How to Prepare for and Practice Savasana

by Nina

Savasana certainly gets short shrift these days! It is often just an afterthought for many of us, especially in public classes, where we quickly wrap up a practice by “lying down” for just a few minutes.

But Savasana can be a powerful practice. Practiced with a mental focus, it is one of several ways you can trigger the Relaxation Response, switching your nervous system from Fight or Flight to Rest and Digest (see The Relaxation Response and Yoga). It addition to quieting your nervous system, Savasana allows you to relax your musculoskeletal system in an anatomically neutral position, which provides deep rest for your entire body. And as a form of reclined meditation, Savasana can teach you about the way your mind works, just as seated meditation does.

Recently, we’ve had several interesting posts about Savasana that explored the benefits of practicing Savasana, including interviews with Richard Rosen (The Value of Not Doing), Tias Little (see The Practice of Savasana, Part 1 and Part 2), and Roger Cole (The Mind Coming into Equilibrium and Drawing Inside and Quieting). I’m hoping all this material has piqued your interest in giving this ancient practice more serious attention. So today, I’m going to write a bit about how to actually approach this pose as an intentional practice. 

Preparing to Practice

Typically, although Savasana can be practiced on its own, we do Savasana at the end of an asana practice. That’s because it is often hard for us to lie still for a long period of time if we haven’t exercised much. I have written a sequence to help you prepare for Savasana (see Featured Sequence: Preparing for Savasana), but I also realize that what you should practice before Savasana depends on the time of day and what you have already been doing or not doing.

If you want to practice first thing in the morning or if you have had a sedentary day, you should prepare for Savasana with an active practice. This will tire you out and allow you to rest more comfortably. Strength building sequences with challenging poses or long holds or agility sequences where you move in and out of poses with your breath will be helpful at this time. Examples are Featured Sequence: Lower Body Strength Practice and Featured Sequence: Agility Practice.

On the other hand, if you have had a strenuous day physically, either due to physical labor or standing on your feet all day, a practice focused on gentle stretching is a good way to release held tension from your body. For example, try sequences such as Featured Sequence: Upper Body Flexibility. If you are really exhausted, it may be that a restorative practice is what you need (see Mini Restorative Practice).

Finally, if you are very stressed out, calming your nervous system is your priority, otherwise, it will definitely be hard to lie still. In this case, practicing supported inverted poses will help calm you down enough so that you can lie still. See Featured Sequence: Easy Supported Inverted Poses for a practice. 

In general, before practicing, take some time to consider what feels right to you at that moment and follow your intuition.

Choosing a Version

Most people cannot be truly comfortable lying flat on the floor with no support. So the next step is to choose the right version of Savasana for your body and for the particular day and time. Here are our four recommendation versions:

Classic Version. The classic version of Savasana is good for people who are completely comfortable in the pose and who can keep their heads in a neutral position in the pose (so the chin is pointing slightly down toward the chest, not tipping into a backbend). 

Head Support. If you can’t keep your head in a neutral position without support, use a folded blanket or towel under your head. Make sure that only your head is supported by the prop (not your neck) and that your shoulders are resting comfortably on the ground. Head support can be combined with any other type of support you might choose to add, such as for your legs.

Leg Support. Many people have discomfort in the lower back when lying flat on the floor. In this case, use a bolster or blanket roll behind your knees to support your legs. This option also works well if you have been practicing a lot of backbends, twists, or forward bends and want to rest your entire back more completely.

Constructive Rest. This version is extremely restful for your back, so if you have back problems or soreness, give it a try. Simply bend your knees and place your feet hips-distance apart and far enough away from your sitting bones so your shins can be perpendicular to the floor (not slanting back towards your pelvis). Allow your knees to fall toward each other, so the back of your pelvis widens. If you want to relax without thinking about holding your legs up, you can use a strap just above the knees to loosely bind your legs together.

If you can’t get comfortable on your back or shouldn’t be lying on your back (for example, because you are pregnant), you can try a side-lying position instead. And if you find that lying on your back causes anxiety, you can try a prone position (lying on your belly) such as Makrasana. See Savasana Variations for photos and information on these alternatives.

