Wednesday, April 8, 2009

YouTube - Meditating On The Chakras

YouTube - Meditating On The Chakras:

Root Chakra or Muladhara:
This chakra is located at the base of the spine and
aids us in our ability to survive and adapt

This area once opened is also considered to give us the stability
we need to endure the trials of our everyday lives.

When this chakra is blocked it makes us afraid of change but
once opened will open us up to the beauty and wondrous
opportunities that life has to offer.

Knees, Chest, and Chin Yoga Pose- Ashtanga Namaskara Yoga Pose

Knees, Chest, and Chin Yoga Pose- Ashtanga Namaskara Yoga Pose

Also known as: Salute with Eight Limbs
Type of pose: Backbend
Benefits: Increases the flexibility of the spine.
Knees, Chest and Chin is usually done as part of the Sun Salutation vinyasa sequence. It is can be done as an alternative to Chaturanga Dandasana in the sequence for beginners.
Instructions:
1. From Plank position, drop the knees to the floor.
2. Bring the chest and chin forward and down to the floor, placing the chest right between the hands.
3. Keep the elbows hugging into your sides.
4. The hips should stay high.
Beginners: This pose is like a half push-up, and will help you build the arm strength necessary to move onto Chaturanga Dandasana
Advanced: You may want to include Knees, Chest, and Chin in your first few Sun Salutations as you warm up before going on to Chaturanga.

Sun Salutations - Surya Namaskara

Sun Salutations - Surya Namaskara

Sun Salutations (Surya Namaskara in Sanskrit) are the core of a Vinyasa style yoga practice. A sun salutation is a series of poses done in succession so that one pose flows into the next. The pace of the flow and how long the poses are held may vary, but the movement is done in accompaniment with the breath. The purpose of the Sun Salutation is to warm up the body for more intense stretches.
First, a basic Sun Salutation sequence for beginners. Click the link if you don’t know the pose.
1. Come to stand in Tadasana
2. Inhale - Bring the arms out to the sides and up to Urdhva Hastasana
3. Exhale - Swan dive down hinging at the hips bringing the palms flat on either side of your feet to Uttanasana*
4. Inhale - Come up to a flat back bringing the chin up and the finger tips to the floor
5. Exhale - Bring the palms flat, forward bending again into Uttanasana
6. Inhale - Bring the right foot to the back of the mat, come up on to the finger tips into a low lunge
7. Exhale - Bring the left foot back to meet the right coming into Downward Facing Dog
8. Inhale - Come forward to a Plank position
9. Exhale - Drop to your Knees, Chest, and Chin
10. Inhale - Come forward to a low Cobra
11. Exhale - Back to Downward Facing Dog
12. Inhale - Bring the right foot next to the right hand into low lunge*
13. Exhale - Bring the left foot forward next to the right and forward bend into Uttanasana
14. Inhale - Bring the arms out to the sides and up, reversing the swan dive to Urdhva Hastasana
15. Exhale - Drop the arms back to Tadasana
Repeat on the left side.
*Tips for beginners :
-In Uttanasana, bend the knees if you need to in order to bring the palms flat. When you come to a flat back, bring the hands off the floor onto your shins.
-When you bring the right foot back up to the front of the mat, help the foot up with your hand if it doesn’t make it to the front.

Cobra Pose - Bhujangasana





Type of pose: Backbend
Benefits: Increases the flexibility of the spine. Can help relieve back pain.
Cobra is usually done as part of the Sun Salutation vinyasa sequence. It is can be done as an alternative to Upward Facing Dog in the sequence for beginners.
Instructions:
1. From Knees, Chest, and Chin position, release the tops of the feet to the floor and press them down.
2. Slide your chest forward and up keeping your hands exactly where the were.
3. Roll your shoulders back and lift the chest higher, while keeping the low ribs on the floor.
4. Keep your neck neutral, don’t crank it back.
Beginners: Strongly engaging the legs and pressing them down will help you bring your chest higher.
Advanced: Keeping the chest high, bring the palms off of the floor. Or keep the palms on the floor and start to straighten the arms for a more intense backbend.
I name this blog Yoga Cobra after seeing the Cobra Pose in yoga.
This pose may be key to my structural soundness.
I have been suffering from a bad back for about 1/2 my life now....since the early to mid 80's.

I will be using this blog for my yoga journal.
I have found some nice meditation music, zen and buddist tweets and other inspirational writings that would best be saved in a blog.

I envy the smooth flexibility of the cobra....it is so effortless. I want to be well again, maybe I can learn from our brother the Cobra.......

Serpent vertebrae

Serpent vertebrae
Oh to so limber!