🌎🌱Pachamama: Ancient Inca Goddess Wisdom⛰️

 

🌟Welcome to our Ancient Goddess Wisdom Yoga Series!! This idea came to me last Fall as I listened to my daily morning meditation, one day selecting one focused on goddess energy. It spoke to me so much that I knew I had to create a yoga series, drawing from our ancestral feminine energy! My minor in college was Anthropology, so I've always loved and been fascinated by cultures from around our incredible planet! Goddess energy, divine feminine energy lies within each of us, our ancestors and the women before us guide us through our daily lives with strength, passion, resilience, inner power, peace, love, understanding, beautiful flowing energy that is rooted in our sacral chakra, our Svadhisthana. As our lives have become more hectic, more chaotic, we've accumulated so many layers creating an armor, and sometimes we no longer recognize ourselves. We arrive on our mats to shed these layers, so return home to our truest selves, reconnecting to our deep embedded Goddess energy!

🪷I've chosen 6 Goddesses from various regions including Indian-Hindu, South America Inca, Nordic, Greek, African, Celtic (sprinkled in on my birthday class, and Indigenous North American!

✨🦢Last week, we dove into our first Goddess, Saraswati, our Hindu Goddess, perfectly timed as our opening goddess since yoga is an ancient Indian practice! She shared with us her thirst for knowledge, learning, creativity, music and the arts, as she rode her swan, guiding us to our inner wisdom, and rediscovering our own intellect, creativity, purity and elegance! 

 

 

🌎This week, we hopped across the globe to South America, to the ancient Inca civilization to connect to the goddess, Pachamama! She is Earth Mother, Mother Nature, often depicted embodying the trunk of a tree, extending her branches, her arms out in love, nourishing our world. She is the source of all life, and brings us love, fertility, nutrient-rich soil to plant, grow, and harvest not only delicious nourishment, but hope, love, and understanding to all living beings, reminding us that we are interconnected with one another, and to our natural world! She is in every leaf of a plant, every breath of an animal, every drop of water, and deep in the rock of the Andes mountains, stretching from Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, down to Chile and Argentina! She's even seen in the Amazon River, as its formation begins at the Andes Mountains and winds east to the Atlantic Ocean. Pachamama is also seen embodying mountains, and was known to cause earthquakes! Perhaps she created these vibrations to alert to us humans to take better care of her. Celebrations to honor Pachamama are held in August, right before the sowing season. They include large feasts, with the first meal being offered to her, participants dig a hole in the earth and place the plate of food into the hole to return the nourishment back to her, our Earth Mother!

 

 

🌱To truly honor our Ancient Goddess Wisdom series, we began in Tadasana, not often cued at the beginning of class. We enrich our lives with learning and trying new things, creating new neural pathways in the brain, keeping us on our toes, improving cognition, stepping out of our comfort zone, knowing our bravery to try new things will enrich our lives! We created our BREATH OF JOY pranayama! Deep inhale as the arms lift overhead, reaching toward the heavens, exhale as we bend the knees, arms float toward the earth, fingertips brush along our mat, inhale rising up reaching to the sky with our inhale, exhale the body melts forward, repeating one more time to fill our lungs with joy! Joy as we connect with our Goddess, Pachamama!

 

 

⛰️We planted the palms and melted the knees to the rich earth beneath us into our Childs pose. We walked the hands to the right, through center, to the left, as the hips reached toward the back of our mats. We inhaled as the right hand reached forward, and the left hand thread underneath the right, threading the needle, grounding the temple and shoulder. We melted into the earth below us, recalibrating the body, mind, and soul to the rhythm of the natural world around us, still resting during winter. As humans, we've become out of sync with the living beings around us, we've sped up our activity when we should be resting. So, we take these moments to resync to the earth. We closed the eyes, and traveled through our 5 senses, to connect to the body is to become truly present. Even though the eyes are closed, we noticed what we see beyond the lids, finding peace and serenity in this darkness. We traveled to smell, noticing what we smell around us, I sprayed "Palo Santo" in studio, notes of citrus and mint with woodsy scents. We scanned to our hearing, noticing the sound of our breath, the breath of our neighbor, the hum of the furnace, pinpointing an instrument in the music. We unraveled our threaded needle to honor the opposite side. On to our taste, noticing the last thing we may have eaten, or a sip of cup of tea, coffee,  lingering in the mouth, separating the teeth, the tongue falling from the roof of the mouth. Lastly, we noticed our sense of touch, what we feel against the skin, the warmth of the air against the skin, the softness of our clothes, the stickiness of our mat, supporting us, cradling us, serving as our anchor, bringing us back home to ourselves.

