5.

 PRACTICE 5: WHAT DOES REHABILITATION MEAN TO YOU?  

REHABILITATION:

REHABILITATION | rēˌ HAbilitaeSH(ə)n |

"restoration" noun of action from past participle stem of rehabilitare

1500 AD; from Middle French réhabilitation and directly from Medieval Latin rehabilitationem 

1. the act of restoring something to its original state. re- "again" and habilitāre "to make fit."

 AGAIN,  YOU MAKE  FIT.

How do you make yourself fit?

How do you restore your mind, body, emotion and breath?

Rehabilitating is an empowered experience requiring choice and agency to create.

Rehabilitation is the act of restoring health & wellness back to the body, mind, emotions & breath.

We re - member all parts of ourselves in this process through training & therapy to make fit again our

true nature after any experience of trauma, imprisonment, addiction, dis-ease or illness.

4.

PRACTICE 4 : Building Resilience.

RESILIENCE     |rēZILˈyəns |     verb.   

1620; "to spring back, rebound"  or,  "act of rebounding"

1. the power or ability to return to the original form, position, after being bent, compressed or stretched; elasticity.

2. ability to recover readily from illness, depression, adversity, or the like; buoyancy.

1824;  "elasticity" | from the Latin resiliens, present participle of resilire "to rebound, recoil," from root -salire "to jump, leap, spring, or bound" and prefix RE- "again" that is, "to jump, leap, spring, or bound again"

3. the capability of a strained body to recover its size and shape after deformation caused especially by compressive stress.

4. an ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change.

The American Psychological Association:

TEN WAYS TO BUILD RESILIENCE

1. MAKE CONNECTIONS : Good relationships with other people is important. Accepting help and support from those who care about you strengthens your resilience. Becoming Active in your community. Redirect your focus to assist others.

2. AVOID SEEING CRISES AS INSURMOUNTABLE PROBLEMS :  You can't change the fact that highly stressful events happen, BUT you can change how you interpret and respond to them. Try looking into the horizon and beyond the present to how future circumstances may be improved.  Notice any subtle ways you may already feel improved.

3. ACCEPT CHANGE AS PART OF LIVING :  Certain goals may no longer be attainable as a result of adverse situations. Accepting circumstances that cannot be changed can help you focus on circumstances that can.

4. MOVE TOWARD YOUR GOALS : Develop realistic goals. Do at least one action regularly, cultivate healthy discipline.  Small accomplishments enable you to move in the direction of your goals. ASK YOURSELF, "What is one thing I know I can accomplish today that will help me move in the direction I want to go?"

5. TAKE DECISIVE ACTIONS. Act on adverse situations as much as you can . Take decisive actions, avoid detaching completely from stresses and wishing they would just go away.

6. LOOK FOR OPPORTUNITIES FOR SELF DISCOVERY : Many people who have experienced tragedies discover that they have grown in some respect, and often learn something about themselves in the process. They report greater sense of strength even while feeling vulnerable, increased sense of self worth, more developed spirituality, and heightened appreciation for life.

7. NUTURE A POSITIVE VIEW OF YOURSELF : Developing confidence in your ability to solve problems and trusting your instincts supports building resilience.

8. KEEP THINGS IN PERSPECTIVE :  Even when facing painful events try to consider the situation in a broader context and keep a long term perspective.

9. MAINTAIN YOUR HOPEFUL OUTLOOK : Optimism is a attitudinal muscle. It requires your attention and commitment to build up. Once you have, an optimistic outlook enable you to expect that good things will happen. Try visualizing, or connecting to the feeling of what it is you want, rather than worrying about what you fear.

10. TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF : Pay attention to your own needs and feelings. Engage in activities that you enjoy and find relaxing. Exercise regularly. Taking care of yourself keeps your mind and body clear to respond appropriately when faced with a stressful situation.

ADDITIONAL WAYS TO BUILD UP YOUR RESILIENCE INCLUDE, TAKING 5-10 MINUTES EVERYDAY TO WRITE IN YOUR JOURNAL, MAKE NEW MEMORIES, COLLECT YOUR GRATITUDE, ACKNOWLEDGE WAYS YOU ARE BREAKING THROUGH YOUR BREAKDOWN, MAKE ART, MEDITATE, CONNECT YOURSELF TO A PRACTICE OF PRAYER.

apa.org/helpcenter/road-resilience.aspx

3.

