There is a particular feeling of time stopping when you get your body down on the floor, whether it's to practice a lying-down meditation such as the body scan or to systematically work the body gently but firmly toward its limits in first this direction, then that, as we do in mindful hatha yoga. Just being low down in a room tends to clear the mind. Maybe it's because being on the floor is so foreign to us that it breaks up our habitual neurological patterning and invites us to enter into this moment through a sudden opening in what we might call the body door.
In hatha yoga practice, the idea is to be fully in your body as you bring awareness to the various sensations, thoughts, and feelings which come up while you are moving, stretching, breathing, holding positions, reaching or lifting with arms, legs, and torso. There are said to be over 8o,ooo basic yoga postures. One won't quickly run out of new challenges for the body; but I find I keep coming back to a core routine of maybe twenty or so postures, which over the years just keep taking me deeper into my body and deeper into stillness.
…Try getting down on the floor once a day and stretching your body mindfully, if only for three or four minutes, staying in touch with your breathing and with what your body is telling you. Remind yourself that this is your body today. Check to see if you are in touch with it.
Jon Kabat-Zinn, Wherever You Go There You Are
I don’t remember how many years ago I heard the phrase or which of my insightful colleagues whispered, “The floor is your friend.” But my whole self resonated, “Yes!”
You can use the floor to slip the bonds of stress. You can use the floor to explore your body. You can use the floor to expand consciousness. You can use the floor to change perspective. You can use your floor to expand your abilities to move gracefully. You can use your floor to heal aches and pains.
You can also use the floor for other beneficial activities such as Pilates, playing with children, smooching with your lover, doing crunches, or performing push-ups, but for now leave these activities for another time on the floor.
Allow me to remind you that you have had a long friendship with the floor, but you may have strayed into the higher regions in past years. When you were a child and into your teens, you spent time on the floor every day.
When did you stop rolling around on the floor? When did you stop reading on the floor? When did you stop sitting on the floor to talk with friends?
My colleague, Joelle Everett, shared this story with me passed on by a friend.
He went once to a conference at a well-known conference center -- an old one -- on the east coast. He knew, from being told, that he had been there as a small child, with his parents, so he expected to recognize something, but no such luck.
Sometime later in the day, he squatted down to talk to someone, and discovered that he recognized the space from that angle!
Paul (Joelle’s husband) and I also saw a neat film once, a tour of an empty house, filmed at a child's eye level--it was remarkably moving, stirring many old memories.
Isn’t that cool.
Get on the floor and see what you can see and feel what you can feel.
Tips:
• Use a carpeted floor, mat, folded towel or blanket to soften the surface or do this on grass for a real pleasure.
• Play relaxing music.
• Turn the phone off.
• Dress comfortably with freedom to move with as little or as many clothes as will do the job for you. Remember the floor is often cooler and as you relax, your body temperature will drop.
“What do I do when I’m on the floor, William?”
Go back to Jon Kabot Zinn’s suggestion above. See what you can see. Feel your body. Stretch. Play. Put your arms up towards the ceiling. Put your feet towards the ceiling.
Roll on the floor like a log with your arms tightly held to your sides. Try it with your arms stretched out as far as you can reach and point your toes.
Pretend you’re a dog scratching her back by rolling on the ground.
Pretend you’re a cat and reach out with your claws as far as you can – one at a time or all at once.
A Simple Exercise
Years ago, I turned my nose up at this one at first because it seemed too easy. I tried it anyhow and loved it. It is easy and that’s its advantage, you can exquisitely feel the floor and the feedback it gives you as you roll.
Here’s what you do:
• Lie on your back.
• Hug your knees towards your chest.
• Roll to the side, then roll back to the other side.
• Repeat as many times as feels great. Maybe, take a break, then roll some more.
• Feel everything in your spine. When I first did this, I lifted my head off the ground. Play with letting your neck relax, so that your head rests on the floor as you and it rolls side to side. Let the knees go first, and let the spine and neck follow.
• Feel the sensuous pleasure that you derive from the contact with the floor.
• Explore different speeds e.g. what happens when you make the movement really s l o w …
• Explore modifying the movements to get at other parts of your body.
• Imagine what a dog, cat, or other animal friend would do rolling on the floor.
• How would a kid do it?
Here’s a question for you – How does being on the floor shift your perspective? What possibilities show up that you didn’t have before?
The Power of Tennis Balls
Tennis balls, trigger points, and acupuncture, oh my.
When I suggest to clients that they lie on the floor and play with tennis balls, I sometimes secretly fear they won’t come back to see me anymore, not because they’ll think I’m too weird, but because I know how effective the tennis balls are at removing physical problems, stress, and fatigue. They might not need my hands on services any more.
Your most potent, energy restoring, stress fighting, body balancing acupuncture points and trigger points are spread out across your back. When you put specific, direct, sustained pressure on these points, you create a powerful healing and restorative benefit for yourself at no charge.
You don’t have to know where these points are located to take advantage of them. Google “acupuncture chart” if you want to know more about these points and how to locate them.
For example, this one is cool.
