In my last post, I mentioned gaining strength practicing Boat Pose (Navasana). Sometimes we associate being strong with external strength. For example, having big muscles or having a nice physique may be an outward sign of strength. But what about inner strength? Being able to endure tough emotional and mental challenges. This type of strength comes from within.
A pose that can remind us of that inner strength is Boat Pose. It's a yoga posture that strengthens your core. This is the trunk of your body that supports the rest of the body. When one has a strong core - strength that is developed from within - all other types of strength are exuded: inner and outer.
Boat Pose
Start by sitting on your yoga mat with your knees bent and heels on the ground. Begin to lean back so that you're able to lift your feet off the mat. Keep your knees bent and hold on to your legs.
Flex your feet to keep them engaged. This will keep your legs engaged as well. While holding onto your legs, use that as leverage to lift and extend your spine. Imagine you're sitting in a high-back chair and you want to sit up straight against the back of the chair. In Boat Pose, the body is shaped like the letter "V" except that your knees are bent.
The key to this pose is your breath. As you inhale, continue to extend your spine. As you exhale (and feel free to breathe out through your mouth to release all of your breath), draw your navel toward your spine. Focus on the lowest part of your belly as you exhale. Here, you are engaging and contracting your transverse abdominas muscles. These muscles are part of your abdominal system and are low and deep in your pelvic area. These muscles are rarely engaged, so this pose and way of breathing will help to engage them.
Hold the pose for about 5 breaths, take a break, then do it again. Repeat the pose 4 additional times. Over time, you will gain more strength. Soon, you'll be able to do the pose without holding onto your legs and you may even be able to extend your legs.
When you build strength from the inside out, you begin to feel more confident and able to face challenges of everyday life. And not only will you build inner strength, but having a strong core contributes to building outer strength, as well.
Namaste
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Monday, January 28, 2013
Centered & Balanced
Centered & Balanced
In my Power Yoga classes this week, I have been challenging my students to test their balance. Balance comes in many forms in the yoga practice. The most obvious, perhaps, is to have the class perform balancing poses. For example, Tree Pose, where one is standing on one foot.
Another way to challenge your balance is to challenge the resources within that keep you centered. Core postures, like Boat Pose, bring awareness to your core - your center. When one is breathing with integrity, one can experience great strength, balance, and centering.
If you're feeling a little off-balance, practicing a pose like Tree or even Boat can help with gaining more strength in that area. But also think about how we live our lives. When we are faced with life challenges, especially multiple life challenges all at once, you can feel VERY off-balance, right? It may be difficult, while in the midst of these challenges, to get reconnected, re-centered, and balanced. My suggestion is to allow yourself to stumble; to be off-balance. Sometimes there is nothing wrong with falling down. When we KNOW that we can get back up, shows true strength. Once you have a moment to yourself away from the chaos, practice deep breathing, Tree Pose, and Boat Pose to remind yourself of the balance you already have within. Below is another pose you can use to help achieve a greater sense of balance and centering.
Spinal Balance
Come to your yoga mat on all fours. Feel free to pad your knees and wrists to reduce any strain. Engage your core by exhaling and drawing your navel up toward your spine. Create an abdominal lock by holding this position. Continue breathing, but maintain the lock. Your back may slightly round in this this position to ensure you have a strong connection to this lock. If you have an overly arched back, or it feels like your low back is collapsed, it's very likely that you have disengaged the abdominal lock.
Once you feel secure in this position, slowly extend your right leg back so that it is straight and parallel with the floor. Again be sure that your low back has not collapsed. If your leg lifts too high, you may experience the release of the lock and a collapsed back. Once you have secured this position, now extend your left arm forward. You are now in Spinal Balance.
In order to maintain the pose, be sure to inhale and lengthen throughout your body, particularly through the lifted limbs. On your exhale, be certain that you are still holding your abdominal lock. In addition to this sensation, be aware of your inner arm and inner leg of the extended limbs. Create a feeling as if they are pressing into an imaginary object. This will also help to hold the pose. Hold for 5 to 10 breaths then repeat it on the other side.
To make this pose more challenging and to really test your balance, try doing Spinal Balance without the knee on the floor! The first few times you may tip over. That's ok. Remember, we fall. Just remind yourself of the internal resources that you have that will help you return to a balanced and centered state of mind and body.
