POSE OF THE WEEK | TRIKONASANA | TRIANGLE POSE

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Hello my friends! I’ll be posting pose of the week from now on. This is something I’ve been meaning to do and procrastination can no longer wait! I have to do it because sharing the knowledge of yoga and the love I have for the practice is radical.
The actions will take you into the pose, the safety is a form of protection. Sometimes we aren’t always aware of all parts of the body. The refinement goes to those who’s been practicing for awhile now and wish to take the practice an inch higher!
So here we go! I look forward to hearing your thoughts, please leave your comments below. Thank you!
InJOY,
Paye

TRIKONASANA (Triangle Pose) 三角勢：
ACTIONS:
– From Downdog, step your right foot forward, build Trikonasana from here.
– Extend your right leg to straight. Turn the left foot in about 30 degrees. Front heel aligned with the arch of the left foot.
– Right fingertips on the floor, shin or block. Roll the chest open so the left shoulder is on top of right.
– Turn the left ribs up towards the ceiling.
– Neutral neck. Chin in slightly. Gaze forward.
– Extend the spine so the torso is parallel to the long edge of the mat.
– Stay and breath.
– To come out, look down. Bend the front knee, both hands frame the front foot. Step back to Downdog.
– Repeat on the second side.

REFINEMENT:
– Keep your knees and and elbows tightened, however not hyperextending. Press the feet down and apart. Extend your head away from your hips and lengthen your spine.
– If you’re comfortable here, lean heart, head and ear back. Gaze up to your left fingertips.

SAFETY:
– No sleepy kneecaps! Lift the right kneecap slightly and keep it lifted. In another words: do not hyperextend your knee joint. To stretch without straight requires steady strength.
– The center of the right kneecap should face directly forward. For most people, kneecaps tend to fall in and down. To avoid this, press the inner edge of the right foot down, turn the front thigh out until the kneecaps faces forward.
– Press the back leg down – make it as heavy as the front foot.
– Engage the abdominal muscles.
– Choose an appropriate hand position that allows the front leg to completely straighten while maintaining length in the spine.
– If looking up is too intense for the neck, look down.

WHY AVOIDING ANGER AND PAIN IS THE WORST THING YOU CAN DO

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The average life coach preaches positivity and more “rah, Rah, RAH” exciting, positive emotions. I respect these type of coaches, but I think there’s a time and a place for learning how to manifest a positive mindset. Pain, anger, and negative emotions are natural human emotions and they should be treated the same way we treat positive emotions: with open arms.

Painful emotions need to be experienced because they are part of the human experience. Just like positive emotions, painful emotions don’t last forever. Emotions have a life cycle of their own, whether they are positive or negative emotions. We experience cycles in all areas of our lives: we gain employment and we leave our jobs, the sun rises and the sun falls, the summer ends and we enter fall, a child is born and we say goodbye to a loved one at their funeral. We can’t avoid our negative emotions because we need to experience them in their fullest capacity before we can welcome positive emotions back into our universe.

What happened when a friend tried to cheer you up when you felt crappy? They either made you feel better or you felt worse. In the case when you felt worse, it’s because your friend didn’t acknowledge the fact that it’s perfectly normal and ok to feel angry, bitter, sad, jealous, or like a wilted flower. You needed the space to process your circumstance and come full circle with your experience. We can’t arrive at the bright end of the tunnel until we’ve been through the dark part.

So how should you deal with negative emotions that you don’t want to feel? There’s not one answer to this question nor is there a right answer, but I can tell you that avoidance will keep you in the dark part of the tunnel longer than you want to be there.

In my experience, I’ve learned that acceptance and nonviolence are a kind and light-hearted way to accept painful emotional. Acknowledging how you feel is critical to seeing the bright side of life again, even when you feel angry or broken deep down inside.

In order to accept negative emotions, I teach a form of communication call Non Violent Communication (NVC for short). NVC allows us to process our emotions in a way that truthful and authentic without hurting anyone else’s feelings. It promotes peace and loving kindness to everyone with who we share our hearts and emotions with.

To use NVC, you can follow this acronym: OFNR.

O stands for observation.

F stands for feeling.

N stands for need.

R stands for request.

Here are a few examples of how to use NVC:

(O) My girlfriend broke up with me. (F) I feel sad. (N) I need consistency in relationships. (R) Can you please give me a hug while I cry on your shoulder?

