Yoga Defense Against Illness

The change of the seasons always brings a drop in my immune system, and this year was no exception. I caught a cold that lasted longer than a few days and dragged my energy down, though not to a point where I had to stop altogether. I credit my yogic practices for helping keep me healthy against illness, and for helping me bounce back when I do get sick. Some of my practices include: asana practice, pranayama, massage, mantra (no, it's not, "de-fense") and meditation, in combination with certain foods, oils and gargles. I'd like to share some of those yogic practices to help you all manage your health during the upcoming fall and winter months.

Asana, Pranayama and Massage

Our immune system is made up of several systems in the body, but the the lymphatic system, which drains fluid through the lymph nodes and sorts out harmful items to be learned for future defense, is one that we can directly affect through movement, massage and relaxation. Some postures that are accessible to all and support the circulation of lymph can be found in the Pawanmuktasana Series I. When I feel under the weather, I use this series to move my joints to promote lymph drainage.

Instant Maui pose

Legs Up the Wall Pose

Along with the above movement, finding comfortable positions to gently expand the breath is key. I really love the Instant Maui and the Legs Up the Wall poses, depicted right. In these poses, my body is passive and I can expand my breath without strain. Reducing tension in my body and breath eases my nervous system out of the stress response and supports better immune response. In addition, I imagine my breath is nourishing each cell as I inhale, and "cleaning house" from each cell as I exhale. Taking just a handful of these conscious, healthy breaths can make me feel so much better!

Another way I promote lymph flow is through warm oil massage. This is an Ayurvedic practice called Abhyanga and is described on Banyan Botanical's website. Massaging the skin is similar to moving the body when it comes to moving lymph.

Mantra and Meditation

When working with mantras, keep them simple. For example, as you breathe in say to yourself, "health in", and as you breathe out say to yourself, "waste out". You could also use colors or attributes to focus on as you tune in. For meditation, I like to work with the Tonglen meditation when I feel unwell. This is because I can easily slip into feeling sorry for myself. So, if I focus on others, I tend to let go of self-pity. As I breathe in, I notice what sensations I'm feeling (achy, stuffy, scratchy throat, etc.), and I imagine breathing it in for everyone who feels unwell at that moment. As I breathe out, I send out my wish for us all to feel better - to feel supple muscles, clear nasal passages and a serene throat, for example. Over and over again, I focus on my suffering as it relates to others in order to let it go for all of us. In truth, when I am healthy, I no longer participate in spreading unhealthy germs, which means that you all are healthier, too. Tonglen works really well when viewed from this perspective.

Here's to all our health! Namaste, Lorien

Announcements

• Lorien will be on vacation the first week in October, returning to teaching on 10/7/12.
• Check out the FREE breath and meditation class at Breathe Los Gatos on Sundays 6:15-7:00 pm (this class follows the 5:00 pm Yin yoga class. Why not take both?)
• Coming in November: Winter Wellness Workshop on 11/10/12 at Willow Glen Yoga... more details to come!

Very Personal Reflections

This post is a little different; it's more personal and less about yoga. It took me a while to write it, because I had a self-image that my ego has created that wants you all to see me as a good, calm, kind parent. I'm not asking any of you to reinforce that image with this post. My only intention with this is to share what I've learned, in hopes it helps others in their relationships.

“There are no accidents.” “Everything happens for a reason.”

I’ve come to trust the truth in these statements as I see more of my life. Even the struggles have their purpose, if I live long enough and stay open enough to see it. This year, I have been working more diligently than ever on being aware. The reason for this diligence is because I began to dislike how I was relating to my family. I wanted something different from our relationships. So, I began to work on me.

2 months ago, my husband and I made a very difficult decision about our oldest child. Our 17-year old son was going down a path that was limiting his future: self-medication and no education. With my new awareness, I was finally able to see what I had been denying about him. We tried many things with our son, and finally came to a crossroad. On Tuesday, May 8, we forcefully sent our son to live in a therapeutic boarding school in Arizona. The people at the school, which is really a horse ranch, too, helped us to settle in to the new reality of him being there for several months. On aspect of their program is a peace-promotion set of tools, as taught by the Arbinger Institute. The boys at the ranch and their families must learn these tools, which seem to be a culmination of all the work I had been doing in my self-inquiry. The concepts of intention, ego, emotions and compassion are all used. I didn’t know it at the time, but I had been setting the foundation for the next stage in my life.

