This is just a reminder to everybody that this week’s practice will be a yin practice, so bring along extra blankets and/or cushions and be prepared for a relaxing, meditative practice that will encourage space within the body and peace within the mind.

You may be interested to know that two spaces have become available on the above ten week course
This course will be held at Wake House in Bourne and starts on Wednesday, 23rd May. If you, or somebody that you know, might be interested, please let me know asap.  You can text or telephone me on: 07817623330 or email me at: [email protected] or Contact Sarah

Week two of our journey into the Prana Vayus has seen us working with Apana Vayu. This is the downward moving, grounding energy that is associated with the lower regions of our physical body and all forms of elimination. Physically we eliminate waste from the body and mentally, apana vayu encourages us to cleanse our minds by eliminating stale emotions, habits, behaviours, thoughts and ideas, opinions, and everything else that stems from the mind. This energy allows us to release and let go of emotions and behaviours that no longer serve us, cleansing us of old experiences and creating space for new ones.

If this energy is unbalanced, there is a lack of integrity between the mind and the body and our immune system is weakened. We become vulnerable to illness, fear, doubt, confusion, insecurity, and loss of purpose. A strong and balanced apana vayu is grounding, it helps to banish feelings of spaciness, anxiety and stress, and encourages a stable outlook towards life.

Because this is a downward flowing energy, when we work with apana vayu, our intention is to conserve this energy and keep it in the body through practices such as mula bandha, and the mobilisation of prana within the pelvis in postures such as dynamic baddha konasana.

Throughout our practice this week, we worked with Yoni Mudra, a powerful mudra, which draws energy down into the lower pelvis, legs and feet, where it assists in elimination and a healthy flow of apana vayu:

Bring each thumb tip together and each index finger tip together to form a diamond shape. Spread the fingers and place the hands, palms facing down, far down on the lower abdomen so that the thumbs are pointing upwards, just below the navel and the fingers are pointing downwards toward the groin. Relax the shoulders.

Allow the inhalation to be natural, and place your focus on the exhalation. As the breath slows down, begin to extend the exhalation to your maximum comfortable length. Maintain your focus on the exhalation, picturing or sensing or feeling the breath flowing downwards into the region of the pelvis. Imagine or sense the whole of the pelvic basin filling with cleansing energy. Practice for 5 minutes or more.

Practice yoni mudra whenever you feel a need to let go of anything from any part of you, physical, mental or physiological, and encourage apana vayu to cleanse you and release you of anything that no longer serves you.

This term we are exploring the Prana Vayus. These are the “energy winds” in the subtle energy body, known as the Pranamaya Kosha (the “body that feeds on prana or universal energy”).

We began our journey with a practice designed to balance the energy of Prana Vayu. This is the fundamental, inward-moving, propulsive, vital energy, that gives us vitality, speed and motivation. It is our receptive energy which enables us to receive everything from air (through inhalation) and food, to impressions and ideas. This energy governs respiration, and is most active in the region of the lungs and heart.

On a more subtle level, this is the energy that heightens our sensitivity to our external senses and our inner awareness. It allows us to see the external world and all its opportunities more clearly, and at the same time, this energy lets us rest our inner attention in contentment. An imbalance of this energy can lead to adopting bad habits and suffering from cravings, a restless and scattered mind and emotional conditions such as anxiety, depression, grief, bereavement and isolation.

Physically, a lack of prana vayu can lead to low energy and fatigue, breathing difficulties (inability to catch breath, asthma, COPD), or a lack of chest expansion (forwards and outwards, especially the middle ribs), heart and lung problems, any chronic illness, a weak immune system, upper back stiffness or pain, shoulder or arm weakness or problems, such as frozen shoulder.

The mudra that we used to encourage a balanced prana vayu was Madhyrama Sharira mudra:

Place the index fingers around the upper chest and the thumbs towards the back of the body. Keep the other fingers together so that the middle fingers are pressed towards the index fingers, palms facing downwards. Relax the shoulders and close the eyes.

Bring the awareness down in to the upper chest area, to where your fingers and thumbs are touching your body. Begin to focus on the inhalation and extend the inhalation to it’s maximum, comfortable length. Focus on the breath entering the body and filling the upper chest area. Let the exhalation be natural, whilst you maintain your focus on the inhalation. Practice for 5 minutes or more, whenever you feel there is a need to redress any of the imbalances described above.

Hi. For those of you would like to practice either of the last two “guest speaker” meditations that we practiced last term, here are the links:

For “Experiencing Gratitude” by Lama Yeshe Rabgye:

https://insighttimer.com/…/guided-me…/experiencing-gratitude

Hi Everybody! I hope you all enjoyed your Christmas and that it gave you good memories. I wish you all love and peace, good health and contentment for this coming year.

