Yoga Reflection Journal

Zen Yoga is a yoga system that combines elements of Taoist Yoga, Hatha Yoga and Qigong. Zen Yoga synthesizes the 5 Elements of Traditional Chinese Medicine with the 8 Trigrams of the I Ching, “the Book of Changes” and the asanas of traditional yoga into one cutting edge system. Around the time of 527AD, an Indian monk named Da Mo, or Bodidharma traveled to China from India and brought yoga to the Chinese monks. This informed the already present practice of qigong in China and the two fused together into the system of qigong that is passed along today. In this way, what many have practiced as qigong has long been married to the art of yoga. One main principle in Zen Yoga is the “Water Wheel” teaching where you learn how to cool the head and warm the abdomen. In TCM, many ills are experienced because we have excess heat in the head and heart (heart attack, stroke, high blood pressure are examples.) You will notice the water wheel teachings throughout this book and corresponding video...

"A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory." I have a garden which I love Once in a while it looks perfect All the watering, feeding, pruning and love Add up to a moment of beauty Then I think.... If only I could keep it this way Preserve this moment for ever But my garden is alive Time and seasons bring changes Living things must change Life is like a garden Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved Except in memory I am a living thing which must change If I can accept the changes, I can accept myself And when I can accept myself, I can enjoy the changes And the beauty of the changes In the garden of my life  by Leonard Nimoy

Yin Yoga directs the stimulation normally created in the asana portion of the practice deeper than the superficial or muscular tissues. Yin Yoga works the connective tissues, such as the ligaments, bones, and the joints of the body that normally are not exercised very much in a more active style of asana practice.  Yin Yoga mainly targets the connective tissues of the hips, pelvis, and lower spine. All floor based poses. The poses held for many minutes were challenging but deeply loosening and relaxing. The extended flexibility lasted for days. The practice of Yin Yoga is a wonderful compliment to the Yang of Hatha Yoga. It provides a wonderful balance to the body for the practice of yoga. Teacher : Cheryl Edwards 2 hour workshop with 1 hour QiGong 2018

As pranayama involves an expansion of the breath, asanas can be used prior to open the chest in preparation. Mountain Pose Tadasana opens up the shoulders and begins chest opening. Lifting the arms up overhead continues this process. Putting the back up against a wall prevents the lower back hollowing and stabiles the trunk. Trikonasana Triangle Pose can identify asymmetries and enable correction. Pranayama can be practiced sitting or lying with the focus on maintaining the chest opening gained from the preparation. Using a wall to support the back and feel alignment is useful. Lying over a folded blanket, blocks or a bolster encourages more chest opening.

The fourth pranayama technique. The cessation of movement in the breath. Experience of stillness. Gradual practice, full expression to able acquired by gradual diminishing of the distance covered by the movement of the breath in exhalation as well as inhalation. Not sound to be heard. Breath from the diaphragm. Experience of stillness as the breath feels like it has stopped. Not similar to holding the breath or any type of retention but more of a feeling of the air existing and being shared with the universe to maintain life. The breath feels more and more invisible. But the ratio of oxygen and carbon dioxide feels completely different. Almost like there isn't enough oxygen, bringing a state or feeling alert but also very calm.

The quality of your breath is the quality of your life. How you breath is how you live your life. Breath deeper longer breaths for a deeper longer life. Balance between the inhalation and the exhalation. Conciousness is being the present moment. We can expand the present moment through yoga practice For self exploration and self realisation. Ourselves is all of us. Not just the physical body.

There is virtue in work and there is virtue in rest. Use both and overlook neither. Alan Cohen

BREATHE by Madisen Kuhn Don’t forget to get away every once in awhile, To lose yourself in a book  Or in the woods behind your home Ride your bike into the sunset, Sit on your front steps and count the cars passing by, Lay on your roof and gaze up at the night sky, Drive along backroads with the windows rolled down Listening to nothing but the sound of rushing wind I hope you take the time to be alone, To sort through the cluttered shelves of your heart I hope you take the time to be silent, To close your eyes and just listen I hope you take the time to be still, To quiet your mind and experience the beauty  Of simply Being In a world that tells us we should always be  Connected, on the go, and doing something worth sharing, I hope you know it’s okay to  Disconnect, slow down, and keep some memories Between you and the moment you shared it with.

