A Pose to Calm the Mind, Restore & Renew with Ayurveda Wisdom

A Pose to Calm the Mind, Restore & Renew

with Ayurveda Wisdom

As we expand and grow, and as the seasons and environment around us change, our bodies, our minds, and our emotions are affected by these adaptations.

Change can put us out of sorts—even wonderful changes, like the welcoming of our bigger dreams and desires. We can become so excited about what we are creating, working hard for or manifesting into being—that we become carried away.

Suddenly we feel anxious, unbalanced and way too stressed…

Due to this, we can also become agitated, overextended and burned out—so we must take care to return to balance. For those of us who are doers, and working on creating big waves and impact on this planet, it is essential that we up our game of self-care too.

Being swept up in moving forward is wonderful, but at times it may wreak havoc on our bodies and emotions. In mindfulness, spirituality and yoga, the focus is always on balance. So here’s a simple pose to return to serenity when you are feeling a little strung out! This is also a great pose to do for insomnia (often this is caused by over activation of the nervous system) too.

In traditional Ayurveda (the “science of life”). the focus is on ancient skills of healing that work from a holistic approach, adjusting our habits to balance our lifestyles. It is believed that different types of activity (foods and seasons) are represented by different Doshas (temperaments); so are each of our bodies. Doshas are a primary energy or characteristic that is present and must be balanced in order to create harmony. The three doshas are Vata (air element, which is represented by cold, dry, and light), Kapha (water element, which is represented by heaviness, slowness, and lubrication), and Pitta (fire element, which is represented by heat, activity, moistness, and burning).

When we are burning out, we are Pitta. We have too much fire and it is causing us harm.

Here is a yoga pose that is perfect for creating balance of our Pitta energy as we rev things up!

Legs-up-the-wall, Viparita Karani 

(Viparita = Reversed and inverted. Karani = Doing and action)

This pose is spoken of throughout the yogic world as the pose that could heal most anything. It is a go-to when we need calming, centering, and restoration. It is also said to help with anxiety, insomnia, high blood pressure, and arthritis.

Step 1) Lay out a mat or blanket next to a wall (or like me, do this in bed). Depending on your height, place a rolled up blanket closer or farther away from the wall (this is to support your sacrum). If we are taller, it will be farther away—shorter, it will be closer.

Step 2) Next, lie on your right side with a rolled blanket behind you and the wall next to your buttocks and feet. As you exhale, roll to the left swinging legs up the wall and sacrum onto rolled up blanket in one motion. Adjust blanket and buttocks so that they are a comfortable distance from the wall so that legs can extend upward enjoyably. Depending on flexibility this may mean your buttocks are right next to the wall or up to five to nine inches away. Follow what feels right for your unique body.

Step 3) Connect to your breath. Notice the exhalation and the inhalation. Try to slow your breathing down a bit. Keep legs relaxed, but firm enough to hold them in place. Enjoy your heals against the wall. Relax the belly and let the sacrum sink into the rolled up blanket beneath it. Feel the contact of the sacrum with the rolled up blanket. Enjoy!

Stay in this pose between 5-15 minutes. When finished, press feet into wall, remove blanket under sacrum. Lower bottom down to the floor as you exhale and bend knees and roll back to the right side. Take a few breaths and rise when ready.

The light in me sees the light in you! Great work. How do you feel now?

Copyright Sarah Norrad 2020 – All Rights Reserved

*These practices, writings and instructions were created by Sarah Norrad. All copyright laws, creative or otherwise, apply, are reserved & bound to Sarah Norrad. This practice is not meant to take the place of clinical, medical or other professional support.

What's Underneath this Upheaval

In Chinese medicine, grief sits in the lungs.

I find it interesting that this virus affects the lungs too. I’ve noticed that in clients and in myself, this time now is bringing up a deep grief process and sadness.

Grief can be something we turn away from quickly in our culture; it is banished as we distract and medicate in a myriad of ways... However, grief is a pinnacle step in the healing process. It is needed so that we rise out of depression, anxiety and other stagnated problems. It is there so that we move into growth.

So what do we do with grief?

We feel it. We welcome it. We open our door to it and we say, “hello. Hi grief, what would you like to tell me?”

I bet it has some amazing things to say. Probably not what you thought it would either.

So when we avoid grief, we avoid healing + growth. When we turn away from sadness, we close the door to joy.

Oh virus, could you too be our teacher... as you point us to our lungs; our grieving. Ultimately leading us to our healing.

If I know anything from living through a chronic illness, it is that fighting against the teaching of something, prolongs it.

I also know that the outside label of something is usually the messenger for the medicine and teaching within.

This is how I see the world. If you see it differently, I celebrate that too. To me to make meaning of things, to unwrap the gift and the grief, helps to integrate them, to teach on them and to support clients moving through them and beyond...

Oh, sweet grief. What would you like to tell us? For in your arms is the medicine for our evolution.

Lungs. Dear lungs. What is your message? If loss could be our teacher, what would it want us to know; to remember?

This is a holistic approach to healing, to therapeutic work and a somatic and intuitive one to regaining wholeness; balance. Expansion.

