Get Your OM On!
Just another WordPress.com weblogArchive for Yoga
Regarding the Question: “how do you get the parasympathetic nervous system to kick in”
I noticed a reader had searched the question, “How do you get the parasympathetic nervous system to kick in?” My answer, of course, is do more yoga! Here are some things you can do if you’re trying to activate your parasympathetic nervous system:
1. First, and foremost, become aware of your breathing. You must breathe through your nose. Nasal breathing cools the breath, filters and moisturizes the air before it hits your lungs. It forces you to breathe more slowly, deeply and evenly than you would if you were panting out of your mouth. When we breathe rapidly, shallowly, in the uppermost chest and through the mouth, our bodies shift into “fight or flight mode.” Our nervous system thinks it needs the strength to outrun a tiger.
2. Once you have control of your breath, you’ll pretty much be good to go. Whether this takes 10 seconds, ten minutes or an hour will of course, depend upon your individual circumstances.
3. Remember your yoga. You’ve practiced how to relax your body on the mat, so you have plenty of experience with the process. If it’s possible to get yourself to a quiet space, you should practice such simple inversions as are appropriate for you. Just lay down on your back and do some simple twists and curl up into a ball. Move into restorative postures like Child’s Pose or Savasana.
4. Work with practices like Yoga Nidra to increase your own awareness and self-controlling, and self-soothing skills.
Hope this helps! Namaste!
What is OM?
Sooner or later in your experience with yoga, you will see or hear OM, which is essentially the universal vibration, a sacred syllable said to permeate everyone and everything. The sound of OM is so important to Hindus and Buddhists that many mantras begin and/or end with the syllable.
Sometimes, you might see OM written as AUM, which is a more phonetic spelling because the syllable is actually three audible parts: A-U-M.
One need not be Hindu, Buddhist, or any permutation thereof in order to realize the benefits of chanting the sound of OM because in and of itself, OM is not a “religious” word. In fact, it’s useful if a person doesn’t have any preconceived notions about the etymology of the sound. Here in Indiana, OM isn’t a usual part of speech, so if one were to choose it as a personal mantra, repeating it wouldn’t trigger thoughts as words in English might.
I present yoga as the art and science of self-regulation. Therefore, I won’t ramble on about my personal metaphysical experiences with mantra practice. I won’t even go into the bliss and the insight gained through chanting the mantra OM.
What I will say is that chanting helps to induce a peaceful, calm state because it involves breath work (pranayama) and vibration in the body. By chanting, or singing or whatever you want to do, you have to focus on the mechanics of the exhalation.
As you control the speed and depth of your exhalation, you elongate the breath going out. As your vocal cords vibrate and you exhale as you sing/say/chant “OM,” you stimulate the Vagus Nerve in a way which signals the Parasympathetic nervous system to kick on. In other words, the stress response is turned off and the body is able to relax, heal and metabolize.
Want to learn more about expanding your yoga practice by learning more Sanskrit? Check out Colleen Saidman’s blog entry. If you want to hear the sound of OM, click here.
Surrendering to the Karma, Dharma & Doodie
When I was younger I relentlessly pushed myself in my yoga practice, looking for results. I wanted Enlightenment, and I wanted it NOW! I was always moving so fast through my life to get things done, accomplished, or put behind me that I never took the time for the present moment. I thought Enlightenment means everything is “perfect,” and once I get all of the components of my “perfect” life together, I will dwell in a state of bliss.
Living like Sisyphus is a Herculean feat, so to speak. The harder I struggle in my life to make things go my way (you know, the right way), the more the universe will bitch slap me. And being myself, I would think all I need to do is get a better grip (control), scheme up a way to turn things around (intellectualizing and manipulating), and just work harder.
My defiance and bulldoggedness served me well and kept me alive, but it took barely surviving my son’s birth, two parents being simultaneously sick with cancer, a dear friend’s tragic death, 9-11, and helping out with the hospice care of my father-in-law (along with the everyday surprises of having a toddler primate at home) for me to realize I really can’t control anything other than what I eat and what I wear on any given day.
There amidst the karma, the dharma and the dirty diapers, I found my peace. For the first time in my life, I relinquished control. I no longer had to check on certain people (certain adults, anyway— I still check babies and small children) constantly to be sure they were still breathing.
I no longer had to apologize for other people’s irresponsible, insane and/or inappropriate behavior, and I didn’t have to run myself ragged cleaning up everyone’s life messes (very often fubars I had nothing to do with). I certainly didn’t have to walk on eggshells to make sure nothing could go wrong. I learned to just be: just breathe in the here and now, and for the most part be nothing more than a witness to life around me.
I learned I don’t really have to fix anything except meals (Jacob only cooks a little, and when he does he dirties every bloody dish in the kitchen). I’m not responsible for making the planet turn on its axis. Indeed, life on Earth keeps going even when I don’t get out of bed. It is incredibly liberating to realize the world doesn’t actually revolve around me! This frees up a lot of time for me to write, learn guitar, garden, do yoga, and enjoy my family.
The poets William Blake and Jim Morrison (along with Aldous Huxley) were rapping the dharma to me while I was torturing myself at Ball State: “When the doors of perception are cleansed, everything will appear as it is: infinite,” they write.
Back when I thought Mr. Mojo Risin was personally speaking to me from across time and space, I thought this meant Enlightenment actually dwells somewhere behind a locked façade. It never occurred to me I had one of the keys in my pocket the whole time: relinquish the illusion of control. Enlightenment dwells everywhere; it is ambient and free for everyone all the time, but you won’t find it if you’re too busy not looking.
