It´s time to say goodbye

Standing on your own two feet is the most important asana.
-Judith Hanson Lasater.

Along My Yoga Path in Japan I have seen a lot of blooming Lotus flowers along the road. I am thankful to all the yoga teachers, yoga friends and yoga students I have met during my stay in this lovely country. Thanks to all of you my path has been constantly nutured.

ありがとう ございます


The last weeks I have got to enjoy holiday yoga in Japan. Yoga every day is the best medicine ever because you can do it anywhere....













At the beach...












the pool....















the restaurant...










the shrine...














the park...












under a tree...











in the rose garden...













the Japanese garden...

















in the Shinkansen




and many many many other places, with or without your yoga mat.


Love and light to you all!

お疲れ様でした

THE END

Airplane Yoga

Fun can take me away from my life;
enjoyment takes me into my life.
-Judith Hanson Lasater

Travelling with airplane and sitting hours in the recirculated air makes some people drink soft drinks in the believe to get a refreshing and uplifting flight. My solution to this is -surprise- YOGA

By stimulating the circulation the physial and mental well being stays balanced.

















Hands














Feet













Neck













Shoulders















Side stretches

















and twists












Aaah how nice to spend your time up in the air doing yoga- the time just flyes away!

Time for Buddha to go home

If I am focused on learning,
then I never make a mistake;
I just learn a lot.
-Judith Hanson Lasater

Today it was time to pull down my Buddha icon from the wall and put it down in one of our moving boxes. My Yoga path in Japan is at its end. By July 16th I continue my Yoga path 8000 km away in my home country Finland.

















For the coming 2,5 weeks I will do a lot of travelling and Tadasana will be in the spotlight. A pose that has many good benefits but especially done for keeping my Vata dosha stable, grounding my feet in the street wherever I stand.

Heavenly stretch for back pain

Letting go a little, improves life.
Letting go a lot brings happiness and joy.
-Jim McGregor

Do you suffer from back pain? Below are two easy poses to practise at home. The first pose you master at home by using two neckties and hanging on your (solid) doorknobs. The second pose is done simply leaning over the kitchen table.



Get the feeling of letting go and bring relief to your lower back pain.















As your torso is relaxed on the table the long musles on your back are stretched and relieved.

Synergy yoga

When you are a master of your body, word and mind,
you shall rejoice in perfect serenity.
-Shabkai

Today I had many courageous Kapha yoginis sweating on their yoga mats. The topic of todays Ayurveda and Yoga class was; Kapha. Since the tsuyu, rain season, has started its great to pacify your dosha with kapha movement. Break a sweat and get the extra water out of your system and at the same time increase circulation to ease low metabolism.

In todays class I had a special star visitor -my ayurveda teacher Jodi Boone. She just arrived from India and brought with her the latest dvd
Synergy yoga. The release party will be on June 18th....


and already I got my own DVD signed.

Two 1-hour Art, Flow & Love vinyasa.

Yoga for your immune system

A wish to be well is a part of becoming well.
-Seneca

This past week I have had to change my self practise to a more gentle one that especially boosts my immune system. I have coped with this weeks challenges with the help of yoga poses, pranayama, meditation, plenty of sleep and a lot of energy from my friends.

Bellow are a few poses that gives your immune system the jump-start it needs:






heart-opening stretch














propped-up angle pose













assisted forward bend












chair back bend













legs-up-the-wall








Pictures taken by my 7-year old daughter.

Sun breath

The greatest thing in the world
is for a man to know how to be himself.
-Montaigne

The Sun Breath is a practise that brings the sun into your body, mind and spirit. It´s a practise that cheer me up, opens my heart, calms me down and supports me when the winds of change strike. Let the Sun breath shine into your life!








Inhale

















Exhale

















Inhale
















Exhale

















Inhale



















Exhale

Friday Mudra

Wisdom is the ability to see life at it is,
not the way I want it to be.
-Charlotte Joko Beck

Today as you sit down.

Touch your thumb and index finger to symbolize being in touch with yourself.

The other three fingers are stretched open, representing being open to anything the future brings.

Let the kid out!

Nothing would be done at all
if we waited until we could do it so well
that no one could find fault with it.
-Cardinal Newman

Do you still give space for the child within you?
Are you living up to your name?
Is your heart beating out of excitement?
Does the butterflies keep on dancing in your stomach?
Are you singing at the top of your lungs?


How have you nourished and encuraged your most important kid today?

...for me it was doing Bakasana in the playground.

To keep a twinkle in the eye means joy in the heart!

