About four months ago I went to a Foot Fitness Workshop as part of a Movement as Medicine Series by Tanya Baldwin N.D.. I wrote a post about it called Foot Fitness Workshop — Ahhhhh! I could have sworn we did an exercise where we put our fingers in between our toes, but I am not seeing that on the list nor in my post, but I know I would not have done it on my own. I know I have seen it other places too, such as in connection with yoga, but I can’t put my finger on those references at the moment. I am not fond of this exercise. For some reason I really don’t like to put my fingers between my toes. Well, I think it is more accurate to say I don’t like things between my toes. But this is a great exercise for the feet. It is also relatively simple.
I had to have done it at that workshop because I wouldn’t do it on my own. But once I did it I realized how great it made my feet feel. It helped open my foot and made it feel as if it had more space. Everyone’s feet are different. Some people have toes that are wide apart and some people have toes that are close together. My big toe on both feet have enough room for another toe to be in between them and the rest of my toes. So I have no problem wearing flip-flops where your big toes and second toes “straddle” something. But I don’t like things in between my other toes.
My other toes are very close together. It is a challenge for me to get my fingers in between my toes. Now the idea is not just to put your fingers in between your toes. The exercise involves putting your fingers in between your toes all the way down to your hand. So your fingers are all the way down to where your toes meet with your feet and your toes are all the way down to where your fingers meet with your hand. For me that is wedging my fingers in between my toes. I don’t really like it. The orientation is the bottom of your foot is in the palm of your hand. You want to put your fingers in your toes from the bottom.
But as I said, I had done it and I loved the way my feet felt afterwards. So . . . I took it to a stretching class I taught. I told them I was doing something I didn’t like to do, but I knew was good for them. I put it in the “routine” just for them. After we did it our feet felt great.
Today I brought this exercise to my Nia class. Since I did it and I like the way it made my feet feel I wanted to bring it to Nia, but it seems like a Floorplay exercise, but after we dance we don’t want to touch our feet. No matter how clean the floor is, after moving around on it for 50 minutes, touching your feet is just not very comfortable. Perhaps touching the top or even a quick touch. But the way you have to wedge your fingers in between your toes, is not so great after almost an hour of barefoot dancing on multi-use type floors.
So today we STARTED class with this exercise. We took a bit of time to do it. We talked about the sensations of the our foot and our hand as we did it. A lot of us didn’t really like it. But we did it. We noticed that one set of toes seemed easier to wedge our fingers in between. All of us agree that our foot felt more open after doing it. With the way we squish our feet into shoes. It is great to allow them to open up with this exercise.
It helps with mobility in the foot because we move our foot around while I fingers are in between our toes. It helps strengthen the toes because they are moved into a different position. It helps bring mobility and flexibility into the toes because we are causing the toes to move and separate. It is good for overall foot health. Try it. You will see how different your feet feel after. You will appreciate the sensation.
Have you done this exercise before? How does it make your feet feel?
I decided to go outside today to do some asana. I needed to get some sun on my hair because yesterday I put developer on it. I thought that I could get two things done at the same time: sun on my hair and yoga practice. Usually I think to do this when it is way too hot and my preparation for going outside takes longer than I actually last outside. Today, I kept that in mind. But I could tell there was a breeze outside, so I thought it would be ok. Also, it was the latter part of the day so the sun wouldn’t be beating down on me directly or for that long. So, I went outside. I had a list of yoga poses that I was going to do. It went pretty well, except for a few things.
The list starts out with standing poses. I realized that our windows would serve as a mirror in case I wanted to do some X-Ray Anatomy and check my alignment. Both proper alignment and improper alignment. Sometimes it is helpful for me to do the pose incorrectly so I can sense it and see it, and then teach to it better. So, the reflection was great today.
But . . . . my mat got hot. I would move to step into a pose and the mat was too hot. I could stay, it cooled down eventually, but it would leave my foot burning. A distraction I decided I didn’t want after a few poses. So I got a towel. Ok. Solved that little issue.
I did good on the standing poses. I was aware of the unhappy birds. I would see one come flying into the yard, and swoop out. I figured they had their eyes on the feeder and were heading in then they saw me and would pull up at the last minute. There was a bunch of tweeting, chittering, and squawking going on. I even managed to stay in Anjaneyasana longer than I intended. I was just about to move out of it when two little birds landed close to me. One on the bird bath and the other on the brass ornament we have out there. I stayed because I didn’t want to move and scare them. This was a momentary distraction. But I managed to stay pretty much focused.
