YOGA TIPS: SAVASANA

Savasana is considered a pratyahara practice. Pratyahara means sense withdrawal. Think of this as training for meditation. When you are in savasana, you are practicing letting go of your attachment to the body, the sense organs, and the outside world. You are encouraging your mind to go inward. Savasana is the opportunity to relax your mind in a quiet body so that you can assimilate your practice; therefore, it is offered at the end of a session. Savasana is a state of conscious surrender - a time to rest, yet not a time for sleep. Deep relaxation and an elimination of stress/tension from the body are meant to put the mind in a place where it can let go, too.

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The Power of the Pause

Feel yourself breathe, the smooth flowing inhalation, the smooth flowing exhalation. Be aware of the transition where the inhalation becomes the exhalation and the exhalation becomes the inhalation.

This transition is what I often refer to as the pause of awareness.

The pause of awareness is where we absorb the benefit of previous action and flow smoothly into the next action. It is where we absorb and honor the fresh life energy of the inhalation and let go and honor what no longer serves us with the exhalation.

The pause of awareness, where what was becomes what is and what is flows into what will be.

In awareness, we let the experiences of past become the base of the present. We release the labels of good and bad. Everything we have learned and experienced becomes a brick in the foundation of who we are.

Awareness is the pause, the mortar that unconditionally holds the bricks together without judgment. The base of our present is strong yet flexible enough to absorb the ever-shifting vibrations of life-in-action. From the clarity of our base we choose the actions of our present that will help shape our future.

Health Benefits of Yoga

Wondering how yoga may benefit you, especially while we are experiencing a pandemic in 2020? Inner Connections Yoga & Wellness, ROCK Salt Therapy & CommuniTEA is here to help you on your journey to better health.

There are many benefits of yoga, including:

  • Stress relief: The practice of yoga is well-demonstrated to reduce the physical effects of stress on the body. The body responds to stress through a fight-or-flight response, which is a combination of the sympathetic nervous system and hormonal pathways activating, releasing cortisol – the stress hormone – from the adrenal glands. Cortisol is often used to measure the stress response. Yoga practice has been demonstrated to reduce the levels of cortisol. Most yoga classes end with savasana, a relaxation pose, which further reduces the experience of stress

  • Pain relief: Yoga can ease pain. Studies have shown that practicing yoga asanas (postures), meditation or a combination of the two, reduced pain for people with conditions such as cancer, multiple sclerosis, auto-immune diseases and hypertension as well as arthritis, back and neck pain and other chronic conditions.

  • Better breathing: Yoga includes breathing practices known as pranayama, which can be effective for reducing our stress response, improving lung function and encouraging relaxation. Many pranayamas emphasize slowing down and deepening the breath, which activates the body’s parasympathetic system, or relaxation response. By changing our pattern of breathing, we can significantly affect our body’s experience of and response to stress. This may be one of the most profound lessons we can learn from our yoga practice.Flexibility: Yoga can improve flexibility and mobility and increase range of motion. Over time, the ligaments, tendons and muscles lengthen, increasing elasticity.

  • Increased strength: Yoga asanas use every muscle in the body, increasing strength literally from head to toe. A regular yoga practice can also relieve muscular tension throughout the whole body.

  • Weight management: While most of the evidence for the effects of yoga on weight loss is anecdotal or experiential, yoga teachers, students and practitioners across the world find that yoga helps to support weight loss. Many teachers specialize in yoga programs to promote weight management and find that even gentle yoga practices help support weight loss. People do not have to practice the most vigorous forms of yoga to lose weight. Yoga encourages development of a positive self-image, as more attention is paid to nutrition and the body as a whole. A study from the Journal of Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine found that regular yoga practice was associated with less age-related weight gain. The lifestyle study of 15,500 adults in their 50’s covered 10 years of participants’ weight history, physical activity, medical history and diet.

  • Improved circulation: Yoga helps to improve circulation by efficiently moving oxygenated blood to the body’s cells.

  • Cardiovascular conditioning: Even a gentle yoga practice can provide cardiovascular benefits by lowering resting heart rate, increasing endurance and improving oxygen uptake during exercise.

  • Presence: Yoga connects us with the present moment. The more we practice, the more aware we become of our surroundings and the world around us. It opens the way to improved concentration, coordination, reaction time and memory.

  • Inner peace: The meditative effects of a consistent yoga practice help many cultivate inner peace and calm.

