Patience

We could never learn to be brave and patient if there were only joy in the world. -Helen Keller
 

Does it feel like winter is dragging on forever?  You should start to see some of the bulbs you planted last fall begin to finally bloom. They give us hope that spring is imminent. It is so hard to be patient when we are longing for the warmth of spring. This presents a good test for us to slow down and appreciate the slow blossoming of this time of year.

Please review FAQs. Also, if you are reading this via email, you may not be able to see the audio player. Just click through to view this on the blog page so you can use the audio.




1. Sit up tall in your chair with lower belly muscles firm. Place your hands against your lower ribcage and notice the rise and fall of your breath. Stay here for 5 complete breaths.

2.  Let one hand rest in your lap as the other hand *very slowly* begins reaching for the ceiling, your eyes focused on your fingertips, carefully following the movement. When your hand is as high as you can comfortably reach, relax your shoulder and neck, continuing to look up at your hand for 3 breaths. Rotate your wrist and squeeze your fingers, making a fist, then release your fingers once again. Reverse the movement by slowly watching your hand return to your lap- challenge yourself to move as slowly as possible! Patience, remember? Repeat all instructions with your other hand this time.

3. Let's use that same focused movement with our legs now. Hands can rest on your lap again. Push away from your desk so that you can see your feet. Begin to straighten one knee as you *very slowly* lift one foot off the floor, eyes fixed on your toes. Pay attention to the feel of each muscle working to make the movement possible. When leg is straight, flex the toes toward your body as you push through your heel. Take 3 slow breaths as you keep watching your foot. Then point your toes away from you, taking 3 full breaths. Circle the ankle in each direction 3 times. Then you can very slowly lower the foot back to the floor, eyes watching. Once it's lowered, gently shake the whole leg a bit to relax the tight muscles. Repeat all directions with opposite leg this time.

4. Sit back comfortably in your chair, let your shoulders relax down, release your jaw so your teeth are not clenched. Close your eyes and just breathe. See if you can count to 100 before getting distracted.

5. Did you skip #4 completely? Did the slow pace of #2 and #3 drive you crazy? Impatient, maybe? Let that message be your theme of the day. :)

Power

President's Day is now a celebration of every past U.S. president as well as the current commander in chief. Even if you have no chance of ever being president of anything, except perhaps your local PTA, you are aware of the challenges of power.  Note the very strong public reactions in our current political climate. Feeling powerless can be scary, but it can also stimulate great change. 

Why not take a few minutes to focus on your own personal power? Do you ever feel like you are not steering your own life, like the fickle winds are constantly blowing you off course? Sometimes it's vital to revisit your overall life plan. This week take the time reflect on one area of your life that feels "out of control." Is your diet currently based on Girl Scout cookies? Are you thrilled to get a full four and a half hours of sleep each night? What sort of change would help you regain some of your own personal power?


Make the best use of what is in your power, and take the rest as it happens. -Epictetus

Please review FAQs. Also, if you are reading this via email, you may not be able to see the audio player. Just click through to view this on the blog page so you can use the audio.



1. Sit up tall away from the back of your chair, use the lower belly muscles to keep your spine supported.

2 Inhale as your roll your shoulders up then exhale as they roll back, completing 5 rolls total.

3. Bring both hands to the back of your head, elbows pointing out to the sides. Gently press your head back into your fingertips . As you breathe deeply, draw the shoulder blades together behind you, opening through your chest. Stay here for at least 6 breaths.

4. Move hands under right thigh, lifting it off the chair seat. Rotate the ankle and wiggle your toes. Repeat with left leg.

5. Bring both hands to left armrest, twisting your upper body to the left as your bottom stays in the seat. Breathe 3 full breaths. Repeat on right side.

6. Bring hands under right thigh again, this time lifting the knee high. You can even move your hands to grasp a few inches below the front of your knee, hugging the thigh into your body for a deep hip stretch.  Take three breaths once your knee is at its highest. Repeat with left leg.

7. Open your legs as wide as you can while still staying seated. Inhale your arms reaching for the ceiling, then as you exhale, sweep the arms forward and down, fold at the hips to rest your torso onto or close to your thighs. Hands can rest on legs or hang down to the floor. Gently nod your head "yes" a few times and then shake it "no" to loosen your neck muscles. Let your head hang without tension. Stay here for 5 full breaths. Use your hands on your thighs to slowly rise to sitting.

8. Rest against the back of the seat, elbows relaxed down, fingertips on lower belly. Inhale for a slow count of 4, then exhale for that same slow count of 4. Continue this counting to four on the inhale and exhale for 5 full breath cycles. Return to your day with a renewed sense of power!

Love

Did you know that Valentine's Day is not just a recently invented "Hallmark greeting card" holiday?  Lupercalia was pagan fertility festival held in mid-February. Lupercalia survived the initial rise of Christianity and but was outlawed—as it was deemed “un-Christian”--at the end of the 5th century, when Pope Gelasius declared February 14 St. Valentine's Day.

It was not until much later, however, that the day became definitively associated with love. During the Middle Ages, it was commonly believed in France and England that February 14 was the beginning of birds' mating season, which added to the idea that the middle of Valentine's Day should be a day for romance. (history.com) 

Found this interesting tidbit on phrases.org: The first reference in print to Valentine's Day is found in Geoffrey Chaucer's The parlement of foules [The Parliament of Fowls], circa 1381:

For this was on seynt Volantynys day Whan euery bryd comyth there to chese his make.

