Bridge Pose Variations

Bridge Pose - Setu Bandha Sarvangasana

(SET-too BAHN-dah)
setu = dam, dike, or bridge
bandha = lock 

BACKBEND YOGA POSES:
Improves spinal flexibility and strength creating better posture, stimulates the central nervous system, abdominal organs and aids in digestion, tones the adrenal glands, kidney, pancreas and liver thyroid gland, abdominal organs and lungs, stretches the chest, lungs, upper and lower back, throat, shoulders, hip flexors, can relieve menstrual cramping and menopause for women, and calms the mind. - See more at: http://www.mryoga.com/backbends/#sthash.PaEYVQFA.dpu

Benefits

• Stretches the chest, neck, and spine
• Calms the brain and helps alleviate stress and mild depression
• Stimulates abdominal organs, lungs, and thyroid
• Rejuvenates tired legs
• Improves digestion
• Helps relieve the symptoms of menopause
• Relieves menstrual discomfort when done supported
• Reduces anxiety, fatigue, backache, headache, and insomnia
• Therapeutic for asthma, high blood pressure, osteoporosis, and sinusitis

Therapeutic Applications

• Stress

BACKBEND YOGA POSES:
Improves spinal flexibility and strength creating better posture, stimulates the central nervous system, abdominal organs and aids in digestion, tones the adrenal glands, kidney, pancreas and liver thyroid gland, abdominal organs and lungs, stretches the chest, lungs, upper and lower back, throat, shoulders, hip flexors, can relieve menstrual cramping and menopause for women, and calms the mind. - See more at: http://www.mryoga.com/backbends/#sthash.PaEYVQFA.dpuf

BACKBEND YOGA POSES:
Improves spinal flexibility and strength creating better posture, stimulates the central nervous system, abdominal organs and aids in digestion, tones the adrenal glands, kidney, pancreas and liver thyroid gland, abdominal organs and lungs, stretches the chest, lungs, upper and lower back, throat, shoulders, hip flexors, can relieve menstrual cramping and menopause for women, and calms the mind. - See more at: http://www.mryoga.com/backbends/#sthash.PaEYVQFA.dpuf

BACKBEND YOGA POSES:
Improves spinal flexibility and strength creating better posture, stimulates the central nervous system, abdominal organs and aids in digestion, tones the adrenal glands, kidney, pancreas and liver thyroid gland, abdominal organs and lungs, stretches the chest, lungs, upper and lower back, throat, shoulders, hip flexors, can relieve menstrual cramping and menopause for women, and calms the mind. - See more at: http://www.mryoga.com/backbends/#sthash.PaEYVQFA.dpuf

BACKBEND YOGA POSES:
Improves spinal flexibility and strength creating better posture, stimulates the central nervous system, abdominal organs and aids in digestion, tones the adrenal glands, kidney, pancreas and liver thyroid gland, abdominal organs and lungs, stretches the chest, lungs, upper and lower back, throat, shoulders, hip flexors, can relieve menstrual cramping and menopause for women, and calms the mind. - See more at: http://www.mryoga.com/backbends/#sthash.PaEYVQFA.dpuf

BACKBEND YOGA POSES:
Improves spinal flexibility and strength creating better posture, stimulates the central nervous system, abdominal organs and aids in digestion, tones the adrenal glands, kidney, pancreas and liver thyroid gland, abdominal organs and lungs, stretches the chest, lungs, upper and lower back, throat, shoulders, hip flexors, can relieve menstrual cramping and menopause for women, and calms the mind. - See more at: http://www.mryoga.com/backbends/#sthash.PaEYVQFA.dpuf

BACKBEND YOGA POSES:
Improves spinal flexibility and strength creating better posture, stimulates the central nervous system, abdominal organs and aids in digestion, tones the adrenal glands, kidney, pancreas and liver thyroid gland, abdominal organs and lungs, stretches the chest, lungs, upper and lower back, throat, shoulders, hip flexors, can relieve menstrual cramping and menopause for women, and calms the mind. - See more at: http://www.mryoga.com/backbends/#sthash.PaEYVQFA.dpuf

Challenging poses for today

Tree Pose Variation

If the Tree Pose is easy for you, try this variation :)

Vrikshasana/Tree Pose 3
“Vriksh” = Tree, “Asana” = Posture
Tree Pose brings balance to Body and Mind.
Brings Harmony and concentration.

