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More on Salamba Sarvangasana
noreply • Jan 26, 2018
Despite practicing this posture for thirty years, I still find it can be challenging if I haven't been doing it regularly, while I can easily hold a headstand with joy. Having recently added it back into my daily practice, I thought it would be helpful to provide a few tips.
Salamba sarvangasana can be practiced for 30 seconds or for as long as 30 minutes, though I usually strive for about five minutes.
Why do the shoulderstand? It has so many benefits:
- calms the nerves
- reduces anxiety, insomnia and irritability
- decreases depression
- improves your metabolism (so it can help you lose weight)
- good for digestion and blood circulation.
It is best to practice the shouldstand on 2-3 folded blankets, lying with the edge of your shoulders lined up with the edge of the blankets.
The blankets will prevent pressure on the vertebrae of the neck. It is important to centre yourself on the blankets and not turn your head while in the pose.
This asana is also called the candle, and can be started with the legs bent slightly in a half or quarter plow position, and gradually straightened with time.
If you have difficulty getting into the posture, a variation against the wall is a beautiful way to get comfortable with this challenging pose.
Place the short end of your mat against the wall, and lie on your back with your shoulders on your blanket stack.
Then lift yourself up, placing your feet flat on the wall and supporting your back with your hands.
Hold this posture, and then move into the full shoulderstand away from the wall.
When you need to come out of the asana, move into plow by bending the legs over your head, until the toes touch the floor (or you can place a block if you don’t reach the floor).
Return to sarvangasana, and then ease yourself out of the pose and rest on your back for a few breaths before you sit up.
Start with 1-3 minutes, and gradually increase the length of your asana.
Ideally, after sarvangasana you would do a headstand for an equal length of time!
Incorporating some yoga into your morning work-out can be very beneficial.
While I always knew that yoga is to prepare you for sitting in meditation, it wasn't until I started this daily practice - into my fourth month - that I realized that how it can transform your ability to sit for longer periods of time.
Chakra-themed PotluckChakra Readings with PendulumThroat Chakra - Lion’s Pose
Am very excited to be going to Costa Dulce, a beautiful little yoga and surfing eco-resort located on the beach of Playa Escameca.Costa Dulce
This Saturday I am offering my first workshop on Gabriola in the beautiful Net Loft - there has been a fantastic response and close to 20 participants have signed up. My good friend Fran will join us from Toronto via zoom to lead us in chakra sounding, while Paul and I will be playing the corresponding notes on singing and crystal bowls. The Net LoftNext, the group, who have been encouraged to come wearing their favourite chakra colours, will be encouraged to share some of their knowledge on the properties of the seven main chakras. Amy and I will lead a chakra yoga class including some partner yoga, with chair yoga variations for those who don't want to practise on the floor.We will enjoy a chakra-themed potluck luncheon, with eight different chakra teas and tonics for the first eight chakras, followed by a discussion of the higher five, less known chakras. The workshop will close with a meditation on the chakras.And all profits from this event will be donated to the Tibetan Nuns Project.More info
Well, today is day 50 of my daily yoga and meditation practice and I feel great!
We are thrilled to be putting together a series of yoga and art workshops for 2023. My good friend Rhonda and I have decided to offer Altar Talk, a joyful weekend workshop of altar creation, yoga, meditation, and scrumptious vegetarian food.About UsRhonda embraces many creative labels - mixed media artist, altar maker, assemblage artist, tea maker, storyteller, expressive arts facilitator, avid baker, and keeper and tender of creative flames at Casa Sanctuary Art House. Her work is often created from found, discarded, thrifted, or otherwise used up items that have lost their purpose. With vision, intention, and intuition, Rhonda creates new life from the old and gives birth to art with a whole new purpose. Jennie is a spiritual wanderlust, a yogini, meditation instructor, thai yoga massage practitioner, foodie, salsa loving, avid gardener and world traveller who lives on a beautiful little island on the west coast of Canada. She believes that yoga, meditation, dreamwork, and shamanic journeying can all enhance the creative process, to help you create your own reality.Our first workshop will be taking place in March 2023 at the Stillpoint Yoga Centre in beautiful Picton, Ontario. Our next two workshops will be offered in June 2023 on Gabriola Island, British Columbia.If we have fun with these retreats, we plan on offering week long Altar Talk retreats in beautiful tropical locations such as Nicaragua, Guatemala, Costa Rica and Belize in 2024.
1. 20 minutes of meditation2. Opening chantOMVande Gurunam CaranaravindeSandarsita Svatma Sukhava BodheNihsreyase Jangalika YamaneSamsara Halahala MohasantyaiAbahu PurusakaramSankhacakrasi DharinamSahara Sirasam SvetamPranamami PantanjalimOMEach asana is held for five minutes.3. Salamba balasana - supported child's pose, with blanket between legs4. Supta virasana - reclined hero sitting on meditation cushion and over bolster and blankets, gradually removing props5. Supta baddhakonasana reclining over Tejomaya's back support, tucking blankets undrer legs6. Urdhva Dhanurasana - wheel pose using a ball7. Salamba sarvangasana - shoulderstand using two blanketsAlso do half plow on each side and full plow, holding each for 5-10 breaths. End by sliding shoulders off blankets and rest for a few minutes.8. Sirsasana - headstand on one folded blanket9. Viparita karani10. Closing invocationMay we be happyMay we be wellMay we be healthy and strongMay we be safe and soundMay we be peacefulMay we be at easeMay there be love in our heartsMay there be abundance in our livesMay there be peace in our worldNamaste
Set an intention to do these poses gently and quietly, and let your breath be complete, smooth, and even.
Well, over two years has gone by since my last post. We have experienced the strangest of times, something that has impacted the whole world, and on a scale that I have never experienced in my lifetime.
