Face yourself each day, rain or shine

open your heart (Natarajasana B)

My daily ashtanga yoga practice allows me to feel what it means to face myself each day, rain or shine.

I've always loved backbends. They feel euphoric. I don't hold tension in my lower or mid back.

discover where you hold tension

However, I have recently discovered the reason why some backbends bring up a lot of emotion for me and others not. I hold my tension in my shoulders. Certain weight-bearing positions on my shoulders causes a bit of what I hold to seep out, along with emotions as this occurs (or within the hour).

The shoulders are an extension of the Heart Chakra (Anahata Chakra). But, asanas with a really deep shoulder rotation first, such as this one (Natarajasana B) free that energy completely--or so it seems--because I am not only feeling the euphoria of a backbend but my shoulders are unlocked!

free yourself

Here in this state, I feel serious personal power and like nothing could ever harm me. 

Namaste.

~ Robin Ellen Lucas, MA

The key to making your mind stable

Yoga is not performance. Asanas are known to make your mind very stable, and that’s why I do them, along with the profound after effects and how these effects trickle into life as a whole.

Each person is different (mind, history, physical skeletal structure, lifestyle, heart and soul); I don't believe that there is just one way to do a yoga pose to be "correct". There is more to it.

on the other side of challenge

This pose, Viranchyasana A (the third part of it) in the Ashtanga 3rd series (Advanced A) has a lot more going on than performance in the moment. It's a challenge.

It's not that I enjoy struggle. For me it's what's hidden on the other side of challenge, and how that pursuit translates into life on many levels.

It's taken me over 20 years to have the flexibility and strength and trust to even try this asana, and mostly to get my mind out of the way.

look inside yourself

The benefits are in the nervous system, the somatic subtle body, the ego, emotions, hormones, etc. (I could keep adding to that list all day). I am looking inside my own self here, and it's a very calm and beautiful place.

Namaste.

~ Robin Ellen Lucas, MA

Enter into a devotional relationship with your yoga practice

Chakorasana is an asana in the Ashtanga Third Series (Sthira Bhaga) and also an exit for some of the poses in Third and also Second series.

Some words about Third Series from Kino Macgregor (paraphrased), "It is a devotional practice that burns through some of the deepest blockages that exist in the human mind and body. The true lesson comes when you move through that initial phase into a daily devotional relationship with the practice (i.e., when you feel good, when you feel just ok and also when you feel bad)."

burn out blockages

I do this asana approximately 27 times per week, both sides.

It burns out subtle blockages in the hips, strengthens arms, frees the neck and strengthens the core (bandhas). For me it's also a chance to work on my very tightest body part, my shoulders; it's a reminder to push them back in order to free my neck while keeping the strength to lift--a continual lesson for me in becoming flexible by doing it over and over again for years (and smiling at even the smallest amount of progress in my shoulder flexibility).

Most importantly, when the channels within me are open, my mind and body feel free, resulting in physical health, happiness and mental clarity.

Namaste.

~ Robin Ellen Lucas, MA

Calming your mind and shattering illusion

This pose is Tittibhasana A. It's in the Ashtanga Intermediate series (Nadi Shodhana). Each yoga asana has an ancient story behind it.

Tittibha = a little bird living along the sea. A story of the tittibha birds can be used as a symbol of yoga, where the birds lay their eggs, live peacefully, and the sea swallows them up; but, the sea gives them back when commanded to do so.

power of illusion

The sea with its might and power represents the power of illusion, ignorance and prejudice (i.e., citta - all aspect of human existence subject to change).

The small tittibha bird stands for the effort of the yogi, an effort which seems ineffectual when compared with the challenge.

calm the mind through practice

But just as the little tittibha bird succeeds, the yogi can calm citta through practice and shatter illusion. (Story from the Panchatantra).

Namaste.

~ Robin Ellen Lucas, MA

Drop your usual excuses: Rewiring your mental patterns

The one place where my tailbone feels comfortable in this asana (Navasana): at the beach. Now to bring a bag of beach sand with me to yoga class.

Why do this pose? It's a good way for me to describe what ashtanga yoga does for me.

breathe into challenge

On a yoga mat on hardwood floor, all of my focus is on slow deep breaths and on engaging uddiyana bandha and mula bandha. Going to the edge of challenge and breathing into it cultivates this pattern in other areas of my life.

When I first walked into a mysore-style ashtanga class and was asked to do this, I had all the excuses on why I'm not so good at it (One, I had 3 pregnancies and my abdominal muscles split apart; two, I fractured my tailbone). All of this was ten+ years before but I carried that excuse with me.

transform excuses to power

What I was really doing was coming up with an excuse to hide and not grow into being more than I was. Good metaphor for why I have continued with ashtanga yoga. It has only gotten better (the lessons) since then.

Namaste.

Robin Ellen Lucas, MA