- Strengthens legs, feet, ankles, and spine
- Stretches chest and shoulders
- Reduces flat feet

Cautions: Headache, insomnia, operations and low blood pressure. Any injury ask your doctor.
High blood pressure: Bring hands to hart center.

Tiddenfoot Leisure Centre

Another gym where I cover classes :)

Tiddenfoot Leisure Centre
Mentmore Road
Leighton Buzzard, LU7 2AF

22nd September (Sunday) 10:30-11:30am       Pilates
29th September (Sunday) 10:30-11:30am        Pilates

Yoga & Crohn's Disease

Crohn's disease, an autoimmune disorder of unknown origin, causes inflammation in the lining of the digestive tract. Signs and symptoms include abdominal pain and cramping, diarrhea, blood in the stool, ulcers, reduced appetite and weight loss, fatigue, fever and skin disorders. Depending of the severity of symptoms, Crohn's disease can limit daily activities and, in some cases, threaten life.

Considerations

While stress does not cause Crohn's disease, it can worsen signs and symptoms. Stress has a physiological impact on the digestive system and can alter normal processes with excessive production of stomach acid, slowed digestion and constipation. Activities including relaxation and breathing exercises can help a Crohn's patient manage stress, which may help prevent flare-ups.

Benefits of Yoga

The practice of yoga combines physical exercises, known as postures, with meditation that focuses on breathing. Yoga postures relieve stress while they strengthen and tone muscles, promote flexibility and massage internal organs. You can practice the meditation aspect of yoga by combining it with postures in a form of moving contemplation or as a separate technique on its own to relax and quiet the mind.

Yoga Postures

Because yoga increases blood flow and stimulates internal organs, a folding posture, such as Standing Forward Bend, or "uttanasana," improves digestion, reduces fatigue, calms the brain and relieves stress. To perform "uttanasana," start with your big toes touching and your heels slightly separated. Slowly fold forward, reaching your hands toward the floor as you lift your sit bones upward. You may find gentle twisting postures, such as "Bharadvaja's twist," useful in combatting symptoms linked to Crohn's disease because they stimulate the digestive organs and improve digestion while relieving stress. Yoga poses help to detoxify your body and can help to speed up the removal of toxins and bacteria in the body. Twisting poses, such as the Triangle Pose with Spinal Twist or Half Spinal Twist give a deep and gentle massage to the internal organs of your body and help to energize the gastrointestinal system. Yoga poses help to improve flexibility, tones and strengthens muscles. For example, the Bow Pose and Cobra Pose helps to tone and strengthen your back muscles and maintains the elasticity of the spine. A strong spine is essential to support and hold you upright. The Fish Pose relieves stiffness in the neck and shoulders and helps to strengthen the arm muscles. On an emotional level, the Fish Pose opens and expands your rib cage which energetically helps to release sadness and sorrow in your heart centre, which leaves you feeling calmer and more expansive. 

 

Meditation

As we know, many physical conditions are aggravated by stress, anxiety and worry. Digestive tract ailments are even more sensitive to these mental states. In addition, suffering with a chronic illness can wreak havoc on our thoughts and emotions. We can begin to start falling into unhealthy and unrealistic thoughts such as worrying that we will never feel better, fearing the unknown future, and even sinking into a woe-is-me pattern. In addition, we can sometimes lose focus on what's positive in our lives- our blessings, and sometime we might not notice that we are taking out our frustrations and fears on those around us- maybe being critical, snippy or jealous. Practicing meditation can help us increase our awareness of our own thoughts and behavior at any given moment, and train ourselves to think logically and positively. We can also help ourselves to avoid thinking about our illness constantly- and to be aware of all the beauty and joy around us.

Frequency

Practice yoga regularly, two to three times per week, to feel the effects of yoga on countering the discomfort associated with chronic illness such as Crohn's disease.

Guided Meditation

Just like learning any new skill (like how to play piano), meditation takes practice. Be prepared to to practice regularly and to have trouble at the beginning. That said, meditating is very easy- especially if you don't put any pressure on yourself. Try to dedicate a minimum of 15 minutes per day. If you can't find that much time, even every-other day or just whatever time you can find, will be helpful.

