friday flow and blanks

So after a morning spent massaging and thinking about rotator cuffs and scapulas and using the right muscles in the upper body, which all ultimately leads to opening the heart centre, I give you a warming, relaxing heart opening practice (as performed beautifully by my yoga students last night who did not need to be bribed to class with vegan gingerbread….oh no).

Lie on your side, knees bent, arms at right angles to the body, palms together, hips,  knees and shoulders all stacked on top of each other, block or cushion under the head.  Take a moment to think about the shape your body is making.  Deep breaths!

Breathe in and raise the arm up to the ceiling, following the fingers with your eyes.

Breathe out and let the arm come onto the floor behind you.

Now, don’t just flop the arm down mindlessly!  The trick here is to keep the knees and hips exactly as they are.  As soon as the knees move, you’ve gone too far.  This might mean that the arm doesn’t come all the way to the floor (mine doesn’t) and that’s OK!  Enjoy the stretch.  Inhale the arm back up to the ceiling and exhale the palms together again.

Repeat three times on each side and finish by lying over a bolster or rolled up blanket to open the heart centre even more.

Feel the love people, it’s nearly the holidays!

~~~~

And some customery blanks, courtesy of Lauren.

1. I wish…. ah now, there’s a question. One has to be very careful with wishing I find, because sometimes they just might come true. The trick is always in the wording….

2. Yesterday I.… cleaned my house, and taught my last Thursday night yoga class of the year.

3. Today I will.… see one more client, cook fajitas and catch up on all the TV on my Virgin+ box.

4. Tomorrow I will.…go to the last but one day of massage school, see my mum (it’s her birthday today – happy birthday Ma Yogini), and watch the X Factor final, because I am hopelessly addicted.

5. Maybe….is the name of a friend’s cat, because they didn’t know if it was a boy or a girl.

6. Someday…there are a lot of things I could finish this sentence with, all the hopes and dreams and plans Himself and I have. But it would be tempting fate to share them, readers. So suffice to say that someday we will all grow old.

7. I love…me. Because I have to tell myself that everyday!

Paul Robinson in Neighbours has a mug that says I Love Me on it.  I want one too!

This entry was posted on Friday, December 10th, 2010 at 4:47 pm and is filed under blanks, sequences. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.