Tree Pose

This picture was taken by Robin Adams Photography back 2006, right before I opened up my yoga studio. I used this picture in some marketing collateral.  Seems like another lifetime ago!  Otherwise known as life BP (before Penelope).

I love tree pose so stinkin' much.  It is one of those poses, where when you look at it, it looks so easy.  So you saunter your leg up, like it aint no big deal, and you can't do it.  You can't even have your foot on your foot and balance.  It humbles you.  It forces you to take a big look at yourself and forces you be honest with yourself in the present moment. 

At the same time, for some people, it is one of those poses you can fake.  Sure, you may be able to get your leg up and make a triangle with your bent leg, and balance.  But how is your form?  Are both your butt cheeks pulled in?  Especially, the cheek of your standing leg.  Is your knee cap of your standing leg, pulled up and your thigh engaged?  Is the weight of your entire body, spread perfectly and evenly across the bottom of your standing foot?  Is your bent knee at a 90 degree angle with your pelvis? Or is it pointed slightly forward?  Are both your hips facing forward?  Is your belly button pulled up into your spine?  Are your shoulders down away from your ears?  Are you staring at your drishti (a focus point on the wall, at eye level, to help you balance) and thinking of nothing but your breath?

It is a complicated pose, no doubt about it.  But the beauty of practicing and mastering, balancing yoga poses, is that whatever you accomplish in class can directly correlate to mastering balance in your own life.  Learning to live in a perfect state of balance, in regards to all things, in something I strive for and truth be told, one of the biggest lessons I learned when I had my studio, was how to keep my life in balance.  Tree pose is one of the things that helps me along.

Once you can do some sort of balance in tree pose, you will start to notice that one side may easier to balance on and that it changes by the day, by the hour and by the minute.  You will also notice, that moment you come out of the present and start thinking about your to do list, you will fall.  



For babies and toddlers, tree pose is a different experience.  It is one of pure joy and elation as they learn about their bodies and what they can do with them.  Tree pose, is one of my favorites to teach, because once a toddler can master this on their own, the look on their face when they do it for the first time, is priceless.   The picture below is of Ava Grace, age 18 months.  And me when I used to look young, pretty and full of life.  Now, I look like someone ran me over with a truck, ah, motherhood.

For toddlers, you show them how to do tree pose first.  But you show them the easiest way  you can.  With your foot by your ankle, or on top of your foot.  Later you can show them the full version of it, if you want.  But this is a really hard pose for them, so make it attainable at first.  Usually, it takes well past the 2nd birthday before kids can balance on one foot, so don't despair if it takes them awhile.   You can hold onto them,  or show them how to hold onto the wall.

For babies, you move their legs for them, like the picture (which by the way is more Robin Adams, and this is Ella Shea, age 6 months).  They can be seated or standing.  For babies, you are simply getting them to experience the movement, which helps them set the brain pathways for later and they will pick it up faster when they are older.

So there you have it.  Tree Pose.  Let me know if you have any questions.  Did these pictures spark your interest in more yoga studio pictures by chance? When I was looking for these on the computer, I found more pictures Robin took of the studio, it really was a beautiful place.  Anyone interested in going down memory lane with me?

And tell me your Tree Pose story! 

Mama Yoga: Legs Up the Wall Pose

After child's pose, this is probably my most favorite yoga pose of. all. time.  Can you see a theme with my style of yoga?  I like my yoga to very restorative (read: lazy and easy).

I love this picture so much!  I had my husband snap this picture while we were in our room at Mammoth Mountain during our recent California trip.  Not that I was tired from snowboarding, since I didn't get to go, being on baby duty 24/7 and all.  I figured I have the rest of my life to snowboard, but Penelope will only be a baby once.  Riding in the gondola with her was fun enough.

In the picture, with me and Penelope, is my sweet friend Stacey, or as Penelope calls her EeCee.  Penelope really liked EeCee.  She is about 31 weeks pregnant and she is a real trooper.  Her boy (4 today!) is Wild with a capital W and even after chasing after him all day, she is always game for camping or surfing or whatever.  If I have another baby, I hope I have her energy and her patience.

If you don't have a lot of energy, Legs Up the Wall pose, is a great all around pose for everyone.  If you only do one yoga pose a day, or a week for that matter, do this one.  Doing this pose for 5 minutes is like taking a 25 minute nap.  It literally gives your body a break.

I first learned about this pose as a girl during a dance show. Actually, it was a video we were shooting for somebody, and we were about 12 years old.  The taping was taking all day long, and it was verging on child abuse, so our dance teacher/den mother gave us a break and lined us all up in a vacant room and told us to stay there with our legs up the wall for 20 minutes and we couldn't move.  Lo and behold, after 20 minutes we were all rearing to go.

Which makes me think, if you could get a toddler to do this for a few minutes, it would be a great thing to do when they need a nap, but are refusing to go down.

If you are pregnant, one of the reasons you get so tired is because your heart is working double time. It is exhausting for your body simply pumping blood back to your heart from your extremities.  Putting your legs up, lets gravity do the work for your body. 

If you get tired of having your legs up, you can do what we are doing in the picture above, for a modification.  It's basically Reclined Bound Angle pose with your legs up on the wall.

Also, if you are pregnant, you can put a rolled up towel or blanket under your right hip if you are worried about laying on your back for a little bit.  But remember, you will feel dizzy and light headed, long before your baby is getting less oxygen. If you are you doing this pose and you feel fine, then your baby is fine. 

Mama Meditation: Saa,Taa,Naa,Maa

I love this meditation.  It is so simple and easy, and unlike a traditional meditation where you just focus on your breath, this one gives you something to do.  And for me, if their is movement and rhythm involved,  I am much more likely to do it at all, and much more likely to stay focused.

