While I was visiting Texas in July, I had the pleasure of watching my nephew learning to balance in order to stand and walk.  It’s so crazy that we learn to manage this bundle of bones, muscles and energetic impulses when we are like 1/6th of our full size, especially at a time when our heads are so big compared to our bodies (this is especially true for my sweet nephew).

When we are learning to balance, we definitely don’t enjoy the falling down part of the process, but we get used to it and learn from it each time.  You would think that as we grow up and master balance in our full size self that that would be it, we wouldn’t have to think or worry about it ever again.  Not so though.  Our bodies are in a constant state of change, whether from having a baby, gaining some weight, losing weight or just aging in general.

As we age, we have a harder time managing the weight of our bodies – our muscles become less reactive and our movement patterns that have helped us balance over the years begin to cause joint restriction and arthritis. Every year, 300 thousand Americans fall and brake a hip. Of those 300k, 25% die within a year of the fracture.   These numbers scream for more prevention – continually learning how to manage the weight of our bodies.  And yoga can help!

Here are a couple of simple ways to start working on your balance today:

Balance comes from the earth and your core muscles.  As I’ve mentioned before, physics laws still hold true:  every action has an equal and opposite reaction.  Thus, the more you press down into your feet, the more energy you get lifting you up from the ground.  Secondly, if you are using your core muscles, it is easier to stay steady.

Safe Practice:

If possible, get down on the floor and lay on your side.  Flex your feet with your bottom arm extended overhead.  Lay your top arm down on your hip.  As a test, let your belly relax and your rib cage pop out and just feel what happens inside – careful, you may roll forward or back.  Get yourself back to center and pull your belly in and drop your front ribs down inside and feel how much easier it is to balance.  Stay here for 10 breaths and switch sides.  You’ll find that one side is always harder than the other.

Standing Practice:

One of my favorite quickie balance practices is walking the tight rope backwards (if need be, do this near a wall that you can lean into for support):

• Start with feet at hip distance (2^nd toe directly under the ASIS – the bones that you can feel at the front of your hips)
• Press down more into your right foot and lift your left heel (try not to let your left hip lift) and put it on top of your right foot (toes to toes)
• Inhale & lift your left knee up; exhale place your left foot down directly behind your right heel – toes touching the heel
• Shift your weight back to your left foot and bring your right foot on top of your left.
• Inhale lift your right knee up; exhale place your right foot directly behind your left heel – toes touching the heel
• Continue for 10 – 20 steps.

Other ways to improve your balance:

• Take note of which foot you have a harder time balancing on and always stand on that foot (either in foot to foot pose or tree pose with foot on inner shin or thigh) while brushing your teeth.
• Every time you are in the checkout line at a store, work on balance – you probably have time to work both legs.
• When standing around talking to friends or waiting for someone to meet you, just working on pressing down into one foot and lifting the opposite heel, switching sides continuously

The good news is that you can improve your balance with consistent practice, so get started today!

I completed the Loyola Marymount University Yoga Therapy Level II year long program this last weekend.  We were honored with the teachings of Robert Birnberg, who challenges anyone he talks with to be more active in visualizing, thus creating all the things you want in life.

I think our society is provided with so many options (both good and bad), that we have become lackadaisical.  Too many times, we fall into the mindset that “whatever shall be, shall be” as Doris Day sang in The Man Who Knew Too Much, which causes us to float through life without  many goals or achievements.   While not getting stuck in minutia of “how” things will work out is very important, that doesn’t mean we can’t specify exactly what outcome we want.

For instance, I want to grow my yoga teaching and therapy practice, so after class I spent some time writing up exactly what I want:  how many private clients, how many classes per week, how many students in each of my classes, where I will teach, how much I will make, what my students will say to me/about me, etc.  It feels good to get clear about what I want, not just have the blanket statement “I want to grow my yoga business,” which is vague and cannot be measured easily.

So, I’m challenging you this week.  Whether it be your career, your lifestyle or your relationship with someone, what is it you want?

Spend some time sitting (or I’m a big fan of laying down with my feet up in a chair) and meditating on what you want.  Visualize every single aspect of it.   If it is a new job, visualize what your new workspace will look like, who your co-workers will be and how they will treat you, what you will do throughout the day, how you will feel both going to and home from work, and on and on.

Once you have a clear idea of all these things, grab a pen and a journal and write it all out.  Again add as many exact details as you can:  what kind of computer (or other work instruments) will you use, what does your desk look like, what other elements are in your workspace, etc.

After writing everything out, pause and take note of how you feel inside.  Excited? Joyful? Peaceful?

Now put the journal away, say a prayer and go on about your day.  Tomorrow, pick it back up, re-read it and confirm that all things you have written are positive, tangible (instead of vague) and specific.  As you read it, visualize it all again, note how you feel inside, then again send it up/out in a prayer.  Now comes the hardest part:  trusting.

