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Today brings me to our final post, just in time for Valentines Day. Enjoy the guided relaxation below with a nourishing heart practice. Imagery a la Franklin Method, and setting up your breathing for a balanced, compassionate week. Enjoy!
Sit or ly comfortably to practice this embodiment after you’ve read the details. Especially nice is to set yourself up in constructive rest position or Savasana to really dive in and receive rich benefits from your relaxation.
A little background: there are two more posts like this one! Read up! Also, we mentioned how breathing relates to the nervous system function, which directly then relates to the health of all our organs. We also know that the diaphragm makes space for the breath to fill the lungs, gently massaging and shifting the belly organs down so the lungs have more space to do their thing. If we are breathing in such a way that we feel the belly suck in and/or up – the breath rising sharply into the chest and shoulders – we are literally squeezing our heart from all sides as we attempt to get a deeper breath than we physically have space for…so consider this embodiment practice below.
As you rest and relax seated or lying down, start to draw your attention inward. In our chest or thoracic cavity (upper half of our torso, encircled by the ribs) we have our heart nestled in between our lungs. We can swallow and track our experience down with the esophagus, which dives down behind the heart and between the lungs, flowing through the diaphragm and into our stomach on our left. We can imagine our belly organs, liver on the right, intestines flowing around and down into the pelvic bowl, kidneys relaxing into our lower back, deep lower belly relaxing. Spend some time with the imagery of your organs, and begin to allow them – feel them being massaged and gently moved by the breath – fluid, juicy, soft.
Now bring your attention back to the heart. The heart sits in a little sack called the pericardium, which is connected to our diaphragm. You may image the heart as a soft, kind passenger riding on the magic carpet of the diaphragm. When we allow our breath to descend into the depths of the lungs, the heart flows down as well and the lungs fill easily. As we exhale the heart rises and lungs rest, emptying completely. Smooth, relaxed, easy breath here. Do less. Be present here with yourself. Allow yourself to feel what is naturally there when you tune in and rest.
You can spend as much time here as you wish, and at any time that the imagery becomes more complex than you’d like, or you feel your body tensing as if to make something happen – PAUSE. My best advice here is to relax into an inquisitive mindset, investigating your inner landscape as you rest.
Have a relaxing week, a compassionate time with family, friends, or significant others tomorrow, and enjoy this nourishing practice for your heart and spirit. Spread this gentleness, compassion, and presence into your community.
Peace to you, and Happy Valentines Day.
namaste,
Cheri
“By far the greatest cause of stress in the workplace is not time, lack of control or other people. It’s you. What’s inside your head.” Paul Wilson in Calm at Work
Take a few moments as you begin your work day, pause and find your sitting bones under you and allow your spine to feel drawn up by a string to the crown of your head. Allow the head to float and move as if a subtle breeze was moving it like a helium balloon. Breathe fully and exhale to the last bit.
Observe your thoughts.
This quote brings me back to the simplest part of The Franklin Method – or maybe the most challenging at times – to check in with ourselves fully and notice where we’re at now. I was noticing last week that I was often responding to friends and students when they asked “how are you?” by automatically stating “busy”. I decided I would change my response to something positive, because all in all – life is pretty darn sweet right now. Sure I have deadlines and tasks to cross off my list…but I will choose to unitask, focus, and enjoy each item on my list. “I’m good. Thanks for asking.”
Decide right now that you have all the tools and skills and time you need to live well.
Enjoy your day,
Cheri
Hello all you fabulous people. I am back again with another installment of “what has Cheri been up to and what’s happening around the studio?”
I have been running consistently about 4, sometimes 5 days each week. My goal is consistency – tapas (read blog posts from last week for more inspiration on that one!) and I have been keeping track of my movement on my fridge. I took a sheet of paper, drew a simple grid for about 5 weeks of records and I write down what I do each day for my practice, my running, and my climbing. It is really helpful to be able to have a simple glance and know what I need to do to bring balance to my weekly workouts and to keep progressively running more. Gotta get ready for that trail marathon, remember? This weather has been a great help! Google Superior Moose Mountain Marathon to see what I’ll be up to on September 8.
