The other day I had a funky day. The type of day where there were constant blocks, in the form of stress, clumsiness, worry, etc. They kept popping up, trying to tell me something, I'm sure, but I was unable to hear the message. I was unable to find my breath, to use my yoga to get through the day with more sukha(ease). I was happy that that very night I was able to attend a Yin yoga class. Yin yoga is a very slow moving, deep stretching, grounding practice. Pretty much the exact opposite of a strong vinyasa class, which is an energetic, faster pace, sweaty practice. They compliment each other very well. I took the Yin class and left there feeling wonderfully relaxed and balanced. It didn't occur to me until later what I was able to do there in that classroom. I let go completely. The day that was so bothersome was dissolved. I poured the emotions of the day onto my mat, and that is where they stayed. And I thought how kind of my mat to take that stress from me and never complain. :)
A great pose to try this type of letting go is Child's Pose (Balasana). It's an inward-turning, quiet, restful pose that can be performed by anyone, even if you have never tried yoga before. Come down to the floor and sit on your heels keep your big toes touching each other. You can keep your knees together or separate them apart a bit. There are a few variations you can try; first, pictured above,is with the arms stretched out in front of you, which has a more energetic quality.
Second, is with your arms along side your body which is more rounding in the back and a bit more restful.
If your hips don't reach your heals, or your knees are troublesome, try using a folded blanket, towel or even a pillow between your heels and hips. Like this:
If your forehead doesn't reach the floor try stacking your fists one on top of the other, or stack a few books or pillows to lift the floor to you.
Resting the forehead is ideal so try your best to make that happen using even a chair if your body is quite stiff.
Remember, there is no shame in using props to make the pose more ease-ful and comfortable. We are practicing to let go of tension, not create more of it by worrying we're not flexible enough, or something less because we need help. Let yourself be supported to completely surrender to calm. Let any emotions, thoughts, feelings, discharge into the mat, blanket, carpet, pillow, whatever is beneath your forehead. Imagine as though there is a hole drilled into your Third Eye Space (The space between your eye brows) that anything that is not serving your body, mind and spirit can leak out of. Some days you might feel it's difficult to let go and other days you'll feel things flooding out of you. Just stay connected to your breath and use each exhale to chose something else to liberate.
Try Child's Pose today. Stay as long as you like and let me know how you feel! Don't be shy, if you have any questions I'm happy to answer!
Namaste.
