Manipura Chakra

Manipura Chakra, the third chakra or wheel of energy in the body is located at the solar plexus. It is therefore associated with digestion. On a more esoteric level Manipura Chakra is associated with dyanmism, energy and will power. It is the seat of one's identity and personal power. It is the centre of our sense of Self.

If Manipura Chakra is out of balance we can lose our identity, our self esteem. Think about it. If a person feels low, worthless. If they have low self-esteem the tend to hunch forward, crushing and cramming the solar plexus area. Someone in touch with their sense of Self walks tall, opening their Manipura Chakra.

Watch out though! Chakras can be *too* open. Out of balance in the other direction, when ego takes over and runs the show and arrogance prevails.

Like so many things it is all about balance. Finding a sense of Self without arrogance, without having to let the world know about it. Finding that sense of Self but not hiding it either.

Of course on a physical level an imbalance in this Chakra can manifest in abdominal and digestive disorders.

So why am I talking about this specifically? Well I am currently working with a series of poses, the second part of the Pawanmuktasana series (you may remember that the first part worked on freeing the joints) which works on the core muscles and thus on balancing Manipura Chakra.

The question of course is, is it working?

Honestly, I'm not sure. I'm going through a lot of personal stuff at the moment and it's hard to find a balance. My yoga practice always helps of course but I'm not sure if I'm finding my sense of Self right now.

I do however have digestive problems and I have to say, they seem a *lot* better working with this sequence, so maybe I juse need to give it more time.

Oms and Namaste :)

Day 15 - British Weather

We had storms in the night last night so we awoke to a rather misty grey morning.

As part of Project Fitness I do a 2 mile walk on the days I don't go to the gym. I walk to work with Andy and then take the long route home. It's a nice walk along the river and then through the back streets - generally peaceful and there are always cats that want a stroke!

It wasn't the most pleasant of weather this morning though. It was quite cold and the air was really damp. Oddly that is the sort of weather I love the most. When I lived in Australia I missed those grey damp British days more than anything. Island weather. Call me insane, but that is just the way it is.

It's fresh and invigorating and the damp haziness changes the sights and smells around you. I find walking a very meditative experience and different weather always leads to different walking meditations.
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I have a new Yoga Therapy client this afternoon. I am looking again at working on pawanmuktasana with her.

Namaste yogis - have a great Wednesday!

Day 2

My Wednesday night class is usually an intermediates vinyasa flow class. I tend to get between 7 and 10 people (and believe me, the size of that room, 10 is pushing it!); last night due to holidays and sickness I only had 3. Three very exhausted students and one equally exhausted teacher! I always find the clocks going forward leaves everyone slightly jetlagged.

We decided to take a break from the norm and work on a more yin than yang practice. I started with some focussed breathing practices, letting go of the day with the breath and drawing in energy; and then followed with my current favourite - the Pawanmuktasana series. Moving on to postures on all fours, some gentle sun salutations and standing postures focussing around the Warrior series.

Returning to all fours and gentle backbends before coming into child's pose for complete release.

I finished the sequence with some seated postures (holding twists and forward bends for longer than usual to release both tensions and emotions), some supine hip openers and Nadi Sodana before coming into a Yoga Nidra.

My students' verdict?

"Oh I'll sleep well tonight" :-)

Blog every day of April

I am about half way through one of those 101 things in 1001 days goal lists.

One of my goals is to blog every day for a month. The point of this is not the random drivel and brain dumps that I do over on Live Journal but to actually blog about something with a point every day for a month. So I've decided to do it here and write about yoga.

I feel that since giving up work to teach yoga I've lost some of my perspective. I feel that writing about my practice, my teaching, my thoughts, my feelings both on and off the mat will help me to get back some of that perspective and also refresh me, inspire me in my practice and my lesson planning. I just want to find my yoga"ness" again. I feel tired and jaded and I don't want this to become just another job.

This is my last week of teaching before I have 10 days off - I'm hoping my time off will be conducive to finding my "ness" again as well.
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On Tuesday nights I teach a small gentle yoga class from my home studio. It's mostly older people (a pretty equal balance of men and women), who are just looking to keep flexible and strong. I really love teaching this class; because of the nature of the clientele I tend to teach the most pranayama, meditation and chanting in this class and we always end with a full Yoga Nidra. That's if you can get them all to stop gossiping for long enough to get started in the first place! They are a really lovely group, full of life and adventure - they make me look forward to my 50s and 60s!

Last night was the last Tuesday night for a couple of weeks. We worked mostly around the various Pawanmuktasana series from the Bihar Yoga school along with some standing and seated poses to open up and bring energy into the whole body. I finished with Nadi Sodana, chanting and full Yoga Nidra. Hopefully that will keep them going for a couple of weeks!