The pleasures of the present: How you can bring yourself back home

A quote by Lao Tzu really spoke to me yesterday, "If you are depressed, you are living in the past.  If you are anxious, you are living in the future.  If you are at peace, you are living in the present."

Definitely, easier said than done, I know.  But what if everyone could just for a moment, just be.  That would be wonderful!  Again, it's not an easy task for everyone, especially when you got a lot going on such as work, school, kids, family, bills, fun, etc.

Whenever I find myself anxious, depressed or in a fearful state, I try to remember to do the following:

1.  Stop and breathe.  If possible, I find a space to be alone (even if it's in the bathroom!).  I stand or sit and feel my feet touching the floor and wiggle my toes.  Then I work my up to my legs, hips, abdomen, chest, arms, hands, and all the up to my head.  From there I take a nice, deep belly breath.  If I'm overly anxious, my chest area may be tight, so I give myself a few breaths until I can reach my belly.  Rushing just makes it worse!

2.  After I feel more grounded and in my body, I think of something that IS working in my life NOW.  For example, I just leased a car; got a yoga teaching job; made a friend in dance class; or even getting laundry done.When we get anxious, we tend to go (as the quote says above) way ahead into the future and create a catastrophe or chaotic situation that we don't really want to happen anyway; if X doesn't get done, Y will happen.  So shoot for what you DO want to happen!

3.  If none of that works, I call a friend, a Life Coach, or someone that I can trust.  This isn't always easy for people either, because if you knew me well, in the past, I thought I had to figure everything out on my own.  Sometimes if we can't find a solution because we're too much in "our stuff" or our heads about something, it's great when an outside person can help reframe it for you and offer support.  Dwelling on the problem or situation isn't going to get you anywhere.  We tend to self-judge and be hard on ourselves. 

When we are present, everything is clear.  That doesn't mean it's always a happy time.  But if we can allow ourselves to be more present with the situations, feelings and experiences at hand, all the uncomfortable will pass more quickly and with ease.  We will be able to get to that joyful state faster because we've allowed ourselves to just be and nothing else.  Just at home within ourselves.

Do you find yourself dwelling somewhere in the past that's holding you back from what you want now? When something comes up, do you automatically jump to the worst case scenario and get stuck there? What do you do for yourself to come back to the present moment?

How yoga can support the immune system

Yoga has many benefits for the whole body. The benefits fall under five different levels: physical, mental, emotional, energetic, and spiritual. Some people think yoga is for flexible people, or people who are in shape. But really now. Is that really true?

Yoga means "to yoke" or "union", meaning an union of the mind, body and spirit. There's a philosophy, not just the physical poses. There's study of the breath, meditation, and way of being. In other words, it's a process and journey into and within the self. According to Patanjali's Yoga Sutras (book II:29), " the only requirement for practicing asanas is that it be 'steady and comfortable'. The body is held poised, and relaxed, with the practitioner experiencing no discomfort. When control of the body is mastered, practitioners are believed to free themselves from the duality of heat/cold, hunger/satiety, joy/grief, which is the first step toward the unattachment that relieves suffering (Feuerstein, Georg)." The poses essentially help open channels, shed old patterns and beliefs, strengthen the body and increase energy, so we can see a bigger part of ourselves. This doesn't mean you have to master them either because that can take lifetimes. But why not start from wherever you are? Also, for example, look at an onion. There are lots of layers there until you get to the core. Then look at events in your life as layers of an onion. Sometimes those layers are thick and/or thin. There may be some layers we're still hanging onto and not ready to peel away. Then there are times when we can really go deep and for a moment take a glimpse and feel the core of ourselves. It is the essence of who we really are. Life is a series of moments and it's so vital that we experience each one fully.