Practicing Savasana

To practice receive the full benefits of Savasana, you need to practice the pose with intention as you would any pose (rather than just collapsing onto the floor). To do this, commit to:

Aligning your body. Place your legs eight to ten inches apart, turn your arms out so your palms face up and your hands are six to eight inches from the body, and position your head perfectly between your two shoulders, with your eyes about equal distance from the ceiling. None of us are completely symmetrical, but you can adjust your body so it’s as symmetrical as possible and the weight is even on both sides of your body. Now your alignment is close to what medical books call “anatomical neutral,” the position your body naturally assumes when no muscles are being activated. And when you are in this neutral position, you can begin to relax your body completely. 

Remaining still. After aligning your body, make a commitment to stay still. When your body becomes motionless, external stimulation is reduced to a minimum, allowing your nervous system to cool down and your mind to quiet.

Using a mental focus. After you've aligned and quieted your body, turn your awareness inward. Typically the focus for your mind in Savasana is your breath, the gradual relaxation of specific parts of your body (sometimes called a body scan), or a peaceful image (for example, you might imagine your mind is the surface of a lake whose ripples are slowly subsiding). Rather than simply letting your thoughts wander as they would if you were lying on the grass in a park, intentionally keep your mind focused on your object of choice. When you notice your attention wandering, gently return it to that object.

Maintaining your awareness as you come out of the pose. Stay in the pose for at least 10 minutes (it takes 7 or 8 minutes to trigger the Relaxation Response). When you are ready to come out, open your eyes to passively receive the light of the room. Then let your body know you’re ready to begin moving by gently moving just fingers and toes or simply take a couple of deep soft breaths. Next, slowly bend your knees and place the soles of your feet on the ground, and then slowly turn over onto your right side and rest there for a couple of breaths. Then slowly use your hands to push yourself up to a seated position, allowing your head to release downward until you are completely upright. Finally, when you are seated upright, slowly lift your head.

See Savasana (Corpse Pose) for more information on these aspects of practicing Savasana.

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Featured Pose: Warrior 2 Pose (Revisited)

by Baxter

We wrote about Warrior 2 pose (Virabhadrasana 2), a staple of modern yoga asana practice quite a long while ago (October 20th, 2011, on our first month of the blog), but it is such a valuable pose I felt it was worth revisiting and updating, especially as we have some ideas for useful variations that we never described.

Warrior 2 is one of the most commonly taught and practiced yoga poses in our modern era, and is often one of the first standing poses taught to beginners. This is probably because you are mostly upright and therefore not to far away from the home base of Mountain pose. It is a pose that fosters both strength and flexibility, especially in the legs and shoulders, and begins to introduce just a bit of rotation or twist to the spine. Specifically, it will strengthen the hip flexors of the front leg, the knee extenders of the back leg, the muscles that help to keep the arms parallel to the floor, such as the deltoids, upper trapezius, and supraspinatus, to name just a few. It encourages lengthening of your inner thigh muscles of both legs in slightly different areas, as well as your back leg calf muscles.

Your spine rotates a bit in this pose, as your pelvis turns slightly towards your front foot, your thoracic spine turns toward the long axis of your mat, and your neck and head turn towards your front hand, so the pose is also a mild twist. Because you step the feet apart and one foot turns out and other turns in, it is one of the first balancing poses you are likely to meet if you are new to yoga. And if you step carefully in and out of the pose, or move from the starting position in and out with our breath (see Warrior 1 and 2 Mini Vinyasas), this pose also cultivates agility.

I prescribe this pose for:

• General strengthening 
• General stretching 
• Osteoporosis. The pose is weight bearing for the lower body, so strengths lower body bones. It also provides isometric work of the shoulders and upper back so it can improve the thoracic spine bone health.
• Improving balance and agility
• Improving mental focus (when held for longer periods of time)
• Improved overall muscular endurance (when held for longer periods of time)
• Anxiety (the pose burns off excess energy and is “grounding”) 
• Fatigue, sluggishness, or depression (standing poses can stimulate your nervous system) 

Cautions: For those with uncontrolled blood pressure or a history of heart disease, I recommend that you don’t hold the pose for more than a few breaths, as it can cause an increase in blood pressure and the workload of the heart. For those with balance issues, I recommend that you work with your back to a wall or start with the chair version shown below. If you have knee problems, don’t bend your front knee quite as deeply. Make sure it stops just shy of being over the front ankle.