Namaste
In my Power Yoga classes this week, I have been challenging my students to test their balance. Balance comes in many forms in the yoga practice. The most obvious, perhaps, is to have the class perform balancing poses. For example, Tree Pose, where one is standing on one foot.
Another way to challenge your balance is to challenge the resources within that keep you centered. Core postures, like Boat Pose, bring awareness to your core - your center. When one is breathing with integrity, one can experience great strength, balance, and centering.
If you're feeling a little off-balance, practicing a pose like Tree or even Boat can help with gaining more strength in that area. But also think about how we live our lives. When we are faced with life challenges, especially multiple life challenges all at once, you can feel VERY off-balance, right? It may be difficult, while in the midst of these challenges, to get reconnected, re-centered, and balanced. My suggestion is to allow yourself to stumble; to be off-balance. Sometimes there is nothing wrong with falling down. When we KNOW that we can get back up, shows true strength. Once you have a moment to yourself away from the chaos, practice deep breathing, Tree Pose, and Boat Pose to remind yourself of the balance you already have within. Below is another pose you can use to help achieve a greater sense of balance and centering.
Spinal Balance
Come to your yoga mat on all fours. Feel free to pad your knees and wrists to reduce any strain. Engage your core by exhaling and drawing your navel up toward your spine. Create an abdominal lock by holding this position. Continue breathing, but maintain the lock. Your back may slightly round in this this position to ensure you have a strong connection to this lock. If you have an overly arched back, or it feels like your low back is collapsed, it's very likely that you have disengaged the abdominal lock.
Once you feel secure in this position, slowly extend your right leg back so that it is straight and parallel with the floor. Again be sure that your low back has not collapsed. If your leg lifts too high, you may experience the release of the lock and a collapsed back. Once you have secured this position, now extend your left arm forward. You are now in Spinal Balance.
In order to maintain the pose, be sure to inhale and lengthen throughout your body, particularly through the lifted limbs. On your exhale, be certain that you are still holding your abdominal lock. In addition to this sensation, be aware of your inner arm and inner leg of the extended limbs. Create a feeling as if they are pressing into an imaginary object. This will also help to hold the pose. Hold for 5 to 10 breaths then repeat it on the other side.
To make this pose more challenging and to really test your balance, try doing Spinal Balance without the knee on the floor! The first few times you may tip over. That's ok. Remember, we fall. Just remind yourself of the internal resources that you have that will help you return to a balanced and centered state of mind and body.
Namaste
Sunday, January 27, 2013
The Return of Yoga With Intention
As you may have noticed, I took an extended break from writing my blog. Well, now it's time for the return. Please look forward to reading posts that will help you to deepen your personal yoga practice. Become a subscribing member so that you can stay up to date with these posts.
Yoga With Intention is designed to integrate real life with real yoga. Practicing specific yoga poses with an added intention can be very effective in improving your personal life journey.
Namaste
Yoga With Intention is designed to integrate real life with real yoga. Practicing specific yoga poses with an added intention can be very effective in improving your personal life journey.
Namaste
Friday, June 15, 2012
Turning Inward
We truly live in a society where we can be overly stimulated by what's going on around us. There is so much to see that it can be a challenge to take it all in and process. Walk down any street in Manhattan, step into a big-box grocery store, drive down the highway and see all the billboards and signs. It's a miracle that our brains can analyze all of these stimuli.
Too often, though, we turn to these outside stimuli to bring meaning to ourselves and to our lives. We think that if we buy the product that is advertised on that billboard we will somehow become a better person. We see the neighbor next door has a new car and so we may assume that we are not good enough with the "old clunker" we already own. We also turn to outside teachers, signs, symbols, remedies, quick fixes, and more to find our true identity - to figure out who we were are, or who we want to become.
What if the answers are not necessarily "out there?" What if the answers to who you are, what you are, and why you're here are "in here?" If we turn inward, we probably can discover our truest self. Look inside yourself, rather than outside the self, to find true meaning.
The following yoga posture will be a representation of how we can do just that - sit in stillness, pride, and gratitude and turn inward. Look inside ourselves to discover our truth.
