More Yoga Before Bed

I was blown away looking through my blog stats (not a very frequent activity for me), when I noticed that my first post on Yoga Before Bed is by a large margin the most read post I’ve written! So, I’m thinking we need more yoga before bed… happy to oblige…

Prep Work: Find a quiet part of your home, surroundings. Dim the lights if you can, and turn off as much of our noise as possible (TV, computer, cell phone). Relaxing music may be ok for you – your preference.

Get Settled: Find a comfortable seated position. If you’re sitting on the floor, you may want to place a small pillow under your hips or sit with your back against a wall for support.

1. Letting Go of the Day: Begin to notice your thoughts – maybe you’re replaying the day’s events, or planning/stressing about tomorrow, maybe you’re noticing you’re still annoyed with your co-worker or disappointed with a child. Whatever it is that comes up, try to step away from it in your mind. Just acknowledge the thought – maybe gently place an imaginary post-it note on it (“worry”, “reliving my Monday”, etc.), and let it go. [I know this is easier said than done - but with practice, it will get easier]. Keep in mind, this is not something you do once, and then your thought-free – it’s a continuous process throughout your relaxation/yoga time.

2. Focused Breathing: Once you’ve let go of the immediate thoughts that come to you, begin to focus on your breathing patterns. Start by just watching how you breathe naturally. Where do you feel your breath? In your belly? Your chest? Both? Is it difficult to breathe? How long are your breaths? Is your inhale longer or shorter than your exhale? These are some good questions to think on to help you to just BE with your breath. Just focusing on our breath can reduce anxiety, calm our nervous system and bring a feeling of relaxation to you… our breath is a very powerful tool – that’s available anytime, anywhere.

3. 2:1 Breathing: So now, we’re going to modify our breathing to encourage relaxation. When our exhale is longer than our inhale, it has a calming effect on the body. Tangent: But first, we want to make sure we’re breathing from our belly/lower ribcage and not the chest. If you’re not sure, lie down on your back and place one hand on your belly and one hand on your upper chest. Breathe in and out through your nose and notice which hand moved first. If the hand on your upper chest moved first, you’re breathing from your chest, which is inefficient and can cause us to feel more stressed/stimulated. Try practicing a belly breath where your belly rises as you inhale and falls as you exhale. Practice this first, and then join us for the 2:1 Breath when you’re ready. Back to the 2:1 Breath: Begin by counting in your mind the length of your inhale and the length of your exhale…just notice what they are. After a few breaths, try to extend the exhale a count or two longer than your inhale. As you practice, you can work up to exhaling twice as long as your inhaling. Continue for 10 breaths or so, and return to your focused breath.

4. Becoming More Aware: You may notice we haven’t even moved yet. Yoga for stress relief, better sleep, etc. is just as much if not more about calming the mind first – getting rid of the junk from our day and then gently moving and stretching. Although, you might find that some nights, you just need the breathing – that’s fine too. So, as you’re breathing, begin to notice where you’re feeling tension and stress in the body. Is it in the neck and shoulders? Maybe the low back? It’s great to focus your nightly stretches on what your body is saying (or screaming) to you vs. same stretches all of the time. We’ll start with a few ideas to get us started…look for future posts for more ideas.

5. Yoga for Neck/Shoulders: Sit tall with your sit bones grounded to the floor. If this is uncomfortable or you feel your back rounding, place a pillow under your hips. Try to stack your ears right over your collar bones, and lengthen the crown of your head toward the ceiling. a) Imagine the back of your head resting against the headrest of your car. Draw your shoulders down and back. Practice your focused breathing. b) After 4-6 breaths, gently let the right ear draw closer to the right shoulder, tilting the head. Breathe here – and with each exhale, allow a deeper, more comfortable stretch. Repeat on the other side. c) Gently roll the shoulders each direction. d) Practice Eagle Arms – bringing your forearms in front of you, fingers toward the ceiling. Cross one elbow over the other and draw the shoulders down. Stay here and breathe or gently lift the arms (still crossed) about 2-4 inches up as you exhale and lowering as you inhale. Continue for 6-8 breaths.

