Headstands and how they benefit you

Five-minute headstands

I used to do 5-minute headstands every day. They influence pure calm and also reverse the aging process, as the blood flow switches directions. Headstands require arm strength and balance.

Protect your neck

Staying up in a headstand at all costs is not a good idea though—the neck needs to be protected with safe technique.

I, indeed, learned the hard way. One morning I woke feeling hospital-bound; the day before I did a 7-minute headstand, and felt my shoulders sinking in the last 2 minutes but did not listen to my body. Sadly, I allowed my ego to guide me instead.

It was through the several weeks to follow that I remembered the articulate words of my austere—and very experienced—teacher. I remembered all of her demonstrations before headstands to properly place the hands, lift—pull-down, although inverted—the shoulders, setting up before inverting (and keeping that structure no matter what). I remember all of the partner exercises surrounding this. I also remember rolling my eyes, believing that I didn't need any of that "beginner instruction."

I was wrong. I did. 

Act with a "beginner's mind"

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This wondrous life

image by simeon schatz

A poetic thought

A pose is just the life force concentrating on its next move... Held steady within the vessel body, our minds are free form as time becomes unified without limit or boundary.

© 2012 Yoga Robin^®

Find the right work-life balance: The key to happiness, health, well-being

Do you balance your life?

Are you a workaholic? Do you work extra hours because you really need the money, or do you believe your job really needs you, and that it's ok to take care of your job more than yourself? Or do you, for one reason or another, find yourself addicted to your computer whether it's work or personal?

Staying busy all the time does not help you

You do know that if you are working too much, you are acting like you are not very important.

Maybe, without knowing it, you are covering up something basic in your existence and doing it through your work. Staying busy all the time with a task that does not cultivate your soul can be like a drug that you continually allow to drive you. But you can beat it if you recognize who you truly are.

Nurture yourself

If you need rationale outside of yourself in order to ease up on workaholism, remember that no one really gets the best of you if you don't nurture yourself first.

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Savasana: A true art

Reflection

Savasana, the final pose of any decent yoga practice is the place where you reflect upon your entire practice as it comes before your eyes from a distant cloud.

Savasana is one of the most important poses in yoga, reflecting true peace as the culmination of your practice.

This final resting pose, otherwise known as Corpse Pose, is a pose in which to wrap the fruits of your labors, your joys of movement, and your love for your body.

Wring out toxins

After moving the precious prana within your body through movements that flow through you, twists that wring out toxins, and peaceful moments in between that take your breath away, savasana is a time to celebrate and smile within. It's a place for stillness.

Celebrate

Celebrate your life force. You may have a tendency to ignore it as you move along in your busy day.

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Discipline: A spiritual practice

disciplined mind

I just returned from a Bikram yoga class. What sticks with me is not the power of enduring the heat, but the power of discipline to control the mind.

Bikram yoga, unlike the Vinyasa Flow yoga which I have 13 more years of experience with, has many rules that are not necessarily inherent in many people. In my life and in my yoga practice I am used to living organically, letting my life take me in a flow. When I am practicing yoga alone, I have no plans in advance for my practice. I let my yoga practice take me.

Sure, there is discipline required with many styles of yoga, such as Ashtanga. But the movement inherent in this active style, where you generate your own heat, and move your own prana makes for a more organic practice inately.

Back to Bikram. What I feel in these classes is the necessity for discipline, as I'm led along a distinct path and how the discipline itself becomes the spiritual practice.

stay present

It is important to notice where the mind goes in any yoga practice, but in Bikram it is more about needing to stay with the group, listen to the teacher on cue, not close your eyes, drink water only when told, rest in savasana over and over, to name a few

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An inquiry into my true nature: Self exploration

life force fuels

On my jaunt through life I have contemplated the truth of my nature. I have always felt most comfortable knowing that there is an ultimate source permeating us all, and at times I have felt a unity with this source. At other times I have felt completely alone. It was my yoga—vinyasa flow, ashtanga & meditation, in particular—that saved me from this quandary and answered many questions for me.

My search, through poetic expression, led me to this present moment as I move into my desires to use their creativity and life force to fuel me.

Taken as an excerpt from my poem yoga, what you do for me, I speak to you, yoga, inside me as you are me: You help me find my pure state of mind, you help me change energy into fuel, you help me find the deepest parts of myself without fear, you help me believe in magic and you taught me how I can do whatever I put my mind to.

In studying the histories of Sankhya-Yoga, Advaita Vedanta and Participatory Spirituality I have found inspirations from each to aid me on my path.

sankhya-yoga

Although Sankhya and Yoga are different systems, they work together and support each other so have been combined together as one unique system called Sankhya-Yoga.

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Starting or getting motivated for a yoga practice

New yoga class

Are you new to yoga and hesitant to begin? Do you feel like you are the only one left who has never tried yoga?

Do you let an injury hold you back, and tell yourself, "I'll start when it's healed"? Do you feel like it would be too difficult? Do you feel it would be too boring?

Do you tell yourself you are not flexible enough, not strong enough, not spiritual enough?

Whatever the reason, I am here to tell you that there is no good reason to hesitate. Yoga comes in all shapes and sizes. There is a yoga practice for everyone. Start today!

There is no better time than the present to invest in your mind, body, heart and soul....

© 2010 Yoga Robin^®

Yoga, what you do for me: A poem

poetic reality of yoga

you help me find my pure state of mind
you help me burn away layers of chatter with my fire
you help me fill gaps in ways that i can't get filled by anything
you help me stop fighting with myself within
you help me change energy into fuel
you help me open my eyes to see myself honestly
you help me witness patterns so they melt
you help stir the dust inside me
you help me open my heart
you help my mind become more fertile so it grows like grass
you help bring me to another plane of existence
you help me transform time
you help me float, fly, breathe under water in my imagination
you help me take a stand against my inhibitions
you help me find ...


the deepest parts of myself without fear...

you help me love my body

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