Marichiasana
Marichi's Pose is a popular seated twisted posture. Marichi literally means "ray of light." Marichi is the son of Brahma and chief of the Maruts ("shining ones"), the war-like storm gods. He's one of the seven (sometimes 10 or 12) seers (rishis) or lords of creation (prajapatis), who intuitively "see" and declare the divine law of the universe (dharma). I think this is an appropriate pose to practice based on our intention. It is a way to intuitively see into one's self: to see your inner light.
Sit on your yoga mat with your legs straight out in front of you. Be sure you are sitting up so your spine is nice an long. Flex your feet, if you'd like, to ensure your legs are straight.
Bend your right knee, drawing your foot up toward your pelvis. Then step your foot over your left leg. Next, extend your left arm forward in front of you. With your right hand placed on the floor behind you for support (right at the base of your spine), bend your left elbow and begin to twist toward the right side of the room. Twist until you are able to "hook" your elbow on the outside of your bent knee. Inhale to lengthen your spine more. As you exhale, draw your belly button in toward your spine (creating an abdominal lock). This will create more room in your waist line as well as the ability to perhaps twist deeper into the pose. Hold the posture for at least 10 breaths.
While in this pose, imagine that you are turning inward, or looking inside of yourself. Sit in this quiet and stillness. No need to think about anything. Just focus on your breath. Allow this space you created to organically allow you to feel and experience your true self: your inner being.
Be sure to practice the pose on the other side.
Too often, though, we turn to these outside stimuli to bring meaning to ourselves and to our lives. We think that if we buy the product that is advertised on that billboard we will somehow become a better person. We see the neighbor next door has a new car and so we may assume that we are not good enough with the "old clunker" we already own. We also turn to outside teachers, signs, symbols, remedies, quick fixes, and more to find our true identity - to figure out who we were are, or who we want to become.
What if the answers are not necessarily "out there?" What if the answers to who you are, what you are, and why you're here are "in here?" If we turn inward, we probably can discover our truest self. Look inside yourself, rather than outside the self, to find true meaning.
The following yoga posture will be a representation of how we can do just that - sit in stillness, pride, and gratitude and turn inward. Look inside ourselves to discover our truth.
Marichiasana
Marichi's Pose is a popular seated twisted posture. Marichi literally means "ray of light." Marichi is the son of Brahma and chief of the Maruts ("shining ones"), the war-like storm gods. He's one of the seven (sometimes 10 or 12) seers (rishis) or lords of creation (prajapatis), who intuitively "see" and declare the divine law of the universe (dharma). I think this is an appropriate pose to practice based on our intention. It is a way to intuitively see into one's self: to see your inner light.
Sit on your yoga mat with your legs straight out in front of you. Be sure you are sitting up so your spine is nice an long. Flex your feet, if you'd like, to ensure your legs are straight.
Bend your right knee, drawing your foot up toward your pelvis. Then step your foot over your left leg. Next, extend your left arm forward in front of you. With your right hand placed on the floor behind you for support (right at the base of your spine), bend your left elbow and begin to twist toward the right side of the room. Twist until you are able to "hook" your elbow on the outside of your bent knee. Inhale to lengthen your spine more. As you exhale, draw your belly button in toward your spine (creating an abdominal lock). This will create more room in your waist line as well as the ability to perhaps twist deeper into the pose. Hold the posture for at least 10 breaths.
While in this pose, imagine that you are turning inward, or looking inside of yourself. Sit in this quiet and stillness. No need to think about anything. Just focus on your breath. Allow this space you created to organically allow you to feel and experience your true self: your inner being.
Be sure to practice the pose on the other side.
Monday, June 11, 2012
We've Been Nominated!
Yoga With Intention has been nominated for Most Fascinating Blog 2012 based on the blog entry in 2011 entitled "Bring New Life To Your Routine." Please vote for us! Thank you.
Thursday, May 24, 2012
What Is Your Morning Routine?
A Blog Entry from Costa Rica
I've been on a yoga retreat for week here in Costa Rica at the beautiful Blue Osa Yoga Sanctuary & Spa. Every morning begins with a 5am Ashtanga Yoga Practice to greet the morning sun. The practice reminded me of having a morning ritual or routine to start the day. What is your morning routine? Do you have one?
