POW! (Pose of the Week)

Pose of the Week: Uttanasana - because sometimes you need to "hang"!

Standing forward bend deeply stretches hamstrings and calves while soothing the nervous system, relieving stress and anxiety. Look, if you couldn't even touch your toes before, and through your yoga practice you're now able to reach down there, you'll be sure to have less anxiety ;)

Okay, so I have this instructor who I'm quite fond of, and I've not mentioned her in my blog. Yet. It's Diann. And I really, really am inspired by her. She's cool, she's strong, she surfs, she can be a drill sargeant...Oh wait, I think she deserves her own post...

Anyway, Diann once opened practice by getting us straight away into Uttanasana. Then, she kept us there for a good 5 minutes. She even backed us up to the wall, folded in half, encouraging us to bend a little further and kiss our ankles. (by the way, she *loves* asking you to do the impossible, but then she'll convince you that it is possible. Even though you've studied anatomy and know your lips can't reach your ankles, you start believing her and you reach further.) Then you realize you've been hanging out for quite some time, and you get the sudden urge to bounce up out of the pose. And like a mind reader, Diann tells the class "Don't bounce up. Resist it. Just when you feel you can't hold the pose a n y longer, that's when yoga starts working!" And you stay in the pose.

So, there I am in Standing forward bend. My lips are almost touching my ankles (and by "almost", I mean they're at my knees). And I feel the pose work. It really does. I feel the tiniest of openings at the base of my spine. It's a sensation I've never felt before, and I can't really say I've felt since. All this, because I was hanging out!

Maybe it's time I revisit this pose...as the school year unwinds and the stress and anxiety ratchet up, perhaps I need to relax my nervous system, stretch my hamstrings, and look for inner peace!

Hang out for a bit today!