Christmas Workshop 10th December at Bodywise
With Jacqui
You are the heaven and You are the earth,
You are the day and You are the night,
You are all pervading air,
You are the sacred offering of rice and flowers and of water;
You are Yourself all in all,
What can I offer You?
Lala
Not-Doing of the Mind
Meditation of inner silence can only flourish when the mind is free. Techniques are trapped within a time-space frame, while freedom, by it’s very nature, falls outside all boundaries. Only a supple mind is genuinely silent. A supple mind is a mind that can let go of rules, decisions, plans, theories and philosophies. In order to be able to let go, a mind needs to have no strong preferences. A mind that is supple enough to change in the twinkling of an eye is a mind that derives on a conscious level its security and balance from the life force itself, not from any particular expression of the life force. That mind will always, in all circumstances, rely on the life force, trusting in the design that this force has for us. This is the meditative state of mind in which there is no object of attention and no subject that pays attention, but only the state of attention itself, without object and subject..
How can we help create this state of mind and body? On a purely physical level we can pay attention to areas of our body where we habitually build up tensions. Tensions inhibit the free flow of energy. Attention is the only true vehicle we have for the distribution of Chi/Prana energy.
- Unlocking the upper back and neck region allows blood and chi circulation to flow to and from the brain, and although the exact location of the mind it is not yet clear we do know that there is a close connection.
- Centring the back and front of the body and brain
- Peripheral Vision
- Lateral centring of body and brain
- Breath awareness. Simply watching the in and out breath without interfering
- Centring the breath in the back and front of the body
By centring the mind and practicing Asana regularly we stabilize and balance the hormonal, endocrine and emotional systems. Kidney Yang warms, energizes and controls the function of the kidneys. Symptoms of deficiency are weak knees and lower back, cold extremities, pale complexion, mental lethargy, frequent urination, asthma, lack of will power and direction, fear and insecurity. To feed the kidney Yang as part of your Yoga practice eat plenty of cloves, fenugreek, fennel and anise seeds, black peppercorn, ginger (dry especially), cinnamon bark, black beans, onion family (garlic, onions, chives, leeks, scallions), quinoa. Chicken, lamb, trout and salmon are good if you eat meat. Walnuts are particularly good for improving kidney Yang.
Practice
- Ankushi Mudra Sitting
- Chi Breath centring down Utthita
- Kriya cleansing Uttenasana -Tad asana - Adhomukha Svanasana
- Pairwork: Elongation. The Unbendable Chi arm & leg
- Tadasana brings us into alignment, mental and physical balance.
- Sirsasana is heating and energizing
- Pairwork; Parighasana
- Ardha Chandrasana
- Vamadavasana (the knee pose) is also a twist that stimulates the kidneys
- Marichyasana 3 - Vasisthasana 2
- Parivrtta Parsvakonasana - Parivrtta Ardha Chandrasana
- Marichyasana 4
- Sarvangasana - Parsva Sarvangasana
- Matsyasana
- Sitting Meditation or Lying Savasana
Have a wonderful Christmas and Happy New Year!
Many thanks for your presence and inspiration throughout the year
Love Jacqui