October: Breast Cancer Awareness month:

"Empathy fuels connection, sympathy drives disconnection. Empathetic ears offers another to be vulnerable yet feel safe in sharing his or her weakness without feeling shame and blame". - Brene Brown

Cancer diagnosis can derail your moving train. You life comes to halt for a few months or for a few years. The difficulty to move and the difficulty to breathe is familiar to anyone diagnosed with Cancer and their near and dear ones. But you get up when you are ready to face it and restart the engine.

How do you do it?

The resilience of the human spirit knows no bounds. You make that choice and that is wonderful. You fight the disease head on and you do not want the disease to triumph. You feel it is important to feel the same as before you were diagnosed.... but those medicines, the surgery gives you a setback. Still, you decide get up and move again. And move on you do till your last breath.

One day the inevitable happens.............

You can never get over the loss of a loved one. A whiff of smell, glimpse of a picture, a sudden thought....you feel the pain hit your heart like it does from time to time. Your loved one has showed so much strength in the times of their struggle and so you remember and move on....move on to cherish the beautiful memories you have of them.

After all life still goes on, your breath still continues.....you develop the courage to say Goodbye.

Goodbye.....though difficult, though painful has to be said.

Gardening and Yoga

The inspiration for this post is my neighbor Patti. Patti loves to garden(her front yard is so pretty and colorful.....clearly that is her passion). I thought why not add in some yoga poses while gardening.....YES, yoga can be done anywhere.

Walk out....to plant those seeds or dig the dirt to plant those saplings. Think about it.. seeds for germination, growth into a sapling and then into a beautiful flower. Now connect....set an intention with yoga then with your practice and your mind. Let that intention grow and finally see yourself bloom. You see the connection, the similarity. With that let's begin...... breath in breath out. I want you to put those seeds or that sapling down on the ground. Place your palms on your stomach gently, now when u take that breath in, feel your stomach push your palms out and when you exhale, your palms come back down. When you push your stomach out with breath in....your engaging your diaphragm to pull down and expand those lungs and fill them with air. Breath so important... but we do it all wrong. Now get planting.

You walk out with your gloves and shears......go pruning, pruning your unwanted thoughts, your unwholesome thoughts. Bending and cutting, reaching out far and cutting...STOP. We talked about ergonomics in the previous post....bend at your knees when your reaching out far. Even better kneel and keep cutting those bushes but make sure to keep a soft folded rag or cushion under your knees. You have spent your time pruning but have also spent that time protecting your back with knees bent. How about you take a break. Lie down on your stomach on the mat or grass, hands beside your hips palms facing up. Breath in...fill those lungs. On the exhale, lift your legs, chest and hands off the grass, gaze towards the grass...slowly release. You did so good, let's loop that twice. That's Salabhasana pose.

Now lie on your back and let's stretch. Bend your knees with feet on the mat or grass. Shift your hips to the left and drop your knees to the right....knee over knee and ankle over ankle. Stretch your arms out wide and look up to the sky. Breath in....breath out. Pick up your top knee followed by right and get feet on the grass. Shift your hips to the right and drop your knees to the left..knee over knee, ankle over ankle. Breath in ...breath out. Come back to centerline. Stretch those legs out and relax. Roll over to one side and push yourself up to seated position.

Back to work...sit on a bucket and go on with the pruning to change your posture or sit cross legged on the grass to open up those hips if you are pulling the weeds out.

When your done...seat urself with spine straight(remember the integrity of the spine connects with integrity of oneself) on the garden bench or chair with feet rested on the ground. Inhale raise those arms up, exhale bring those arms down. Inhale, left hand to the side of left hip and right hand up reaching over your head to the left. Exhale right hand down. Inhale right had to side of right hip and left hand up reaching over your head to the left. Inhale left hand down. Inhale raise both arms up, exhale bring both hands to the side of right hip rotating from the upper back. Inhale raise both arms up, exhale bring both hands to the side of left hip rotating from upper back. Inhale both arm up and then get them back down. Your done...

Work, Meal and Yoga:

This post is dedicated to my sister. Due to the pandemic everyone is working from home and I can visualize her working at the dining table on her laptop, getting up and walking to the kitchen and walking back to her laptop. Loop that 5-7 times before lunch is made. Talk of multitasking.... why not add in a little yoga to this routine.

