Clearing the Clutter with Yoga: Aparigraha

By: Virginia Iversen, M.Ed

As the temperatures begin to increase in the temperate areas of the world, you may be finding yourself longing to clear the clutter out of your living space. In a similar fashion, you may also long to create spaciousness and peace in your own mind and heart. In order to create a spacious, peaceful internal state, it is often necessary to come to terms with unresolved, painful life experiences. Resolving painful life experiences helps to lift the energy of trauma, disappointment and grief from both the body and the mind. In doing so, the sense of internal clutter is dissolved and an abiding field of spaciousness opens up within our own being. 

"Aparigraha" is a Sanskrit term that is translated as, "non-hoarding, non-possessiveness and non-attachment." It is part of the Yogic system of moral restraints, known in Sanskrit as the Yamas. Of course, by holding onto too many possessions, your living space may become far too cramped and cluttered. This will prevent a feeling of lightness and cleanliness in your home. In the same way, holding onto unresolved, difficult life experiences in your body and mind will create a heavy feeling of lethargy, anger, sadness, and even depression. Clearly, the Yogic scriptures admonish us from engaging in hoarding, possessiveness and strong attachments if we want to be able to romance the light of the divine in our own hearts. 

There are many ways to put Aparigraha into practice in our daily lives. For instance, engaging in spring-cleaning is a yearly ritual for many of us that help us to organize our living spaces. In the same way, by following a spring detoxification dietary program, you will be able to cleanse your body of toxins that may have built up in your system over the winter months. A seasonal cleanse is highly recommended by Ayurvedic practitioners, Yoga's sister science of health and well being. If you are contending with any serious health issues, you may want to consult your health care provider before engaging in a spring detoxification nutritional program. 

Similarly, if you have experienced any particularly difficult life events that remain unresolved, you may want to work in tandem with a mental health professional, such as a therapist, counselor or psychologist. If you feel that you are able to resolve some of the lingering after effects of painful life events without the support of a professional mental health provider, you may find that writing your thoughts down in a journal, painting or talking to a trusted friend or spiritual adviser may help to lighten your internal clutter and allow you mind to settle into a peaceful state of awareness. 

The practice of Yoga can be a tremendous tool for illuminating problematically cluttered areas in your life. I find that the way that I approach my Yoga practice on the mat directly reflects how I approach my life off the mat. For instance, I often keep practicing vigorous standing postures, even when the rest of the class is resting in Shavasana! In the same way, I frequently work late into the evening, during the time of day when most of my friends and family are resting. This awareness has helped me to slow down and try to include some unstructured time in my daily schedule. 

During a Yoga class or personal practice, you may find that your are "cluttering up" your time on the mat with too many postures without allowing yourself the time to perform pranayama, meditation or rest for 5-10 minutes in Final Relaxation Pose. By creating space in your practice for soothing and balancing breathing exercises, such as Nadi Shodhana Pranayama and Dirga Pranayama, as well as a brief period of meditation and resting for a minimum of 5 minutes in Shavasana, you will give both your body and mind the message that it is ok to relax and that you have done enough for one day. In addition, by including some restorative seated forward folds into your Yoga practice, you will further support yourself in the process of releasing any unnecessary clutter in your mind and body. 

Virginia Iversen, M.Ed, has been practicing and studying the art of Yoga for over twenty years. She lives in Woodstock, New York, where she works as a writer and an academic support specialist. She is currently accepting Yoga and health-related writing orders and may be contacted at: enchantress108@gmail.com.

© Copyright 2016 – Virginia Iversen / Aura Wellness Center – Publications Division

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Teaching Renewing Yoga Classes: Slow Flow Vinyasa

By: Virginia Iversen, M.Ed

As I sit down to write this article, I glance up at the beautiful pink lotus in front of me, which is prominently displayed on my wall calendar. The quote on the page is by Jack Kornfield. He states, “The unstoppable spirit of renewal is in you. Trust it. Learn that it flows through you and all of life.” With the unseasonably warm temperatures in the Northeastern United States this year, spring is already on the way, even though it is only the first week in March. 

