In this week’s Overheard in Yoga Class, Sianna Sherman shares a beautiful poem by Hafiz and reminds us to approach obstacles with curiosity and fascination – to kiss the journey of our life no matter what it brings us.

Take this class with Sianna: http://bit.ly/riSz7G

In this week’s Pose of the Week, Kathryn Budig demonstrates bow pose or Dhanurasana. A good reminder is to imagine having a block squeezed between your thighs as you complete the pose.

Steven breaks down Extended Side Angle Pose (Utthita Parsvakonasana), and provides an in-depth demonstration.

Jodi Blumstein demonstrates Marichi’s Pose A (Marichyasana A), and reminds us to keep our extended leg straight and ankle flexed.

Each week we scour the interwebs to bring you amazing yoga articles, insights and stories that we hope will illuminate the power of yoga, the ways in which it can heal and soothe and the ways in which it can make us laugh, smile and learn much more about ourselves than we ever expected. This week’s links we think you’ll love are all about what a regular yoga practice can reveal to you about yourself. Whether you struggle with a particular pose, are intimidated trying a new style, or find that with particular attention and dedication your yoga practice extends off the mat into all other areas of your life.

• Yoga is Smarter Than Me – ‎”It’s pretty humbling when the practice takes over and brings you to that place of not thinking, but totally attending. My body, the next day, is still sore from the movements, and my brain is still reveling in the fact that it lost itself (or perhaps, found itself) in the very thing that it had resisted so strongly.”
• Zoom In, Zoom Out – Jason Crandell talks about skillfully directing your attention to your yoga practice.
• Parsva Kukkutasana – ‎”No matter what level you’re at—challenge yourself. It might be more mental than physical, but allow yourself to enjoy this ride. Yoga practice is meant to be enjoyed, so laugh at your flops and shine during your successes and always allow yourself room to grow.”
• Yoga = An Opportunity to Change – Tiffany Cruikshank reminds us that yoga gives us the opportunity, at any moment, to change. We simply must be present enough to make those changes.
• Fear Me Not, Yoga – ‎”So ask yourself: how do you wish to live? Yoga can teach you so much about the things you fear the most. Just give it a chance and practice some bravery and open-heartedness. Your entire self will thank you.”

There’s been a lot of attention paid to the recent New York Times article, “How Yoga Can Wreck Your Body.” I’ll admit that I ignored it until days later when I noticed that it popped up on the most emailed list in my New York Times reader. When I finally read through the story, one of the most noticeable aspects was that the author selected the most panic-inducing studies he could find—and they were all from the early ‘70s.

There were several other ways in which I felt the article generally missed the mark, but I won’t go into all of them. I’ll simply say this: Reading this article and noticing how much attention it got in the mainstream media gave me an opportunity to reflect on why I think yoga is so important despite the fact that, like any other physical endeavor, it can lead to injury. (And I’ll be the first to admit that I weathered a few yoga injuries in my early days of practicing.)

So, here goes: after years of soaking in the teachings about how much to externally rotate my thigh and where to place my big toe, the most valuable lesson we can learn from yoga is that we can use the tools to create inner harmony. In other words, instead of getting up and doing a sequence to Forearm Balance five days in a row, you can go to your mat with the intention to create a practice that balances whatever state you’re in at that particular moment on that particular day.

If you’re full of energy and you want to open your upper back, do the aforementioned Forearm Balance practice. But if you’re drained or feeling a bit frayed around the edges, try staying low to the ground in your practice, perhaps focusing on hip openers like a diamond-shaped Baddha Konasana or a supported Pigeon Pose.

Savasana, the final relaxation pose, is critical in any practice, but it’s especially important to give yourself lots of time in the pose if you’re fatigued. A long relaxation at the end of practice has the power to refresh your energy and help you integrate all the work you’ve just done. If you stay in the pose for 15 minutes or more, you can induce the relaxation response, which lowers stress hormones and increases feelings of calm. In Light on Yoga, BKS Iyengar says this about Savasana: “The stresses of modern civilisation [sic] are a strain on the nerves for which Savasana is the best antidote.”

What’s that you say? You don’t find Savasana particularly relaxing unless you’ve sweated and snorted your way through an exhausting practice? That’s OK. You might not always have those deep, easy, peaceful Savasanas because relaxation isn’t something we’re taught to do in Western culture. It takes practice, just like any other pose. Stay with it, don’t skip the pose! And, with practice, it will become easier to drop in.

I love to riff on Erich Schiffman’s approach to Savasana, which is, in essence a three-part process:

First, relax your body.
In order to fully relax, you need to find the sweet spot of the pose that’s comfortable for you, which means that it’s important to take your time and mindfully set up the pose. If you tend to cool down quickly, cover yourself with a blanket and put on your socks. If your back feels sensitive as you lie back, place a bolster or a folded blanket under your knees.

Once you’ve gotten yourself into position, allow yourself to take up as much space as possible. If you have a neighbor close by and you can’t bring your arms 45 degrees away from your body, you can bend your elbows and place your hands on your torso.

Second, notice how you feel
Bring your awareness to the top of your head and begin to scan through your whole body, noticing where there is tension. Invite yourself to let it go, to relax, and to enjoy the feeling of relaxing.

