No Day But Today/ Side-Bending

My blog took a little bit, or really a big bit of a hiatus because in the meantime I have had a baby, and just in the last month, I've gotten married and closed on our very first home! But now that life is going to turn back to normal, I realize how much I have been missing writing. So just to ensure that I write for you, for me, on a consistent basis, I am going to write about what I do for my career- which is teach yoga and Pilates. I've decided to refresh my teaching and writing I am going to have a theme each week in my yoga classes- a physical theme and then a theme regarding our mind sets or bettering our lives on a psychological/spiritual level. Each week I will post these themes, maybe some pictures and then continue to comment and share with you as I bring these themes with me throughout my week of teaching and taking classes. Don't get me wrong- if I am inspired I am going to write my creative non-fiction blogs, or my thoughts on other things, or articles that I feel I need to share, I will do that as well. But my yoga weekly topic will now be something we can count on regularly. That being said...

"The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future, or anticipate troubles, but to live to the present moment wisely and earnestly." - Buddha

Monday morning, my alarm went off and I woke up, on the couch, where I had inadvertently fallen asleep Sunday night. I was in a super rush, so I jumped up brushed my teeth, and ran out of the house. Dying for my cup of coffee, I so wanted to stop a Starbucks which I calculated I would have just enough time to do, if I didn't run into traffic or people who order 5 lattes in the line in front of me. I got to Starbucks and ordered a grande non-fat no whip salted caramel mocha. Coffee is most definitely one of my joys in life. Coffee, Wine, Chocolate and Cheese. Yum. So I got my latte and made it to the Sakula Yoga Studio (www.sakulayoga.com) ten minutes prior to the start of my new class. As I pulled up I looked at my car's clock and thought "Ok, Great. It's 8:50." And then suddenly it clicked, "It's 8:50!?" My class does not start until 10! Apparently, I had set my alarm for 8 AM instead of 9. So, I opened the studio and sat down and let myself wake up while I truly enjoyed the flavor and warmth of my latte. Then, I wrote. I wrote an entire prologue to a new novel idea that I have. This hour of free time, this quiet time, all to myself, to wake up and then do something that I had been wanting to do for a long time, well it was refreshing to say the least. And it only confirmed what I had already been thinking of speaking of in my classes this week which is living in the present moment. 

So often, we get up, we rush to get to work, or an appointment and we are always thinking about what is next. I think there are entire weeks sometimes where all I do is think of the next thing, checking things off mentally and planning to do the next task. We so often forget to just sit- for even 5 minutes- and just be. Let's face it- it's impossible to live 100% in the moment, without a thought of the past or the future, but at least the attempt is enough to improve our lives. The theme of the musical RENT, is "No Day But Today," and while it's a beautiful message, the characters may actually die tomorrow, so they have the motivation to live in the moment. We can't live our lives like we are going to die tomorrow because then being healthy and working and things we need to do to survive longterm wouldn't be relevent. So, when I think of RENT and the theme of "No Day but Today", I think of it as if I had 5 years to live. So I want to stay healthy, but still remember that life is precious and each moment should matter. So if there is something that you have been wanting to do and putting off, find time for it this week! Wake up maybe 15 minutes earlier even once this week and take time to just be grateful for the present moment.

"There is no future. There is no past. I live this moment as my last.....There's only us. There's only this. Forget, regret, or life is yours to miss. No other choice. No other way. No day but today."- RENT

For our Hatha yoga practice this week, I chose to focus on side-bending. The side-body is so often neglected. As we sit at a computer, or eat meals, our bodies are forward facing. But, when we go to do other activities, such as chasing after children,gardening, sports, etc. we need to use that side body! Side-bending can bring balance to your body and stretches your intercostal muscles which are between the ribs. This can strengthen your breathing capacity and counters what all the slouching we do, does to do our body. We did many side-bending poses in Monday's class with a focus on alignment and an emphasis on Side Angle Pose (Parsvakonasana). Our side-bending poses included (poses with a * are pictured below):

• Seated Crossed-leg side bend
• Seated Crossed-leg side bend with addition of a strap
• Gate Pose (Parighasana)
• Modified Extended Side Plank (Utthita Vasisthasana)*
• Standing One -Arm Side bend
• Side Angle Pose- With forearm on leg- (Utthita Parsvakonasana)*
• Standing Side bend with fingers interlaced and palms up to sky
• Standing Side bend with temple arms- both with stationary hips and without (Moon Crescent)
• Side Angle Pose (With hand on block- on highest level)
• Reverse/Passive Warrior (Shanti Virabadhrasana)
• Triangle with Extended arms (Utthita Trikonasana)*
• Side Angle Pose (With hand on block- one level lower)
• Bound Side Angle Pose (Badha Parsvakonasana)*
• Extended Side Angle Pose (on floor- or fullest expression per each person's capability)*
• Standing Half Moon balance with side stretch (Utthita Ardha Chandrasana)*
• Wide Angle Seated Revolved Side bend (Parivrtta Upavistha Konasana)* 

 
Then, when I taught my class on Tuesday morning at 9 AM (also at Sakula)- which is more of a vinyasa flow class, I added the following 2 side bending poses:

• Extended Side Plank (Utthita Vasisthasana)
• Side Plank with Tree (Utthita Vasisthasana Vriksasana)*
• Seated Foot Behind Head Pose- Prep (Eka Pada Shirsasana)*

Modified Extended Side Plank (Utthita Vasisthasana)

Side Angle Pose on Forearm (Parsvakonasana)

Extended Triangle (Uttihita Trikonasana)

Bound Side Angle (Badha Parsvakonasana)

Extended Half Moon Balance (Utthita Ardha Chandrasana)

Wide Angle Seated Revolved Side Bend (Parivrtta Upavitha Konasana)

Extended Side Plank with Tree ( (Utthita Vasisthasana Vriksasana)

Seated Foot Behind Head Pose-Modified (Eka Pada Shirsasana)

Extended Side Angle- Full Expression

I continued with this theme throughout the week, even in my prenatal classes. In fact, side bending can be very beneficial for pregnant woman as well because it stretches the body to allow more room for the baby and/or for organs to shift. My prenatal classes are 6:30 P.M. at Premier Yoga & Pilates on Monday and 6:15 Thursday 
(www.yoga-n-pilates.com). I also teach yoga/pilates mix there on Mondays at 7:45 and Yoga at 7:15 on Thursdays.  

If you have any questions about these poses, please e-mail me. I'd be happy to help you. 

Thanks for reading :)

"If you have one eye on yesterday, and one eye on tomorrow, you're going to be cockeyed today."  ~Author Unknown