red-pepper-chevre-lasagna

Lasagna Savasana

red-pepper-chevre-lasagnaSedef Dion who co-created our Pre-Grounded program shared with me the story of a four year old girl who in the cutest way mistakenly called Savasana….Lasagna.  This inspired me to write a Savasana visualization with a Lasagna theme that I recently used to connect with our Fernbank Elementary Yoga Club students.  After we did our practice complete with the Lasagna Savasana, one of our students..the Principal’s  five year old daughter said…”that was so relaxing…this could help me fall asleep at night”.  Since it was her birthday that day, we wanted to put together a recording that her parents could play for her as she settles down for a good night rest after a long day.  The artwork in the slideshow is that of our Fernbank students expressing themselves after the Savasana.

{vimeo}33306907{/vimeo}

Prepare your body for lasagna.

Lie on your back with your legs out long in front of you.

Allow your feet to fall open.

Bring your arms out to the sides of your body, palms facing up.

Look ready to be baked. Close your eyes.

Settle and get heavy, descending your weight to the bottom of your pan.

Tune into the rising and falling of your breath. Create long, deep warm breaths.

Focus on a point in the middle of your forehead between your closed eyes. Imagine a rectangle in this spot and slowly begin to expand it with each breath that you take.

As you continue to breathe, your rectangle begins to grow and grow, getting larger and larger, until you and the rectangle are one.

Become aware of any frozen or congealed sensations in your feet…legs… belly…, chest…, shoulders…., back…..arms…, elbows…, wrists…, hands…, neck.., jaw…, face…

Notice any fears, doubts, attitudes, quandaries, conversations, or memories that are uncomfortably stored or perhaps even bubbling up to the surface.

Imagine a cardboard box next to your pan.

Silently, allow any bitter, stale, or sour bits of ingredients to emerge one by one.

As each bit appears, put it into the box until you feel softer. Knowing that the sweetness is still inside of you. Your box of course will be recycled into healing compost.

In the space of your rectangle begin to sense the ingredients that represent your highest, best self.

Notice the tomato red stability across your base, followed by the flow of carrot orange creativity below your belly button, above is the shiny pineapple yellow of confidence, bright leafy green love at your heart center, the solid blueberry truth at your throat, indigo black berried imagination between your closed eyes, and pomegranate purple connection to something bigger at the top.

Invite in delicious warm sauce to coat you. Top with a heavy layer of noodles. Drizzle heaps of delicious white love on top.

Experience your inner colors, textures, smells, sounds, and how your body feels in this place and in this time.

Continue to layer more of what you need…until you find the place inside where you are steady, heavy, and held by something bigger.

Soften every noodle. Settle, secure and grounded in the lasagna of your presence. Know that you are completely and totally supported in the Universal Oven, as you lie here warm and cozy.

In your final  baking moments of lasagna notice what could bring out your individual flavors more fully. Add them to jazz yourself up Notice how sweetly melted you are below your eyes, your throat, your heart

Notice how delicious you smell, how hearty you feel and how tender you are.

  Keep your eyes soft as you bend your knees into your chest and sweetly roll to the side.  You are still cooking Press up with your hands to a seated position.  Keep your eyes soft and place your hands together in front of your heart. 

Serve.

More to Explore

  • Inspiration

    GROUNDED. (ADJ.)

    IMG_07761. HAVING A SECURE FEELING OF BEING IN TOUCH WITH REALITY AND YOUR PERSONAL FEELINGS.

    2. A FIRM FOUNDATION TO BE INSPIRED AND INSPIRE OTHERS.

    Two weeks ago my Grounded class wrote letters of congratulations to Emily, who had just earned her White Bandana. She’s nine years old and lives in Atlanta. The kids in my class were amazed that at just nine she had achieved this. They were inspired. The letters they wrote were thoughtful, complementary and from the heart.

  • How to Bliss Bomb the World

    PIC-2So you finish your practice~
    You feel loving and calm.
    There is nothing you dismiss~
    You are full of BLISS bombs.

    You rejoin your family~’
    And what do you hear?
    Shouts of anxieties~
    Blames, Shames, doubts and fears!

    Does loving-kindness deflate
    As you join the contention?
    Or will your blissed state
    Transmit without tension?

    Each time you experience
    The delight of {I AM}
    Your bliss will flow forth~
    Like a hydraulic ram.

    Embody the KNOWING~
    Of your inner LOVE state.
    So you can keep it safe~
    And INTERRELATE.