 

 

🌲We met the hands together reaching forward, then peeled the palms back toward the heels and toes, closing the knees together, grounding the third eye, as if we were a little seed. We found stillness, honoring Pachamama, rooted in the soil, patient until it was time for growth. Our pranayama was our 3-part breath, deeply inhaling through the nose, from the toes all the way up into the belly, filling it up, expanding, taking up space, pausing at the top of that breath, and slowly exhaling through the mouth. We repeated this two more times, the inhale lengthening from the abdomen to the chest, filling the lungs, expanding the ribs, and slowly exhaling through the mouth. The final round travelled from the abdomen, to the lungs, up to the crown!  We became present in the body and the space we're in, and allowed all of our past stresses to melt back to the earth, transformed into something new, something for our greater good. Our future schedules and to-do lists floated away, into the breeze, no longer needed, carried further and further away from us. Nothing to do, nowhere else to be but right here in this moment for ourselves. We anchored to the peace found in this stillness. Our Ujayi breath followed, even lengths of inhale and exhale through the nose, grounding, stabilizing breath, with a gentle constriction at the back of the throat creating an ocean wave sound.

 

 

🌎We began to uncurl from our Seed pose, lifting the chest and gaze, sitting onto the heels into our Hero pose. We floated toward the sun, spine elongating, hands together to form our Padma mudra, our Lotus flower. Her roots are deeply rooted in the pond's soil, makes the arduous journey up through the dark, murky water, to reach the surface where the sunlight welcomes her, as she opens, soaking in the warmth and healing rays to bloom. We floated our Lotus up to the sky, and back to the heart, and melted into sidebands to the right and left, a little backbend, and forward fold. We walked the hands back, uncurling, to come into a comfortable seat or half lotus pose. We anchored the sit bones, lengthened each vertebrae toward the next in line, crown to the sky. The hands met in our Anjali mudra, prayer hands. We rubbed them to create some heat, some healing energy, remembering that our hands are tools for healing, and cupped the hands to the eyes, sending healing energy to the soul. Hands floated to the crown, sending healing energy to the mind, calming the chatter. The mind can become stuck in the past, ruminating over things that have been, or travel too far forward into the future with worry, but the body is always present, so here we connect and stay present. One hand floated to the forehead, and the other to the base of the skull, gentle pressure into our vagus nerve, serving as a nervous system reset button, finally bringing the hands to the heart sending gratitude to the heart and lungs.

 

🌱We set an intention for our class, and released it, reaching the hands to the sky and to the right for a twist, peeling the right shoulder back to open the chest 5% more, opening our Anahata chakra, heart chakra, sending compassion, understanding, love out into the world. We arched the right hand to the sky and toward the opposite knee to open the side body, and then brought it to the left knee, crossing the arms, arching the back and dripping the chin. We honored the other side, and then came through center, planted the fingers behind us, opened the chest, arching the spine into a backbend, and melted into a forward fold. We unraveled the legs and melted the hips back into a child’s pose, bending the elbows, prayer hands overhead, thumbs melting to the nape of the neck. With our inhale we pressed into the palms to roll back into our Childs pose. We walked the hands to the right, sinking the hips back and to the left, walked the hands through center, and to the left, hips sinking back and to the right. We created a Childs pose wave, slowly rolled through the spine, arching the back, brushing the fingertips along the mat as we rolled toward our feet, the chin dripping toward the chest, until our glutes met the heels, and then creating a little backbend, hands to the earth, the spine waving long, crown reaching to the sky, the shoulders melting back, the arms extend out and up, palms together, to the heart, and melting forward, walking the fingertips into a forward fold. We repeated this 2 more times, delighting in this spinal awakening of the body. 

⛰️Our cat cow flow followed as we warmed up the spine, adding in organic movement, hips swaying side to side, or rolling forward and back into Childs pose waving back and forward into our table top. We moved to our breath, our own pace, making our cat cow our own. We came into our neutral table top, inhaled as the right foot reached for the sky, bending at the knee, gaze lifted, exhaled nose to knee, two more times, on the third reaching left hand for the right foot, opening the chest into our Tiger pose, today, it's our Patagonia Puma since we're in the Andes! The Patagonia puma is one of my favorite animals on earth! We released the foot slowly, planted the right toes to the back of our mat, lifted the left knee into the chest curling the back, set the left knee down, right leg lifted parallel to the mat, and crossed to the left gaze following. The right leg came through center, hovering, then reached out to the right, floating off of the hands into our Gate, right hand down to the extended right leg, left hand overhead, cartwheeling the hands to the left side of our mat, right hand overhead, and melted the hands to the top of our mat, right knee in to meet the left, and into a cat cow flow, then honored the left side.

