Practicing Yoga Mindfully Rerun

by Nina

Raindrops and Reflections by Nina Zolotow

Although it’s a rather new concept, approaching yoga poses as a mindfulness practice is a very powerful tool for improving your physical and mental health. Whether you are trying to change your eating habits, reduce your stress, or heal from disease, learning to listen to your body is crucial. In his wonderful book Full Catastrophe Living, Jon Kabat-Zinn points out what happens if we simply operate in automatic-pilot mode:

"One very important domain of our lives and experience that we tend to miss, ignore, abuse or lose control of as a result of being the automatic-pilot mode is our own body. We may be barely in touch with our body, unaware of how it is feeling most of the time. As a consequence we can be insensitive to how our body is being affected by the environment, by our actions, and even by our own thoughts and emotions. If we are unaware of these connections, we might easily feel that our body is out of control and we will have no idea why."

Kabat-Zinn goes on to say that physical symptoms are the messages your body is giving you that allow you to know how it is doing and what its needs are.

"When we are more in touch with our body as a result of paying attention to it systematically, we will be far more attuned to what it is telling us and better equipped to respond appropriately. Learning to listen to your own body is vital to improving your health and the quality of your life."

And one of the best ways to pay attention to your body systematically is to bring mindfulness into your asana practice. I, myself, have learned to recognize certain physical symptoms that tell me when I’m overstressed (for example, a burning feeling in my chest). When I experience those sensations, I know it’s time for me to scale back temporarily and practice the yoga poses that calm me down. In my interview with Elizabeth (see Meditation and Healthy Eating) about mindfulness and eating, she talked about learning, from both meditation and asana practice, to recognize when she was actually hungry versus thirsty or had low potassium and that has helped her lose and keep off 50 pounds.

So how you make your asana practice a mindfulness practice? Kabat-Zinn writes:

"We practice the yoga with the same attitude that we bring to sitting meditation or body scan. We do it without striving and without forcing. We practice accepting our body as we find it, in the present, from one moment to the next. While stretching or lifting or balancing, we learn to work at our limits, maintaining moment-to-moment awareness. We are patient with ourselves. As we carefully move up to our limits in a stretch, for instance, we practice breathing at that limit, dwelling in the creative space between not challenging the body at all and pushing it too far."

If that’s not enough—or if you have fallen into a rut with your practice that’s putting you in automatic-pilot mode, I have some specific suggestions:

1. Practice yoga at home. Practicing on your own, without the distraction of the teacher telling you what to do you or other people in the room, forces you to pay more attention to your own experience of being in the poses.
2. Pick a single physical sensation to follow throughout your entire practice, whether it is the quality of your breath in every single pose, the even distribution of weight on your feet—the balls as well as the heels—in every pose, or even something more arcane.
3. Change your routine. If you do practice at home and are in stuck in rut, try doing something different. Practice on the left side first instead of the right. How does that feel? Or, do all your twisting poses, even all the standing the poses, without turning your head. Twist from your spine only and leave your head looking down at the floor. Notice how hard that is, and how different your neck feels.
4. Try using props if you never have. See what difference it makes. Or, if you use props regularly, try a different height (lower or higher) or try practicing without props for once and see what a difference that makes.
5. Try holding poses for longer periods of time than you usually do. Notice the resistance that comes up in your body (as well as your mind).

Anyone who has additional suggestions, please chime in!

Subscribe to Yoga for Healthy Aging by Email ° Follow Yoga for Healthy Aging on Facebook ° Join this site with Google Friend Connect 

Practicing Titration in Difficult Times

by Jill Satterfield

Gentle Accent by Wassily Kandinsky

Whether we need support over the holidays, post election, or just plain in general, learning how to titrate is one of the most powerful and skillful ways to self regulate, re-find balance, and stay in the present moment when we’re working with strong states of mind, heart, and body. Titrating is a somatic approach to managing stressful or painful situations, feelings, thoughts, and memories. When we titrate, we are moving both towards and away from something, so that our nervous system, heart/mind, and body can process what is occurring and not become overwhelmed.

When we are “working with what is,” we are feeling our feelings, noticing our thoughts, hearing sounds, feeling sensations—whatever is arising in the present moment—hopefully with kindness and not taking everything so personally. If this seems challenging, you are right, it often is, which is why we practice to cultivate this capacity. It’s also why in the meantime we need to arm ourselves with supportive skillful means, one of which is developing the ability to titrate. By learning skillful, practical, and sane approaches to working with where we are in the moment, we self regulate, stay healthier, are more able to rediscover balance and negotiate our current challenges.

There’s an unfortunate myth going around in some spiritual and mindfulness circles that we must sit with our pain, face it, stay with it, not run or hide from it ever, and there is a modicum of truth to this sentiment. However, in times of deeper trouble or acute discomfort, walking straight into a fire isn’t always the best solution, and can cause the opposite reaction to what we might be seeking which is to shut down promptly rather than open up. 

Yes, we want to feel our feelings, whatever they are, but staring them down isn’t always beneficial, especially when a traumatic memory, painful truth, or stressful trigger threatens to pull us into a vortex of deep discomfort. And action or reaction from strong emotion or discursive thinking or triggers isn’t always the best solution and can eventually cause great internal and external harm. We can, however, work with what we are experiencing in smaller doses, so that we can manage situations, emotions, and stronger states of mind without getting lost in the downward spiral of despair, anxiety, depression, or general angst. 

