This month’s Prop Talk once again features writer Eve Johnson’s Practice Tip of the Week— her series of articles to help you build a yoga practice into your everyday life.

Are you also guilty of cramming your feet into high heels or into pointy shoes that defy the very existence of our toes? Help is on the way! Eve gives some practical tips on how to use a Massage Ball to gently relax sorely neglected feet and stretch out those hamstrings while you’re at it. 

Eve Johnson’s Practice Tip of the Week: Roll Your Foot on a Ball to Loosen Your Hamstrings

Measure your hamstrings before you try this tip for the first time. Do this by coming into a standing forward bend with your feet hip distance apart. Press down into your feet, lift your front thighs and open the backs of your knees. Unless you can easily bring your palms to the floor with your legs straight, use a yoga block or two, to support your upper body. Make a note of how much height you need to place your palms flat, then roll up from your forward bend.

Now, stand close to a wall on a yoga mat or carpet, with one hand on the wall for balance. Place a ball under one foot and start to roll the sole of your foot over the ball. Experiment with the amount of weight you can put into the ball and still have an intense, yet pleasant sensation.

Drape your toes over the ball and massage the backs of your toes. Then work your way down the sole of your foot, all the way back to your heel. Roll along the inner and outer arches.Keep rolling for at least two minutes – it helps to set a timer or watch a clock – and then massage your other foot.

Once you’ve worked both feet, revisit your forward bend. You may be surprised to find how much you’ve lengthened your hamstrings.

Benefits: Our feet become cramped and tense from wearing restrictive shoes and walking on hard surfaces. When you massage the soles of your feet, you loosen the starting point of a network of connective tissue that runs all the way up the back of your body. Stimulating pressure points in your feet can relax and invigorate your whole body.

Sequence: Especially welcome after a long walk, this exercise can be done anytime, and almost anywhere. If you are free to take your shoes off when you sit to work, you can even keep a massage ball under your desk and do impromptu rolling sessions while sitting down. Do it at the beginning of a longer practice to bring extra awareness to all of your poses. Roll your feet every day if you can.

Ouch: If your feet are particularly sensitive, a massage ball may initially feel a bit harsh under your foot. Beware of excess enthusiasm. Stick with a moderate pressure and a modest amount of time—two to four minutes per foot if you’re standing, 10 if you’re sitting down. It’s possible to roll too much and too fiercely.

Eve Johnson is a certified Iyengar yoga instructor, co-owner of Yoga on 7th in Vancouver, and inventor of the app My Five Minute Yoga Practice. She strongly believes that practicing yoga five minutes a day can change your life. By taking a small amount of time in your action packed day, to do one pose, you can make a significant change in your hips, shoulders, core strength and stress levels. Gradually five minutes at a time, yoga will become part of your life. Once that seed is planted, there’s no telling where your practice will lead you. To get started go to www.myfiveminuteyoga.com.

Has your yoga mat reached the point of no return? Wait! Before you ditch it why not get crafty? In celebration of Earth Day, we designed a pattern for a laptop case to help you repurpose your mat and keep it out of the landfill. All of those positive yogic thoughts can now keep your technology safe!

Supplies: well-loved yoga mat, thread, buttons, crafting needle, ruler, pen, scissors, craft paper

Pattern: Place your laptop on some craft paper and measure using the diagram below—

Instructions…

Cutting your mat: 

• Choose the best section of your mat and place pattern on top
• Mark the pattern on your mat using a ruler and pen
• Cut the mat along the pattern using the scissors
• Place face down the side/colour of the mat that you want for the outside of the case

Attaching buttons and sewing the case: 

• Fold the bottom of the mat up the to the flap
• Decide where to place the buttons by marking the spot lightly with a pen
• Thread crafting needle and attach buttons. Double the thread to save time. Wind thread around button hole stitches to accommodate the thickness of the mat
• Stitch up each side of the case. Use a weight to keep mat in place while stitching

Making button hole slits: 

• Lift flap and with the pen mark out where the centre of each button hits the flap
• Cut the slit using scissors keeping in mind that the slit should be slightly bigger than the button

Slip your Laptop inside:  Voila! You have yourself a Laptop Case filled with some Good Karma.

*thanks to Maria @ Halfmoon for creating this pattern!*

Here are some other ways you can upcycle your mat:

• Animal shelters: soft mats to line crates and pens
• Homeless shelters: sleeping pads
• Kitchen: no slip drawers, grips to open lids, shelf liners
• Gardening: Weed barrier, knee pads
• Camping – extra padding under sleeping bag
• Crafty: make flip flops http://www.wikihow.com/Make
• Kids: cut into squares and make bases for baseball, anti-slip mat in the bathtub, playdough mat
• Car: floor mats, trunk protector, seat protector for pets
• Livingroom: anti-slip under area rug

We would love to see the laptop case you’ve created or other ways you’ve upcycled your mat. Send a photo to lisa@halfmoon.bz to get 20% off the purchase of your next Halfmoon eco mat or Halfmoon Rubber Mat.

