Svaroopa® Yoga Bliss Bits

#1  Sit in Your Seat

You spend a lot of time sitting... in your car, at your computer, on your couch, eating, and even when you are doing yoga.  It's time to really sit in your seat. It releases tension in your spine and gives you an opportunity to experience your Self.

How to do: Level your weight into both sides of your seat and allow the surface beneath you to fully support you.  As you settle into your seat, your sitbones will lean more deeply into the chair, cushion, blanket or sofa beneath you.  Allow your tailbone to lengthen downward.  Pause.  Take a few slow, long breaths.  Ease your neck and head back slowly, and allow your throat to hollow inward.  Give yourself a few more slow easy breaths. 

Minimum time: As long as you are sitting.  Maximum time: As long as you are sitting.

Benefits: Your body relaxes, your breath opens up, your neck softens and lengthens, your mind calms down, you feel more present and more able to do whatever comes next.

At Springdale Yoga you can purchase Sit Bone Block that helps you learn how to Sit In Your Seat.  You also will practice a variety of sitting poses that help you how to “Sit in Your Seat”  and practices that help you learn how to allow your throat to hollow inward.

#2 Jalandhara Bandha - "Chin Lock"

Without you realizing it, your head is probably pushed forward so that the back of your neck and your brainstem are compressed. Use this to align your neck and head on top of your spine.

Moving in: Sit in a comfortable, seated position (on the floor or in a chair). Soften your shoulders back as you tip your head forward to slowly lower your chin toward your chest, which lengthens the back of your neck. You may be able to tip your chin in toward the notch at the base of your throat. Let the inside of your throat soften. Allow your neck to soften so your head hangs forward and the back of your neck lengthens all the way up into the base of your scalp and skull. Stay for 3-8 slow easy breaths.

Moving out: Slowly roll your neck up from the base, one vertebra at a time, stacking all 7 neck vertebrae up slowly, and balance your head on top.

Benefit: Relieves neck, throat and jaw tension; improves digestion; releases tensions in your skull; provides temporary relief for neck pain; clears the mind; helps you find the position where your head is supposed to.

At Springdale Yoga you will practice many poses that use the Chin Lock, such as Anjanyasana, or Lunge and Yoga Sit Ups.

#3 - The Yogic Sigh

Renew your relationship with your own breath, refresh yourself and quiet your mind in a fast, direct and effective way. It only takes a breath!

How to do – Take a long, slow inhale without straining. You can even allow your chest, belly and back to expand as you breathe in. Now exhale with a long, smooth, gentle sigh sound. This is not a sigh of exasperation, but a blissful sigh of satisfaction, with a sliding pitch that starts high, and then slides down to a lower note as you exhale. Go ahead, do it again. Let that graceful sound out! Notice the pause at the end of your sigh. See what is there, in the pause. Repeat two more times for a total of three “Yogic Sighs.” Notice how you feel.

Benefits – Refreshes and relaxes your body and mind. Provides a deep sense of satisfaction, joy and letting go. Gives you a taste of the bliss of your own being (svaroopa).

#4 Recapture Breath!

Recapture your breath and your sense of Self!  More than ever, the hustle, bustle and stress of the holidays can be a time when you lose your sense of who you are. 

How to do – Sit or stand comfortably, softening into your position and allowing the floor, chair, ground or blankets to support you.  Allow your breath to continue its own easy pace and flow.  On your next breath, inhale twice through your nose, first a short inhalation, followed immediately by a long full inhalation.  Exhale twice through your mouth, first a short exhalation followed immediately by a long full exhalation.  Do this three times, and then allow your breath to move in its own easy pace and flow.

Benefits –This simple breath allows you to recapture your sense of Self, brings your mind back, centers and grounds you.