I'm sure you've seen many articles and studies that claim how yoga can improve health and reduce stress; and by all means, this is in fact very true, especially if you allow yourself to attend a weekly yoga class for a couple months. I know over the past 10 years, yoga has supported me in many ways throughout my life. One of them is being present. Present to the sensations in my body, the activity in my mind, and how I'm feeling emotionally. When I'm not present, I get stuck in a whirlwind of negative self-talk, which can create anxiety and depression. This, then, leads to low energy, and even illness if I'm not too careful. It's at these moments when I need to be present because it's a layer of the onion that needs to be acknowledged and, perhaps, get peeled off!

So, why the immune system in the title of this post? The immune system is our bodies' defense system against illness and other pathogens that may enter the body. If it's weakened, we open our bodies up to lots of unpleasant stuff, especially if we experience stress on a regular basis. Now, I'm not saying stress is necessarily a bad thing. It's a great alarm system to tell you that something is wrong. But if we don't pay attention to the feelings and emotions that arise and look at the stress from a distance; we may react to it from a very negative place causing our bodies to go into the stress-response or fight or flight.

The fight or flight response is activated via our Sympathetic Nervous System. Physiologically, when a person is in a potentially dangerous, traumatic situation, the adrenal glands release the hormone, cortisol which basically revs you up to fight for your life or flee (flight). All your blood and energy rushes to your limbs, therefore shutting down your digestive system and reproductive system. So, for example, if a zebra is running away from a lion, it's going to need all the cortisol and adrenaline it needs! However, when a zebra gets away from its predator, it knows how to "shake off" or release that trauma and let it go. Most humans will internalize that trauma and will go into that fight or flight response every time a "stressful" situation comes up. For some people today, just thinking about their boss, job, bills, or a difficult mother in-law will ignite this response!

So when your body is in this fight or flight response regularly, or kicks in when you forget to pay your gas bill, this could result in high blood pressure, poor digestion, adrenal exhaustion, and other illness such as the common cold or viruses. In the past, I used to operate like this all the time. My anxiety was so high, it led to poor digestion (constant bloating and constipation); adrenal exhaustion (low energy); and I would get a cold-like illness once a month. Then, of course, all of this led to depression because I didn't have the drive or energy to do anything that I wanted to do! I also was constantly trying to have control over things that were out of my control.

Even though I had a regular yoga practice, I wasn't fully connected to what was happening to my body. I know I was resisting something and that anxiety, trying to ignore it or push it away, which only made it worse. I knew if I stopped and felt what I was feeling, it would be uncomfortable. But it's the uncomfortable that we need to be with in order to learn from those situations or people that trigger our emotions and move forward in our lives toward what we really want.

A great way to teach your nervous system--especially the Sympathetic Nervous System--to calm down is to have a restorative yoga practice. Ideally, you want to practice restorative yoga once a week, but depending on your schedule, it's fine if it's every other week or once a month. As long as you do it! Give yourself a break! Restorative yoga poses offer an opportunity to relax and renew your whole mind, body and spirit. The poses are supported by props--blankets, bolsters, straps, blocks, chairs, wall--to bring the body into a passive state, where no effort is required. The only effort that is required is your intention and will to do it. There is also the breath. A way to observe the breath as you are in the pose. This will help you day to day, so whenever you may feel stressed, you'll be able to take a nice, deep belly breath and be in the moment and get clear. I do this in traffic either on public transportation or in a car.

For instance, poses such as Supta Baddha Konasana (supported bound angle pictured above) calms the mind and nervous system; improves digestion; gives space to the reproductive organs; decreases anxiety; and relieves menstrual cramping. This is just one of many restorative poses, but doing this pose for 3-5 minutes daily will do a lot.

What if everyone did this pose once a day or once a week? How would people generally feel everyday? What if you did this pose before you went to bed?

If you want to learn more about Restorative Yoga, come to a RESTORATIVE YOGA WORKSHOP I will be facilitating on February 26 from 2:00pm-4:00pm at The Doelger Center: 101 Lake Merced Blvd, building #14 in Daly City. The sequence of poses will be devoted to the immune system. I hope you can come and experience this delightful, healing practice.