The delicate buds of the first flowers are beginning to peak out from under the leaves and the birds are returning to nest in the woods just outside my door. As the pulsation of life begins to strengthen and infuse the plants and flowers around us with new life, your Yoga students will also begin to feel the desire to renew their own life force energy. Guiding your students through a balanced Yoga class is a wonderful way for enhancing the flow of chi, or prana, throughout the body and mind of your students. 

One of the most creative and fundamental aspects of being an effective and inspiring Yoga teacher is the ability to tailor your classes to the needs of your students. This includes seasonal considerations. In the early days of spring, breaking up stagnant energy, cleaning one’s living space and detoxifying the body through cleansing dietary regimes are natural responses to the renewing energy of the springtime. 

By replicating the gently increasing flow of life energy during the spring season into your Yoga classes, you will help your students to align their own bodies and minds with this regenerative process. One way to replicate the energy of the springtime in your classes is by beginning your classes slowly, and then methodically and gently increasing the pace of the flow of asanas that you have chosen to guide your students through, before cooling down the practice with a series of grounding forward folds, prone postures and Shavasana. 

For example, if you think about the process that a flower goes through during the first light of the morning, the bud reaches towards the light, as the delicate petals begin to open and expand into the rays of the sun. During the full brightness of midday, a flower will usually be fully open, in order to saturate itself with the bounty of the sunlight. At dusk, the same flower will often close its petals and rest for the night in a protected cocoon of its own making. This sense of being cocooned can be likened to the restorative and soothing benefits of Shavasana when it is practiced with a Yoga bolster under the knees for comfort, a blanket for warmth and an aromatherapy eye pillow for natural stress relief. 

As a certified Yoga teacher, you a have the opportunity to creatively sequence your classes in such a way that the natural pulsation of the seasons is reflected in the flow of postures through which you guide your students. By beginning your Yoga class with Extended Child’s Pose, and then leading your students through a series of slow flowing Sun Salutations, standing asanas, balancing poses, backbends, seated forward folds, inversions, and Final Relaxation Pose, you will be replicating the expansive pulsation of life, as evidenced by the beautiful unfolding of the petals of early spring flowers. 

Virginia Iversen, M.Ed, has been practicing and studying the art of Yoga for over twenty years. She lives in Woodstock, New York, where she works as a writer and an academic support specialist. She is currently accepting Yoga and health-related writing orders and may be contacted at: enchantress108@gmail.com.

© Copyright 2016 – Virginia Iversen / Aura Wellness Center – Publications Division

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Clearing the Clutter with Yoga: Mindful Movement

By: Virginia Iversen, M.Ed

Just recently, I have become even more aware of how highly our contemporary culture values multi-tasking and maintaining a very fast pace through the various activities of our daily lives. Over and over again, I am reminded of the humorous television advertisement of a Yogini, who is balancing precariously in Half Moon Pose, while she attempts to check her car insurance bill on her cell phone. The inferred message of this ad is that a Yoga practitioner, who simultaneously practices asanas while checking his or her cell phone, is living a happier and more productive life than a practitioner who checks his or her phone application after class! 

Of course, this incessant multi-tasking ends up leaving many of us unable to relax or even to sleep. The wide spread epidemic of insomnia in the United States alone is a testament to the law of diminishing returns when one tries to always multi-task and is unable to slow down enough to truly rest and relax. As the Spring Equinox begins to approach, many Yoga students and teachers alike are beginning to feel the itch to clear the clutter out of their homes and embark on a regime of detoxifying their bodies, often through a spring cleanse of fasting, nutritional juices and living foods. 

Practicing Yoga can be a great ally in your quest to clear the clutter out of your living space, as well as out of your body and mind. The simple act of setting time aside to practice the physical postures of Yoga, as well as cleansing breathing exercises and restorative relaxation techniques, will break the unrelenting cycle of “doing” that so many of us find ourselves mired in during our daily lives. By turning your phone off for an hour and unplugging from your laptop or iPad, you will allow yourself the opportunity to focus on the simplicity and grace of moving through a balanced Yoga practice. 

Of course, some of you may have young children or family members who require you to be available by phone for much of the day. In that case, you may want to let you family members know when you plan on practicing Yoga, so that they will only call you or interrupt your practice if necessary. Nonetheless, by asking your family members not to disturb you during your hour or so on the mat, you are more likely to be able to mindfully move through your practice without becoming distracted. 