Arbinger begins with a description of Way of Being; in yogic terms this may be called Bhavana, or the underlying intention beneath behavior. There is always 2 ways to do something: responsive or resistive. When I respond, I follow my Bhavana and honor my innate sense to be a positive force in the world. When I resist, I deny my connection to others, betray my innate sense and view people as one of three objects: a vehicle to get what I want, an obstacle to getting what I want, or something irrelevant to getting what I want. Other people can sense this difference in the underlying energy in my way of being, even if my outward behavior is exactly the same. This is how I can say to my child, “I just want you to have a future”, and he can hear it as “I just want to control you.”

My husband and I have been in a class that discusses Arbinger, reading a book and doing a workbook for the past 5 weeks. The above paragraph is the foundation, but there is much more to it. If you’re interested, you can check out the books, The Anatomy of Peace and The Bonds That Set Us Free. If you’ve been doing the work on living consciously, these books will dovetail nicely.

Updates

• The NEW class at Worlds Yoga, PREP Therapy, is going really well! The studio is located in Saratoga in the Argonaut Shopping Center. Stop by if you can. To access the Worlds Yoga website click HERE.
• Sunday, July 22: Restorative Yoga teacher training at MindBodyZone in Fremont; see the Special Events tab for more info. 
• Friday, August 3-Saturday, August 4: Teaching Yoga to Someone with Cancer training at Breathe in Los Gatos; see the Special Events tab for more info. 
• Saturday, August 4: Yoga for Cancer Survivorship workshop at Breathe in Los Gatos; see the Special Events tab for more info. 

As always, check my Schedule page for the latest in class updates.

Reflections on Living Consciously

For the past 5 months, I've been posting about living with more attention on things like: breath, thoughts, body, emotions, the ego. I noticed when I began practicing living this way, my life didn't necessarily get any better. That's okay, because that wasn't my goal. My goal was to live more consciously, which includes the pain and the sorrow, the ease and the discomfort, and acceptance and the resistance. 

As I reflect on the year so far, I see that I've been uncomfortable a lot. I've broken down a lot. I've done and said and thought things that were "wrong"... And, I've experienced moments of humility and tenderness with myself far beyond anything I've felt in my life so far. Being aware is not easy. It's a moment by moment practice of tuning in, checking thoughts and breath and physical sensation and emotions and opinions. Any time I thought I had it figured out, any time when I felt I got myself reassured and grounded again, my circumstances changed and I went back to the start. 

Do we ever stop this process? Do we ever find solid ground, truly? Or do we learn to ride the waves of change and impermanence? I've had an image in my mind this past week of being on a sinking boat in the middle of the ocean during a raging storm, and my only companion in this boat is my inner critic, telling me over and over about how I got us into this mess; after hours of trying to stifle the cruel things my critic tells me, I've decided to embrace her, to hold onto her with love and affection. The storm doesn't ebb, the boat continues to leak, but I now have a loving companion to ride it out with.

Updates

Welcome to the new look for my website! As my teaching has evolved, I felt it was time for my website to reflect my focus. (If you notice anything missing or needing change, please let me know.)

Along with the new look of my website, I am pleased to announce another new class at a brand-new studio! Welcome, Worlds Yoga to the neighborhood. It is located in Saratoga in the Argonaut Shopping Center, and I will be teaching a class called PREP Therapy there. If you'd like a sneak preview of what the space looks like and what my class will be, join is this weekend for the grand opening free class offering. Pre-registration is recommended. You can do this by going to the Worlds Yoga website and signing up; click HERE to go there.

There are several other special events that I will be a part of over the next 3 months, so please check out the Special Events page for more info on: Kaiser's Cancer Survivor Day, Restorative Yoga teacher training and Yoga for Cancer Survivorship workshop.

As always, check my Schedule page for the latest in class updates.