Do you find yourself hitting the snooze button on your alarm clock several times and finally getting up at the very last minute? Then do you find yourself rushing to get out the door after throwing on some clothes, slapping some toothpaste across your teeth, gulping down a cup of coffee, and cursing every stop light as you travel to work knowing you are already going to be a few minutes late? If you start your day like this, what is the rest of the day like for you?
Starting the day like this sounds like the 50 Yard Olympic Sprinter: braced and ready at the starting line, the gun sounds, and you're off and running. A mad dash at full speed without stopping, everything a blur on either side of you, until you cross the finish line. At the end, you're out of breath. Yes, you may have reached your goal, but at what cost? You may have missed seeing your surroundings and you didn't get to spend quality time with others. You only had one thing in mind: get to the end no matter what. It takes some time to calm the body after that adrenaline rush knowing that you'll probably have to repeat this feat again and again.
How would it be for you if you could slow things down and start your day off with ease? Create a ritual or routine that sets the pace for your day. Something that is gentle, relaxing, clears the mind, and keeps you on a steady track so that you have a more fulfilling day and still reach your day's goal.
Maybe it's a yoga practice, a few stretches or Sun Salutations that gets you going. Perhaps it's your cup of coffee, but you're able to sit and enjoy the whole cup, sip by sip. Reading your favorite section of the news paper. Looking out the window or stepping outside on your front porch to greet the morning can be very simple ways to set the pace of your day.
Again, your routine can be anything you choose. Bottom line is this: make it simple and commit to it. Do it everyday. Even do it on your days off or when you're on vacation out of town. What you develop is a sense of discipline and commitment to a practice that generates a good feeling within yourself.
The toughest part, sometimes, is just getting started. The first few times of sticking to your routine may be a challenge, but keep doing it. It will only get easier. If you're a snooze-button-presser, maybe you'll need to set your alarm 10-15 minutes earlier so that you can press snooze.....BUT ONLY ONCE! Then get up and move right into your routine.
Try your new morning routine for a few days. Then try it for a week. Notice how you feel the rest of the day. This may not sound like a yoga practice with traditional poses, but an aspect of living a yoga lifestyle is called Tapas or Self-Discipline. Developing a sense of discipline can create a greater sense and acceptance of self; growing into a fuller sense of Self.
I'd love to hear how this works out for you. Respond to this blog entry or post it on my Facebook Wall (www.facebook.com/JohnCottrell). Maybe you already have a morning routine that you'd like to share with us. Let us all know how having a morning routine, compared to not having one, makes you feel and act during your day. Maybe you have an evening routine, too. Let's hear about it.
Namaste.
I've been on a yoga retreat for week here in Costa Rica at the beautiful Blue Osa Yoga Sanctuary & Spa. Every morning begins with a 5am Ashtanga Yoga Practice to greet the morning sun. The practice reminded me of having a morning ritual or routine to start the day. What is your morning routine? Do you have one?
Do you find yourself hitting the snooze button on your alarm clock several times and finally getting up at the very last minute? Then do you find yourself rushing to get out the door after throwing on some clothes, slapping some toothpaste across your teeth, gulping down a cup of coffee, and cursing every stop light as you travel to work knowing you are already going to be a few minutes late? If you start your day like this, what is the rest of the day like for you?
Starting the day like this sounds like the 50 Yard Olympic Sprinter: braced and ready at the starting line, the gun sounds, and you're off and running. A mad dash at full speed without stopping, everything a blur on either side of you, until you cross the finish line. At the end, you're out of breath. Yes, you may have reached your goal, but at what cost? You may have missed seeing your surroundings and you didn't get to spend quality time with others. You only had one thing in mind: get to the end no matter what. It takes some time to calm the body after that adrenaline rush knowing that you'll probably have to repeat this feat again and again.
How would it be for you if you could slow things down and start your day off with ease? Create a ritual or routine that sets the pace for your day. Something that is gentle, relaxing, clears the mind, and keeps you on a steady track so that you have a more fulfilling day and still reach your day's goal.
Maybe it's a yoga practice, a few stretches or Sun Salutations that gets you going. Perhaps it's your cup of coffee, but you're able to sit and enjoy the whole cup, sip by sip. Reading your favorite section of the news paper. Looking out the window or stepping outside on your front porch to greet the morning can be very simple ways to set the pace of your day.