In a similar fashion, disciplining yourself to not check your text messages or emails until after you have completed your Yoga practice, will help you to sink into a meditative state while you flow through the asanas. If you pause for a moment to visualize practicing Yoga with your cell phone or laptop next to your mat, so that you can stay wired and connected at all times, this image most likely creates a feeling of distraction and anxiety. If you unplug for an hour or so a day, while you are on the mat, you will allow yourself to sink into your Yoga practice without distraction. 

By moving meditatively and mindfully through your practice, your nervous system will begin to calm down, and you will find it easier to focus on moving intuitively through the postures. You will also begin to find it easier to really feel the shifting state of your body and mind as your practice deepens. If you are a Yoga teacher, by asking your students to unplug during your class, you will be offering them the same opportunity to slow down and really connect with how their bodies feel in the poses. 

As a certified Yoga instructor, it is also important for you to set the pace of the class you are teaching. If you feel frantic and rushed, your students will pick up on that energy and the Yoga class that you are teaching will not be as beneficial or restorative as it would be otherwise. By not cluttering up your class with too many postures or quick transitions, you will allow your students to slow down enough to really breath, as they move mindfully through the postures. Teaching Yoga in this way will create a sense of lightness and spaciousness in the bodies and minds of your students, which will help them to identify and clear the clutter out of other areas of their lives.   

Virginia Iversen, M.Ed, has been practicing and studying the art of Yoga for over twenty years. She lives in Woodstock, New York, where she works as a writer and an academic support specialist. 

© Copyright – Virginia Iversen / Aura Wellness Center – Publications Division

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Gratitude For Our Yoga Students

By Kathryn Boland

Have you ever thought about the reasons why you might be grateful towards your students? I recently took a “trial” week of free classes at a local yoga studio. Many things about it attracted me, but one teacher in particular stood out. Among the many things about her teaching that were compelling to me, she consistently said, “Please…[verbal cue to next posture/movement]”. I’m sure that I’ve heard other teachers do this in the past, but something about the way the teacher expressed this common word of politeness uniquely caught my attention; she offered it with a genuine energy of grace and caring for her students, one like I don’t think I’ve yet experienced from a yoga instructor. 

That got me thinking about us instructors genuinely feeling gratitude for our students, and showing it! Of course, we can’t feel anything we truly don’t. And if we try to conjure up gratitude that isn’t authentic, and then try to show it, most students – I’ll venture to predict – can smell it a mile away. I’d like to offer a few good reasons for honestly feeling grateful for our students – which, I’m sure, many of you dear readers already are, but perhaps as just some food for thought for all. First off, our students offer us trust; they trust us with their bodies, minds, and spirits, to lead them in practice that will not harm them - yet lead them closer to overall wellness. If you stop to think about it, that’s a lot!

Additionally, many of our students sacrifice much in order to practice under our guidance. Most significantly, that includes time and money. Considering the former, practicing yoga in a community (maybe less so in independent or private home practice) can be time consuming. Factor in travel, changing into and out of yoga wear (though street leggings are becoming ever more popular), and the like – and it can take hours out of one’s day. All time well spent, of course, but it can definitely be in short supply for many people.

Looking at money, I recently heard a private student of mine tell her significant other that she paid me the last cash in her checking account for our two sessions that week. I offer a very low rate, relatively speaking, so I could avoid feeling guilty about that. Part of it, also, was how she just bought a very large, plush, and quality bolster (her choice, not my request). She later affirmed for me that she could dip into savings, if she really needed to (when she brought the issue out into the open with me more specifically). Even so, it all did give me pause to think about how paying for yoga can be more difficult for some students than we sometimes realize. Those thoughts ultimately brought me to feel thankful towards my students for devoting sometimes limited funds to a practice that will lead them to better wellness, and – on a self-centered note – helps me to pay my bills. In all reality, that financial commitment from our students supplies our livelihoods (partially, if not fully). 

It's also true that students have many reasons to be grateful to us, for what we offer them through our teaching. Yoga practice can be truly life changing, and we become vehicles through which people can access such positive change (along with their own dedication and the right mix of factors, of course). We instructors study hard and work hard to make our part in that possible. We deserve to make a comfortable living and be treated like the credible professionals that we are. We also deserve rest and self-care, which is also part of the nourishment that helps us to teach at our bests.

