Get Some Balls In Your Practice

Hello All! Today I wanted to offer a variation to your home practice, should you decide you want to shake some things up.  I want to suggest using an exercise ball during your savasana (corpse pose) or as a relaxing inversion. Recently I have been putting my legs up onto an exercise ball during savasana (crossing my feet to prevent the ball from rolling away) and I have to say that it was been quite yummy. The elevation reduces pressure in the lower back region (lumbar/sacrum region), and the pose itself is a variation on viparita karani (legs up wall) pose.  Vipariti Karani is a great asana because it calms the nervous system, stimulates the blood circulation in your legs, and brings an overall feeling of equanimity and blissful stillness. It looks like this: 

The viparti karani ball variation would be helpful for people to who don't have a lot of wall space, or if you just spontaneously bought an exercise ball and haven't used it since purchase -except for maybe a bouncy chair. (there's more us out there than one may think...).  Its also nice because you will still receive the benefits of viparti karani but get to experience them through a different approach.  If you don't have an exercise ball, you can purchase one at just about any sporty type store...and they are relatively cheap. They look like this: 
    So there you have it. Try putting your legs up on a ball during your final relaxation pose, and explore/enjoy what you feel.
Namaste.