Returning to the mat

After being sick with the flu for about a week, I hadn't practiced yoga the entire time. Typically I try to do some yoga every day, even if it's just for five minutes, so I really missed it. But even though I longed for it, it was very difficult for me to return to my mat. Have you ever had this trouble with any habit that was temporarily stalled?

So Saturday I putted around the house for a while and sat in my morning meditation, which I've also been neglecting for a week, yet I still didn't want to lay out my yoga mat. Finally I compromised with my ego and bribed it by turning on the TV while I dragged out my mat and began my asanas or postures. I know, I know, obviously not the most conducive way to hold a yoga practice, but I thought if that's what it took, it was better than nothing. I believe I read this idea in a Yoga Journal article a few months back about revitalizing a stalled, home practice. Obviously, you should turn off the boob tube before lying in savasana, but if having that distraction in the background is what gets you started, try it. I am a self-described TV junkie - in fact my New Year's resolution was to cut down my television watching. I don't know if I'm succeeding but at least I'm aware of the issue. :)

But back to the mat... Once I began flowing through the postures, my practice naturally developed as I drew in each breath. I didn't even notice the TV was on after five minutes, and I ended up turning it off after a while. An hour later I was chilling in savasana and feeling my baby kick - perhaps he or she was thanking me for doing something good for the both of us. We both apparently needed the release of my body, mind and spirit.

So why was I so weird about returning to my mat? Maybe it's because sometimes in life it's hard to take the first step because of the fear of commitment or what comes next. Whenever I have this feeling, whether it's with my yoga practice or anything else in life, I need to remind myself that it's just one step and not worry about the rest of it. With yoga, all it takes is laying out the mat and taking the first step of standing on top of it in tadasana or mountain. The rest of the practice will unfold as it should.

"Faith is taking the first step, even when you don't see the whole staircase."
~ Martin Luther King Jr.

Savasana with props

Man, this sciatica thing is really ticking me off. After I woke up this morning and did my meditation, I did the yoga postures I posted about yesterday to relieve my sciatica and seemed to feel better. Then I went to an 11 a.m. hatha yoga flow class back at Darling Yoga to take full advantage of my two weeks of unlimited classes. I told the teacher beforehand I'm pregnant so that she could guide me in case I was doing something not good for my body or the baby. During class, I tried to be mindful not to go farther than I should in a pose so I wouldn't aggravate my sciatica. I really enjoyed the light feeling of the class and the openness I felt.

As I was settling into savasana at the end, the instructor came over and completely propped me up: an eye pillow under my neck, folded blankets under both arms, soles of my feet together and knees out in a diamond shape, blankets under both knees and sandbags across the top of each thigh by the groin. She then threw a blanket over me; I felt like a baby, all swaddled up and thoroughly enjoyed savasana.

As I walked out to my car, feeling lighthearted, I noticed the pain in my foot.... grrrrrrrr! When I arrived home and began to clean the house with the hubby, my back was completely bothered! GRRRRRRR! What am I doing wrong? I need to concentrate on the affirmations in yesterdays post to relieve the sciatica.

I've been trying to lay low, but my husband christened his newly finished basement with a poker party tonight and since it started over dinner time, I offered to make a sandwich ring to feed the brood. Just took a hot shower and am trying to relax before hitting the hay. Bad thing is I can hear EVERYTHING from the basement through this old house so I've developed quite a headache. We may have to plan these "boy's nights" when I'm out of town!

Yoga practice for Pregnancy

Yoga Fit magazine's Oct. 07 edition had an article called "Listening: Your Practice for Pregnancy." The entire article is available online so you can see the suggested postures or asanas.

The content of the article focused on how to be mentally during your yoga practice and how to listen more to your body through different methods, which is invaluable, pregnant or not. Photos of postures specifically for pregnant women accompany the article - the whole reason I purchased the magazine - but of course I didn't try it until this morning. :)

Since it was kind of short (estimated 15 minutes), I integrated it with another yoga sequence I found online for women in their second trimester - I wrote about it on Dec. 7.

Beginning in flapping fish pose from the yoga sequence was comfortable to rest in and prepare for the practice. Then I moved into thunderbolt or hero's pose and gracious pose. Following this I did the cat/cow (or dog) stretch, recommended in both practices, and afterwards did the squat flow in the Yoga Fit article. After that I did all the standing postures in the online sequence and practiced the remaining postures from Yoga Fit beginning with pigeon and ending in savasana with props.

The way the Yoga Fit article suggested being in savasana felt really good, by the way. I've been having a hard time completely releasing into corpse pose or savasana since having to do it on my left side due to not being able to lie flat on my back during pregnancy. However, the article suggested using a block/pillow or a bolster underneath your head and back to prop you up. It was very comfortable and much easier to melt into my mat and really let go.

To make this a more complete practice, I would add some sun salutations after cat/cow to warm the body up more - pigeon pose was a little harder to get into than normal. I also added some seated postures towards the end like head-to-knee pose or janu sirsasana and cobbler's pose. Plus I also did happy baby (to make my baby a happy baby!) and an easy spinal twist on my back.

Try it out and tell me what you think. Hopefully you can follow my madness - otherwise just follow the two sequences as separate flows.