Classic Version

Step your feet wide apart (about the length of your legs). Turn your right foot and leg out 90 degrees. Then turn your left foot in slightly, so the lateral edge of your back foot lines up with the short edge of your yoga mat, or even in a bit more than that. 

Inhale and extend your arms out to your sides, parallel with your shoulders. Then, exhale and bend your right knee toward 90 degrees (but not further), making sure your right knee is aligned with your middle right toe and positioned over the right ankle. 

Allow your hips to rotate around the vertical axis of your spine a bit towards your front foot. At the same time, rotate your chest towards the long axis of your mat. If it’s comfortable for you, turn your head to gaze over your right hand.

You can hold the pose for a few breaths initially, and gradually add more time in the pose as you feel ready, eventually up two minutes.

To come out, straighten your front leg, turn your feet parallel and relax your arms to your sides. Repeat on the second side.

First Variation: Feet Closer Together, Hands on Hips

Working with your feet slightly closer together and keeping your hands on your hips is a good variations for people newer to yoga, those with tight inner thigh muscles and connective tissue, and those with shoulder issues such as rotator cuff injury that make taking your arms to sides challenging or painful. It is also less challenging for balance then the first variation, so is a good place to start for those with balance challenges.

Instead of stepping the feet as wide as classic Warrior 2, step your feet only about three feet apart. Then adjust your front and back foot as in classic Warrior 2, but keep the hands on the hips, with the shoulder blades relaxed on the back chest.

From here, the rotations of the spine are as with the full version.

Second Variation: Warrior 2 with Chair

This variation of Warrior 2 is particularly helpful for those with balance issues, with other health issues that compromise endurance, or with injuries that could affect safely standing without pain, such as knee, hip and ankle injuries or arthritis. But it is also beneficial for people who have no restrictions, and you might find that it actually creates more sense of stretch to the muscles and connective tissue of the inner thighs.

Sit on the front edge of a chair. If you are taller or have long legs, you may need to use a blanket or lift under your front leg, so your thighs are not lower than your knees.

Swivel to your right, bringing your right sitting bone and the back of your right thigh along the front edge of the chair seat. Your left sitting bone may actually be slightly off the chair seat.

Bend your right knee so that the right knee is right above the ankle with the right foot turned out 90 degrees.

Slide your left leg back away from the right until you can fully straighten your left knee with the sole of your left foot on the floor. Note that your left leg will likely not stretch straight back as in the full pose, but will probably need to come towards the right long edge of the mat a few inches. From here, your arms and spinal movements are the same as the classic pose. 

Stay for several breaths, and gradually work up to 90-120 seconds with practice.

To come out of the pose, lower your arms, bend your back knee and swing both legs forward so you sit evenly on the front edge of the chair. Then repeat on the second side.

Third Variation: Reverse Warrior 2 (aka Exalted Warrior)

This variation challenges the stability of your legs and also adds some stretch and lengthening for your chest and arms on the front leg side. It will also add more challenge to your balance.

Come into classic Warrior 2 as described above.

Maintaining the alignment of your front knee, inhale and bring your right arm up towards the ceiling as you reach your left hand down toward the outer left thigh.

Keeping your right knee firm and steady, slowly slide your left hand further down your left leg as you side bend your torso over your left leg and continue to reach your right arm up and back. Stop when your body signals significant tightness. 

Lynda Bailo

Lynda Barrow

Your gaze can remain straight ahead, or for more challenge to your balance, you can carefully gaze up towards your top hand. Stay for just few breaths at first, working towards longer holds over time. 

To come out, start by tipping back into classic Warrior 2, then exit as described above. Then repeat on the second side.

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Balance Pose of the Week: I Felt the Earth Move

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Friday Q&A: Back to School!

Compositions II by Roy Lichtenstein*

Q: For many of us, although the new year technically begins January 1, the end of summer and “back to school” season feels more like the beginning of the new year. The end of summer is when we get excited about working on new projects or changing up what we’re doing, as if we were starting a new grade. In fact, we originally started our blog at the beginning of the fall, in September 2011. And, now, as we move into another fall, we’re looking at what might come next for us on the blog. Because we’re writing this blog for you, we thought we should just go ahead and ask you what you’d like to see us tackle as we move into our fifth year of blogging.

