🛶💦River Yoga: Healing in Nature Series🌳

 

🌲🌱🍄Hey friends! We're in the third week of our Healing in Nature Yoga Series!! Last week we visited the mountains!! Most of us know the incredible beauty, often overwhelming beauty that mountains hold, why so many are drawn to mountain retreats for solace and serenity. The higher elevation, full of crisp, cool, clean air, far from pollution, fills our lungs, requiring our bodies to adapt to more oxygenated blood cells, resulting in improved respiration, circulation, and even immunity! Our stress levels decrease, blood pressure decreases, and our physical activity often increases, as we explore the surroundings through hiking, yoga, perhaps kayaking down a nearby river! We connect to nature once again, reminded that we are actually part of this huge ecosystem. Our sleep improves in the mountains, and we feel more grounded being surrounded by such incredible peaks, and wide masses of earth and rock. We may even experience spiritual growth, a deep awakening to self, and to divinity, being in such close proximity to the Heavens. It's no surprise that healers, shamans, and monks live in the highest mountains! We find a sense of balance, a firm stability here in the mountains, more focused, strong, more clarity. We are unwavering, unmoved in the midst of a chaotic world around us. We absorb this rooted energy into our lives, and share it with those we love. Peace extends out into the world, just as the mountain ranges travel across the countries and regions of our world. 

 

 

This week we traveled to the Rivers!! It's almost kayak season!! We need the water temp to go up just a little higher! Kayaking is one of my favorite outdoor activities from spring to fall! My dear friend Pam and I just float for 3 hours down the White River nearby, so I drew a ton of inspiration from our river driftings, and all the animals we say hi to along the way, and the relaxation we are immersed in! Whether we are hiking alongside rivers, or kayaking, canoeing, paddle boarding, or tubing, there is so much healing that can be felt when in the river! We escape the chaos of city life, hopefully far from cars and pollution, so we can sigh a breath of relief. We can float for hours, relaxing the body and mind from work life, busy family life, and reduce our stress, shifting out of our overactive nervous system state. We see an increase in our oxygenated blood cells, surrounded by the trees that flank the river, those glorious giants who filter toxins from our air, providing cleaner oxygen to breathe into our lungs. Serotonin levels are boosted when we float, as we reconnect to nature, to the fish in the waters below, to the heron staring at us from the bank, to the turtles sunning on fallen tree limbs, and to the bald eagle flying overhead, guiding us down the river! We find this balance, this yin and yang energy, from floating to the occasional paddling to ride over a rocky waterfall. We allow all the heaviness we are carrying to melt off of our shoulders into the river to be taken downstream, far far away, no longer needed for us to carry! We connect to the sensory experience of the river, to the vibrant green of the trees, the blue of the river, the sound of bird song, maybe the hoot of an owl, the aroma of our surroundings, the warmth of the sunshine against our skin, and the occassional droplet of water that jumps onto our arms and legs. We delight in this lightness, this freedom, we wash our soul clean!

 

 

☀️We began in our Seated pose, comfortably crossing the legs, or a half or full lotus pose, envisioning ourselves sitting in our kayak or canoe, floating down the river! The warmth of the room, (90 degrees) felt just like the sun warming our skin! The playlist of water ripping and birds singing helped us on our vision quest! Our sit bones were anchored to our boat beneath us, each vertebrae of the spine elongating to the next one in line, all the way to the crown, as the crown reached for the sky. Our shoulders were relaxed down from the ears, our jaw softened. Our pranayama was our Nadi Shodhana, Alternate Nostril breathwork! We found balance between the hemispheres of the brain, and in our lungs! We created healing energy between our palms, 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, for the work they do every moment of every day, for us.

 

We became present in the body and the space we're in, and allowed all of our past events to melt back to the earth, transformed into something new, something for our greater good. We sent our fears and worries and stressors out into the river, to be carried further and further away from us, no longer needed to carry, as we become cleansed, healing in action. 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. The hands floated overhead, and to the heart, as the right hand walked out to the right side of our mat, the left hand lifted to the sky, then to the back of the head, the gaze floating to the left elbow with an inhale, exhale we curled in, left elbow toward right arm, 2 more times, through center, the hands float overhead and to the heart, Anjali mudra, prayer hands. Hands rested to the knees as we found a seated cat cow, or roll through the spine, intuitive movement! We honored the left side with the cradle head crunches, through center, into our Boat pose! We inhaled, exhale down and hover, 2 more times, before melting to the back. We inhale lengthening long, exhale knees to chest, rocking side to side. We found Supine Twists to the right and left, with a Bridge pose in between.