The list of asana, then goes over some prone poses. Again, not too bad. I was able to ignore the bugs crawling around on the ground, while I was on my belly. . . for the most part. They were just ants. I was even so focused that I only allowed the multitude of strawberries to distract me for a moment. There are A LOT of strawberries out there. So tiny and bright red!
Then I got to the supine poses. As I was lying there looking up at the sky I noticed the wispy clouds. So I just stayed there a moment in Supta Baddha Konasana looking at them. As I watched they disappeared. I thought, “Well, that was so pretty, but I better get back to my poses.” Then I realized I could just stay in the Reclined Bound Angle and enjoy the sky for a bit. So I did. Then a cloud started to form and I thought, “Ooooo, what a cool video that would make.” So I jumped up to get my phone. I came back to my mat and got back into the pose and waited. Then I felt like I really wasn’t doing yoga or getting the point to it, if I were in a pose but holding my camera. So I put it down. I finished my list with focus.
THEN, I shot more video.
I am gonna share, you might not be able to appreciate the beauty of the day, but perhaps. The first one might even be able to be used as a little respite from a busy day.
The other two are me just pointing the camera in the general direction of the bird. I couldn’t actually see what I was videoing because of the sun. But it turns out in the second one, I actually captured the hummingbird on top of the stand. You MIGHT be able to see him. Then he flies toward the lemon tree, I think he was not happy that he had not intimidated me enough to go away. Then he flew off in a huff! Or he could have been upset because I moved one of the feeders.
I enjoyed my yard and got some yoga in. Oh, and let’s not forget, hopefully the sun helped my dingy hair color! Hopefully you will enjoy a bit of my yard, too.
I had started writing a different post, a post about a yoga pose I am enjoying lately and wish I could do in my classes. But as I was cooking dinner my husband came into the room laughing and saying that Hulu finally had a good commercial. I totally judge commercials. Since I am forced to have them play, I sometimes watch them. When I watch them, I judge them. Currently I am convinced that a specific car company thinks it has very unintelligent owners/drivers – or that is at least the way the commercial portrays them. And Jack-In-The-Box is brilliant! Sometimes I enjoy commercials, and now, on Hulu there are two commercials that are super funny – at least to me and my husband. The commercials are for hot dogs.
They are old commercials, uploaded to Youtube in 2012, but I am just seeing them now. Applegate – Natural and Organic Meat is the maker of the commercials or, more accurately, the product that the commercials are advertising is hot dogs.
The one I saw first was this woman sitting at her dining room table interviewing a cow. The “cow” was a man, a huge muscle man in a cow costume. They call him Mooscles. She tells him she is looking for a natural hot dog made of beef without hormones. He claims he does not use hormones. She asks him if he uses growth hormones and he says no. She then tells him there is a needle sticking in his haunch. He looks at it and say it is not his.
In the other one a woman is in the store holding a package of hotdogs and the cow approaches her and ask her if she is looking for quality meat and she says she thinks she found it and he says, “Yeah, you did,” while flexing his pecs. She says her family prefers all natural beef. He says his does too and he points to his kid. The “calf” is the same guy in a shopping cart. And the “cow” says, “They grow so fast.” This one is not as funny to me, but the point is funny, I think. Especially since that is what growth hormones do, make things grow larger than they normally would and at an accelerated rate. When the commercial shows the product name it states “The cleaner wiener”. Too funny!
I told my husband that I thought the commercials were so funny I was going to write a blog post about them, but I changed my mind. He thought they were funny enough for a post. So I changed my mind back!
That is one icky part of Hulu, so far it seems that they run the same commercials for ever break for a few weeks. I am so tired of a specific insurance commercial, yet, I honestly couldn’t tell you the company. Ha, annoying advertising is not always effective.
Do you ever pay attention to commercials? Do you like some more than others? Do you have a favorite commercial?
