Revolved Crescent Lunge Tips

I usually refer to Revolved Crescent Lunge pose as the "easy twist"... A few things to keep in mind for an "easy" pose, though!

Source: http://www.yogajournal.com/slideshow/back-basics-dont-rush-revolved-crescent-lunge/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=story3_more&utm_campaign=myym_01272016#3

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Stretching and Balancing between friends!

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Why Yoga Should Be the #1 Tool in Your Parenting Tool Belt

Only 3 tools presented below... But most probably the most powerful one, if they are part of our lifestyle.

"Having a baby nowadays seems like something straight out of a sci-fi movie, to those of us old enough to remember life before the internet anyway. With the click of a button you can find, research and register for thousands of gadgets and tools promised to aid you along the foretold rocky path of parenting. However, many parents soon discover these short-cut pacifiers quickly wear thin on their ability to pacify and after you’ve tried all the top 10 tips from the latest issue of Parenting magazine, the reality is that you need some better tools in your belt.

I’m here to tell you, yoga is that tool. For those of you parents who have a regular yoga practice this will make perfect sense. For those of you that don’t, I hope this short list of reasons will be enough to get you on the mat.

Here are 3 reasons yoga should be the #1 tool in your parenting tool belt:

#1 – BREATH

Pranayama – control of the breath. Breath, as an involuntarily action, becomes fast and laborious when our stress levels rise, as they often do consoling a crying baby who won’t settle or a screaming toddler losing it because the strawberries are all gone (which he ate).

Taking deep, deliberate breaths shuts off those cortisol signals and engages your parasympathetic nervous system. This in turn allows your body to know that even though the baby is screaming as if it’s being attacked by a lion, it’s not, and everything is actually ok.

Teach your kids how to breathe too! As soon as babies are old enough to mimic blowing, start practicing intentional breath. Toddlers have a hard time understanding the difference in significance between ‘I dropped my toy’ and ‘my finger is profusely bleeding.’ Based on the intensity of their screaming, you have no clue if their life is at stake or if they need a nap, and frankly they don’t either. This isn’t to say children aren’t emotionally intelligent beings, they absolutely are. But our job as parents is to guide them through discomfort and pain and give them tools to become emotionally healthy adults. Pranayama works the same way whether you’re 1 or 33, and giving them this tool is something that will help them throughout their lives.

Try this: When my kids were really young and couldn’t understand “take a deep breath,” I would make a circle with my hands and say “blow through the circle.” Not only did they think it was a fun game but it resulted in learning how to take deep breaths and melted the tantrum into giggles and hugs.

#2 – CENTERING YOURSELF

Being a parent is a non-stop job of putting someone else’s needs before your own. It doesn’t matter if you’re tired, sick, had a bad day, or your dog died. Your kids need you physically and emotionally all the time. Taking an hour a day for your yoga practice to reconnect with yourself, nurturing your own mind-body connection, is not a luxury — it is absolutely VITAL!

Taking time to nurture yourself is an act of self-love. You are acknowledging your own self-worth and value. It is much easier to give and receive love (especially the kind necessary for raising another human being) when we give that level of care to ourselves. When you are centered, when you practice self-love, you create a welcoming environment for your children to view themselves and others in that same light. Children need to see their parents loving their body and nourishing their mind. Children need to see us doing yoga! Before you know it, you’ll likely catch your 1 year old upside down mimicking a rather impressive downward dog.

#3 – AWARENESS

Yoga is amazing in it’s ability to bring awareness into your life. Suddenly, if only for that hour, the world releases its hurried frenzy. It doesn’t matter if you have a thousand emails or a sink full of dirty dishes waiting for you. Yoga allows you to just be.

Drawing that awareness into other areas of your life is an immensely helpful tool for dealing with all of life’s not-so-subtle moments. When your baby wakes for the 4th time in 2 hours, or you step on a lego on your way to help your toddler (again), awareness can bring it all into focus (probably after some deep breathing). Awareness allows you to be in this moment, and right now the moment is chaotic and insanely beautiful. Awareness is the laughter that comes when you truly grasp that there won’t always be legos to step on and you’re simultaneously grateful and a little sad.

The awareness that yoga gives us takes the cliche phrase “this too shall pass” and reminds us that what passes isn’t just diapers and tantrums, it’s squishy little fingers and bedtime stories too. It may seem more bitter than sweet, but that’s why awareness might just be the most powerful tool of all.

