Roxy Yoga

Good Things Come in 3s August 12, 2010

I’m back from travels and have lots to say. You have been forewarned.

Prior to my epic three weeks of travel from which I just returned, I had a few crappy days.  I stuck to my morning yoga and meditation practice, but lets just say that my practice was more like a quick cook instant meal like ramen noodles rather than a nourishing, home cooked meal with fresh veggies from farmers market. Ever have those days?

I survived and felt like I learned a few things that were quite interesting.  When my “feelings get hurt”, it’s a hard feeling for me to shake quickly.  Rest and talking help.  Sometimes crying is necessary.  Good friends and loved ones are like medicine.  Clarifying my thoughts in writing and then editing those thoughts is very therapeutic for me.  I notice that once I’m hurt, I imagine all the worst reasons why the “offending parties” acted the way they did.  Why does it become so negative, what about the positive, or middle ground, or the fact that shit just happens?  What about my life philosophy that it just keeps getting better after every bump and hurt, so why dwell so much on the hurt, why not learn from it and find the positive sooner?  Situations become way more personal than they really are.

How does this relate to yoga? Not sure it does.  But I was happy to find a more positive, sane ground after three days.  I am calling it my “Three Day Rule”.  I allow myself to feel whatever I honestly feel for three days.  And it’s always better after that. And it’s usually time to move on after that.

Then I was on to three visit three countries in three weeks. My trip started in London with a little work and a little play and just enough yoga to carry me through the days. Then I found myself on the Emerald Isle, with nothing but a backpack of clothes, a rented bicycle, and a smile on my face. I cycled on the left side of the road, which took a few days to get used to. I stared in awe at so many stone ruins that after three days I forgot to take pictures of them. I enjoyed interpreting the Irish accent, especially when it was thickened by Guinness. I almost ran over a donkey, saw tons of livestock, countryside, fog, and mist while climbing through the Irish hills. Yes, they have hills, it’s not flat like the Midwest. In fact, I was quite humbled to have to walk my bike up a hill at one point. I bonded with a few locals and with a California-Jersey boy too. The food wasn’t bad, I had lots of toasted cheese sandwiches (don’t forget to get them toasted), cream of veggie soup, fish and chips, and even a dhal one night in the little surf town of Lahinch. A great vacation. I barely did traditional yoga postures even once. But I am of the belief that cycling, sleeping, smiling, eating, and relaxing are pretty good yoga practices too.

My final “country” was the great State of Michigan where humidity, family, friends, and Lake Huron welcomed me with open arms. I was able to visit Yoga Shelter in Royal Oak, where I took a heated vinyasa yoga class. It felt like a class I had taught before and I could see that who I am and where I come from is definitely reflected by my yoga classes and practice. I was pretty sore though and had to remind myself to take it easy after being off the mat for a while.  Why do I think it must hurt to count?

Now I am back in SLO-town, where the weather is like a comfort blanket, the food is breathing life into my travel weary feet, and I am slowly getting back on the yoga mat and bicycle this week. I noticed how getting back on the yoga mat after some time off always feels so much better than exercising ever feels after a hiatus. It’s not really as painful as one would think, it feels more like a breath of fresh air after being indoors too long. A yogi friend said that the transformation that yoga brings to the energy body, our cells, muscles, and whole being is so much more than a workout brings, and it stays with us longer. The changes are more permanent. Muscle memory perhaps? Must be.

This week I am teaching about mula banda, the lifting of the pelvic floor held during yoga practice. It is known as the energetic lock which allows a yogi to perform the most challenging tasks with little or no effort. Mula bandha is said to cut through brahma granthi, the energetic knot of our resistance to change. On the physical level, practicing mula bandha creates attentiveness in the supportive musculature of the pelvis. This increases the stability of the pelvis, and, since the pelvis is the seat of the spine, its stability creates a safe environment for spinal movement. Thus, mula bandha strengthens—and teaches the importance of—the solid foundation that should underlie any movement.  I am practicing a lot of basic standing poses and hip openers trying to engage my ever elusive mula banda to bring me back to reality safe and sound. I encourage you to try to keep it sucked in this week during yoga practice and see how much easier it makes your practice. Cheers to another day on the mat or bike or at the desk.

Living Yoga Sadhana Continued July 7, 2010

Previously, I wrote about why I gave up cocktails, sleep, and laziness for 30 days for my Yoga Teacher Certification.  Now, I share what these 30 days were really like for me, and my conclusions.  In addition to giving up the juice, I spent these days…

• Waking up every day near 6:15am when I’d rather cuddle all morning.
• Practicing yoga every day for at least 20 minutes.
• Meditating every day for at least 20 minutes.