Again, your routine can be anything you choose. Bottom line is this: make it simple and commit to it. Do it everyday. Even do it on your days off or when you're on vacation out of town. What you develop is a sense of discipline and commitment to a practice that generates a good feeling within yourself.
The toughest part, sometimes, is just getting started. The first few times of sticking to your routine may be a challenge, but keep doing it. It will only get easier. If you're a snooze-button-presser, maybe you'll need to set your alarm 10-15 minutes earlier so that you can press snooze.....BUT ONLY ONCE! Then get up and move right into your routine.
Try your new morning routine for a few days. Then try it for a week. Notice how you feel the rest of the day. This may not sound like a yoga practice with traditional poses, but an aspect of living a yoga lifestyle is called Tapas or Self-Discipline. Developing a sense of discipline can create a greater sense and acceptance of self; growing into a fuller sense of Self.
I'd love to hear how this works out for you. Respond to this blog entry or post it on my Facebook Wall (www.facebook.com/JohnCottrell). Maybe you already have a morning routine that you'd like to share with us. Let us all know how having a morning routine, compared to not having one, makes you feel and act during your day. Maybe you have an evening routine, too. Let's hear about it.
Namaste.
Sunday, May 20, 2012
New (Super) Moon
A Blog Entry from Costa Rica
I write this blog entry from my quaint tropical bungalow on the sunny coast of Puerto Jiménez. It's a beautiful resort villa along the ocean in Costa Rica. The air is humid and filled with the sounds of nearby songbirds, the sites of butterflies, toucans, and accompanied by the nearby waves of the ocean rolling onto the beach. A perfect respite from the everyday routine of my busy life. I find myself moving slowly, speaking quietly, and sitting in stillness on my yoga vacation with the intention to grow anew. I want to take advantage of these quiet moments to move inside of myself. I'm here to practice presence and reconnect with nature. I come to this little piece of paradise to rejuvenate; to recharge.
I will not only take advantage of this beautiful locale, but will also immerse in the power of new moon. This is that time of the month where we can lay down the old and receive the new. As we step into this new cycle, we can take a moment to shed ourselves of what no longer serves us, to bury what is old and dead. Now is the time for rebirth and growth. The new moon this month is accompanied by a solar eclipse. The eclipse can represent the opportunity to invite new possibilities. Open your heart and mind to what is possible - open yourself up to your greatest potential. As you put to rest what is old, you can open yourself up to what is alive and new - within you.
Reclining Cobblers Pose
To take advantage of this super-charged new moon, try this simple home practice. First, sit comfortably on your mat. Perhaps have a couple of blocks or a blanket to help support your seated posture. Bring your hands to heart center, close your eyes, and bring to mind those ideas, beliefs, stressors, challenges, etc. that have laid heavy within you. As you bring these notions to mind, there is no need to add judgement to them, just notice what comes up. Your practice will involve releasing these ideas so that you can create space for Truths to emerge from within.
After a few moments of this quiet meditation, lie down on your mat. Again, support your body in any way that suits you best with your props. First lie in Savasana, then bring the bottoms of your feet together and up toward your pelvis. Your knees will fall naturally out to the side. This will create a releasing hip opening posture called Supta Baddha Konasana or Reclining Bound Angle Pose (often referred to as Reclining Cobblers Pose.) Extend your arms out to the side of you or even over your head. In this posture, you are opening the body in a way that now allows you to release those notions you thought of earlier.
The pelvic area stores a lot of emotional energy. In this pose, your hips are open. Give yourself the permission to free yourself of the emotional energy that has kept you weighed down. Likewise, with your arms extended outward, your heart space is open. As you experience release from the hip opening posture, receive and accept through your heart center. As you lie here, try this breathing exercise:
Exhale completely (breathe out through the mouth if that feels helpful). As you release the breath, imagine those no-longer-needed notions to stream out of you. Hold yourself empty for a few seconds; pause at the end of the breath. Then take a slow long inhale. Fill up your heart space with new thoughts of rejuvenation, power, energy, love, acceptance, etc. Fill yourself up with the new ideas and beliefs that will serve you better in this moment. Hold yourself full for a few seconds. Notice how the body feels as you resonate with this new life energy. Now when you exhale, experience those new thoughts, not leaving your body, but rushing internally throughout your entire being. Repeat this breath-flow by starting with an inhale to gather up any left-over no-longer-needed thoughts to release during your next exhale. Repeat this as many times as you'd like.