Sis.... this is for you and all the women out there who manage work and home effortlessly. Also for all the desk jobbers. Let's begin

Sitting at your desk:

Sit forward on your chair. Both your feet have to be grounded. Grounding..so important in yoga...your connection to the earth, having a solid foundation. Inhale gently push your palms on the table and straighten your spine from the crown of your head. Get connected with your breath.... breath in breath out. Let's go ahead and concentrate on 2 more breaths. There we got off to a good start. Now inhale and raise your hands straight up to the ceiling in a namaste slightly tilting your head back..we got the sun salutation arms here. Exhale and bring those hands down and look forward. Repeat...2 more times.

Kitchen time:

Count those steps...walking to the kitchen. Get your ingredients ready from your refrigerator and the pantry. Lay them on the kitchen counter. Breath in breath out. The most fundamental aspect of yoga...connecting to your breath. We give very little thought to our breath but 3min of not breathing and your brain cells start to die. Palms on kitchen counter, walk back till your arms are straight, feet together...sit down into your imaginary chair..maintaining weight on both feet equally and taking more weight onto your heels..3-2-1. Come on up. Breath in..breath out. Now sit back in that chair again, inhale and raise your arms up reaching your fingertips to the ceiling...Utkatasana. Holding, 3- you got this ,2-almost done, 1-smile. Come on up, arms by your side.

Desk time:

Get back to that work. When u are ready to take a break and before you head back to the kitchen swing your legs out sitting sideways on your chair...ground those feet. Get your arms back, hands together and interlace your fingers, inhale extending through the crown of your head, exhale pull those arms away from your body, and try to touch your chin to your chest without losing your integrity in your spine(Integrity for yourself morally, physically..so you can stand tall in happiness and adversity). Ahhh... feels good, I know. Breath in breath out...2 more times. Bring your head up on your inhale release the interlace and drop your arms to the side. Don't thank me yet.

Kitchen time:

Don't forget to count those steps. Prepping the meal....Oops! dropped the knife..STOP....Walk close to the knife, bend your knees and pick it up duh..basic ergonomics OR why not add in a pose. Inhaling put your hands on your hips, spread your feet hip width apart, lift that chest, shoulders down and back. Exhale hinging from your hips, keeping the back long and straight, fold forward(bend). Keep your knees slightly flexed so that your lower ribs are in contact with your upper thighs. Keep your head in neutral, gaze on that knife. Get both your hands on the knife HOLD...the pose for 2 breadths. Breath in breath out. Now engaging your core by pulling your navel to your spine, pulling your knee caps up by engaging your quadriceps keeping that back long and elongated, pick up that knife and come up on your inhale...Uttanasana. Go ahead and finish your cooking ...

Desk:

Work again. Before you get up let's get to another pose. Grounding your feet spread your legs to the outer edges of your chair and point the toes out. Keeping the spine straight bend sideways reaching your left arm in front of your left foot and bring your right arm up to the ceiling. Point your gaze to your right arm. HOLD...breath in breath out...2 breaths here and come up. Do the same thing on your right side. There you go..Goddess pose on a chair with a twist...Utkata Konasana. You got in 4 poses and a stretch already....yay!

Kitchen:

Those steps...make all the difference. Before you plate....facing your kitchen counter, spread your legs 3-31/2 feet wide. Turn your right foot so the toes are facing to the right. Turn left foot lightly maybe 30deg to the right. Turn your trunk towards the right foot. You should not feel uncomfortable or pain in that left knee..do shift that left heel slightly if you do. Rotate your trunk toward the right leg, bend right knee to 90 deg or less making sure your knee does not go over your ankle...you may have to spread your legs apart further. Now tuck your navel to your spine and neutralize that pelvic bone. Inhale and raise those arms up to the sky. Don't forget to take equal weight on both your feet especially the outer corner of your left foot..let it not rise off the ground. Exhale straighten right knee, bring your hands down by your side, rotate those feet to face the kitchen counter and bring your feet together... best for the last..that is the Warrior 1 pose or Virabhadrasana 1. Feel the power and resilience of the warrior, you have juggled through this morning with confidence just like the warrior.

Plate your food and get ready to eat...you have earned this.