If you've ever seen the old Hollywood movie The Mark of Zorro starring Tyrone Powers you're familiar with the signature, sword-slashed Z that the hero left behind after saving the day. Have you ever considered that we leave a physical mark on this planet and the universe that environmentalists call our carbon footprint? Remember high school physics classes when we learned that for every action there is a reaction?
How do people react to you? What do you leave behind after you've been in a room or a home? Do the walls echo with laughter and images of joy embedded in your memory? Or is your mark just a pile of dirty laundry and a few heavy hearts? Are you a good listener who is tuned in to the needs of others around you, or is it only "all about you?" Yes, these are soul-searching questions!
This holiday season I am challenging myself and my readers to become more aware of the "mark" that we leave behind---both physically and emotionally. Let's practice a thoughtful awareness of the impressions that we leave behind wherever we travel, especially if we're blessed to be invited into someone else's home.
As we practice this week's targeted pose called "Fish Pose" or Matsyasana, we can begin by becoming aware of the physical impressions (indentations) that we leave on our yoga mats or carpets. These marks will inform us of where we're bearing most of the weight of our physical bodies and the alignment of those marks. If we listen, the God-installed guru within will teach us. Please don't practice "Fish Pose" if you are beyond your first trimester (ends at week 14) of pregnancy due to the pressure on the vena cava.
How do people react to you? What do you leave behind after you've been in a room or a home? Do the walls echo with laughter and images of joy embedded in your memory? Or is your mark just a pile of dirty laundry and a few heavy hearts? Are you a good listener who is tuned in to the needs of others around you, or is it only "all about you?" Yes, these are soul-searching questions!
This holiday season I am challenging myself and my readers to become more aware of the "mark" that we leave behind---both physically and emotionally. Let's practice a thoughtful awareness of the impressions that we leave behind wherever we travel, especially if we're blessed to be invited into someone else's home.
As we practice this week's targeted pose called "Fish Pose" or Matsyasana, we can begin by becoming aware of the physical impressions (indentations) that we leave on our yoga mats or carpets. These marks will inform us of where we're bearing most of the weight of our physical bodies and the alignment of those marks. If we listen, the God-installed guru within will teach us. Please don't practice "Fish Pose" if you are beyond your first trimester (ends at week 14) of pregnancy due to the pressure on the vena cava.
- Physically---Warm your muscles and joints with 2-3 "Salutations to the Son" described in the May 2009 blogs, OR simply begin by sitting tall in "Staff Pose" (See June 22, 2009 blog.) Other variations of "Fish Pose" begin by sitting in open hip postures such as "Bound Angle Pose" as described in the recent September 27, 2010 blog, or "Lotus Pose," which has yet to be targeted.
- The easiest method of entering into "Fish Pose" is to exhale the hands onto the floor directly behind the hips, palms down with the fingers facing forward toward the sit bones. Then draw a deep breath into all four-corners of each lung as the hands and then elbows ground down into the earth while gently sliding the hips over the hands and onto the back of the wrists. During a long and slow exhalation release the back of the head onto the floor or a folded blanket, but maintain a lifted and fully expanded chest. With the support of both elbows on the floor and the shoulders rolling down and away from the ears, remain in this version of "Fish Pose" for 3-5 deep and smooth breaths with the chest lifting and expanding three-dimensionally as the spine extends in a deep arch like the belly of a fish. If the chest collapses you may want to place a block just under the shoulder blades for support to maintain the deep arching back bend. The arms may then be released from under the hips on the next inhalation, one-at-a-time, and raised up and behind the head, either cupping the elbows with the palms or stretched straight behind the head, palms up and in line with the shoulders.
- Carefully exit this pose after inhaling, drawing up the pelvic floor and abdominal muscles for support, and then exhaling the elbows and hands back to the floor beside the hips, while lifting the crown of the head from the floor to slowly lower the shoulder blades and head back to the floor. Then slowly roll the arms open and away from the hips, curling the fingers softly, closing the eyes lightly, and opening the hips away from center (externally) to rest in the restorative "Corpse Pose" for at least five minutes (described in the January 24, 2009 blog.) Roll over onto the right side in a fetal position before sitting in "Bound Angle Pose" to reflect on the impression your "Fish Pose" made on the mat or carpet.
- Mentally---Before lifting the arms from the floor begin to focus attention on the muscles that are lifting and extending the spine upward (called spinal extensors, the rectus abdominus and the psoas major.) Actively engaging these muscles will help to protect the neck for the more challenging version of "Fish Pose" to be described next week.
- Spiritually---As you are lifting your body weight to ground down into a mat or carpet, remember that there will be a mark left at each point of physical contact---the sit bones, elbows, the crown or back of the head. Remind yourself that wherever you are, you will leave an impression or a mark. May you desire to be a positive force and influence on every life that you touch. Remember that Jesus himself commissioned us:
