This is a short video that is simple and easy to do.

Success in Self-Healing, like All Success in Yoga, comes from learning to relax in a position and come within.

As you progress and become better at this, stay in the pose for longer periods of time.

Not motivated enough to practice?

Do you think this doesn’t work?

Check out these related articles:

Heal Your Back Now!

How Alida Overcame the Pain and Spinal Misalignment of Scoliosis 

Comment by Aron B on my About page

And, of course, you can always practice these VIDEO Clips:

Self-Heal Your Back Pain Yoga VIDEO Pt 1 

Self-Heal Your Back Pain Yoga VIDEO Pt 2

Do you have the urge to comment? Look below.

Here is Part 2 of the Back Healing Yoga Poses.

These yoga poses don’t have to be done in any particular order.

If you have very much pain, you may not be ready for every pose at first.

Experiment.

Find the yoga poses that feel the best to you.

Do those, and you will be on your way.

Eventually, you will be able to do all of these Yoga Poses.

Here is the link for Part 1: Self-Heal Your Back Pain Yoga VIDEO Pt 1

These Video Clips are taken from my Heal Your Back Now! DVD.

If you don’t want to spend the money for the DVD, stay tuned. More FREE Video Clips from the DVD will be here soon.

Thank you for giving me this opportunity to serve you.

Namasté………Norman

In my classes, on my blog, and by email several people have asked for some help with lower back and hip pain.

I have pulled this clip from my Heal Your Back Now! DVD.

This is Part 1, which means I will be posting more video clips from the DVD.

Don’t think that because this is so simple and easy that you won’t get a lot of benefit from it.

I use this method in Yoga Therapy to teach students how to

• Relax
• Lower Blood Pressure
• Reduce Swelling and Inflammation
• Heal Back and Joint Pain
• Learn the Proper Attitude to Practice the Yoga Postures and Meditation

For success stories with this method, check out this post: Heal Your Back Now! and this Comment.

Feel free to leave comments below and let me know how this is working for you, and what you need.

I will be expanding the Videos and Posts on Back and Hip Healing.

Do you need more help? Move videos? More explanation?

Just let me know. Here is the link to Part 2.

Thank you for giving me this opportunity to serve you,

Namasté……..Norman

If you spend much time at all sitting, you will enjoy the wonderful feeling that comes when you loosen up your back with this Seated Spinal Twist.

This video clip is less than 5 minutes long. 

If you feel like you don’t have this much time, consider that once you learn this, you can get benefit and enjoyment in a less- than-2-minutes twist.

The Spinal Twist Loosens up the Back and Spine, Improves Flexibility and Circulation, Removes Fatigue, Relaxes Muscle Pain and Tension, Refreshes the Mind, and Always Feels Good.

If this twist makes you feel better, why not try out some of the other FREE Videos Clips on this site?

They are of great benefit since they specifically help to alleviate many of the negative effects of the sedentary lifestyle that is so prevalent in modern living.

The Good News: These videos are Very Easy to Do, and they Feel So Good.

Most of the video clips are from my Easy Yoga for Home, Office & Studio DVD.

Post written by Leo Babauta.

Often we think of having very little as a hardship.

It’s bad to be poor, right? It’s not easy struggling with low wages, with debt, with scarcity.

And while all that is true, it’s also not true.

There can be joy in getting rid of things, in living with less, in freeing yourself of debt and possessions. It’s all in your mindset.

I grew up poor, and it wasn’t long ago that I was struggling with an income that was too low to meet my mounting bills and debt payments. One of the worst times of my life, actually.

But as I worked to eliminate my debt, I learned to live with less. And I learned that it can be a wonderful thing.

Struggle is hard, no matter how you paint it. But living in scarcity doesn’t have to be struggle. That’s completely up to you.

Reducing Debt

When my wife and kids and I began reducing our debt, more than five years ago, it was a scary time. We were overloaded with bills, over our heads in debt, and it was one of the most stressful things we’d ever faced.

So we cut back on spending, which meant learning a whole new way of living. Zap … we got rid of the cable TV, magazine subscriptions, mocha coffees, regular outings to the movie theaters and restaurants and the mall, and more. We changed our entire lives.

And yet, while we could have thought of this as sacrifice, in truth, we learned to enjoy it. We were living with less, but we were happier.

We were happier because we saw this as an opportunity to reconnect with each other, doing things that were cheap or free. We took the kids outside more, and played with them. Playing kickball and soccer and tag … these things cost nothing. We dusted off board games and decks of cards, played charades, and had a blast. We visited family and friends more.

We cooked at home and had better meals than ever, got healthier, enjoyed eating together.

It wasn’t all roses and cream, but there were many, many positive things that came out of this scarcity. When you are forced to cut back, you can moan, or you can find joy. We chose the path that made us happiest.

And once we were out of debt, that was one of the most liberating things ever. So we reached an amazing destination, but the journey was just as wondrous.

Reducing Clutter

Clutter is another scary thing for a lot of people. Just facing the piles of clutter in your home can be overwhelming. In truth, clutter is a mountain of procrastination … putting off decisions and fears and emotional issues and shopping addictions and more. Facing those fears and issues is too much for most of us.

I faced them, and learned that when you deal with these fears and emotions, even a little at a time, it is freeing. You feel clean and spare, not just because you’re burdened with fewer possessions, but because you’re burdened with less emotional baggage that you’re hiding in the back of your mind.

Reducing our clutter meant tough choices, it meant a lot of discussion about what we wanted and why we really need things, it meant learning a whole host of new habits.

But it also meant getting rid of things that were weighing us down, that we didn’t need but that were still costing us time and energy and mental cycles. We learned to love a spare-looking room, and the amazing feeling of sitting or lying around in a room that was clean and uncluttered.

Living with fewer possessions can be a pure joy that is unmatched by anything you can buy.

Less Food

Losing 70 lbs. has been a journey of exploring my relationship with food. In days of fatness, I ate because everyone else was eating, I ate because I was bored or stressed out and needed the comfort of food, I ate because I didn’t want to confront my health issues, I ate because it was one of the only ways I knew of finding pleasure.

Now I know that less food can also be a joy. Eating simple foods, rather than fast foods or convenient foods or sweet or fatty or fried foods, can be a joy.

I’ve learned the simple pleasures of drinking a cup of unsweetened tea made from whole tea leaves. I’ve learned the deliciousness that comes from eating a single fresh fig, half a handful of berries, a few raw almonds. When you stop putting so much sugar and sauces on things, you learn their real beauty. When you stop killing animals and learn to appreciate the natural taste of plants, you feel incredible and alive.

I now skip breakfast so I can remember what it’s like to feel a little hungry — something I never did when I was fat. I eat two meals a day because it’s easier to prepare, and I like a little scarcity in my life. I eat what I want, but I find that I enjoy the simple foods more than ever now.

Fewer Choices

We think we want a lot of choices, but really we want freedom. There’s a difference, and the overwhelming number of choices in our lives these days leads to confusion, paralysis, and unhappiness.

Scarcity choices can be seen as a bad thing, but I see it as liberating. I’m not saying we should have no choices, but fewer is better.

Try narrowing down your choices, in as many ways as you dare. Watch fewer TV shows by picking just three you watch every week. Pick just one book and read that until you’re done. Have a to-do list that’s only three items long each day. Make a weekly menu that only has two or three meals you cook in big batches, and eat those all week. You might worry that you’re making the wrong choices — you’re not. There are no wrong choices, there’s only the fear of making the wrong choices.

I find limiting my choices to be an opportunity to let go of the worries about making the wrong choices, and to focus on enjoying the choices I do make. As I’ve explored scarcity, I’ve been left with this one truth: every path I take is perfect.

