Asana and Reading for April 2011
Spring is on our doorstep, and this means a lot of exciting things: warmer weather, beautiful blossoms, hanami parties and being more comfortable outside. Unfortunately for many people, especially in Japan, it means another thing: hay fever.
With this in mind, I have designed April’s yoga sequence to help us fight the season of allergies and stuffy noses the natural way. Although yoga is not a replacement for your trusted allergy medicine, it is an excellent companion. With regular asana and pranayama exercise, the occurrences of allergy attacks can become fewer, and this might mean that you’ll be able to take medicine less frequently.
The main way that yoga can help you to clear the way to smooth breathing is by helping you to strengthen your immune system. The three main ways to do this are:
1) Relaxing. As simple as that. Stress breaks down your immunity and relaxation makes it stronger. Yoga poses that are done slowly and with deep breathing have an automatic relaxing effect on the nervous system. We will therefore be focussing a lot on breathing techniques, including Ujjyai breath and Alternate nostril breathing.
2) Increasing the blood flow. More blood being circulated means that more antibodies can circulate through the blood, building immunity. We will get the blood flowing with a nice warm-up sequence of Sun Salutations.
3) Opening the chest. In the middle of the chest is a gland called the thymus gland. This gland plays a big role in immunity, and stimulating this gland with chest-opening asanas is a great way to boost the immune system. We will be doing poses that focus on stretching the chest area, including Cobra pose, Pigeon pose, Fish pose, Bow pose and, this month’s challenge pose, Bridge pose.
Something old, something new… April is looking like a good month to be doing yoga. Our reading this month is from B.K.S Iyengar:
| Yoga is an art, a science and a philosophy. It touches the life of man at every level, physical, mental and spiritual. It is a practical method for making one’s life purposeful, useful and noble. |
| Yoga alone enables the practitioner to perceive and experience the world within and around himself, to touch the divine joy of all creation, and then to share that nectar of divine wealth and happiness with his fellow beings. |
| Yoga is a friend to those who embrace it sincerely and totally. It lifts its practitioners from the clutches of pain and sorrow, and enables them to to live fully, taking a delight in life. The practice of yoga helps the lazy body to become active and vibrant. It transforms the mind, making it harmonious. Yoga helps to keep one’s body and mind in tune with the essence, the soul, so that all three are blended into one. |
Namaste,
Marilu
月毎に行うポーズ名をご紹介します。レッスンの状況により多少変更することがあります。