A: Leave your suggestions for us in the comments section of this post (see How to Comment) or on our Facebook page (see www.facebook.com/pages/Yoga-for-Healthy-Aging). We look forward to hearing from you! —Nina

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Yoga Therapy for Perfectionism

by Beth Gibbs

Beth's Closet

My name is Beth and I am a Perfectionist! Some of you may recognize yourself in this article but may not be ready to come out of the closet. And you know which closet I mean: that perfectly organized closet, coordinated by color; organized by tops, pants, jackets, dress clothes and by shoe type, all perfectly aligned. And for the sake of brevity, we will not discuss your linen closet or kitchen cabinets.

Before I entered recovery, I spent years perfecting my Perfectionism to hide my ignorance of “Reality” and convince the world, and myself, that I was indeed “perfect.” And because I’m in recovery, I can share that ignorance/avidya, in which I go “pitta provoked” when folks do something I consider lame, dumb, or disorganized. First I fall headlong into anamayakosha aggravation—my shoulders shrug, my chest tightens, and my knees freeze. Then it’s straight into pranamayakosha pushback, where I suck up mass quantities of red earth energy from my first chakra, completely bypass the second chakra, and shove that fiery red anger into my third chakra, where it erupts into volcanic lava (I know you might not get the next few cultural references but you will get the idea). And it’s enough to make a sistah take off her earrings, put her hands on her hips, go into full head-neck roll, and progress into manomayakosha meltdown and scream, “OH NO YOU BETTA’ DON’T!” But, of course, that’s all internal. Remember, I’m a Perfectionist—gotta appear cool, calm, collected, and “large and in charge” to the world.

That changed suddenly as I was wrestling with a long stretch of enforced inactivity after an emergency hysterectomy. The resting was hard. My life had been reduced to a standstill—a holding pattern—a lateral drift. Being forced to give up “doing” to experience “being” was a struggle. During that scary, restless time I often sat on the back deck of the house I lived in at the time. The view was peaceful: a pond, a state forest, and a huge weeping cherry tree. One day in early spring, the first pink blossom appeared on the drooping branches of that tree and I watched it with focused fascination. Over the next few days it bloomed in all of its ordinary magic. As that bud blossomed, something inside me blossomed as well. An insight emerged full-blown from the depths of somewhere into my conscious mind. A thought popped, "There is another way to live and I have got to find it." At that moment, my recovery from Perfectionism began.

What is Perfectionism?

First I needed an answer to the question, “What is Perfectionism?” I considered this question first from the allopathic perspective: is Perfectionism a disease or a mental disorder? The answer is that Perfectionism is a multidimensional personality characteristic that has both positive and negative effects. In terms of negative effects, a Google search turned up some really disturbing side effects for Perfectionism that goes too far:

• Depression
• Anxiety
• Panic attacks
• Eating Disorders (whew, that’s one I never had to worry about)
• Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (uh oh—remember the closets?)
• Thoughts of suicide. Research says that perfectionists are more likely to kill themselves than regular, mediocre-performing people. 
• Workaholism (hmmmm, sound familiar?)
• Low self-esteem (sigh—yeah, that’s a factor for sure)
• Chronic stress (maybe that’s the source of the bald spots, skin rashes and constipation?)
• Heart disease
• Substance abuse (I wonder if chocolate counts?)

If the American Medical Association ever declares Perfectionism a true disease, we would quickly see a drug developed for it and if we had one, it could be called: Perfectomayacin, “One pill a day and Perfectionism goes away.” Yogis please note the word “maya” embedded in “Perfectomayacin.”

But the side effects of Perfectomayacin would need to be considered. There are side effects to all drugs. They come right along with the fix. TV commercials, filled with smiling bubbly, happy people running through grassy fields, walking hand in hand, or playing with puppies would first extol the benefits of Perfectomayacin and then follow up with the side effects which might include the following:

1. Do not take Perfectomayacin if you are pregnant or thinking about becoming pregnant.
2. If taking Perfectomayacin, do not eat sweets or drink alcohol (What?! Dessert is my favorite food group!).
3. Drowsiness, dizziness, nasal irritation, insomnia, nausea and projectile vomiting (boy, that would destroy my image at a business meeting).