 Leo Babauta writes  zenHabits.net, picked #1 on Time Magazine Best Blogs of 2010

I heard so much about the success of, Self-Healing Shoulder Pain with Yoga, that I thought you might like to try this intermediate yoga headstand position.

Three of the many benefits for you are:

1. You will increase circulation to your brain, which will improve your memory and brain function. If you find this a bit difficult, be gentle and slowly increase your time in the pose. 

2. You will be in a posture that helps to heal rotator cuff and shoulder pain. See my Self-Healing Shoulder Pain with Yoga post for a simple, easy-to-do version, and an explanation of how this works based upon the discovery by Loren Fishman, MD.

3. You will learn the first two positions of the Triangular Forearm Base Headstand. Don’t worry. You don’t have to go all the way into the HeadStand to get a lot of benefit.

If you find yourself reluctant to practice, remind yourself that the headstand is recommended to anyone who wants an alert and sharp mind.

If you have seen me lately, you will notice that my hair is not as dark as it is in this clip. This video was shot some years ago in analog format so you might find that there are some dropped frames along with an occasional white butterfly.

Also you might notice some other differences, for while the clip was old, alas, I was younger.

Enjoy your yoga practice,……Norm

This is a very simple, easy-to-do video to help you loosen up your back, hips and legs.

Be very gentle, move slowly without forcing,  and you will reduce tightness, tension, and pain.

This video clip is taken from my Easy Yoga for Home, Office & Studio DVD.

If you are experiencing pain when you practice yoga, it may be that you really don’t understand what yoga is. Let’s begin with

When Are You Not Practicing Yoga?

If you are straining, pushing, forcing or competing in your yoga practice, you are not practicing yoga.

If you end your yoga session with pulled muscles, torn tendons and ligaments, painful joints, or a sore body, you are not practicing yoga.

At the end of your yoga session, if you collapse in a pool of sweat, exhausted, you are not practicing yoga.

Why Not?

Because Yoga is about peace, calmness, and harmony.

The moment that you disturb your peace, you are no longer practicing yoga.

Yoga is about stillness. In fact the goal of all of Yoga is to culminate in stillness, as stated in Psalm 46:10.

 Be still, and know that I am God 

To achieve this, the ancient Rishis (God-Realized Beings) developed Yoga. In this age the most popular Yoga is Hatha Yoga, which is what they called the practice of the Asanas. 

Asanas are not exercises in the modern, or Western, sense, but are postures, poses, positions.

By definition an asana should be steady, comfortable, and pleasant in a way that you can hold it for a long time.

The best way to understand Asana is to look at the Self-Realization Fellowship website, Correct Posture: Instructions on Posture for Effective Meditation, where it states,

“If the correct posture has been assumed, the body will be stable yet relaxed, so that it is easily possible to remain completely still, without moving a muscle.”

Why Look to Meditation Posture as the Key to Hatha Yoga Practice?

1-We look at meditation practice because it is the ultimate goal of all yoga practice. Raja Yoga, Meditation, is called the last Yoga, or the highest  Yoga, and teaches us that our Hatha Yoga practice should contribute to, not distract from, Meditation.  

2-We look to meditation practice because it will give us the wisdom to not hurt ourselves while practicing Hatha Yoga.

Here is some wisdom from Paramahansa Yogananda:

“No one should try to meditate in the lotus posture unless he is at ease in that position. To meditate in a strained posture keeps the mind on the discomfort of the body.”

This is also true in your Hatha Yoga practice. If you are in a strained posture, your mind will be on that strained place, and not come within, where it should be.

Yogananada further states, “The proper bodily posture, one which produces calmness in body and mind, is necessary to help the yogi shift his mind from matter to spirit.”

Where There Is Strain, There Is No Yoga.

Where Strain Begins, Yoga Ends.