No doubt about it, yoga is a life changer. These 3 tools, learned on the mat and applied to parenting, will absolutely shed new light on this messy, hilarious, and profoundly inspiring journey. When it comes down to being real, we can all agree that every person is different. No piece of advice is going to be applicable to every kid or situation, but if you can remember to breathe, make time to honor yourself, and approach this season of life with awareness, you’ll find the path to be a little less rocky and have a much better view. Wishing you and your baby happiness and health."

Source: http://www.yogiapproved.com/yoga/why-yoga-should-be-the-1-tool-in-your-parenting-tool-belt/
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Some Yogis who change the world..

I came across this great article.. About 20 yoga do-gooders who are changing the world. I especially took note of the two below:

Bent On Learning
Bent On Learning is a nonprofit organization based in New York City that brings yoga to kids in school—not after school—but right in the classroom. Since 2001, trained yoga instructors have taught over 18,000 kids in the New York public school system during the school day. They currently hold 136 classes per week.

Sonima Foundation
The Sonima Foundation—co-founded by Sonia Jones, a wellness advocate—works in public schools to train local educators in the Sonima Health and Wellness Curriculum, which they then assess, measure, and document. Sonima uses this information to influence the national conversation around the impact of health and wellness on children. The nonprofit's main goal is to develop policies that make health and wellness an essential component of the education system. In 2014 Jones launched Sonima.com, an editorial website with a similar mission of providing trusted information about wellness, yoga, and mindfulness practices.

Source: http://yoganonymous.com/20-yoga-do-gooders-who-are-changing-the-world?utm_source=YNON+ALL&utm_campaign=563e5e196a-YNON_7_6_16&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_9fab1b9259-563e5e196a-121249902&ct=t(YNON_7_6_16)&mc_cid=563e5e196a&mc_eid=9c4d95c63f

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How to develop resilience in children

Do you consider yourself to be resilient? Can you bounce back from failure, dust yourself off and power on?

The good news is that resilience can be learned. In its simplest form, resilience describes something that reverts to its original state after it has been bent or stretched – and we're not talking about yoga! Being resilient doesn't mean that you don't experience hardship or feel stressed, it just means that you are able to recover effectively.

Schools are increasingly aware of the need to help students build resilience and cope with the many different challenges of life and what is becoming an increasingly complex world. Wellbeing is a strategic priority at Mentone Girls' Grammar and Vice Principal Wellbeing, Mrs Jo Frost, discusses the need to develop happy, healthy and confident young women.

"Being resilient is an important life skill for coping with busyness, unexpected events and perceived failure. We teach our students to 'bounce back' and learn to try again. We go through this process when we learn to ride a bike – it's as natural as breathing – but as adolescence strikes, girls especially can develop a fear of failure that can stay with them their whole lives. They don't want to disappoint or be ridiculed.

"The environment we create here at school is about getting girls to try new things and experiment with the risk of failure, supporting each other in the process. It is vital that we remind girls that failing is simply an essential part of learning and living – it's human. 

"Research suggests that school and family play an essential role in helping students build resilience. Parents and teachers can help by being role models and practising these behaviours themselves. Here are seven ways to build resilience in children that we use here at school."

1.  Avoid solving all their problems. Engage children as active participants in family/group problem-solving, let them contribute meaningfully to discussions and any solutions.

2. Model a positive 'can do' attitude. Encourage children to take decisive action rather than detaching from problems, and wishing they would just go away. Help them to see every experience as an opportunity.

3. Positive relationships. Encourage children to develop relationships with positive people who offer mutual support and who are not 'dream stealers' or 'energy zappers'.

4. Embrace change. Flexibility is an essential part of resilience so teach children how to be more adaptable and to accept that change is a part of living and can bring new opportunities.

5. Goal setting. From an early age, encourage children into the habit of developing realistic goals and making small yet regular progress towards accomplishing them, or adapting them as things change. 

6. Be optimistic. Encourage children to visualise what they want from themselves, rather than worrying about what they fear.

7. Be responsible for personal wellbeing. Teach kids to listen to their own mind and body, to know when they need to engage in some relaxation, to eat nutritious food and exercise regularly. Feeling energetic and healthy will keep them primed to deal with tough situations.

Source: http://www.essentialkids.com.au/all-about-girls/seven-tips-for-parents-to-help-develop-resilience-in-children-20160902-gr7m0c#ixzz4MGFW5Wfg
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Cow Face

I love Cow Face pose.. It does stretch the shoulders and the hips at the same time.. But beginners struggle to get into it.. 6 tips then, as well as variations!

Benefits first: 
Brings awareness to patterns of breath and facilitates subtle movement in 
your shoulders, arms, hips, and legs; encourages toning and awareness from the palate to the pelvic floor; fosters internal reflection.

