blog about mental health and yoga including postures or asana, breath work or pranayama, neuroscience, and therapy, mindfulness, psychology
Have you been dealing with grief and loss?
In response to negative emotions, we tend to breathe shallowly. When we start to feel a loss of hope or that there isn't anything we can do about our situation, our energy can drop, we can feel hopeless, sad, unmotivated. When we're sad and grieving loss, our body tends to curl inward and we may feel enveloped in sadness. Posturally, the chest collapses, the gaze turns downward and there is less room for our breath.
As a survival mechanism, this response is hard-wired to help us conserve our energy in case we need to fight off or run away from a predator. However, this survival response over time can lead to a sense of disconnection, overwhelm, and depressed feelings ... We start to numb and turn away from ourselves (disembodied). The following breath and visualization/meditation helps us to expand our breath and reconnect with our body(embodiment).
1. Sit comfortably in a chair or on the floor.
2. Clasp your hands and rest them on top of your head. (Positioning your arms in this manner prevents your body from using secondary respiration muscles and opens your thoraco-abdominal cavity for deeper breathing.) Essentially, you’re bringing yourself to life by inflating the abdomen, lung, and heart regions. You’re reviving your courage and heart to turn toward your emotions!
3. Now, bring your attention down into your physical body. Inhabit your muscles and bones. Feel the evidence of your physical contact with the environment beneath you.
4. Welcome your breath to deepen slightly, within your comfort zone. You might imagine this like inflating a balloon of compassion and self-kindness inside your torso.
5. With each inhale, slowly expand that balloon to touch your abdomen, ribs, and back waist from within. With each exhale, soften your efforts so as to rest into, rather than overwhelm, yourself.
6. Visualization - If this feels comfortable to you, begin to imagine that you can breathe from the center of your heart space. And move deeper into the center of THAT center of your heart space. Find and visualize a beautiful gem deep inside. Notice it's a beautiful relaxing color.
7. As you breathe in, the gem lights up and the color brightens. As you breathe out, the glow melts and softens. Feel the warmth and fullness when you breathe in. Feel the relaxation and softening as you breathe out.
Practice this for 1 to 2 minutes (or more if that feels good to you). Then rest and reflect for another minute. Journaling is a BONUS!
This simple yet effective practice helps to expand our rib cage and allows the lungs to fill up with even more oxygen. This, in turn, helps to oxygenate the blood and energize the body. We become aware of the fullness within us, we find space to reconnect with joy, which makes joy easier to find in our daily life.
Are you willing to try it?
See how you feel. It's possible that the feelings intensify, You may cry, you may release. You get to ride the ride and before you know it, the intensity of negative emotion dissipates. Eventually, as you practice, you are able to make easier connections with old joy, present joy, and hopes for future joy.
View this quick interview where I answer Questions posed by my coworker Jasmin Santiago. Here I share my own personal journey discovering the benefits of movement:
My favorite type of class to teach and why * What makes me passionate about teaching * How I initially rejected Yoga and other forms of exercise * My teaching philosophy as an instructor * What happened when I lost my connection to movement * Who I thank most for discovering what movement means to me
One of my greatest Motivations:
Movement is a form of play:
Connect with your inner child.
Bring her or him out to play.
Move, Laugh, & Heal together.
Become Whole: You Can Do It!
In honor of Mother's day, one of the many May celebrations, A special thanks to my mom for facilitating my discovery of movement as a child and appreciation for how it has helped me in my life. How fortunate and lucky I feel to have had her influence. I'm honored that she continues to join me in my classes.
Go mama!!
I've had a difficult time with the way that yoga is presented in the popular western and commercialized view. I've heard too many unfortunate stories of self-judgment, body shaming, intimidation, and competition which to me is very different than what yoga truly has to offer.
