Gentle lymph massage for the face.

Lymph is a vital system of vessels that removes cell waste, proteins, excess fluids, viruses and bacteria, it filters and cleans the spaces between the cells and when it works well we feel healthy and have a strong defence system against illness.  When its not working well our immune system is down and we can feel fatigue and low.  Now that the sniffle time of year is here and the digestive fire can be a bit low (see previous post) it is a great time to give yourself a lymph drainage massage for the face, thus reducing congestion and puffiness and reducing congestion and pain in the sinuses.  Also it keeps us looking fresh and younger and if you are like me living in a heavily polluted place then it helps to remove the toxin build up.

Here is how, but go gently with your touch as the lymph glands are near to the surface of the skin so we don’t want to damage them.

1. Cross your hands at the wrist, this is just to make your touch lighter, then place your fingers at the venus part of the throat – the little indent just above the collar bone, then gently stroke the fingertips outwards along the collar bone X10
2. Keeping the hands crossed then place the fingertips to the back of your ear and stroke downwards following the jaw line to the throat X 10
3. Again keeping the wrists crossed then place the fingertips at the centre of the chin and stroke outward along the jaw line X 10
4. Then uncross the wrists and place the ring and middle finger to the side of your ear and stroke downward to the jaw, (along the sideburn line)
5. Next place the fingertips to the point between the eyebrows and stroke outward along the eyebrow line towards the temple X 10
6. Then gently place the middle finger to the point on the cheek bone under the eye (towards the outer side of the eye) and gently press and release slightly pulling the skin outward, X 10 then do again but placing the finger a little more underneath the eye X 10.
7. Then repeat the whole process backward starting at point 6 to 1.

The lymphatic system is tied to the immune system if the flow of lymphatic materials slows then the immune system is weakened so this is another way to increase the immune system and keep ourselves healthy and glowing!  It is also a great way to reduce the aging effect and increase the antibodies that fight off infections.

It is best to practice this in the morning but you can also practice it throughout the day to keep that fresh look and feel.  Make it part of your daily routine and morning asana practice you could begin with this gentle massage also leading you into your practice in a gentle and mindful manor. 

For now have beautiful days and allow the energy of nature to surround you, and nurture you, let us breathe life into our hearts through every moment being ever present here and now.

May we all experience what is good and pure and be free from suffering

Om shanti shanti shanti

Mangala / Nicky.

Boosting our Immune systems.

Now the winter months are closing and spring is well on its way, the body is also changing with the seasons and this can mean a disturbed effect to our Agni (digestive fire) which can lead to a build up of toxins and cause sickness, especially respiratory and allergy ailments.  Also as we start to thaw from the cold months the toxins accumulated during this time also start to thaw with us building up in our system causing our bodies to react in some way.  However we can boost our immune system with some simple things that can help us with the transition between the seasons, gentle cleansing techniques like steam baths and oils massage are great at this time.  Cleansing techniques strengthen the Agni and prevent more toxins known in Ayurveda as Ama, building up.  Eating warm light meals will help to cleanse such as lightly spiced soups, couscous and kitcheri. 

To help enhance your Agni adding this simple pomegranate chutney to each meal will help improve your digestion, elimination, decrease gas and decrease stomach acid, thus not allowing the ama to accumulate:

1 Pomegranate

1 teaspoon of rock or sea salt

¼ teaspoon of black pepper

1 teaspoon of cumin seeds

Fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon of grated jaggary (natural sugar)

Mix all the ingredients in a blender and add to your meals accordingly.

Enjoy cooking home meals and add immune-enhancing ingredients such as cumin, fennel, coriander, turmeric, ginger and black pepper.  Avoid eating left overs, frozen and processed foods, heavy fried foods and ice-cold foods and drinks which all add to ama (toxins.)  Also some vegetables can be more Ama producing – tomatoes, potatoes, eggplant and sweet peppers, so better to avoid at this time.

Another great recipe packed with goodness is this chickpea and spinach salad, the spinach like other leafy greens providing a great source of vitamin A, C, K and folic acid, also stimulating the production of critical immune cells in the stomach:

1 cup of chickpeas (soaked and cooked in pressure cooker)

1 cup of tender baby spinach chopped

1 chopped carrot to match stick size

¼ cup of raw mango sliced

4 chopped dates

½ cup of fresh coriander

¼ cup of fine chopped cabbage

¼ teaspoon of cumin seeds crushed

¼ teaspoon of ginger paste or powder

¼ teaspoon of black pepper

½ teaspoon of mustard or olive oil depending on taste

1 teaspoon of lemon juice

2 teaspoons of grated jaggary (natural sugar)

Mix all the ingredients and enjoy!  You could also serve on a bed of fresh rice noodles to make a more substantial meal if you needed.

