During the Full Moon I fell in love with the Alps
As most of you know, I went to teach a yoga retreat in the French Alps. It was a truly amazing and nourishing experience, one that I truly hope to repeat again next year!
As most of you know, I went to teach a yoga retreat in the French Alps. It was a truly amazing and nourishing experience, one that I truly hope to repeat again next year!
We arrived on Saturday, the sun was shining, driving along a winding road, with fir trees on either side of the road interspersed with glimpses of wondrous looking chalets, we arrived where the road stopped at Chalet Rosiere, where two very gorgeous dogs greeted us. Chalet Rosiere is a typical mountain Chalet built from stone and wood. The sort of house you would want to spend an exciting holiday in, or perfect life, with views of vegetable patches planted by the local population, Fir forests, a valley, and across the valley the sound of a waterfall. The views from the balcony and the bedrooms are truly breathtaking, postcard-perfect.
The chalet is very well situated for summer and winter vacations. It is close to ski resort La Rosiere and to many stunning walks.
After arriving we spent the rest of the day doing yoga, eating delicious vegetarian/vegan food, and getting to know one another.
The intention for the next mornings yoga session was “Exploration”. With that in mind, we explored the ebb and flow of our yoga practice as the sun rose. The class moved from a slow start to building more heat and then again it eased into rest. With our intentions set and our purpose clear we ventured into the French Alps, soaking up every bit of fresh mountain air and stunning views.
The week continued in this way with yoga twice a day, fresh, sunny and exhilarating walks, yummy food and much talking.
Our second walk was my favourite walk of that week. Philip, our host, took us to the most peaceful part of the Alps I have ever been to. The trails were covered with wild flowers, and the cleanest streams you can imagine. The landscapes were dotted with remote little mountain chalets that people would use only in the summer, as you couldn’t get there during the winter.
The week was based around the full moon, so on Wednesday we had our full moon celebration. Which we enjoyed again with a stunning walk, more yoga, a cacao ceremony, intention setting and meditation in the forest after the sun had gone down. During the week we had all felt the power of the moon increasing, as we all seemed to have had vivid dreams during the night.
As we climbed higher and higher during the week and we got closer and closer to the snow line and saw several glaciers in our views I decided that I love being in the mountains. I couldn’t get enough of the energy that the mountains gave me, the shear strength of the mountains recharged me in a way that I have never experienced. Nothing was able to interfere with that energy, I fell in love with the mountains doing the thing that I love doing the most, teaching Yoga.
Please keep your eyes and ears open, as soon I hope to let you know when I will be there again.
Click here to see the photos from the retreat
Much love,
Sarah xx
Standing on your own two feet with the muscles of the soul
Within our deepest core lie three long complex muscles that stretch along both sides of the spine, span laterally from the 12th thoracic vertebra (T12) to each of the 5 lumbar vertebra and flow down through the abdominal core, the pelvis, to attach to the top of the femur (thigh) bone
Within our deepest core lie three long complex muscles that stretch along both sides of the spine, span laterally from the 12th thoracic vertebra (T12) to each of the 5 lumbar vertebra and flow down through the abdominal core, the pelvis, to attach to the top of the femur (thigh) bone. The ilio-psoas are muscles that are both vertical and diagonal: psoas major, psoas minor and the iliacus (a muscle sheath lining the inside of the pelvic basin). Where the psoas attaches at T12, is also where the trapezius muscle attaches and moves upward toward the skull, and where the diaphragm attaches. The diagonal aspect of the psoas acts as a 'shelf' for the internal organs and follows the urinary bladder connection to the kidneys. In this sense, it can be engaged muscularly or organically. This is also the same pathway that many suggest is the yogic energetic lock known as uddiyana banha.
What is interesting to me is the profound and direct effect these muscles have, not only on our physical alignment but also on our internal alignment; our emotional, mental and spiritual well-being. They are even referred to by Taoist healers as 'the muscles of the soul'.
