FOLD / get your mudra on

A beautiful yoga teacher and friend of mine Brianna Turpin loves to incorporate yoga mudras into her intelligently designed yoga flows, deeply restorative and nourishing yoga classes, and meditation practice. I am so inspired by the way in which Bri brings this mystical force into her teaching; she is always illuminating new and meaningful ways to engage with our practice that create an element of play, something that I always need reminding to bring into my personal yoga practice.

So what exactly is a mudra? A mudra is a gesture made with out hands that "engages certain areas of the brain and/or soul and exercise a corresponding influence on them". Each mudra should be led by the breath to support the mudra; find a relaxed and effortless position where you feel supported and comfortable; inhabit a meditative seat. You want to engage with these energy fields in a supportive and positive way; harmony creates synergy. Try practicing a single mudra in your yoga practice this week, while finding a moment of stillness or quiet before or after you wake up or go to sleep. Try really feeling into how this one specific gesture helps you to shift energy and bring healing into your week. The pressure of the finger tips should be light and hands should remain relaxed.

All of this beautiful knowledge on mudras comes from the wonderful book, Mudras: Yoga In Your Hands by Gertrud Hirschi. This is an easy to understand text that deconstructs the wisdom of mudras, and with easy photographs and descriptions to help aid in this healing art right from your own home.

So here we go, down the mudra rabbit hole. Let's deconstruct three of my new favorites.

Chin [Jnana] Mudra:

thumb: divine cosmic energy (intuition - inner energy)
index finger: individual consciousness (inspiration - outward energy)

Bring your pointer finger and thumb to touch, extend your other three fingers.

Through this mudra we can connect the individual with the diving creating a symbolic gesture of unity with ourselves and the greater forces gently guiding us

Isn't that beautiful, just by bringing together our thumb and pointer finger together in momentary acknowledgement that we are not alone, we only sometimes think we are alone. It's a gesture of longing to connect with that which is greater than ourselves.

In this mudra, INSPIRATION AND INTUITION JOIN together. Both lie within. 

Shell [Shankh] Mudra:

Encircle your thumb with the four fingers of your right hand, while at the same time, touch the right thumb to the extended middle finder of your left hand. Curve your left hand around the fist you've made with your right hand. It should resemble a conch shell.

I love this mudra because it calls on us to use our voices to help resonate the energy in our hands. It's best practiced after a few rounds of "OM" in your present space. Try taking a deep breath in and letting your voice open in to the sound of OM. Try this several times and then sit with your hands in the mudra. See how this settles in your body.

Through this mudra, we come to connect with our higher self, which helps us to remember that all we need is already present within.

Ganesha [the elephant; remover of obstacles] Mudra:

Hold you left hand (facing palm out) in front of your chest. Bend your fingers and grasp the left hand with the right hand (backside of the hand facing out). As you exhale, pull the hands apart from each other without releasing the grip. As you inhale, release all the tension in your hands, chest and shoulders. Repeat this up to six times. Then spend a few moments with your hands on your heart, sitting in silence. Then repeat the mudra, this time switching the grip of your hands.

This mudra engages our heart and opens our fourth chakra (the heart chakra) which helps us cultivate courage, openness, and generosity to those around us and inward towards ourselves. 

FOLD / slow down and take it apart

@10000buddhas at Wanderlust Hollywood

Last night, I found myself in a quiet space, softly lit, among other evening yogis. I rolled out my dusty mat and quietly whispered, "Hello, i missed you".  As I found my way into my first downward facing dog it took a few moments to get reacquainted with the pose, but, like an old friend that forgives all past indiscretions and long absences, I quickly settled into my palms, pressed my heels towards the mat, and found that first lonnnngggg exhale.

This pose, deeply rooting into the earth below, always has a way of making me feel instantly at home.

Last night was a practice in patience, a practice in receiving. Which unknowingly, built strength and released tension through resistance.

