Prana Pages

When I was a young child, one of my favorite parts of going on vacation was following my dad with his metal detector.  When the machine would beep and the red needle sprung to the far end, he’d poke a hole in the ground with a screwdriver to dig for treasure.  Over the years, he has collected countless coins and bottle caps, and a few treasures, the most precious of which was a red ruby ring he still wears today.  But some of the best treasures he dug up with his screwdriver never set off the metal detector, and more often than not, we would return from these ventures with more stones in our pockets than coins and jewels.

In grade school when the school board installed a new playground with a pebbles, while the other children played on the tire swing or swung from the cable pulley, I spent countless days of recess searching through the dusty stones for the best and perfect agates.  My younger brother preferred to collect stones from the end of the driveway or dug from our backyard and beautify them in his rock tumbler.  When the metal detector stopped beeping years ago, Dad didn’t stop his hunt for the perfect rocks, and there are many.  He still keeps a collection of stones on top of his dresser to guard his wallet, keys, and spare change every night.  I’m sure, each day when he refills his pants pockets a stone or two from the dresser makes its way into the pockets as well.  Stone collection is in our bones.

Stones are used in healing rituals and practices across the globe.  The most common of which has grown in American culture over recent years, hot stone massage.  When the massage therapist strategically places the warm stones along the spine, she is not only warming the body, but infusing deep wisdom and truth into the energetic chakras of her client’s being.  Stones are the bones of Mother Earth and hold the ancient truth and wisdom of the world in their structure.  So by connecting a stone to the physical location of your chakra centers on your spine, you are energetically plugging yourself in to the deepest truest wisdom of the Divine Mother.  Stones also hold the power of communication and expression.  So, plugging into stone medicine is waking up the power of true deep wisdom communication within your being.

A common prescription I will offer to clients dealing with a situation in which they have to express themselves, or speak their truth, or communicate and important issue or idea is to find a stone and ask the stone to give them the Truth and open their throats to full expression of that Truth.  I suggest that the next time you have to perform publicly, testify in court, speak in front of a crowd, or just communicate an important or challenging issue to a loved one, carry a little stone medicine in your pocket.

I like “hot” foods. I always doctor the salsas at Mexican restaurants with splashes of the Habenero sauce on the table that often goes untouched by other patrons.  I am the crazy skinny white girl that make the cooks in Indian restaurants question, “is she sure?” when I request my meals to be Indian hot not American hot.  So, when my African friend fixed me a steak last night and suggested I “flavor it up” with a little of his African spice, I was eager to try.  The juicy meat with its marinade and steak rub combination was enough to make my tummy happy, but it was the unique powder spices direct from Africa that made my taste buds sing. With each bite, I dipped the tiniest tips of the tines of my fork into this powdery spice mixture, and I could taste and feel it at the back of my throat.  My stomach yelled uncle before my taste buds were ready to surrender.  The flavor sent me into a fit of giggles as my throat opened from the heat.  For me, a little “heat” is all I need to find a little more balance in my throat energy.  When I’m sick, I turn to the healing powers of ginger and cayenne to nurse me back to health by burning out the toxins and opening the locked expression of my voice.  I know this works for me because I tend towards a deficient throat chakra, a lack of energy in my vissudha chakra.    For others, those who tend towards excessive energy in the throat, a shot of “heat” can only exacerbate the situation, making the already raw throat more tender, and a coolant such as honey & lemon serves a better purpose.

For many people, the first indication of illness is a tinge of a sore throat.  Others of us give our throat chakra (expression) power away to various animals “a frog in the throat, a cat got your tongue” etc.  The truth is, the throat chakra is often the most obvious indicator of an imbalance in our energetic systems.  When the throat chakra is balanced and open, one experiences a perfect state of expression - the ability to state our minds clearly, concisely, and powerfully so that our expressions are heard precisely as we intended.  In essence, we are able to shout with a whisper.  But, when the throat chakra experiences imbalance, many complications ensue.  With too much energy (excessive) residing in the throat chakra, we tend towards overdoing our expression.   i.e. talking too much, speaking too loudly, interrupting others, asserting ourselves at the expense of others, and often wishing we could take back our words or regretting what we said or did.  With too little energy (deficient) residing in the throat chakra, we tends towards underdoing our expression.  i.e. talking too softly, being afraid to “raise our hands,” swallowing our words, or hiding in a corner.