So rather than read all the newspapers we used to read or feeling that we have to just swallow something someone that is saying to us that is mean or belittling for instance, we need to be able to step in and out of what we are feeling and experiencing to avoid being overwhelmed. By coming back into the present—taking a pause—we can re-collect ourselves and know the best direction forward or away. We can take skillful and compassionate action where needed—action that comes from the clarity of being in the present moment and seeing what needs to be done or what needs to be left alone. 

Sometimes the most available way to practice moving into and away from is by noticing and feeling what is happening internally—touching into feelings briefly (not denying them)—and then literally turning the steering wheel of your mind towards what is in the room, noticing the colors, shapes, objects, the light. 

Another way to gently, but firmly bring yourself back to the present and connect with the earth is to practice postures that open the hips. My favorite is Bound Angle pose (Baddha Konasana). Practice it either seated with your back against a wall or supine on a bolster (Supta Baddha Konasana) for up to 20 minutes. You can use either pose for meditation just by making that your intention and paying attention. 

While in the pose, allow your mind to fully follow sensations. You’ll notice that the ones that pull you first might be the unpleasant ones. If so, turn your awareness towards the pleasant sensations and even the ones that are neutral in tone and feeling. Feel the pleasant and neutral sensations, wherever they are arising, and pay particular attention to them as they end. All sensations will have a beginning and an end. By paying close attention to sensations arising and passing away, your mind will concentrate on them—you’ll be right where you are, and right with what you are feeling. 

Essentially anything self compassionate that allows us to return to something in the present moment is helpful. Going on retreat, or taking a workshop or class are additional supportive tools as they bring us together with like-hearted people for important conversations. They open the doors to deeper and more sustainable practice, and give us a break from being online or at work—both of which we all need dearly. 

If you’d like to learn more about self compassion, consider joining me for a mini retreat Self Compassion: The Ultimate Radical Pursuit on Saturday, December 10, 2016, 10:00 am – 3:00 pm, at the Integral Yoga Institute in San Francisco, California.

May these times that call for as many of us as possible to be awake, kind, thoughtful, and prescient be our opportunities to move forward towards alleviating stress, suffering, harmful behaviors, and ways—together. 

In kindness,

Jill

Subscribe to Yoga for Healthy Aging by Email ° Follow Yoga for Healthy Aging on Facebook ° Join this site with Google Friend Connect 

Practicing Yoga for Depression An Overview

by Nina

Morning Glory by Hiroshige

Last week in my post Can You Guide Me Online?, I promised I would write something about how to use yoga for depression. And today’s the day! But because I’ve already written several posts about depression over the years, I decided that today I’d just provide overview of the topic, with links to relevant posts from the past. And because I feel that it’s beneficial to take your time to understand your particular situation and needs rather than just jumping into practice, I’m going to recommend approaching practicing yoga for depression in a series of steps. 

1. Start by determining whether you have tamasic (clinical) or rajasic (agitated) depression. Read Tamasic and Rajasic Depression. If you can’t decide based on this post (though I hope you can!), discuss it with your doctor, therapist, or health care provider. These two forms of depression are very different, so you’ll probably find that different poses and practices will help you. While everyone with depression needs some uplifting, people with tamasic depression may benefit from energizing poses and practices while people with rajasic depression may need calming poses and practices. My post discusses why and makes some suggestions.
2. Learn as much as you can about depression and also about your nervous system because having a deeper understanding about your body and your condition will help you learn more about what is going to help you. See Learning About Yoga for Depression for some ideas.
3. Practice stress management. Because stress can cause and/or exacerbate depression, I recommend incorporating stress management practices into your daily life. See Stress Management for When You're Stressed. Experiment with different techniques to see what works best for you, and practice whatever you find effective or just prefer. If you don’t already have a strong meditation practice that doesn’t cause you to brood or you aren’t working with a teacher who is experienced at teaching people with depression, it may be wise to skip meditation practice for now because being alone with your thoughts can cause a downward spiral in some people. 
4. Learn about the emotional effects that poses and breath practices have on you. See Balancing Your Emotional Body with Counter-Poses to get a general idea of how poses typically affect practitioners and Balancing Your Emotions with Your Breath for information on breath practices, but keep in mind that your own experience is key, even if your personal experience seems to contradict what I or any other teacher says.
5. Using your knowledge of what makes you feel better, either on your own or with help from your teacher, combine these poses and practices into sequences that uplift you, energize you, or calm you as needed and practice them. You can just use these on an as-needed basis, or you can practice them regularly during bad periods. 
6. Don’t do what makes you feel worse, even if someone tells you it should make you feel better. See When Relaxing Isn’t Relaxing for some alternatives to poses and practices that may not be not be working for you. 
7. If you are combining yoga with other forms of treatment for depression, please try to let go of any shame about that. Shame about needing more than just yoga can be generated internally (see Yoga is a great thing but...) or even externally (see No Shame Please! (Western Medicine and Yoga Are Complementary)). But these negative judgments are not helpful for your healing. Try instead to cultivate gratitude for whatever is helping (that’s what I’ve done) or use the technique of cultivating the opposite. See It's not finding gratitude that matters; it is remembering to look for it in the first place. and Transforming Unhelpful Core Beliefs.

Please let me know if any of these recommends help you. And if any of you have experiences or recommendations you’d like to share with others, please tell me! 

Subscribe to Yoga for Healthy Aging by Email ° Follow Yoga for Healthy Aging on Facebook ° Join this site with Google Friend Connect