From Yoga Alliance: https://www.yogaalliance.org/LearnAboutYoga/AboutYoga/Benefitsofyoga#:~:text=Improved%20circulation%3A%20Yoga%20helps%20to,improving%20oxygen%20uptake%20during%20exercise.

Christmas Blessings

Christmas reminds us of the birth of the Christ-consciousness love in all beings. The winter solstice is the rebirth of the sun into the spring cycle, when sleeping consciousness blooms from dormancy. Together, they awaken our own Christ-consciousness and the connection to the yamas, ethical guidelines, from the Yoga Sutra. The second chapter (II.29-45) outlines these ethical guidelines that are sometimes referred to as five of the “10 Commandments” of yoga.  These guideposts can help you navigate the holidays and stay aligned with your practice when you are off the mat.

Be kind (ahimsa). With the rebirth of the sun into the spring cycle, we move from the darkest time of year to celebrate light and hope. For some, holidays trigger expectations, attachments, and disappointments. Amidst the joy, feelings of longing, sadness, and loneliness surface. Be gentle with others – and yourself. The peace of Christmas is goodwill toward all.

Be authentic (satya). Be careful of overdoing.  Honor your boundaries of time, energy, and effort. Take time to ask for what you need – and step away to BE. Empty gestures and false sentiments are ornaments decorating an unhealthy tree. Instead of playing a part or hiding behind the merriment, connect with others from your heart and choose thoughts, words, action, and energy that come from your authentic Self.

Be mindful of your energy (brahmacharya). The flurry of holiday activity can leave you feeling pulled in a thousand directions. Manage precious energy reserves by consciously breathing, mindfully practicing your yoga, and intentionally observing your inner work. Instead of Guru Google, let nature be your guru: enjoy a walk with friends and family, breathe in the fresh, crisp air, or rest -like the Columbine nurtured by a blanket of snow - until you are ready to resurface. Take a pause to meditate on falling snow, the warmth of the sun, or the joy of the season.

Be generous (asteya). Holiday gift giving can be stressful and may lead to comparing and competing with others, which may in turn evoke feelings of envy, insecurity, or inferiority. Be genuine and heartfelt in your generosity. Be generous of spirit—uplift others and spread joy. Give from the heart in words, actions, and deeds.

Let go (aparigraha). Aparigraha is actually one of the central teachings in the Yogic text the Bhagavad Gita, in which Krishna shares one of the teachings that could perhaps be the most important lesson of all to learn: ‘Let your concern be with action alone, and never with the fruits of action. Do not let the results of action be your motive, and do not be attached to inaction.’ What Krishna is essentially saying is that we should never concern ourselves with the outcome of a situation, we should only concern ourselves with what we’re doing right now as we work towards that outcome. We often become too attached to our thoughts, and our ways of thinking. Negative thought patterns and false beliefs can clutter up our minds just like our closets get cluttered with old stuff. That clutter prevents us from human connection. Let go of preconceptions, hollow traditions, and unrealistic expectations; be open to possibility in this season of rebirth. Practice awareness, be mindful of want vs. need, consider what feeds your soul, and practice karma yoga - actions without attachment to outcome.

Breathe and practice the yamas during the holidays and throughout the new year. As you observe your busyness during the holidays, you may notice you don’t devote time to nurture yourself. This can cause you to experience the side effects of a life not lived in balance: insomnia, fatigue, low immunity, and more. Cultivate balance through the yamas and you may find yourself to be the recipient of the greatest gift of all.

Reduce Inflammaging with Yoga & Meditation

Aging is a natural process that every human being experiences, however, in today’s modern world, we’re dealing with a phenomenon that has sparked a lot of interest in the field of science, known as inflammaging– a chronic and low-degree proinflammatory state which occurs with increasing age and is closely associated with multiple diseases. Inflammation is known to be an invisible common denominator for an enormous number of age-related chronic and acute conditions, like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, multiple sclerosis, atherosclerosis, heart disease, type-II diabetes, osteoporosis and many other diseases. The combination of inflammation and aging can make it more likely that you develop these conditions and more likely that they progress faster.

The complex mechanisms behind inflammaging are not yet fully understood. We do know that as we age, our immune systems transform. This invisible change dramatically increases the number of proinflammatory cytokines circulating in our systems. Other theories point to a degradation of the sensors that tell the immune system that the body is being attacked, or the increase in molecular “garbage,” or molecules within the body that have been damaged, altered, or are simply extraneous.

Yoga helps reduce inflammation in the body in the following ways:

  1. Yoga reduces stress. High stress and inflammation go hand in hand. Yoga decreases stress levels.  Research shows a regular yoga practice increases levels of leptin and adiponectin and these natural chemicals work to alleviate inflammation in the body.