PRACTICE 3:  building conscious body awareness

THIS IS A MINDFULNESS PRACTICE TO SUPPORT YOU IN STAYING PRESENT IN YOUR PHYSICAL BODY WHILE YOU MOVE GENTLY.

 

PLAY ON THE EDGE OF YOUR FEAR. 

 FIND A PLACE WHERE YOU CAN STAY

UNINTERRUPTED. USe A TIMER. 

 SET YOURSELF A BLOCK OF TIME 

(recommended 20mins)

 

sink   into   this   short   Practice:

 select  a comfortable posture.

 *********

find  A  SEATED  POSITION neutral/BALANCED in both hips.

*********

discover a position lying on your back on the ground.

*********

 set yourself on your hands and knees in a table top posture. 

*********

CHOOSE TO  create a POSTURAL variation

 

 

 USING A TIMER, SET  5-15 MINUTES FOR YOUR PRACTICE.

BEGIN IN A POSTURE where you feel completely at ease

 Invoke  the  BREEMA  principle  BODY  COMFORTABLE, 

make sure that you are paying CLOSE attention.

NOTICE YOUR BODY BREATHING, NOTICE YOUR BODY HAS WEIGHT.

 REGISTER TO YOURSELF THAT YOU ARE COMFORTABLE,

REGISTER THAT YOU ARE NOT AFRAID.

 FROM YOUR BEGINNING POSTURE ALLOW YOURSELF TO GENTLY MOVE IN A CIRCULAR, SPIRAL LINES  EDGING YOURSELF IN YOUR MOVEMENT NEARER TO AN edge WHERE FEAR COMES IN,

PAUSE THERE,

DEEPEN YOUR BREATHING AND WAIT

 

ALLOW RELAXATION TO enter INTO YOUR POSTURE,
INTO YOUR MIND AND BODY

 

ALLOW SPACE FOR THis to occur,

 TO YOURSELF FEEL THE TRUTH IN THE STATEMENTS;

 MY  BODy HAS WEIGHT  ~   MY BODY BREATHES.

FROM HERE YOU CAN DEEPEN YOUR MOVEMENT, 

CREATE FOR YOURSELF the space to LEAN INTO THE EDGES of a stretch, MOVE FORWARD INCLUSIVELY, IN THE  EXPERIENCE OF noticing each part of your BODY with full AWARENESS.

 

THIS IS WHERE RELAXATION ENTERS OUR CELLULAR CONSCIOUSNESS

where THE BODY IS ABLE TO FULLY SUSTAIN & INTEGRATE CHANGE.

 

2.

PRACTICE 2 : LEARNING TO FLY : TEACHING YOGA  ASANA

 

NAMO GURUBYE,

NAMO BUDHAYA,

NAMO DHARMAYA,

NAMO SANGHAYA,

NAMO TRI-RATNAYA

 

My teaching assignment was to lead my sangha in the inner yoga practice of Moolabandha.

I decided to start the group in Prasarita Padottanasana (wide legged forward fold) as a creative entry into our practice. It was a bold move, and what I learned is bold moves are not always the best for introductory classes. Keep it simple and TEACH TO WHAT YOU KNOW - this was my lesson... But here we go. 

Come into your Prasarita Padottanasana, I said. 

Step your feet apart - as wide as the yoga mat. Let’s open the pelvic floor wide, I thought. Let’s include the legs. Let’s feel the legs grounded through the feet first and THEN feel the lift from the inner arches of the feet upward. Begin in the feet, work your way up the length of the inner thighs and into the pelvis. (I didn’t actually say any of these things)  What I said was different, I can’t even remember.  

So let me reimagine here:

I invite YOU to try it with me, as my student.

Begin by bringing your hands to your hips.  Fold from this joint, hinging the upper body forward from the hips, like a door. I want you to tune into your feet and feel balance between the front and back of each foot. Shift your weight forward into your toes and begin to feel the front of your legs engage. REMEMBER You can only access an opening in the hamstings once the quadricep muscles are engaged. ENUNCIATE. Feel the hairline shifts forward, or back.  FEEL the slow lift from the inner arches of the feet, feel the inner thighs stretching upward.

Now, relax your arms to the floor in a choice variation, hanging at the elbows, palms on the floor, hands stretched to each foot.