Halfmoon is proud to be a longtime supporter of Yoga Outreach and the presenting sponsor for their upcoming retreat rEvolution during the weekend of May 25-27. We’ve asked Delanie Dyck the Executive Director for Yoga Outreach, to share with us their mission and their goals for the future. It is truly inspiring the work they do—to share yoga is to share love.

Yoga Outreach has been a labour of love from day one. Those who started teaching in the Prisons 15 years ago believed in the power of yoga to transform people’s lives and we still believe it today. If you’ve done any yoga at all you are probably a convert, whether you have to drag yourself to class each Saturday morning or you run zealously to hot yoga every day, you always feel better having done it. What Yoga Outreach offers is the opportunity for everyone to experience this.

For many years now Yoga Outreach has quietly gone about the business of providing yoga classes in unconventional settings to under-served people. With classes in more than 20 facilities throughout the Lower Mainland, we are thrilled to be reaching as many as 600 students each year. But we want more, we want 1200 students and 40 facilities. We want affiliate programs in every corner of BC and beyond, in short we want to take over the world and we hope you do too! Consider joining our growing ranks of volunteer teachers, community engagement volunteers, and contributors in offering everyone the gift of yoga.

Take a moment now to reflect on your life before yoga.

Now take a moment to really appreciate the gifts that yoga has brought you.

Each year we host a unique retreat with more than a dozen world-class teachers to raise funds to support access to yoga for all. By joining us at this year’s Cheakamus River Retreat (near Squamish) May 25 – 27, you can make that happen for people who do not have the same options as you do.

This year’s theme is rEvolution and features an incredible line-up of teachers. As with all things there is a constant evolution happening in yoga, in the yoga world at-large and in each of us as we work through our own practice. Sri Venu, one of our fantastic presenters this year, described this process saying “True evolution in yoga occurs naturally and rather subtly. It is more an art of living and, above all, an art of feeling.” 

All of the proceeds from this one of a kind event support weekly programming for people suffering with mental illnesses, recovering from addictions, women who have experienced violence, youth with nowhere to turn, and inmates trying to turn a corner in their lives.

We believe yoga transforms people’s lives. Together we can make change possible, one person at a time. Visit us today to learn more!

Delanie Dyck is the Executive Director of Yoga Outreach. She is passionate about making Yoga more accessible as a means for healing. It is her belief that Yoga is a powerful tool for change and that simply by finding oneself on the mat each of us can change the world. Yoga Outreach is a Vancouver-based registered charity. Their mission is to develop and deliver life-affirming yoga programs to people who do not have access to these resources. For more info go to www.yogaoutreach.com.

“When you begin to touch your heart or let your heart be touched, you begin to discover that it’s bottomless, that it doesn’t have any resolution, that this heart is huge, vast and limitless. You begin to discover how much warmth and gentleness is there, as well as how much space” Pema Chodron

This quote gives a compelling reason to meditate – when you empty your mind, you open your heart and discover the abundance of love you hold there. But what is meditation and how do you do it? We asked Padma, a respected teacher of meditation to share her thoughts on the subject.

What is Meditation?

Meditation is like no other kind of study or practice. Meditation is the practice of acknowledging the vast free and powerful space within your self, where you experience directly the source of your health, brilliance and joy.

Meditation is not any set of ideas or practices – it is the exploration into what exists when there is no thought and no movement. Normally we understand ourselves and the world around us using our mind’s thoughts and concepts. We build ideas and then compare these to other ideas to develop a view of the world. Self-knowledge typically refers to the collection of ideas we hold about ourselves. Meditation on the other hand is the intentional practice of seeing beyond your mind’s thoughts into the infinite and formless background space which is always present behind all your thoughts. This space is your pure essence. This is where all your power, health and intelligence originates from.

There is a vast amount of literature and philosophy regarding meditation. To help clarify your thinking and find the method that works best for you, I recommend reading as much as possible from as many schools as you can find. While study is important to help understand the mind and meditation philosophy, there is nothing like the direct experience and pure awareness that dawns on you by sitting in meditation.

How can you meditate? Start by stilling and strengthening your physical energy with exercises such as in Hatha Yoga and Tai Chi. Then, sit quietly and observe the natural activity in your mind as it is. Get to know your own thinking. Eventually, you can practice focusing your attention on one thought: A positive thought is usually preferable! With practice, over time, you will naturally begin to notice that behind this level of thinking in the mind there exists a clear and indescribable spaciousness. Little by little, you will become more accustomed to this insight. It is not at all the same as sleep or dullness since you remain very alert and present, watching what and who exists. Your mind might resist this experience at first, but if you persevere over time, you will be rewarded with the sweetest wisdom in life.

