This week's newsletter/blog discusses the physical practice of yoga. You will find my current offerings listed at the bottom of this publication, including yoga nidra, private lessons, and meditation & yoga for organizations.

Yoga Asana: Moving Meditation

We have wrapped up our series on the yamas and niyamas, the ethical practices of yoga, the first two limbs. If you missed this series, you can always find the discussion in my blog. We now move on to the next limb of yoga. The branch you are probably most familiar with. The physical practice, called asana in Sanskrit.

I recently took an online asana class that included a breakdown of the famous (or is that infamous?) downward facing dog pose (adho mukha svanasana).

The instructor, Megan Howe said, "yoga is not the pose itself, it's what is happening in the pose." Yoga is the interconnections that we make within a particular pose as we hold it for a few breaths. The connections are to ourselves through inner exploration using the many limbs of yoga. This concept is what makes yoga much more than simple exercise.

I loved Megan's comment because it gets to the core of why we do yoga. It is so much more than the physical practice. Yoga asana (poses) are moving meditations, rather than simple exercise. For example, when I do my yoga at home, I request not to be disturbed. The rationale is that my movement and what happens in the transition between the movements are the things inside myself that I listen to. To be distracted, by external sources interrupts that meditative process. No thank you! My mind is quite capable of interrupting itself all on its own!🤣

The moving meditation forces us to listen to what's going on inside of that moment. We come into union within ourselves. How we bring ourselves into wholeness is by listening to both the body and the mind. Telling ourselves what feels right, what doesn't feel right. Am I using my breath properly to support my pose? Is my mind allowing me to get into the shape of the pose in the first place? We may consciously or subconsciously ask ourselves these questions. As they get answered we settle into a calming meditation guided by the breath. This is the primary reason that we hold the poses for several breaths. Breath helps us to dig into sensation and bring nourishment to our brains.

After finding the peace in one pose, we inevitably move on to the next. Yet the transition, the pause between the poses are where we also meditate.

Moving onto the next pose, the subconscious kicks in. How am I going to get into the next pose that the yoga teacher cues? Maybe it is as simple as noticing the breath first. The calming effect of breath is always happening between the poses. (As long as we are not holding our breath! 😁) The breath is the key to finding the peaceful meditative state as we move our bodies.

Ongoing Offerings

Yoga nidra classes continue online at 7:30 ET Monday nights. Join me tonight for a beautiful relaxing journey that will help you to heal, relax, and de-stress for an hour. In addition, I invite you to join me on Thursdays at 8:00 pm where you have an opportunity to unwind from a long stressful day using yoga nidra techniques. Please join me. I look forward to seeing you do something wonderful for yourself very soon!

Meditation & Yoga for Organizations

Using yoga and meditation techniques, I am available to support an organization's institutional mission and values tailored to the needs of employees. Meditation and yogic exercise have been shown to promote wellness that boosts employee morale, effectiveness, and productivity (Sheelu, Garg, & Rastogi, 2022). If you know someone who may be interested in setting up a meditation or yoga class for a retreat or as a regular amenity or employee benefit in their organization please forward this link to them.

Private Lessons

I continue my availability for face-to-face or online private lessons. Contact me by filling out the form at the bottom of any of my web pages.