The following are just 5 of the many common myths i've seen limiting participation in yoga and interfering with the true benefits
Myth #1 - I have to wear specially made yoga clothes
Myth #2 - I have to be flexible
Myth #3 - There's one right way to do yoga
Myth #4 - Yoga is about how I look in a pose (asana)
Myth #5 - I don't have time to do yoga
* Spoiler alert: The answer is No to all of them :)
Do I have to wear high end designer YOGA clothes from a specific brand?
No. YOGA can be done in any clothes that cover certain parts for modesty and are comfortable and stretchy enough for you to move in.
Do I have to be flexible?
No. Flexibility is one of the benefits of YOGA. Plus there are misconceptions and mis-information about what it means to be flexible. Through Yoga, we can discover the true meaning of flexibility.
Is there one right way to do YOGA?
No. There are many types of YOGA for many types of needs. There is only what is right for you here and now and the answer will continue to evolve and change.
Is YOGA about how I look?
No. While western approaches to the physical practice of YOGA can focus on “how it looks in the posture”, YOGA postures are actually a tool we can use to help focus the mind and/or explore sensations to provide information about our bodies including our internal experiences such as emotions and thoughts.
Does YOGA take a lot of time?
No. YOGA is a practice and can take as much or as little time as you have and decide upon.
In this video, learn about:
How to position the shoulder blades for the best breath for emotional enhancement * The wings in our body and the role of the wings in breath * How to intercept the stress response * What the ribcage has to do with breath * The best breath to prevent the locking up and tightness that limits the quality of breath * How to find the important muscles for emotional well being * The relationship between the spine and the ribcage * The muscles related to the ribcage that affect our mood * The floating ribcage and why it's important * How body posture affects our mood * The role of the lower back in emotional well being * How to position the pelvis * Ways to ground the body to feel stable
Our Body and Our Emotions are interrelated. They Inform one another!!
4 steps to using a yoga strap for a heart opening harness Find me at MaileLabasan.com/blog for more information and writeups. Better yet! Join me in person at my next wellness retreat coming up March 1,2,3 2019 in Honolulu Hawaii.
1 Mudra: "Hand Yoga"
3rd (middle finger) extended and touching, other 4 fingers curl in touching fingernails to create a heart
1 Chakra: "Manipura" Chakra
Solar Plexus below ribcage above belly button. bright Yellow. Energy center for personal power, confidence, firing up action
1 Breath:
Ujayi Breath: Inhale through the nose, Exhale out the nose. Draw in the waist/belly toward the spine gently on the exhale to engage core muscles.
Have you made a resolution to improve your health this year?
You're not alone!
The majority of people who reflect on the year past will identify some way they would like to improve their health for the new year.
Do resolutions work?
Yes, they CAN! The recommendations in much of the research talk about three important aspects of long-term behavior change
1) make reasonable goals
2) take action as soon as possible
These two things certainly help me when making behavior changes in my own life.
The third i'll tell you about in a moment.....
As a fitness instructor for many years, those of us in the health & fitness industry know there will be an upsurge of enrollment starting the 2nd & 3rd week in January with classes full of people excited about following through with their resolutions.
Eventually, we see the numbers reset to the usual as people lose motivation to maintain their new health behaviors.
As we know, motivation can dwindle over time. Life feels like it gets in the way. Eventually, we can forget about making those changes.
We end up feeling bad, guilty and enter a negative spiral.
I've been there, have you?
So.....
It can help tremendously to have a plan and take action for when this decrease in motivation occurs.
This is the third important aspect of behavior change:
3) make a plan of action for future barriers to following through with your goals
This one involves the anticipation that 2-3 months down the line, motivation will likely wane. Put something in place to help ensure your follow through. Whether it’s a commitment to do a cleanse with a friend or family member, or if it’s to start therapy, or if it’s to go on a health and wellness retreat (hint :), planning in advance in this way can make sure we can feel confident and successful in keeping our commitments to our wellness goals.
