Two Poses in Ten Minutes for a Simple Restorative Yoga Reset

2020 continues to be a year of significant stressors for most of us. We're worried about children's education, the stability of our jobs, the state of our country and our environment and it's taking a toll on our physical, mental and emotional health. And we all know, now more than ever, we need to engage with practices that can help us stay healthy and well on all levels. But the thought of trying to make that happen can just add to the overwhelm! When you're too overwhelmed to think straight, it's easy to miss the fact that the greatest effect on our health and wellness can come from simple things done with consistency. Today I want to bring you a simple (and I do mean S-I-M-P-L-E) restorative yoga practice that can help you reset and renew yourself for whatever comes your way next with two poses in just 10 minutes.

Before we get to the practice I just want to say another word about this idea of simplicity. I think it’s something that is SO over looked in our culture. We always seem to make things more complicated than they need to be. Got time in your calendar? Fill it with something! Have one monitor on your desk at work? Why not two! Making dinner? Add six more spices! That will make it better! Some of these things can make our lives better, but often times when we peel away the extraneous baggage we can find ourselves with much more calm and much more ease. I’m finding this to be one of the big takeaways from this time we’ve all been experiencing these last several months. It’s the simple joy of having a cup of coffee with a friend that we miss, not the running here there and everywhere.

So let’s get to relaxing, shall we? You’re going to need a few things:

Props

If you have yoga props, awesome. If not, you can steal from the couch or the bed to make this work. This is not the time to stress about gear. Remember simplicity?! Get yourself a big bolster or pillow and at least two or three blankets. Another smaller pillow can be handy.

Get yourself a nice sounding timer.

Not the kind that makes you jump out of bed in the morning, but one that’s kind of like your Mom gently shaking you to wake up from a nap when you were a kid. There are probably several appropriate sounds on your phone, but if you use that put it on airplane mode. Seriously. The world will be ok without you for 10 minutes.

As I mentioned, you are going to do two poses. Period. You’re going to repeat the first one twice. Here it is:

Supported Spinal Twist

I love this supported spinal twist because you not only get the benefits of a supported restorative yoga posture, but you also get a good twist in as well. It may be not be anatomically correct to say so, but twists tend to feel like they wring the stress right out of the body. We tend to hold a lot of tension in our spinal muscles and this pose will help to gently relieve them of that tension.

To find your way into the pose: set up your bolster or big pillows like a ramp. As you can see in the photo, I used one block at the low level and one at the medium level to rest my bolster on. Have a couple of blankets handy on either side of the bolster/pillow ramp. Get that extra blanket or smaller pillow handy. Then sit next to the ramp with your right hip up against it, your knees are bent out in front of you and your thighs are making a right angle to your hips. Place the small pillow or extra blanket between your knees for some extra cushion. Then start to lay your torso down on the ramp with one hand on each side of it. Your forearms should come to rest on the floor but if they don’t, that’s what the extra blankets are for. You’re going to fold those up under your forearms until they rest easily. Your head can face the same direction as your knees or you can turn it to face the opposite way if that’s comfortable for you.

Set your timer for 3 minutes. Breathe deep as you rest here and imagine that your body is getting heavier with each exhalation. It’s like your body is sinking into the floor.

When the timer goes off, press the earth away with your hands to come back to seated. Sit with the ramp behind your back for a moment or two. Then gently swing your legs over to the other side and repeat the pose there. You’ll likely need to adjust the blankets under your forearms if you were using them.

Set your timer for 3 minutes. Breathe deep as you rest here and imagine that any lingering tension is draining out of your body and into the earth where it gets washed away.

When the timer goes off, come back up to seated.

Supported Shavasana

Last pose. Shavasana.

I really like this supported version with the addition of eye pillows in the hands and over the eyes. But that’s complicated. It’s perfectly fine to just lay flat if that works for your body.

Set your timer for 3 more minutes and maybe take two or three more deep breaths that you release with a big sigh through an open mouth. Then, just allow yourself to rest. If your mind decides to run away into the complexities of life, either just let it, or draw some gentle attention back to your breath.

When your timer goes off, slowly find your way to one side, press up to seated and celebrate that you did something really good for yourself today that is going to help your body, mind and spirit deal with everything life is throwing at it these days. You’ll face it all with a little more calm and a little more focus.

Repeat this short restorative yoga practice whenever you remember to do so.

What if I want or need more?

If you find yourself with more time or you’re just wanting to stay a bit longer you might hold each twist for up to five minutes and extend shavasana to 5 or more minutes. If you wanted to add in one more pose, you could add in legs up the wall. (If you have trouble with getting comfortable in that pose, here are some tips.)