6. Yoga for Hips & Back: Lie on your back on the floor with your feet on the floor. Draw your shoulders down and back and let your arms rest by your side. a) Begin with Pelvic Tilt (see first yoga before bed post) and repeat 8-10 times. b) Draw the knees in toward your chest and gently rock back and forth or make small circles with your legs. Allow the low back to press toward the floor. If you like Happy Baby pose, this would be a good time for it… c) Recline Pigeon: Bring your feet back to the floor, legs bent. Cross your right ankle over your left knee. You can stay here, or lift the left foot off the floor and towards you. Breathe and hold for 8 breaths and then switch sides. For a slightly different stretch, cross the knees instead and draw the legs toward you. d) Recline Twist: Come back to both feet on the floor, legs bent. Float your arms out to shoulder height, and then draw the shoulders down from the ears (they have a habit of going there). On your next exhale, let your knees go to the right side, keeping the upper body towards the floor. Breathe and hold for 8 breaths – letting each breath be long and steady. Gently reverse when you’re ready.
Check back with us – you’ll see more on this topic soon…in the meantime, breathe and enjoy.

YogaXoga Product Find: Alaffia Body Lotion

While I’ve been trying to find more natural products – food, beauty products, clothes, I believe the ante has been upped. It’s not just about natural, which can be a very ambiguous word…it’s about organic, fair trade, sustainable, local and likely other words I’m forgetting… I find it to be overwhelming at times…but come back to taking steps (even if they’re small steps) toward ridding my bathroom counter, my pantry, my house of toxins, additives, preservatives, etc… and replacing them with products made with sustainable, fair trade, organic ingredients by companies giving back and supporting their community and world…

With all that said, I want to tell you about Alaffia. I found their Shea & Rooibos Antioxidant Body Lotion with Red Palm Oil and Papaya at Whole Foods and love it…they have other flavors – Cafe au Lait and Green Tea, this the Red Palm is my favorite so far…It’s really helped my dry skin and coloring. This Olympia, WA-based company gets their ingredients from fair trade cooperatives in Togo, West Africa. No parabens, petroleum derivatives or animal testing… So already loving my lotion, I googled them and learned more about this company, their mission and philanthropic efforts in Washington and West Africa. Now I’m hooked and wanting to share… Here’s the website:

www.alaffia.com

Alaffia Products

You can buy body, hair and facial care products online or check them out at your Whole Foods…I’m excited that there are good choices in these products out there. We don’t have to just live with the chemicals and toxins in products for their results…I’ll take the results (healthy, happy skin) and leave the rest.

YogaXoga Shares: As healthy trends continue, yoga gaining in popularity

Note from YogaXogaGirl: this article caught my eye – it gives a good explanation of the differences between high-impact exercise and yoga – we don’t need to feel guilty about migrating to yoga which is often easier on the body, while still benefiting us.

By Tonya McKiever Staff Writer // tonyam@nwanews.com

Posted on Monday, July 14, 2008

Running and high-energy movement, components of aerobic exercise, are apparently giving way to the gentler, more balanced moves of yoga and other gentler exercises. Why ?

Dr. Janice La Brie, the founder of the Horizon Health Center in Bentonville, says the goal of most practitioners of aerobics or yoga is the same – to improve physical condition.

“Most of us don’t get enough physical activity,” La Brie said. “We work all day, often in an atmosphere filled with stress. After work, many of us try to get in some exercise. Without listening to our bodies at all, we begin strenuous, high-impact exercises that can be overly stressful on our joints. Over the past several years, people are recognizing that type of exercise is too hard on their knees and joints.

“And it doesn’t allow them to have balance in their lives. People have begun choosing gentler exercises that can definitely still raise the heart rate, but gives them an opportunity to balance the pace of their inner lives. They feel much more connected and balanced.”

La Brie said another important reason gentler exercises have started to replace more frenetic activities involves the lactic acid created by high paced aerobic activity.

“A lot of metabolic waste is created by strenuous movements,” she said. “In yoga, less energy is expanded, therefore, less energy is created. Yoga is designed to encourage lymphatic flow. The other major reason people are beginning to practice less strenuous exercise is to lower the incidence of degenerative joint disease. When jumping up and down is avoided and there’s a reduction of wear and tear on the joints, there is less joint disease.”

La Brie noted that although the popularity of yoga has increased recently locally, the practice of yoga isn’t a trend. It’s been around for thousands of years and originated in India. In Sanskrit, the language of ancient India, the word yoga means union. The union between mind, body and spirit is often associated with yoga.

Far more than “just stretching,” yoga is about developing both strength and flexibility. Both attributes are achieved through the performance of poses or postures, each pose has specific physical benefits. If the poses are done quickly and in succession, heat is created in the body through movement. If the poses are done more slowly, stamina is increased in the body.

An emphasis on breathing and meditation may be part of yoga classes. Some people may discover an interest in spiritual exploration that began in a yoga class. Other people may just benefit from the low-impact workout they enjoy in a yoga class.