Now, bring your attention to the pelvic floor. Imagine there is a hammock down there. Imagine the sit bones separate slightly making a diamond shape with the pelvis,  Pubic bone and sacrum. Feel into the perineum muscles, the space between the sit bones, left to right. Imagine as you inhale the hammock is filling full with air, like a parachute and as you exhale imagine the hammock contracting inward. PAUSE. Pause at the bottom of your exhale, and then again. Inhale to open the parachute, and exhale feel the contraction of the pelvic floor. PAUSE. After a few rounds of a good old fashioned conscious body focused breathing, I welcome you to follow the exhale and stay in the lift. This is, my friends is your MOOLABANDHA. From here, from within your exhale, allow an inhale to begin. Allow the inhale to be based in the slight contraction of the pelvic floor, feel the lifting up in the spinal column. Bring the palms of the hands to the floor under your gaze and allow that pelvic lift to encourage you to shift your weight further  and further forward.  Feel into the finger tips, and perhaps you will find the slightest inspiration to ground the crown of your head into the floor at a triangles distance from the palms. Follow that pelvic lift up supported by your engaged hands and rooted crown. Follow the lift further and perhaps you will feel the inspiration to allow your feet to lift off, entering slowly, into a tripod headstand.

 

Now take a moment after grounding those brave toes back down to the ground to appreciate what got you there. You got to experience your root lock, your moolabandha. Your moolabandha is located at the base of your torso, at the pelvic floor. IT is a gateway, ruled by ganesha, to the depths of the insides of your body. Bandha translates to mean lock. You lock the pelvic floor and create a lift as a conscious choice to support your inner organs, to deepen your expression of weight distribution, and allow yourself to fly.

 

Now from a different angle. Come into a comfortable sitting position.  Virasana. Heros Pose. Experience your pelvic floor from here. Find your breath, and allow yourself to return to a steady breathing rhythm. With every inhale, just as before, feel the pelvic diaphragm inflate. Allow each exhale to impress you with a lift, as if you could levitate. Practice. Inhale. Exhale. 

What did you notice about yourself?

 

 

1.

self care PRACTICE 1  :  

THE LIST THAT BECOMES A LOVE LETTER   { A  POEM }

SET YOURSELF UP IN A PLACE YOU LOVE, 

SUPPORT YOURSELF WITH A TIMER, PAPER & PEN

SET THE TIMER FOR FIVE MINUTES & BEGIN.

KEEPING YOUR EYES OPEN & YOUR EARS AND NOSE ALERT.

 

MAKE A LIST OF EVERYTHING YOU ARE CONNECTED TO

FROM WHERE YOU SIT ... COLLECT YOUR GRATITUDE.

ODE TO DEATH VALLEY  .   2005

The sand pressed solid in the ground speaks of permanency
yet the loose gravel on the edges                                                                                                              of steep mountains  sing songs of OUR IMPERMANENCE.

Oh, PRECIOUS Life!

Everything has it's season, it's time, 
it's place here in the valley. 
The life of the creasote bushes dance in the wind like I do in the car

with the windows down,

Joni blasting from the radio...

OH Californiaaaaaa,  California...

Oh - long live the impressionS and deeply vivid dreams.
wild horses and flying ravens...

oH whimsical rattles THAT keep our  rhythm here--
 

 mezmerizE ME, clear MY place right here,

now,  they move wide

flying high and falling low... 
like love. 

mezmorizing like the vast blankets of
desert wildflowers swaying to the breeze
mezmerizing like the stars in perfect FORMATION

like the sunset and
                              moonrise,

mezmerizing me like aliveness does, 
TAKING my breathe AWAY THE MOMENT I notice  what is here.

The vast emptiness of the desert allows us the space we need

to seperate
                it allows us the freedom to reflect - WITH love    in our hearts
                it allows us the opportunity to learn to be quiet and ALSO,    TO listen.              
                                                      
    I hear THAT I AM MULTITUDES,    AND I AM!    {perfect, whole and complete}.

Our oasis HERE harbours and sustains us
IN THE shade of the cottonwood trees, with HER deep roots

stretching TOWARDS THE water

SHE reminds ME of my abundant resourcefullness

i am     true, blue, fluid, and free like the river
calmed by this  sweet song.. 

i am centered in practice and eased by the support of
these strangers - my strangers - MY TRIBE.


I remain yours, alive and impressionable...

in love,  and oh so full, 

empassionED

yes, passion.

 

GREEN