Autumn Inspiration

Autumn is a special time in Ayurveda. It’s considered a joint season; just like in this vulnerable part of the body, during the autumn season it is easy to injure oneself. If you are not careful, you could become vulnerable or risk injuring your body by moving too quickly, doing too much, catching a common cold (through exposing your skin to the cold, dry, windy air) and depleting your immune system by not sleeping enough or through skipping meals. To ensure good health in fall, consider “oil + heat” as two of your new best friends. Give yourself regular sesame oil massages before you shower to protect your skin from wind and cold air. Heat yourself with warm showers, hot tea, baths, and soups.

At the turn of each season, ask yourself these simple questions, which will help you see the relationship that exists between your health and the natural world. Keep track of your answers in a journal so you can look back and reflect upon the difference or similarity in perspectives and challenges for each season.

• What changes are going on outside in Nature?

· How does this season make me feel?

· What are the challenges I face?

· What brings me joy during this season?

· What diet or lifestyle routines do I want to change?

· Am I getting the right amount of sleep?

· What yoga or exercise routine feels the best to me?

Put a comma—envisioning a momentary pause—after each season no matter where you live. Your body can benefit from experiencing and adapting to new environments, exercise routines, and foods; it will grow stronger, be more resilient, and keep you in touch with the cycles of nature. The yogis believe that you are one with Nature, and that in order for you to bloom, you need diversity.

From: Art of Sequencing Volume Two - Seasonal Vinyasa

Seasonal Vinyasa Summer Practice #1 with Melina Meza

Happy Solstice Everyone,
Today will be the longest gray day of the year! Hopefully you are being productive, enjoying good health, and spirits. In case you need a little inspiration to practice today, here is what's happening in class. You can find this practice in my new book coming out this fall, The Art of Sequencing - Volume Two!!!

1. Virasana - (visualize the sun up above the clouds)
2. Virasana - grab a strap, reach your arms up holding the strap, open your chest
3. Virasana - gomukasana arms
4. Bharadvajasana
5. Get to your hands and knees, drop your chest down by your thumbs, flow into Cobra, Up Dog, and finish in Child's pose with your arms out in front of you. Repeat many times.
6. Down dog into a lunge. Raise arms up by ears, squeeze arms by head, twist hands around one another
7. Down dog to Uttansana
8 Squat (cover eyes)
9. Tadasana
10. Surya Namaskar A with your eyes closed (repeat many times) move intuitively
11. Surya Namaskar B variation: Utkatasana, Uttanasana, High Lunge with arms reaching forward by ears, bend arms to open chest, drop hands...Vasisthasana, Down dog, Uttanasana, Utkatasana, Tadasana (repeat many times)
12. Vrksasana
13. Bound 1/2 lotus forward bend
14. Pada Hastasana
15. Prasarita Padottanasana variations, add handstands if you wish ( :
16. Down dog
17. Child's pose
18. Sirsasana
19. Rabbit or Child's pose
20 Spinx (like cobra but chill)
21. Bhekasana
22. Supta Virasana
23. Down dog
24. Krauncasana
25. Dandasana
26. Sarvangasana or Setu Bandha
27. Prep for Yoga Nidrasana
28. Whatever you like....

If you can't figure this out...come to class or on retreat where we will be going further into detail with these poses.

Light and love,
Melina

www.melinameza.com

Seize the Summer: Ayurvedic tips about keeping cool and staying balanced during the summer months

In the world of Ayurveda, we are now in the summer season (June-August), which means whenever summer arrives in your geographical location, you will have a stronger relationship with the elements fire and water for three months. Ayurveda views the physical body, along with everything in the Universe, as being composed of the five primary elements; earth, water, fire, air, and ether or empty space. These elements are expressed in the physical body as qualities of stability/support (earth), feeling/fluidity (water), heat and metabolism (fire), respiration and circulation (air), and space and lightness (ether).

When the fire and water element are out of balance, it creates a dosha called Pitta. In Sanskrit, dosha means, “that which spoils or causes decay” as they are not only the forces which produce and sustain the body in their normal condition but those which, when out of balance, serve to destroy it. Knowing the strengths and weaknesses of each element can help you make daily choices that reinforce health and wellness for the season. As my teacher Scott Blossom said, “It is important to work in a way that “feels right” but also consciously cultivates complementary traits, such as grounding and stillness for the air type, or coolness and relaxation for the fire type in order to strike a balance.”

To help create balance, consider one of the classic Ayurvedic sutras that says, “like increases like and opposites balance.” This ancient wisdom can be extremely helpful when creating your daily rituals around the seasons.

Asana Advice for the Pitta Season
• Let each asana practice be soft, intuitive, forgiving, creative, and emphasize surrendering in order to prevent overheating.
• Perform all asana or sports in a way that is non-competitive, nurturing, and playful! Practice vigorous sports or asana in the early morning.
• Incorporate counter-balancing postures for poses that create heat such as Sun Salutations, balance poses, strong backbends, etc.
• Practice with your eyes closed.
• Emphasize a cooling breathing pattering during practice where the exhalation is longer than inhalation. Holding the breath out after exhaling has a powerful effect to concentrate the mind, which stabilizes your agni, purified essence of fire.
• Practice shitali or left-nostril breathing after asana.
• Try the Metta, Loving Kindness meditation to release anger.

Summer Foods
• Never miss a meal, especially if you are have a Pitta constitution!
• Eat cooling, sweet, bitter and astringent foods (coconut, cucumber, watermelon, all the fresh fruit in season, steamed greens, multicolored salads, watercress, endives, mung beans, basmati rice) and avoid spicy and fried foods.
• Drink cumin, coriander, fennel and rose hot tea. Cilantro, cucumber, and mint are great additions to water for a refreshing beverage that will cool you down.
• Eat few dairy products and meats (unless you are doing intense physical activity)…they are too yang!

If your digestive fire is weak, try this for a week or two until your digestive fire improves: Cook together equal parts of: brown rice, lentils, and sun flower seeds. Eat 1-2 cups daily for 2 weeks. This will also improve body heat.

Daily Routine
• Give yourself a full body massage before showering. Coconut oil is best.
• Enjoy the rose, sandalwood, jasmine or lavender essential oils to relax the senses.
• Wear light colored clothing, loose cotton, linen and silk (ex. White, blue, green) so air can circulate between your clothes and your skin.
• Do inside cooking early morning in the morning before it gets hot.
• Spend time in Nature, swim, retreat, and enjoy the moonlight.

Visit: www.melinameza.com for summer You Tube videos and upcoming yoga retreats.