My Monthly Newsletter

November Newsletter

New Fall Vinyasa Video!!!

Visit:
My Yoga Online website:
http://www.myyogaonline.com/videos/yoga/fall-seasonal-vinyasa-flow

Fall Insights with Melina Meza

After collaborating with Benjamin and Tamara at Esalen, I’m inspired to share with you some highlights from the workshops, so you too can be reflecting on what we found to be powerful tools that can highlight the interconnectedness between your yoga practice, spirit, and nature.

Questions from Tamara’s deepening your intuition class:
1.In this past year, where have your grown? In this coming year, what part of yourself do you wish to grow?

2.In the past year, how have you come into better health? In the coming year, where would you like to be more health conscious?

3.In the past year, what part of your body or mind healed? In the coming year, what would you like to heal?

A few tips from Benjamin’s ethics of permaculture class:
(Benjamin will be guest teaching at the Seattle Tilth in November)
•Earth Care. People Care. Fair share
•Work with nature (use gravity, native species sun, wind, etc.)
•The problem is an opportunity
•Make the least change for the greatest possible effect
•The yield of the system is theoretically unlimited
•Everything is connected

The Mahabhutas:
•Earth: Deepen your connection to the earth element with long savasanas and visualizing your prana moving from the bones of your feet up to your head.

•Water: Notice your relationship to water as your belly and organs rise and fall in the body.

•Fire: Feed your inner digestive fire by dropping your attention to the solar plexus. Healthy fire maintains digestion of food into nutrients.

•Air: Tune into your lungs as they expand and contract with deep inhalations and exhalations.

•Ether: Allow your physical and mental boundaries to soften. Notice what it feels like to drop fully into your space. Feel the mutually beneficial relationship between you and everything around you.

www.melinameza.com

Yoga Journal Review of Yoga for the Seasons DVD

"Melina Meza, co-director of the teacher training program at Seattle's 8 Limbs Yoga Centers, has what I consider to be the three important "I" qualities: She is intelligent, insightful, and inspiring. The premise behind her DVD series, Yoga for the Seasons, is that the content and pacing of our daily yoga practice should be tailored to the energetic quality of the time of year.

This DVD presents her full practice: an 8-minute instruction on engaging the bandhas; a 4-minute tutorial that shows the basics of foot placement, pose form and self adjustments; a 45-minute vinyasa sequence; and a 9-minute agni (sacred fire) practice, which is essentially and abdominal-strengthening sequence.

Well conceived and well executed as this sequence is, I'm not convinced it would be any less beneficial if practiced in winter, spring, or summer. Except for the agni practice, which will give many students a run for their money, this sequence is recommended for all moderately experienced students...no matter what the season."
-Richard Rosen

( : Yeah!
To order your copy, visit my website: melinameza.com

back care practice

PITTA: PREVENTING AGGRAVATION

In general, when you are on the cusp of a new season, your whole being becomes vulnerable to aggravation. How well you balanced the predominate elements in the previous season contributes to how much aggravation will prevail. As we leave the pitta season in August and notice any lingering eye or skin dryness, dehydration, diminished appetite, skin rashes, inconsistent bowel movements, or trouble with blood circulation, it’s best to do some preventative cleansing to nourish and prepare our selves before the fall season is in full swing.

To eliminate dryness and rekindle your spark, consider treating yourself to a shirodhara treatment, where warm herbal oil is poured rhythmically onto the center of your forehead to promote flow and relaxation throughout your entire body. These are offered at Ayurvedic clinics and some day spas.

If you suffer from any digestive imbalances, consider taking triphala for six weeks to clear the lower digestive tract so it can work more efficiently.

Gentle cleansing for the blood and skin includes ingesting bitter herbs such dandelion leaves, burdock root, and turmeric in teas or in powder form mixed with some ghee. Each of these ingredients is helpful in pulling toxins from the blood.

**The yoga postures Tadaka Mudra (supine uddiyana bandha), Prasarita Padottanasana (wide leg forward bend), Sirsasana (head stand), Balasana (child’s pose), Pascimottanasana (seated forward bend), Ardha Matsyendrasana (seated twist) are a few of my favorite poses to practice every day at the tail end of summer.

*Please note these are general ideas to promote wellness. For specific health advice, consult with your health care practitioner of choice!

**You can find all these postures within my Art of Sequencing - Volume One book on my website: www.melinameza.com


To prevent pitta aggravation, enjoy this delicious soup!
Coconut Milk Soup
From Secrets of Healing by Maya Tiwari

4 cups water
1 cup coconut milk
½ tsp rock salt
6 fresh neem (curry) leaves
1 TBS ghee
1 c grated fresh coconut
1 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
½ tsp minced ginger

Bring water to a boil in a heavy soup pot. Add the coconut milk, salt, and neem leaves. Heat the ghee in a cast-iron skillet over low heat and add the grated coconut, stirring occasionally until the coconut turns slightly brown. Add to the
seeds for a few minutes until they begin to crackle. Next, grind the seeds to a fine powder and add to the soup, along with the ginger. Cover and simmer on medium heat for 15 minutes. Serve warm or cold.

Makes 2 servings

Note: Vata types may add ½ teaspoon of tamarind paste to the soup when adding the spices.

Summer Yin Practice with Melina Meza

Dropping into the restorative aspect of a yoga practice during the summertime is one way to encourage you to let go of “trying” to do the pose a certain way, and simply let yourself be guided intuitively into the right shape or position, in order to relax and breathe.

In the summer, which is a Yang time of year from the Taoist perspective, we fill up on solar energy and recharge our internal batteries, while giving a little extra care to specific organs that may be working overtime. In the summer, we guide attention to the heart, small intestines, stomach, and spleen, which work together in many ways to promote efficient blood circulation, temperature regulation, digestion, and hormone secretion; they also function symbiotically to absorb nutrients through what we bring into our body through food and the senses.

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.

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

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

Asana Sequence
•Savasana 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)

You can download this practice or Summer Seasonal Vinyasa Flow at My Yoga Online!