[For this was Saint Valentine's day, when every bird of every kind comes to this place to choose his mate.]

Whether you are currently partnered or living the carefree single life, you cannot escape this week of red hearts and romance. Maybe this year you can skip the box of overpriced chocolates, and instead spend a few minutes telling someone special how much they mean to you.

Please review FAQs. Also, if you are reading this via email, you may not be able to see the audio player. Just click through to view this on the main QuickDeskYoga blog page so you can use the audio.

1. Begin with palms of your hands pressed together in front of your chest, thumbs touching at your "heart center." Bring into your mind the image of a loved one. Close your eyes and take 5 deep calming breaths.

2. Inhale as you open your arms wide at shoulder height, palms facing front.  Notice the opening in your chest as you reach for left and right walls. Exhale as you close your palms together once again at heart center. Repeat 2 more times.

3. Bring left fingertips to grasp your chair under the left edge of your seat. Inhale as you lift the right arm straight up to ceiling, lifting up and out of rib cage even as your bottom stays planted in chair. Exhale with a side stretch to the left, inside of elbow stays over the ear. Keep your right sitting bone in the chair. Inhale the right up back up toward the ceiling, then exhale it down to grasp the right edge of your chair's seat. Repeat using left arm this time.

4. Repeat #3 two more times on each side.

5. Let your hands rest on your thighs as we work on leg lifts next. Sit up tall and tighten your lower belly. On an inhale, lift both lower legs off the floor, straightening the knees, toes pointed toward the wall behind your desk. An exhale lowers the legs back to the floor. Next inhale, do the same leg lift, but this time with toes flexed, pointing up at the underside of your desk. Always exhale as you release the legs back to the floor. Is your lower belly still firm? Are you holding your breath?

6. Repeat both parts of #5 three times: one lift with toes pointed, then the next with feet flexed- counts as one round. Check your posture: sit up tall!

7. Bring fingers to grasp under each side edge of your seat. As you inhale, lift up through your chest, drawing shoulders back, arching your spine toward your computer monitor. On the exhale, relax back into your chair. Repeat 2 more times.

8. Still holding edges of seat, take inhale, then exhale and fold forward bringing chest toward your thighs. Inhale back up to sitting.

9. Inhale both arms up toward the ceiling, then exhale ending with palms together at heart center. Once again bring to mind someone special in your life. Close your eyes and breathe, slowly counting to 20 before resuming your work of the day.

Shadow

This past weekend we all waited on the edges of our seats for the Great Seasonal Oracle of the Rodent to predict the arrival of spring. Or maybe this imaginary holiday slipped past you in your excitement over the big game?

All this business with shadows on Groundhog Day reminds me of The Shadow. No, I don't mean the 1930s radio crime-fighting character or even the 90s movie version. I'm talking psychology, the pretty smart Carl Jung specifically. Jung said that our shadows are the negative aspects of our personalities that we tend to ignore and suppress. Of course we try to avoid our "evil twin" sides, right? But that's a mistake, according to Jung. He said that if we are brave enough to acknowledge and examine our "psychic junk," we are less likely to suffer from it rearing its ugly head at the most embarrassing times.

So what do you have lurking in your deep subconscious today? Can you bring it out, even for a moment, making peace with its presence?

Whether good ol' Phil saw his shadow or not, spring will eventually arrive. Whether you notice your own shadow or not, it will also make an appearance.

One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious. -Carl Jung


Welcome to your second month of chair yoga. Good for you, keeping up with it this long! Even if you are not as consistent as you had hoped, you will still get the benefits of any time you take a break to just breathe and move your body. Today's session will take you about 8 minutes.
Instructions for all sessions: FAQs

1. Begin by warming up your shoulders: roll them up to your ears as you inhale and roll them back and down as you exhale. Repeat 3-4 times.

2. Stretch your arms wide on an inhale then as you exhale, swing the arms around so the hands land on the opposite shoulders, giving yourself a big hug. Repeat the wide stretch and as you hug the second time, the other arm can be on top.

3. Lift one knee off the chair seat, you can hold the back of the thigh for support. Flexing the foot on the raised leg, slowly spin the lower leg in both directions 3 times each. Place the thigh back on the seat and repeat on the other side.

4. Inhale both arms straight up for the ceiling, then on your exhale, fold at the hips so your belly comes to rest on your thighs. Let your head hang, releasing all the neck muscles. You may even rest your head on your knees if you can reach. Let your arms flop to the floor on either side of your legs. Rest here for 5 complete breath cycles.

5. Bring your hands to your knees and on an inhale, slowly push yourself back to sitting.

6. Cross your legs by bringing your right ankle to rest just above your left knee, keeping the right foot flexed at the ankle. ("man sit") If this stretch feels toe intense, rest your right ankle across your left shin, or even in front of your left ankle. Whatever leg cross works for you, think of pointing the right knee toward the ground, feeling the opening in your inner thigh and hip.

7. Still with your ankle resting across your knee/shin/opposite ankle,  rest your hands on your thighs for support, then begin a forward fold by slowly leaning your chest toward your knees, folding at the hip with your back staying flat. Lean forward enough to feel a gentle stretch, but not so far that you feel pain.

8. Return to sitting upright. Repeat #6 and #7 with the left ankle crossed above the right knee (or shin, or ankle).

9. Inhale your arms up to the ceiling, then exhale bringing your hands together in front of your heart, palms pressed together, thumbs on sternum. Close your eyes and take 5 slow, deep breaths before returning to your day.