I was so tired last night that I posted things out of order, and forgot to find the photo that "M" and I discussed needing for our Yoga Pose of the Week....Lion Pose.
Allow me to take a moment to wonder why any yogi, no matter how well meaning, would allow themselves to be photographed in this pose.
The action is a rapid exhale, accompanied by extension of your fingers and tongue while making a crazy face and a kind of roaring "ha" noise. (The eye crossing in this photo must be strictly optional. We don't practice this pose often in my tradition, thus, thankfully, I'll never be photo'd in it.)
Benefits include relief of tension in the face (we've got lots of muscles in our faces), rapid diaphragmatic action (which can have all kinds of powerful effects on your lungs, and I might guess even your digestion) and not to mention the value of inappropriate laughter. If hearty enough, the health benefits are just as potent as those of appropriate laughter.
"M" picked this pose because it inappropriately resembles Jack's convulsions. (Which she inappropriately finds humorous. I actually think that "M"s humorous view of this sad, albeit fictional, circumstance is a masking sort of laughter that relieves the tension of something much deeper...the potential end of "M"s relationship with Jack....sob.)
Until next week...