In the yoga class I taught earlier this week I mentioned that we were headed into May. One of my students said we don’t really celebrate May Day any longer. I thought they still did in the United Kingdom, but I don’t ever remember it being celebrate here. She went onto say that when she was young they made May Day flower baskets out of paper and would fill them with flowers. Then they would walk around the neighborhood placing flowers on people door knobs. I asked her where that was and she said someone in the Mid-west. I said that I didn’t think that was a California thing, but then another student mentioned that her 90 year old (or 80 year old) friend had said she did it when she was young and in California. I was intrigued. I had never heard of this flower tradition. My main research site is Wiki. According to Wiki the celebrations for May Day are primarily in Europe, the first line on the page is “May Day on May 1 is an ancient Northern Hemisphere spring festival and usually a public holiday.”
There were and are holidays and festivals and parades in Europe. Something I don’t ever remember seeing here. I think “ancient” is an accurate description, in regards to the US, anyway. Seems in the more modern times the acknowledgement of May turned more towards labor and/or politics. With Great Britain’s celebrations – at one point – coinciding with the last day of planting for the small towns and villages the farm workers would get the day off. Wiki further cites many celebrations of May Day still being held. Finland uses the day as an excuse to have carnival like festivities. France celebrates May 1st by giving ladies flowers. Lilies of the Valley.
In Germany there seems to be a tradition of Maypoles and flowers. Not certain this tradition is still done today, but Maypoles with ribbons were placed in the lady’s yard by a love interest whereas ladies place “roses or rice in the form of a heart at the house of their beloved one”. Roses or rice? And May Day is a public holiday.
In Ireland they have a feast and in Bulgaria they celebrate Irminden by performing rituals to protect people from the snakes and lizards associated with the holiday. Romania has what they call the arminden. Their celebration might lend more to doing “rites and habits” they believe might protect farm animals and crops. The first day of May in Sweden is “celebrated as International Workers’ Day.”
Some places in Canada celebrate May Day but it sounds more like parades and celebrations for International Workers’ Day.
Wiki does state:
In some parts of the United States, May Baskets are made. These are small baskets usually filled with flowers or treats and left at someone’s doorstep. The giver rings the bell and runs away. The person receiving the basket tries to catch the fleeing giver; if caught, a kiss is exchanged.
But in modern day the day has changed to a more political day. Since 2006 it has been a day of protests. And I see from a Google Search that there are many planned for this May Day (2015).
When I was young I had heard the expression about dancing around the Maypole, but I have never heard of an actual May Day celebration. Wouldn’t it be fabulous if the days of giving flowers came back around?
Do you celebrate May Day? Do you have plans for May Day? Have you EVER celebrated May Day?
This week my friend and Nia student, Dr. Tanya Baldwin, invited me to her Foot Fitness Workshop she was holding today. I shy away from stuff that has me working on my feet. I tend to think I have to “save” my feet for my classes. But, it occurred to me that thinking like that might be backwards. I started thinking it would be a good idea to see what type of exercises and care I could do for my feet. I think that Nia and yoga are great ways to exercise the feet. Since both are done barefoot they allow for an individual to practice using the feet the way there were designed to be used. Nia is done barefoot so that we can bend and flex and move our feet to help them with strength and balance. But this workshop was solely (ha, ha, ha!) for the feet. It was an amazing workshop. I would HIGHLY recommend it to anyone with feet.
It was very informative and FASCINATING. First it wasn’t so surprising that each of us had different issues with our feet. So along that same line it wasn’t surprising that the different exercises presented different challenges for each of us. What was surprises was how somewhat tiring it was. Some of the exercises were as much BRAIN exercises as foot/muscles exercises. Somewhat like what some of the things we do in Nia are – brain stuff! With a couple of them the movement we were supposed to do with our foot was opposite of what we normally do. For example pointing and flexing the foot. Now when you point your toes you “point” your foot. And when you flex your foot, your toes flex, too. In one exercise we were pointing our toes then flexing our foot yet keeping our toes pointed. It was hilarious. Because at first the foot just doesn’t do it . . . but then it will, but you have to really think about it. Or for some, even HOLD your toes in the point.
There were other exercises that really require thought. Which is always great because that means that you are changing up patterns – both movement patterns and brain patterns. So it is a win-win.
We started out with a self-assessment so we could see where we were at the start then sense how we felt at the end. This included holding a pen (or not) and writing (or not) with our toes. Then we did eleven “manual releases” without any props. So just using our hands and the floor. Some of these were not enjoyable for me. My foot that I injured a few years back is very “stuck”. So it did not enjoy some of the movements we did.