Third, feel the bliss
Schiffman says that, “As you relax, you will expand. You will begin to feel big, huge, spacious.” This expansive feeling can feel wonderful as it overtakes your entire being. Your thoughts begin to fade into the background and you experience openness, peace, ease. You might even have moments of joy or emotion well up in you. However you are feeling, surrender, surrender, surrender into the experience.

Come out of the pose slowly and gently, rolling onto one side and resting there for as long as you need to before you come up. Open your eyes, keeping your vision unfocused and wide. Enjoy the feelings of inner harmony you’ve cultivated.

An editor at Yoga Journal for nearly a decade, Andrea Ferretti has had the honor of writing about and learning from some of the best yoga teachers in the West. She has been greatly influenced by Sarah Powers, Sally Kempton, Cyndi Lee, and her husband, Jason Crandell. For more of her personal writing, visit her blog, Mindful Living.

Kathryn Budig gives step by step instructions and takes you through the basics of Crescent Pose.

Stephanie Snyder helps you get into Tree Pose (and reminds us all to honor that some days “the force is with you and some days it’s not”)

We all have our favorite yoga styles. We are creatures of habit that stick to what we know and what we are comfortable with. If you usually flow, try taking an Anusara or Ashtanga class. Who knows, you might fall in love.

Recently I’ve been editing a book by meditation teacher Sally Kempton. It’s a book about the Hindu goddesses – Parvati, Sita, Saraswati, Kali, and Lakshmi, to name a few. The book is wonderful and has given me lots to reflect on. (Look for it late in 2012 – I will give you a heads’ up!) Most recently, the chapter that has stuck with me focuses on Lakshmi, the goddess of prosperity. When we learn about Lakshmi, we typically learn that she’s associated with wealth, accomplishment, and success. But Kempton proposes that Lakshmi is also the felt sense of having enough. In other words, when you’re in tune with Lakshmi’s energy, you feel full and satisfied. The key is that this feeling doesn’t require that you have more stuff, you simply have to know that this sense of abundance is within you and around you all the time.

Editing this chapter has me thinking about the concept of having enough. I think it can apply to how we feel about ourselves, too. I think we often worry unconsciously that we might not be enough. We often pursue things—ahem, even fancy yoga poses—hoping that reaching a goal will give us a little more inner currency to deposit into our bank of self-worth. And as great as reaching goals can feel – and as important as it is to have them – there comes a point where we have to ask ourselves, ‘Am I enough without all my inner and outer stuff? Can I appreciate myself just because I’m me instead of ticking through my list of accomplishments?’ And finally, ‘Can I limit my tendency to do my yoga practice and allow myself to be in it?’ What do you think? Are you “enough?”

The yoga mat can be a great place to reverse the tendency to doubt our self-worth. Really, is there a better time or place to affirm your own inner sense of fabulousness? Or if you can’t quite go that far, can you allow yourself from time to time, to feel content on the mat?

One of the best ways to feel Lakshmi’s energy, says Kemptom, is to honor the aspects of Lakshmi within you. And so, when you get on your yoga mat today, I invite you to say to yourself, “I am enough.” You don’t have to look into a mirror and say it out loud like Stuart Smalley did. But know that you have the power to internally drop the self-improvement efforts, put down whatever heavy load your psyche may be carrying today, and know that you are abundance itself. Each pose that you do is deep enough or good enough. Each breath you take sustains you enough so that you can do this practice. The amount of time you have to devote to it is enough. This is really a practice of self-love.

The Practice:

One way that I allow myself to be “enough” on my yoga mat is to use props, because they help me let go of over-efforting. They also usually make my poses feel more spacious, which allows my breath to flow more freely.

Using a wall and a block for Revolved Triangle is one of my all-time favorite proppings. The block gives me a little extra support and pressing into the wall helps me create a nice long line along the bottom side of my waist. It also provides leverage to help me twist. Try it and let me know what you think! Or add your favorite prop/pose combo that helps you feel full and satisfied to the comments below.

Warm up your body with Sun Salutations and standing poses such as Triangle and Extended Side Angle Pose.

When you feel ready to twist, bring your mat and block (I’m using a 3-Minute Egg here) to a wall. Stand next to the wall and press your hand into it. Stand a forearm’s distance away from the wall with your right leg forward, left leg back. See that your front heel is in line with the arch of your back foot. Inhale, bring your hands to your hips. Exhale, fold forward and place your left hand on your block, to the inside of your right foot. Pause for a moment and notice if your right hip is poking out toward the wall or hiking forward. Right the right hip crease into the midline of your body and square to the other hip.

From there begin to lengthen the left side of your waist. Don’t twist yet! Just focus on getting long, long, long. Then exhale and twist toward the wall. Press your right fingertips into the wall, at whatever height gives you the best sensation and leverage. Stay for five breaths. Inhale, continue to lengthen the spine and waist, exhale, press the fingertips into the wall and twist. Feel spacious. Feel light. Feel like you are enough.

An editor at Yoga Journal for nearly a decade, Andrea Ferretti has had the honor of writing about and learning from some of the best yoga teachers in the West. She has been greatly influenced by Sarah Powers, Sally Kempton, Cyndi Lee, and her husband, Jason Crandell. For more of her personal writing, visit her blog, Mindful Living.