Instructions: 

1. From a kneeling position, cross your right leg over your left just above your left knee. Place the top of your right foot on the floor alongside your left ankle. Exhale and sit back onto your heels, keeping thighs and feet together. Bring your focus to the low belly and pelvic floor, observing the movement of the breath.
2. Gaze gently at your knees as you place your right hand on your right knee, and your left hand on top of 
the right. Bring the chin toward the sternum; inhale to sit tall and straight.
3. Release your jaw, tongue, and 
palate and breathe smoothly, allowing your heart to float, collarbones 
to broaden, and coccyx (tailbone) 
to drop as your low back ribs spread on the wave of the breath. Hold this 
form for at least 10 rounds of breath.
4. Inhaling, lift your head and gradually tilt it back to extend the lower neck. Rotate your left shoulder 
forward as you reach that hand up your back with the palm facing out. On an inhale, reach up with your right arm. Bend your right elbow, drop your right arm down your back, and clasp your hands together behind your back.
5. Now, roll the top of the left shoulder back. Point your right elbow at the ceiling and your left elbow toward the floor, and gently pull 
your arms in opposite directions. Drop your sitting bones toward the floor and softly squeeze your legs together to create the sense that your upper body is floating above the foundation of your legs. Breathe smoothly, softening the tongue and jaw while listening to the sound of the breath. Hold the posture for at least 5 breaths.
6. Release the pose on an inhale. Switch the cross of your legs and repeat on the other side.

Variations:

1. If you shoulders are tight, use a strap!

2. If you experience knee pain

Try placing a block beneath your 
sitting bones. The block should 
be high enough to eliminate any discomfort in your knees. Keep lower legs and feet separated and angled out to the sides. Connect to the sense of support and strength your legs and pelvis provide to your core. Focus on sensations in your pelvic floor and belly so that you’re inspired to breathe deeply, tapping into the uplifting quality of inhaling and the grounding effect of exhaling.

3. If your ankles are uncomfortable

Try placing a blanket 
beneath your lower legs. Arrange the blanket with the fold just at your ankles, so that your feet hang off the blanket and rest comfortably on the floor. For this variation, be sure your lower legs are either touching (as in the full form) or, if sitting on a block, slightly wider than the block.

Source: http://www.yogajournal.com/slideshow/modify-cow-face-pose/#2

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Do you know Soldier Pose?

I didn't even know this pose existed...it's crazy, and fun! Warm up first, then try!

"Stand on one leg, lift the other, wrap this arm under that leg, bend a knee, grab that foot, lengthen out, knee up, shoulder back — welcome to Super Soldier, the pose most of us have only seen on Instagram, many of us have never heard of before and very few actually know how to do.

I had never even considered trying the pose, chalking it up to another crazy IG inspired variations, until a teacher walked us through the bendy pose in a random class I happen to be in. And while mine didn’t unfold as beautifully as the images I’d seen, I was surprised to find myself in the pose.

Want to give it a try?

Warm up with a few sun salutations, hip and shoulder openers, forward folds, thigh stretches — you’re going to want to be properly prepped — and get ready to play twister. Warning: this pose is the flexible!

Follow these 10 steps into Super Soldier Pose

1. Standing with your feet wider than your hips, bend your knees and forward fold.

2. Walk your fingertips back behind your ankles and nestle your ribs between your thighs.

3. Drop your right shoulder behind your right knee and walk your fingertips out to the right.

4. Free your left arm and place your left fingertips out in front of your left pinkie toe.

5. Press into your left fingertips and straighten your left arm.

6. Lean onto your right foot as you twist your torso to the left to look under your left armpit.

7. Shift your weight onto your right foot and slowly begin lift your left leg up behind you.

8. At the top, bend at the knee and use your left finger tips on the floor to open up the left side of your body.

9. Keeping the bottom knee bent, bend your right elbow inside your right knee and grab the top foot (you’ll probably find it somewhere near your outer right hip).

10. Once you have a hold of your top foot, press firmly down through your standing foot to straighten your standing leg and lengthen your top knee toward the sky.

Did you make it?! Don’t stress if you didn’t, even the most flexible usually don’t wrap their brains around the funky pose the first time or two. And remember these crazy poses are just for fun (and for freaking your friends out)."

Source: http://www.doyouyoga.com/10-steps-into-super-soldier-pose-17031/?utm_source=DOYOUYOGA+Newsletter&utm_campaign=3d47f98ad9-DOYOUYOGA_Weekly_Update_181&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_30424a7d8f-3d47f98ad9-171128385

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