All Humanity Newsletter | March 2021 |
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WHY NOT step toward your body this spring?
It’s a smart strategy for re-emerging from the pandemic…it can even be fun.
Our lives have shrunk this past year. The extra considerations, more perceived threats, more unknowns, have increased our level of uncertainty. Unfortunately, uncertainty causes us to mistrust the world and can often separate us from the simple joys of living.
Deepening our connection to our body transforms uncertainty. Our minds need grounding and our bodies can help. We need to feel more, touch more things, laugh more. We need rhythm and play and fresh air and sunshine. Developing or enhancing a mind-body practice is a way to begin. It helps create the ‘space’ for deepening our appreciation of living. Of course, I think yoga is a good candidate for this undertaking. At its highest calling, yoga helps us feel more alive.
Often getting started is the hardest part. If you need a nudge, consider joining our Kiss My Asana Yogathon April 24th-30th. Practice with purpose (virtually) alongside of people worldwide while also supporting our groundbreaking adaptive yoga program. Our online kickoff event happens on April 17th at 10am Central Time on our YouTube channel. Then we all start ‘yoga-ing’ on the 24th knowing that we are doing so with company.
The best way to re-emerge into a fuller life is through your body. Give it a try…why not?
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Matthew Sanford | Founder, Mind Body Solutions |
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Pose of the month...
Ananda Balasana (Happy Baby Pose)
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Stuck in a midlife rut? Do you sense your body and imagination could use a stretch? Interested in engaging in innocence and wonderment? If so, then why not act like a baby? There is much we can learn from infants: unwavering curiosity, joy in movement, and satisfaction with the simplest things.
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Just as rolling around on the floor and crawling is significant for a baby’s development, there are benefits for adults who are willing to indulge in spirited asanas like Ananda Balasana, charmingly known as Happy Baby Pose.
Lie on the back or recline in the wheelchair. To your ability, bring your knees toward the abdomen. Grab the backs of the upper legs, outsides of the calves, or outsides of the feet with corresponding hands. Open the knees, bringing them toward the armpits. This, right here, may be the pose! Why not experiment with adjusting the position of the hands or slightly rolling side to side and notice the effects? Continuing, and to your ability, bring the shins perpendicular to the floor, gently flexing the feet with your soles facing the ceiling. Play around with positioning the ankles in line with the knees. Gravity and the downward pull of the hands creates relief and lengthening in the back and spine. Once in the pose, it’s important to keep the head and shoulders on the floor or on the back of the wheelchair. Otherwise, put a rolled blanket under the head and neck. Allow the asana to amuse.
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Options:
- Blanket under the head and neck
- Yoga strap around feet
- Practice the pose one leg at a time
- Experiment with slight rolling movements or changing the weight distribution on the backside of the body.
- Practice with a buddy who may assist getting into the pose
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Benefits:
- Works out kinks in hips, back, buttocks
- Opens inner thighs, hips, groins
- Reduces lower back pain
- Eases stress
- Stretches hamstrings
- It’s good fun and keeps one young
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MBS on a mission...
The Yogathon is coming! Why not join us?
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Our 8th Kiss My Asana yogathon is just around the corner. It's 7 days of practice with a purpose -- to raise $50K to support our adaptive yoga program.
We're kicking things off NEXT Saturday, with a LIVE (online) gathering with our community.
Hear from adaptive students and teachers and practice together in an "All Humanity Class" with Matthew Sanford.
Saturday, April 17th, 10AM Central Time. Watch live on our YouTube Channel, The Hub. If you can't make it live, no worries. It will be recorded and available on our website and YouTube Channel.
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We're on a fundraising roll! Nearly 100 yogis have joined the yogathon to help us fundraise - and there's room for you, too! Join or donate today. We're 25% of the way toward our goal - we need YOU to help us get there. Get involved in a way that works for you; dedicate your practice, host a donation class, donate ... why not go for it??
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Worth a read...
What's made us pause to feel, think, and laugh a little...
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“We will not be turned around, or interrupted by intimidation, because we know our inaction and inertia
will be the inheritance of the next generation. Our blunders become their burdens. But one thing is certain: If we merge mercy with might, and might with right, then love becomes our legacy, and change our children’s birthright.”
~excerpt from The Hill we Climb, by Amanda Gorman
Amanda Gorman: photographed by Stephanie Mitchell
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Come Find Us...
There's something for everyone.
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At MBS, we're on a mission to reach more people and help transform the lives of people living with disabilities, both visible and invisible.
ONGOING: Weekly free adaptive yoga classes and meditation offering. CLICK HERE to register for classes.
PLUS a NEW weekly class for People with Intellectual Disabilities - every Friday at 11:15 am Central Time via ZOOM. Please spread the word! It's open to all and FREE to attend. We'd love to have you join us!
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