 to point up again. Rest here for a few breaths before repeating.
6. Repeat steps four and five up to ten times on the right side, then do the entire sequence, beginning with #1, on the second side.
Neural Glide for the Ulnar Nerve
If you use a computer mouse or do other work that moves your wrist from side to side repeatedly, or if you are feeling tightness in your forearm, you may need a stretch for your ulnar nerve.
1. With your arms at your sides, bend your elbows and bring your hands in front of your chest, palms facing you. Bring your index fingers and thumbs to touch (making an okay sign, or jnana mudra with both hands) and straighten your other three fingers.
2. Over the course of a couple of breaths, lift your hands and slowly rotate your wrists to turn the palms first up toward the ceiling, then toward your face, leading with your pinky fingers. Keeping jnana mudra, encircle your eyes with your index fingers and thumbs, bringing your free fingers to your cheeks and pointing them down toward your chin, as if making a mask.
(Note from Reif: “If at first you cannot bring your thumbs all the way to your face, don’t force the stretch; instead, pause at the last point that you can comfortably hold. Remember to keep the stretch gentle: Your range of motion will increase over time.”)
3. Hold the “mask” for a few breaths.
4. Over the course of a couple of breaths, slowly lower your hands to their starting position in front of your chest.
Repeat this sequence up to ten times. If you feel the stretch on only one side,
practice it on that side more frequently, making the movement described above with only one hand.
Neural Glide for the Radial Nerve
If you do a lot of computer work (or drop your wrists when you type) your radial nerves may benefit from a stretch.
1. Begin standing with your right arm at your side, palm facing in. Depress your right shoulder by reaching your right fingertips toward the floor.
Inwardly rotate your right shoulder to turn the right arm in and the right palm to face out. Flex your right wrist so that your palm faces up and your fingers point away from you.
2. Tilt your head to the left, and hold here for a couple of breaths.
3. Now, lift your right arm a few degrees to the right.
4. Bring your right arm back alongside you, turning the palm to face your thigh and returning your head to its upright position.
Pause here for a breath or two, then repeat the process.
5. For more intensity, after a few repetitions of the glide as described above, tilt your head to the left and move your right arm to the right and slightly behind you.
Hold here for a couple of breaths, then lower your arm and lift your head. Take a pause for a few breaths here, before you repeat.
Move through this sequence up to ten times on the right, then switch sides.
Neural Glide for the Sciatic Nerve
If you do a lot of sitting at a desk, driving, running, or biking and are feeling tension in your lower back, buttocks, or behind your knee, you may need a stretch for your sciatic nerve.
1. Lie on your back, with your knees bent and your feet on the floor (hip-distance apart and a few inches away from your sitting bones) and your arms at your sides. Draw your right knee toward you, as if preparing to do reclining hand to big toe pose on your right side. If your back is sensitive, you can keep your left foot on the floor.
If you experience no pain in your lower back, you are welcome to stretch your left leg out on the floor in front of you.
2. Grasp the back of your right thigh, near your knee, with your hands (or a strap or belt, if the back of your thigh is difficult to reach), and slowly straighten your right leg, flexing your ankle so that the sole of your foot faces the ceiling and your toes point straight back. Press your thigh into your hands, and your hands back into your thigh.
3. Slowly point your toes. Hold this position for a few breaths. Then flex your foot, reaching up with the heel, and hold that position for a few breaths. Continue pointing and flexing your right foot, spending a couple breaths with the foot pointed, then a couple breaths with the foot flexed.
4. To increase the intensity of the neural glide, raise your head slightly (this will lengthen the spinal nerves), and point and flex the foot repeatedly, as you did in step 3.
5. Slowly, over the course of a couple of breaths, lower your head and leg and bring your arms back alongside your body.
Move through this sequence up to 10 times on the right side, then switch sides.
If possible, after actively performing these neural glides, rest in savasana, a passive pose with a calming effect on the nervous system. Imagine relaxation coursing from your spine along the newly opened channels of your neural pathways all the way to your hands and feet.
Amber Burke
Amber Burke lives in Abiquiu, New Mexico. She teaches alignment-based and restorative yoga privately (and occasionally at Ojo Caliente Mineral Springs), as well as various writing classes at UNM... Read more>>“Dancing with the Stars,” ABC’s dancing reality show where celebrities team up with professionals, is the most popular on TV. The show, hosted by Tom Bergeron and new co-host Brooke Burke, features three judges Carrie Ann Inaba, Len Goodman and Bruno Tunioli. When it comes to humor, Len Goodman and Bruno Tunioli missed their callings as stand-up comedians.
Bruno Tunioli – Episode Premiere
Margaret Cho danced a Viennese Waltz in a black outfit covered in bright flowers and what seemed like miles and miles of gold fabric. Cho danced with some dramatic facial expressions that night, as well.
Said Bruno, “What the hell was that? I thought you were going to eat somebody.”
Len Goodman – Episode Premiere
David Hasselhoff tried his hardest on “Dancing with the Stars.” But said David, “My heart’s in the right place, but my body is old.” Ultimately, Hoff was the first one to go.
Said Len to David Hasselhoff after his dance, “It’s never too early to panic.”
Bruno Tunioli – Episode Three
Florence Henderson was admired for being the oldest dancer, but who had lots of energy. Florence didn’t want to be judged as a 76-year-old dancer, but Bruno couldn’t help but to make a comment after one of her performances.
Said Bruno, “I loved the grande dame entrance, but at times it looked like Driving Miss Daisy.”
Len Goodman – Episode Five
Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino lacked “musicality” and was eventually voted off even though he hoped to avoid an “elimination situation.”
Said Len after The Situation’s futuristic dance with partner Karina Smirnoff, “If that’s the future I’m glad I live in the past.”
Len Goodman – Episode Nine
Kyle Massey and Lacey Schwimmer are one of the popular pairs on “Dancing with the Stars,” but Kyle has had some problems during this season.
After one of Kyle’s dances, Len said, “It started bad and it gradually got worse.”
Even Carrie Ann Inaba got one in, “This was a Fox Trot possessed by disco fever.”Copyright @ 2009 Nancy Barra,"Remembering", Oil on canvas 30" x 24", from:Nancy Barra Contemporary Art/Arte Contemporáneo.
She has remained silent for quite some time. She thought she did not have any important ideas to share with others.
She already shared her concerns about imminent environmental problems. She expressed the irrationality of wars under the pretext of defending human rights of foreign nations, when in fact, the invaders aimed to control sovereign oil production while trying to suffocate resistance. She also reflected about how material consumerism is bewitching all of us at the expense of a poorly paid foreign labor force and damage to natural resources.
Copyright @ 2009 Nancy Barra,"A Grain of Sand", oil on canvas, 19.5" x19.5", from:Nancy Barra Contemporary Art/Arte Contemporáneo.
She felt like an inconsequential grain of sand in the vast ocean, except for sharing, once in a while, some of her thoughts, paintings and photographs with other dreamers. Now, she thought: "I do not have anything of value to say anymore".
This feeling made her sad... until the people of Chile began one of the most decisive mass movements witnessed in a long time in South America.
Copyright @ 2019, Anonymous, "March in Chile"
A mass movement against the conditions created by an economic model that diminished the government's role in public services and encouraged their privatization.
Education, health, retirement plans, water, electricity, mines, forests and even agricultural seeds were commodities increasingly transferred to private owners and foreign investors. This model characterized Chile as one of the most economically successful countries of South America.
This new Chilean economy began to offer credit cards like Halloween candy to everyone with a job. People were so excited that they forgot to read the fine print on their