Self-Compassion: a 4-minute break
Join me at my upcoming wellness retreat March 1, 2, 3, 2019 in Honolulu, Hawaii. Subscribe to my newsletter @ mailelabasan.com for an insider promo code for $70 off. See more at MaileLabasan.com/events
Mindfulness
Connecting with the moment of distress and discomfort
Common Humanity Connection
Acknowledging that to suffer is a part of life and a shared experience
Kindness
Expressing a self kindful statement or wish
*** Practice this in times of relative calm and it eventually becomes easier to access Self Compassion when we need it the most
"You have to see the dirt in order to clean it up and out" - Louise Hay
Probably a little of both. Holidays can bring on depression about the past including what we've lost, and it can bring on anxiety about the future including the uncertainty of what is to come. Yogic philosophy and psychological practices including Breath, mediation, & present moment living, help us hold the Cheer AND the Sneer within the same place - the container within. We understand it is a mix and we learn that we can acknowledge what is. We can eventually accept the unacceptable. This call toward radical acceptance is a part of living this human life. And this part of living as a human being connects us all. We are different and yet the same.
Follow along with this 6 Minute guided Meditaion to "dip into" difficult emotions and learn how to contemplate them without becoming overwhelmed.
Exploring stillness & being present with "Mad, Sad, Glad, Scared" (adaped from Mariana Caplan, author of Yoga Psyche)
There are many different kinds of mediation
This example is just one meditation out of many different approaches
What works for one person may work in a different way for someone else
Take a 12 minute break following along with me on this mini-movement sequence with paired breathing and a guided imagery river meditation. Great to calm the mind and the nervous system.
A series of 5 videos in the perfect order to help you relax, sleep, and wake up feeling great in your mind, body, and energy levels. 1 hour of Bliss!!
Video 1) Get relaxed: “Color and ocean theme meditation”
Video 2) Prepare for sleep/rest: “3 things to do for better sleep”
Video 3) Deep relaxation or sleep time: “Yoga Nidra”
Video 4) Wake up time: “3 Steps to get out of bed feeling great”
Video 5) Now that you’re out of bed: Out of bed morning stretch
It's not always possible to get the sleep and rest we need. Life responsibilities such as deadlines, children, & travel can get in the way. However.... we all would probably say we could spare 10-15 minutes. Taking from the sleep literature recommendations and through diligent research (personal practice:) I have discovered 10 steps to the perfect nap that allows me to rejuvenate (without ending up more groggy or resistant to waking up). Total time? 15 minutes!
step 1)
Take a healthy B vitamin - or healthy energy snack - and hydrate well
step 2)
Cool the space if possible
step 3)
Apply mint essential oil (or another preferred energizing oil) on the bottom of your feet
step 4)
Raise your legs above your heart (or if this is uncomfortable, consider an incline with head above heart)
step 5)
Choose a nice sounding alarm (a jolting alarm will reverse what you have accomplished from the nap). Set for 13 minutes - why 13? Seems to take me at least 3 minutes to fall asleep
step 6)
Cover up with a heavy blanket
step 7)
Apply pressure on the forehead with an eye pillow to activate the oculocardiac reflex & vagus nerve, a critical factor in long-term stress resilience and, research shows, in happiness. (I've also used the edge of a regular pillow or a folded up edge of a heavy comforter)
step 8)
Close your eyes, dive into the darkness behind your eyelids and remind yourself that even if you don't fall asleep, your nervous system is absorbing the benefits of this quiet and restful moment
step 9)
When the alarm goes off, do not press snooze! Gently roll onto your side and push yourself up on the exhale
step 10)
Enjoy your renewed energy!
It's all about the sleep! Sleep quality and time is so very important to our mental health and well being. I can get very grumpy if I don't get the right amount or deep enough.
While this sequence is especially good for travel stress, I like to use it for other sources of stress as well.
Do this YOGA sequence after travel to help relieve your stress for greater relaxation or to get ready for your next adventure.
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