Here’s what you do –
• Grab a tennis ball and take it to the floor with you.
• Lie down on top of the tennis ball and roll to a spot that feels tender or uncomfortable, then stay there. You have found one of the useful healing points.
• Breathe slowly into the spot. Imagine it melting with each breath. Alternately, you can imagine it being filled with a golden liquid healing light as you breathe into the sensations. If it feels too intense, leave, roll to the next stop. If you enjoy the sensation, stay and absorb the simple pleasure of it.
• Keep rolling to new spots until you have explored your whole back including your hips and pelvis.
• You can do a little or a lot in each session. Play and explore to your hearts content.
• You can focus on just one trouble spot such as the tension in the upper back or hips. If you have a pain in your shoulder, for instance, concentrate on that area. Roll all over the area making minute adjustments as the body changes.
• Do it every day for a few minutes anyhow and feel how your body improves and becomes more flexible, fluid and powerful. You can watch how your life gets better when you do this on a regular basis. Focus on trouble spots and soon you will find them no longer trouble spots.
The Hidden Benefit of Presence and Perspective
Becoming fully present, being in the moment, being mindful frees you from stress. It’s a secret. Being present can heal almost any problem you have.
Everything you have done so far in this article has moved you to deeper presence. The following corpse pose strips this down to the bare bones and makes practicing presence a breeze. You will say too, “The floor my friend.”
Floating on the Floor
There is a knack to learning to float on the sea. A certain letting go is required.
Recall that body memory as you lie on your back, legs spread about shoulder width, arms spread to your sides about 45 degree, palms up. Like floating in the ocean, let go into the floor.
Start by taking three slow, deep, low in the belly breaths.
Now really feel the feedback you get from the floor. Feel where the floor is supporting you.
Let go into that support. Can you trust the floor to hold you up? Let go again. Did you notice any additional decrease in muscle tension as you let go this second time? I usually do.
Once more, let go again and float on the floor.
You can scan the whole body from toes to head and let go anywhere you want. And let go again. Let the floor hold you. It willingly holds you.
Bring your attention to your dominant hand. Can you feel the weight of your dominant hand as it lies on the floor. From the inside, can you feel the inside of your hand? Feel all the sensations in your hand. You may be surprised at how much you can feel.
Can you feel the life force in your hand? Yes?
Now feel for the life force in your other hand.
Can you feel the life in both of your hands at the same time? Let that experience spread so that you can feel the life force in your whole body.
Presence
Notice as you experience the body that you feel present. Your chattering mind has turned off, at least for a moment, and what remains is the profound experience of peace. Know that whenever you attend to your sensations in this way your chattering mind will shut of and you will be experiencing the ineffable presence.
You have the ability to change your consciousness.
The sensations you experience can be no-where else but right here, right now. You are nowhere else but right here, right now. You do not argue in your head about who was right and who was wrong. Fears have melted away. Regrets have melted away. You have no thoughts of the future or the past. All is well in presence.
This is the power of being in the present. Feels good, yes? Stress gone, yes? You now know how to get here anytime you want.
After you have played with feeling the energy in your hands and your body sufficiently, you will be able to feel the life force in your whole body anywhere, any time you choose.
“So what?” you querry. You can use this to be present and centered whenever you want. This is good.
You can use this when you want to listen deeply to someone. You can use this to center yourself before making presentation or having a confrontational conversation.
Being present changes your perspective. A new perspective can change everything and permit you to see possibilities and solutions to your life’s problems where none existed before.
This can lead to the deepest version of the cup half full.
What story could I tell here?
Cancer survivor Happy Rockefeller says this:
Once you have been confronted with a life-and-death situation, trivia no longer matters. Your perspective grows and you live at a deeper level. There’s no time for pettiness.
More Things You Can Play With
You can use these resources to expand possibilities, remove more stress, increase grace and ease in movement, and deepen your friendship with your floor.
Somatics by Thomas Hanna. Hanna has eight lessons that can keep you moving smoothly for the rest of your life. He writes with a bit of know-it-all authority, but the exercises will feel good, fun, and inviting. Explanations and illustrations walk you through, or should I say, “Roll you through.” After you have explored the lessons, Hanna offers a cat stretch of the highlights of the program. This five-minute routine works beautifully to keep you limber and connected. I use these daily now.
Yoga
In Seattle, every street has a yoga studio. You can probably find something where you live, too. Look for classes at fitness clubs, YMCAs, and the like as well as full-fledged yoga studios. Although I recommend you work with a teacher, your library will have tons of books, tapes, and DVD’s on yoga.
Pavel Tsatsouline
Note: These floor practices above do not replace Pavel’s Relax Into Stretch or Super Joints but work well in conjunction with his material.
Relax into Stretch : Instant Flexibility Through Mastering Muscle Tension. The two books cover different material and this one just focuses on stretching. It busts myths yet remains safe. I'd recommend it for everyone. This is THE stretching book.
Super Joints --Russian Longevity Secrets for Pain-Free Movement, Maximum Mobility and Flexible Strength If I were the king of the universe I would have ALL my patients over 40 enjoying these benefits.
