There is a chill in the air. Frost on my windshield. The aspens are dropping their leaves. There is snow on the peaks and some ski areas have already opened. Winter is almost here in the high country. I have shifted from summer mode and am busy getting ready for the upcoming season. That includes firewood. Chain sawing, tossing the pieces into a pile, splitting them, tossing them into another pile and then shuttling them down to the wood pile, dumping them in a pile and then stacking them. That’s a lot of touching each piece of wood. Can you say labor intensive.
To prevent the dreaded post wood hunchback or lower back pain, I realized I needed to bring yoga into my wood extravaganza. To bad I don’t have the photos, but hopefully you can get a visual on the process. Below are a couple of yoga asanas that you could interject into your chores.
First is the breath. Synchrozing movement with breath. Inhale grab the wood, exhale throw it into the pile. Focusing on the breath helps to be in the present moment and to enjoy the wood process rather than seeing it as a mundane chore.
Split wood. Then stand up tall. Take the two pieces of split wood in both hands and do a back bend/windshield wiper arms and then toss the split pieces into the next pile. This helps counter balance all the bending over.
Every once and a while jump up and down to release the lower back and relax tension from bending over. This also gives you a chance to look around and see all the other trees in the forest.
Uttanasana- forward fold to release the lower back. Engage the legs for a nice hamstring stretch.
Post wood, try a series of 3 sun salutations. Spend time in each asana and explore the pose, working out any kinks. Feel the flow. Bring some movement back into your body.
Down dog is great to stretch out the shoulders.
And last but not least, listening to my yoga tunes is very relaxing.
Hope this tips help your wood stacking too.
