Greetings and Salutations:
November is traditionally the end of the harvest season. It is a time for us to be reminded of what we have and to give thanks.
Often we are so busy during our daily lives that we get caught up in our forward momentum and forget to slow down long enough to show our appreciation for what we truly value in our lives, our loved ones and our health. These two elements give our lives purpose.
So during this month of thankful reflection, try using your Yoga practice as a way to restore yourself by taking the time to slow down and mindfully pay homage to what you have harvested during your life.
“For each new morning with its light, for rest and shelter of the night, for health and food, for love and friends, for everything thy goodness sends.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson
Yoga Moment
(Chair Pose/Fierce Posture, Utkatasana)
In October I described the sun salutation A and B sequences. To vary the sun salutation sequences you can add chair pose into your sun salutation flow sequence. Follow the description I have provided you of chair pose and use my CD booklet as a reference. The booklet will illustrate how I’ve incorporated chair pose into the sun salutation B sequence.
To begin chair pose stand tall in mountain pose with the feet hip width apart. Extend the arms over the head and lengthen the spine. Bend the knees and bring the thighs parallel to the floor. Now press down into the soles of the feet. Keep your knees, ankles and toes touching. The heels should remain grounded with the sit-bones dropped. Weight should be off of your toes. Feel the force of gravity pulling you into the earth from the waist down and an opposing force lifting you from the sacrum up the spine through the top of your head and out the fingertips. Now tilt the pelvis and tuck the tailbone under so it feels as if the lower back flattens out. Draw the lower abdominal area in toward the spine. Make sure the knees are not too far forward of the ankles. If you are not experiencing tightness in the neck, press the palms together and gaze up past your fingertips. Hold this position for five breaths. Release as you inhale, allowing your arms to lift you back up to stand in Mountain Pose.
This is an energizing posture. It strengthens the legs and elongates the spine. A counter pose for this posture would be a deep forward fold.
Inspirational Moment
Richness, Success and Love Fable
A woman came out of her house and saw three old men with long white beards sitting in her front yard. She did not recognize them. She said, “I don’t think I know you, but you must be hungry. Please come in and have something to eat.” Is the man of the house home?” they asked. “No”, she said “He’s out.” “Then we cannot come in,” they replied.
In the evening when her husband came home, she told him what had happened. “Go tell them I am home and invite them in.” The woman went out and invited the men in. “We do not go into a House together” they replied. “Why is that?” she wanted to know. One of the old men explained: “His name is Wealth,” he said pointing to one of this friends, and then pointed to another one, “He is Success, and I am Love.” Then he added, “Now go in and discuss with your husband which one of us you want in your home.”
The woman went in and told her husband what was said. Her husband was overjoyed. “How nice!” he said. “Since that is the case, let us invite Wealth. Let him come and fill our home with wealth.” His wife disagreed. “My dear, why don’t we invite Success?” Their daughter-in-law was listening from the other corner of the house. She jumped in with her own suggestions: “Would it not be better to invite Love? Our home will then be filled with love.”
“Let us heed our daughter-in-law’s advice,” said the husband to his wife. “Go out and invite Love to be our guest.” The woman went out and asked the three old men, “Which one of you is Love? Please come in and be our guest.” Love got up and started walking toward the house. The other two also got up and followed him. Surprised, the lady asked Wealth and Success: “I only invited Love, Why are you coming in?” The old men replied together: “If you had invited Wealth or Success, the other two of us would have stayed out, but since you invited Love, wherever He goes, we go with him.
So the moral of this story is, wherever there is Love, there is also Wealth and Success.
“If you have love you don’t need anything else, and if you don’t have it, it doesn’t matter what else you have.” Sir James M. Barrie
Namaste,
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