In Your Face!

Did you know that your face is effecting your yoga?!?! Smile to improve your yoga! Read this next blog to learn the effects of smiling.

Soft Faces of Yoga

by SCOTT KILPATRICK

Smile!

How many times have you heard this cue from a yoga instructor? If you are hearing this command in class, then likely the last thing you are thinking of at the moment is a cheekish grin. Maybe you’d oblige to showing your teeth, and maybe let out a little growl to express your disdain for the asana that you may find yourself in. This is really a nice cue, and though I will admit, it’s one command I loathed for some time, it takes a bit of deeper understanding of how a smile in yoga can empower your yoga practice. I’ll take a step back from smiling, and use the word softness since there are some of us that just take things too seriously to smile randomly, and some of us may take our yoga so serious, that a smile is not warranted. I like to think that there are poses that need a very serious gaze, or dristi, yet there are some that are complimented with a soft face or a warming smile.

A person’s facial expression is always the fastest response of the mind’s input and the most universal form of communication, transcending all language barriers between human beings. You have more facial expressions than you probably realize and they include expressions of pleasure or  displeasure , judgment or approval, understanding or disagreement.  Facial expressions send messages to those around us, but there is also two-way communication between the face and the mind.  You can test this yourself . Take a moment to cultivate a sense of awareness in the body and turn your attention inward. Experiment with different contortions of the face and watch where the mind goes. What happens when you smile? What feelings arise when you furl your brow? Does frustration arise when you clench your jaw? Do you feel attractive with fluttering lashes and a coy smile?

I’m asking you to experiment with facial expressions and their accompanied emotions, thoughts and feelings because this is a counterpart to your internal dialogue, or your mind chatter. Yoga teaches us that where the mind goes, the body follows and vice versa. But often, facial expressions are left out of this teaching.  Smiling is one of the self-evident principles taught in yoga. This is why you hear it so often.  When students are in difficult postures, the teacher may likely see contorted faces, clenched jaws and expressions that tell the story about what is going on inside the student’s body. When we smile, we instantly feel uplifted, lighter, etc, and this is due to the chemical response of the brain in reaction to a smile.

Give smiling a try. Or maybe even your version of a soft facial expression. Next time your internal voice is screaming, “I HATE THIS POSE!” See what happens if you smile. Can you tell yourself that you hate something while you are smiling? In yoga,  your face always tells the story. Change the expression on your face, change the story of your practice.

The 20 muscles of the face.

• Occipitofrontalis
• Temporoparietalis
• Procerus
• Nasalis muscle
• Depressor septi nasi
• Orbicularis oculi
• Corrugator supercilii
• Depressor supercilii
• Auricular muscles (anterior, superior, posterior)
• Orbicularis oris
• Depressor anguli oris
• Risorius
• Zygomaticus major
• Zygomaticus minor
• Levator labii superioris
• Levator labii superioris alaeque nasi
• Depressor labii inferioris
• Levator anguli oris
• Buccinator
• Mentalis

This faithful reproduction of a lithograph plate from Gray’s Anatomy, a two-dimensional work of art, is not copyrightable in the U.S. as per Bridgeman Art Library v. Corel Corp.; the same is also true in many other countries, including Germany. Unless stated otherwise, it is from the 20th U.S. edition of Gray’s Anatomy of the Human Body, originally published in 1918 and therefore lapsed into the public domain.

This article was originally published on September 24, 2012 at:

http://thoughtsonyoga.com/soft-faces-of-yoga/

Bikram Yoga - "It's Like a Cruise Ship!"

Bikram Yoga Paradise Valley's October 2012 Student of the Month, on yoga.  When David heard about Bikram Yoga more than a year ago from another BYPV student he decided to give it a try. 

He says that before starting yoga he was "out of shape, more of a couch potato, no motivation, and lots of stress". Now, he says he's in much better shape. "My stress level is way down and in general I just feel better.  Yoga has definitely helped my knees after years of karate and many operations. My knees feel 'younger' and I'm still working on locking them! I have also had six shoulder surgeries that have not helped my flexibility, but by practicing yoga my shoulders are starting to feel more limber."

David says his favorite postures are in the spine strengthening series. "I like all of the postures done on the belly. It stretches me out and I can feel my back getting stronger when I do them."

When asked what advice he would give new students, David says, "Just stick with it. It's like a cruise ship, the more you participate the more fun you have!"

Bikram Bungy Jumping

By P.J. Stuart Thank goodness for Pranayama breathing … or I may not have kept my cool.

Standing on top of the world’s tenth tallest structure – the Macau Tower in Macau, China – I could feel small beads of sweat running down the small of my back, quickly mounting in succession.

My palms were clammy and my heart rate increasing, while I tried to suppress the nausea I felt as I peered over the edge. I was about to surrender myself to a dizzying sensation, as I prepared to plummet down the side of this 1,109 foot building, with a bungy cord attached to my legs.

It’s no big deal if you’re skydiver Felix Baumgartner, who broke the sound barrier this month during his record-setting jump from the edge of space.  Peanuts to him, perhaps. But in my world, this was a much feared item on my “bucket list,” and one I stubbornly pursued despite the naysaying voices in my head telling me to hold back.

In fact, that’s precisely where I can credit my Bikram Yoga practice for pushing me through. Ignoring those pesky voices and continuing to breathe, despite my discomfort.

Forget locking my knees. They shook and trembled, while staff members on the tower clipped me into a harness. I inhaled deeply through the nose … releasing a steady exhale through my mouth. Again and again, as the seconds leading up to my “plunge” ticked by slowly.

