No Vanna or Pat here, sorry!
No, today’s post is about two things- Wheel Pose (Urdhva Dhanurasana) and being fortunate… i.e. gratitude.
I wanted to bring this up today because everyday this week I’ve been feeling lots of love. Appreciation. Gratitude.
We so easily want to see the things/people we don’t have while completely being oblivious to the things we do. Sure, I maintain future aspirations… but I choose to also be aware, conscious and thankful for exactly the moment I am living.
Right now, as I type, I have two beautiful and loyal canines curled up on either side of me breathing softly, gently. These two dogs have been with me through four moves, seven relationships, and five jobs. They are loyal. They are loving and they are great companions. I am in a house I adore. I know that I would like to own a house (a bigger house) one day, but the one I have is pretty darn cute and screams home to me- in the present.
Today I took a yoga class with the great Julie Rader, Founder of Mukti Yoga School.
Julie had us come into Wheel/Urdhva Dhanurasana because she wanted us to state our life intentions while getting into position. With recent lunar and solar eclipses, now is the time for intentions. We completed three wheel poses. The first, and one that stuck to me most, was she said to state something you love to do, and intend to do that thing every day. Or get back to doing it every day. She said when she first moved to LA she used to walk along the ocean with her feet in the sand, water rippling over her toes. Things have gotten in the way (namely, life) and she hadn’t done that for awhile. That was what she was going to start doing everyday. She asked us to think of our own favorite activity we should be taking time to do every day.
I realized…. in a way I am already living this…! I get to write for you all everyday, and it is something I love to do. Even in my crazy regular life schedule, full-time job, friends and volunteer work, I make time before bed to write about topics and life lessons I’ve gathered during the day/weeks/years. I am actually doing this right now, today.
How many of you are doing something you love every day? If you’d like to have the full experience of stating your intention in this deep heart opener, make sure you are warmed up first, and be sure to counter pose with Supta Baddha Konasana (Cobbler’s pose) afterward.
Here are the steps, Courtesy www.yogajournal.com
Step by Step
Lie supine on the floor. Bend your knees and set your feet on the floor, heels as close to the sitting bones as possible. Bend your elbows and spread your palms on the floor beside your head, forearms relatively perpendicular to the floor, fingers pointing toward your shoulders.
Pressing your inner feet actively into the floor, exhale and push your tailbone up toward the pubis, firming (but not hardening) the buttocks, and lift the buttocks off the floor. Keep your thighs and inner feet parallel. Take 2 or 3 breaths. Then firmly press the inner hands into the floor and your shoulder blades against the back and lift up onto the crown of your head. Keep your arms parallel. Take 2 or 3 breaths.
Press your feet and hands into the floor, tailbone and shoulder blades against your back, and with an exhalation, lift your head off the floor and straighten your arms. Turn the upper thighs slightly inward and firm the outer thighs. Narrow the hip points and lengthen the tailbone toward the backs of the knees, lifting the pubis toward the navel.
Turn the upper arms outward but keep the weight on the bases of the index fingers. Spread the shoulder blades across the back and let the head hang, or lift it slightly to look down at the floor.
Stay in the pose anywhere from 5 to 10 seconds or more, breathing easily. Repeat anywhere from 3 to 10 times.
Life, Love and Yoga 