Then we had a soft spiky ball that lit up. YUP! That was really part of the fun. Dr. Baldwin mentioned that at first she didn’t care for the lighting up part, but then she realized it could serve as a tool to help you see if you are putting enough pressure on the ball. With this spiky ball, after another self-assessment, we rolled our foot over it and performed an exercise or two.
Then, our next set of exercises was with a towel. YUP, a towel, a hand towel. So this was great because maybe you don’t want to purchase a soft spiky ball, but most people have hand towels. We did a variety of grabbing and moving the towels with our toes. This portion included some other exercises (doming, inchworm, tapping, and strumming toes) without the towel.
Then we used a Theraband. We did several exercises and stretches with the band. This is the section where we did the pointed toes and flexed foot. This section is the one that had me thinking a lot. It was as if I had to keep my body from doing what it normally did. It had to “forget” all that it has in its muscle memory. The best tip from this section was when using the band to stretch the feet include the toes in the band. I guess I think of the bands as stretching legs so I put the band over the arch of my foot. Well, if the band is over the foot AND the toes, the toes can get involved in the stretching. Ha! Brilliant!
Then there was a section titled “Toe Corrector”. Um . . . I don’t think my toes enjoyed being “corrected”. We used a rubber band around our big toes and did various movements including walking, which was funny to me because — let’s just say I could use more practice walking.
The next section was Reflexology which sounds really nice, but it was the one that had us groaning the most. This was done with a smaller than usual tennis ball. We stood and rolled the ball under the various portions of our feet. It is like that stretch or massage you know is good for you, but kinda doesn’t FEEL like it is good for you at the moment.
Then there was one last quick thing to help feet. Kneeling with your toes curled. By this time my right foot was tired so it didn’t care for the desired pose, where you are sitting on your heels. But I was ok with the modifications where you take the weight off the toes by stretching forward and leaning on your arms.
This was a great workshop. My feet are actually feeling pretty good. Although I have to teach almost every day next week so I think I will soak them tonight just to help them recover further.
Easy(ish) things to do to help the feet. Do you pamper your feet? Do you specifically exercise your feet?
There are a lot of different aspects of yoga. Just like there are a lot of different aspects of Nia. As I have said before you can do Nia without getting involved in all of the principles and aspects of it. You can treat it like a workout and not take it any further. The same goes for yoga. That is why I always compare the two. You can go to a yoga class and go through the poses without giving any of the other aspects a second thought. I believe that both Nia and yoga can be more beneficial, more satisfying when you do think about the other parts of it . . . but we all have different goals and different ideas. One of the “aspects” of yoga or limbs of yoga – is pranayama. There are different pranayamas. A common one – Ujjayi is typically done while doing the yoga poses, and it might be helpful in reducing or stopping snoring.
So, pranayama is the practice of controlling one’s prana (life force) through breath or the practice of controlling one’s breath. There are many forms of this type of practice and many ways in which to perform them. But as I said, a common one is ujjayi breathing. It is what many recommend be done while doing the asanas. Some call it the Victory Breath, the Warming Breath, the Ocean Breath, Snake-breathing, throat breathing, or even the Darth Vadar Breath. It is done through the nose, both the inhale and the exhale. Some of the names stem from the fact that when you do it you may sound like the ocean, a snake, or Darth Vadar.
This breath “exercise” is done by closing the glottis partially on the exhale. This post is not to get into the mechanic of how to do ujjayi breathing. But a quick way to give you an IDEA of how to do it, is to think Felix Unger. Remember him? Remember that annoying noise he used to make? Well, that is a lot more sound than you want, but that gives you an idea of what needs to be going on in your throat / nasal area.
I am excited by the prospect that this type of breathing could help stop snoring or even more importantly sleep apnea. The idea behind this thought process is that the muscles need toning. People snore because stuff in there gets to relaxed and it makes noise as the person breathes. So, it kind of makes sense that if it can be toned or trained then it could help stop the snoring or the life threatening sleep apnea.
Yoga Therapy.com says: “In fact, this snoring is the sound that occurs when air passes through stenosed nasopharynx, caused by vibration in the air flow of compliant structures of the pharynx (tongue, soft palate, etc.). The main reason that causes vibration of the said formations is impairment of muscle tone of the pharynx and soft palate, structural anomalies and functional abnormalities of the pharynx and soft palate.” Like I said the stuff in there makes noise.
