Flipping Your Story Over

Now for something different. I'd like to offer two simple practices that I have found helpful for interrupting stressful, stuck experiences.

The first is what I call "Sky practice." It's very simple. If you're a city or suburban dweller, chances are your eyes are almost always at human level or toward the ground. The human-made landscape around us reinforces this in so many ways. And what I have found is that because my very eyes tend to be fixed on all things human, it's that much harder to let go and experience the spaciousness of the world.

So, sky practice. Deliberately stopping and looking at the sky. Letting the sky fill you, until everything else drops off. Give it a try, especially if you're having a difficult day.

The second practice is also for dealing with challenges, especially those related to rejection, failure, and stuckness. What is it?

Doing inverted yoga poses. It's about flipping the world over, which helps to flip your perspective. I recognized this keenly while doing http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sirsasana, which is considered the king of yoga poses. However, any inverted pose can offer you the opportunity to see the world anew. Down dog, for example, is a pretty accessible pose for most people. Uttanasana is another one. Inversions offer physical shifts in the body, which assist the mind in shifting as well.

Do you have any particular practices you do to "flip your current life story over"?

* Photo above is from a yoga program for taxi drivers I highlighted a few months back. You can read more about it here.