By:
Virginia Iversen, M.Ed
In a few
days, the annual celebration of Valentine's Day will be in full swing. Almost
every store is displaying romantic gift items, imported chocolates, iridescent
Valentine's Day cards, and even occasionally large teddy bears with hearts
decoratively hung around their necks. If you are in a relationship that is
mutually satisfying and engaging, these romantic gift items will be appealing
and fanciful. However, if you have just left a relationship or you have
lost somebody you love, these romantic gifts may generate more pain than
happiness.
Much of
the time, we are focused on securing our love from the outside. From the time
most of us are very young, we are taught that securing an idyllic romantic
relationship should be at the top of our priority list. Unfortunately, this
unrelenting focus on securing love outside of us tends to create dependency on
other people. Of course, when the people to whom we are attached and dependent
on for love and support love us in turn, this external dependency is not quite
as problematic as when a relationship is not as mutual or beneficial as we
would like.
In
addition, when we continually strive and struggle to secure another person's
love, we often forget to rest in the spaciousness and kindness of own heart. As
a certified Yoga teacher, you have the ability and the opportunity to help your
students to reconnect with the love in their own hearts. One of the most effective
physical ways of supporting your students in the process of connecting with the
love in their own hearts is to guide them through the practice of a series of
supported back bending postures. Back bending Yoga postures help to release
constriction and tension throughout the front of the chest area, which often
becomes closed down when we experience heartbreak and disappointment.
If you
are regularly teaching Yoga classes during the month of February, you may want
to creatively sequence your classes to focus on expanding your students'
self-love. When your students get in touch with the love in their own hearts,
their dependency on romantic relationships will be lessened. By weaving in a
number of supported back bending postures into your Yoga classes, you will help
your students to release the constriction around the heart and throat chakras,
as they replenish their prana or vital life force energy.
Supported
Reclining Goddess Pose is a wonderfully restorative pose that easily lends
itself to the generation of self-love and is very approachable for most levels
of Yoga students. This expanding back bending posture is usually practiced
towards the end of a Yoga class and either in lieu of, or just prior to, the
practice of Shavasana. Supported Reclining Goddess Pose is optimally practiced
with a number of props. If you are planning on using props during your class,
it is advisable to have your students place the props near their Yoga mats at
the beginning of class, so the flow of the class is not disrupted when you
guide them into supported postures.
Your
students will benefit most optimally from the practice of Supported Reclining
Goddess Pose when their legs are supported by rolled blankets or Yoga bolsters
and their thoracic spine is supported by a small rolled blanket, placed just
under the shoulder blades. It is also lovely to offer your students an eye
pillow to place over their eyes for deeper rest and relaxation. As your
students rest in this supported back bending Yoga posture, you may wish to
gently lead them in the practice of offering loving kindness to those around
them. The practice of offering love and kindness to others helps to open the
heart, which will increase their awareness of the love that resides in their
own being at all times.
Virginia
Iversen, M.Ed, has been practicing and studying the art of Yoga for over twenty
years. She lives in Woodstock, New York, where she works as a writer and an
academic support specialist. She is currently accepting Yoga and health-related
writing orders and may be contacted at: enchantress108@gmail.com.
©
Copyright 2016 – Virginia Iversen / Aura Wellness Center – Publications
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