Recalibrate & Reset

It’s Spring in Sarasota. That means one day we had the AC on, and the next day it was chilly in the morning so we turned on the heat. The next day, we needed the AC again, but the thermostat got all freaked out when I switched it back to AC. I had to turn it completely off for a few hours and let it re-calibrate and reset. Now it’s acting normally again. The ice-maker decided it also felt cranky and needed a little nap. I turned it off for a day or so, and now it’s happily cranking out lots of ice.

Humans are not that different from machinery. We also need periodic recalibration and resetting. Our bodies and our attitudes can get stuck in sub-optimal functioning. Yoga provides just the reset most of us need. The right amount and intensity of movement plus spinal lengthening and rotation do wonders for our circulation and breathing. It clears our minds and refreshes the spirit.

Journal

In what way do you currently feel stuck? Is there any thought or activity you wish you could put on “pause” for a little while? Describe this a bit.

Practice

Seated Cross-legged Twist

Seated Cross-legged Side Stretch

Child Pose

Standing Crescent Stretch

Standing Forward Fold w/ hands laced behind

Seated introspection

Journal

Did this practice help you shift your mood? Your physical state?

How did you feel before versus afterwards?

Which one or two poses were particularly helpful? Commit those to memory so you can hit the reset button whenever you need to.

Less is More

In teaching my Zoom class last Tuesday, I got lost ½-way through my class plan. In the jumble of words on the page, I couldn’t find where I was supposed to be, so my words fumbled. This affected my timing and the flow of the class - how long we hold the poses and how frequently we switch from one asana to another. Looking back, the best reason I can think why this happened is that there were too many things to do in my plan.

I make 2 class plans each week, one for Mixed Levels, the other for the Gentle and Yoga Basics classes. They are similar, but the Mixed Levels class is usually more challenging in that it contains more asanas and moves at a faster pace than the other two. Last week, the class plan I made for Basics and Gentle worked much better, because they were simpler and less cluttered. And truthfully, this isn’t the first time I’ve noticed the plan for Basics and Gentle working better in general.

According to author Gretchen Rubin, “outer order contributes to inner calm.” I look forward to my yoga practice as an activity that helps me feel calmer and more centered. But like a to-do list that’s a mile long, too many asanas and complicated transitions between them can stress me out and leave me feeling depleted, defeated, and exhausting.

Spring fever this year has manifested for me as a fervent desire to declutter. I’ve been inspired to learn more about minimalism and simple living. I’ve been slowly chipping away at the excess stuff in my kitchen, closet, office to try to get it down to a place it could be organized. It makes sense. If a messy desk makes it difficult for me to concentrate on my writing, a messy yoga sequence makes it hard for me to find inner peace in my practice.

One definition of simple living states that it’s about creating more through less. Less stress, fewer distractions, fewer burdens and obligations leads to more time, more space, more energy, more to love about your life.

Practice

Supta Padangusthasana 1 > Reclining Gomukhasana legs

Lying face down with abdomen over rolled blanket - forehead on fists

Child Pose w/ lateral stretch

Dog - 40 secs

Surya Namaskar w/:

Low Lunge Twist

Easy Parsvottanasana > Easy Revolved Triangle > Utthita Parsvottanasana

Seated ½ Gomukhasana legs

• Lean toward top leg side and butterfly top arm open and closed (pre-twist)

• Twist elbow to opp knee & Anjali Mudra

Full Gomukhasana - arms & legs

• FF

Supta Pada 1

• Slight cross over middling w/ external rotation > Supta Pada 2

Reclining Cobbler's Pose

Savasana

Journal

How “busy” is your yoga practice normally? Is there constant movement, constant instruction, constant music?

How did you enjoy this simplified practice above?

How busy is your daily life? Which aspect of your life would benefit the most from being more simplified?

Thoughtful Transitions

It can make us anxious when we don’t know exactly where we’re going. I’ve been feeling anxious since I’ve moved out of my yoga studio and don’t yet know what the future of my yoga teaching will look like. The vagueness of this “in-between” time has me feeling a little unfocused and grounded. I read something somewhere that made me feel calmer about it all. To paraphrase, it was something like “Take time to be in the pause between what was and what will be in the future.” I immediately felt I had permission to not yet know what I would do next.

In yoga practice, the in-between time could be characterized as the transitions between poses (asanas). Sometimes students try to rush from one pose to another to avoid the feelings of instability that can occur as we move from one pose to another.

Today’s practice is an opportunity to grow by focusing on making thoughtful transitions. The beauty of slowing down to transitions thoughtfully and gracefully has 3 main benefits: 1) the in-between moments create strength; 2) the decrease in momentum creates stability; 3) we have the time and incentive to improve the quality of the gaze - drishti - and the breath

Practice

Slow Cat/Cow

Standing Forward Fold w/ hands on blocks > standing split

Surya Namaskar (optional blocks for hands) w/ standing split & low lunge

Pigeon > ½ Matsyendrasana

Seated observation

Journal

What did slowing down make you aware of in your practice?

How did it feel to focus more on the journey of getting to a pose?

Are you in the “pause” between two ways of being? What came before and why did it end? How does being paused make you feel?

Is this practice something you’d like to do again? Why or why not?