Just as in each yoga pose there is a fine balance between strength and softness, achieving goals requires some action and some trusting.  The first action is visualizing, now you must trust that whatever the next step is becomes clear when the time is right.  The best way to let go, trust, and be paying attention when the next action is required is to spend more time focusing on your breath.  Maybe you start by turning off the radio in your car and taking slow deep breaths on the way to the coffee shop each morning or maybe after your lunch break before you start the rest of your day.

As the breath goes, so your awareness goes, so change flows.

I spent the afternoon yesterday at Big Heart Ranch volunteering in the garden.  I hadn’t been out there since last summer, and it was so wonderful to have my hands in the earth again.  While planting some seeds (gotta love California, where seeds will grow and bear fruit even when planted in late July!), I learned that the cantaloupe running along the back of the garden was planted from seeds from last year’s cantaloupe crop (shown on the left of the picture below).

We got to talking about the power and potential in just one seed.  It’s amazing that a single cantaloupe produces hundreds of seeds and those hundreds of seeds can produce several hundred to a thousand cantaloupes the next season.  All that is required is some good dirt, some water and the sun.

I’m so glad that even in this fast moving, gadget focused society, we are getting back to our “roots.”  Programs like Elsa Inc.’s Unplugged Youth Adventure at Big Heart Ranch that introduces kids to nature and animals, and The Teaching Garden where school kids (and parents and teachers) learn about gardening and nutrition are sprouting up all across the nation.

Everything we think, say and do is just like a seed, with the potential to create more good, healing, love and hope in this world; on the flip side, also the potential to do more harm.  If we start to think about our actions and intentions as seeds that bear fruit and flourish (one way or the other), everything we do becomes more important, more worthy of our awareness.

Sadly, most new products and entertainment activities are created so that we become less aware of our own feelings, thoughts and habits.  So my challenge to you this week is to slow down and consider what seeds you are planting and what is being created from them, then think about one or several ways you can plant seeds that change this world for the better.  Just a tip, those seeds always involve connecting with others or the earth and the good news is they tend to produce the most positive change inside you!

Here is a quick mudra (hand gesture) and visualization you can do every morning for 5 – 15 minutes to remove waste and toxins from your body, balance your mind and tackle shaping your visions of the future:

Apan Mudra – with each hand, place the thumb, middle and ring fingers together while extending the index and pinky fingers.

Visualization – imagine you are sitting in a beautiful, richly blossoming garden, observing the mystery of nature:  how a seed germinates, the plant grows and blooms. Now, in an empty bed, plant something that will bear rich fruits in your life (a conversation, a relationship, a project, etc).  Imagine how it sprouts, continues to develop, blossoms and bears rich fruit and who will benefit from its fruits.  End the visualization with a big thank you.

Affirmation – I plant my seeds, care for them,a nd receive a rich harvest – with God’s help – that I thankfully accept.

I’ve had several friends get hula hoops in the last few weeks and then ask for a few pointers.  Since I just picked up my hoop for possibly the first time this year (shame all over my face), I thought it would be fun to post on the basics and joy of hooping.

I was able to keep the hoop going around my waist as a child, but that’s about it.  I’ve learned all I know now about hooping from Rayna who founded Hoopnotica. Hooping takes you right back to the fun, carefree days of your youth, but being able to do really cool tricks plants you firmly in the joy of here and now.

The Hoop:

The new hoops are bigger and heavier than the ones from childhood.  This is a good thing because more weight equals greater momentum to help it stay around your waist, plus it’s more of a workout.  They make all kinds of fun hoops now too:  glow in the dark, rainbow colors, extra weighted, travel hoops (that break apart), and if you heart desires – fire hoops.

The Basics:

How do you keep the darn thing around your waist?  It’s all about pressure points.  Most people try to roll their whole waist around inside the hoop, but that is inefficient and doesn’t really work.  To keep the hoop in motion, you have to push it either forward and back or side to side.

Starting off, just spin the hoop around your waist not trying to keep it going and notice which way you naturally spin it.  If you spin it from right to left, then you are going to focus on “pushing” the hoop with pressure points on the right front side of your waist and the left back side of your waist.  If you naturally hoop left to right, it is opposite (left front and right back).

Stand with your feet hip width and one foot in front of the other (preferably the foot on the side you start spinning from).  With the hoop on your back waist and both hands on the back/side, give the hoop a spin.  Each time the hoop rolls over the front and back pressure points, shift your weight into it and give it a push.  It will take a few spins to find your rhythm, but when you do, you’ll be able to do it for longer and longer.

The more you do it, the easier it gets and the less you have to shift all your weight forward and back.  You’ll also get a little sore and have better toned abs!

Let me know if this is helpful or not; if not, maybe I’ll do a short little video for you.

Now, get out there and find your inner-child in the hoop this summer!