Want EVEN more?! I’m teaching another online restorative yoga class via Zoom in October.

Space is limited and I’m only offering a couple of discounted spaces.

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The perfect breathing practice to relieve stress and anxiety

In all my classes this month we are focusing on our breathing. Breathing and yoga go together like bread and butter, but it can take a bit of practice to make it all work. The overall effect is a calmer mind and body when done well. While the breathing practice we try to maintain during a vinyasa practice, called ujayi breath, is wonderful calming breath, if you’re experiencing stress and anxiety there’s another one should should really consider practicing.

That breath is alternate nostril breath.

I often say I wish I had known about this breath when I was auditioning for orchestras when playing the bassoon was the career I thought I’d spend my life in. The anxiety of that experience always left me with shaky hands, a dry mouth and not much in the way of coping mechanisms to work with that bodily state other than taking more auditions. Now, I use this breath any time I’m experiencing stress or anxiety. The key though is to have an established practice. Only then will you remember to do it in your time of need.

Alternate nostril breath is said to balance the energy channels on the two sides of the body. Those energy channels just happen to coincide with our two nostrils. The right side is said to be the more energetic side, the left side is said to be the more calming side. By doing this breathing practice you are bringing those two sides into greater balance and harmony. The effect can often be felt after just a few repetitions.

Here’s how to practice this breath:

First, choose a hand position that works for you. I usually offer three different possibilities. The first is Vishnu mudra. The first two fingers are curled into your palm. You use your thumb and the last two fingers to alternately open and close the nostrils. It looks like this:

The second possibility is to instead take the first two fingers and anchor them at your third eye space or the space between your eyebrows. Just as above, the thumb and pinky fingers are then free to open and close the nostrils. That looks like this:

The third option is to just choose to do it however is most comfortable for you! That might look something like this:

Once you have a hand position that works for you you’ll then follow this sequence to perform this breathing practice (these instructions assume you are using your right hand):

1. Close the right nostril with your right thumb and inhale through the left nostril.

2. Immediately close the left nostril with your right ring finger and little finger, and at the same time remove your thumb from the right nostril, and exhale through this nostril.

3. Inhale through the right nostril. Immediately close the right nostril with your right thumb and exhale through the left nostril. This completes one full round.

You’ll continue this sequence for about 3-6 rounds to start. Allow the breathing to be slow and deep without being forced. Always end with the exhale through the left nostril (remember how we said this was the calming side above? That’s why. We want to end on a calm note!).

When you’re finished, take a few breaths through both nostrils and take the time to notice the effect of your practice.

If you are experiencing congestion or there is a blockage in the nostrils best not to try to do this breath. If you’ve been practicing it for a while, imagining it can be highly effective as well, but you first need to have an established practice.

You can practice this breath a couple times a day for a couple of rounds to start out. Over time as it becomes more comfortable, you can extend how many rounds you do at once. With time and practice you’ll notice a greater calming effect. You may also find this breath helpful in times when your energy is feeling low. The balancing quality of the breath works the other way as well.

Did you find this helpful? Do you practice this breath regularly? Do you have questions about this practice? Let me know in the comments!

Be here now

As I'm writing these words, a rough week for many of us has just come to an end. And not a very satisfying end. An end that has more of a question mark on it then ever. Many of us have been forced to relive our own traumas that we may have set aside for years. Many of us may have engaged in heated debates with friends or family members. Many of us are feeling worn out and dragged through the dirt thanks to media in many forms.

I don't care what side of the debate you stand on. What I care about is that you take care of yourself in the best way possible right now. One strategy I've been using and I'd like to offer to you is being fully present. How can that help in times like these? Read on.

This may seem like the exact WRONG time to be talking about being present. How do we do that when the present is just almost too much to bear? I’ve asked myself this question a lot this week. I’ve wondered how do I stay present with what’s happening, keep being an informed citizen and yet not loose my mind as I watch horrendous suffering come to the surface in others and old traumas rise in myself as well? How do I do any of this when all I really want to do is run and hide?

First, I have to know my limits. I am only human. I can do my best and my best has to be enough. My limits may not be the same as yours. I have to accept that. My limits may not be the same as those of my family and friends. I have to accept that and I have to call upon them to respect my limits and respond in ways that honor my boundaries. I may need to speak clearly about my limits to others. I may have to accept that they will not appreciate my limits. I will need to honor them anyway the best I can, perhaps without their help or support. No one else can know your limits. Only you can know where your boundaries are. Be clear in protecting your limits. And when you’ve reached that limit, turn off the TV, put down the paper or turn off or put away whatever it is that all this was coming to you through, or ask the person you’re talking to to allow you to change the subject or simply walk away. It’s more than ok to make it stop for awhile.

