Yoga is for Everyone!

Every body has a place in yoga!  That is one of the messages we want to bring across not just in our book, Essential Yoga Practice, but as we learn from our practice and share with others.  We all have "compromised bodies," whether it is an inherited anatomical issue, the residue of an injury or the result of settling patterns from tasks of daily living and/or subconscious movement patterns that need some building of awareness. Therefore it is not important to practice with a peripheral awareness of trying to be like the person on the mat nearby and straining or becoming frustrated/disappointed today's practice.  None of us is perfect.  We can practice together and apply the same actions within the alignment (for the sake of safety) of the poses we are practicing and each arrive "at our own place,"...for today.  One great lesson of asana practice is the opportunity to build awareness as you learn to practice poses with mindful respect of your unique limitations and freedoms.  Thus, you will gain a greater appreciation of the intricate detail of the body you have been blessed with, and you will begin to realize the connections and applications of these lessons "off the mat," and into your day.   Learning to appreciate the detail of physiological relationships will help us build awareness and care for applying these lessons to how we are forging our place in the is world with opportunities to grow in our emotional and spiritual relationships. We will be more apt to take care and not overdo. 

Essential Oil to use today:  Eucalyptus

Practice:  Place a drop of Eucalyptus essential Oil in your palm and rub the hands together.  Bring your hands together at your heart and keeping the thumbs and pinky fingers together, open up the hands to arrive at your personal diffuser.  Stand with legs in Tadasana, Mountain pose, rooting the inner heels and lifting/opening the front of the body.  Notice how the Eucalyptus opens up the lungs.  Now bring the palms together and press lightly, realizing that the rebound energy will broaden the ribcage across the collarbones an across the shoulder blades.  With each inhale take the arms wide, bringing the back of the hands together at the middle of the back.  With each exhale bring the palms together at the heart and then pause to feel the continued broadening of the ribcage as the palms press into each other. Repeat a few times to notice the slow expansion of the ribcage an the release of tension trough the shoulder girdle.  Enjoy this feeling of a more open set of shoulders/ribcage and ease into your practice.  Enjoy a great variety of movement patterns, because you can!  Namaste-