Innerspace Yoga Seva Project 09

 January 2009: Last fall, I called upon family and friends of Innerspace Yoga to reach out to help at-risk children in the Indianapolis community. Thanks to your generous donations in class, our seven year old friend had a warm Christmas with many toys and new boots! Thanks to your abundant shopping through links on this website and kitty:we also raised about $100 in advertising revenue, which bought materials needed for the art studio at St. Mary’s Child Center!

    One person bought her holiday stationery; another picked up a motherlode of Legos. I particularly like to participate by routing all my iTunes media and organic makeup purchases through the site. Little bits added up and the children enjoyed new art supplies! The teachers requested a gift certificate to Michael's, where they could maximize their dollars. They loved it!

    Although I don’t really know who did what since Innerspace isn’t privy to your personal information, I thank you from the bottom of my heart....whomever you are! In the coming year, Innerspace Yoga will reach as many as 100 at-risk Indianapolis youth, spreading the message of peace, love and sustainability through the art and science of yoga. As always, I invite you to get involved with that effort. Namaste!

Update 11-11-09: This year, Innerspace Yoga will donate 75% of our advertising revenues between November 1, 2009 and January 1, 2010 to St. Mary's Child Center to purchase items from the wish list for the students' art instruction. To participate, just click on ad banners and hotlinks on any page in our domain - including this one. To learn more about the project and to get started, please visit our Seva Page on the Innerspace mothership site. You can also start now by browsing the Innerspace OM Shop at the bottom of this blog.

     The products, brands, and artists advertised within the Innerspace domain are not directly participating in the Seva Project 09. When you click on their links, you are leaving us and going to them to become a customer (hopefully). Please enable your browser to accept cookies on these sites, otherwise your purchase won't earn revenue for us! Thank You so much. kelly.

      

Real Results for Real Bodies Right NOW!

I wrote this piece last summer and posted it on the Innerspace Yoga website. Thought I'd recycle it since it's still timely.

 Today, school has let out in our community. Although it won’t feel like summer in Indy until the race is over next week, here we are at the beginning of June. That means inundations of media coverage surrounding our thighs, our rolls, and our cellulite.  Can a sister get a pedicure this month without having to see reminders in every magazine that swimsuit season is upon us?!?  Worse yet, it means actually having to uncover said thighs, rolls and cellulite.

        While there is certainly no shortage of coverage for improving our so-called beach bodies with slimming exercises and horrible little crash diets (that make us so cranky Shark Week looks like a walk in the park), we want results NOW!  We can get entire virtual albums sent to our iPods fifteen seconds after they drop, we can get dinner for 6 delivered in less that 30 minutes. We can send a man to the moon or send pictures from our phone to the other side of the country, so why the hell is there no way to attain a perfect, or at least suitable body, in ten minutes?

    

All the yoga in the world isn’t going to make me less a product of my own culture; for one thing I still read fashion magazines and I still want instant gratification. I want my Starbucks, my iTunes, and my peace and tranquility NOW, just like the next broad. 

        Well into my thirties I’ve realized in my neurotic, narcissistic mind it’s entirely possible to have peace NOW about my body and its daily aging just like it’s possible to have peace NOW when I’m on the mat in posture. It’s possible because the peace is already there. It’s there next to the dimples on the sides of my thighs, and beside the yellow bruise on my shin, and within the copious, bluish capillaries that weren’t there last summer. The peace is within my quadriceps when I am walking along the edge of the pool as much as it is there when I am using my sizable thighs to power myself up from the floor into Virabradasana.  The peace is within my rounded hips, just as it was there when I cushioned my baby on my left as I walked us through the world until I thought my legs would crumble.

     So if you don’t like the way your body looks in your swimsuit, slap on some bronzer, wrap a sarong around your waist and focus instead on what your body has been through and what it can do, whether you find yourself on your yoga mat or on the beach this summer. You were totally perfect before you even opened up this month’s issue of Whatever and started berating your body. Namaste! Love, kelly. 

This Woman Needs a Yoga Block!

  Perhaps you sit like the woman pictured above: any seated, cross-legged position causes your knees to rise. You aren’t able to sit like this for long without shifting your weight around, let alone use the posture for meditation. Rising knees are usually caused by tight hips, a condition which also may cause straining in the lower back.

    To remedy the discomfort and allow yourself to sit longer and more comfortably, simply sit on a yoga block or a stack of blankets. This will elevate your hips just enough to let gravity pull your knees and quadriceps downward, allowing you to sustain the posture. Want more yoga tips? Please head over to the Innerspace mothership!

Messed-Up Dog: Align your elbows properly!

What’s wrong with these Up Dog postures? All three yoginis above are doing one of yoga’s most recognizable postures in ways that will not only negate the benefits of the pose, but may in fact harm the practitioners.
    “Up Dog”, or Urdhva Mukha Svanasana, is a backbend that can be modified for difficulty and incorporated into standing posture practice as well as flowing yoga styles. As such, Up Dog stretches and tones the spine and the front of the body. The chest muscles and upper torso are given the opportunity to open and elongate in ways we aren’t normally able to move in everyday life.
    The heart chakra is unblocked as it is liberated from the tightness of rounded shoulders. As the chest expands and lifts, even the thymus gland gets attention, being stimulated to work harder for the immune system as fresh, unrestricted breath moves through the upper torso.
    All of these movements become possible as the shoulder blades move backward and down. This isn’t a safe transition if the elbows aren’t properly aligned. Look at the models above. Their inner elbows are facing forward, most noticeably in the case of the middle model. You have to watch the rotation of your elbows when you come into a posture that is weight-bearing on the arms.
    Always remember to build every pose from the ground; your foundation is whatever is touching the mat. In the case of Up Dog, start with hands and wrists. Stack your bones up appropriately, always trying to find Mountain Pose. Your shoulders should be aligned evenly over your wrists, and weight should be evenly distributed in the heels and palms of your hands.
    If you have a lot of natural flexibility, you may notice your elbows hyperextending this way. When you turn the insides of your elbows toward your body rather than frontward, you’ll really feel different in postures such as Up Dog. You’ll begin to use your upper arms much differently as you take the stress off your elbows and allow your triceps to do the work!