If you want to talk more about this, you know where to find me to do this work (message, email, website). I’d be honoured to hold a sacred container for you there.
—
📷 @ravi.rane

How to Let Go and Move on Like a Buddha

There are certain things in life that will be harder to let go of than others.

There are also certain things on this human journey that may be entirely impossible to ever totally release.

Despite what we’ve so often been told—we can’t always simply get over people, places, or experiences we’ve encountered. Some will stick with us our entire lives, and they are meant to.

We are affected beings who move through life building relationships, jobs, roles, duties, and memories. If we are leaning into living a full life, we will have dozens of each of these things, and we will also lose them too.

There’s much talk and advice given about “just letting go.” This is sage guidance, but how do we do this when something massive and life altering occurs? It’s likely that most of us will have this experience at least once (or maybe, a few times) in life, when—for whatever reason—we feel like we need to begin all over again.

It’s happened to me on several occasions. It became such a defining feature in my world for a period that I tattooed a phoenix on my solar plexus as a reminder that we can always start over.

However, when these life-altering things hit, it sure doesn’t feel easy to begin again. What often happens is we believe that in order to move on or move forward, we must release the old entirely. This is untrue. I will say it again—there will be things that stick with us for our entire lives, and they are meant to.

I’m not just speaking about relationships with people—I also refer to the abuse and trauma we carry with us. Sadly, most of us have been through both of these in some way, and even more sadly, we’ve been told that we should “get over it, already.” (Or, we say this to ourselves, which is just as destructive.)

Sometimes, “getting over” something can be a way we choose to deny that something even occurred—which means we may become perplexed when a new loss triggers that old, original wound. We think to ourselves: “I should be past that.” Or: “It happened so long ago—why am I responding so strongly to this?” But, the body and our psyche carry these residual energies with them. Unfortunately, this means we might experience a reaction to certain experiences forever—as those who carry something like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) will know.

However, just because there are things that we may never totally get over, it doesn’t mean we cannot continue on with our lives presently. One of the pinnacle teachings I have learned from Buddhism is that the first practice to finding peace in our lives is to accept what is and what was.

Tara Brach, a renowned Buddhist speaker, writer, and psychologist, published an insightful book about this called Radical Acceptance. In this book, she shares the challenging experiences she had with abuse and heartbreak and how they led her to the path of fully loving herself and all the things (including the past pain) that made up her life—rather than just rejecting what she’d experienced.

It is not our ability to “get over” or forget something that makes us stronger—it is actually acknowledging that these things create a beautiful, unique, and meaningful tapestry that make up who we are that makes us truly resilient.

As I spend more time dedicated to sitting on my meditation cushion, it becomes more clear what the art of “non-reacting” truly means. It means we pause, acknowledge, and open to the larger space of life—bigger than simply one experience or one loss. It also means that we develop compassion for old feelings as they arise, and we trust that we don’t need to do anything about them but simply allow them to be and pass through.

Non-reaction allows us to face our lives and continue. We become the observer of our experience, instead of the victim of it. Non-reaction means we are mindful enough to slow down, recognize, and give ourselves and it room to breathe.

So then, the process of living in a productive way and honoring our “humanness” simply means: pause, acknowledge, and open.

This might seem too basic to apply to something that feels life altering—but often, the best wisdom is simple.

The Buddha was a master at facing the most challenging circumstances in the most relaxed way.

So, if there is something we are struggling with right now—if the pain of past or current situations feels like we just can’t get over them—don’t cause more suffering by trying to force a complete release. Rather, like a Buddha: pause, acknowledge, and open. Give yourself (and it) room to be.

Remember, what we are doing with our lives is creating a beautiful tapestry—and tapestries require multiple layers to become complete.

Originally published at elephant journal - https://www.elephantjournal.com/2017/10/how-to-let-go-move-on-like-a-buddha/

Author: Sarah Norrad
Editor: Yoli Ramazzina

You Are Magic.

You.
Yes you. 
Are magic.
You are wondrous and beautiful and innately free.
You don't belong to anything or anybody,
but you are totally welcome here.
You are loved.
You are supported.
You will be held and also adored.
There's no specific reason you must show to deserve this.
Being this human is entirely enough.
You are needed.
You are desired.
There's no question of the earth ever wanting something different then the exact magic you carry within your soul.
So share it,
beautiful one.
Know it.
Overflow with it.
And when you have shined so brightly that all the world knows you are here,
come and rest inside of this.
Come home to these loving arms.
Arrive in the solace of surrender.
Trust in the strength of embrace.
The world needs you. 
Because of that,
it also completely loves you. 
You.
Yes you.
Are magic.

What If Love Was This?

What if love was entirely different then we had imagined?
What if it had nothing to do with commitments and boxes and houses and rings and pledges and promises?
What if it simply just was -
An energy that sat at the centre of the core of everything,
and a fluid stream of light particles that surrounded us all of the time?
What if love was like the air?
Would we be so scared of it then?
Would we think like we do, that there was a limited amount?
Would we think like we do that we must covet it so?
No.
If we could see love like the air, we wouldn't have the impoverished complex that we do - that love was something rare to be clung to. 
Rather, it would be something constant.
It would be as regular as breathing in and out.  
I think love is this.
I think love is always right here.

~ Sarah Norrad