Find a comfortable place to sit. Some people may find sitting cross-legged on the floor or on a cushion to be hard on their back or knees, so try sitting either on the floor with your back against the couch, on the couch with your legs crossed, or on a chair with your feet flat on the floor. The key is to be comfortable so that you are not waging a war against physical aches and pains- but not so comfortable that you feel sleepy. The goal of meditation is to remain alert and aware- so sit up straight with your back and neck aligned vertically- use back support if you need to, but do not sink your whole weight back into a sofa-chair or you may get sleepy. If you feel sleepy during meditation, try meditating during a more alert time of day, or this may be a sign that you need more sleep.

For the purposes of this tutorial we will use one of the most common objects to meditate on. Your breathing. The in and out of your breath is a natural and rhythmic thing to focus on. Don't try to control your breathing or to breathe in any kind of purposeful or special way. Just breathe naturally and follow it with your mind. As your breath goes in and out you might focus on various aspects of it- the sound, the feeling in your chest, the breeze at your nose- it doesn't matter- focus on what ever aspect of the breath is most noticeable for you. Beginners might also find it easier to stay focused if you count the breaths. Count to 10 then start back over at 1. We aren't keeping score here.

Here's how it goes. Turn off all sources of noise like TV or radio. Find a quiet room. You take your seat, close your eyes, and say to yourself (silently if you want) that you are going to meditate now. Mentally put all other worries, thoughts and tasks aside for later. Take a few deep calming breaths and physically relax your body - especially points of tension like neck, jaw, back, shoulders and stomach. But don't get so relaxed that you aren't sitting up straight.

Now that you're ready, allow your breathing to return to it's normal pattern. Place your mind gently but firmly onto the breath. This means you are focusing on the breathing and not thinking about anything else. You aren't even thinking about meditating or wondering if you are doing it right. Your only thought is the in and out of your breath. Completely clear of all other thoughts or emotions. Keep your mind there firmly but without force. This isn't a wrestling match with your mind.

Since you're a beginner, the first thing you'll notice is that your mind is a spoiled child. It absolutely does not want to remain in one spot. Other thoughts are going to sneak in as subtle thoughts behind the breath, or even full blown distractions where you totally forget about the breath. What am I going to make for dinner? Did I check the mail? Am I doing this right? My leg is itchy, my butt is sore, my throat is dry. Tomorrow I'm going to the movies and that will be fun. Did I pay the phone bill? Remember that time we went to the beach? I like the beach. etc, etc, etc.

Your child-like mind will try to convince you that all these thoughts are suddenly so very important. Your mind is tricky. It will do anything to avoid sitting still. It will even try to snooze if all else fails. The untrained mind does not like to be held in one place on one single mundane, uninteresting thought. But that is the whole point!! Shouldn't we be able to expect our mind to do what we tell it to do? Aren't we in control? What's with all this spoiled-brat chatter? Part of Mindfulness Meditation is training our mind to do what we tell it to do.

Each time you realize your mind has wondered, don't chastise yourself or be disappointed. You haven't failed. The mere act of catching your mind wandering is what we are going for here. Catching your mind wandering means that some tiny corner of your mind was disciplined enough to notice the wandering. That corner is what we want to build on. So when you catch yourself wandering- be happy that you have succeeded in noticing the chatter. Then, gently let go of the current thought, put it on a shelf for later, then place the mind back on the breath. In and out. Clear. Focused. Wandering...... hey! Let go of the chatter. Re-focus. In and out. And so on!

Each time we catch our minds wandering, we make that tiny mindful corner of our mind stronger and more aware of what's going on. Over time, with regular meditation practice we get better and better at staying on the breath. The length of time that we are distracted shortens. The amount of subtle background thoughts lessens. We learn that holding too tight or too loose to the breath causes the mind to slip out like a wet bar of soap. Our ability to remain focused and mindful strengthens.

As we continue to practice we see benefits in our daily lives. We can remain more focused on a task, activity or project. We become less easily distracted. We are more mindful of what's going on around us and what we are thinking. We catch ourselves being too critical or depressed. We notice when we have been thinking about our Crohn's Disease too much and need to let go of those thoughts and have some fun. We develop a more realistic outlook on life and our stress is reduced as we find solutions to our problems or realize that our troubles are not as insurmountable as we thought. We become more compassionate because we realize that just like us, all of our fellow human beings are suffering with their own troubles and worries that we probably can't even see.

