A practice for posture +

Today my mom and I have had a stressful day. Spending any amount of time in waiting rooms, and talking to doctors, and getting more blood tests on totally bruised arms is stressful for everyone. There are some other health issues now. Hmmm. What to do except breathe and keep going.

There is a soft fresh rain. I walked out near the beach before supper and did some yoga later. Ahhhh, sweet relief on a crazy day! I feel like I got aired out. 

Try this wonderful practice:

Standing in mountain pose, feet parallel and right under your hip joints. Breathe out as you gently stretch your tailbone down towards the floor using your buttock muscles. When you inhale let the breath come into the lower ribs first and telescope up into the whole rib age. This is gentle and uplifting. Try not to lift the shoulders up, rather let them expand out to the sides. If you feel you can't do this standing and breathing like this - then just pretend. Pretend. Practice. And then the moment you know it's working. Wow! This practice is good for posture and helps reduce strain of lower back. On another level it is an antidote for fear. I practiced walking this way today. After some practice shoulders land into the sweet spot where they just drop and there is such a wonderful free rib cage. There are infinite places to practice this: walking, standing in a queue, washing dishes, brushing your teeth. Innovate.