REGISTER HERE NOW!

For questions, contact Liz 415-637-5825 or lizsfilippone@gmail.com. Visit her website at www.movingyogi.com and her blog at www.lizmovingyogi.blogspot.com.

Yoga teaches awareness

I really appreciate this article because I've been SOOOOOOO aware of my emotions. I'm discovering new possibilities within myself, while listening to the chatter, and feeling the emotions that come up. Yep, that's a lot. But it's okay. I thank yoga for guiding me. I don't know what I would do without it.

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(From YogaJournal.com Daily Insight)

Awareness Techniques

Usually, the first way Westerners learn to build awareness in yoga is by practicing the poses. But the myriad instructions heard in class aren't just designed to improve your asanas. They give your busy mind something to focus on and therefore keep you in the present moment. For people with anxiety, this is a particular blessing.

Complex instructions also force you to tune in to the subtle shifts occurring in your body. As you become more aware of these changes, you'll begin to notice subtle alterations in your mind and in your mood, too. You'll feel in a tangible way how the body and mind are connected.

As you continue to hone moment-to-moment awareness of your body, breath, emotions, and thoughts in your yoga practice, you'll bring that awareness to your daily life. When you're paying attention, you're more in touch with your thoughts and feelings as they arise in the moment, which is half the battle of resolving them. In other words, when you're able to identify that something is wrong, you can address that particular issue in the moment, rather than ignoring it and unleashing it later in some painful way.

Read the full articles:

* Feel Happier (http://www.yogajournal.com/lifestyle/2562)
* Asanas for Anxiety http://www.yogajournal.com/health/2085

Anger-sadness-anger-sadness-anger-sadness......

What a powerful emotion. I've been in the thick of it for the past few days, and it does what it usually does: bouncing back and forth to sadness. So many things have surfaced from my past, I don't know if it's just random memories or things that were unresolved that I need to resolve with myself or with that person I wronged in some way. I know you can't forgive someone, unless you forgive yourself first. It's SOOOOO HARD! I feel I'm close, but then something fogs up my vision and I fall back to that dark place. Depression.

It's very draining. I'm so aware of my emotions and where they're coming from. It's hard to articulate that to people sometimes, especially those close to you. Although, I can't control how others react, I still want them to know that I'm JUST angry and it's nothing on them.

Right now, I feel so done with this (as stated in my previous post) because it's so draining. In the past, I used to hold lots of anger inside my body, which came out in not so great ways. Now that my body has let go of that strategy, the emotion has to come out! Of course this is a good thing and I would much rather have it this way.

I guess my drainage is from the fluctuations from anger to sadness over and over. In my experience, sadness has always followed anger, and vice versa. Lately, it's been bouncing off each other like a raquetball gone wild in the court. When will that ball slow down? What's setting it off? Last night before falling asleep, all these memories of an ex-boyfriend came into my conscious. He was my first love, and when he broke up with me, I was so heart-broken I really felt lost. I couldn't stop caling him, and when I would see him, I was a total bitch. I was only 14 at the time and he was 17. He was so sweet to me in our relationship, even up until he broke up with me. He had no direction, no goals, and he had just graduated high school. He didn't want to hold me back. Although he explained it to me at the time, I couldn't help but think it was me. Something was wrong with me. I personalized it and blamed myself, which, OMG! I pretty much did in every relationship after that! HA HA! LOL!

Wow, it's amazing what writing can do :-)

I know this connects to a lot of things I'm still processing and working through. I'm shedding the layers; releasing things that don't serve me anymore. It's grief. Grief over losses in my life that had left me confused, lost, and uncertain. It still amazes me how one little thing can trigger such a big thing inside you. How it can take you back to the source, the cause, the root. This makes me think about Buddhism and the concept of suffering (but I'm not going to go there right now).

Seriously, Wow! It's amazing what writing can do.