Balasana

Balasana ~ Child's Pose

Bala: Child

Place your third eye, your inner eye, on the floor.

The third eye color is indigo. Close your other two eyes, focus on the space between your brows, your pineal gland, and picture an indigo light emanating from that area. After practice eat some dark bluish foods: blueberries, blackberries, eggplant, and blue corn and become enlightened.

"The person who is not searching for clarity does not even know what brings him or her happiness or sorrow." –– T.K.V. Desikachar

Bakasana

Bakasana ~ Crane ~ Crow

Looks like a crane wading in a pond. This pose is great for the wrists. Lately, my wrists have been feeling funky. I find the best antidote for this problem is to go to slower moving classes so I have time to adjust. Remember slower does not mean "easier" or "no workout," holding poses often takes a lot more strength of both body and mind and teaches us the valuable lessons we practice yoga to learn.

Every asana must have both qualities of sthira and sukha. Sthira is steadiness and alertness, sukha is the ability to remain calm and comfortable. You should feel alert and unstressed in any given posture. If the breath is strained, the pose is not right. The quality of our breath expresses our inner feelings.

Paper cranes or yoga class?

Baddha Konasana

Baddha Konasana ~ Bound Angle ~ Butterfly ~ Cobbler's Pose

Baddha: Bound
Kona: Angle

This pose stimulates the abdominal organs, ovaries, prostate gland, bladder and kidneys.

"We begin where we are and how we are, and whatever happens, happens." –– T.K.V. Desikachar

Open the soles of your feet like a book, fold your torso forward if it feels good, and "Argh!!!" It relaxes the jaw.

Ardha Chandrasana

Ardha Chandrasana ~ Half Moon Pose

Arda: Half
Candra: Glittering, shining, having the brilliancy or hue of light. Moon.

The sun and moon represent the two polar energies of the body. Hatha yoga is the physical practice to purify and prepare your body for meditation. HATHA can be divided into  HA: solar energy and THA: lunar energy. Together "hatha" means forceful, communicating that powerful work is necessary to reach a higher state of being. So while the most important aspects of yoga do not concern the physical body, in the beginning you can't just sit on your a** to get 'there.' 

To feel the proper alignment practice Ardha Chandrasana with your back body pressed up against a wall, it feels amazing even for the most developed practitioners.

Have both legs so strong you could stand on either foot. 

"Yoga" "yolks" the sun and moon energies and by joining them together creates balance and strength inside you.


"When force of circumstance upsets your equanimity, lose no time in recovering your self-control, and do not remain out of tune longer than you can help. Habitual recurrence to the harmony will increase your mastery of it." –– Marcus Aurelius

Physical yoga, including balancing and strengthening full-body poses such as Ardha Chandrasana, will help you to recover your self control and return to your harmony. 

Ananda Balasana

Ananda Balasana ~ Happy Baby

Ananda: Bliss

Bala: Child 

Also called Dead Bug pose.

Think right angles: 90 degrees thighs and shins and 90 degrees shin and foot.

A pose for fatigue that will stretch the inner groin, hips and low back. Surrender to release. Eventually the feet will go behind the head. When this happens extend your arms over your thighs,  clasp your hands behind your back, rest your occipital bone on your metatarsals and sleep like a blissful yogi ;)

Apanasana

Apanasana ~ Wind-Relieving Pose

Apana: Down Breath.

Apana is one of the five main vital energies located in the lower abdominal/pelvic floor region. It's energy is downward, contracting and expelling. Apana is responsible for elimination.

Stretch your back and aid your digestion with Apanasana. It is the perfect counter pose after a set of backbends and an antidote to intestinal discomfort or menstrual pain. Push your knees away from your body into your hands for a greater back stretch or pull your leg(s) in passively and close to the body to massage your organs.

Keep the back of your neck nice and long using a pillow or blanket if necessary. Pull both knees in together and/or one knee at a time keeping the other leg straight.

Adho Mukha Vrksasana

Adho Mukha Vrksasana ~ Handstand

Adho: Downward
Mukha: Face
Vrksa: Tree

Type of asana: Inversion

Press down to lift up. The main obstacle in this pose is the fear of falling. I find a good way to overcome this anxiety is to step out of the yoga studio and onto a soft plod of grass where you can kick up hard and fall on purpose dissipating any fears of the unknown.  (Spoil Alert: You'll probably end up in wheel and it will probably feel amazing.)

Do a lot of down-dogs to prepare yourself for handstand.

This pose relieves stress and mild depression and improves your sense of balance and strength.

Do not cramp your neck when gazing at the floor, if your heels are against a wall feel free to look into the middle of the room.

Adho Mukha Svanasana

Adho Mukha Svanasana ~ Downard Facing Dog

Adho: Downward
Mukha: Face
Svana: Dog

Type of asana: Standing/Forward Bend/Inversion

Calms the brain, relieves stress and mild depression. Stretches back body, arches and hands. Strengthens arms and legs. Improves digestion. Therapeutic for sinusitis.

This pose requires a lot of strength, flexibility and alertness. Do not let it's commonality in classes fool you: this is a very difficult pose! It may be the first you will learn and the last you ever "master."

Support your head on a pillow or block for a soothing version.
Stay in the pose five minutes if possible, pump your legs if you like.

Feeling it in your shoulders? Bend your legs and press back with your hands. Your legs do not need to be straight, they may never be straight! Your heels do not need to touch the floor. Wrists in pain? Place your hands on a wall about hips height, step back and drop your chest towards the floor.

makes you wanna scream!!!

OK, enough cleansing and cleaning--- it's time for ICE CREAM!!! and other goodies...
This post is about finding what you love by trying new things, but balancing new things with tried and true favorites. Step out of your comfort zone once in a while, but don't waste too much time or energy on anything you find sub-par. It's a big world out there and it is meant to be enjoyed. Know thyself but never stop asking questions. This is also a reminder - in the midst of a few cleansing posts - not to take things too seriously and NOT to create a food dogma, which can be limiting and confining: the opposite of yoga. Today I returned to a Yoga class I know I adore, but haven't made the time to attend in a long while. Perhaps I was a little too busy trying new things. It's amazing when old standbys never fail to satisfy.

Here are the Kirschenbaum house favorites, what are yours? What's their story? Make your own Best-Of list. And share it in the comments!

Best Ice cream:

Haagen-Dazs (a made-up word by the founder in the Bronx) Vanilla.
amazing with chunks of very ripe mango.

Best chocolate chips:

Ghirardelli 60% Mini-Disks.
love the size, love the darkness, love them alone or in cookies.

Best peanut butter:

Smart Balance Omega Natural Peanut Butter
even my european family is hooked.

Best Popcorn:

Trader Joe's Microwave popcorn, not the fat-free kind.
buttery, but not too buttery.

Best sandwich style cookie:

Trader Joe's Vanilla Joe Joe's
the vanilla ones (yes, I even surprised myself on this one.)

Best yoga in La Jolla:

Anne West, La Jolla Yoga Center

Trust those who seek the truth, doubt those who have found it.

April Showers with a sugar scrub

    Abhaya Mudra. Hand gesture for fearlessness. Use for protection and peace. 

SUPPLE SWEET SUGAR SCRUB
an at-home recipe for face and body

1 cup sugar; brown, white, whatever you have.
1/3 cup olive oil; or almond or any cold-pressed.
10-20 drops vanilla extract or essential oils such as lemon, orange, grapefruit, lavender. Optional.

Combine into a mason jar and rub all-over in the shower. The scrub will leave a luxurious layer of oil that will make you wonderfully impenetrable without feeling slick.