 

 

🌲After we honored the left side, we tucked the toes, hovered the knees, and lifted into our downward dog- plank waves, pranam knees chest chin, into a low cobra, and up into our downward dog, a total of 3 times. We floated to the top of our mats into a forward fold, hanging heavy, and began to root to rise, we slowly lifted up, one vertebrae at a time, the head the last to come through, into our Tadasana, our mountain pose. We felt the grounding energy from the earth pull at the soles of our feet from the toes to the arches to the heels, like roots of a tree pulling us into he soil, anchoring us. This energy circled around the legs, to the pelvis, the hips, around each vertebrae of the spine to the shoulders as they melt down from the ears. The crown reaching for the heavens, we are stable, rooted, and anchored. Pachamama is known to create earthquakes, so we created some too! Inhale as we floated high into the toes, heels lifted, exhaled heels drop to the earth, two more times, sending vibrations down into the earth, inhale receiving those vibrations back through the soles of the feet. With the third exhale we created a little bounce in the feet before the heels met the earth. 

 

 

🌎This heel drop practice is also a somatic release! When we are overstimulated, sent into an overactive state, our sympathetic nervous system is activated, heart rate and blood pressure increasing, clenched jaw, shoulders raised, as if we're bracing for impact. Heel drops bring our awareness to the grounded nature of the feet with the earth, creating vibrations throughout the body,  away from the mind. Additionally, if we are stuck in a frozen, shut down state, our dorsal vagal state, we will need small activity to get us moving again, this is helpful with heel drops as well! We inhaled hands overhead, melted to the right with a sidebend, through center and to the right, then with a swan dive melted into a forward fold. We planted the hands and moved through a vinyasa flow, pranam knees chest chin into a low cobra, or a chaturanga flow to upward dog, or skipped the flow completely, stepping into downward dog. Always your choice!

 

 

 

🌱In our downward dog, we inhaled lifting the right leg, exhale right knee toward the left elbow, extending, curling in knee to right elbow, extending, curling in knee to chest with a hover, and planting the right foot between the hands, ground into the left hand, right hand high, Twisted Lunge. Right hand down, left foot steps in, into our Pyramid pose, great place for blocks, as the right hip melts back, left hip forward, squaring the hips, soften the hamstrings, melt the heart, hands to blocks. We looked just like peaks of the Andes Mountain range! We floated forward into the palms, standing splits as the left toes reached to the sky, exhale curtsy taps left toes to the earth right side of the mat, 2 more times extending high, tapping down, on the third, left toes met the right ankle as we grew our tree from the ground up, embodying Pachamama, often painted as the trunk of a tree, purifying our world's air, healing our lungs, extending our branches, sending love out to our neighbors! We brought the left knee through center into our Pilar pose, then wrapped it around the right leg, Eagle arms, as we lifted hands to our Ajna chakra, our wisdom center, and crunched forward in our Harpy Eagle pose! One of the largest eagles on Earth, she lives in sub tropical regions of Brazil and Argentina, an incredible bird of prey! Her talons are longer than a Grizzly bear's claws, which are 4 inches long! We allowed her to take flight by extending the left leg long toward the back into our Warrior III, keeping our Eagle arms or letting go, and with a soft landing of the left foot, planted it to the back of our mat to extend up into our Sky Archer, left hand to the left leg, right leg straightens, right hand high to the sky. We cartwheeled the arms around, right elbow to right knee, Side Angle, left hand overhead, left hand down inside the right foot, right hand high into a Twisted Lunge, right hand down inside the right foot, into our Lizard, rocking forward and back, then melting the left knee and peeling open to the right, perhaps binding for the foot. We lifted the left knee, walked the hands to the left long side of the mat into our Wideleg fold. Inhale as we turned the heels in, slowly rolling up to stand, 5-pt. Star, exhale into our Goddess, a little dance side to side, then forming our Eagle arms, we created snake waves to the right and left, keeping our spine healthy and fluid, honoring our Lunar New Year, the Year of the Snake, we shed the layers we no longer need, or we perish. This wave melted forward into a fold, swaying left and right, clearing the path of any debris in our way, heaviness rolled from our backs. As we met our left foot, we pivoted to the back of our mat, unraveled to plant the right hand inside the left foot, left hand high, Twisted Lunge. Left hand came down, back foot planted as we rose up Warrior I, hand high to the sky, cactus the arms, find Eagle arms or a bind behind the back as we humbled in, bending forward toward the left knee. On the third round, we melted forward with our bind, pivoted to the right to melt into a widely fold, then pivoted to the top of our mat, Warrior I, a balance challenge as we circled around, no hands touching down, then hands unraveled to the sky, cactus the arms, then plant the hands as the right foot swept through center and up, 3 Limb Dog, bend the knee open the hip, perhaps Wild Thing, to step down, downward dog. We walked the hands to the feet, heel toed the feet out, Yogi Squat.  Lots of hip-openers to open our sacral chakra, connect to our Goddess, divine feminine energy. In our yogi squat options to fly our crow, melt forward, open our heart, or twist. We lifted the hips, heel toed the feet closer together, walked the hands forward into our plank for a flow. We met in Tadasana for more earthquake heel drops, and honored the left side!