The practice of kapalabati the fire breath is essential at this time and will help to increase the Agni and reduce the Ama, so a few minutes each morning will really make a difference.

So let us stay healthy during these transition times between the seasons, eat well, sleep well and practice our yoga well!

Looking forward to seeing you on and off the mat where the best parts of yoga are those that cannot be seen.

Om Om shantih Om

Mangala / Nicky

Mudra - the expression of our hands

Our hands can be so expressive in our communication, often when I am not able to communicate via language difficulties in other countries I am amazed at how much we can talk through our hands.  But do we think about the meaning behind all these beautiful gestures that we perform in our yoga practice with our hands?

In class we are often asked to perform certain Mudras where the hands, fingers and thumbs are placed in a certain way, most commonly is probably Namaskara Mudra, (Anjali Mudra) with the palms placed together or Chin Mudra with the tip of the thumb and forefinger touching.  But what are these mudras and what is their meaning?

Mudras are gestures or attitudes that use the body parts, breath or visualisation to enable the practitioner to develop awareness of the flow of prana (energy) in and around the body.  Energy is easily lost from the body and the practice of Mudra allows us to channel this energy back within, redirecting it for use of a higher nature, to enable the individual force to merge with the universal force or cosmic energy.  So we can define a Mudra as a seal or short cut or circuit by pass.  They deepen our concentration and focus and have not only a profound effect on the energy and where that energy is flowing but also have physical and emotional values, which can alter moods, perception and attitudes.  In fact the Yoga Hatha Pradipika suggests that yoga mudras are an independent form of yoga requiring a subtler sense of awareness and guidance from an adept Guru as they are considered a higher practice that can lead to awakenings of energies, energy vortexes within the body and to the awakening of the Kundalini, a dormant energy that resides in us all.

We can use them to simply open ourselves up a bit giving us more awareness to our prana and to gain some physical and mental benefits, here are some of the more common ones –

Namaskara Mudra (Anjali Mudra)

Join both of the palms together and place them on the chest with the thumbs touching the heart centre.

Benefits – opens the heart, reduces stress, anxiety and calms the brain.  Leads to a greater level of divine consciousness.

Chin Mudra

Touch the tips of the thumbs with the tips of the index fingers, place the palm upward on the knees of thighs.

Benefits – creates a circuit of energy between the body and the brain, enhances cell activity in the grey matter of the brain boosting mental capabilities.  Naturally calms down the breath, bestows wisdom, brings peace and allows us to connect within.

Jnana Mudra

Bring the hands into Chin Mudra but place the palms downward on the knees or thighs.

Benefits – reduces nervous tension, balances the air qualities within the body, stabilises the mind, develops creativity and increases mental peace.

Dhyana Mudra

Keep the left hand on the lap, palm facing upward then place the right on top of the left palm facing up.

Benefits – Promotes the energy of meditation, generates peacefulness and releases tensions.  This is representing the union of both the astral nerves running either side of the spine the Ida and Pingala Nadi, when they join they run up the Sushumna Nadi creating a forceful field of energy.

So next time we make a Mudra let us have a deeper sense of understanding of what it is we are doing and try to feel any effect that it is having on our body, breath and mind. 

Enjoy the practice

Om Lokha Somastha Sukinho Bhavantu

May all beings find balance, harmony and peace

Om shanti

Mangala / Nicky

Diet issues that unbalance us that we should know about -

Eating habits can aggravate and unbalance the elements within us causing tiredness, unbalanced emotions and various diseases or illnesses.  In ayurveda this is called contradictory food and when it is consumed repeatedly it can put a load on our digestive system and cause a build up of toxins, which are not good for anybody!  Here are some important points to help us maintain our health that we should consider in our eating habits –