Again, as I said, this makes sense to me . . . as in, why not try it, it can’t really hurt, but if it did help . . . Oh man, for some it would be a life saver. I think it is worth a try. Just another reason to practice pranayama.
Do you think a breathing practice is worth trying if it would stop snoring and/or sleep apnea? Do you know anyone that snores? Do you know anyone with sleep apnea?
In March of 2010 I wrote a post about Daylight Saving Time. First, as a reminder it is Daylight Saving(no s) Time. You can check out that post by clicking HERE. It just has some facts I gathered from the internet about Daylight Saving Time. Basically it hasn’t always been around, it went away, it came back, then after 21 years the government extended it in 2007. The government made it start sooner and end later. Instead of starting the first Sunday of April and ending the last Sunday of October, it now starts the second weekend of March and ends the first Sunday of November. I am not a fan. I do not like to lose an hour of sleep. If you read my blog at all, you pretty much know I am a “night person” so when it is DAYLIGHT at 9:00 AT NIGHT, it is really difficult for me to even think about going to bed at a decent hour. IT IS STILL LIGHT OUT! So . . . it is daytime. So . . . whatever . . . I don’t like a lot of things, I just live with them. But what I don’t understand is I hear so many other people voice their dislike for it, too. Why do we still do it? What is up with Daylight Saving Time?
If you are looking for answers you won’t find them there. I wasn’t even planning on bringing this up but someone posted a funny video to my Facebook Timeline this morning and I remembered I had saved a link to an article about it. Before my Nia and yoga class today I watched the video. Even though I watched the video I didn’t think about the lost hour or the DAYLIGHT at night. I laughed it off. But then on my way to my Nia class, as I was stopped at a stop light, the bank clock said 7:32. REALLY? UGH! Then when I looked up at the dance studio clock IT said 7:42. Sigh. Seems as if I was not going to be able to forget that it was AN HOUR earlier. And the funny thing is — all of a sudden, I felt tired. I yawned.
So, needing something to post on my blog today, I read the article (the one I save the linked for) “5 myths about daylight saving time”. Click here to go there. MORE information regarding the absurdity of Daylight Saving Time. Really . . . WHY DO WE HAVE IT STILL? Are you of the belief it is or was for the farmers? Well both the video I saw this morning (although it was a comedy video) and the post on the Washington Post said it was not for the farmers. In fact, the article claims that farmers were AGAINST it. They don’t like it.
The article is about 5 Myths of DST. The first one was the farmers theory. The second one is that it makes us healthier having that extra daylight when actually the sleep disruption and the changing of the time makes us more prone to automobile accidents. Some data has indicated that male suicide increases and the change has an adverse affect on people with mental health problems. Some physicians even think it can trigger cluster headaches.
The third one is the energy myth. That was the reason for its extension. (The article says it was extending in 2005. That was when the act was passed. We didn’t actually put the extension into practice until 2007.) The article also sites a study where Indiana’s government thought the residents would save $7 million in electricity costs, but it ended up costing the residents $9 million MORE. So not only was there no savings it cost MORE!
The fourth one is it increases revenue for businesses. Well, that is why I thought “they” (the government) did it. More sales. And while that sounds true – from the article – it also state that not ALL businesses benefit. The Air Transport Association estimated that the change for the extension would cost $147 million (holy carp!) because of the extra scheduling that has to be done to keep the flights all running smoothly with the rest of the world.
And the last myth is an argument about “Standard Time” not being actually “standard” because it is for less months out of the year than Daylight Saving Time.
So what do YOU think? Like it? Hate it? Love the light later? Don’t like it being so dark in the morning? Miss the lost hour of sleep? Feeling sick? Feeling disoriented?