Yet, as I believe I've made a good case for, us teachers honestly have much for which to be grateful towards our students. How to express that gratitude, to bring it into what we offer each day we teach? Yes, how we phrase our verbal instruction ("please", "thank you", et cetera polite and open wording) is a great start. But, as the old saying goes, actions speak louder than words. We can truly show we appreciate our students through mindful sequencing, and through offering multiple options as well as helpful modifications for various types of people. We can keep seeking expanded knowledge on yoga practice and instruction - so that we can help our students’ stay safe within, and optimally benefiting from, yoga practice. It's give-and-take, a two-way-street, between us and our students - an essential and beautiful one, I'd say. It’s all part of the union of yoga.

© Copyright 2016 – Aura Wellness Center – Publications Division

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Healing Heartbreak with Yoga: Forgiveness

By: Virginia Iversen, M.Ed

After any holiday weekend, you may be feeling great if your celebration was all that you hoped it would be. On the other hand, if you found yourself alone over a birthday, anniversary, or holiday, you may be feeling a tinge of sadness or loneliness, particularly if you would like to be in a nourishing romantic relationship. You may even have recently broken up with a boyfriend or girlfriend or begun the process of dissolving a marriage. 

Of course, there are many different forms of love, including the ability to love oneself. For many of us, the most consistent person with whom we share our lives is one’s self! Over the course of a lifetime, many Yogis and Yoginis will experience different types and degrees of loving connections. When these connections come to an end, many of us hold the pain of loss and separation in our heart and throat chakra areas. 

This emotional tension and protective constriction in the heart and throat areas can eventually contribute to poor thyroid function, cardiac problems, depression, a lowered immune system, and an overall lack of energy and general malaise. If you are currently experiencing heartbreak, or if you have experienced heartbreak in the past, practicing a balanced sequence of Yoga postures, pranayama exercises and meditative techniques will help to dissolve the holding that often occurs around the heart and throat. 

The heart and throat chakras are frequently the areas of the body where the emotional pain of heartbreak is experienced and somatized, or physically held and frozen. Back bending Yoga poses are some of the most effective postures for releasing tension in the front and back of the heart area, as well as constriction in the throat and tension in the upper back, shoulders and neck. Some of the most powerful, multi-level back bending Yoga postures is: Cobra Pose, Camel Pose, Bow Pose, and Reclining Supported Goddess Pose. 

If you have experienced heartbreak in the past, or if you are currently feeling the pain of the loss of a loved one or cherished dream, practicing these heart-opening Yoga postures will release the tension that often unconsciously accumulates in the front and back of the heart chakra. When this tension is dissolved, it is much easier to forgive both yourself and others. The inability to forgive is like an anchor that weighs us down. If this lack of forgiveness continues for an extended period of time, the weight of unresolved heartbreak has the ability to pull us under. 

If you are a certified Yoga teacher, you may want to sequence a class in such a way that the pain of heartbreak, disappointment or an overly critical mind is assuaged and released. By integrating a number of back bending postures into your class, you will help your students to release the pain of heartbreak, as the muscular holding in the heart and throat areas is dissolved. By consistently offering your students classes that offer a sequential series of back bending Yoga poses, you will help them to dispel the grief and sadness that is so common for many of us.   

According to Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary, forgiveness can be defined as ceasing to feel resentment and granting relief from the desire to punish others or us for our grief. Inherent in the term forgiveness is the essence of opening up the doorway of our own heart, so that we can allow the love within us to flow freely again. A well-rounded practice of Yoga postures, cleansing breathing exercises and soothing meditation techniques will help both you and your Yoga students to dissolve the tension of heartbreak, so that you can rest in the freedom and peace within your own being. 

Virginia Iversen, M.Ed, has been practicing and studying the art of Yoga for over twenty years. She lives in Woodstock, New York, where she specializes in writing customized articles that are 100% unique. She is currently accepting Yoga and health-related writing orders and may be contacted at: enchantress108@gmail.com.

© Copyright 2016 – Virginia Iversen / Aura Wellness Center – Publications Division

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