Day 16~ Foot Block

onthemat • December 9, 2017

“Bring your foot up to your thumb,” says the teacher, as we move from down dog. “Yeah, right,” I think. That level of flexibility is far beyond my aging male hips. But is it? So what if it is? Do I care? Such questions are at the heart of yoga motivation. There is an imaginary […]

“Bring your foot up to your thumb,” says the teacher, as we move from down dog. “Yeah, right,” I think. That level of flexibility is far beyond my aging male hips. But is it? So what if it is? Do I care? Such questions are at the heart of yoga motivation. There is an imaginary line between performing a pose to complete an external task and performing a pose to understand your inner self. Ideally, I suppose, the line should disappear altogether. After class, Sarah showed me how to use blocks under my hands in down dog to practice bringing my leg forward. Turns out I can put my foot by my thumb at the highest setting. I discover, to my surprise, that tight shoulder muscles are the first ones I feel. I assumed it would be my hips. I see that this approach could be a way to begin to lengthen and loosen my perennial problem areas. Should I work towards reaching the middle block, the lowest and then the floor? Do I get a trophy if I do?

On The Mat Yoga Blog

Heart~ Day #7 (Week #4)

By Linda Malcomb • May 3, 2020
“There is a light in the core of our being that calls us home—one that can only be seen with closed eyes; We can feel it as a radiance in the center of our chest. This light of loving awareness is always here, regardless of our conditioning. It does not matter how many dark paths we have traveled or how many wounds we have inflicted or sustained as we have unknowingly stumbled toward this inner radiance. It does not matter how long we have sleepwalked, seduced by our desires and fears. This call persists until it is answered, until we surrender to who we really are. When we do, we feel ourselves at home wherever we are. A hidden beauty reveals itself in our ordinary life. As the true nature of our Deep Hear is unveiled, we feel increasingly grateful for no reason—grateful to simply be.” —John J. Prendergast, PHD, The Deep Heart

SUN!~ Day #6 (Week #4)

By Linda Malcomb • May 2, 2020
Seems like it’s been rainy, windy, dreary for eons. Which may have helped us shelter inside a bit more. I remember reading years and years ago in a Seth book that weather can be influenced, and even created by mass human emotion. Why not? We are far more powerful than we currently acknowledge, and science is beginning to validate many phenomena that had seemed inconceivable before. Those seemingly endless days of “bad” weather seemed congruent with the emotional tone of covid her in New England. And now SUN! Glorious, warming, invigorating, hope-filled Sun! Today I will be outside basking and gardening and thanking. And I’m sure the whole neighborhood, and most of New England will go outside, stand with our faces to the sun and breathe a huge healing breath of joy. And maybe the collective energy of that will resonate out across the word as a promise of brighter days to come.
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