Then that familiar feeling came. The one where you need to make the decision – are you gonna do it or not?  Grab your foot for standing head to knee and get in, no hesitation? Step into balancing stick pose quickly or let those ten seconds pass you by? Unfurl yourself into a camel pose or timidly stay seated on your mat?

I guess I could have turned around. But I’d come this far. My heart rate was up, and, though it wasn’t pleasant – I knew I could sustain myself through the anxiety and prevail. All those hours in the torture chamber had prepared me for this.

Three, two, one … and I was flying. Lost my breath for a moment in exchange for a death-defying scream, one I didn’t’ know I had inside of me. And then, once I got used to the unfamiliar feeling – pure joy. Laughter. Giggles, even. A beautiful release, despite the suffering I went through to get there. Sound familiar?

It’s just another reminder – it’s never as bad as we make it out to be in our tricky little minds.

It's Yoga's Fault!

By H.J. Klingman

Yoga stressed me out. Yoga made me bloated. Yoga hurts my hips. Yoga took up too much of my day. Yoga made me feel not good about myself. Yoga did this, yoga did that….. It's yoga's FAULT!! These are the thoughts that raced through my head while practicing in yoga classes over the past few months. Having maintained a very consistent practice for years, I was beginning to actually HEAR myself during the 90 minute class. Once I began hearing myself, I wanted to smack myself in the face. How could my subtle mind really be so negative, and BLAMING yoga for everything I was thinking and feeling? Well, in my shock I began to be quiet. And still. And listen more closely. And what I heard then shocked me even more: “It’s not YOGA’s fault…. YOGA didn’t do anything…. YOU did these things to yourself. You just need something/someone outside of you to blame for these things…..”  WHOA.

Ok, slow down, I thought. This is heavy. When I was first open to receiving this truth I immediately became defensive. “But… but… but…” Then I began to relax, letting go of judgement of this truth… and I began to let it be the truth, and to sit with it. During the next several weeks of yoga classes after this happened, I slowly began to allow myself to see it, both inside of the yoga room and out. I realized that it wasn't only yoga I blamed. I blamed people in my life and things happening around me all throughout the day! I blamed people for the way I felt, for my happiness or lack thereof. I blamed the yoga teacher, the heat, the food I ate, and even the postures for the pain in my body. Reflecting openly and honestly, it was my own ego that made me push into the posture incorrectly further than it was ready to go. The yoga never hurt me, I hurt me.

Then I decided to stop. JUST STOP IT, I thought. Start taking responsibility for the decisions I make, the food I eat, the way I do the posture, the way I react to the teacher, the way I choose to feel or react to my loved ones….

This has been a very difficult lesson to learn, and at times it leaves me feeling like having a downright temper tantrum. It has also empowered me on a new level that I did not know possible. I can now be responsible for the life I want to live, without making everyone and everything else around me the blame. While circumstances will ALWAYS happen, we have a CHOICE how to react to them. For years my teachers told me this, and I finally heard it. I felt it. I continue to try to apply it. It isn’t always easy, being the one that has to accept responsibility for feeling crappy, or hurting myself. Sometimes I want to just blame someone else! But, realizing this has allowed me to free the ones I love from the responsibility of making me happy. If I want to be happy, it’s up to me. If I want to be healthy, it’s up to me…. My dad always had this mantra he would repeat to me, and now I can finally hear it’s importance:

If it is to be, it’s up to me.

I can now say that "it's yoga's fault" that I am more awake, more aware, and more alive than ever. And it's up to me to remember this and continue to strive for the best life I can live.

Love & Bikram

By Erin Wall My favorite movie as a teenager was “Love & Basketball” mainly because I played basketball and so did my boyfriend at the time. So naturally when I fell in love with Bikram Yoga, I expected my husband would be a yogi too! Not so much…

 One of the hardest parts of Bikram Yoga for me is getting my husband to take class on a regular basis and by regular, I mean once every two or three months. He “hates” it and I can’t blame him all that much because I hate it some days too. What keeps me coming back day in and day out even when I hate it because I know how good it is for me. This is why I want it so bad for him - I don’t want to be 80 years old and rockin’ life while he is complaining about back pain- nor do I want to live a day without him. When I was at teacher training, he came to visit a few times and at one point he told me he would do a 30 day challenge with me when I got home. Well, when I first got back from teacher training, I was on a yoga high; it was all I wanted to do, it was all I wanted to talk about, think about, etc. I figured he would hop on my bandwagon and do his challenge then. There always seemed to be some sort of excuse as to why he couldn’t do the challenge; “I’m going to be out of town a lot this month”, “The holidays are too busy”, “How am I supposed to find time to take two hours out of my day every day” etc.  These are the same excuses we have all used at one point or another. It’s easier to make the excuses then it is to make the commitment to coming every day. It’s hot, it’s hard, and it’s brutally honest. But as most of you know the 90 minutes of struggle, pain, and sacrifice is so worth it. After pushing the yoga on him for a while, I finally gave it a rest and came to terms with it that he just isn’t ready for Bikram Yoga in his life. I even had Bikram sign a book for him that said “Do More Yoga” and gave it to him for Christmas. I’m sure you can guess where that book ended up, no not in the trash… just on the book shelf collecting a lot of dust.  I know at some point it will be a part of his weekly, maybe even daily life. I mean he does still owe me a 30 day challenge.

If your significant other just refuses to do yoga with you or thinks you have completely lost your mind, don’t get upset or take it personal, just do your yoga. One of my favorite quotes is, “You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink.” I figure at some point, the yoga glow will catch on and they will want to have it as well.