Prana Pages

Cut the Sugar
Your local smoothie joint at the nearby strip mall serves up a tasty fruity meal that spouts health benefits such as anti-oxidants and power boosters, but what they don’t tell you is that the high cane sugar content counters the benefits and brings the drink to the same level as other fast food.  The natural sugars in fruit are enough.  Try a frozen banana instead of frozen yogurt.  Use fruit juice instead of the flavoring syrups used at the smoothie shops.

Don’t Skip the Greens
The natural flavoring of the fruit in smoothies is so strong that adding a few water based vegetables can get in the greens for the day without compromising flavor.  V8 has been combining fruits and vegetables in drink for years in their V8 Splash drinks.  Broccoli, cucumber, zucchini, carrot, spinach, tomato, and peppers added to the juicyness of your favorite fruits and berries can enhance any smoothie for the better.

Citrus Splash
A half a lemon or lime, or even just the zest of one can give the smoothie just the right amount of tang to take the edge off the high fructose content.

Blender Basics
If you want to go all out and really commit to a smoothie lifestyle (3-4 smoothies a week), then spend the extra bucks and invest in a high quality blender.  Vitamix makes an amazing device that can be used to make soups (yes, they pour out HOT), knead breads, and churn up even the toughest of fruit skins.

Magic Combo
With every smoothie, include the combination of apple, orange, and banana.  (A frozen banana mashed can be just like ice cream!)  The chemical reaction created by combining these three fruits produces an amazing anti-oxidant power and vitamins necessary to boost you through your day.

Recipe

·    1 apple - cored
·    1 orange - whole or peeled according to taste
·    1 banana - frozen
·    1 cup frozen mixed berries
·    2 cups orange juice
·    ½ lime & juice (peeled or not, according to taste)
·    1 carrot
·    1 cucumber
·    1 green pepper
Blend all ingredients in Vitamix until smooth.  Drink immediately.  Leftovers may be stored in the fridge and require a light stirring to remix settling.

I’ve made many subtle changes in my life since beginning a steady yoga practice, many of which happened organically, without much conscious thought.  One of the simplest adjustments I’ve made that has the greatest impact has developed into a mantra for me, “always wear sensible shoes”.  I know that at this point I am probably uttering a blasphemy in the women’s secret code, and given that I have a total of four pairs of shoes in my closet (hiking shoes, flip flops, winter boots, and black casual shoes), I know I could be considered “odd” in the world of women.  But, I honestly believe that in choosing sensible shoes over stylish fashion statements, I may have saved myself countless aches and pains over the years.

I’ve seen many students suffer with challenges of the feet in yoga, and it usually translates into a difficulty in balance poses.  Blisters, corns, in-grown toenails and warts are minor inconveniences, but years of abuse combined with genetics can result in long term issues such as bunions or plantar fasciitis.  I’ve watched many friends struggle with the unexplainable pain of plantar fasciitis, sometimes lasting up to two years.  The treatment almost always results in a trip to the shoe store and a switch from high heels and fashion for sneakers and footwear designed for comfort and support.

Plantar Fasciitis usually represents a need for or the beginning of a major life transition or change.  More often than not, this change is good, but as with any form of growth, is painful.  One of my friends developed plantar fasciitis while working as a waiter.  On his feet all day long, doctors blamed the stress of his job on the pain in his feet.  What was odd was that he had been a waiter and worked other jobs on his feet for over twenty years, so why now?  What he didn’t know, was that his feet were preparing him for the major change that was beginning to occur in his life.  The restaurant where he worked was struggling, ownership was about to change, and the new management didn’t help the situation.  He had to begin looking for other work.  Two years after the plantar fasciitis started he had moved his family to a new home, started a new job, and began a new chapter in his life.  He developed an appreciation for “sensible shoes” and, in doing so, he found himself in a career that had more financial stability, less wear and tear on his body, and afforded him more time with his family - all changes he had been yearning for many years.  In essence, his feet were structurally changing form from the inside-out, physically the fascia was “displaced”.

Energetically, his spirit was experiencing a rewiring, so to speak, a drastic change in how to respond to circumstances in his life that would bring about less stress and fundamentally promote more ease and grace.  Another friend began experiencing plantar fasciitis shortly after starting a yoga practice.  She struggled with the pain in her flat feet for some time, and was extremely challenged by yoga poses.  But, as always, the faithful yoga practice produced results.  Her foot pain began to subside a couple years into her practice when she committed herself to a daily ritual of stepping on her mat.  The flat feet literally began to change shape as her arches started to lift.  She lost over fifty pounds of excess weight, and as is common to yoga testimonials, she began recognizing countless examples of subtle changes in her life that resulted in more ease and grace.

The transformation from stress and strain to ease and grace is not always a comfortable one.  Our bodies and our souls need to undergo a rewiring, or chemical restructuring so to speak.  As our muscles develop, they ache, but we become stronger.  As our tendons and ligaments release deep tightness, our joints temporarily may creak, but in the end, we feel stronger on our feet and the bigger challenges seem like smaller molehills than the mountains of the past.  As true growth usually requires some kind of stepping out of our comfort zone, our feet often have to compensate for the shifts in balance.  The muscles and fascia of our feet have to shift to create a more stable base.  So why not invest in some sensible shoes - anything to make life more comfortable!

