Wailana's Weekly message

Release Anger Through Yoga
Anger can be very destructive. It can cause physical and mental problems and can even destroy our personal relationships. But you don't have to let it.

You can learn to release your anger through yoga. Breathing exercises are particularly good for calming down immediately. Just take as many slow, deep breaths as you need to. Yoga sound meditation combined with breathing is even more effective, as the sounds themselves are calming. Yoga asanas also help release tension in both body and mind. So before you blow off steam and hurt yourself or someone else, release your anger with some yoga.

Wailana Yoga Weekly Message

Am I limber enough for yoga?

This is something other people always ask me.. so I thought it would be a good idea to post it up here.

Not Limber Enough for Yoga
The Mississippi Press
September 2006

My quest for optimum health goes on and this week it has led me to yoga.

I must admit that I approach yoga with a certain hesitancy. I do believe in the benefits of yoga, but I've had a bad experience with it.

A few years back, I had a girlfriend who was really into yoga and was quite good at it. So, one day she decided to teach me the basics. Well, the relationship went south shortly after that session and I will always believe it was the sight of my large and somewhat flabby body doing some position called downward facing dog that soured the romance.

So now, even though my fiancee, Donna, is really into yoga, and I'm a little slimmer after losing 20 pounds this summer, I still have not asked her to show me any moves.

The idea of taking a yoga class with a whole bunch of other people just seems outrageous. Yoga is a very private thing to me.

So instead of seeking help, the other day while Donna was gone, I took out one of her DVDs and went through a session by myself with a television hostess named Wai Lana. I like the idea of being taught something exotic like yoga by a woman with an exotic name.

We started off with a very simple move. You take your hands and extend them over your head for a big stretch and then bend your spine backward just a little.

It was like waking up in the morning. It felt great. I'm thinking this is a snap.

She got a little more difficult when she went to her knees. Her feet flatted under her and she told me to sit down on the heels of my feet. Well, my feet didn't flatten and sitting on my heels was uncomfortable. In fact, it hurt. So, I didn't do that part.

Then she went into this pelvic stretch where the knees spread out in opposite directions, the head goes forward and the belly, I think, is supposed to go to the floor. "Just let gravity take you on down," she said. Yeah, right.

I was thinking that I could get into that position, but I'll never be able to get back up without help.

I went to retrieve my cell phone to keep by my side in case I needed to call someone like an EMT.

I did do the pelvic stretch, but it didn't look like hers.

She went to a lying down position that felt really good. I loved that one, even if it wasn't really a position. Of course, she had more instructions from there.

It was at this point that I realized Wai Lana has no bones in her body. Perhaps her ligaments and tendons are not attached the way mine are. She is as limp as a rag doll. I was truly amazed.

The point where she lost me completely is when she lifted her legs and feet over her head and touched the ground in back of her. It's hard to explain the move, but I can tell you that if I had accomplished the move, I would be either dead or in traction today.

Even though I didn't do a lot of the moves on the tape, I attempted a lot of them and did get a workout, of sorts. Donna tells me practice is the key.

But really, I'm just proud to have made it through without injury. That's success.

Astanga pose

Ashtanga Pose

You may find this pose a little tricky at first, especially if your arms are weak. But with persistence, you'll strengthen your arms quite quickly.

1. Come onto your hands and knees with your toes turned under. Place your hands directly under your shoulders, your knees directly under your hips. Inhale deeply.

2. Exhale and sit back on your heels, extending your arms.

3. Gradually lower your elbows and forehead to the floor.

4. Holding your breath out, use your arm strength to move your body forward. Let your elbows come up as you bring your chin and chest to touch the floor lightly. Leave your buttocks up so your lower back is arched. Only your chin, chest, hands, knees, and toes touch the floor. Press your elbows toward your body, breathing lightly as you hold.

5. To come out of the pose, move your chest forward and straighten your knees, lowering your hips to the floor. Repeat the pose at least 3 times, then turn your head to one side, lower your arms, and rest.

Focus in the Pose…
Use your arm strength to keep your chin and chest from resting on the floor too heavily. Be aware of the stretch in the abdominal area as well as in your back.

Benefits
• Strengthens the arms, wrists, and legs
• Develops the chest muscles
• Tones the abdominal organs
• Improves digestion

Cool. This is a new asana, I've never seen Wailana teach this one before even in the TV series so far.

If you want to watch the video of this, it's here.

Choosing a yoga teacher

This morning while I was doing Wai Lana's Wake Up Body DVD, one of my new neighbors came to visit. I invited her in and asked her if she wanted to do yoga with me. She was kinda hesitant at first but joined in. Turns out she's done yoga herself, but not regularly. She said that all the teachers she met were such arrogant cocky asses she really didn't want to have anything to do with them or yoga anymore!

I said it was unlucky... anyway I invited her to come everyday and I hope she really will come.

It got me thinking about choosing yoga teachers. I mean yeah sure I've had my experiences with yoga teachers who just are- like she said, too cocky it's just a total turn off. But I always liked yoga anyway, and now especially, I like my teacher too. Wailana's the best. On a side note, I really love listening to and watching her lighten up videos. Keeps me smiling that's for sure!