Wish you a Happy Healthy n Content New Year 2014!

The New Year has already started and so have started our new hopes, desires and a bunch of new resolutions. Well, have they? If you ask me, more than these things, the thought that fills my heart and soul is Gratitude!

We all have gone through the past year with our shares of bonus points and negative markings as well. It is so much rewarding to see that we still exist with all that grit and willingness of take up the new challenges. Yes, because, challenges is what life is all about. They may be positive as well as negative. But meeting challenges and governing them by meeting them head on needs courage. Even if we don't sense it, we all have it. If you wouldn't, perhaps you wouldn't reading this now.

If you look back, you will find that the percentage of negative feelings were governed by the "Me" factor. It is me who takes up negativity, it is me who links up negative events in the mind prolifically, it's me who unnecessarily carry baggage never meant for me. Thus, barring  few exceptions, the culprit in making the year look negative is me! AND- it's also me who emerged through negativism, it's me who counted the blessings that are liberally scattered in my life and it's also me who celebrated 'life' with my family and friends. Thus, if it's the "Me" or "I" factor governing both the emotions, why not shape it in a manner that it will never trouble us anymore?

I think this can be the best possible resolution of 2014 to shape the "I" well, groom it pleasantly and make it stand tall through the upcoming years. And if seen carefully, we can sense that we can groom this "I" well if we let go of this "I" at times and help in its molding.

As it is said very wisely, we do not have control over the nature. We have only this life to live every moment. Struggle of life should go along with the happiness that we all are living for. If it's a struggle totally devoid of happiness and time is spent only to think about the bright future, perhaps we are missing on to the fun the struggle brings us. Therefore, let's hold firmly that we will not waste this life in trivial negativity but even will make big negativity look negligible by our positive, fun-going yet grounded attitude!

I am sure by well-grooming the "I" through 2014, we can all enter 2015 with lot more happiness and content that we actually are after! 

Three Happy Endings Yoga for Better Sleep

by Nina

Flowers in the Shade by Brad Gibson

My friend Liz has a chronic disease but she takes great care of herself. She eats a healthy diet, and, when she is up to it, takes long walks and yoga classes at her neighborhood yoga studio. Because she has sleep problems, she recently decided to start practicing yoga at home as well, after she comes home at night. “It works!” she told me happily. “I sleep like a baby after doing yoga.” Today I decided to ask her what kind of yoga she does, and she said something very interesting. “It depends on what time I get home.” She went on to explain, “If I get home around 6:00 pm, I’ll do some flow yoga, with poses like Warrior 1, 2, and 3, and Half Moon pose. But If can’t practice until 8:00 or 8:30, that’s counter productive.”

“That makes perfect sense to me,” I said.

“Really?” Liz looked intrigued.

“Yes,” I explained. “Standing poses and vinyasa yoga are stimulating to your nervous system. When you stand up, your blood pressure has to rise to keep the blood pumping up toward your head. So if you do stimulating poses too close to bedtime, it’s going to be hard to go to sleep soon afterward. It’s like drinking a cup of coffee too late in the day.” Then I asked her what kind of poses she does if she can’t practice until 8:00 or 8:30.”

“Legs Up the Wall pose,” she replied. “And Shoulderstand and Plow pose. I also like to do that restorative yoga pose where you lie back on a bolster with your knees apart and the soles of your feet touching.”

“That’s perfect!” I said. “The first three are inverted poses, which automatically trigger the relaxation response. These are exactly the poses that are best to do right before bed to help you to sleep better. And that restorative pose is Supta Baddha Konasana or Reclined Bound Angle Pose, and it’s one of the most soothing and relaxing restorative poses.”

I went on to tell her that this is exactly the way I teach yoga for better sleep. It is important to get exercise during the day, but any vigorous exercise, including yoga, too late in the day can be over stimulating. So if you are having sleep problems, this is something you should consider when you are planning your day. Do your vigorous exercise, including standing poses, flow yoga, and backbends, earlier in the day. And try doing inverted poses, forward bends, or restorative yoga in the evening before bed to see if they help improve your sleep.

There’s no hard and fast rules, however. Liz discovered the best times for herself to practice vigorous versus relaxing yoga by experimenting. And the only way for you to find out the best times for yourself is by going through a similar process. However, I can tell you that if you take a nighttime yoga class and have difficulty sleeping afterward, when you come home, instead of getting right into bed, try practicing your favorite calming pose first and see if that helps.

Liz improving her sleep by practicing yoga at home is just one of the happy endings to this story. The second happy ending is that she made her home yoga practice her own by experimenting, observing, and coming up with her own yoga solutions that suited her particular needs and concerns. That, I told her, is advanced practice.

The third happy ending is that I asked Liz for her permission to write about her today, and she said yes. Thanks, Liz!

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