The new year is upon us and it's the perfect time to set goals.... wait... rewind... to set intentions.
My teacher once told me that the goal of yoga is not to make people into acrobats. The physical flexibility gained through the practice of postures is the wonderful benefit of yoga, but they mean little if not accompanied by mental flexibility and spiritual commitment. She reminded me that the goal is not to be super human with great powers and that us yogis and happy humans are not miracle groupies. When I find myself being challenged with a certain posture, I keep coming back to this.
In time, I have learned that there is no greater state than being fully human and accepting ourselves as we are with all the energy and potential we need within us. We have great intuition and sensitivity, if we simply use what we have.
Weather you intend to be realistic or aim high, your new years resolutions should be life long intentions. It will take commitment, power, dedication and practice to fully immerse yourself with your "goals." If you mess up, be kind to yourself, get back up and try it again and again and again.
During my retreat with Kathryn Budig, one thing that stuck with me the whole time was her invitation to take on a few new challenging poses. And that I did. The pictures below are very beginning stages during the retreat that I decided to take on these super bad-asanas.
So as I choose my peak poses for 2012, I am choosing postures to build my inner strength, to release my outer fear and to open my eyes to a new perspective.
My teacher once told me that the goal of yoga is not to make people into acrobats. The physical flexibility gained through the practice of postures is the wonderful benefit of yoga, but they mean little if not accompanied by mental flexibility and spiritual commitment. She reminded me that the goal is not to be super human with great powers and that us yogis and happy humans are not miracle groupies. When I find myself being challenged with a certain posture, I keep coming back to this.
In time, I have learned that there is no greater state than being fully human and accepting ourselves as we are with all the energy and potential we need within us. We have great intuition and sensitivity, if we simply use what we have.
Weather you intend to be realistic or aim high, your new years resolutions should be life long intentions. It will take commitment, power, dedication and practice to fully immerse yourself with your "goals." If you mess up, be kind to yourself, get back up and try it again and again and again.
During my retreat with Kathryn Budig, one thing that stuck with me the whole time was her invitation to take on a few new challenging poses. And that I did. The pictures below are very beginning stages during the retreat that I decided to take on these super bad-asanas.
So as I choose my peak poses for 2012, I am choosing postures to build my inner strength, to release my outer fear and to open my eyes to a new perspective.
Mayurasana
- Strengthens the shoulders, arms and wrists
- Improves balance
- Puts pressure on the abdomen improving digestion, and relieving indigestion and constipation
- Stimulates the abdominal organs
- Stretches the muscles of the forearms, wrists and fingers
- Beneficial for repetitive stress injuries like carpal tunnel syndrome, and for people who spend a lot of time on the computer
Padmasana in Sirsasana
- Calms the brain and helps relieve stress and mild depression
- Stimulates the pituitary and pineal glands
- Strengthens the arms, legs, and spine
- Strengthens the lungs
- Tones the abdominal organs
- Improves digestion
- Helps relieve the symptoms of menopause
- Therapeutic for asthma, infertility, insomnia, and sinusitis
- It calms the mind
- Stimulates the pelvis, spine, abdomen, and bladder
- Stretches the ankles and knees
- In women it alleviates menstrual discomfort and sciatica and helps ease childbirth
Eka Pada Koundinyasana I
- Strengthens the arms and wrists
- Tones the belly and spine
When choosing your peak poses for the year, don't try to take on many different asanas at once. You'll burn yourself out and won't accomplish any of them, leaving you feeling disappointed and defeated. Instead, focus on two or three asanas and practice them for a few minutes each day. Choose your poses with a mentality of having reachable expectations and keep in mind that you cannot master an arm balance in one day.
Always always always remember to give yourself permission to not keep the resolutions you are now making, or to keep them only part way. Guilt should never be an option, as long as you know you did the best you could.
We all have room to adjust our expectations to more closely match reality if we try, and just that change can help us have a happier year as we face our life and our peak poses.
Namasté,
Always always always remember to give yourself permission to not keep the resolutions you are now making, or to keep them only part way. Guilt should never be an option, as long as you know you did the best you could.
We all have room to adjust our expectations to more closely match reality if we try, and just that change can help us have a happier year as we face our life and our peak poses.
Namasté,
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