Try standing with your back against a flat wall; bring your heels about 12 inches in front of you; away from the wall. Feel your low back nestle up to the wall. Let your tailbone sink toward the floor. Press your shoulder blades down your back and straighten your upper back against the wall behind you. you will feel taller than you knew possible. You will feel expansive in your chest. You will feel rooted through your feet. So many things are happening in your body, in this moment, in this pose.

Stay here. Stay here even when your mind tells you to let go, to get out, to move on. Breathe. Breathe three more deep and long breaths. Now stand up straight and tall, do you feel that? You changed something in your body. You shifted something in your mind, and all it took was a few moments of checking in, honoring where you were at, and creating space for you to inhabit a space you didn't consider before.

On this Sunday eve, find a moment to move slowly, mindfully, and as you ride your breath, you will find that you start to soften to the noise and find space in your mind to let go.

FOLD / give yourself permission

"Yoga is the breaking of contact with pain (duka - separation)."  - Rod Stryker

Freedom. It's funny how one conversation can release from the cage you built around yourself. One conversation can give you the permission you need to let go, surrender, and trust. One conversation to stay, it's okay dearest one, to just let it be. You can always adjust, alter, shift, move, cry, be joyful, all the time and ways in which you need. It was so beautiful to be reminded of choice in a moment when I wasn't able; couldn't see myself clearly, it was good to be reminded that I chose this life, this place, this job, this man, this home, this moment. It was good to feel humbled and honored and loved, deeply. I am going to stop using violent words against this place, this home. I am going to honor my choices and shift when necessary. I am going to listen deeper and lean into joy and love and honesty. I am going to be here, now. I am going to try to honor myself enough to shift my self-care, to speak to myself in soft whispers of compassion. I've ben quietly calling in freedom this month, ushered in by one of my teachers, and already feel such a clarity of space given, space received, and space yet to be created. I felt a lightness that I wasn't able to acknowledge or surrender to until his quiet and steady voice begged me to remember, to listen. Life is a steady commitment to take a single step at a time; there's no need to rush, it's all coming.

How are you honoring your internal whispering?

How can you turn up the volume on your self-care?

How can you be with yourself exactly where you are?

Fold / a solo trip to san francisco

Flying solo isn't something I default to. I am a closeted introvert, pretending to be an extravert. You know those people. This past weekend I gave myself the gift of a weekend in San Francisco alone to attend a two-day yoga workshop. It was a short weekend to wander around and spend some time getting back to the roots of me. I expected to feel a little more revived, I expected to be more tired upon my return, I expected it would take me a moment to get my footing, to find some solace in the time without anyone else around. But it was any of those things, I took to this weekend like a fish to water; sliding effortlessly into its deep cool waters without any ties to time, responsibility, roles, or deadlines. I just woke up Saturday morning, made my way onto the street with only my backpack strapped to my shoulders and I just started walking. I walked and walked and walked and walked some more. I stopped when something caught my attention, I meandered around the streets that felt busy and then made my way up and around to streets that seemed to stand still. I climbed over hills just to see the view, I walked to the middle of the Golden Gate bridge because when you are standing right under it, why would you not want to walk to it's center?

I filled my minutes, hours, and days with things that felt delightful. I full engaged with my food, my body, my desire, my preferences, my wishes, my wants, and my needs. This almost never happens in my real life, I rarely take the time to pause, ask myself what would truly feed my soul, and then listen to that call. Oh dearest ones, please please please do listen to that call.

This weekend felt like the biggest breath of air I've been able to take in so long, longer than I can remember or care to admit. The intention of this sacred trip was to study with one of my yoga mentors, Elena Brower. She is a mentor to many of us, but she has quietly been such a force in my life and my practice these past few years, and she doesn't even know it. I have come to soak in her teachings all over Los Angeles, and on the interwebs. She has informed my teaching, my practice, and my daily routine in such profound and life altering ways. I am so very honored to be her student. We need these teachers, mentors, friends, to guide us into the unknown; into territory we have yet to walk, yet to teach, and yet dared to encounter. Who inspires, moves, and challenges you? 