Qi (chi) Is bio magnetic electrical energy, it will flow if given the opportunity to do so.  Air is Oxygen and other gasses, vapours, micro organisms, moisture, electrical particles, spirit.  Breath is the bridge between the mind and the body. Breathe in Qi / Prana a vital life sustaining source that feeds your body and mind. When Qi is balanced and moving the body and mind are healthy. When we breath in we breath in Qi (Chi) energy. For the next 60 seconds the air and its content fill our lungs, the oxygen moves across the chest and into the tiny blood vessels from the lungs into the heart. This is Qi flowing. As we take another breath in within about 60 heart beats / 60 seconds the heart has pumped all the old breath used oxygen around the body and it’s now carbon dioxide back into the lungs to trade it for more good clean air. And we breath in again, the new fresh oxygen is pumped around the body. It combines with blood and nutrients from food to make vital energy, Qi....

We might associate emotions with the heart space. Emotions could breathe in a spiritual and energetic way. As with using the chest space for both physical action and breath space in Cobra, Bridge and Fish poses the energy can be felt as uplifting helping us raise the heart towards the sun, this opening of the chest area collaborates naturally with “healing breath” breathing in positivity and light. When we open the heart space physically and expanding it with breath we open a space where warmth and compassion can be felt. It is very easy to smile when we open the heart space.

To just be with the breath is to surrender all other senses internally and externally including tensions, thoughts, restrictions and emotions to be aware of only the breath and notice the breath only and how it makes your body feel when inhaling, holding breath and exhaling. It is important to compose yourself so that the breath can flow easily as this will aid the practice and to ensure there is no overthinking or action beyond the breath itself to achieve this. To be with the breath can be easy or challenging, acutely or chronically. To just be with the breath’s state can alter temporarily whilst we re-focus the mind on the breath action in detail and zone out any distractions that may have crept into the breath work space. This re-focusing can return us to just being with the breath. Just being with the breath can be felt as the inner self or as an observer of the self in a natural way.

Breath in Oxygen Positive Light Energy Cleansing Light Sunlight The Present Moment Health Vitality Radiance Breath out Toxins Negativity Things that no longer serve us Tension Disease Restrictions Sluggishness Expectation Grief Past Tensions Draw from what ever sources we feel we need at the time The inner self Non personal connections such a visualisation Create spaciousness Imagine breathing through different areas of the body besides the chest/lungs. Through the space between the eyebrows with a feeling of expansion and enlightenment and more depth. Breathing through the mind. Through the top of the head with a feeling of travelling, intelligent light to the rest of body. Throught the fingers, toes and tail bone drawing in light as we breath through the limbs. Through the whole body from the eyebrow space to the collarbones, to the chest, to the lungs and then to the tummy. Feeling absorbing breath in the mind and then expansive breath in the ch...

Good asanas for pranayama that allow you to “Just Be With The Breath”. • Crossed leg seated position • Half lotus • Full Lotus • Hero Pose (supported or unsupported) Huge benefit of the four postures are they keep the spine erect for clear breath thus avoiding thinking about how to improve the airflow during practice allowing the breathwork to prevail. • Sitting on a chair Use a straight back chair to keep the spine erect and result in a clear airway. Chin position in all postures It’s ok for the chin to drop forward slightly but avoid tipping the head back or lifting the chip upwards. The chin lifts up if you are slouching and the airway becomes constricted. Time Practice can be stand alone. Starting with a few minutes. Duration can increase over time. Pranayama can be practiced several times as day and attached to physical yoga and meditation. Some pranayamas energise the body and some relax. Choose pranayamas to achieve your desired effect on the mind and...

People can be “chest breathers” using only the top 1/3 of the chest. Pranayama practice enables full use of the chest and lungs top, middle and bottom sections. Scar tissue can be present in the lungs in the top third portion from causes such as pollution, airborne toxins, smoking, asthma and past chest infections. Breathing into the unscarred tissues of the deeper portion of the lungs increases VO2 increasing oxygen capacity. When we increase the oxygenation we increase the metabolic rate and the rates of the other functions in the body such as elimination, digestion, tissue regeneration. Full pranayama breath work In a crossed leg sitting position. First few breaths = feeling expanded, light and calm (even if there wasn't tension) More Breaths = Chest opens more,  capacity for breath broadens, it's easier to just be with the breath, More breaths = Chest is lifting more, shoulders are more relaxed, as the chest opens more there is a feeling of being able to enbra...

