Daily Medicine - Wheel Pose

Sometimes medicine feels good when you take it and sometimes it feels bad. But, after the fact, it usually helps and is usually what you need. I like to think of yoga poses as medicinal. You know the ones that you despise and have to literally force your body into? You hate doing them because your body never seems to do what you want it to do. Your breathing is uneven and laboured and every second spent in it is one second too long. Plus, there is always the person in class who is a legend, and compared to them you look like football player trying to do the splits. Awkward, to say the least. Well, yep, those poses are the best medicine. They are hard or hurt because you need them the most.

On the other hand, there are poses that you love to do because your body responses well to them. It bends how you want it to bend and you even surprise yourself sometimes at how deep into the pose you can go. These can be medicinal as well. You need them because they give you something you know you require. Your body likes it because it feels good, and it's what it is asking for. And, instead of not being able to go deeper into it, you end up having control over your breathe and pushing deeper, opening your heart and receiving what you need.

In a nut shell, some poses are kids gummy vitamins and some are Betadine you have to gargle. Blahhhh.

One of my gummy bears is wheel pose. I love it. It gives me the feeling like….like…if I were I bird it would be when I stretched my wings. It opens up my shoulders, my back, my sides, my hips etc etc.  Plus, I love looking at the world upside down. There is something really healing about an upside down perspective. It is seriously calming and when things get a little overwhelming, being upside down is grounding.

But, the benefits of this particular gummy bear don't stop there. It is super good for the spine, stretching it and relieving compression. It improves respiration. It is energising. What else? It ignites all 7 chakras. For 10 reasons to love wheel pose, visit this page:

http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-5661/10-Reasons-to-Love-Wheel-Pose.html

Don't know about chakras? That's another day and completely separate blog post. Although, you can visit this page for a super quick, condensed overview:

http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-91/The-7-Chakras-for-Beginners.html

Now go take your daily medicine. Stretch, bend, push…and open your heart so you don't miss out on receiving whatever it is you need.