1. Consider where we are, for example the type of foods that benefit us in a hot climate or dry climate may not be the same in another climate.  For example when we are in a marshy place oily and cold substances should be avoided, i.e. yoghurt and cream.  Whilst when in a dry region hot substances like chilli powder should be avoided.  When visiting someplace maybe we love the food there and when we get back home try to recreate it, but consider the environment and climate you are in, is that type of food suitable for where you are?
2. Eat with the seasons, all the nature that surrounds us works with the changing seasons and we should do the same, eat heavier warming foods in winter and lighter cooler foods in summer.
3. Be aware of your digestive fire, if your digestive system is working faster then your fire is stronger and you can eat heavier, if your agni (fire) is low then this is going to be contradictory so eat lighter and less oily foods.
4. If you are embarking on heavy manual labour or excessive excersise then eat heaver more oily foods, light, dry and cold foods are going to aggravate your system.
5. Consider how you are cooking, it all has an impact on the energy within the food.  Microwave destroys all energy within the foods, eating overly or undercooked foods is contradictory, cooking simply is best.
6. Mixing sour substances such as meat with milk, banana and milk is contradictory.
7. Honey shouldn’t be boiled or cooked on high heat as it becomes toxic to your system.
8. Try not to shock your organs and digestive system with things that are too hot or cold, ice-cream unfortunately will disturb your digestion as will soup that is steaming hot.
9. If you know about the three doshas - Vata Pita and Kapha and you know which one is aggravated then eat to the opposite qualities for example if Vata is unbalanced which is dry, light and cold in quality then eat more oily, heavier and warming foods.  Pita is oily and hot, Kapha is heavy and cool.
10. Enjoy your food and eat well in a calm and reflective manor, without distractions, this will help your digestion and assimilation and gives us time to be grateful for our nourishment.

Remember our food is our daily medicine, we can heal ourselves with what we eat, so let us eat wisely, a natural and simple diet away from processes and chemicals.  What we put into our bodies has a profound effect on how our minds function, our emotions and intellect, the more naturally and simply we can eat the more at peace we will become. 

Om Lokha Somasta Sukhino Bhavantu

May we all find harmony and balance

Om shanti

Mangala / nicky 

Sanskrit you hear in Class - What's the meaning?

During your asana class or indeed any yoga class you may hear your teacher referring to things in Sanskrit, which may leave you wondering sometimes what on earth they are talking about!!   Sanskrit is our oldest language and is embedded with special vibrations like no other language and it is an integral part of our yogic history.  Some words just can’t be explained with the same meaning or relevance in English or would take many words to say the say thing hence why our teachers use the Sanskrit version also giving us more insight into our practice.  Here are a few words you may commonly hear with their meaning, knowing this may in fact lead you to a deeper level of practice allowing you to expand, so enjoy!

OM or AUM – the sacred syllable symbolising all creation, all states of consciousness, all that is unreal and all that is real and all that is beyond.  The symbol of God or absolute consciousness.

Prana –Vital energy, life-breath, life force.

Shanti –Peace.

Pranayama – extended breath or regulation of the breath including restraining of the breath to work with and circulate the internal energies.

Drishti –meaning to gaze, find a drishti point means find a point to gaze at or the teacher may point out where the drishiti should be i.e. fingertips etc.  Coming from Drishta meaning the visible, seen or that which is perceived.

Bandhas –Bondage or to tie a knot.  In class this is referred to as to a part of the body to lock the internal energy, this creates a great deal of strength and helps to maintain focus.  There are three main bandhas mula (pelvic floor or root), udiyana (stomach) and jalandhara (throat.)

Asana –means steady comfortable pose.  If you are struggling in a posture then you are pushing too far, hold back a bit and wait for the body to invite you in deeper, try not to let the mind fight with the body but make a friend!

Pratyahara –abstraction or withdrawal of the senses from the external objects, meaning to let go of the stimulation from all your senses sight, taste, sound, smell and touch and to dive into an inner world leaving the external world.  Simply meaning to withdraw.

Samadhi – the state of super consciousness with the experience of oneness, a state of the absolute where all knowledge, joy and peace reside.  All things become one there is no duality.

Samsara –this is the circle of birth to death and back to birth, that through our practice we are working towards liberation from. 

Sattva or Sattvic – meaning all that is pure, light and real.  If something is sattvic it is pure.

Chakra – centre of psychic energy within the human system.  A wheel of energy or vortex, of which there are many but there are seven main charkas five that are located along the spine, one at the third eye and one at the crown of the head.

So enjoy the sound of Sanskrit, sound has a profound effect on our beings so let the sound be joyful and float within you. 

Om Lokha Somasta Sukhino Bhavantu

May all beings find harmony peace and balance

For now

Om shanti shanti shanti

Mangala / Nicky

The Power of Suryia Namaskar

Suryia Namaskar; the sun salutation, is a beautiful practice that enables us to bow down to the sun.  Why should we bow to the sun, well the sun is the very life source of this planet, without the sun there is no life, nothing grows there is no breath, so it is important to recognise or remember the essence of our very being and show our gratitude.  The sun is in everything, all that we eat, drink and breathe contains the sun and in Suryia Namaskar we learn to digest that energy and internalise it.  We can begin to shine from within and make light part of our every breath. 

Suryia Namaskar is so much more than just a physical excersise to mobilise the joints and muscles increasing flexibility, this is about re-tuning ourselves and bringing ourselves back into harmony with nature becoming in sync with the suns cycles – this giver of life.