I spent the entirety of her six-hour workshop this weekend in a room with 150 other yogis. People who showed up from all over to be a part of that sacred space to breathe, sweat, and get uncomfortable with each other. It is a powerful vibration to sit on your mat in a bright, afternoon-lit room, feel a cool breeze coming off the ocean, hear the street below, take a huge intentional breath in and then release that sweet om with the collective voices of 150 other people. People all coming into the space with their most vulnerable open hearts, seeking to be confronted, awakened, challenged, and healed by their own work on their mats.

This weekend taught me that as teachers we have the beautiful capacity to teach from what we truly know. Our teachers offer us a way to access ourselves, because sometimes we need someone to show us another way of seeing so we can truly see ourselves anew. This is why we practice, why we show up day after day, why we find surrender and confrontation on a small rectangular space. We are all teachers here.

This weekend helped me see that we are nothing for others unless we can first feel moved, propelled, and fueled by those things that ignite our souls. When we allow ourselves the opportunity to truly fill up our own emotional buckets, we will then learn how to overflow into others without disengaging with our own needs. It's a profound truth to interact with, and one with which I am sure to continue to meld and maneuver all of my life.

Think about this...How are you igniting your soul, leaning into your solitude, making it to your mat? You are needed in this world, but first you must serve yourself, than you will burn brightly to light the way for others. This is our yoga. This is our practice. 

GATHER / get on your mat

Somedays we need that subtle reminder to just get onto our mats.

We need access to that quiet voice inside to tell that louder, more persistent, ego that we are not our thoughts and our deficiencies. That quiet voice gives us access to our light; our bright, bubbly, shiny selves.

I had the sincere pleasure to attend Elena Brower's workshop at Yoga at the Raven in Silverlake a few weeks ago. This space....let me tell you....feel spiritual in its very foundation. A quiet, unassuming sanctuary, with feelings of home oozing out of its every nook and cranny. I walked out of the rain, yes, it was a rare misty Los Angeles evening, and into this unfamiliar space that immediately felt like a deep and easy breath. Upon entering, burning sage met my nose and all the anxiety and fear that had seeped into my day began to dissipate.

I gently laid down my mat front and center. It's my least favorite place to be, but I know when I am here, I have immediate connection and presence with my soulful teachers. This is the best place to learn from and be inspired by. Elena passed out cards from her beautifully crafted Art of Attention deck and I immediately felt at ease. My card, RECEIVE, seemed to know exactly what I needed, in that moment and generally in my life. RECEIVE.

At the front of my mat I had built an alter: my beautiful Tiny Devotions mala beads urging me to be abundant, my card asking me to receive, and Elena's warm and soft face smiling back at me. This is becoming a really beautiful part of practice, this creation of  ritual on my mat that helps me to land and arrive in any space. I felt truly tapped in to that elusive self-care; I felt deeply connected to my body, my spirit and my mind. Each pose offered up a new place to expand into and release fully. I gave myself permission to move with care.

Our flow was gentle and meditative at first and grew into a challenging and counter-intuitive practice. Elena asked us to think outside the boundaries we place on our practice. She asked if we could move through our practice with a heightened awareness; to notice were we could play with each pose in a new way; to challenge ourselves to come at each pose from a different angle: that unfamiliar side that we neglect to use or care for. Each pose felt different; somehow familiar and foreign at the same time. It was a simple as taking a cross-legged seat and switching the familiar cross of your legs. This simple ask, to construct new ways for our brain to think, allows us to create a whole new pathway to learning and self-exploration.

Elena spoke at the beginning of class, as each of us where inverted in our first downward facing dog; she said her teacher, Darren Rhodes, says that our SATTVA is our SEVA - our PRACTICE is our SERVICE. That landed with me, in a big way. That means that getting on our mats is the greatest gift we can give to ourselves, our families, and our world. It is a gift we give over and over again. Sometimes we just need that gentle reminder to go there.

Find your mat and sink into your practice.

xo.