So, it’s no surprise that as a child I was often the kid who knew the right answer in school, but refused to raise my hand because I just might have to say something in front of everyone.  In my teens, I suffered a rather severe case of deficient throat chakra energy, until I discovered hot & spicy foods.  I had sore throats a lot as a child.  But now they are rare, as I find I am better equipped to stand up in front of large crowds and teach.  So thank you dear friend, for providing me with a “shot of heat” just a few short days before I need to express myself to many people in a strange land as I head out to teach another workshop.

For the rest of you, heed this warning, hot and spicy foods may not be your cure-all and fixit.  If you tend towards talking too much and overexpression, a shot of honey & lemon or chamomile may be what the doctor ordered.  But, if you are like me, and tend towards keeping your mouth shut instead of saying what you think, try a little cayenne pill to kick your voice into gear

The first yoga pose I ever performed with any consistency was shoulder stand, only I didn’t know I was practicing yoga at the time.  I was a competitive synchronized swimmer in high school.  I used to hold my breath and swim upside down with my legs in the air, virtually performing variations of yoga poses in a swimming pool.  I remember spending hours with my duet partner choreographing routines in her living room with a boom box and a spiral notebook.  When we couldn’t determine if our legs could actually perform the stunts we imagined in our minds, we’d prop ourselves up into a form of shoulder stand and try to manipulate our legs into the positions of our imaginations. These sessions were always filled with lots of laughter, and were sometimes more fun than the competitions themselves.

Shoulder stand is often called, the mother, or queen of all poses.  An entire book  can be written on the benefits and purposes of this pose, so for the sake of conciseness, the descriptions here are limited to the benefits to expression, the throat chakra energy.

In shoulderstand, the feet are raised above the head, the hips above the heart, thus reversing the blood flow of the body.  As the weight of the body is held by the shoulders, a compression occurs at the throat.  This compression energetically folds the throat chakra on top of the heart chakra.  By connecting the power centers of the heart to the throat in this pose, the essence of communication is reminded that the best expression is that which comes from the heart, not the head.  Thus, the heart chakra, receiving the reverse flow of energy from the groundedness of the feet and all the lower chakras, feeds the throat chakra.  Energetically, in this pose you are “squeezing” out any excess energy from the throat chakra at the same time as feeding positive heart energy into the throat chakra.  Upon release of the pose, the fullness of the heart from the reverse blood and energetic flow will flush the throat physically and energetically, clearing away any stirred up toxin and replacing it with the loving power of the heart.

For more information, an awesome article on the benefits of inversions can be found here.

Alignment

• Basic Alignment Shoulderstand RULE #1 - ONCE IN THE POSITION, DO NOT TURN YOUR HEAD.  Doing so may strain the neck and cause severe injury.  Be sure to center your gaze straight up, and square your head evenly between your shoulders.  Turning your head is like averting our attention from the point you are trying to make.  It only takes you off-topic, off-track, and off-center.
• Remember, the three weak links of the body are the knees, low back, and neck.  This pose can compromise both the low back and the neck if not performed properly.  It is best to have a trained instructor guide you through this pose at first.
• Support your lower back with your hands, gradually walking your hands “up” your back towards the shoulderblades.  Where you bring your hands (the hands represent “action”) is where you bring the focus. Thus, the closer your hands are to your heart center, the more focus on the purpose of the pose that happens.
• Pull the shoulder blades towards each other at the same time as pulling them away from the ears.  This extends the cervical spine, or the neck, which is where we tend to store excess burdens and responsibilities that distract us from the true purpose or point.  By lengthening the neck, we are releasing excess burdens to get to the marrow or bottom line truth of the expression without all the excess “junk”.
• Try to lift the neck and the cervical vertebrae off the floor, thus causing the weight of the pose to be held by the shoulders rather than the bones of the spine.
• Contract the abdominal core muscles to elongate the spine.  This takes the weight of the pose out of the low back and pulls the hips off the rib cage.  It also supports the strength of the low spine.  Furthermore, this activates the core chakra of identity and “gut”.  Thus your expressions are guided more by your “gut” than by your thought process.  And it allows you to stand by your statements with integrity.

Modifications

• For people with weak shoulders, bulging discs at the cervical spine, pregnant women (who have not developed a yoga practice), and women on their moon cycles, shoulderstand can be contraindicated.
• Half shoulderstand, keeping a bend at the hips - the legs halfway between plough and shoulderstand, is an awesome modification for students who have not yet built up the strength to support full shoulderstand.
• Viparta Karani - legs up the wall - is a great alternative when shoulderstand is contraindicated.
• Placing a blanket under the shoulders can promote both comfort and widen the base of the pose.  Ask an instructor to guide you for proper placement of the blanket.