    YOGA says your relationship
    between you and your SELF~
    can not be diminished,
    or put upon a shelf.

    You take your SELF
    everywhere you GO!
    Then everything is spiritual
    from Grumps to Sloppy Joes!

    Lokanandah Samadhi-Sukham
    Shiva Sutra One.Eighteen~
    PIC-1Your inner bliss continues
    Like you won the slot machines.

    So how do we GROW
    In our capacity for such LOVE?
    Without mermaids and unicorns~
    Blue moons and white doves?

    We create an INNER space
    Direct love toward KNOWERSHIP~
    Call forth our virtues,
    Our patience, our grit.

    We bridge the gap of difference
    SERVE in a profound way~
    Not cold duty or bargain~
    LOVE is the order of each day.

    Become capable with powers
    Of WILL, KNOWING, and ACTING
    By practicing {I AM}
    Without useless distracting.

    Place your hand over your HEART~
    Feel right beneath your palm~
    Towards your back body~
    Where this is endless peace and calm.

    Allow your attention
    To be with your BREATH~
    To flow in and flow out
    Softly in your chest.

    Welcome the BREATH~
    Right into your HEART.
    Feel a soft golden sun
    That is bright, warm and smart.

    With each breath IN~
    make that SUN glow.
    With Each breath OUT~
    Expand the warmth to and fro.

    As you welcome the breath in
    To the vast INNER world~
    Invite the HEART to reveal
    It’s largeness, depth, and swirl.

    Flow in with the thought {I AM}
    The mantra of the inner self~
    (Not I am Sam~
    Or I am a silly elf)

    The heart receives the breath
    With the recognition {I AM}
    The exhalation feels space,
    The experience of BLISS BAM.

    Practice with eyes open
    Practice with eyes closed
    Practice often
    And LOVE will be exposed.

    As you greet those outside~
    Amongst the chaotic and mundane~
    Stay tuned into your heart
    And send LOVE to their pain.

    You’ll get glimpses of KNOWING
    Your yoga is working~
    When outer frustrations
    Are shirking, not lurking.

  • Roadmap to Lucidity

    Or
    The map to LUCIDITY
    Inspired by Yoga Sutra 1.33 which reads:

    maitri karuna mudita upeksanam sukha duhkha punya apunya
    visayanam bhavanatah cittaprasadanam

    The map to LUCIDITY?
    YES! Have you heard?
    Takes four states to get there~
    Not that absurd.

    The first is of FRIENDSHIP
    toward those who are happy.
    Even when you feel distant,
    resistance and slappy.

    The second is of COMPASSION
    toward those in distress.
    Tough when annoyed,
    imposed on and stressed.

    The third is of JOY
    toward those who are good
    through roadblocks of useless
    and misunderstood.

    The fourth is of EQUANIMITY
    toward those who are foul
    who are lacking in virtue,
    and react with a growl.

    Here in our mapping
    Four residents are mentioned.
    How we perceive them
    Is our fierce contention.

    Our attitudes we go for
    From composure to kind~
    Get us closer to LUCIDITY
    Where we STABILIZE our mind.

    Memorize these four~
    And observe in daily life.
    During times of quiet,
    Noise, and even strife.

    So buckle up~
    And prepare for a ride~
    To align your attitude,
    And try the untried.

    Close your eyes~
    Feel the state you are in~
    Soften your heart~
    your throat, and your skin.

    Drop your breath
    right into your heart~
    It’s made up of LOVE~
    And that’s where you start.

    Inhale with the thought~
    May I be friendly~
    Exhale with the thought~
    May I give friendship.
    .

    May I be COMPASSIONATE
    with your next inhale
    May I give COMPASSION
    with your next exhale.

    Inhale with the thought~
    May I have JOY~
    Exhale with the thought~
    May I give JOY.

    May I have EQUANIMITY
    with your inhale.
    May I give CALMNESS
    with your exhale.

    When someone comes to mind
    Offer these prayers
    No matter their issues,
    Their stains, or their stares.

    May you be LOVING~
    May you be LOVED ~
    May you be PEACEFUL~
    May you give PEACE~

    Your states of envy and mean
    Get smaller each time~
    Intolerance is removed
    You get closer to SUBLIME.

    Once your mind is CLEAR,
    And you’re CENTERED and FREE
    Skillfulness in ACTION
    Will be … Will be~