Meditation is used by millions of people around the world. Us westerners are late to the realization of what a powerful tool it can be. Even science has begun quantifying proof of the benefits of meditation. Practice your meditation regularly for the best results, and be patient with yourself. Just like learning piano, it will take time to see results- but it's more than worth it!

Guided Meditation

Once you are comfortable laying on your back with palms up, shoulders rolled back, and eyes closed. Breath and relax,  return to your regular breathing pattern. Clear your mind.

Begin to see a beautiful bright red orb forming between your legs just below your gentiles. This is the first chakra, Muladhara chakra. This chakra rules connection, support, money and community. Focus on this red orb, just observe it, do not try and change it. Then as you inhale feel this beautiful red energy flow up your spine and through your body, feel connected and supported as you do this.

Next move up the the space just above the gentiles between the hips. See a beautiful bright orange orb there. This is the second charka, Svadhistana charka. This chakra rules the sex organs, the bladder, lower intestines and everything fluid in the body. It deals with sexual energy, creativity and fluidity. Watch this beautiful orange orb, see its size, if it moves, what is its shape? Then as you inhale, watch this beautiful orange energy move up your spine and through your body, move with the flow, and feel creative.

Now move just slightly above the hips to the solar plexus, just below the bellybutton. See the beautiful yellow orb there. This is the third chakra, Manipura chakra. This chakra rules self-esteem, ego, confidence, and the balance between them. Notice the color and size of this chakra. How large? How small? As you inhale feel this beautiful yellow energy flow up your spine and through your body, feel confident and humble with this.

Bring your attention to the heart. The heart is either green or pink in color, use whatever one comes to you first. The heart is the fourth chakra, Anahata chakra. Anahata rules the chest, breasts, arms, circulatory system and lungs. Anahata also holds all of the deeds that we have never forgiven ourselves for, love and kindness. As you breath this beautiful heart energy up your spine and through your body, forgive yourself for the past, feel love fill you.

Focus on your throat, see a beautiful turquoise orb of energy there. This is the fifth chakra, Vishuddha chakra. Vishuddha rules the modes of communication, speaking and hearing. It allows to hear the truth in other’s words, and to speak truthfully and clearly. Notice this orb, how fast or slow is it moving? Inhale and bring that beautiful energy up, and through your body, feel understanding and clarity with this.

Notice the place between your eyebrows on your forehead. See a beautiful dark midnight blue orb there. This is the sixth chakra, Ajna chakra. This the the space of the true Self, the Spirit, and rules the aspect of sight, both inner and outer. Ajna gives us wisdom and insight. As you inhale this beautiful energy up to your crown and threw your body, feel wise and true.

Finally notice at the crown of your head a beautiful royal purple orb of color. This is the seventh chakra, Sahasrara chakra. It connects us the whatever power we believe is above and/or greater than us. It could be God/dess, the Universe, or just Karma. Whatever you believe to be above you, connect with it threw this chakra. Notice the orb and ask yourself how you can be more like this power above you. Exhale and feel this beautiful connection as a blanket of pure white light wraps your body. Feel open, fluid, free and safe.

Now relax (take at least five minuets).

When you are ready to come out of your meditation, slowly bring your awareness back into your physical body. Deepen your breath, then wiggle your fingers and toes. Start making circles with your wrists, ankles and finally your neck. Curl up into the fetal position and lay to either your left or your right, whatever feels best. Feel refreshed and revitalized by your practice. Each moment has never been lived before, it is always new and fresh. Slowly come back up to a seated position. Bring your hands to a prayer position at your heart bow and say “Namaste”

Luton Bannatyne Health & Fitness

Bannatyne Health & Fitness Luton
1 Regent Street, Luton, LU15FA


15th September (Sunday) 11:15-12:15
21th September (Saturday) 11:00-12:00
12th October (Saturday) 11:00-12:00
13th October (Sunday) 11:15-12:15
16th October (Wednesday) 20:015-21:00   Pilates
19th October (Saturday) 11:00-12:00
23th October (Wednesday) 20:015-21:00   Pilates
8 Dec (Sunday) @11:15 Yoga
15 Dec (Sunday) @11:15 Yoga