To meditate comfortably, I find sitting on a Zafu made by Halfmoon Yoga Products works best for me. There are many props available at Halfmoon to help you sit comfortably for long periods of time – Zafu, Zabuton, Meditation Bench and Chair to name a few. The deluxe combination of a Zabuton with a Zafu adds padding and warmth to your ankles and feet and is just one of the ways you can create your own comfort solution.

Padma is one of Canada’s most respected and popular teachers of meditation, yoga and self-realization. Padma has over 30 years of experience in yoga and meditation, including a one-decade advanced meditation retreat in the Himalayas of India, and is certified to teach by the International Meditation Institute of India. Her Meditation Teacher Training Program is now available in Vancouver and Toronto. For more information on Padma go to www.padmayoga.ca.     

More posts you might enjoy:

Meditation Cushion Comparison Chart

Elevation For Your Meditation

The Halfmoon Camel Cushion – is it a bolster? A cushion? Child-minding prop? Furniture piece for your home? The answer is all of the above and more!  It’s a favourite around here in every way except for its name. This is where you come in. The name reflects the shape but in no way, does it speak to its functionality, versatility and its charm. This cute as a button prop is a sitting cushion, doubles as a bolster, props up your baby, looks great around a coffee table…you get the picture. We would love your help in coming up with a new name for it. Post your ideas in the comments section below and the winner will get their very own (insert new brilliant name) cushion!

 Currently, you can get the Camel Cushion in two sizes: gentle: 8” x 18” x 6” and  deep: 8″ x 18″ x 8″ referring to the steepness of the arc.

Vegetarian Shepherds Pie

4 yams – baked, peeled, and mashed- add lots of butter

19oz can of black beans – drain and rinse well

head of Broccoli- steamed but slightly crunchy

bunch of carrots- steamed but slightly crunchy

1 sm white onion – chopped and pan fried

head of garlic – chopped and pan fried with onions

spicy hummus – 2 cups

jalapeno gouda – shredded

feta cheese – crumbled

 Layers from bottom up!

1. Black Beans

2. Broccoli/Carrots

3. onions/garlic/feta cheese

4. Spicy Hummus

5. yams

6. shredded gouda to cover the yams

Enjoy

With the New Year upon us, many people have set intentions to jump-start their yoga routines. The root of these intentions can vary widely, but a common thread is to lean down (shed the holiday calories), increase energy, and reduce stress (another common by-product of holiday festivities). Kreg Weiss, co-founder of My Yoga Online, shares with us his thoughts on how to keep our New Year’s resolutions grounded by balancing out the warmth of a yoga workout with the cooling elements of restorative poses.

Keeping Cool As You Fire Up Your Resolutions

The immediate notion behind fulfilling these resolution themes is to shift into a steady schedule of vigorous practices like vinyasa yoga. The sequencing in vigorous practices creates an ample vehicle to jolt the metabolism into high gear and help shed pounds. What is sometimes neglected is the opportunity to fully delve into the practice of tapping into the parasympathetic nervous system and balancing out the stimulating warmth with a substantial dose of internal cooling.

The overall concept of ‘yoga’ and ‘union’ becomes more apparent as we balance out the stimulating warmth of vinyasa with the earthy calmness and cooling of yin-style postures. Bring in a bolster, cushion, or other props to settle into places of deep surrender. Give the nervous system permission to savor true states of parasympathetic vibration. As we absorb the benefits of the vinyasa practice, these cooling phases become a bridge to carry our practice into the rest of the day. Prana becomes grounded, external stressors become less relevant, and the benefits of our practice become enhanced into our daily wellness routines.

One of the key benefits, especially for those seeking to improve body weight composition, is the rebalancing of the adrenal glands. As the body surrenders in extended cooling poses we can mimic this release mentally and emotionally. The purging of chronic stress and anxiety helps turn off the adrenal glands and the production of stress-related cortisol hormones. Cortisol production is accompanied by the production of insulin. If we exist in chronic states of stress, the production of insulin signals the body to uptake food energy as fat into fat cells. Therefore, by training the body and nervous system to purge stress, we readily improve our capacity to manage healthy body weight.

Consider (as teachers and as participants) integrating a generous amount of yin/restorative style poses and sequences near the end of each practice. Get the props out and dedicate several moments to explore layers of release and grounding. These cooling phases of the practice can dramatically help shift us into deeper states of healing.

Time can fly by in a vinyasa practice, and often we find ourselves with only a few final minutes to pop in a quick Savasana. Consider reserving a solid amount of time to weave in several earthy poses as well as a complete Savasana. Here are some recommended propped-up poses to ground and finish off your vinyasa flow:

*Reclining Bound Angle Pose  (Supta Baddha Konasana)

• lying with bolster supporting your spine and head and/or having cushions supporting under both knees