  2. Pranayama (the art and science of yogic breathing techniques) has been scientifically shown decrease stress, lower blood pressure, and improve immunity. Now, a study conducted by the researchers at the Medical University of South Carolina and published in BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine found that yoga breathing may also lower stress-related inflammation in the body. The study found that yoga breathing for just 20 minutes was able to lower stress-related markers of inflammation measured in the saliva. Tuning into your body and breath during yoga goes a long way towards restoring your peaceful state of mind and reducing inflammation.

  3. Yoga improves blood sugar balance. Excess sugar in the bloodstream causes inflammation and exercise uses up blood glucose preventing it from getting stored in fat cells.  Yoga is a gentle exercise that does not negatively stress the body and the postures (asanas) help balance the endocrine system. Yoga asanas massage and tone the abdominal organs like the pancreas and liver and stimulate the nervous and circulatory systems which help improve blood sugar balance.

  4. Yoga helps you sleep better, and good sleep is key to reducing inflammation. If you don’t get enough sleep, you won’t be healthy.  Research shows that losing sleep triggers pro-inflammatory cytokines that produce tissue-damaging inflammation. Inflammation is increased in people with insomnia and sleep apnea. Having a good night’s sleep keeps you calm, reduces cortisol, and helps keep your blood sugar in balance.

Meditation has a calming effect on the body and the mind, enabling greater relaxation. Dr. David Creswell, a professor of psychology, and his colleagues from Carnegie Mellon University, who study the impact of mindfulness meditation on the brain and the body, found that daily practice of mindfulness lowers inflammatory molecules and stress hormones by about 15%. The researchers found that inflammation seems to be the key factor, as mindfulness reduces it by way of impacting changes in the brain’s functional connectivity between two brain areas that typically work in opposition: the default mode network (which is involved in mind-wandering and internal reflection) and the executive attention network (key to attention, planning and decision-making). The researchers concluded that the changes in functional brain connectivity seemed to help the brain manage stress (a known inflammation trigger), and therefore is responsible for the reduced levels of inflammation.

Meditation teaches participants how to be more open and attentive to their experiences, even difficult ones, which may result in a more lasting impact on inflammation. Developing compassion towards self and others through yoga and meditation can greatly help with psychologically inflammatory conditions as well. Love towards Self and others can transform even the most difficult life situations and have wonderful effects on the world.

Next blog: a Yoga practice to reduce inflammation.

Why YOU Should Practice Yoga: It Reduces Chronic Inflammation

Inflammation

Inflammation affects everyone’s health. When inflammation increases, so does our risk for disease. Chronic inflammation — the long-term, runaway activation of the immune system’s defense response, even in the absence of infection or injury — is at the core of a host of health problems, including cancer, stroke, depression, heart disease, diabetes, and Alzheimer’s disease. Chronic low-grade inflammation happens when the following things happen:

  1. The immune system is triggered. Something triggers the body and puts it in a state of distress and keeps it there. Some of the triggers may be weight gain, poor nutrition, autoimmune disorders, stress, and exposure to allergens or chemicals.

  2. The immune system responds. The body activates its attack mode with its inflammatory response which includes more blood to the problem areas.  Blood is the primary delivery system for the inflammatory response.

  3. The immune system continues to respond. Because we never give the body a break, things like food, lack of sleep, and stress keep this process of inflammation in constant motion - the runaway activation of the immune system’s defense response.

See the next postings to learn how yoga and meditation are two major ways to soothe and reduce inflammation.

The Art of Doing Nothing

The value of teaching without words and accomplishing without action is understood by few in the world.                                                                                                       ~ Tao Te Ching, chapter 43

You are a human being, not a human doing. Don’t equate your self-worth with how well you do things in life. You aren’t what you do. If you are what you do, then when you don’t…you aren’t.
                                                                                                                                        ~ Dr. Wayne Dyer

Most of us need to work, and money is a much-needed tool for survival. However, what is the cost we are paying for staying trapped in this busyness? What if we miss an essential part of our lives? What if we start disconnecting from our true nature (dharma)?

We live in a world where time has become a scarce commodity, and most people are in a permanent hurry, yet we never seem to have enough time. Our modern society has transformed us into doers, performers, and overachievers. Always running somewhere, always busy to get more, and achieve more. Many of us have been conditioned to evaluate our human worth through how well we do in life (based on personal and professional goals, results and achievements), our possessions, or job title on a business card. We want to do more and to get more and tend to attach our happiness to a projected future we don’t even know will be there when we arrive. The need for DOING is energy consuming, and it can be exhausting for both body and soul. Ancient sages taught about the art of BEING.