My overarching goal: renewed dedication to my health, wellness, and sanity for just 30 simple days. I actually enjoyed waking up early to practice yoga and meditate once I got used to it, the early morning summer sunrise was on my side.  It is absolutely imperative to get to bed by 10pm if one wants to wake up at the butt crack of dawn. That is the secret key that those morning exercisers and parents everywhere have known all along.  Once I realized that I am waking up to do something I love, it wasn’t so hard to drag myself out of bed.  We wake up every day for work and doing other things that are required of us, why shouldn’t I wake up to do something that’s just for me? There is never going to be an easier moment than right now.

I dedicated myself to doing the yoga poses that I have an aversion to, that are the most painful and difficult for me, each and every day, with a bunch of blocks and props to help me survive them. They are king arthur’s pose, monkey pose, forearm balance, double pigeon, and frog. I usually do a little sun salutations to warm up, then fit those in somehow, and wowsers, they hurt so good.  My body is feeling much more open to these postures now, but we are far from best friends at this point.

I did a lot of fire based yoga practices and I noticed that it often made me grumpy. A fire practice is a more energetic sequence of postures that ignite, sustain, and transform your energy. In other words, hurt-so-good kind of sweaty yoga with lots of yogi push-ups, strong standing poses, and core work.  The fire absolutely demands your breathe and integrity in your body.  They say that if you play with fire you’re gonna get burned, and burned I got.  I was fatigued and overtired often after playing with the fire.  Practicing yoga and participating in any challenging physical practice requires that we manage our energy with honesty and grace.  It’s not about kicking your own ass or playing the panda bear and not challenging yourself at all, it’s about finding a middle ground.

Lack of sleep makes me crazy, no matter how healthy I am being otherwise! During my 30 days I attended a friends bachelorette party, a comical, wonderful little cultural ritual. I think I might use the excuse of being a yoga teacher in training more often. People totally accept it and want to talk about yoga when you say “Sorry, no drinks for me, I’m in a personal sadhana.” I played the roll of designated driver during a celebratory evening of dinner, watching the roller derby, and night life. I was exhausted by the time I got to bed at 2:30am and driving people all over the Bay Area of CA. After being awoken by a forgotten alarm, and having to drive 4 hours home, I was more tired than I had been in a long time. I had a sleep deprivation hangover. I went to bed by 9pm Sunday night and slept like a baby until the morning.

I didn’t mind being the only one not partaking in the cocktails throughout my 30 days, and in particular during the bachelorette party. It was a great group of women and I enjoyed conversing with them throughout the night. They weren’t overindulging too terribly, and I didn’t feel left out because I wasn’t. I was approached by a few intoxicated men towards the end of the night. I was sort of taken aback by how silly-drunk and obnoxious they were. “Did he just do the frat boy waist grab?” I wondered.  It reminded me of college and how crazy the drinking and party scene was there. Hormones and freedom combined to equal chaos. Usually I have no problem telling people who are crossing my lines to leave me alone.  This time I wasn’t so blunt or forthright.  I just walked away instead. Interesting I thought.

Omitting alcohol from my daily life was just the right sadhana to give myself a little break. I had a few moments of feeling left out or a bit awkward in a social settings where alcohol was being consumed en masse. Sometimes you just feel a little off though, whether or not you are drinking cocktails. During those awkward moments I noticed that I wanted to have a drink with everyone a little more than usual and I realized how easy it is for alcohol to become a sort of safety net in social settings. It allows us to loosen up and feel like we belong. Instead of partaking, I just said oh well, I’m having an off day, and went home. By the next morning though, I let it go. A good nights rest is wonderful medicine sometimes.

At moments I got sick of talking about why I’m not drinking this month and I couldn’t tell if I bring it up or if others do and it seemed to be a little of both. It’s amazing how much we have to say about drinking alcohol, or lack there of. It’s such a culturally accepted habit, and it’s so much a part of our social structures. So many people have a history with it, an opinion of it, good or bad or both.  I never really think about it being a big deal or conscious choice and just have a drink because that’s what we often do.

