I must admit, mine, not so much..... I figure if I am having a sense of procrastination, stress and anxiety around tax time then there must be many out there that feel that same series of feelings as well. On the one hand I know I have until tomorrow to get them finished and postmarked so I am not too worried yet about completing them. Mine are pretty straight forward, I owe so why should I give up my money any sooner than I have too. In these times of economic strain and stress we all want to hold on to our money, that over riding sense of not enough takes over and we grasp and clench with all our might....
Looking on the other side, does grasping and clenching really help with all of that? In teaching I guide people to use their breath, open their hearts and release anything they may be holding on to a little too tightly. When we hold on, clench or grip with our hearts things get stuck there and tend to hang around for much longer than we need them to. Being creatures of habit we expect that if we have a so called "safe space" to grasp that everything will be ok. Habits also come into play with our bodies as well. We move into spaces that body is familiar with and can get to without much thought, not always are these spaces the best place for our body to move into but habit takes over. You get an injury, have an accident, sleep wrong on your pillow and your body makes subtle adjustments to allow you to move, alleviate some of the pain and before you know it your body goes there automatically every time, whether you are still injured or not. Everything subtly shifts and we move through days not paying attention to just how we move our bodies and what may still be painful below the surface. Eventually your body will begin shouting at you to get you to pay attention. Hopefullly at this point in time you are really serious about finding out what you need to do to care for yourself and provide relief, true, lasting relief.
Fear and worry can push us to clench and hold on, to move into a habitual "safe space". It can also paralyze you from taking any action or cause procrastination just to create some "relief". Fear and worry have never solved any problem that I have been deep in the middle of and that sense of being paralyzed is no safe space to be. Fear and worry also then move deep into the body, shoulders creep up toward your ears and feel like there are boulders residing in them. Your neck starts to ache, you may experience head aches and all of that continues down your spine. Your spine is such a huge highway for everything in your body. Nerves travel up and down your spinal column, your ribs are attached, your organs connect, your heart is supported. Oh your spine, that aching back that we only think about when we are in PAIN. Anxiety can cause the body to hold onto your stress and guess where it loves to hang out, you got it your spine, radiating in all directions. At that point I turn to the mat, even if it is just to spend some time breathing, deeply, slowly and fully. Feeling my sit bones rooting down into the earth, letting my shoulders slowly relax down my spine, relax my face and jaw. It is amazing what a few minutes of slow and concentrated breathing will do for your body, your mind and your spirit.
So before you sit down to work on your taxes or write that check before dropping your completed taxes in the mail take a few minutes to do some deep breathing, let go of fear and worry and anxiety, let your heart open a little further and release it all as you release that envelope addressed to the federal government into the mail box or mail slot. To help with that I have done some "Tax Relief Yoga" for you. The short version if you are in a hurry:
Seated in cross legged pose, allow your eyes to close, draw your breath down into your belly, slowly moving into a full three part breath filling your belly, solar plexus and then expanding through the lungs and chest.
You can continue to keep your eyes closed or open them and taking your hands to your knees breath into spinal rolls. As you inhale reach your heart forward, gently arching the low back. Exhaling, tuck the tail under and round the spine letting the shoulders round forward slightly. Continue that movement with your breath for at least 5 breaths. This will help loosen up your spine, get the breath flowing, relax the shoulders.
Take an inhale and come back to center. With your next inhale lift tall through the spine and exhaling rotate to the right, letting your head look over your shoulder. The rotation coming from deep in your belly. Hold for 5 breaths, inhaling moving back to center and exhaling rotating over to the left. Inhaling moving back to center. Twists are wonderful for the body some of the benefits include: tension release from the neck all the way down to the tail bone. Twists also effectively stretch the deepest layer of the spinal muscles, those that are the smallest and rest closest to your spinal column. Twisting also helps dissipate frustration, anxiety and/or fear that can be closely connected to tightness and tension in the spine.
From seated moving to hands and knees, bring your toes to touch and open the knees a little to allow room for the abdomen to relax and release as you move forward bringing the forehead down to the floor. Relax your belly, broaden your sacrum and relax your breath into the back side of your body. Bring your arms back, letting the palms rotate to face up, resting the fore arms on the floor. Relax here for 30 seconds up to 3 minutes. When you are ready to come out of the pose, brings your palms forward to press down into the floor and pressing all the way up to hands and knees again. Move to seated, close your eyes for 5 breaths and then get up slowly. Child's pose gently stretches the hips, thighs and ankles. It calms the brain and helps relieve stress and fatigue.
Don't forget to put those taxes in the mail!
Namaste,
Sherry
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