To begin, disregard the mountain of laundry behind me in the photo.  In true Mama Yoga fashion, this is how I roll.

Lay on your stomach, with your chin on the floor.  Keep your head straight, to keep your spine straight and in proper alignment.  Lay your arms down by your side, with your palms facing up.

Then you mentally chant the words, Saa, Taa, Naa, Maa.  As you chant each sound, close a finger and thumb together.

So, on Saa, you close your first finger and thumb.  On, Taa, you close your ring finger and thumb and so forth.

The reason you are on your stomach for this meditation is because it stimulates and balances your "Moon Centers".  Each woman has 11 Moon Centers and they are located in different parts of the body.

Your psyche resides in each Moon Center for approximately 2.5 days, and each Moon Center is associated with a different emotion or quality, so roughly when you have cycled through all the centers you have completed one menstrual cycle.  Moon Centers are a fascinating topic, I promise to write more in depth about them soon.

Isn't Penelope adorable?  You guys probably get so bored with us oohing and ahhing over our daughters, but we just can't help it, so bear with us. 

This meditation is supposed to help you break old habits, assist you going through transitions and change and any accompanying emotional turmoil.  I don't know about you, but that is my life all day, every day, it seems.

I have been doing this meditation before bed, every night, for the past two months.  It has been a nice way from me to transition from laptop/work mode to shifting into relaxation/sleep mode.

Enjoy!

Yoga for Your Child: Frog Pose

Frog Pose, for your child, is essentially Garland Pose (also known as Squat Pose.)  So Mamas, when you are demonstrating this pose for your child, YOU get all the benefits!  And whether you are trying to conceive, pregnant or somewhere on your post partum journey, this pose is SO good for you.

What I love about watching Penelope do yoga, and other kids for that matter, is witnessing how natural yoga comes to them.  Check out her form-absolute perfection on her first try!

Her heels are firmly planted on the ground, and the weight of her body is evenly distributed throughout her feet.

Her  knees are pointing up and her toes are directly forward.  Often times, the only way and adult with tight hips can get into this pose, is by turning the feet outward at angle and splaying the legs open a bit.

Her pelvis is under and her spine is perfectly straight.

She was even able to put her hands in prayer and balance.

When they are in frog pose, you can say "What does the frog say?!"  And reply with;  ribbit, ribbit!

I also will do the Baby Signs for frog (you just stick your tongue out.)

As they get older, they can start hopping and jumping around like Frogs!

Just FYI, most of the baby yoga poses I post, I learned at my Itsy Bitsy Yoga training. The founder and creator, Helen Garabedian, has a great book and dvds that you can purchase to help your home practice. Or you can go to her website and try and find a class near you!

Child Yoga: Donkey!

Donkey is the next stage of advancement after your child has learned Down Dog and later mastered. It's such a fun yoga pose for your child.  The pride they feel when they can accomplish it, is priceless.

So just like any other pose, you show them the pose first and then ask them to do it.

For Donkey, you show them Down Dog first and then say "lift your leg for Donkey!"
You can say; "What does the Donkey say?  He says Hee Haw!

This is the child version of one legged Down Dog, but when you show them, lift your leg slightly and keep it somewhat bent.  They are not going to be able to do a perfect one legged Down Dog, so show them the version of the pose that is attainable to them.

And remember, however your child express this pose or any other pose, is absolutely perfect. They are perfect, their little bodies are perfect, their individual gross motor skills development is perfect just as it is.

As long as you are breathing, you are doing yoga!

Just FYI, most of the baby yoga poses I post, I learned at my Itsy Bitsy Yoga training. The founder and creator, Helen Garabedian, has a great book and dvds that you can purchase to help your home practice. Or you can go to her website and try and find a class near you!

2 Minute Mama Yoga

Got two minutes?

Good! Do some yoga!

Full hour yoga classes are very few and far between these days. In truth, I have been to one, count em, one yoga class since I was pregnant. BUT I try and do yoga in small snippets whenever I can.


I like this little routine because its super fast and effective in relieving any tight back muscles.  It's basically a standing variation of down dog, cat/cow and cobra, which makes it a great routine if you are pregnant too!

First, start by holding on to the back of your couch, or table, or counter, or whatever the hell you want-as long as it can really hold your weight. Then bend your knees and put your weight into your heels, and move your bottom away from the couch, giving your shoulders a nice stretch, and warming up your back and legs.  Sky, the healthy doggie, likes to participate in yoga time too.

Then straighten your legs and press your chest towards the floor and your shoulder blades together. 

This is a modified Down Dog. Your feet should be hip distance apart. The more you drop your chest down, the deeper the stretch will be.  Make sure your back is flat.  You can experiment with the intensity of the stretch based on how far away your feet are from the couch.  The more you move them away, the deeper the stretch will be in your calves. 

And make sure you are breathing!  As long as you are breathing you are doing yoga, no matter what your body looks like in the pose.

The next pose is a nice side stretch and stretch for your spine, such a great stretch if you have a tendency to carry your baby on your hip. You are making a C shape, or a crescent shape, with your upper body. Stretch on one side and then the other. Use the the couch and the floor for resistance to get a deeper stretch.

Next is cat/cow. The picture above is of cat pose, its called that, because you arch your back up like a scared cat. Tuck your pelvis under and move your chin to your chest. Again, use the couch and the floor as resistance. You should feel a stretch all down your spine and in between your shoulder blades.

For cow you keep your hands on the couch (or you can put them on your knees) like you have been and bring your pelvis to the couch, so your hip bones are touching the couch. Your legs are pretty straight, but can have a bend in them if that is more comfortable for you. Your elbows are bent and your shoulders are down, rolled away from your ears. You are looking up at the ceiling. This is a great stretch to open up your chest and shoulders.

Now go do some yoga!