There are 12 positions of the sun in a year and the cycles run around 12 and ¼ years so it not by happy accident that there are 12 postures within the salutation, this was intended for each one to represent on cycle. 

As Sadhguru says, ‘Suryia Namaskar is to make the body a stepping stone for higher possibilities.’

Becoming inline or together with the solar cycle enables us to bring back balance and harmony not only to our physical bodies but to ourselves as a whole, it is not the goal to become perfect, you are already that in a physical sense but it is the goal to become whole and fulfilled.  It is enabling us to reconnect to the very essence, which makes our being making us feel complete.  It can build the foundations for a higher level of consciousness and bringing us inline with the nature that surrounds us can bring stability and steadiness, bringing more confidence, which then enables us to continue with our evolution.

Quite simply Suryia Namaskar brings empowerment so what a better way than to start your day with a few rounds not only to wake up and detox the body but also to wake up and detox the mind. 

Catch the sun in the palms of your hands and bring him into your heart.

Enjoy bowing to the master of light

For now have beautiful days

Om Om shanti Om

Mangala / Nicky

Bed Yoga for those Blue Winter Mornings!

Well now the winter is definitely in full swing here in Kathmandu and getting up in the dark and in the oh so cold is getting tougher and tougher, especially with no heating systems in our homes. 

But the intention to get up and onto the mat is still there and maybe for some even stronger as we want to start the new year in a positive manor, which can lead to a few frustrations as our mind is battling with our intellect and our bodies, the mind is telling us its ok go back to sleep, our bodies are telling us no I really would like to stretch and the intellect is telling us get your bottom out of this warm cosy place and on the mat, you know that it is good for you!!

So what to do, we all know which one we should be listening to, so here are a few yogic practices that you can do in the bed to make the journey out of there a little easier and a little gentler on our whole being, as winter time is a time more for rest and rejuvenation than pushing ourselves to our limits.

Also for those of us suffering with colds at this time of year rest is actually the best thing for us, but we still would like to practice, so here is how we can rest and practice at the same time -  hmmmmm will we ever make it from out under the covers again!!!!!!

You can start by lying in Savasana; on your back with legs apart, arms apart and palms facing upward and begin with some full yogic breathing.  Begin by just becoming aware of your natural breathing feeling all the sensations from the tip of your nose down into the lungs and again back out, feeling a warmth on the upper lip with every out breath.  Then start to breath more deeply pushing the tummy out as you inhale then pause, continue the inhalation and expand the chest.  Then with the exhalation allow the tummy to drop back down toward the spine and then lastly let the chest come down.  This breathing is going to bring potential energy for your day into the body and the whole system creating a good intention for the day. 

Then you can move into reclining bound angle pose – Supta Baddha Konasana, allowing a gently opening in the hips and the inner thighs.  Feel the soles of the feet pressing gently together allowing a flow of prana to journey around the body.  The spine can rest in its natural curve on the mattress and feel the shoulders and back of the head resting either on the mattress or on a pillow. Hold for however long you feel you can or as long as time allows and breath into any parts of the body where you are feeling tight or stiff.

Then straighten out your legs and hug one knee up to your chest again hold for some time keeping the other leg firmly pushing downward and then change to the other leg.

Coming into a supine spinal twist – Supta Matsyendrasana,  take your arms out to the sides shoulder height, bring one knee up to your chest then drop the knee down over the opposite side of the body and as close to your arm pit as you can, try to keep both shoulders down on the mattress and feel the twist to the spine, encouraging prana to flow through the spinal nerves and giving relief to the lower back.  The other leg is kept straight out.  Try to lengthen your exhalations in this pose to encourage the body to detox after the stillness of sleep.

Then you can roll over onto your front and come into a nice wide legged childs pose sinking the heart downward and resting the forehead either on the mattress or pillow.  Feel a connectedness to the earth as the hips gently open allowing the heart further downward and feel safe in your space as you look into your inner self.

Lastly for now or you will never get up!! Come to your cross legged pose sitting up now in the bed and bring the arms into Gomoukanasana pose, - crossing one arm over the other at the elbow and then connecting the palms together you should feel the forearms pushing against each other, then lift the elbows upward looking up to the finger tips to feel a lovely stretch along the upper back and the shoulders, great to relieve morning stiffness.

Throughout all these practices continually scan your body for new sensatioins as the body wakes up, now you are ready to jump out of the bed with enthusiasm and energy for the day!!

Looking forward to seeing you on the Mat!!!

Wishing you all a joyful and peaceful 2015 full of much love always

Enjoy your bed yoga!

Om shanti

Mangala / nicky