Editor's note: This is Sadie's last Core Values blog posting. We wish you luck in all your endeavors, Sadie!

Even though my cubicle-tethered friends are jealous that I don't have a mainstream day job, what they might not know is that as a touring yoga teacher whose business entity starts with her own name and ends in "LLC," I still log about eight hours a day on average doing office work.  

It's true: Being my own boss has its upsides (some days the 5 o'clock whistle blows at 3:30!), but the knowledge that you're the one who makes or breaks the success of your own enterprise is a heck of a taskmaster. Today when I sat down on the same hard cafe seat, I noticed my sitting bones were sore from the four hours I spent here last night. Even though my work is yoga, I still get the body blues if I go too long at the computer without a break.

I offer a lot of philosophy in this column. Yet, sometimes, an important benefit of yoga is that it's absolutely practical when it comes to keeping our bodies fit and healthy. We can apply our tension and stress-relieving tools all the time, whether we're on a rectangle of rubber or need a quick and effective refresher anytime during the day.

To remedy the stiffness and lethargy that can set in from remaining in one position, and if I can't leave the room to hit a yoga class or take a brisk walk, the following asana is the next best thing. Because of the twisting motion, it helps to detoxify and energize you, and the action of sitting in the air--without sitting on a chair--brings precious circulation back into the legs.  Plus, it tones your waist, abdominal muscles, and lower body, and even burns calories, since more lean muscle means a higher metabolism all day long. Now, those are office benefits I can get behind!   

Core Pose: Revolved Chair Pose (Parivrtta Utkatasana)

Still sitting in your chair, scoot away from your desk and bring your feet together flat on the floor. Lift your low belly in and up toward your chest to support your spine as you lift your butt off the chair. Inhale and reach your arms overhead. Exhale, bring your palms together at your chest and twist your upper body, bringing your right elbow onto the left knee.

Keep your tailbone long and your belly engaged as you take 5 inhales and exhales in this position. Then inhale your arms to center, and switch sides.

Between sides, or after both sides, you can bring your fists into the opposite elbow creases, and fold forward over your legs. Straighten them as much as is comfortable to release tension from your lower back and improve focus.

 

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This weekend at the Vancouver Yoga Conference, I taught for 14 hours. I feel good, but I can tell I've really expended some energy.

I can remember when a two-hour workshop seemed massive to me. I didn't know how in the world I would fill all that time. Now I regularly teach for six hours a day, immersing people in Core Strength principles of anatomy and alignment. It's no walk in the park energetically. I have to be present every second.

As a yoga instructor, I promote Self-centering at every turn. This weekend reminded me that it's not possible for every day to exist in perfect balance with the amount of energy we give out equaling the nourishment we give back to ourselves. Balance isn't perfect, like a square. It's wild; it moves in a living flow that may seem chaotic to the outsider, but actually has it's own beautiful purpose. Living in balance, one of the ultimate goals of yoga practice, means that sometimes you give a lot--to a work project, for example, or to a friend in need. Other days you're able to rest and restore and do what's necessary for your health and happiness.

Of course, we aim to do some of both every day. But it's natural for waves of output and input to wash through our lives. The self-aware yogi creates a plan for making sure that there is always a moment of rejuvenation waiting around the corner. I purposefully said "no" to almost all commitments this week so that between now and my next weekend teaching in Manhattan, I can collect myself, have someone else teach me yoga, and follow my natural rhythms for a few days.

Whenever possible, we must preempt the busy times we know will come by creating boundaries around our peace. If we don't, who will? Rather than waiting until we burn out, how about starting today to set dates with yourself--moments that are untouchable, such as a night a week, one weekend day a month, whatever it takes to ensure that no matter how stormy life gets, there is always an oasis waiting right around the corner.

Core Pose: Bridge Pose (Setu Bandha Sarvangasana) Variation with Block

This is a powerful restorative posture that releases tension from the belly and lower back muscles, while bringing your sacrum and lumber spine into a gentle traction that frees you up on all levels by promoting deeper relaxation, detoxification, circulation and energy flow.

Come into a Bridge Pose preparation on your back, knees bent, heels under knees, with a block off to the side. Inhale here. Exhale to lengthen your tailbone and lift your hips with support from the firming lower back and abdominal muscles.

Place the block the long way (not wide across your hips) under the sacrum, with the top of the block at the top, center of your pelvis, and the rest of the block under your sacrum and tailbone. If the block goes up into your lower spine, it's too high.

In this position, the block will gently massage the sacral muscles and press the sacrum into a natural curve. Your lumbar vertebrae will pour down off the block like a waterfall. The shoulder blades, shoulders, and back of your head will all rest into the earth. Now, walk your feet as wide as your mat, and let your knees release toward one another. They don't have to touch, but this position will encourage a healthy widening across the low back and sacrum, two areas that tend to get compressed in our daily lives.

Reach your arms out to the sides, palms up, and take a few minutes to rest here. Breathe without effort and receive the benefits of such an open and restful pose.

 

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