I have been having this icky feeling in my chest. I don’t have a cough – really, but sometimes a tickle. I don’t FEEL sick, but this icky, burning type feeling. It is kinda making me grumpy. Short-tempered is more accurate. I think I have mentioned how when I don’t feel good, before I even realize I don’t feel well, I get grumpy. I think it makes sense for people to be grumpy when they don’t feel well. I am trying not to ACT grumpy, of course, but I feel a bit grumpy/short-tempered. I know that I have also mentioned that I have not been sick since last year, so I am fighting this with vitamins, sleep, and tea. I have been drinking a lot of tea. My hubby and I will drink tea at night to warm us up when we are cold. But I don’t usually drink tea during the day unless I am cold. I do drink Chai Tea Lattes, in place of my coffee sometimes in the morning. I have some days where I have a Nia class in the morning and a yoga class right after so I get home later in the day than I want to be drinking coffee so I drink the Chai Tea Latte (recipe here). But the thing that makes my chest feel better is HOT liquid so I have been drinking tea. I like those Yogi teas. I have posted about them before. I am drinking two that are supposedly to help support your immune system. But, ya know what else they actually do? They make me happy. I love the little sayings on the tea bag tags.
Most of them make me smile. “Be proud of who you are.” That is a great saying. Something many of us could use to be reminded of. Something that not everyone has someone tell them. So why not be reminded via a lovely tea bag. Enjoy a nice cup of yummy tea and a nice reminder.
Many, many, many people believe that “Gratitude is the open door to abundance.” First of all if you are grateful for what you have you have many wonderful things in abundance. And if you think in the positive you attract the positive. Having gratitude will attract more things to be grateful for. Ahhhhh . . . and a lovely cup of tea to go with that awesome perspective.
“Life is a flow of love; your participation is requested.” WOW! Life is a flow of love. That alone is a great saying. Just thinking of life as one big flow of love. My cup of tea tasted better with just THAT part alone. Then the request for participation. That really made this saying go over the top (in a good way) for me. I love that. Participate in the love that is life. Let love flow. Grab your raft and jump on the flowing river that is love and that is life.
I really love my Echinacea Immune Support Yogi Tea. It smells great. It smells of fragrant flowers. I can just breathe in the aroma from the bags and be calmed. It tastes just as good. Then the little sayings on the bags — just make me smile. I don’t love all of them . . . but they make me smile. And then some of them I love. Like these ones mentioned here.
Do you drink Yogi tea? Do you have any favorite sayings that they have on their tea bags?
Perception. Such an odd thing. I remember when I was 15 years old and working in an office with some young women. They were probably in their 20s so really still young. I remember all the stories they would tell me and how they would carry on like 20-somethings do. Then one day a child walked in and the woman I knew to be a young person who enjoyed to go out and have a good time became a mom. It was the weirdest thing. I am not saying this woman was a party animal, but it was just odd to see this woman go from working woman to working mom. Since she didn’t really talk about her kid all that much it was easy to forget that she was a mom. I am not saying she didn’t talk about her kid because she didn’t love her child or because she didn’t care. She talked to me more about things that a 15 year old is involved in or going through; relationships, school, and being young . . . . not kids. The group conversations in the office tended to be around other things since not everyone had kids. Also, there was seeing a tough boss lady with her spouse. Seeing the loving side of a meany. Seeing different sides. I didn’t know the woman as a mother, so it was odd to see her acting like one. I didn’t know the gruff boss lady as a wife so it was odd to see her act like one. Friends also might have different perceptions than family members because they’ve seen different things and experienced different things. Also new friends and old friends. Sometimes people modify their behaviors, mature, or just change so people who are just meeting someone for the first time might not have any idea of how it used to be. So the perception of the person is different for the new person than for the person that has been around. What you know to be true from your experience, can be different from what someone else knows because they have had different experiences.
So amazing how that is. It is amazing how everyone’s perception can be different. Our perception has a lot to do with ourselves. Someone who has been cheated on by a significant other might take “I’m working late,” completely different from someone who has never had that mistrust thrust upon them.
This is all just talking about people. What about “things”? Like viewing clouds or art. Two people look up in the sky, one person sees a dinosaur and the other a horse. And even if both people were to look up and see a horse it would probably still be different types of horses. As I was contemplating the “people” aspect it occurred to me that recently I had been thinking about perception in regards to Nia. I always say it is a practice like yoga, and for those people who think of yoga as a religion, I am wondering now if they think I mean that Nia is a religion. A recent conversation made me think so. Even though I was hoping I was explaining it well when I say that you can take some of the ideals and principles of Nia out into the world just like you do with yoga. I guess that could sound like a religion – especially if you think of yoga as a religion. Yoga being a religion is also a funny thing, because some people say it is and some people say it isn’t. I was hoping to get a regular Nia class going at a yoga studio a long time ago and I said something about “some people believe it is a religion” to the owner of the studio, she got very upset saying that was not true. Well, it is VERY true some people DO think it is a religion. I never got a class there.