 

 

 

 ⛰️Our Somatic practice gives us tools to regulate our nervous system, to stimulate the vagus nerve that begins at the base of the brain and runs throughout the body touching every organ system! We agitated emotions stuck in the body, to help them release, and to serve as a reset button. I usually alternate between these tools each week! We began in our Tadasana, brought the right hand to the left upper side of the chest, and extended the left arm forward, palm facing the sky. With a deep inhale, we kept the hips forward, as the left arm slowly traveled out to the left side, gaze following, to the back, paused at the back with the gaze over our left shoulder, and on the exhale slowly brought the arm back toward the top of our mat. We repeated this two more times, inhaled as the arms reached overhead, palms gathered at the heart. We brought the left arm to the right upper side of the chest, extended the right arm forward, palm facing up, and with the inhale slowly traveled the right arm out to the side as the gaze followed, to the back, and paused opening the chest. With the exhale we brought the right arm slowly back to the top of our mat, and repeated 2 more times!  We rubbed the palms together to create some healing heat, and we brought the fingertips to the crown, massaging the fingertips all over the crown and behind the ears, even the base of the skull. We moved into the temples, massaging circles here, we dripped the fingers to the jaw, the hinge where we open and close the jaw, the perfect release for jaw clenchers like myself, and maybe you too. We pulled down on the ear lobes, pulled the middle of the ears out to the sides, up to the top of the ears pulling toward the sky. We brought our fingertips to the base of the skull, pressing into our vagus nerve, and melted the fingertips toward the ears, along the jawline, and down the front of the neck to the collarbone. We repeated this 2 more times, releasing tightness in the throat. We tapped into the collarbone, with slow rythmic taps, all fingers in unison, into one of our acupressure points in the body. We brought this tapping to the sternum, center of the chest. We slowly tapped here, either with the fingertips or Bilateral Butterfly taps using cupped hands over one another on the chest, activating both hemispheres of the brain, continuing as we inhaled, paused to bring the hands to the heart, stacked on top of one another, and as we exhaled we audibly hummed into our bee breath🐝! If you hold tension here in the chest, this is a nice release! Humming is a somatic release, also good for respiratory infection season to break things up in the lungs, and humming has shown to reduce anxiety better than sleep! We crossed the arms at the chest, and squeezed into opposite shoulders, down to the biceps and triceps, and into the forearms. We brought the hands to the shoulders again for a squeeze, and swiped the hands down the arms, chest, abdomen, low back, and legs, making sure anything still tethered to the body is fully released. We released everything from last year, last month, this morning that we need to let go of, swipe it away, let yourself be freed of it, so we don't carry this heaviness any longer! Allow it to melt down your back! Let it drift into the snowy breeze, no longer needed in this moment!

 

 

 

🌲We came into stillness, then swayed right and left, and found stillness again, noticing the effects: we can feel cool, heat, or tingling sensations, even a spontaneous yawn! All signs of a regulated nervous system. We removed anything stuck, anything harmful & toxic still attached to the body! We stimulated the vagus nerve, the super highway of information from the brain to the body! We sent messages to the brain that the body is not under threat, it does not have to exist in a continuous active state (fight /flight/freeze mode). We helped our body to experience a larger capacity to sit in discomfort, and not immediately reach for unhealthy soothers, or run from it. We welcome space for triggers to be felt and moved through. We have the ability to help our nervous system shift fluidly between states when each are needed, the sympathetic & parasympathetic nervous systems! Both are useful and 100% needed, but we do not want to become stuck in one state for too long. These practices are so useful off the mat as we encounter stress or triggers in our daily lives! We find balance! We find freedom!