 

 

We rock n rolled along the spine, 2-3 times, into our comfortable seat or half lotus pose, once again, into our kayak, opposite leg on top. We anchored the sit bones, lengthened each vertebrae toward the next in line, crown to the sky. We formed our Garuda Mudra, thumbs meeting , rotating the hands so the right hand is above the left, then crossing the hands to form an Eagle with wings spread out, just like our Bald Eagle friend flying overhead!  This mudra improves circulation, respiration, and is grounding and stabilizing. One wing represents Resiliency, and the other Inner Freedom! We brought palms together, inhale cactus arms, exhale curling the back, forearms together, cradling the head, chin toward chest. 2 more times, this cactus-cradle deep inhales and exhales! We inhaled the hands overhead, 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. Still in our backbend, we unraveled the legs so soles of the feet met, inching the toes forward into a diamond, a wide Butterfly pose, and on the exhale, we walked the hands under the calves, melting forward, into our Turtle pose, honoring the dozens of turtles we meet along the river!

 

Still in our Turtle pose, we slowly began to lift the chest, floating up, arms still under the calves, now balancing on the root, toes pointing forward, into our Flower pose!  We unraveled the legs and brought them together into our Boat pose, hands to the heart, inhale we float, exhale we twist to the right, left elbow meets right knee as the left leg extends forward, back and forth to the left, bicycle legs in our Boat pose! We rocked forward into the hands and knees, 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 rolled forward into our Table Top, moving through a cat cow flow!

 

 

🐅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 gaze and right foot floated to the sky, bending at the knee, into our Jaguar, traveling to the Amazon River! On the exhale the right knee curled into the chest, tapping the nose, arching the back, holding here, inhale lifting one more time, gaze and right toes, left hand reaching for the right foot, opening the chest! Left hand released down, right knee tucked in, the left toes tucked, and we lifted the hips to raise the right leg high into our 3-Limb Downward Dog. We exhaled right knee into the chest, set the right shin down, inhale as the left leg lifted, parallel to the mat, foot flexed, exhale we float it to the right side of our mat, gaze over the right shoulder. Inhale the gaze through center, left knee tucks in behind the right, hands walk to the left, we sink the hips back, crossed-leg Childs pose! We came through center, cat cow flow, and honored our Jaguar flow on the left side!

 

 

In our downward dog, we created plank waves, floating into our plank, exhaling up into our Downward dog, 3 times, and pranam knees chest chin, into a low cobra, and up into our downward dog. 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. We inhaled hands overhead, right hand to the left wrist, bending to the right, through center, side bend to the left. We came through center and to exhaled forward into 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!

 

 

 

Our River Flow began in Tadasana, and floated into Sidebends with fingers interlaced, palms up to the sky as we melted to the right and the left, exhaling through a swan dive into a fold, to move through a flow, into downward dog. Inhale right leg to the sky, exhale right knee to left elbow, inhale lift, exhale right knee to right elbow, inhale lift, exhale knee to chest, plant right foot between hands, back heel grounds, we rise up into our Warrior I, hands to the sky, exhale cactus arms, forming our Garuda eagle wings mudra, to humble our warrior, 3 times. As we rise, the left knee floats forward and up into our Pilar pose, inhale hands overhead, right hand to left knee, left hand reaches back, Dancing Shiva, through center, left leg extends back, Warrior 3. Bend into the right leg, left foot plants back of the mat, as we lift right hand up, left hand down, Exalted Warrior. Cartwheel the hands around, right elbow to right thigh, Side Angle. Taking time here to half bind, left hand behind the back, maybe full bind, adding in right hand threads under the thigh, reaching for other hand, maybe rising up into our Bird of Paradise, strong in the left leg as the right foot floats to the sky, keeping our bind! We release back into our Side Angle, into a Twisted Lunge, left hand down inside right foot, right hand high, melting the hips. Inhale reaching right fingers to sky, exhale thread right hand under left arm into a Wide Leg fold. Inhale we walk the hands forward, right hand grounds, left hand threads to the right shin, Twisted Giraffe drinking at the riverbank! Through center right hand to the left shin, through center, hands walk toward the left foot, right foot high, Standing Splits. Inhale reaching high, exhale right knee into the chest, inhale high, exhale knee to chest, one more time, holding in knee to chest, straight through the left leg, binding behind back, or prayer hands, floating in our Flamingo! We're in Africa at the Nile River with our giraffe and flamingo! The right shin comes down, into our seat, left foot over right knee, left knee to the sky, we twist to the left, right arm curling around left knee. We come through center, extend the left leg high, both hands to the ankle, and then open the right arm out behind us, into our Heron pose, always herons by the river! Hand back to the ankle, left foot crosses over right knee as we float forward into the left foot, right leg high, Standing Splits. Right foot plants to the top of our mat, Skandasana to the right foot, heart opener, hands float, or we melt the heart! We pivot to the top of our mat, left hand down, right hand high, Twisted Lunge, right hand down inside the right foot as it heel toes out, into our Lizard, today a Salamander in the river! We could stay high rocking forward and back, melt into the forearms, or open out to the right, binding for the back foot! We came through center, right foot back as we moved through a flow, and met in Tadasana, to honor 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. With one hand to the base of the skull, pressing into the vagus nerve, the other hand brought the index and middle fingers to the hairline at the forehead and began rolling the fingers down the forehead, between the eyebrows, down the bridge of the nose to the tip, repeating 3 times, and switching out the hands. 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, yesterday, 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!