Our first week back will, as always, include an intention for our practice. I know that some of you come with your own intention for your practice and that others like to share the group intention for that week. This term, I shall be encouraging you to come with your own intention for your practice.

It may be that you end up having the same intention for the whole of the term, or it may be that you experiment with a different intention for each practice, that will be your choice.   

Yoga, Mindfulness and Relaxation Classes for January-February 2018

Mondays:  Moose Hall, Spalding:  9:15-10:30am.

January: 08^th, 15^th, 22^nd, 29^th.  February: 5^th, 12^th, 26^th.

Please note: There will be no class on 19^th February.

Tuesdays: South View Primary School, Crowland:  9:30-10:45am

January: 09^th, 16^th, 23^rd, 30^th.  February:  6^th, 13^th, 27^th.

 Please note: There will be no class on 20^th February.

Wednesdays: Wake House, Bourne:  9:30-10:45am and 11:00am-12:15pm.

January: 10^th, 17^th, 24^th, 31^st.  February:  7^th, 14^th, 28^th.

Please note:  There will be no class on 21^st February.

Thursdays:  South View Primary School, Crowland:  6:00-7:15pm and 7:30-8:45pm.

January: 11^th, 18^th, 25^th.  February: 1^st, 8^th, 15^th.

 Please note: There will be no class on 22^nd February.

A Reminder to all Students:      

Over the past week we have been meditating to the “7 min Breathing Practice” which was guided by “guest speaker” (via the Insight Timer) Anna Donald, from Mindful Revolution.

If you would like to experience this meditation again, the link is below. Indulge in 7 minutes of peace and quiet, and enjoy:

Once more we have reached the final term of the year, and very soon our thoughts will be turning to Christmas and the New Year. For me, Christmas is about sharing and giving and I like to try to encourage that through our class practice with a gift from me to my students.

A couple of years’ ago, I committed to carrying around many candles and bolsters, and almost as much chocolate throughout the term, as we worked with the chakras and restorative poses, in order to keep us calm, grounded and centred throughout the festive season. Last year we practiced partner yoga throughout the term, which encouraged us to share the joy of our practice with others. This year I suggested that students might like to request practices that they particularly enjoy or would like to know more about, in order that our practice can be a truly shared representation that incorporates the elements that you enjoy most.

 

The feedback I have received so far, is that many of you would like to practice more yoga nidra, more meditation, more “lying on the floor” postures and more restorative poses! This is not surprising, as all these practices are in keeping with the seasonal desire to find somewhere warm and cosy and hibernate!

 

Practices such as Salute to the Day and the Golden Seed flow sequence were also nominated, along with mantra (chanting).  I have also had several requests for practices that help to counter feelings of stress, anxiety and depression, all of which are common symptoms of our modern lifestyle.

 

Thank you to all of you who have already responded. I intend to incorporate every suggestion I have received thus far, and please bear in mind, there is still plenty of time if you would like to make a suggestion for this term’s practice.

 

Om, Shanti, Shanti, Shanti (peace, peace, peace)!

As we move up through the energy centres, this week we reach Ajna, the “third eye” chakra which means the “perception” or “command centre”. Ajna is located in the mid-brain, between, and just above, the eyes behind the space between the eyebrows. Whilst our two eyes look out and see the external, material world, this chakra looks inward and “sees” our internal world, beyond the physical world with what we sometimes refer to as our ‘sixth sense’. Our third eye sees the world through visualization, intuition, dreaming, imagination, clairvoyance and telepathy.

Ajna is associated with the element light and the color indigo blue and it is involved in both the creation and perception of art. It is through this chakra that we recognise that what we see has a powerful impact on us. Even when we’re not aware of it, we are all sensitive to the images we find in our environment, whether they be positive or not.

Two much energy in this chakra can lead to headaches, hallucinations, nightmares, and difficulty concentrating. If we are lacking energy in Ajna, we may have a poor memory, be unable to visualize well, and experience problems with our eyes, ears and sinuses. A healthy ajna chakra ensures we have good levels of concentration, memory and intelligence and that we are able to trust in our intuition and go with our inner intelligence.

Throughout this weeks practice, whenever you practice with your eyes closed, you can experience pratyahara, the drawing inward of the senses, which encourages us to become more insightful about our bodies, the breath, and our minds.

Intentions for Ajna might be: to trust your intuition; to improve correct perception; to realise that we are all connected; to be guided by your inner wisdom.