Thursday, April 26, 2007

Meditation

Do you yoga? I used to...for about a minute. I learned that Yoga is not a competitive sport. If you push too hard, you probably won't enjoy it, and you may hurt yourself. Enough said ;-)

I saw this stone sculpture at the Coconut Point Festival of Arts (mixed media: concrete over clay) and immediately thought of the Cobra position. Why don't you give it a try:

The Cobra - Bhujangasana
Stretches the spine, strengthens the back and arms, opens the chest and heart.
Lie down on your stomach. Keep your legs together, arms at your side, close to your body, with your hands by your chest.

Step 1: Inhaling, slowly raise your head and chest as high as it will go. Keep your buttocks muscles tight to protect your lower back. Keep your head up and chest out. Breathe several times and then come down. Repeat as necessary.

Step 2: Follow the steps above. When you've gone as high as you can, gently raise yourself on your arms, stretching the spine even more. Only go as far as you are comfortable. Your pelvis should always remain on the floor. Breathe several times and come down.

Now, don't you feel completely serene?

29 comments:

Monica said...

That was a good stretch! My bones are a bit sore now...
Seriously, I think yoga is one of the best ways to work out. I want to go back to it one day.

At first glance, I thought the woman in the pic was real.

Chica, Cienna, and Cali said...

yay!! i get to comment first!!! and girl, it's not thursday in these parts yet :DDDD

Yoga.....my fav is hasya yoga or something similar where u form laughter clubs and all laugh together....its fun!!!

Chica, Cienna, and Cali said...

Not fair Monica...while i was writing the comment , u already published urs...and now i sound like such a loser :DDDD

Deb said...

I get the same serene feeling reaching for a bag of potato chips high up in the cupboard!
Viewing the Naples' thumbnail in the Portal, I thought you were presenting us with a self-portrait today!

J. Andrew Lockhart said...

every bone in me would break if I tried that! :)

Sally said...

Serene? I feel like you've just described a torture chamber! Give me a swimming pool anyday ;-)

Anonymous said...

Umm.. can someone call an ambulance? I can't reach my mobile phone any longer.....

Ben Nakagawa said...

Very well made sculpture. The picture is striking in the portal though.

alice said...

I need to run some kilometers before doing yoga, too calm for me!

TORUŃ DAILY PHOTO said...

The sculpture is simply beautiful! The yoga position looks a little tough though! ;-)

Gerald (SK14) said...

I'm more serene looking at this than those alligators -- time for my mid morning cup of tea methinks

Anonymous said...

The sculpture is beautiful. The position looks like it would hurt. I already have a bad back and don't think I should try that.

It would be experimental at best.

It poured rain here yesterday. I took some photos through the rain that turned out and made things interesting.

Abraham Lincoln

Kate said...

Gerard is a sensible man! I think the sculpture is fantastic, and, if I thought yoga could give me a body like that again, I'd try it. Have done it several times and felt totally bored.

Olivier said...

non je ne fais pas de yoga (je ne suis pas souple du tout) mais je trouve cette sculpture superbe, je la verrais bien sur une porte d'un stade. elle resplendie..



not I do not make yoga (I am not flexible whole) but I find this sculpture superb, I would see it well on a door of a stage. it resplendie.

Fabrizio Zanelli said...

Serene? I should be if I had chance to meet that model. Lol.

Anonymous said...

OWCH! Now I'm stuck in this strange position, help!

Seda said...

This is really beautiful. This position is the best and most relaxing one. It just relieves all the back pain...But you should be careful when doing it...
:)

Jilly said...

Yoga never did much for me. I think it depends on the teacher and perhaps I never struck lucky.

A cup of tea - now that sounds a very good idea.

The photo is great and very interesting that its made of concrete over clay.

Elaine in the World said...

I used to practice Yoga, and I loved it, but it didn't love me :( After 2 years of Iyengar, my shoulders were inflamed so I switched to the gentler Hatha. After 3 years of Hatha, not only were my shoulders aching but my hips and hamstrings as well. I had tendonitis everywhere. I finally realized that this is not for me, even though I did love the body/mind connection. Be careful if you have short tendons!

Ming the Merciless said...

I did yoga for a year in 2001-2. It was definitely relaxing. Maybe I should go back to it.

Anonymous said...

Mmmm, yoga.

Anonymous said...

The sculpture is astonishing. The pose didn't work so well, though. Every time I raised my head, the kitty jumped on my back. Guess she thought I was doing the "downward cat" position.

AntiguaDailyPhoto.Com said...

The sculpture is astonishing and sensuous, almost like a real woman. Wow!

Nikon said...

Opens your chest & heart? Not everyone has medical coverage, Isabella.

JAM said...

That is a beautiful work. I took up photography because I wanted a creative outlet and drawing stick people wasn't cutting it. That's amazing that people can do that. I like your photo of it, the light was perfect for you.

About the yoga position. The titanium rods in my lower back are to prevent me from doing something like that.

Lori said...

Another beautiful photo and I love that sculpture! I wish I could get into yoga. I'm just not patient enough!

Kala said...

Ive done Yoga a handful of times and forgot the name of this pose - upward dog? hm anyway, lovely sculpture

angela said...

Yoga? How about a nice glass of Chablis in the sun...
Interesting sculpture though. How big was it just out of interest..
Angela

Carlos Lorenzo said...

Lovely relief to find relief.