torso lifts and extends upward with the arms while looking up at the thumbs as they join together in the prayer position known as anjali mudra. As the next exhalation begins, draw the left hip further forward and the left thigh rotates or spirals internally toward the center. As the long exhalation continues, release the left arm slowly with the palm facing upward and gently press the left hand against the back of the left thigh to help square both hips toward the front right thigh. Now inhale while stretching the right arm straight above and behind the head and feel the energy (called prana) flowing up through your body. Look up! During the exhalation experience the gentle back bend as it compresses both kidneys, but especially on the left side if the lower ribs press inward. Be sure to breathe into and expand the back of the ribs, allowing them to move away from the kidneys on the inhalations, and then move inward toward the kidneys as the exhalations compress and gently massage away the toxins.
- Remain in "Kriya Warrior Pose" on the right side for 5-10 breaths, depending upon your energy level and strength at the time. Be honest with yourself and exhale into the restful "Child's Pose" or back to "Downward-facing Dog" when necessary. After 4-5 relaxed and steady breaths in either of these resting poses, you'll then be ready to switch to "Kriya Virabhadrasana" on the left by lunging the left foot forward on an inhalation.
- Mentally---Attempt to remain very present in your body by counting the number and quality of each breath while in the "Cleansing Warrior Pose." Be mindful of each expansion of the back ribs as you breathe healing energy into your lungs, and then the gentle compression as the lungs deflate with each exhalation. Stay present in your body and breath!
- Spiritually---The symbolic gesture of looking up has always been an expression of man's need for a source of wisdom and strength and forgiveness. While holding the "Cleansing Warrior Pose" and looking up, remember the reason that we have access to the Creator of the Universe. Because God first loves us, even while we sin, He devised a perfect plan through the life and death of Jesus Christ that cancels out all of our failures and shortcomings. All we have to do is believe and look up! We will then be "white as snow" in God's eyes.
May you practice yoking with the God of the universe every morning, and don't forget to look up! plf