When I was a little girl, I was a “soccer sister”, attending many soccer games where my brother tended goal.  Although I wasn’t very excited about watching the soccer match, I always enjoyed those summer evenings.  Between searching for four leaf clovers and snacking on granola bars from my mom’s purse, I would perform continuous cartwheels down the sidelines of the soccer field, counting how many it took to get me dizzy or to get to the end of the field, whichever came first.  So, it’s no surprise that the first time I landed half moon pose, I felt like I was eight years old again.  It’s not uncommon for first-time half moon students to giggle a little when they land it and end up falling out of the pose like “ring around the Rosie”.

I have found in my own practice that half moon is a very tempermental pose, sometimes landing nicely and opening freely, and other times refusing to even happen.  So many factors go into the variations of poses from day to day that I cannot even begin to speculate about why I can perform half moon on some days and not others, why it feels great sometimes, and aches in my hips or legs on other days.  In the beginning, I found this inconsistency very frustrating, as I imagine my parents must have felt about my childhood temper tantrums, as they were just as unexplainable.

Usually, on those days that Ardha Chandrasana doesn’t want to happen, I trace my internal experience back to some element of fear, guilt, shame, grief, or an overhwelming sense of “I’m not good enough”.  On those days, if I give up on the pose, I usually end up giving up on my practice prematurely as well.  But, if I surrender to the support of a block, or even the wall, I can find nurturing in the pose from the support of the prop, and the rest of my practice becomes an exercise in surrender to “what is”.  I never can pinpoint the exact reasons the pose doesn’t want to manifest, but I can always grasp a kernel of wisdom from the experience.

What I do know is that on those days that I do nail the pose, I feel a giddyness inside, that “tickled from the inside” feeling that I used to get as a child.  Opening into the full expression of this pose is like unzipping the heavy parka of masks and lies I have worn around life and opening my True Soul to the world.  It’s an amazing combination of vulberability, strength, expression, creativity, grace, and PLAY.  Then, playing with variations like “sugar cane” or flowing into other poses is like a dance in life that I never allow myself to play in the real world.  It’s like opening my arms and legs wide, jumping up and down and singing at the top of my lungs “HERE I AM WORLD!  I’M PLAYING BIG!!!  HOW CAN I BE OF SERVICE?”

Alignment

• Grounding one foot firmly to the earth, place the same side hand on the ground or on a block 12-18 inches in front of the planted pinky toe as you lift the other leg and arm to the sky
• Roll the upper hip toward the sky, opening the whole body to the side
• Pull shoulders down the back to open the chest
• Flex the upper foot
• Look up to the upper hand (unless neck tension or balance issues dictate drishti to the earth
• Pressing the grounded foot to the earth will help open the upper arm and leg to the sky
• Play with floating the bottom hand just above the earth to find freedom in balance
• Externally rotate the thighs to promote full expression

Benefits

• promotes balance in any situation
• develops an amazing sense of freedom and expression
• opens the heart, releasing compassion and unconditional love to the world
• teaches the legs to use the strength of the quadriceps and hamstrings
• energetically reaches essence of Self from the core (third chakra)
• serves as a mirror to your state of being and what you show the world
• activates the playfulness deep inside the hips, releasing the playfulness we had in childhood

Common Mis-alignments to avoid

• The bottom foot will want to turn inward as you open the upper leg to the sky. Be sure to keep the bottom leg and foot square to the front of the mat.
• Taking this pose too quickly often results in inability to find balance and alignment.  Set the pose up in stages, grounding the lower foot and hand first, gazing down.  Then lift the upper leg.  By holding the upper hand on the hip, grounding is automatic and balance is much easier.  Gradually raising the upper hand BEFORE turning the head will help maintain balance and alignment.  The gaze may never leave the floor, and the pose still holds optimal benefits.
• Tilting too far to the floor, rounding the back to reach the floor, loses the line of energy through the spine, thus blocking all energetic benefits and causing pain or injury to the tender tissues surrounding the vertebrae and causing a tight “kinking” feeling in the lower hip.  Again, LESS IS MORE.  Less tilt towards the floor and more reach towards the front of the room will open the spaces between each vertebrae, thus opening more channels for full flow of energy.  Use of a tall block under the base hand is not as much a modification as a full expression of the pose.
• Over -locking of the knees, elbows, and even ankles and wrists can cut off the flow of energy through the limbs to the core of the body.  Be careful to keep the strength of the pose structured in the muscles, not the joints
• Neck tension is especially common.  If the neck feels strained, the fifth chakra closes and filters stress and strain downward into the lungs, vital organs, and eventually the stability of the poses loses structure.  If you feel any neck tension, look down.
• If balance is extremely challenged, don’t let this pose go unpracticed.  Stand against a wall and let the wall serve as support for the balance so you can experience the fullness of the fun and expression of this pose.  Even if balance is not a challenge, using the wall occasionally is a great reminder of the aim towards long spine alignment.