I admit I’ve had moments of being extremist on myself, thinking, “I feel so great, I’m going to keep this up forever. I’ll never drink again! Yoga every day! Yes!” And then I come back to reality and remember that I actually like beer, and I like drinking it with my family and friends sometimes.  Have I really forgotten Alcoholics Notorious, bike wine tasting, and Oberon? We must be careful with the juice and it’s a good idea to take a break when needed, and maybe a permanent break if you find your bad moments start to outweigh the good, and you’re overindulging more than you mean to.  This sadhana has reminded me that taking a break isn’t so hard to do, and taking care of myself feels pretty damn good, but ultimately it’s all about finding a good, honest, balance. Oh, and I’m totally in love with yoga!

If you got all the way to here, then you must really be my friend or something. I apologize for the excessively long post, but sometimes a girl just has a lot to say.

it’s business time May 24, 2010

I have been in a spinning vortex of awesome female energy, yogi stoned out bliss, and sweaty goodness at a Fluid Power Vinyasa Yoga Training with one of my favorite teachers, Shiva Rea, at her home studio in Venice Beach, CA.  I arrived straight from NYC late a few nights ago, after spending a few days teaching at another MINDBODY University business intensive, which was another great experience.  I really love teaching, and I feel blessed to be able to teach technology to yogis and others. I was pooped from it though and as I walked into my hotel here in Venice Beach someone yelled my name, it was a fellow trainee from the last time I trained with Shiva.  Yay! I was fried and delirious from travel and work in NYC, but it was nice to be welcomed by a smiling yogi face.  The travel gods were on my side this trip and the hotel in Venice gave me a spontaneous upgrade so I am staying in this “vacation suite”.  It is really a one bedroom apartment with a view of the ocean, probably bigger than my apartment in SLO to be honest.  It is way too much space for me, but lets just say I don’t mind.  I have a full kitchen, a huge TV, and it’s a very peaceful, grounding place to stay. After being in a room the size of a closet in Manhattan for 4 days, it’s like a breathe of fresh air.

BUT. I have no internet. My cell phone barely works in my little oasis. So, friends, this training will be documented the old fashioned way, with paper and pen, and occasional Facebook upload of photos.  I think this is a blessing for me and I will enjoy this time to digest, do yoga, and be free of the never ending distractions that my beloved internet can provide.  I will give you the full scoop of what this yoga training business is all about upon my return to technological reality next week. 

All I know is that having the opportunity to fully immerse myself in something that I love and feel so inspired by, something that gives me energy, that makes my brain spin with new ideas and philosophies, gives me the opportunity to learn, study, sweat, smile, and bond with 100 amazing people, it’s just fucking amazing.  Having the space to feel like you can suck at something and it’s ok and not the end of the world and that it doesn’t mean you are a worthless being or yoga teacher, it’s something we don’t get often enough in life.  I hope everyone finds something that so inspires them, and takes the time to immerse themselves in it, if even for a short time.  So get on your bike, kiss your baby, lick your dog, and smile my friends.  We are riding the wave of life. Cheers.

a little yay, a little nay April 29, 2010

Today while teaching yoga I taught a Mandala Namaskar series from Shiva Rea’s Fluid Power DVD and it was super fun! Well, at least I thought so. I got all sweaty, red in the face, and my sinuses started draining all over the place just teaching it. Just imagine what the students felt like. Oye. I thought, “I better not adjust people, they probably think I have snot on my hands from blowing my nose so much.” I asked the class “yay or nay” to the sequence and I got at least one nay. I just smiled and said, “Sorry, I’m the boss, deal with it.” Haha. Maybe I wasn’t that blunt.

It did get me thinking. I have often felt that way in yoga class, when I first started road biking, when I’m trying to figure out some obscure technology. That feeling of not exactly liking where you find yourself. It reminds me of road biking in Boise when I almost threw up once when trying to climb monstrous hills. It makes me smile to be able to experience this with my yogi friends on the mat. You may not like where I take you, but that’s life. Sometimes we don’t like where we end up. Sometimes we don’t need it, don’t want to be there, try to avoid it, or don’t understand it, but there we are none the less. These are my favorite parts of yoga, the life lessons that are buried in the difficult moments. If you continue to feel that uncomfortable in the situation, you can change it, but usually I find I get over it. I find something to enjoy. I breathe.

