POW! (pose of the week)

Pose of the Week: Padmasana - because we're building the next level! For me, Lotus pose is one of those "definitive" yoga poses. It looks so serene, peaceful, inwardly connected. Despite all this "ease", Lotus is also a pose that takes many, many baby steps to get right - which is why I've taken the time to build up to it over the course of the last three weeks.

Padmasana has many physical benefits: Clearly, your hips are going to be opened when you're sitting with opposite ankles resting in your hip creases - but did you also know that it will actually lubricate your knee joints, possibly preventing arthritis and (for us women who are prone to it) osteoporosis?!? Sitting up tall will strengthen abdominal organs and promote good digestion. Mentally, this pose will focus your mind (making it an optimal pose for meditation), reduce stress, and bring about mental clarity.

Begin sitting in staff pose (L-shape, with legs out in front of you). If it helps, sit with your back against the wall the first few times to encourage your spine to lengthen upwards. Slowly draw your left heel up to your navel, and bring it to rest in the right hip crease. Draw the right heel up to your navel, and set it into the left hip crease. Rotate the hips and thighs and widen them out to the sides. Breathe easy and sit as long as you like. As Diann reminds us in class: Just when you feel you need to "jump out" of a pose, breath deeply into the pose, because that's when it's beginning to do it's work! Every so often, break your dominance, and find yourself into the pose in the opposite order (ie, do the right side first, then the left).

Please do not rush into the pose all at once. Build up to it gradually. Begin (as I did 3 weeks ago) by practicing Sage (siddhasana), then when that's comfortable, work your way up to a half-Lotus (ardha padmasana) before attempting full Lotus. With baby steps, gradually working your way into this pose, you'll find that even someone with the stiffest hips out there, with diligence and intention, can make his/her way into Lotus.

And just when you thought Lotus was "arrival"...tune in next week to see where we're going next with this work!

Be the change you wish to see in the world.