Mountain

I have been using a lot of grounding poses lately in my yoga therapy class for patients and at home for myself, and so my mind is wondering why this dynamic posture benefits us so much.  Examples of grounding "asanas" are Mountain Pose, Tree Pose, Chair Pose, and Half Moon Pose.  I love the balancing forces of consciously pushing down into the earth while stretching up towards the sky.  

Physically, it is therapeutic for the body to breathe into and expand the space between the vertebrae of the spine, into the lungs and ribcage, from the toes to the crown of the head.  Improvements in posture, muscle imbalance, blood and lymphatic circulation (immune functions) are evident in the scientific study of these yoga poses.

Metaphysically, it is calming to ground the energy deep into the earth, while at the same time, stretching our limits towards the heavens.  It is the reflection of experiencing heaviness and lightness that we can interpret as the metaphor of life's ups and downs.

In daily life, we often encounter the call to "stretch" ourselves in ways that challenge our habitual behaviors.  If we take a minute to ground ourselves, to breathe, to know that we our rooted in the truth of our existence, it is easier to keep the balance that sustains our dynamic upward reach.  

"Posture is our attitude toward life."

--Stanley Paris, founder of University of St. Augustine's Doctorate of Physical Therapy program

flower power

Okay, I've gotten really busy again.  Busy with school, work, family, friends, life.  So now is the time to take a deep breath...  followed by a pause...  exhale...  notice the pulse, the posture, the gaze.  Gaze inward.  Reflect on the blessing of being busy.  Reflect on the blessing of not being so busy it's unhealthy.  I still have time to cook dinner with hubby, time to enjoy a glass of wine, time to stretch and breathe, time to play with the dogs and time to not be serious, etc.   oh yeah, and time to post on zee blog...

So today I want to share with you the "lotus mudra".  I learned this mudra last year in a yoga class and have found it helpful when experiencing increased stress or fatigue.  I also think it's appropriate as we begin to move out of January and into February, heralding our long journey through Winter to Spring.

Place both hands in front of your chest so that only the edges of your hands and pads of your fingers touch each other: This is the bud of the lotus flower. Now open your hands, but maintain the contact between the tips of the little fingers and the outer edges of your thumbs. Spread the other fingers open as wide as possible. After four deep breaths, close both hands back into a bud, place the finger-

nails of the fingers of both hands on top of each other; now join the backs of the fingers, the backs of the hands, and let your hands hang down relaxed for a while. In the same way, bring your hands back into the bud and the open flower. Repeat a number of times.

This mudra belongs to the heart chakra and is the symbol for purity. Love lives in the heart, together with goodwill, affection, and communication. We are meant to keep it pure and give it unconditionally, like an open flower that holds its chalice open for the insects. It is their nourishment and gives them warmth on cold nights. In turn, the insects pollinate it and help it fulfill the purpose of its existence. We are connected with our fellow human beings in more or less the same way—in both the good sense and the bad—and dependent upon them. However, the open flower has another message waiting for us. It opens to the sun, the divine principle, and lets itself be given whatever it needs; and it is given in abundance—it receives much more than it "needs." We enjoy blossoming flowers because they bear joy, the divine countenance, within themselves, and exude it to us.

from Gertrud Hirschi's book Mudras:  Yoga in Your Hands.

Clouds of Geese

Tell stories to each other.  Make songs for each other.  Celebrate our life with each other.   Ask questions of each other.  Be vulnerable to each other.  Be here for each other.

Alys Beach at Sunset

"Wild Geese" by Mary Oliver 

You do not have to be good. 
You do not have to walk on your knees 
for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting. 
You only have to let the soft animal of your body 
   love what it loves. 
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine. 
Meanwhile the world goes on. 
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain 
are moving across the landscapes, 
over the prairies and the deep trees, 
the mountains and the rivers. 
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air, 
are heading home again. 
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely, 
the world offers itself to your imagination, 
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting -
over and over announcing your place 
in the family of things.

from "Dream Work" by Mary Oliver, published by Atlantic Monthly Press

Bluster!

Today is a cold, windy, blustery, cloudy day outside.  Perfect timing for nurturing our inner warmth, settling into quiet coziness and contemplation.  Part of my classwork today involves studying the sacrum and pelvic floor, an area of the body that holds our deepest core energy, or "root".  So, in the interwoven nature of all things mind and body, I want to share a mudra called the triple warmer.  This mudra relates to the Chinese deep meridian of the liver, which lines up through the ring finger.  The force here gives stability, patience, and protection, including the ability to maintain equilibrium in stressful situations and a properly functioning immune system.  I think its cool that I wear my wedding ring on this finger, since marriage is a template for living out the personal lessons of stability, equilibrium, and growth in my life.      

The triple warmer goes like this:

Sit or lie down. Now encircle your left ring finger with the four fingers of your right hand, with the right thumb extending to the middle of your left hand. Close your eyes.

