stillness Archives - Custom Calm

Posted by Ellen Sichel on June 17, 2011

Tadasana or Mountain pose is a foundational pose of yoga and is the basis of other poses. There are numerous advantages to learning the simple Mountain pose. Mountain pose promotes improved overall well-being.

The benefits are:

Promotes stillness and clarity.

Grounding and solid feeling that helps you get centered.

Find physical and emotional stability.

Develops awareness of posture.

Improves balance.

Teaches you how to take the inner calm of yoga into life.

Mountains have much to teach us about strength, power, stillness and inner and outer balance. When you look at the mountain, look beneath the landscape and see the subsidence and presence that is there. We all embody that within ourselves.

Sigh, Swing and De-Stress

Posted by Ellen Sichel on March 7, 2011

Today’s technique relieves stress in nearly any situation and can be used at any time.

Sit in a comfortable position, somewhere that your spine can sit upright.

Take a moment and check in on how you are feeling.

You are going to sigh – a total of three times. You want to start by inhaling and exhaling the first breath with an audible sound. After the first sigh, momentarily stay with the pause at the end.

You are not holding your breath; you are simply noticing the space at the end of the sigh.

Think of a swing. After it goes up, there is a moment of stillness before it comes back down. That is your breath – and you observing it.

Do this a total of three times, each time staying with the pause a few moments longer, without straining. Check in on your state and let me know what you noticed.

You can use this simple tool anytime you feel stressed.

After doing so, please report back and let me know how it went in the comments below. Did it help with your stress level in the moment? If not, why do you think that was? If you have any questions, please ask.

Tags: breath, calming technique, centering, centering techniques, pause with breath, state of mind, stillness, stress relief

Posted in: Technique of the Week

6 Benefits of Mountain Pose

Sigh, Swing and De-Stress