Maybe my recovery would have been faster if Perfectomayacin had been available but the slower process of working with my koshas and kleshas to wake the witness so I could deal with my core beliefs has yielded a much more balanced “relative reality.” 

A Yogic Perspective

So with no quick fix in sight, I looked at Perfectionism from the yogic perspective. I recognized the symptoms of anamayakosha aggravation, pranamayakosha pushback, and the manomayakosha meltdown. So I then explored the kleshas. I found that my perfectionist behaviors reflect ALL of the kleshas. Let’s go through them one by one:

Avidya/Not seeing things as they are: Clearly I do not see things as they are if I think for one minute I’m superior to others—and I sometimes do! I’m in recovery; it’s a process.

Asmita/Ego: I see something lame, dumb or disorganized (my opinion), and I want to say, “I know what your problem is, I have time to tell you about it and can give you a complete list of all the things you need to do to fix yourself.”

Raga/Attachment: I’ll dot every “i” and cross every “t” because it’s got to be perfect! But it’s never perfect (to my standards), and the emotional spiral of deflation, anger,and guilt kicks in, followed by my grand defense mechanism: the blame game. It’s someone else’s fault (this one sucks wind big-time!)

Dvesha/Avoidance/Unreasonable Dislikes: I don’t like other Perfectionists because they think they’re better than me. And, OMG, they just might be!

Abinivesha/Fear: If they really knew me, they’d know I’m a fake. Then they wouldn’t like me and that could increase the intensity of side effects like depression, anxiety, panic attacks and projectile vomiting (sigh).

So, when my discomfort and angst reached their limit, I designed for myself a yoga therapy program for Perfectionism. Here’s a sample:

1. Grounding postures like Downward-Facing Dog pose, Child’s Pose and Legs Up the Chair Pose (Easy Inverted Pose) calm anamayakosha aggravation.
2. Cooling breaths like Kaki Breath and Relaxation Breathing calm pranamayakosha pushback. 
3. Mudras like Adhi Mudra and Chinmaya are grounding and reduce the incidence of manomayakosha meltdown.

Calming Anamayakosha Aggravation

Yoga Therapy for Perfectionism

With a heavy dose of tapas, I plunged into the full application of yoga therapy and over time discovered that the energetic intensity of my Perfectionism decreased. My kleshas shifted and I discovered the happy side effects of yoga therapy for Perfectionism:

Avidya/Not seeing things as they are: My ignorance reduced from 100% to about 55 – 60%, and I see more clearly that I’m not superior to everyone else (only to a few members of my family; a couple of friends, and colleagues—remember, I’m in recovery, so it’s a process).

Asmita/Ego: With practice, I reduced the incidents of my manomayakosha meltdowns and I don’t give advice unless I’m asked for it (most of the time).

Raga/Attachment: According to Sri Swami Pratyagbodhananda, (a very wise man) all outcomes to any actions will be either 1) expected, 2) more than expected, 3) less than expected, or 4) unexpected. I now realize that I can influence outcomes but I do not control them (still getting used to that one!).

Dvesha/Avoidance/Unreasonable Dislikes: Everyone has a part to play so I’m OK and you’re OK (Well mostly OK except for a few members of my family; a couple of friends and colleagues—remember, I’m in recovery, so it’s a process).

Abinivesha/ Fear: A thank you to Sen. Al Franken and his movie “Stuart Saves His Family.” Regarding fear, Stuart says, “Let’s face it, trace it, erase it.” And yoga therapy would add, “replace it with a Bhavana like his, “I’m good enough, I’m smart enough and, doggone it, people like me!” (and I’m perfectly OK if they don’t).

Beth Gibbs, MA, E-RYT 500, is a certified yoga therapist through Integrative Yoga Therapy. She is a senior member of the IYT teaching faculty and directs the school’s Professional Yoga Therapist Internship Program. Beth has a Masters degree in Yoga Therapy and Mind/Body Health from Lesley University in Cambridge, MA, and has served on the Educational Standards Committee for the International Association of Yoga Therapists. Her website is: proyogatherapeutics.com.