A few words about your knees: No new pain in yoga!

 It is especially important to stabilize your knees when you are coming into a posture from the floor upward. This will prevent injury and also allow the powerful quadriceps to take the brunt of the work from the knees. As you do so, be sure your knee is aligned between your big toe and the next. Remember, your muscles should be doing the work, not your joints. 

You always want to build every posture from the ground up, first squaring your weight evenly on your foot, then aligning the ankle, knee and hip so all are moving in the same direction. Don’t let your knee sway around; don’t ever lock the knee up. Even when a posture calls for a “straight” leg, such as Triangle or Crescent, there can be a fair amount of slack in the knee. The knee should never bend so deeply as to extend over the top of your foot, past your toes. This is hyper-extension and over time, it can be detrimental to your joints. 

If you are unable to put weight on your knee for any reason, consider moving to a chair and modifying your postures from there. If your knees are simply sore or weak (as opposed to serious injuries or chronic conditions), you might benefit from strengthening the quadriceps (thigh muscles).

If you have knee problems, please avoid Lotus, Half-Lotus, Pigeon poses, Virasana (Hero), or anything else that requires deep knee-bending or balancing on the knee (including tabletop postures). In fact, knees can be so tricky, I advise you to see an orthopedist before you continue yoga if you have even the slightest problem with one or both of your joints.

Writing as Yoga Practice

          Your yoga practice doesn’t end when you step off the mat and resume your day. To be in a state of yoga means to be aware of the body, mind and breath regardless of whether or not you are actively in posture. Keeping a journal is an excellent way to supplement asana and pranayama in your quest to be more self-actualized.

Journaling has long been a tool of therapists and artists alike. When we free-write, we tap into a deeper layer of consciousness where logical, linear thought goes by the wayside. The act of writing for oneself without fear of consequences or criticism is incredibly freeing, and can serve as a problem-solving tool as well as creative inspiration.

Just as we lay in Savasana after all the postures, we can come to a blank page to allow our very temporary feelings space to escape. Savasana allows us to absorb all the yoga. Journaling allows us to organize our thoughts and express our emotions in a safe, sustainable way. Because this form of communication taps into a deeper consciousness, using parts of the brain not usually exercised in mundane activity, writing hones our creativity and helps to expand our awareness of Self and Spirit.

I have kept journals since I got my first pink Little Twin Stars diary over 25 years ago. A serious Beatnik since early adolescence, there were times I believed life itself existed for the sole purpose of writing practice. You don’t have to be that devoted to journaling to experience profound benefits, however. You just have to show up. Here are some tips for starting (and continuing) an enjoyable, valuable writing practice.

1. Try using your computer as well as many kinds of pens and pencils. Word processing is sometimes better for those who think very fast or feel hampered by the quality of their handwriting. If you find yourself stumbling because the letters don’t look “nice” or “perfect” on the page, try a digital diary instead. See whether you like felty pens or ballpoints, pencils or markers.

2. Start keeping a journal in an inexpensive book. Leather-bound diaries are nice, but sometimes intimidate us. We don’t want to ruin the beautiful paper with our sheisty thoughts, cross-outs and doodles. Writing in a spiral notebook or even on loose leaf frees you to just show up at the page and get it done. Once the habit of showing up and getting it done is ingrained within you, feel free to make or buy something fabulous.

3. Once your hand begins writing, try not to stop. If you make a mistake, just skip a line and start again. If you think you will need to keep this entry for future reference you can always camouflage your mistakes with a sticker or some correction product. Don’t second-guess yourself. Just keep your hand moving until you have discharged the entire feeling, or you’ve come to the end of the anecdote.

4. Don’t become married to your thoughts. This is especially important to those who already have writing experience. Don’t judge what’s good or bad, just come to the page and do the work. Then take the opportunity to practice non-attachment. Zen writer and teacher Natalie Goldberg advocates taking the ego out of the moment in order to allow “writing to do writing.” 

          This means being present for the experience, and writing while you are writing --- not making an absent-minded half-assed effort. Go get a copy of Goldberg’s “Writing Down the Bones.” Do everything she says.

5. Unless you are trying to solve a particular problem, or you’re working on a piece you plan to publish, don’t read over what you have written just yet. Give your thoughts enough space to dissipate. You’ll be more honest, more instinctual and relaxed if you free-write without your inner editor interjecting every third word.

6.     Set a timer. Go for five minutes nonstop, then ten. Just keep your hand moving without judging yourself. You don’t have to sound awesome. In fact, don’t try to. 

   Over time, you’ll find yourself more centered and focused. Keeping a journal is yet another tool you can use to wake up and become more self-aware and peaceful. Read this article and more about writing @ kitty:magazine.

A peaceful thought for today: there is beauty everywhere

“To see a world in a grain of sand and heaven in a wild flower

Hold infinity in the palms of your hand and eternity in an hour.”  

William Blake