11 minutes worth listening to

i found this very interesting. artist Chris Jordan shows an arresting view of what Western culture looks like. i hope you enjoy the clip! it's stuff you might already know, but it's always good to get reminded of where our behavior is taking us. be the change you want to see in the world (gandhi).

crow - tripod headstand - crow

for the month of october we are practicing the transitions of moving from crow into tripod headstand and then reversing back into crow.

watch the video below and then follow these 5 steps:

{practice close to a wall if you don't feel comfortable doing it in the middle of the floor. as you get comfortable gradually move away from the wall. at some point those "training wheels" got to come off}

1. find balancing chair - squeeze inner thighs together, lift moola bandha, 'drop' tailbone toward the heels, lift breastbone, roll shoulders back as you allow knees to draw to the floor and draw head over pelvis

2. hinge forward into a semi-malasana - again, keep squeezing innerthighs toward your waist, round back, draw in through abdomen, shift weight forward and work on lifting both feet off the floor from the core. when you have found crow, bend the elbows (crow push-up), keep hugging in as you lower crown of your head to the ground.

3. now in a tripod - draw elbows toward each other, lift from your feet to help lift knees off the arms to extend legs vertical. feel as if you're pressing the floor away from you, at the same time surrendering into it. hold for as long as you can comfortably

4. gradually work your way in reverse. lower the knees to the arms, notice how i draw my tailbone 'under' in order to stay core connected. rest here for a bit to proceed to the final step

5. when you are ready to rewind back into crow, start bending the elbows, draw tailbone under and you lower your seat (pelvis) toward the floor. this downward action will help with lifting the head up naturally.

what goes down must come up.
what comes up must go down.
what draws in must expand out.
what roots down must extend up.

enjoy the practice.
if it is too much to lift into tripod headstand, then edit that one out until you feel ready.

have fun trying it step by step, breath by breath. only do what feels comfortable for you. pause between each step. you are not doing this to injure yourself! you are doing this to liberate yourself and to let go of whatever 'training wheels' you are holding onto ....
we all got to let go somehow, at some point :-) maybe this is the time .... trust yourself!

september video 2 - Hummingbird pose

here you go! have fun incorporating this pose into your practice. if you come to my class this month it will be part of the flow.
step by step - breath by breath - enjoy the challenge - have fun flying -
it gets easier :-)

[notice] this is my second video posting, the quality is getting better. i'm new to this whole thing of being infront of the camera. i am following the same principles as learning an asana. i am doing it step by step, breath by breath. i am enjoying the challenge and i am having a lot of fun in the process. i notice my tech muscle is strengthening!! it can only get better from here. fly hummingbird, fly! :-)

august video log 1 - inspiration

alright, so here we go: my first video log (vlog).
it took me forever to figure out how to convert the file to a smaller file that would upload to this blog. i finally figured it out, but the quality might not be as great as i would like it to be. i'll keep practicing and get someone to help me.
it's like i'm strengthening a muscle that has never been used :-)

enjoy!