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All Humanity Newsletter | February 2022 |
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Most of life’s joy, happiness, and contentment exist in the nuance of living. I can pass by an emerging flower over a series of days. I can even notice it each day in my vision, but that is different than truly receiving the flower’s blooming. Similarly, I can read a book for the plot. Or I can carry its ideas with me, feel its delicious prose, and miss it as I would a good friend.
Have you noticed that life, especially adult life, lacks some of the glimmer and excitement experienced by a young child? Except if you relish in the nuance of your experience, in the way sunlight shimmers off of water, or the smell of a garden as green life emerges from dirt, or in the quiet sound of a forest.
The realization of nuance is especially important for our adaptive yoga students. The heart of yoga sparkles in the nuances of the poses, not simply their finished physical products. They sparkle in the subtle shifts of gravity, the flows of relief, and the lightness that derives from grounding. Yes, realizing such nuance takes some time and practice, but it reveals the beautiful richness of our experience.
If you are able, next time you stand up, notice the sensation of gravity traveling across your sitting bones when leaning forward, the weight shift into your feet, the lift of your pelvis up through your chest, and finally the sense of balanced expansion when standing in a vertical line.
To be honest, the cacophony of ‘happenings’ within the simple act of standing is nothing short of miraculous. When you learn to follow these actions even while doing them, a less effortful, more joyous world appears. At MBS, we work to share such insights with our students. We strive to share in the beauty of having a body at all…and then we smile together.
Matthew
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Matthew Sanford
Founder, Mind Body Solutions
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Pose of the month...
A lifted chest and an open heart
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“Relish in the nuance of your experience” ~ Matthew Sanford
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Life’s nuances surround us. By acknowledging and experiencing them, seemingly mundane moments and movements may transform to magic. Jo Zukovich, Matthew Sanford’s brilliant yoga teacher of over thirty years, has graciously shared nuggets of wisdom on the nuances of a lifted chest. We are grateful to learn from her esteemed yoga teachings and practice. (Check out Jo's website for her online class offerings.)
In the two left photos, Jo demonstrates what could be considered a common posture. The head and neck are extended forward, the shoulders are rounded, and the chest is dropped. The area around the armpit chest is dull and the ribcage is compressed.
In the two right photos, Jo illustrates how with nuanced adjustments the chest lifts and the heart space opens. The head and neck are in alignment with the spine, the chin raised. Notice the chest is buoyant and expansive from one shoulder to the other. The armpit chest area is alert, and the rib cage is broad and expansive.
A few of Jo’s treasured tips:
- Smile with your collar bones
- Visualize the inside of your ribcage and gently make it larger. Be patient and gentle with the breath, do not push it. Remember to exhale and hold it softly.
- Visualize a color (or a ball of light, whatever works for you) inside your chest, for example yellow. Begin at the center and gently fill your chest with that color. Make sure you can comfortably breathe, make it easier rather than harder. Start slowly and the body will gradually respond. The color may faintly change (possibly to orange) or darken as it moves toward the outer body. Picture yourself as filled with light. Relish and stay with the feeling
- Think of your chest as a barrel with the spinal column in the center. This is more than a physical movement. It hits you on every level
- If any of the above appears difficult to do, it is too much. Be kind to yourself
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Benefits:
- Jo noticed her eyes were brighter and happier with the lifted chest. Attention, vitality, and spirit are enhanced
- A lifted chest spreads awareness through the whole body
- Alignment helps prana flow and creates an effortless form of mind-body integration Aids the experience of a three-dimensional sensation
- Facilitates ease with breath and the constant interplay with emptiness and fullness Space and length created in the body
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Options:
- Seated against the back of a chair, place a long/slim blanket vertically along the spine. The reference to the back and ribs aids in opening the chest
- Observe subtle changes in awareness through the body as you explore dropping and lifting the chest (energy, breath, mood, composure)
- Place fingertips high on the chest, below the collar bones, and lift from there and/or take thumbs under armpits and lift from there
- Grounding through the feet and/or sit bones, inhale while lifting the arms overhead in urdhva hastasana (upward salute). Maintain the chest/side body extension while exhaling and bringing the arms down Ground the thighs with hands, forearms, or props to enhance expansion in multiple directions
- Notice subtle movement of awareness down through the feet/sitting bones and up through the top of the head
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Mudra of the Month: Fearless Heart Abhaya = fearless, hridaya = heart, mudra = seal
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This powerful mudra helps to cultivate the courage to keep your heart open and loving especially during difficult times in your life when fear, hate or anger wants to pull you away. It is a mudra that helps connect you to your heart’s truth. It helps to build the courage to follow your heart. There is a rejuvenation of your inner vital force. It helps to reduce fragmented thoughts and scattered energy. Finally, it can cultivate a powerful sense of vitality and calm.
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Upcoming Offerings...
Workshops for people living with disability, caregivers, and yoga teachers
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May 10, 2022 / 2PM CT
People living with disabilities are forced to become masters of time. The pace of their clock is not the same as the world’s clock. Whether stressing about how to manage the next minute or how to age fearlessly with a specific condition, living with a disability is a study in time.
Join this interactive, community conversation about the relationship between disability and the experience of time. This session also includes a yoga practice that emphasizes the uses of time in your yoga poses. Time is a teacher, not an obstacle. REGISTER for this free event and please share with anyone you think might be interested. We'd love to welcome them into the fold. View previous sessions on our YouTube Channel.
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April 5-7, 2022
Have you completed our Intro to Adaptive Yoga Level I online workshop? If so, we invite you to continue your exploration of the mind-body relationship when you return for part II of our series. Prepare for more thought-provoking, sensation-based conversations, additional time to refine your teaching in breakout rooms, and journey with Matthew into activation of the inner body.
This workshop qualifies for 15 contact Yoga Alliance continuing education hours.
Prerequisite: Online Intro to Adaptive Yoga I
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