I am slowly rebuilding strength and preparatory practices for headstand, and have really enjoyed my time in the studio and at home practicing. I love my peanut and have found a great deal of efficacy in releasing the hips and shoulders…my running continues to feel lighter and more efficient because of these tools! Sandra and I are meeting about once each week to share time together in practice. What a great support to have that time set aside, and know that we are there to assist each other and create a mindful presence in our spaces! If you’re interested in a mysore style practice session (come in at the same time and do your own self-guided practice as a group…) we can set up a time in March for this to happen. It is a great step toward developing a consistent home practice – trusting your own inner guidance and the skills and tools you have from our group classes. Let me know if you’re interested!
A few events coming up to look forward to:
Pardon Fashion Show, Menomonie. Saturday February 11. I have been working with the models on movement and also will be performing a duet I choreographed to set the tone for our evening. The theme is Outre – bizarre, sensual, mysterious, out of the ordinary. Tickets are on sale now!
Guest artist applications for Movement Arts Day – Deadline extended until February 15. Choreographers, educators, musicians feel free to submit a proposal and get involved. We do have small honorariums available for a limited number of guest artists. For more details, find Movement Arts Day on Facebook.
February 24, Friday night – Franklin Method for a healthy lower body – we will focus on improving function of our hips and knees together through imagery, ball rolling, and movement. Email me to register now!
Shamrock Shuffle is March 10! Email me or ask for a registration form to join team EVOLVE. Let’s make this the biggest team yet! 
Namaste, and happy February.
Cheri
I write to you today, this week as I reflect on Christmas and the coming New Year. I haven’t been as consistent with blogging this fall and I certainly still have plenty to say. So here it is.
GRATITUDE.
I am increasingly honored and amazed at how I spend my days here in this town of Eau Claire. My business has done nothing but grow, even with all the traveling and training, and especially in the past year since opening the studio. I am able to set my own schedule, earn a comfortable living (I humbly thank you), and commute less than 2 miles to my job. Most of the time, I try to commute by foot or by pedals…something I hope never changes to a 20-30 minute commute in traffic guzzling gasoline. I see people in all arrays of current health and fitness levels, yet I see the best of all of them – YOU. I like to think that the hour you spend at the studio could be the best hour of your day. Where you get to set aside your work, family, and other roles in life and you get to focus on your fitness. You leave feeling better than you came, usually sweaty, always smiling. I love sharing time with all of my ‘clients’ and do consider you like a family to me.
This year I’ve learned how to reset the breaker at the studio, climbed a ladder a hundred times it seems to set up for TRX classes, enjoyed seeing John poke his head out of the salon door to smile and say hello and deliver some light hearted sarcasm as I head upstairs. We’ve seen three open houses where significant others and kids and friends all gather to try to guess what I did to alter another recipe. I have welcomed my good friend and colleague Paula Steenrod into my business world as an independent contractor. She lights up my world (and my mornings) and I have heard plenty of positives from all of you! And just when I think maybe the economy (schmonomy) will finally impact my business, I continue to see growth through the referrals that you willingly send my way. I am blessed.
I have witnessed countless personal triumphs, coached you through sticky spots and down days, and have seen many of you racing and crossing finish lines, some for the very first time. You’ve trusted me to assist you with personal decisions and times of family crisis, and allowed me to meet your families, even invited me into your homes. I met the cutest little boy a day after his birth, chatting with momma while he slept in my arms. Late night discussions as one of you accepted change, and now has begun your Master’s degree. I have cartwheeled in a yoga class, discovered how much I love running through the woods, and now teach the community, embodiment, and positive change process that is the Franklin Method. I have assisted my teacher Donna Farhi on three occasions, and can call her a friend and mentor. My boyfriend runs with me and encourages my feet to move swiftly and my head to stay focused. He is my climbing partner and best friend and I send thanks to you, Jason Ryba, for how you have helped me shine this year. And I continue to look ahead for more memories, more achievements.
This next year brings my 500 hour Yoga Therapy training with Scott Anderson, and level II of the Franklin Method begins in September, again in Boulder, CO. I have also made a commitment to myself that in 2012 I will complete a 50K trail race. Yes, 30 miles of beautifully brutal trails in the year I turn 30. (Let’s see how I try to top that when I turn 50!) I will be running a lot this next year… In the meantime, I am meeting my goals of living debt free and simply, and resuming artistic work with a couple opportunities to dance and choreograph again. My soul sings its praise for all things good in my life.
GRATITUDE.
Merry Christmas and happy new year to all of you and your families.
See you soon,
Cheri
