Rope Yoga with Carrie

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In our hyped-up and caffeinated culture, who doesn’t want to do more faster? But you may also crave a break from your over stimulated mind and aspire to a calmer, more intuitive, and present state. It’s easy to lose sight of your main purpose amid the distractions of a frenzied mind.  Slowing down brings you back to the here and now.

Many meditation techniques use one point as an object of concentration. Whether it’s the breath, a mantra, sensations, the thought of love, or awareness itself, the object of concentration can be a doorway to the moment. But sometimes this single focus is too subtle for the mind to track easily. If that’s been your experience, you may find that slow-motion movement, which begins with attention to strong sensations in the body, to be a more tangible and satisfying focal point.

This process of  gradually shifting your attention from the large movement of the asanas to the small movements of the breath is the essence of raja (or classical) yoga. As you attend to the postures, you encounter and release deep-seated tensions. You also refine your awareness by concentrating on the subtlety of your breath and turning inward. YJ 2009

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If you observe your mind, there is always noise. It begins the moment you open your eyes in the morning and carries on every single second until you close your eyes at night. Perhaps this chatter prevents you from drifting off to sleep. And when you do finally doze off, it may make that rest fitful. When you examine your mental chatter, you will quickly discern that this unending noise has patterns. One of the most powerful and prevalent is your Voice of Judgment. Over time, negative judgments start to accumulate. Eventually they form a huge barrier that sits squarely in front of you on the path to your ideal life.
During the day, try carrying around a journal—or a file, notebook, or sheet of paper. Categorize the types of mind chatter that assault or beguile. Do this for at least two weeks. Are there wild flights of fancy? Elaborate escapist dreams? If so, try to be specific about exactly what types of accomplishments you fantasize about.
The very act of observing it changes your mental chatter. Shoplifting drops dramatically when department stores install surveillance cameras and post signs that they have done so. Similarly, your mental chatter is less able to take you down destructive paths when you become consciously aware of it. JY 2009

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Follow these steps and allow yourself to fall into a deep meditative state that will reveal a closer connection to the present and help calm you when you’re upset.
1. Breathe. Focusing on your breathing is an essential practice that draws your awareness inward and helps you experience the presence and flow of energy.
2. Relax. The more you relax, the more you deepen awareness of sensation.
3. Feel. Let your sense of feeling move beyond physical sensation. Acknowledge who you are as a being of energy.
4. Watch. Sense who you are as a witness; be a scientist observing phenomena arising in and around you.
5. Allow. Sense who you are with no preferences. Be present to the process of your life unfolding moment by moment.

YJ 2009

10 REASONS TO TRY YOGA FOR LIFE!

1. YOGA FOR STRESS RELIEF: Yoga reduces the physical effects of stress on the body. By encouraging relaxation, yoga helps to lower the levels of stress hormone cortisol. Related benefits include lowering blood pressure and heart rate, improving digestion and boosting the immune system as well as easing symptoms of conditions such as anxiety, depression, fatigue, asthma and insomnia.

2. YOGA FOR PAIN RELIEF: Yoga can ease pain. Studies have demonstrated 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. Some practitioners report that even emotional pain can be eased through their practice of yoga.

3. YOGA FOR BETTER BREATHING: Yoga teaches people to take slower, deeper breaths. This helps to improve lung function, trigger the body’s relation responses and increase the amount of oxygen available to the body.

4. YOGA FOR FLEXIBILITY: Yoga helps to improve flexibility and mobility, increasing the range of movement and reducing aches and pains. Many people can’t touch their toes during their first yoga class. Gradually they begin to use the correct muscles. Over time, the ligaments, tendons and muscles lengthen, increasing elasticity, making more poses possible. Yoga also helps to improve body alignment resulting in better posture and helping to  relieve back, neck, joint and muscles problems.

5. YOGA FOR INCREASED STRENGTH: Yoga poses use every muscle in the body, helping to increase strength literally from head to toe. And, while these postures strengthen the body they also provide an additional benefit of helping to relieve muscular tension.

6. YOGA FOR WEIGHT MANAGEMENT: Yoga can aid weight control efforts by reducing the cortisol levels as well as burning excess calories and reducing stress. Yoga also encourages healthy eating habits and provides a heightened sense of well being and self esteem.

7. YOGA FOR IMPROVED CIRCULATION: Yoga helps to improve circulation and as a result of various postures, more efficiently moves oxygenated blood to the body’s cells.

8. YOGA FOR CARDIOVASCULAR CONDITIONING: Even gentle yoga practice can provide cardiovascular benefits by lowering resting heart rate, increasing endurance and improving oxygen uptake during exercise.

9. YOGA FOR FOCUSING ON THE PRESENT: Yoga helps us to focus on the present, to become more aware and to help create mind-body health. It opens the way to improved concentration, coordination, reaction time and memory.

10. YOGA FOR INNER PEACE: The meditative aspects of yoga help many to reach a deeper, more spiritual and more satisfying place in their lives. Many who begin practice for other reasons have reported this to be the key reason that yoga has become an essential part of their lives.

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Contact me at: carrie@ropeyogawithcarrie.com