Urdhva Dhanurasana

Lack of activity
destroys the good condition of every human being,
while movement and methodical physical exercise saves it and preserves it.
-Plato

The Wheel Pose, Urdhva Chakrasana,

-strengthens the muscles of the abdomen and thighs.
-makes the hips and back supple
-improves memory
-relieve pain of trachea (the bony tube that connects the nose and mouth to the lungs) and larynx (the voice box)





To get the best benefit out of the Wheel pose
avoid that:
-the hips are dropped, instead of pushing upward
-shoulders are not arched upward
-head is resting on the floor
-feet and knees are turned out
-legs are not extended
-hips are rotated outward, spoiling the alignment of the body
-feet are not flat on the floor
-there is no comprehensive arch to the back
-hands are not in line with each other on either side of the head
-arms are not extended

Enjoy your practise and remember to -breathe!

Yoga and Cancer

The greatest strength we posess
is the unwillingness
to give up hope.
-Judith Hanson Lasater

When you, your friend or a family member get diagnosed with cancer -you stop breathing. Many kinds of cancer are treatable, but unfortunately some are not. Besides medication you can always ease the symptoms with other alternative rehabilitations. Practising yoga is one therapy that can be done anytime and anywhere either sitting, standning or laying.

Please enjoy today´s guest blogger, Krista Peterson. She is passionate about the health of individuals and the benefits of yoga in cancer patients.

Yoga becoming popular among cancer patients

For many cancer patients, finding some time of peace and calm can be extremely difficult. A routine of treatments, therapy, and constant visits from multiple physicians can take even more of a toll on patients than the normal rigors of a terminal illness. In recent times, there’s been a growing use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) for cancer patients. With this growing use of complementary treatments, yoga has quickly become one of the most popular options in alternative therapies for these patients.

Along with meditation, yoga provides these cancer patients with the opportunity for that rare time of silence and relaxation. It’s in this time that major mental and physical healing can occur. Essentially as a way to quiet the mind and open up the body to movement, allows these patients to reduce stress and also allow the body to become less tense and more flexible.

The ability to have an effect on both the mental and physical state of a patient is one of the reasons that yoga has gained such popularity as a complementary treatment option. For many of these cancer patients, their body can be beaten and heavily affected not only from the diseases they’ve endured, but also in many side effects from their routine treatment such as chemotherapy. The ability to take on yoga will help in the body’s flexibility and in turn, relieving some of the physical issues that may come up as a side effect of normal treatment.

For many patients and survivors, the proof is in their stories. One great example involves mesothelioma survivor Paul Kraus. Mesothelioma is a form of cancer that invades the lining of the organs in the chest and abdomen area as a result of asbestos exposure. Following his diagnosis in 1997 Kraus implemented an alternative treatment plan that included a rigorous diet, exercise, and mind clearing therapies such as yoga and meditation. He used this plan to outlive what was expected by nearly 14 years, into 2011 and still living. This is particularly impressive considering average mesothelioma life expectancy is between eight and 14 months on average.

Certainly there are a number of other success stories out there with the use of yoga as a complementary and alternative medicine for cancer patients. Its ability to allow time to clear the mind and affect the mental state positively, as well as the physical state will continue to make it an even more popular therapy option for patients with cancer and terminal illness.

Sakura Yoga

I want freedom in my life, not freedom from it.
-Judith Hanson Lasater

Yoga has many benefits. One of the best things is that you can do it everywhere. No extra accessories. The only thing you need is your body, mind and spirit.

The last month has been mentally very stressful for me and my family. Thanks to my daily yoga practise I have managed to stay balanced. Still the smile has been away from my face and my heart has been beating for all the people in the Tohoku region.

In times of crisis the benefits of asanas help you physically and emotionally.







Hip-openers help you relieve unwanted stress.
















Back bends releases emotional held tension.










Twists stimulate circulation and have a cleansing and refreshing effect on the torso organs and associated glands.
















Inversions boosts brain power.















Standing poses offer an increased chance of mastering physical and mental equilibrium
















Balancing poses improves balance (surprise) in both body and mind.









Forward bends calm the nervous system.















Restoratives allow the mind to settle.

Homeless

Thank you all for your kind words and warm hugs!

The easy living finally takes an end.
For 22 days we have been homeless. Physically staying in Finland but mentally in Japan.

I wish all the people in Fukushima/Sendai would get the same second chance as we are given. Tomorrow we are travelling back to the Sakura blooming Japan to say goodbye to all our friends.

I especially send a big thank-you-hug to my husbands boss in Cleveland and his co-workers in Tokyo for using their hearts making this desicion. When the plant is pulled out from its nutricious soil it takes time to recover. It will not be easy to leave Japan, but this time we have three months to finish what was left of our expat instead of three hours as March 15th.

Om Shanti,
Sue