The point where the upper psoas and diaphram meet at the solar plexus, is from a yogic perspective an area believed to be the centre for personal power, gut feeling, self-esteem and the power of self-transformation - the same area as the middle dan tian, and manipura chakra associated with the colour yellow. Physically the diaphragm sits just below our lungs assisting and regulating our breathing and our digestion. When we are under stress the diaphram contracts, our breath shortens and blood is sent from our digestive system into the muscles preparing us for our innate 'fight or flight' response.
Liz Koch, a psoas specialist, writes that “ If we constantly contract the psoas due to stress or tension, the muscle eventually begins to shorten leading to a host of painful conditions including low back pain, sacro-iliac pain, sciatica, disc problems, spondylolysis, scoliosis, hip degeneration, knee pain, menstruation pain, infertility, and digestive problems. A tight psoas not only creates structural problems, it constricts the organs, puts pressure on nerves, interferes with the movement of fluids, and impairs diaphragmatic breathing. The psoas is so intimately involved in such basic physical and emotional reaction, that a chronically tightened psoas continually signals to your body that you’re in danger, eventually exhausting the adrenal glands and depleting the immune system.”
Due to our modern-day fast-paced lifestyle (which runs on the adrenaline of the sympathetic nervous system) and because many of us are in a some form of seated position for the majority of the day bringing the hip joint into prolonged periods of flexion that shortens the psoas, both lifestyle choices/necessities signal to our brain that we are in some form of danger. Unfortunately for many of us this is difficult to avoid.
However, the great news is that if you are reading this you are most likely practicing yoga and therefore actively releasing the tension in the psoas everytime you practice! This can be as simple as deepening the breath or working through poses such as Pigeon or Lunge that specifically target a release in the psoas.
But if any of these symptoms sound familiar to you, then it might be interesting to try and first locate the psoas in your own body during your yoga practice. Try engaging the psoas in Downward dog split, Bridge or Warrior II. Instead of relying on the glutes or the quads see if you can engage the psoas by scooping the lower belly in and lifting from your core. It does take practice but that's what we do, we practice and as Iyengar put it: “The study of asana (poses) is not about mastering posture. It's about using posture to understand and transform yourself.”
So have fun, start with the breath, enjoy getting to know your body and as you come to understand yourself, watch how your life transforms!
If you have any questions please come and find me in class, I'm always happy to talk about our amazing body, and if I don't know something I'll find out! Also follow me on Facebook at Myrthe Aurora where I will share with you interesting reads and anything that inspires me.
Have a wonderful day standing on your own two feet with the muscles of the soul.
Namaste
Myrthe Aurora
References:
Liz Koch - The Psoas Book & Core Awareness
https://bodydivineyoga.wordpress.com/2011/03/23/the-psoas-muscle-of-the-soul/
Lift Reach Twist Arch
"Lift, reach, twist, arch" bellows my teacher Shy Sayar's smiling voice from the back of the class room to try and be heard over the screaming cicadas outside. Parivrtta Parsvakonasana, Revolved Side-Angle Pose. I feel a bead of sweat run down across the inside of my lower ribs, watch it splash onto the purple mat, leaving a darker speck: I must be working hard.
"Lift, reach, twist, arch" bellows my teacher Shy Sayar's smiling voice from the back of the classroom to try and be heard over the screaming cicadas outside. Parivrtta Parsvakonasana, Revolved Side-Angle Pose. I feel a bead of sweat run down across the inside of my lower ribs, watch it splash onto the purple mat, leaving a darker speck: I must be working hard.
So how is this pose helping me become aware of my interdependence? How is this simulating the challenges of life as I fan open my top arm? Twisting deeper, I free my breath as I draw my sit bones into my hamstrings, arching my upper back through my chest to twist and reach it up towards the sky. My thighs burning, twisting, and pulling away from each other. I sit. Deeper. I breathe into the pit of my abdomen where my breath, as if welcoming home an old friend with open arms, embraces all my thoughts of discomfort, screaming to get out and give up. There, in my own centre of gravity, are all my thoughts quietened, softened, stilled so that the suffering isn't quite so strong. So I practice, I turn up, I look experience in the eye and see it come in and out of existence. Experience coming into being and just as quickly fading away. Life is momentary. Each moment, although often experienced as eternal, changes, transforms and if you let it, can be freed from suffering.