I know, its been awhile. Camel pose revisited.

OK I been busy with a number of things.
1. Muay Thai sparring. Its a new thing I am doing and I DO NOT love it. But its hard and challenging and I want to not get hit in the head SO damn much.
2. Teaching more Yoga! YAYY!
3. Still doing Bikram. This is my last week with it and honestly I am not really into it anymore. Not that I was to begin with. I don't have the craving for it that I have with the other things I do (Muay Thai, Vinyasa, running)

So my post today is about Camel Pose or Ustrasana. I love backbends! So this is going with my Bikram trial the past month...in that its part of the Bikram series. Here was my previous post about Ustrasana. I am also revisiting this post because it is beneficial to those who have Thyroid diseases. So listen up Thyroid Disease sufferers, do this pose! It helps balance the hormones...we have general hormone imbalances -not just thyroid hormones.

Here are the benefits of the pose:
-Compresses the kidneys and adrenal glands, helps reduce excess production of cortisol
-Eliminates toxins from the body
-Stretches abdominal organs and cures constipation
-Stretches the throat, thyroid and parathyroid
-Good for reproductive organs and digestive system
-Stimulates the nervous system
-Good for anxiety and depression

Thing to note: you will feel dizzy and out of sorts after this pose, so don't be alarmed. Just take a rest and breathe. It's not recommended to drink water before or after this pose

You should NOT do camel pose if:
-You have severe back pain
-heart problems
-high blood pressure
-people who have had abdominal surgery
-pregnancies in the second and third trimesters

How to get into the pose:
1. Come to standing on your knees. Bring your knees about hip distance apart. Toes can be tucked or untucked.
2. Place your hands on your lower back/booty as if you're putting your hands in your back jean pockets.
3. Pull your ribs in and start bending in your upper back first. Keep the hips above the knees.
4. Drop the head back and if you feel comfortable enough, bring your hands to the top of your heels.
5. Don't let the fact that you're feeling dizzy and out of sorts freak you out! Breathe it out.

Another reason why I wanted to write about the pose today was because I am working on getting into the full backbend of the pose which looks like this:

Right now, I am at the point where I can get the top my head on the floor behind me but I can't seem to figure out how my forearms or elbows are supposed to lay on the floor like that without my body snapping in half. Something to work on!

Keep karma, love and warmth. Also included: Backbends.

As many of you might know Yoga is not just Asana or doing the physical poses. Yoga is chanting, singing, meditation and all kinds of other things! I myself am much more of an Asana Yogi BUT I am greatly a Karma practicing Yogi because the world will only take care of you as much as you take care of it. My favorite Christmas ritual (I celebrate Christmas as a commercial and American holiday and not a religious holiday) is volunteering for the homeless at Goddard Riverside Community Center with two of my besties. We started this about 4 years ago. We sometimes do Thanksgiving and/or Christmas Day. Its an awesome way to spend my Christmas morning because I get to see my friends before heading off to family gatherings. We basically help out by preparing food and/or preparing the space where people will be served and then we go out and do meal deliveries to people who have difficulties leaving their homes. I'm not here to toot my own horn or anything but just putting it out there that in the hustle and bustle of New York living its kind of awesome to do something so physically and spiritually rewarding while hanging with your friends. Its not completely self-less for me of course, I'm mostly hanging out and having fun with my friends, but at the same time why not help out the universe? There are other places that take volunteers such as the Food Bank, The Bowery Mission and God's Love We Deliver. (I've only ever personally volunteered at Goddard and Food Bank.)

Another Christmas time ritual I try to keep is getting together with my friends and cooking brunch for ourselves. Brunch is such an easy meal to put together and taking time out of life to be with friends is so important to me nowadays because its so good for my heart. This is what our Post-Christmas brunch looked like.

And HELLO snow in nyc?! How U DOIN'? Because of the snow I was one of two people who showed up to Yoga this morning. I was all climbing mounds of snow to get to the gym too because no one was shoveling at 6am...Well due to low attendance I had to do crazy backbends in class! My arms went numb doing this (see picture for example below)...because my instructor kept telling me to walk my legs towards my hands. WHOA NELLY! Needless to say, I had an awesome class today. Thanks to my instructor who showed up to teach class in this madness!

What Union Sq looked like today at 6:15am

Ustrasana

BTW I LOVE back bends. Camel Pose is great for heart-opening, increasing flexibility in the upper spine and chest.
This pose deals with trust and surrender. Trusting your unconscious to express through the mind and body. You are physically opening the heart/chest area as well as the emotional and psychological heart. The head is thrown back in surrender and you're opening your heart towards the direction of the heavens.

The goal here is the try to keep your hips aligned above your knees. This can sometimes cause strain in the lumbar spine if you force your pelvis forward too much. A good way to counter balance this is to bring the thighs slightly back towards the lower legs, taking pressure off the lower spine.

Backbends

Vivienne Westwood X Melissa shoes. What's cool about Melissa shoes is that they are 100% recyclable! They are made of melflex, a hypoallergenic, recyclable, flexible PVC. Which makes them super comfy though I will tell you its hard to straighten your legs in a back bend in them because in heels you tend to slide more.