615.419.3604 hilarylindsayyoga@gmail.com

Rest the Meat: Experience in Yoga

  I love cooking shows even when they cook meat.  Cooks have a description called resting the meat which stays with me because I’m horrified by the image of eating blood. You let the cooked meat sit before cutting into it so the juices rest back to the flesh. I don’t mind being horrified as much as I enjoy the delights of seasoning, menus and presentation.   I recalled the latest cooking demo as I lead a group of students into a rest between poses one day. I marked a vigorous floor sequence and lay on the floor with them to visualize their rest. I pictured one meat image and then another. I recalled the description falling off the bone to describe tender meat and then the phrase “rest the meat”.   I asked forgiveness for sharing those images but getting real, we are flesh and bone and so…..It was not hard to feel the blood settle in resting flesh that had been squeezed and stretched. With time the bones were liberated toward the floor.   Shocking images wake us up. It’s a bit excessive to relate a subtle inquiry to the body of a butchered and cooked animal but it worked. Hope this works for...

Robocaller In Your Head

  Robots hacked your home phone. You know, that old clunker nailed to wall that you keep for the last touch of we’re a family here. You keep it for your mother and you keep it for midnight emergencies next to your head in the bed. It’s got a virus called robocall.     It’s the automated voice in your head that beats you down by repeating the same things over and over even though you’re not buying, even though you will never close that deal. It doesn’t respect your busy day or your need for dreamless sleep. It’s the ring of a new world, the world which agrees that it’s fine to call anyone at any hour for any reason. It’s the ring of limitless which you thought was freedom but is someone else’s freedom to imprison you. That someone else is you.   You could press #1 to take yourself off the list but you don’t because you’re afraid you might miss something. You’re a hoarder.   “We rarely hear the inward music But we’re all dancing to it nevertheless.” ~ Rumi   You don’t notice that the words to the song or jingles contain some lyrics of your stuck life. You don’t recognize that repetitive ruminations abide because you don’t confront them.   You have to pick up to take yourself off the list. You have to agree to not be called again. You have to know what is valuable and what should be thrown away.   Be still. Have a seat or lie down with yourself. Robocaller is waiting and ready. It knows when you...

Mellow Your Jack Russell Mind. Doorway to Savasana: Inquiry and Experience #8

  Try these exercises for the nervous system. Smaller and slower is the key. Use some or all. This is the follow up to this post.   Spread a blanket on your mat Lie on your back   ~Bring knees toward chest and align shins and ankles Leave upper back on the floor and roll hips left Place legs and feet on the floor The knees can be above or below the hips as you please   Eyes closed observe the inner leg from the knee to groin Is there tension? Relax the inner thighs Observe the back hinge of the jaw Is there tension? Release the jaw bone to be as soft as the inner thighs Where is the breath? Notice: It is always there Repeat to right side ~Roll onto back- knees bent and feet on floor Press and release the pressure of feet against the floor several times to pulse the lower spine Now press and release the lower spine with no help from the feet or buttocks The movements will be small and intimate Notice the breath… it is always there Is there a breath that makes this movement more organized for you?   ~Press fingertips firmly from side scalp edge to the broadest part of the side skull With strong fingers and a soft neck draw skull up and chin towards chest Lower with strong fingertips and firmly drag fingers back to scalp line Press fingertips from center scalp edge to the crown of the head making two rows with the fingertips and maintain pressure as you make small circles on the top of...

Music and the Bomb Shelter of Your Heart

  Thanks to my failed relationship to all things virtual connection, I had lost much of my cherished music in a wrong attempt to switch I-tunes to my new computer. In the resulting fit of pique I had foregone music in class for the better part of a year and turned to my left brain teaching mode but I need music tonight so I plug this vintage I-pod in knowing that what will or will not play is a mystery.   I’ve got a play list running that had been shot full of holes in the firestorm. Tonight I’m checking this out to see if something destroyed has been impossibly recently resuscitated by my I.T. guy. I’ve desperately missed conducting movement to music which was lost in tandem by my crapped out hip and my crapped out I-pod. The students trickle in. I decide to let untested music ride as class begins.   As we settle down it’s apparent that the song playing is a bit intense. The list is called Alternative. It was arranged to tear your salty heart from a bomb shelter and restore it honey dripping to an emerald cave.   “Hello friends. I’m running a questionable play list which is an interesting choice right here as I don’t remember what’s on it and I don’t know most of you. Music is personal. Something here might urge you to run screaming from the room. I want you to do this (hand raised) if a song makes you nuts and I will cut it off. If you agree, we’ll continue this experiment together. I hope it serves...

Savasana~Every Move You Make I’ll Be Watching You: Inquiry and Experience #3

  You are lying down, face up on a hard floor in a public place. You have completed your yoga practice which required attention and vigilance. You trained yourself to stay alert. You are used to watching out for yourself more than watching into yourself so it was a beautiful effort. When you are asked to transition from that effort to effortless relaxation your nerves grasp and rush for a place to rest that is not immediately obvious. The mind is still scanning the horizon as is its habit.   Savasana: Place a blanket with no more than an inch or so of height under the head with the edge touching the tops of the shoulders but not under the shoulders. You are connecting your head to your trunk for the sake of the nervous system which can stand down. (If your chin is jutted to the ceiling and you cannot lengthen your neck you may add height until the throat recedes below the Adams Apple. You may alternately bend your knees and rest a bolster under your thighs to soften the tight back line of the spine, pelvis or legs.) Turn the palms up and let no part of the arm touch the trunk but no farther than this necessitates. You are now un-tethered. Let the upper eyelid drop rather than squeezing the lower lid and upper lid together to close the eyes. You are more un-tethered, disconnecting one part of your skin to another. Boundaries fade and the lightness that comes may feel disorienting. You may find you need an anchor. Place something with weight on your...