Once when I was at the Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine Retreat in Pacific Palisades, California, I had the opportunity to talk with Brother Achalananda.  “Brother, I teach asanas (Hatha Yoga Postures) at the SRF Boys Youth Program Camp, and I wonder if you could give me some advice on how to do a better job?”

“Just remember, he said, “ Where there is strain, there is no Yoga. Where strain begins, Yoga ends.”

Wow. Just what I needed to know. So simply stated and yet so important.

This can be your key also. Remind yourself of this often and you won’t hurt yourself when practicing yoga.

Namasté,…..Norm

This video post is by Karen Dardick, who received many years of counseling and training by Durga Mata at Self-Realization Fellowship Mother Center, Mount Washington, Los Angeles, California.

I greatly appreciate this insight into a direct Disciple of Paramahansa Yogananda, and I hope that you will find some value here also, as I am sure many SRF members will.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Thank you, Karen Dardick and blessings of God and Gurus,

Namasté….Norm

Here is a great post by one of the world’s most successful bloggers who has managed to live his life on his own terms. Leo Babauta proves to us that happiness is within, if we but choose to have that attitude. Very Zen and very much Yoga.

How to Be Happy Anytime

Post written by Leo Babauta.

My friend Barron recently asked, “If you could be anywhere right now, doing anything you want, where would you be? And what would you be doing?”

And my answer was, “I’m always where I want to be, doing what I want to be doing.”

I’ve notice that in the past, like many people, I was always wishing I was doing something different, thinking about what I would do in the future, making plans for my life to come, reading (with jealousy) about cool things other people were doing.

It’s a fool’s game.

Many of us do this, but if you get into the mindset of thinking about what you *could* be doing, you’ll never be happy doing what you actually *are* doing. You’ll compare what you’re doing with what other people (on Facebook and Twitter, perhaps?) are doing. You’ll wish your life were better. You’ll never be satisfied, because there’s *always* something better to do.

Instead, I’ve adopted the mindset that whatever I’m doing right now is perfect. If I’m writing a post, that’s amazing. If I’m reading blog posts on the Internet, that’s interesting. If I’m doing nothing but hanging out with my family, that’s incredible. If I’m walking outside, enjoying the fresh air, that’s beautiful.

There’s nothing I’m ever doing that isn’t the most incredible thing on Earth. If I’m doing something sucky (I can’t remember doing that recently), maybe that’s an invaluable life lesson. If I’m with someone boring or obnoxious, it’s a lesson in patience, or empathy, or in learning to understand people better.

The Now Mindset, In Practice

Let’s say you’re washing the dishes. Wouldn’t you rather be having a delicious meal instead, or talking with your best friend? Sure, those things are great, but they’re only better if you believe they’re better, and more importantly, the comparison is totally unnecessary. Why should you compare what you’re doing now (washing dishes) with anything else? Wouldn’t almost anything lose out if you compare it to something you like more? Will you ever be happy with what you’re doing if you always compare it with something you like more?

Washing dishes can be as great as anything else, if you decide to see it that way. You’re in solitude, which is a beautiful thing. If you do it mindfully, washing dishes can be pleasant as you feel the suds and water in your hands, pay attention to the dish and its texture, notice your breathing and thoughts. It’s meditation, it’s quiet, it’s lovely.

You can say the same of anything. Driving to work? Enjoy the solitude, the chance to be alone with your thoughts, or to listen to music you love, to see the world around you. In a meeting with co-workers? Pay attention to how people talk and interact, learn about the human mind, see yourself in everyone around you, learn to love anyone no matter who they are, practice giving up expectations of who people should be or what this meeting should be like.

I’m always happy with what I’m doing, because I don’t compare it to anything else, and instead pay close attention to the activity itself. I’m always happy with whoever I’m with, because I learn to see the perfection in every person. I’m always happy with where I am, because there’s no place on Earth that’s not a miracle.

Life will suck if you are always wishing you’re doing something else. Life will rock if you realize you’re already doing the best thing ever.