Imagine bare earth and crushed rock in all its forms -- as deserts, mountains, and islands. What happens when masses of earth begin to move? When the earth dries out? When the earth is completely exposed to the sun? Now imagine fertile earth. Slowly let the vegetation be created -- little plants, big plants, much green. Now focus on one single seed resting deep within the earth. With every breath, something moves inside until the seed bursts and a shoot stretches in the direction of the light. At the same time, it sprouts roots deep into the earth. It becomes a tree that grows very slowly. You wait patiently and watch how the plant develops into its full size. Keep breathing.  Time has no significance. Only the constant growth counts. The tree blooms anew every year, and bears fruit. Like the tree, we also do not know why this is. Like the tree, we want to give ourselves completely to life, and know this has its purpose, even if we will probably never be able to completely fathom the great mystery. As the tree changes every year, our inner development also continues. We decisively influence whether it is joyful or sorrowful.

Keep holding your finger for a while and feel the flowing warmth. Then encircle your right ring finger and hold it for the same amount of time.

This exercise and other mudras are taken from the website Innerself and the book Mudras: Yoga in Your Hands by Gertrud Hirschi, ©2000.  

On Being

One of my little treats lately has been listening to podcasts while I'm driving.  I really don't mind sitting in traffic when I am happily listening to one of the insightful podcasts from the show "On Being" from American Public Media...  Here are some of my most treasured:

Yoga. Meditation in Action with Seane Corn [American Public Media]

Matthew Sanford's Story, The Body's Grace [Speaking of Faith from APM]

Words That Shimmer [onBeing.org]

The Ecstatic Faith of Rumi [On Being]

A Wild Love For the World with Joanna Macy [On Being]

Robert Coles and The Inner Lives of Children [Speaking of Faith® from American Public Media]

Hope that a fun weekend awaits all of you.  Go LSU and Go SAINTS!!!

Hardwire Love

A bit of my own poetry:

"Hardwire Love"

Take the time to reconnect, 

to download the lessons.

File all the mistakes, 

the no's and I'm sorry's.

Organize your fears, 

your battles, 

your left-overs.

Open.

Select a new font.

Reconfigure the perspective.

Hover above the light.

Right-click on faith.

Happiness is streaming, 

the bandwidth unbearable.

Experience the recovery of all data.

Templates for optimizing your life.

Entering

I've been reading a book that Jon gave me for Christmas...he knows that Rilke is one of my favorite poets. The book is A Year With Rilke:  Daily Readings from the Best of Rainer Maria Rilke.
Today's poem is "Entering".  Quite fitting for the new year...

Whoever you may be:  step into the evening.

Step out of the room where everything is known.

Whoever you are, 

your house is the last before the far-off.

With your eyes, which are almost too tired

to free themselves from the familiar, 

you slowly take one black tree

and set it against the sky:  slender, alone.

And you have made a world.

It is big

and like a word, still ripening in silence.

And though your mind would fabricate its meaning, 

your eyes tenderly let go of what they see.

Stay tuned for more book citing and poetry--I have a new Kindle and so much to read!!

Kelly's Kooking

I've been into roasting veggies lately, especially because they taste so good with my new favorite food, baba ghanoush.  Everything tastes better with baba!  I haven't made it myself yet--we pick ours up on the way home from work @ Byblos market because they're really nice and they know how to make some good baba.  An easy gourmet snack is carrots, squash, or zucchini (raw or roasted) dipped in baba with some fresh goat cheese or feta added to it.

So the other night, I roasted cauliflower (Jon's new favorite) and it came out great.  Simple, fresh, and packed with nature's goodness.  And then, last night, I roasted the "lucky" cabbage Martha Stewart style and we both loved it!

Here are the recipes:

Roasted Cauliflower

Roasted Cabbage Wedges

Baba Ghanoush

Happy New Year!

Welcome to my blog!  With the start of the new year, I wanted to create a way to connect, share, and celebrate the little things in life.  I hope as you follow my posts, we will find some new ways of being, thinking, doing, and all that good stuff...

So this blog is named Mind Your Mudra!  A mudra is a Sanskrit word meaning "seal", "lock", or "gesture", signifying an action using the hands.  Mudras can include breathing techniques and body postures integrated with yoga and meditation to concentrate awareness, release tension, and increase positive energy.  As a physical therapist, I use my hands to help people heal.  We hold so much energy within our hands, in the power of touch.  I have been practicing yoga for years, and have recently been using mudras to refine my practice of holding silence, focusing the mind in the body, and observing the effects of these ancient arts on my general well-being.

There will be more on mudras and yoga to come, but I wanted to share two hand mudras to honor this first day of the year, so you can try them on your own.  Think of it as black eyed peas and cabbage for the soul.  =)

1.  Ksepana Mudra: Gesture of pouring out and letting go

2.  Ushas Mudra: Break of Day - Origin of all good things

Have a great start to a new year with a fresh perspective!

Here's to filling it with lots of peace, love, and laughter as we go...

Namaste.

My sister gave us a blooming tea set for Christmas, so today we made our first "tea posy".  It was cool to watch the tea blossom unfurl in the pot, and the tea was delicious!  Thanks, Lori!

Before...

Voila!