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Pose for the week

05
Mar
2012

Upward Bow or Wheel Pose
Urdhva Dhanurasana

(OORD-vah don-your-AHS-anna)
urdhva = upward
dhanu = bow

Step by Step

Lie supine on the floor. Bend your knees and set your feet on the floor, heels as close to the sitting bones as possible. Bend your elbows and spread your palms on the floor beside your head, forearms relatively perpendicular to the floor, fingers pointing toward your shoulders.

Pressing your inner feet actively into the floor, exhale and push your tailbone up toward the pubis, firming (but not hardening) the buttocks, and lift the buttocks off the floor. Keep your thighs and inner feet parallel. Take 2 or 3 breaths. Then firmly press the inner hands into the floor and your shoulder blades against the back and lift up onto the crown of your head. Keep your arms parallel. Take 2 or 3 breaths.

Press your feet and hands into the floor, tailbone and shoulder blades against your back, and with an exhalation, lift your head off the floor and straighten your arms. Turn the upper thighs slightly inward and firm the outer thighs. Narrow the hip points and lengthen the tailbone toward the backs of the knees, lifting the pubis toward the navel.

Turn the upper arms outward but keep the weight on the bases of the index fingers. Spread the shoulder blades across the back and let the head hang, or lift it slightly to look down at the floor.

Stay in the pose anywhere from 5 to 10 seconds or more, breathing easily. Repeat anywhere from 3 to 10 times.

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Here is the First Post

02
Mar
2012

In principio creavit Deus caelum et terram. Propterea sicut per unum hominem in hunc mundum peccatum intravit et per peccatum mors et ita in omnes homines mors pertransiit in quo omnes peccaverunt. Sic enim dilexit Deus mundum ut Filium suum unigenitum daret ut omnis qui credit in eum non pereat sed habeat vitam aeternam.

Sample image with caption

Sample image with caption

Image with Caption

Let’s imagine this post’s text wrapped around an image with a caption. Omnis enim quicumque invocaverit nomen Domini salvus erit. In principio creavit Deus caelum et terram. Omnes enim peccaverunt et egent gloriam Dei. In principio creavit Deus caelum et terram. Omnis enim quicumque invocaverit nomen Domini salvus erit.

Sic enim dilexit Deus mundum ut Filium suum unigenitum daret ut omnis qui credit in eum non pereat sed habeat vitam aeternam. Omnis enim quicumque invocaverit nomen Domini salvus erit. Et ait faciamus hominem ad imaginem et similitudinem nostram et praesit piscibus maris et volatilibus caeli et bestiis universaeque terrae omnique reptili quod movetur in terra. In principio creavit Deus caelum et terram. Omnis enim quicumque invocaverit nomen Domini salvus erit.

Now a Blockquote

Omnes enim peccaverunt et egent gloriam Dei. In principio creavit Deus caelum et terram. Let’s try a blockquote.

Sic enim dilexit Deus mundum ut Filium suum unigenitum daret ut omnis qui credit in eum non pereat sed habeat vitam aeternam. In principio creavit Deus caelum et erram. Omnis enim quicumque invocaverit nomen Domini salvus erit. In principio creavit Deus caelum et terram.

Omnis enim quicumque invocaverit nomen Domini salvus erit. Propterea sicut per unum hominem in hunc mundum peccatum intravit et per peccatum mors et ita in omnes homines mors pertransiit in quo omnes peccaverunt. Sic enim dilexit Deus mundum ut Filium suum unigenitum daret ut omnis qui credit in eum non pereat sed habeat vitam aeternam.

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29
Feb
2012

“This being human is a guesthouse.
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and attend them all
Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture, still,
treat each guest honorably.”

(Translation by Coleman Barks)

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Poem for the week

27
Feb
2012

Spring by William Blake

Sound the Flute!
Now it’s mute.
Birds delight
Day and Night
Nightingale
In the dale
Lark in Sky
Merrily
Merrily Merrily to welcome in the Year

Little Boy
Full of joy,
Little Girl
Sweet and small,
Cock does crow
So do you.
Merry voice
Infant noise
Merrily Merrily to welcome in the Year

Little Lamb
Here I am.
Come and lick
My white neck.
Let me pull
Your soft Wool.
Let me kiss
Your soft face
Merrily Merrily we welcome in the Year

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Pose for the week

27
Feb
2012

Skull Shining Breath
Kapalabhati Pranayama
(kah-pah-lah-BAH-tee)
kapala = skull
bhati = light (implying perception, knowledge)

Step by Step

Kapalabhati consists of alternating short, explosive exhales and slightly longer, passive inhales. Exhales are generated by powerful contractions of the lower belly (between the pubis and navel), which push air out of the lungs. Inhales are responses to the release of this contraction, which sucks air back into the lungs.

Focus on your lower belly. Many beginners aren’t able to isolate and contract this area. If needed, cup one hand lightly in the other and press them gently against your lower belly.

Now quickly contract (or pump your fisted hands against) your lower belly, pushing a burst of air out of your lungs. Then quickly release the contraction (or your hands), so the belly “rebounds” to suck air into your lungs. Pace yourself slowly at first. Repeat eight to 10 times at about one exhale-inhale cycle every second or two.

As you become more adept at contracting/releasing your lower belly, you can increase your pace to about two exhale-inhale cycles every second. Imagine the exhale sweeping out or “brightening” the inner lining of your skull.

Do 25 to 30 cycles at first. Gradually increase the number of cycles you do each practice to 100 or more.

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