Featured Pose: Urdhva Mukha Svanasana, Upward Facing Dog

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Featured Pose: Urdhva Mukha Svanasana, Upward Facing Dog

// Urdhva Mukha Svanasana: Upward Facing Dog

I can find so many reasons to close my heart.  To protect it and hide it.  As the days pass, and the seasons change, as the ball of my life continues to roll on and on, I age, and I begin to acquire more painful experiences both personal and worldly, as every other human does.  Sometimes it can seem impossible to look into the mirror and grieve the failures, the loss of loved ones, and the sheer brokenness written over my body and over the body of the world. Some days they feel so imprinted and vast that I cannot imagine there being any additional space for more broken hearts. This is utterly paralyzing.

Our Yoga practice calls us to show up, each day, and face whatever it is in front of us. When I want to retreat and hide behind my scars, my practice asks me to stand up, step forward, and reveal my face, to look at it, for as long as I need to in order to see the truth.  When I, objectively, look into the mirror and engage with what I see, the imperfections and pain are not the only items of note, I begin to see much beauty and much hope. Then I think, maybe, I can do this again, take a chance, step up, reveal myself, and if my heart is broken again, and it will be, that I have everything I need to pick the pieces up.

It takes a tremendous amount of strength and courage to open our heart and spread our light, but when we do, we can be renewed. The featured pose for this month urdhva mukha svanasana, upward facing dog, is an extroverted pose.  It calls us to show up, open our hearts, and share our light.  The opening of our chest is invigorating. Mentally, this motion can increase self-confidence and aspiration.  Instead of feeling paralyzed, we can feel motivated to promote change, engage with hope, and unabashedly love.  

Somatically speaking, up dog is a strong, powerful pose.  It strengthens nearly the whole body: arms, wrists, legs, core, and back. It provides a deep stretch for the chest, shoulders, belly, and hip flexors.  One of the greatest benefits of this position is that it combats our greatest enemy; sitting at a desk all day long hunched over. To learn how to do this posture, read on.

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Gratitude Practice: Three Good Things

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Gratitude Practice: Three Good Things

We are thinking creatures. The job of the mind is to formulate thoughts. Although, not all thoughts are held in equal standing. Negative experiences and images are more heavily weighted in our being than positive experiences of the same intensity.  This is due to an evolutionary concept called negativity bias. Simply put, our brain has a much greater sensitivity to negative occurrences than positive ones.   In certain situations this is a useful tool to avoid and prevent danger.  For those times when we are not being chased by a wild beast or being burned by a flame, negativity bias can pose as a danger upon our attitude, emotions, and our relationships, if we allow an untrained mind to rest in that space. We all know the festering feeling that can turn our mental state south, stunt our ability to forgive others, and steal joy.

A practice in gratitude can begin to override negativity bias by outweighing it with more pleasant sentiments.  A helpful technique called “Three Good Things” is described below.  Before practicing, I would recommend revisiting my post on gratitude from last year.  This will give you the proper framework for what true gratitude is and what it is not. As you begin this practice it is important to reside in truth, in the what is, rather than in a false ideal by discrediting pain and suffering. This is a practice about acknowledging the positive that too often gets overruled by the negative.

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