Second, I can use what I know about the brain and yoga/meditation to stop the repetitive loop of past traumas playing out in my mind. Did you know that when you relive a memory, your brain doesn’t know if it is something that happened in your past or if it is happening right now? Many times the same chemical responses, such as the release of stress hormones, can be found when we recall an event. If we end up in the endless thought loop of remembering a trauma, we are basically putting our bodies and minds through the same experience over and over again. Sometimes we need to do this to make sense of the event, to find resolution or to simply fully deal with the trauma. But sometimes we can get stuck in a pattern of thought that just becomes harmful. This is why knowing your limits is first. If it’s time to get those negative thought loops to stop, being present is where we begin.

How? Start as above in step one and turn off the news, put down the paper or the social media or whatever it is that’s triggering you. Choose a technique you find calming. Your technique might be similar to one you use in meditation. You can follow your breath, you can look at an uplifting image or you can repeat a mantra. Whatever you choose, bring your mind fully to it. See it, feel it, experience it for all that it is. The more curiosity you can bring to it the greater the chances of stopping the cycle of damaging thoughts.

But what does that really do? It empowers us to reclaim the here now. And the here and now is actually pretty safe if we really look at it closely. If you are reading this you are likely sitting at a computer or looking at a device. If you take a deep breath and let it out the next breath is going to come. And the next. There is no one attacking you. There is no one hurting you. You are just here, reading these words and taking a deep breath. It’s all pretty simple right here and right now. The next moment may not be that way. But this moment is. This breath is ok. This breath is safe. In this breath all is well.

So you take this little vacation from it all and you live and breathe to see another day. To take action in another moment. You are rested enough and centered enough to do whatever is next. And that is all anyone can ask in these crazy times we live in.

And if you truly need help processing and dealing with it all, remember that yoga and meditation can only take us so far sometimes. Don’t be afraid to call and ask for professional help. There’s no shame in that. That’s also part of knowing your limits.

A breathing technique for controlling stress and anxiety

I continue to hear from many of you that controlling stress and anxiety and taking care of yourself are a main focus for 2018. You are not alone! This is one of the wonderful things about marking a new year; we get to rededicate ourselves to something important. 

Here's a simple breathing technique that might help. We tend to think that in order to help ourselves the solutions need to be complicated or involve a complex sequence of steps. The truth is that it can be as simple as conscious breathing. That's not to say that you'll never be stressed out again if you do this technique! As we all know, life happens! But what we can do is make sure our toolbox is full and our practice is steady so we can reach for the right tool in that moment of anxiety.

Here's how it works:

Lay on your back with one hand or both hands on your low belly just as you see above. Do your best to breathe through your nose, but know if you're a bit congested you can always breathe through the mouth. Close your eyes if comfortable and focus on your breath. As you breathe in, direct the breath down into the hand on your belly and allow your belly to expand so it lifts your hand up to the sky. As you exhale, let it all fall back toward the earth. Continue like this for several breaths. It may take a few tries to get your belly to relax enough to really fill with the breath. Don't get frustrated, just keep going. 

That alone is a wonderful practice and could be complete in itself!

If you'd like to take it a step or two further, try this:
Shift one hand to your rib cage. Now when you inhale, expand the belly just as you've been doing but then continue that expansion into your ribs and the hand that's there. Feel the ribs move out into your hand. On the exhale, reverse the process. Ribs draw in first, then the belly deflates.

Repeat that several times.

If you'd like to go one last step further, shift a hand to your heart center or center of the chest area, just above your breastbone. Now breathe into the belly just as you have, the ribs just as you have and then see if you can find one last little sip of air under your collarbones. Again you'll exhale in reverse, so the chest releases followed by the ribs and then the belly. Do this for several breaths.

When you're finished, let the breath return to normal for several breaths before you roll onto your right side and come up to sit. Take a moment there before moving on.

This is called three part breath and is a wonderful way to help calm mind, body and spirit when life is a bit tense. You can do this in bed before you go to sleep or even when you first wake up in the morning. If you notice you get a bit light headed at first it should pass, but just let the breath work go if it gets uncomfortable and try again at another time. 

When you finish the practice, pause to notice the difference in your body, mind and perhaps even spirit.

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