Bliss Bits

March 2011

Bliss Bit – Ease Your Head Back

Do you ever get ahead of yourself? You may be living with your head pushed forward ahead of your heart. This shortens your neck and (worse!) compresses your brainstem. It reinforces your tendency to live in the future while it cuts off the flow of inner bliss that is always flowing up your spine.

How to do – Sit on a few folded blankets in an easy cross-legged position, or sit in a chair with your legs side-by-side and both feet resting solidly on the floor. Place your hands on your knees or thighs while you soften both arms and allow your shoulders to soften down and wide. If you are standing, bring your feet in underneath you with your big toes touching (or almost touching) and soften your arms and shoulders.

Imagine that you have vertical seams on the sides of your neck. Ease those side seams slowly back, which will move your neck and head will gently backward. Don’t force your neck back. Ease it back as far as it will comfortably come without straining or tightening your breath.

You may be able to align the top of your head over your tailbone. If so, you will find that the weight of your head releases spinal tensions all the way down to your tailbone. Take a few easy breaths with your head in this position.

Soften into this angle in order to cultivate a natural, easeful position. Your neck and head may rest easefully in this new alignment or they may come forward a little, but perhaps not as much as before!

Benefits – This lengthens your neck and decompresses the base of your skull, including your brainstem. Learning to live with your head over your heart will quiet your mind. Most importantly, your mind will be saturated by the fountain of bliss that is ever-flowing up your spine!

January 2011

Bliss Bit – Ujjayi Pranayama

Give yourself a simple and powerful gift everyday with Ujjayi Pranayama – the essential breathing practice of Svaroopa^® yoga. You’ve experienced it while lying in Shavasana – yoga’s relaxation pose. You may have continued this breathing practice since your yoga weekend or retreat, or in your weekly Svaroopa^® yoga classes. Now we invite you to dive more deeply into Ujjayi Pranayama. Did you know that Ujjayi can open your whole spine and that it can completely calm your mind and nervous system – all at the same time?

Begin in Shavasana – lie on your back with a few rolled blankets or pillows under your knees, and allow your body to soften into the support beneath you. Take a few easy, natural breaths, and then narrow the inside of your throat passageway. This gentle narrowing makes your breathing sound like the ocean waves. Allow your breath to continue at its own easy pace while you listen to the sweet sound. Use only a few throat muscles to establish a smooth sound that is just loud enough for you to hear it on the inside. Notice what unfolds in your body and mind.

If you already do a daily Ujjayi practice, add an extra five minutes to each day and see what you get. Otherwise, start with five minutes on the first day and increase it by five minutes every day until you are doing 20 minutes a day. We’d love to hear what happens – send us an email or share your experience with your local Svaroopa^® yoga teacher or classmates.

December 2010

Bliss Bit – Sit in Your Seat

You spend a lot of time sitting… in your car, at your computer, on your couch, eating, and even when you are doing yoga. It’s time to really sit in your seat. It releases tension in your spine and gives you an opportunity to experience your Self.

How to do: Level your weight into both sides of your seat and allow the surface beneath you to fully support you. As you settle into your seat, you will lean more deeply into the chair, cushion, blanket or sofa beneath you. Pause. Take a few slow, long breaths. Ease your neck and head back slowly, and allow your throat to hollow inward. Give yourself a few more slow easy breaths.

Minimum time: As long as you are sitting.

Maximum time: As long as you are sitting.

Benefit: Your body relaxes, your breath opens up, your neck softens and lengthens, your mind calms down, you feel more present and more able to do whatever comes next.

November 2010

Bliss Bit – Jalandhara Bandha (Chin Lock)

Without you realizing it, your head is probably pushed forward so that the back of your neck and your brainstem are compressed. Use this to align your neck and head on top of your spine.

Moving in: Sit in a comfortable, seated position (on the floor or in a chair). Soften your shoulders back as you tip your head forward to slowly lower your chin toward your chest, which lengthens the back of your neck. You may be able to tip your chin in toward the notch at the base of your throat. Let the inside of your throat soften. Allow your neck to soften so your head hangs forward and the back of your neck lengthens all the way up into the base of your scalp and skull. Stay for 3-8 slow easy breaths.

Moving out: Slowly roll your neck up from the base, one vertebra at a time, stacking all 7 neck vertebrae up slowly, and balance your head on top.

Benefit: Relieves neck, throat and jaw tension; improves digestion; releases tensions in your skull; provides temporary relief for neck pain; clears the mind; helps you find the position where your head is supposed to live.

August 2010

Bliss Bit – Ujjayi Pranayama

Give yourself a simple and powerful gift everyday with Ujjayi Pranayama – the essential breathing practice of Svaroopa^® yoga. You’ve experienced it while lying in Shavasana – yoga’s relaxation pose. You may have continued this breathing practice since your yoga weekend or retreat, or in your weekly Svaroopa^® yoga classes. Now we invite you to dive more deeply into Ujjayi Pranayama. Did you know that Ujjayi can open your whole spine and that it can completely calm your mind and nervous system – all at the same time?

Begin in Shavasana – lie on your back with a few rolled blankets or pillows under your knees, and allow your body to soften into the support beneath you. Take a few easy, natural breaths, and then narrow the inside of your throat passageway. This gentle narrowing makes your breathing sound like the ocean waves. Allow your breath to continue at its own easy pace while you listen to the sweet sound. Use only a few throat muscles to establish a smooth sound that is just loud enough for you to hear it on the inside. Notice what unfolds in your body and mind.

If you already do a daily Ujjayi practice, add an extra five minutes to each day and see what you get. Otherwise, start with five minutes on the first day and increase it by five minutes every day until you are doing 20 minutes a day. We’d love to hear what happens – send us an email or share your experience with your local Svaroopa^® yoga teacher or classmates.

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