Yoga and elimination of back pain

"Relaxation as Practice" is a major aspect of the restorative yoga taught . Working with the BackMitra and correct positioning in a relaxed state allows the power of gravity to profoundly engage the deepest muscles. The following series of seven positions demonstrate a few aspects of how students are taught to work with the BackMitra.

The BackMitra should be aligned with the lowest part of your breastbone. It was specifically designed to approximately equal the width of the spine and is made out of a high-compression material that provides excellent support.

the BackMitra is placed on the floor. The back of your head and the spine between your shoulder blades will be resting on the block. Touch the lowest part of your breastbone. The end of the BackMitra is located on the spine directly under this point.

The starting position for "relaxation as practice" is as follows: knees bent, feet hip width apart, soles of feet flat on the floor, heels turned out slightly, buttocks with equal weight on the floor, neck long and relaxed, arms next to your body, eyes closed and face relaxed. In this position, you will feel the weight of your head, shoulders and body sink into the BackMitra. The power of gravity is now at work.

Students are guided through a series of movements that are coordinated with the in and out breath. A strap is held in the hands one hand-width apart. In one position, you will find yourself with elbows slightly bent, pulling gently on the strap, hands toward the ceiling. You will be asked to observe the point on your spine where most of the pressure is located and breathing towards that point, feel the melting of tension around that point, allowing the back muscles to sink towards the floor.

In another aspect of the series, on an out breath, you will be asked to more your arms slowly behind you, keeping them a few inches off the floor. This is a profoundly dynamic stretch. You will feel the shoulders move away from the ears and the outside of the shoulder blades toward the floor. Again, you will be asked to observe any particular point of pressure that is manifesting for you and asked to visualize how on each out breath the vertebras around that pressure point melt into the BackMitra.

Building on the previous position, you will be asked to on an out breath slowly push your pelvis up towards the ceiling. You will press from the inside of your feet towards the back of your head. Again, you will be asked to observe the particular point of pressure that manifests for you and breath into that pressure, allowing it to melt away.

The BackMitra is also a dynamic pelvic stretch. You will be asked to lie in such a way that your sacrum is on one end of the block and the other end is between your ankles. Eventually, you will rest the soles of your feet against the sides of the BackMitra, opening your thighs, and creating a profound stretch across the pelvic region.

Briefly, a comment by Eckhart Tolle...

misery...

Friends and family are not interested in my blog, too negative and depressing they tell me. So be it.
If we do not think or talk about hunger ,misery, neglect, starvation, violence, war, conflict, poverty...how can we effect any change. We must face it and even in minute and small ways attempt to try and change things.

Eckhart says:
 If you feel called upon to alleviate suffering in the world, this is a noble thing to do, but remember not to focus exclusively on it. Otherwise, you will encounter a great deal of frustration and despair yourself.
Without a profound change in human consciousness, the world's suffering ( of all creatures) is a bottomless pit.
So do not let your compassion become one-sided. Empathy with someone else's pain or lack and want to help must be balanced with a deeper realization of the eternal nature of all life and the ultimate illusion of life.

NOW Eckhart Tolle, Teacher

The point and purpose of my scribbles about yoga...hatha yoga, has to do with the tuning  up and maintaining a healthy body, to house a somewhat healthy balanced mind to take us through life and it's often complex situations and questions.

Terms like inner body,surrender,forgiveness, the unmanifested, religion and spiritual believes can often pose complex questions which if not answered at least to some degree can lead to a chaotic and unsatisfactory life.

To quote from the cover of his remarkable book ( published by Namaste Publishing of Vancouver)
we are told about Eckhart Tolle that there is a power behind his words found only in the most celebrated of spiritual teachers. The book,
 "The Power of NOW"
a guide to spiritual enlightenment.

Keep Breathing...

From the moment you take your first breath until your last few moments alive on this earth, you must keep breathing...or it's all over. Many of our problems and illnesses are because you are not doing it right. Sure, more or less our breathing is automatic an unconscious event taking place as a normal function of our body. But as a science of yoga, particularly HathaYoga, conscious breathing or a degree of awareness of our breathing is an important part of Hatha.
Some of the specifics are or can be somewhat complex or in fact may be dangerous to your physical or mental health. So, these remarks are simply for general information on breathing and to give us view  expressed by the western medical profession, that is Occidental Doctors.

A form of deep breathing exercise  is recommended for those with chest and lung problems or recovering ex-smokers. Suggestion are:
Sit in a comfortable position in a chair.
Relax your back as much as possible, sitting up straight.
The feet should touch the floor. (Or you can sit cross legged in a yoga position).
Inhale through the nose ( not the mouth).
Exhale through the mouth, exhale with pursed lips.
Exhaling should be slower than inhaling.

Inhale:
When inhaling place both hands on your stomach, spread fingers out, concentrate
on expanding belly as you inhale through the nose.Slowly.

Exhale:
The exhale slowly through pursed lips. The exhale should be longer and slower
then the inhale.

Try to do this conscious breathing exercise 4 times a day or more.

yogi ramacharaka

F.C.Haddock; American Writer

---

Frank Channing Haddock was born November 17th, 1853 in Watertown, New York of the well known Methodist preacher George C. Haddock and the former Cornelia B. Herrick. He graduated from St. Lawrence University in 1876 (with “high rank” and as the class poet), and entered the Methodist ministry but left that to take up law, being admitted to the bar in 1881, practiced in Milwaukee and was a well known legal writer. In 1887, he returned to the ministry (after his father’s assassination for temperance work), preaching in Iowa, Ohio and Massachusetts. He then retired from the ministry to take up writing again where he became a famous author and lecturer on ethics, philosophy, spirituality and empowerment.

His primary work is captured in the Power-Book Library comprised of the "Power of Will," "Power for Success," "The Personal Atmosphere," "Business Power," "The Culture of Courage," "Practical Psychology" and "Creative Personality". He died in Merriden, Conn on February 9th, 1915 of meningitis while completing his last work, the “Creative Personality.”

YOGA...place, perhaps, Cobourg Ontario Canada

Much to tell,report and write, I'm still around but have been quite busy.
Bought a nice smallish renovated home on a main street in town which happens
to also have a 2100 square foot insulated garage on the property.

If possible I will try to make a yoga exercise part time thing out of it, time
will tell. I really look forward to doing something useful in that direction.

Meditation...flowers, pictures,symbols...