I am praying for peace and compassion in the response to this situation, and for our great nation to let go of feeling anger, hate and revenge. I am also listing several ways for individual citizens to give, donate, and help with the immediate needs of the victims and survivors in our good
deeds = good karma section.

Peace to all,

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We have finally finished the Sun Salutations in the Asana section. We have three versions of the Sun Salutation: Classical, Ashtanga A and B series. In doing so we added Downward Facing Dog and a few others to our ever growing list of asanas.

We have also completed a small design change to help promote yogabasics.com’s sponsors. This change will allow our sponsor’s banners to be displayed on all of the pages at yogabasics.com.

Heart Chakra Meditation for healing the heart.

This heart chakra meditation is a simple technique to release sadness and fear and to bring compassion and love into your life.

Sit in a comfortable position, either cross legged on the floor or in a chair. Sit up tall with the spine straight, the shoulders relaxed and the chest open. Inhale the palms together and lightly press the knuckles of the thumbs into the sternum at the level of your heart (you should feel a little notch where the knuckles magically fit). Breathe slowly, smoothly and deeply into the belly and into the chest. Soften your gaze or lightly close the eyes. Let go of any thoughts or distractions and let the mind focus on feeling the breath move in and out of your body. Once the mind feels quiet and still, bring your focus to the light pressure of the thumbs pressing against your chest and feeling the beating of the heart. Keep this focus for one to five minutes.

Next gently release the hands and rub the palms together making them very warm and energized. Place the right palm in the center of your chest and the left hand on top of the right. Close the eyes and feel the center of your chest warm and radiant, full of energy. See this energy as an emerald green light, radiating out from the center of your heart into the rest of your body. Feel this energy flowing into the arms and hands and flowing back into the heart. Stay with this visualization for one to five minutes.

After you feel completely soaked with heart chakra energy, gently release the palms and turn them outwards with the elbows bent, the shoulders relaxed and the chest open. Feel or visualize the green light love energy flowing out of your palms out into the world. You can direct it towards specific loved ones in your life or to all sentient beings.

To end your meditation, inhale the arms up towards the sky connecting with the heavens and exhale lower the palms lightly to the floor connecting with the earth. Take a moment or two before moving on with the rest of your day.

Music: Waters of Eden by Tony Levin.

At times soft and gentle, at others loud and dramatic, this CD explores many different sounds, instrumentation and styles of music. Amazingly Tony Levin pulls everything together as one unified whole with his melodic and mesmerizing bass lines and cello playing. My favorite tracks are Belle, Waters of Eden and Boulevard of Dreams. All three of these tracks make me feel like I’m floating in the ethers and are great for shavasana and yoga practice.

To have a listen or to buy Waters of Eden, click here.


Video: Total Body Conditioning by Yoga Zone.

Not as well produced as the Living Arts videos, but what this video lacks in artistic production, it makes up for it in its down-to-earth, upbeat and charmfull teaching style.

This tape contains two twenty minute sequences that can be done together or separately. The first sequence focus is on improving posture and efficiency of the breath. It contains a slow flow of mostly standing postures that build strength and endurance. The second sequence is all floor postures, with a balance between increasing strength and flexibility. Total Body Conditioning is taught at a beginning level, with clear, detailed alignment, using basic yoga postures with appropriate modifications.

For more info or to buy Total Body Conditioning, click here for VHS and here for DVD.

To help the victims of our nation’s recent tragedy, please donate to the organizations listed below. YogaBasics.com has donated $25 to each non-profit organization.

The American Red Cross

International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) Charity Fund

Second Harvest

The September 11th Fund

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