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Reducing Cellular Stress with Yoga

by Ram

Blooming by Melina Meza

Cortisol is a steroid hormone synthesized by the adrenal cortex and is released in response to stress and low blood glucose concentration. It is involved in numerous physiological activities, including regulation of blood sugar, metabolism of fat, protein, and carbohydrate, suppression of inflammation, activation of anti-stress pathways and influence on behavior and moods. The hormone’s response to stress includes:

• metabolizing glucose as an energy source
• mobilizing fat and proteins as a stand-by fuel
• triggering the immune response
• increasing the heartbeat, blood pressure, and mental alertness, all of which help in warding off the stress

In a well-balanced individual, cortisol is part of an elegant system that helps cope with short-term stressful situations by providing fuel in the form of glucose, mobilizing fat and proteins as standby fuel systems, and modifying the immune response, heartbeat, blood pressure, brain alertness and the response of the nervous system to get us through the stressful situations (see Cortisol and Good Health). However any imbalance in the cortisol levels can be deleterious. Chronic elevated levels of cortisol result in several negative effects, including decreased cognitive function, disturbed thyroid function, excess sugar in the blood stream and more chance of developing diabetes, loss of immunity, increased risk of stomach ulcers, elevated blood pressure, increased risk of hypertension, heart disease and other vascular disorders, and decreased muscle mass and bone density. In contrast, chronically low levels of cortisol (this is typically associated with a condition called Adrenal Fatigue) can also be dangerous as it may trigger brain fog and depression, severe fatigue, low blood pressure, poor immune function, and inflammation.

After it is synthesized by the adrenals, cortisol is released into the blood stream where it gets bound to large proteins that facilitate its transport throughout the body. A small fraction of unbound free cortisol that is thought to be biologically active diffuses into cells and other bodily fluids. On a daily basis, a bit of cortisol is released in the early morning hours that help with the morning chores. The morning cortisol triggers the release of sugar into the blood stream and facilitates more blood to the brain and heart, all of which arouses us and puts us into action. In contrast, the level of cortisol gradually diminishes to its lowest levels around 10pm to coincide with the low physical activity in the night coupled with the sleep response. Salivary cortisol is perhaps the most reliable source for measuring the levels of cortisol. The concentration of cortisol in saliva accurately reflects the level of free cortisol in blood. Cortisol levels normally fluctuate throughout the day and night (diurnal variation), with a peak rise in levels at about 8 am and ebbing at around 4 am. To properly measure cortisol levels, saliva is collected four times in a day.

The adrenals secrete cortisol in response to a stressful situation, with the cortisol levels returning to normal following the stressful event. What is very important is that adrenals need time to recover after a stressful situation so they can do their job well if exposed to another stressful event. Unfortunately, in our present day high-stress environment, the body’s stress response is activated very frequently leaving very little recovery time for the adrenals. As a result, the adrenals are constantly under high alert and cortisol gets continuously released into the system. So cortisol levels remain high in the blood stream for greater periods of time, which can result in swelling of the adrenal gland itself, and an increased chance of all the negative effects as mentioned earlier (see Not So Sweet: Cortisol and the Problem with Sugar). The good news is that a regular yoga practice, including some restorative poses, guided meditations, and Savasana, regulates the cortisol levels so they are in balance, thereby keeping the adrenals healthy. 

Further confirmation about the role of yoga in regulating the cortisol levels comes from a recent study on cancer patients Effect of Iyengar yoga practice on fatigue and diurnal salivary cortisol concentration in breast cancer survivors. Breast cancer survivors are at risk for chronic stress-related mental issues that alter the activity of the Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal axis, resulting in aberrant regulation of cortisol secretion, increased risk of immune dysfunction, and accelerated cancer progression. To study the effect of a yoga practice on cortisol secretion in breast cancer patients, researchers enrolled two groups of breast cancer survivors: one group that consisted of 9 individuals who attended a yoga practice for 90 minutes twice weekly for 8 weeks and a second group of 9 waitlisted individuals that served as a control group. The outcome measures included self-perceived psychosocial function and diurnal salivary cortisol secretion. The practice involved asanas in the Iyengar tradition that progressively increased in difficulty as participants gained strength and flexibility. The tests were conducted at baseline and after the 8-week study. Both groups completed a self report to document various aspects of psychosocial and physical functioning, and also collected salivary samples for cortisol analysis four times during the day for two consecutive days. 

