I’ll be back to write my own post shortly. Things have been busy. I am officially writing a book! I have signed the publishing contract and I will begin shortly.  The book will be published next Spring.  This is a dream come true.  Om namah shivaya gurave.  It reminds me of that song by Journey, Don’t Stop Believin.’  Anything really is possible and don’t let anyone ever tell you otherwise, because it is.  As Pattabhi Jois, the great Father of Ashtanga Yoga says, practice, and all is coming.   I often say the comma after the word practice is very important.  That’s where we take time to breathe and be patient in life.  I know we sometimes want it to all happen right away, but it happens when we are ready.  The poses come to us when we are ready to receive them.

So, anyhow, here’s another great Yoga article written by the beautiful Yogini Melina Meza.  I would love to share more with you about what I learned from the talk I went to about POWA: The Yoga of Death and Dying.  It was fascinating.  I’ll post something about that in the near future.  In the meantime, enjoy this article and I’ll be back soon.  This evening, I’ll be attending a Spiritweaves event here in Dallas.  I attended this conscious movement workshop last year and it was incredible.  I can feel the dance already moving in me and the Flow of life yearning to be free.  I will let it flow through me and I will let myself let go and flow freely.  Have a wonderful weekend… 

Sweet, sweet summertime—Balance the heat with a Yin practice
-Melina Meza, BS, Nutrition, RYT-500

In the summer, which is a Yang time of year from the Taoist perspective, we fill up on solar energy and re-charge our internal batteries. During the summer months, it is wise to highlight or guide attention to the heart, small intestines, stomach and spleen. These organs often work overtime in the summer, promoting efficient blood circulation, temperature regulation, digestion and hormone secretion as well as absorbing nutrients from what we bring into our body through food and the senses. 

With extra heat and longer days, it is easy to dry up, get angry, irritated or exhausted, especially if work and play are not in balance.  So, why not take time to complement what’s going on outside in nature with relaxed, slow, cooling movements, maintaining a playful attitude or even closing your eyes during your asana practice to avoid being competitive with others or yourself? Slow down and move from your intuition, listen from within, to grow and mature during this season of abundance. 

Dropping into the restorative aspect of a yoga practice during the summertime encourages us to let go of “trying” to do the pose a certain way and simply lets us be guided intuitively into the right shape or position in order to relax and breathe.

 Summer Yin Yoga Practice

This sequence I am suggesting is a balancing, yin practice in that it promotes easy, slow, quiet, movement that allows you to visualize and feel where your qi, prana or attention is at all times. With practice, your mind and breath come together to move qi or prana into specific places in your body such as the ligaments, connective issue, or organs, deep in the body.

Find a comfortable place to rest on your back before drawing your knees close to your belly. Take a few moments to close your eyes, relax and unwind, before starting the summer yin/restorative practice. 

• Pranayama with a bolster under your spine: pause and relax after each exhale
• Supine twist with bent knees
• Balasana (child’s pose) with forehead resting on hands
• “Reaching under the bed” pose
• Mandukasana (wide knee child’s pose with chest on the floor or bolster)
• Sphinx
• Virasana
• Ardha Matsyendrasana (mellow version)
• Sukhasana (meditation seat) 

 Additional asana sequences, information and products including Melina’s DVD, Yoga for the Seasons, Fall Vinyasa and book, Art of Sequencing can be found at www.melinameza.com

 Thank you for reading the True Yoga Blog.  Om shanti~