Category Archives: Mindbody Practices
RSS FeedPosted by Jenni on November 10, 2011 in Bodymind Bliss, Mindbody Practices, Self-care, Yoga
Mamahhh’s Self-Care Month – Visualize Your Yoga
This morning, I endured a couple hours’ dental work. Fun Times with Dr. Rice started last year when he announced that it was past time to replace all my childhood fillings. The ones I’d received when the enamel didn’t form all the way over my teeth. The ones that were a consolation prize for being born before preventative faux-enamel technology came along.
Back then, I didn’t make it easy on my good Dr. Hanks. The first time we had a big dental experience, he and 6-year-old-me and those amalgam fillings, I bit him and peed in the chair. (TMI, I know!) Every visit after that, I had to take what must’ve been some kind of anti-anxiety prescription to calm me before the visit.
Now, thankfully, there are no prescriptions required for my visits with Dr. Rice. Of course I still take whatever jaw-numbing drugs they offer, but along with that, I calm my body and my thoughts by practicing yoga in my mind. These are some sweet, soothing vinyasas, y’all, a mental-visual mantra to drown out the drill.
Inhale, reach up.
Exhale, fold forward.
Inhale, half lift, long spine.
Exhale, fold forward.
Inhale, reach up, root down, slight backbend.
Exhale, hands to heart.
And so I go, round after round of Sun Salutation A, sometimes throwing in a few standing poses or attempting a fancy move I can’t yet do on the mat. Inhale. Exhale. The whirr of the drill. The slight haze of the local anesthesia. A tender, loving practice that simultaneously takes me out of an in-the-dentist-chair experience and brings me deeper into my feel-my-feet-I’m-OK-body.
For self-care, I appreciate a tuned-in tuning-out when I’m stuck in a situation that is basically OK, but not where I’d really like to be at that moment. Dental visits. Tetanus boosters. Rubber-chicken-dinners that should have ended an hour ago. Rush-hour traffic. Really big crowds of people. In moments like that, I turn to the yoga mat in my mind, and breathe a sigh of relief. The remembrance of my body working as it should, strong and supple, my movements emboldened by breath–that is deep reassurance that all is well.
How do you take care of yourself in the dental chair or the like? Share your experiences in the comments!
Mamahhh’s Month of Self-Care
- Day 1 – set intention
- Day 2 – say yes, and no
- Day 3 – shift your perspective
- Day 4 – take the night off
- Day 5 – car nap
- Day 6 – sit quiet
- Day 7 – go to sleep
- Day 8 – do yoga in your mind
Posted by Jenni on July 30, 2011 in Bodymind Bliss, Mindbody Practices
Three years ago, more or less to the day, I was just a few days shy of 40 weeks pregnant with my second baby. We lived in Minneapolis at the time, and the amazing Krishna Das was in town. With my belly full, I ventured out to the kirtan, surrounded by yoga mamas, music lovers, and KD devotees. The call-and-response music moved through my body, the deep rhythms vibrating with bliss and lifting my heart. I danced with my little one nestled in my pelvis, and about a week later, we danced again as she made her way into the world. I’d hoped that the powerful intonations and the sound of voices united might bring on her labor.
About two years before that, I’d attended another concert, Damien Rice, while pregnant with my first daughter. I loved how the sound filled the auditorium, and I felt the music in my cells. Surely, the girl I carried in my ripe, rounded belly felt it too. I luxuriated in the sensation of the kicks from baby within and the embrace of the music from without.
Tonight, another concert. This time, my belly is my own, and the dance I’ll share with my girls will take place with all of us on our own feet, twirling and swirling with the sound of voices surrounding us. The kirtan is with Rahasya and Bhakti Messenger. While the performers are new to me, the intention behind the music is familiar and true: hearts and voices, united in shared space. I wait with wonder to know what joys this musical night will bring us!
What musical experiences have you shared with your children, in utero and on the sweet, green earth?
Posted by Jenni on May 29, 2011 in Bodymind Bliss, Mindbody Practices, Motherhood
I spent the morning practicing being a “safe harbor” for my girls. I breathed deeply, softened my shoulders, and set my that-so-annoys-me meter to “off.”
Posted by Jenni on May 26, 2011 in Birth, Before and After, Bodymind Bliss, Mindbody Practices, Pregnancy, Spirituality
We gathered a sweet circle of a dozen women for an afternoon of ceremony to mark, with a birth necklace and a belly bowl, the wondertime of Allison’s pregnancy.
Posted by Jenni on May 25, 2011 in Bodymind Bliss, Mindbody Practices, Self-care
Wishcasting Wednesday: Healthy Wishes
I wish for healthy eating and better sleep. **inspired by Jamie Ridler’s Wishcasting Wednesday**
