Tag Archives: Stress Relief

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In The Yard

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I work online, so much of my day Monday through Friday is spent in front of a screen.  I take breaks and dash about to get the circulation going and when my head is particularly foggy, I walk outside.  A guru once said to find oneself, ground one’s self to the earth. Do this by walking barefoot on the earth itself. The dirt, the grass or whatever type of grass you have.  By walking with our naked feet on the earth, we touch the very minerals we are made of with the soles of our feet. Soul to Earth so to speak. 

This grounding is calming and releases anxious thoughts.  The feel of the earth, the scent of growing herbs and trees is irristible. It’s hard to feel bad outside. The air is clear and full of possibilities.  

Glancing around the yard, I do a quick scan to see what is growing and what is not. What needs trimming and what does not. It’s summer and life is bursting forth beautifully. All colors of the kaleidoscope,  creating a natural masterpiece, created by the first artist, Mother Earth. The grass is almost a flourescent green, it’s so fresh and new and growing so fast.  The hottest part of summer has not arrived yet.  In Southern California that is usually August, September and sometimes October. 

In the garden, an old basil plant from the local organic foods store has taken root. It’s flourishing and the leaves are aromatic and ready for spicing home recipes.  The old fence is still standing. Rabbit wire blocks a section of the yard, so the dog can’t destroy the grass in that particular area of the yard.  The wire is rusted and crooked and worn out sun bleached sticks anchor the wire in place.  

This yard is simple and earthy and has  potential.  It seems to want some landscaping, something a little more sophisticated. That will be another day. 

Photo by Nick Page on Unsplash

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Yoga Sweet Yoga

Photo by Sanju M Gurung on Unsplash

I went to Yoga today and had my first hot yoga class. It wasn’t officially hot yoga, but there were 50 people packed into one small studio, our mats just inches apart and everyone breathing deeply. The air filled with CO2 and heat. The sweat began to pop through my skin and run in rivulets down my head chest and back. I was sweating! It had been awhile. Even though I was working out and sometimes quite hard, I just didn’t sweat anymore like I used to. It felt good and cleansing. I dearly wanted more room around my mat, but I acquiesced to the group activity and eased into the positions as the instructor called out poses and counted; urging us on with a mix of eastern philosophy and showtunes.

As I held poses, my legs and hips ached from a week working and sitting and driving. Five days of intense activity and this probably should have been a day of rest, but I was hungering for endorphins and to loosen my joints. After about 20 minutes, my muscles relaxed and gave in and my movements began to flow. My breathing kicked in and I was able to breath away the pain and focus on strengthening of key muscles. It was the magic of Yoga. Part Eastern philosophy, part new age exercise craze. A discipline that had been around centuries, but had just recently really become the hot new exercise of choice for newbie Americans. We Americans we love our hardcore sports. Football, marathons, baseball and a whole host of athletics disciplines that were our favorite sports and required intense concentration and effort. In contrast, Yoga was more about the flow of energy and through continuous practice, the body adapted and strengthened. It’s not something that can forced and if you try to force it you don’t really become a true Yogi.




Yoga originated in ancient India and there is quite an array of disciplines. Some of these disciplines are spiritual and some more based in developing muscles and postures for maximum performance. The wonderful thing about Yoga, is that it’s centering, relaxing and rejuvenating. If you want, you can chant or if you don’t want-then don’t. It doesn’t matter. It’s just about poses and really that’s enough. The simplicity and the complexity of Yoga are beautiful things. Like some many of the wonderful things in life. The best part is the effect on your spine. The spine being the core of human movement and stability. The positions of Yoga stretch the supporting muscles and ligaments and open up compressed spaces that need some fresh blood and oxygen. The fresh fluids and O2 cleanse and wash away exhausted cells and used up nutrients. They flow into this neglected and deep center of the human body refreshing these hard to reach spaces. Like the ocean sending in new waves one after the other, circulating over the earth’s surface and refreshing the land.

Of course there are people that have known about Yoga for a long time. I grew up in a community of hippies and communes. At the public school, my fifth grade teacher would darken the room, push the desks to the wall and lead us through simple yoga poses. This was over forty years ago. It’s wonderful to see the practice reaching all communities and people of the world now. Maybe that’s another wonderful thing about the internet. We can learn about things that might have frightened us in the safe environment of our home, where no ones looking and find out some of this stuff really is ok. It’s not magic, it’s just tried and true practice of exercises over the centuries that work for the human body and make us feel better.It’s a practice that helps humans overcome grief, anxiety and confusion in a very direct and simple way.

Here are some poses that do exactly that. Downward Dog. You look like a dog stretching with your head down. This is great for relieving back pain.  This is great for relieving back pain. The stretch of the position aligns your vertebrae, opens up disc spaces and stretches the supporting muscles and ligaments to give them somewhat of a break from the monotony of the hard work of holding up your spine all day long. Blood rushes to the brain and into your central nervous center invigorating your mentation and coordination.




Another pose, and a big favorite is Savasana. This is literally the pose for everyone and if you can’t do any other pose, you will probably be able to do this one. You lay on your back and completely give in and relax. That’s all. Just lay down and do nothing, except of course breathe. This connects you to your life giving breath, which will ultimately give you peace with your body and life. The goal is to think of nothing during Savasana, but your breathing. I’ve had several Yoga instructors teach that this is the most important pose of Yoga and it should always be for full five minutes at the end of class, no matter what. Here you touch base with what you’ve accomplished for the preceding hour and it’s time to relax and absorb the benefits.

These are just a few poses and benefits of Yoga and some of the reasons why I love it. It’s just like life. When you are in a Yoga class, you never really know what’s coming next, but you learn to relax and breathe through it. It’s a great lesson to learn for enjoying life too. Because you never know what excitement is around the bend; so remember, just breathe and you to will move right through it too.