Autogenic Relaxation

Counting backward from 10 to 1. 

Phase 1: Heaviness

-My arms and hands feel heavy.

-My legs and feet feel heavy.

-My arms and legs feel heavy.

Phase 2: Warmth

-My arms and hands feel warm.

-My legs and feet feel warm.

-My arms and legs feel warm.

Phase 3: Heart

-My heart is calm and relaxed.

-My heart beat is slow and relaxed.

Phase 4: Breathing

-My breathing is slow and relaxed.

-My breathing is calm and comfortable.

Phase 5: Solar Plexus

-My forehead is cool.

-My forehead is calm and relaxed.

-My entire body is calm and relaxed.

(From IYT Yoga Manual)

Mind Body Arts

The Practice of Mind and Body Arts

It starts with a slow centering and several minutes of gentle breathing, sometimes with the back on the mat. Apparently nothing is happening in my mind, and if I become distracted I return to my breath. Then, warm-up follows with a more energizing Vinyasa flow, Sun Salutation, a gradual deep stretching and a gentle cooling with a few moments of breathing and mindful mind-body reintegration.

Sun Salutation

The poses and sequences that comprise Sun Salutation warm up muscles and allow the practitioner to concentrate on the rhythm of movement and breath. Each movement is synchronized with an inhalation and an exhalation.
The Sun Salutation strengthens all muscular groups, and it is very effective in improving the functionality of the cardiovascular and respiratory systems. It tones all the abdominal organs improving digestion and elimination. It improves spine elasticity. It also alleviates anxiety and depression.

Integrative Hatha Yoga

Integrative Hatha Yoga comprises the best of different forms of Hatha Yoga practices: Vinyasa warm-ups movements, Anusara alignments, Pranayama breathings, and different forms of core strenghening. My emphasis is in teaching the student the architecture and the emotion of asana by learning single posture alignments, holding a pose through different planes, and by performing and synchronizing the learned poses along the breath; the student will also experience a development in stamina, concentration and relaxation. Sole Luna Integrative Yoga emphases in safety, the practice of well aligned poses, along with breathing and awareness of body sensations.

Why I blog

I have asked myself why I have decided to open a blog. The major reason is to share information that I have gathered about yoga, postures, stretches, nutrition and especially on topics such as 'whole foods' and vegetarian food options. The blog will not be a cult that preaches what to do or how to live but instead will only show options available. It feels like humanity is going through a similar change that happened during the European Renaissance: information that relates to education that truly sustains and promote health should be free and accessible to all people. However, the challenge of today is not finding information but having a reference point so to discern good from bad information. Therefore, in the future I would like to share with you all that I have practiced and learned about above topics.