Practices of being in stillness, like yoga or meditation, or connecting to our dharma, have become something we need to learn. Instead of listening and following our natural need for slowing down, we tend to define worth through social status and profession, so we work harder, longer, and live life in action. We forget how to BE. It may take time to get rid of the guilt of choosing to take things slow, doing things you enjoy, and allowing your BEING to recharge.

Ideas to consider:

1.      Attend Inner Connections Yoga’s Dharma workshop on April, 2019.

2.      Be okay with good enough (let go of perfection, of identifying your worth through professional accomplishments)

3.      Understand that taking care of your own needs, including long sleep, is not selfish (this is a learned misperception).

4.      Listen to your body and recharge the batteries of your soul.

5.      Set healthy boundaries with the outer world and say no to things you don’t really want or need to do.

6.      Value your time as an asset, knowing that, once gone, it’s never coming back.

7.      Stop trying to accomplish a hundred more things in a day.

8.      Cease comparing yourself to others.

9.      Reconnect to yourself to get grounded, to reflect, and to recharge.

10.  Your life is yours – don’t feel that you owe anyone an explanation or apology for the way you choose to live it.

 Doing nothing is an action as long as it comes from an empowering place of choice– your own choosing. Take time to breathe, relax, and recharge: mind, body, and spirit.

Tools to recharge:

1.      Take breaks between working hours.

2.      Walk in nature.

3.      Play with children and pets.

4.      Treat yourself to something relaxing: massage, cup of Chai at ICY, our Rock Salt Therapy Room, or a yoga class.

5.      Watch a good movie or read a good book.

6.      Listen to relaxing music (did you know that listening to raga or yoga music reduces your risk for heart issues, according to a recent European study?)

7.      Take a nap in the middle of the day.

8.      Enjoy a candle, incense, or aromatherapy for some olfactory connection to relaxation.

9.      Spend time alone.

10.  Seek out positive, non-judgmental people who love you as you are.

11.  Be aware of your preprogrammed self-talk, let it go, and take time to BE.

Treat life as a gift worth enjoying and celebrating today. Stop living for the weekends and instead live for each day, each moment. Smile more. Laugh more. Have fun. View every morning as a fresh start and a wonderful opportunity to learn new things and grow. Life is to be lived, not just to exist and to accomplish tasks.

Choose to live life to the fullest!

Working with the Chakras

Chakra work describes the techniques that are directed toward the chakras and the circulation of chakra energies. Such practices include sound, color, visualization, gemstones, aromatherapy, breath work, meditation, and asana practice. Chakra work improves our energy system by helping raise our level of energy, strengthen our intuition, and heal the mind, body, and spirit. Some of the effects of chakra work include strengthening metabolism and the immune system, detoxifying and improving functioning of internal organs, decreasing anxiety, mood swings, mental fatigue, and depression, and improving powers of concentrations, memory, clarity of mind and spirit, and more! By connecting with the centers of awareness and opening ourselves to balanced energy, we can treat ourselves and the world around us with grace.

At INNER CONNECTIONS, we offer many modalities to harmonize the energies of the chakras and promote well-being, including: Yoga, Meditation, Aromatherapy, Massage, Tibetan Singing Bowls, Reiki, and our Salt Room. 

Choose the methods that correspond best to your inner nature and are comfortable for you. The more approaches you practice, the more successful the results will be. NOW is the time to set an appointment at ICY to experience balance, peace, and freedom. 303-588-8598

Meaning of Chakra

The term chakra comes from Sanskrit, the sacred language of ancient India.  You will experience a taste of the Sanskrit language in Inner Connections Yoga classes.

Chakra means "wheel" or "turning." In fact, the chakras revolve continuously and through their rotation, we take in energy from our surroundings - plants, animals, and other people, as well as from the sun, moon, planets and the entire cosmos. Chakras are sometimes described as funnel-shaped flowers. Yet, at the same time, they allow prana (energy) to radiate from within us and act as miniature suns. Each chakra serves as a kind of way station in which energy is collected, transmitted, and made available for the ongoing processes of an individual's physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual life.   

You can make a positive impression in the world and influence your surroundings for the better by working with your chakras. Working with these vortices of energy, the chakras promote harmony between your inner and outer worlds.