Day 5 – Paschimottasana

So far I’m loving #letsgetflexy.  There are some postures this month however that are going to really challenge me.  🙂 Today’s posture is paschimottasana/intense seated forward fold.  This is an absolute bread and butter posture for me, I practice this asana several times a day. (The other must is ragdoll, which is basically a standing version of this posture). 🙂

The following comments are snippets taken from Erich Schiffmann’s awesome book Yoga; the Practice of moving into stillness ( a must have book, he is awesome).

Forward bends are soothing, calming, and very stretchy.  They stretch and lengthen the entire backside of the body, thus releasing tension and improving circulation in the ankles and feet, legs, knees hips. lower back, spine, torso, and neck.  The spine, especially is taught to lengthen, increasing the space and circulation to the vertebrae….  The abdominal organs receive a deep massage, thus stimulating the powers of digestion, elimination, and reproduction. …. Refreshes mind and emotions.  Promotes experience of peace.

We hold Paschimottasana in the Yin sequence for 10 minutes.  Aiii, the looks I get from new people when I say the length of the hold. It is REALLY hard to do.  I think it is the most challenging asana of the Yin sequence – forcing one to explore moving into stillness, which is so contrary to the rest of our hectic lives.  Becoming one with the breath, fully into the present moment – that is intense and difficult to do.  But in time, you hone your ability.  I always participate in this posture in class and really look forward to those precious moments.

PLEASE give this posture a try.  Get off your couch or chair and get on the floor.  Stretch for a little bit.  Your body will love you for it.

The other day I got asked to #stopdropandyoga on IG.  How I love that game! I try to respond as soon as I can I get so jazzed to get tagged (I know, rather silly but I’m just being truthful) 🙂  Anyways, I was at Denny’s Pet World and a very nice worker there, Kevin, was willing to take my photo.  He said I made his day. I was most happy to hear that.

another exciting thing is that I added a timer to my camera, thus enabling me to do timed selfies.  Most exciting. Here you go.

AGAIN – PLEASE give forward fold a try.  Get off your couch or chair and get on the floor.  Stretch for a little bit.  Your body will love you for it. 🙂

Namaste