Not surprisingly, the yoga group had lower morning (8 am) and evening (5 pm) salivary cortisol and improved emotional wellbeing and fatigue scores compared to the control group, suggesting that a regular yoga practice may be a low risk, cost effective way to recover from physical and emotional stress, fatigue, and to regulate the levels of cortisol. The researchers postulate that yoga may impact the Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) axis and the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) response to stress, possibly via direct vagal stimulation (see Vagal Tone and Yoga). In short, yoga may impact the endocrine and autonomic nervous systems together resulting in lowered cellular stress. Time to unroll the mat!

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Life is Not a Problem

by Nina

In the Kusama Room by Brad Gibson

When I was in Holland and Denmark, the last couple of weeks, I was dealing long-distance with a family situation. It was hard to be so far away and be unable to help in person, and I even considered cutting the trip short and going back home in the hopes that my physical presence could help solve some of my family member’s problems (I’m being purposefully vague here, to protect someone’s privacy). Brad thought I should wait because the situation was still unfolding and he felt I could be of more use at a later date. So for a while, I just monitored the situation from afar, mostly texting back and forth because my family member was afraid a phone conversation would be too emotional. 

After a few days of that, I started getting more and more anxious myself. One night in Copenhagen, I started to recognize the physical and emotional symptoms that I experience when in high stress mode (which can lead to an anxiety attack). So I asked Brad to step in for me temporarily and I took some time to calm myself down by practicing—if you know me at all by now you can probably guess—Legs Up the Wall pose (see Featured Pose: Legs Up the Wall Pose). As always, that helped me quiet my nervous system. (Thank you, supported inverted poses!)

But even after that I was still worrying in general about my family member, and what I should or should not do about the situation. So I was up very early the next morning, unable to sleep in even though I was on vacation. What I did with my time was to spend some time researching Copenhagen to see which more offbeat things I could come up with to do (most people just tell you to visit the castles, which is kind of like saying when in New York, visit the Statue of Liberty). And I remembered then that Kierkegaard, a philosopher who Brad and I both studied about in college, was from Copenhagen. So I started reading up on him. And when I found a list of some of his most famous quotes, one jumped out at me:

“Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced.” —Soren Kierkegaard

I instantly felt a sense of relief. Somehow just reading this statement allowed me to step back a bit from the family situation and let go of my attachment to the outcomes of my actions. I was still going to be helping as much as I could, of course, but anxiety started to lessen. Kierkegaard’s thought (he was considered to the first Existentialist) seemed very yogic to me and seemed related to the concept of detachment (see Acceptance, Active Engagement and the Bhagavad Gita). Today I’m trying to find a quote that reflects that same concept, and for now, the best I can do is this quote from the Bhagavad Gita, in which Krishna explains to Arjuna that a yogi is one:

“Who unperturbed by changing conditions sits apart and watches and says “the powers of nature go round”, and remains firm and shakes not.” —translation by Juan Mascaro

When Brad woke up, I excitedly told him what I had discovered. He loved the quote, too, and we started to wonder if we might visit Kierkegaard’s grave. A little research told us that he was buried in a graveyard quite far from where we were staying, and we decided that we didn’t want to give up a whole day in the city just to go there. But we did keep talking about Kierkegaard as we walked about his city, and almost took on that quote of his as a mantra.

One way Brad and I are compatible is in the way we like to explore a new city. We go everywhere on foot without a big agenda and spontaneously explore the things we stumble upon. For example, one day our agenda was simply to check out the oldest bakery in the city and try the snegles (cinnamon rolls!), and we ended up passing by the Round Tower on our way there so we went on in (it turned out to be one of the most beautiful interior spaces I’ve ever been in). On our last afternoon, we decided to walk back to our apartment a different way just to see what we might see, and ended up walking past the Royal Library, which was not a destination we would ever have picked. And, lo and behold, there it was, in the library garden, a beautiful statute of Kierkegaard.

Kierkegaard Statue by Brad Gibson

P.S. If you look closely at the photo of the Kusama room, you can see our reflections.

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