At the end of your yoga practice, perhaps simply lie in stillness. Notice your breath. Notice your re-charged body. Feel free to practice this anytime. You don't necessarily have to do this at the time of the new moon. Whenever you feel a need to be re-charged, moving into this pose (or a similar hip/heart opening posture) and practicing this breath can be invigorating and enlightening.
Namaste
I write this blog entry from my quaint tropical bungalow on the sunny coast of Puerto Jiménez. It's a beautiful resort villa along the ocean in Costa Rica. The air is humid and filled with the sounds of nearby songbirds, the sites of butterflies, toucans, and accompanied by the nearby waves of the ocean rolling onto the beach. A perfect respite from the everyday routine of my busy life. I find myself moving slowly, speaking quietly, and sitting in stillness on my yoga vacation with the intention to grow anew. I want to take advantage of these quiet moments to move inside of myself. I'm here to practice presence and reconnect with nature. I come to this little piece of paradise to rejuvenate; to recharge.
I will not only take advantage of this beautiful locale, but will also immerse in the power of new moon. This is that time of the month where we can lay down the old and receive the new. As we step into this new cycle, we can take a moment to shed ourselves of what no longer serves us, to bury what is old and dead. Now is the time for rebirth and growth. The new moon this month is accompanied by a solar eclipse. The eclipse can represent the opportunity to invite new possibilities. Open your heart and mind to what is possible - open yourself up to your greatest potential. As you put to rest what is old, you can open yourself up to what is alive and new - within you.
Reclining Cobblers Pose
To take advantage of this super-charged new moon, try this simple home practice. First, sit comfortably on your mat. Perhaps have a couple of blocks or a blanket to help support your seated posture. Bring your hands to heart center, close your eyes, and bring to mind those ideas, beliefs, stressors, challenges, etc. that have laid heavy within you. As you bring these notions to mind, there is no need to add judgement to them, just notice what comes up. Your practice will involve releasing these ideas so that you can create space for Truths to emerge from within.
After a few moments of this quiet meditation, lie down on your mat. Again, support your body in any way that suits you best with your props. First lie in Savasana, then bring the bottoms of your feet together and up toward your pelvis. Your knees will fall naturally out to the side. This will create a releasing hip opening posture called Supta Baddha Konasana or Reclining Bound Angle Pose (often referred to as Reclining Cobblers Pose.) Extend your arms out to the side of you or even over your head. In this posture, you are opening the body in a way that now allows you to release those notions you thought of earlier.
The pelvic area stores a lot of emotional energy. In this pose, your hips are open. Give yourself the permission to free yourself of the emotional energy that has kept you weighed down. Likewise, with your arms extended outward, your heart space is open. As you experience release from the hip opening posture, receive and accept through your heart center. As you lie here, try this breathing exercise:
Exhale completely (breathe out through the mouth if that feels helpful). As you release the breath, imagine those no-longer-needed notions to stream out of you. Hold yourself empty for a few seconds; pause at the end of the breath. Then take a slow long inhale. Fill up your heart space with new thoughts of rejuvenation, power, energy, love, acceptance, etc. Fill yourself up with the new ideas and beliefs that will serve you better in this moment. Hold yourself full for a few seconds. Notice how the body feels as you resonate with this new life energy. Now when you exhale, experience those new thoughts, not leaving your body, but rushing internally throughout your entire being. Repeat this breath-flow by starting with an inhale to gather up any left-over no-longer-needed thoughts to release during your next exhale. Repeat this as many times as you'd like.
At the end of your yoga practice, perhaps simply lie in stillness. Notice your breath. Notice your re-charged body. Feel free to practice this anytime. You don't necessarily have to do this at the time of the new moon. Whenever you feel a need to be re-charged, moving into this pose (or a similar hip/heart opening posture) and practicing this breath can be invigorating and enlightening.
Namaste
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