(O) My cat passed away. (F) I feel lonely. (N) I need company. (R) Can you please go for a walk with me?

By using NVC, we have the golden opportunity to present our feelings in a way that’s healthy and truthful. We don’t have to lie to anyone that we’re happy when we’re actually feeling like a pile of dirt. We can be real, honest, and forthcoming.

You will thank yourself once you stop avoiding painful emotions and start to live through your painful emotions with honesty and integrity. It’s only through seeing reality for what it is that we can make skillful choices to move past our painful emotions and live closer toward the bright end of the tunnel once again.

About Max:

Max DuBowy is the founder of Your Success Launch where he teaches ambitious young adults how to conquer anxiety and live with less stress. PayeTina readers can get a FREE guided meditation from Max by visiting www.YourSuccessLaunch.com.

A NEW KIND OF NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS

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Dear ones, Happy New Year! And I wish each and every one of you an incredible 2016.

The new year does bring this feeling of a fresh start – beginning of something new, we often want to have an objective, goal or even a vision towards the direction we want to go. In the past, I’ve made so many “New Year Resolutions” yet not really followed through all of them. This year instead, I am focusing on burning all the anger, fears and creating a contract with myself.

This may sound even less objective than setting real goals. Yet defining, naming and confronting the fears are so empowering, because you are actually naming it which makes them that much less fearful (you’ll see what I mean once you’ve done it). For your New Year Resolution (if you haven’t done one, or want to make more than one), I’d propose the following:

– Naming your fears
– A letter to your anger/the person you resent
– A contract with yourself.

The letter to someone whom you’re still angry at helps to let out things that did not make sense to you, perhaps you are still trying to rationalize what happened, all these shame, guilt, and humiliation that you may still be holding onto but in denial about it – should be released onto this paper. The written contract is something you are promising yourself – perhaps it’s something you would never do and why, or things you would keep doing because so. The letter symbolizes a vow to yourself and your life that is ahead of you. When you write, you are redefining and reaffirming your integrity which is how you want to live your life. In short, we go from burning away these veils that may hinder us from seeing our true Selves to rediscovering ourselves again.

For this exercise, take three sheets of paper. First one is for your fears, second for your anger letter, third for the contract to yourself.

  1. On your first sheet, write out Dear Fear: You are…. (make your list, I’m providing a few examples of mine) – failing – falling – insecurities – incompetency – not enough of likes – getting a belly – loose myself…. Keep listing them until you feel like you have mind your clean and you’ve name all the fears you could think of. Remember, you can always come back to this list.
  2. Your second sheet is a letter to someone who has made you very upset for whatever reason and you are still holding onto the grudges. It can be a person, an event, or a memory. Start writing why you were so angry, what made your feel so hurt and what you would do to forgive this person/event/memory. Let it all go on the paper. You can call names, hopefully with right amount of control…Mine looks like this: Dear ____: This year you made me so angry many times. I felt misunderstood, judged and hurt….When you….. it’s so difficult to deal with…. I know you are…..
    Lastly, sign your name at the bottom. After finishing the letter, you may burn this letter. As you burn it, feel the liberation from this angry and sadness that’s been keeping your from feeling free. If you wish to keep it, keep it somewhere safe (make sure you don’t leave it laying around!).
  3. 3rd part is a contract with yourself. Start by making a list of things you’d like to follow through. Then with this list in mind; write a letter to yourself as you are writing to a dear friend whom you care deeply for. Be gentle, creative and poetic as you wish.My example of the list – Do as much as I can that feeds me energy – Think less – Be fair to people e.g. not let my anger out on someone.
    My letter: Dear Paye, you are by all means a beautiful, open and creative person. There are many positive aspects of yourself and your Dharma will lead you to where need to return the deeds in the world. All you have to do is say yes more and come out of your comfort zone….. Also, your worst energy is comparing yourself with others which led to feeling small…..Sign your name at the end. I recommend keeping this letter and reread it at the end of the year. It’s a great reminder of where you started and point of reference for reflection. I’d keep it somewhere safe as well. Again, with these personal things, I’d rather not have it laying around.

Give it a few days to see how you feel in your body’s energy. This method has shown positive result so far for me. I genuinely hope this is as helpful for you as it was for me.

Last but not least…. this is one of my favorite pic lately to remind us how awesome we are!

Until then, spring forth 2016!

InLove,
Paye Tina

playfullyyoga.