Discharge Excess Mental Energy: Sturdy as A Mountain Yoga Practice

When I lived in Portland, Oregon, on a clear day you could see Mt. Hood from different parts of the city. I could go about my business teaching yoga, running errands or going for a walk, and continuously feel its presence—quiet, stable and magnificent. It was beautiful and strangely calming. I miss it.

As technology continues to infiltrate our lives, we seem to become more and more disconnected from the elements of nature and forget how much peacefulness and inspiration we can draw from mountains, trees, waterfalls, and so on. As images for meditation, they might seem trivial and predictable, but they tend to have almost universal appeal, and are rarely controversial (as other meditation images can be). So there is nothing wrong with using elements of nature to connect to universal ideas of stability, growth, cleansing, and so on.

The short yoga practice below uses the image of a mountain and simple chant, “I am stable, I am at ease” to help you discharge excess mental energy and feel more grounded. It uses movement, breath awareness, and meditation to cultivate the feeling of stability and connection to the earth. It links two chakras—the root chakra and the third eye chakra—without explicitly talking about them. By doing that, it invites you to draw inspiration and stability both from your mind and your body. Give it a try and see if it works for you!

Sturdy as a Mountain Yoga Practice

Would you like more practice tips and another great video from YogaUOnline and Olga Kabel? – Read this article and try this yoga practice: Pain vs. Sensation Yoga Practice.

Study with Lillah Schwartz and YogaUOnline – Yoga for a Healthy Back Part 2: Addressing Pelvic Asymmetry.

Reprinted with permission from Sequence Wiz.

Olga KabelEducated as a school teacher, Olga Kabel has been teaching yoga for over 14 years. She completed multiple Yoga Teacher Training Programs but discovered the strongest connection to the Krishnamacharya/ T.K.V. Desikachar lineage. She had studied with Gary Kraftsow and American Viniyoga Institute (2004-2006) and received her Viniyoga Teacher diploma in July 2006 becoming an AVI-certified Yoga Therapist in April 2011. Olga is a founder and managing director of Sequence Wiz- a web-based yoga sequence builder that assists yoga teachers and yoga therapists in creating and organizing yoga practices. It also features simple, informational articles on how to sequence yoga practices for maximum effectiveness. Olga strongly believes in the healing power of this ancient discipline on every level: physical, psychological, and spiritual. She strives to make yoga practices accessible to students of any age, physical ability and medical history specializing in helping her students relieve muscle aches and pains, manage stress and anxiety, and develop mental focus.

Recent articles

Categories

Upcoming courses

Yoga for
every body

How to Avoid the Top 3 Pitfalls of Forward Bends

With Julie Gudmedstad

Recent articles

Share

Sorry, You have reached your
monthly limit of views

To access, join us for a free 7-day membership trial to support expanding the Pose Library resources to the yoga community.

Sign up for a FREE 7-day trial