In traditional yoga Asanas are practiced with the intention to reach full expression of the pose. In Somatic Yoga techniques, somatic movement and flows are designed for a personal expression of the mind body connection. Through isolating specific mescles, mindfully controlling/contracting those muscles and then slowly releasing them back to neutral. Somatic yoga strengthens and integrates the brain to muscle connection. This is a similar mindset to other forms of excercise from the rewilding movmenet such as MoveNat which focuses on movement with balance and variety in a natural environment such as walking or running in a woodland setting to engage the brain with the movement to tackle onbstackles such as tree roots, low hanging branches, uneven ground, sharp drops in ground level - this would not be achieved if one was running or walking on a treadmill where the brain/body connection would be very minimal. The feeling of the somatic yoga asanas is direct and focused it is indep...

The final step in the eight-fold path of Yoga is the attainment of Samadhi.  Samadhi means "to bring together, to merge." In the state of samadhi the body and senses are at rest, as if asleep, yet the faculty of mind and reason are alert, as if awake; one goes beyond consciousness. During samadhi, we realize what it is to be an identity without differences, and how a liberated soul can enjoy pure awareness of this pure identity. The conscious mind drops back into that unconscious oblivion from which it first emerged. Thus, samadhi refers to union or true Yoga. There is an ending to the separation that is created by the "I" and "mine" of our illusory perceptions of reality. The mind does not distinguish between self and non-self, or between the object contemplated and the process of contemplation. The mind and the intellect have stopped and there is only the experience of consciousness, truth and unutterable joy. The achievement of samadhi is a diffic...

Dhyana means worship, or profound and abstract religious meditation.  It is perfect contemplation. It involves concentration upon a point of focus with the intention of knowing the truth about it. The concept holds that when one focuses their mind in concentration on an object the mind is transformed into the shape of the object. Hence, when one focuses on the divine they become more reflective of it and they know their true nature. "His body, breath, senses, mind, reason and ego are all integrated in the object of his contemplation – the Universal Spirit."xv During dhyana, the consciousness is further unified by combining clear insights into distinctions between objects and between the subtle layers of perception. "We learn to differentiate between the mind of the perceiver, the means of perception, and the objects perceived, between words, their meanings, and ideas, and between all the levels of evolution of nature."xvi As we fine-tune our concentration and ...

Dharana means "immovable concentration of the mind".  The essential idea is to hold the concentration or focus of attention in one direction.  "When the body has been tempered by asanas, when the mind has been refined by the fire of pranayama and when the senses have been brought under control by pratyahara, the sadhaka (seeker) reaches the sixth stage, dharana. Here he is concentrated wholly on a single point or on a task in which he is completely engrossed. The mind has to be stilled in order to achieve this state of complete absorption."xiii In dharana we create the conditions for the mind to focus its attention in one direction instead of going out in many different directions. Deep contemplation and reflection can create the right conditions, and the focus on this one point that we have chosen becomes more intense. We encourage one particular activity of the mind and, the more intense it becomes, the more the other activities of the mind fall away. The ob...

Pratyahara means drawing back or retreat.  The word ahara means "nourishment"; pratyahara translates as "to withdraw oneself from that which nourishes the senses." In yoga, the term pratyahara implies withdrawal of the senses from attachment to external objects. It can then be seen as the practice of non-attachment to sensorial distractions as we constantly return to the path of self realization and achievement of internal peace. It means our senses stop living off the things that stimulate; the senses no longer depend on these stimulants and are not fed by them any more. In pratyahara we sever this link between mind and senses, and the senses withdraw. When the senses are no longer tied to external sources, the result is restraint or pratyahara. Now that the vital forces are flowing back to the Source within, one can concentrate without being distracted by externals or the temptation to cognize externals. Pratyahara occurs almost automatically when we meditat...

Pranayama is the measuring, control, and directing of the breath.  Pranayama controls the energy (prana) within the organism, in order to restore and maintain health and to promote evolution. When the in-flowing breath is neutralized or joined with the out-flowing breath, then perfect relaxation and balance of body activities are realized. In yoga, we are concerned with balancing the flows of vital forces, then directing them inward to the chakra system and upward to the crown chakra. Pranayama, or breathing technique, is very important in yoga. It goes hand in hand with the asana or pose. In the Yoga Sutra, the practices of pranayama and asana are considered to be the highest form of purification and self discipline for the mind and the body, respectively. The practices produce the actual physical sensation of heat, called tapas, or the inner fire of purification. It is taught that this heat is part of the process of purifying the nadis, or subtle nerve channels of the body....