Living my Yoga - Day 7 of Training (Core, Arm Balances & Restorative Yoga)

I am grateful we practiced with Core, Arm Balances and Restorative last Saturday:

·         So much of what makes Arm balances attainable is NOT in the arms

·         Engaging the bandhas…. makes a HUGE difference

·         Take care of your wrists by stretching them before & after

·         After a half day of core and arm balances, restorative yoga felt AMAZING

We started off with a unique way to incorporate ‘OM’ into the yoga practice, what I would call an ‘OM Vinyasa’ of Surya Namaskar A. It was very calming and centering to recite ‘OM’ in unison with the rest of the class.

So for those who do not practice yoga and are reading this, the previous sentences have a lot of yoga jargon in it! Sorry…I’ll try to explain:

We did the following poses. This sequence of poses is identified as Surya Namaskar A. Typically; each pose is synced with the breath.

Surya A - Source:yogalifestyle.com

Starting with the 2nd pose above you inhale, the 3rd pose you exhale, 4th pose you inhale and so on.  What was unique about this ‘OM Vinyasa’ was that on each exhale we recited ‘OM’as our exhale.

‘OM’ – The word is actually spelled as aum and is pronounced as om so it rhymes with home, and it is typically used in yoga classes to open and/or close class. When I first started going to yoga classes I did not participate in the practice of chanting OM, for many reasons but primarily because I didn’t know what it meant, I did not know if it was religious and I did not want to ‘sing’ because I am completely tone deaf. It actually took me many years until I started to chant OM, and I am still learning to not be self conscious about my voice and have confidence to chant it loudly and in my own way.

There is something beautiful about chanting OM in the beginning of class, hearing the hesitation in the yogi’s tones and the quiet Om’s, and then that same class chanting OM at the end of a 60 minute class, everyone in unison, confident and strong in their voice.

OM is considered the all-connecting sound of the universe. It is interpreted as having 3 sounds (a-u-m) representing creation, preservation, and destruction. "The letter A symbolizes the conscious or waking state, the letter U the dream state, and the letter M the dreamless sleep state of the mind and spirit." The entire symbol stands for the "realization of man's divinity within himself." – According to B.K.S. Iyengar from his book, Light on Yoga.

Below is the symbol of OM:

More OM resources:

http://www.yogamovement.com/resources/aum.html

http://salhan.blogspot.com/2010/11/hindu-symbol-om-aum.html