I think of Nia as an exercise program with a holistic twist. Just like yoga. But yoga can be taken to the point of being a religion, but not everyone that does yoga considers it a religion. I actually don’t know anyone that teaches Nia who considers it a religion. But the more I think about it, the more I can see how some people could think of it that way. Perhaps comparable somehow to the people who have been cheated on. If they think of everything as being in competition with their own religion maybe anything outside of it that you practice would be considered a religion to them. I don’t know . . . that is one of the things I have been thinking about when thinking about how people see things. Perception is weird. The ol’ “glass half full, glass half empty” thing.
Do you ever experience the differences in perception? With people you know that your friends know? With co-workers? With family? How do you experience it?
Ok, not really, but it seems as if many of us are always seeking balance. Balance in our diets. Balance in our lives between work and play. Balancing our budgets. Balance between saying yes and saying no. Balance within the body between all of the delicate (yet amazingly strong) systems. There is a lot in our lives that require the act of or the state of balance. In Nia we practice balance a lot, in all of the realms: physical/body, mental/mind, emotional/emotions, spiritual/spirit. Yoga practices that balance too. When I ask the students in gentle yoga what they would like to focus on, they often say balance. When we think of balancing or when we think of balance poses we might think of standing poses, but not all balance poses are standing poses. I’ve already posted about the Gate pose in my post titled Finding Balance In The Gate. That pose is done on one knee and one foot. There is also the Extended Cat pose or Utthita Marjaryasana. That is a great balance pose.
One of the reasons Utthita Marjaryasana is such a great balance pose is that being so close to the ground and being on two limbs helps alleviate the fear of falling. Yet it is a balance pose. The two sides of the body have to work together. This pose is done on one hand and one knee, the opposite hand from the knee. We are using opposing limb extension to create a situation in which we need to balance. So if extending left foot, you extend right hand. If extending right foot you extend left hand.
This pose starts on the hands and knees. Often times I have my students start on JUST their knees with their body upright and their thighs lengthened. I like for them to position their knees directly under their hip joints. I also want them to see their thigh bones perpendicular to the floor. When they come down onto their hands I want that 90° angle to remain in the knee joint. So with knees directly under the hip joint and the knee bent at a 90° angle we are on our hands and knees. The wrist are directly under the shoulder joint, palms on the earth. The spine is in neutral position.
In our example we will use the left foot and right hand. Extend the left foot back with the ball of foot on the floor, raise the right arm bringing the hand in front of you to shoulder height. Use the “karate chop” position, so the side of the hand is towards the floor with the thumb side to the sky. Then move your foot so you are only balancing on your big toe. Then, if you are able, use your glutes to lift your leg keeping it in the straight position. Your leg is stretched out behind you, your foot is flexed. Gently reach with your heel away from your extended hand. Gently reach with your extended hand and the crown of your head away from your extended foot.
The hips remain squared to the floor. One reason we slowly move the leg into the lift position is to ensure that the hips remain facing the floor. The top of the foot, along with, the knee faces the floor. The ankle, the knee, and the hip are aligned. I prefer the foot that is on the supporting leg to be top-of-foot on the floor. But you can curl your toes and be on ball of foot.
It also might help during your set up to bring the supporting hand in a little towards the heart center. It should still be even with the shoulder joint; not higher or lower, but it can be toward the center if that gives you more stability.
This is a balance pose so if you looking at one spot on your mat it helps. Also remember to breathe.
Once you are comfortable with the pose and can balance on opposing limbs the foot can be lifted off of the floor without going through the steps of “ball of foot” to toe positions.
This pose engages the core, the arms, and the legs. It is great pose to activate the stabilizing muscles.
My other toes are very close together. It is a challenge for me to get my fingers in between my toes. Now the idea is not just to put your fingers in between your toes. The exercise involves putting your fingers in between your toes all the way down to your hand. So your fingers are all the way down to where your toes meet with your feet and your toes are all the way down to where your fingers meet with your hand. For me that is wedging my fingers in between my toes. I don’t really like it. The orientation is the bottom of your foot is in the palm of your hand. You want to put your fingers in your toes from the bottom.
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