My Yoga Challenge is rocking along. I’m on day 11. Yesterday, I practiced like 10 minutes, but I also rode my bike, worked, and cooked dinner for friends. It’s not that hard to practice every day, if you stop putting crazy pressure on yourself to make every practice an epic one. Sometimes life just doesn’t have room for it. I’m really enjoying the process of learning before my training. Sometimes I just need to give myself deadlines to help me focus. I’ve got the two books that are suggested reading for my teacher training, they are intimidating me from my shelves right now, The Subtle Body by Cyndi Dale and Chakras by Harish Johari. I have been sick for a week and have had a mild sinus headache for about 3-4 days. I am not one of those people who go to the doctor for a cold, unless it lasts longer than 2 weeks. I feel like it’s best to let my body heal itself on it’s own time frame. I’m planning on going to Circuit Training tomorrow at work and I’m sure it will be one of those moments where I won’t like it, won’t feel like I need it, and will try to avoid working hard during it. I know I’ll be glad I did it though. It will help me be strong for Sheevs in a few weeks!

Life is marching along. May we all do something we are uncomfortable with on a regular basis. It’s good for us. Kind of like eating broccoli when you’re a kid.

My favorite pose of the day: Forward Fold. These are some of it’s benefits.  Do it.

Day 8 Babe April 26, 2010

Day 8 of my 30 day yoga challenge found me coughing so hard I almost threw up and praying to my netty pot for peace and forgiveness. I’m not terribly sick by any means, but my sinuses are a little funky, and they keep draining into my throat and doing that little tickly thing back there that makes me keep coughing. Just annoying enough to make me not want to work or do yoga. But…I hit the mat with “Sheevs” (that’s my recent nickname for Shiva, my fearless yogi teacher). I did the Hip Opening sequence on her Fluid Power DVD. It was good.  I like Fluid Power much better than the Shakti DVD.

Moving Meditation (A circular kind of jiggy warm up)
Fluid Sequence (Non-traditional sun salutes, with lots of planks and pulsations in the poses)
Another Fluid Sequence. Unsure of the name but this was a sequence I’ve practiced with Shiva before and LOVE. Lets see if I can describe it. From downward facing dog. You inhale right leg to the sky, exhale step it through between your hands, inhale turn both feet and body toward the right, left hand planted, right hand stretches parallel to the ground over the right leg. Next, exhale shift over the other leg for half squat hamstring stretch, inhale turn to back of mat, left knee bent, right knee planted on the mat, inhale into supine crescent lunge. Next, exhale hands to the floor, facing the back of the mat, step back into half-plank, left foot lifted, lower through chaturanga, inhale upward facing dog, exhale downward facing dog, BOOM start over on the same leg facing the back of the mat. Magical it is!
Handstand Flow
Backbend Flow
Meditation
Shavasana

It’s really hard to write out a yoga practice. I’m going to keep practicing this sequence this week and try to teach it in my classes so join me if you want some fun.
This is what my yoga challenge has looked like so far:

Day 1 – 90 min/Shiva DVD
Day 2 – 50 min/taught and practiced vinyasa
Day 3 – 60 min/Shiva DVD
Day 4 – 75 min/taught vinyasa, flu attacked me, sinus headache nonsense, but did a few poses on floor
Day 5 – 75 min/taught and practiced vinyasa
Day 6 – poi and hula hooping. yes they counted.
Day 7 – 10 min vinyasa in the warm sunshine. Until interrupted. ‘Tis life.

Babies are all around me these days. I’ve been blessed to have been close with my brothers when they were babies and I’m excited to see so many great friends start down the path of parenthood as well. I spent most of my youth baby sitting my brothers, then later being scared of everything being a parent implied. Now I am more in awe of the journey of life and am excited to experience it in whatever ways it touches me. I am excited by the opportunity to learn and share health and wellness with people of all shapes, sizes, and phases of life, including my fearless mama friends on the mat. I found the following articles that were pretty good. Here it is ladies:

1. Stay off the mat for 6-8 weeks, no joke. I have heard of women working out too quickly and the abs never get a chance to heal correctly. Let your body adjust. It took 40 weeks to grow the baby, give your body a chance to recover on it’s own.
2. Don’t forget to take care of yourself a little bit. Even though you’re responsible for a helpless little cutie pie and very driven by their schedule, it’s good to remember to take care of yourself a little bit. This is a great article with miscellaneous poses for mom and baby while adjusting to parenthood, Conditions and Cures for Both Mama and Babe, from Yoga Journal.
3. Here’s another article for teachers, but I think it’s got really great info for new mamas. It explains how exactly the body is recovering and what we can do to make it as painless as possible.
4. I also found some DVD’s.  Although I’d rather practice in the studio, DVD’s can be a great resource.  My girl Shiva even has a Post Natal DVD.  You can search Amazon for Pre/Post Natal, I was shocked at the number of DVD’s or Check out this list from Amazon.  It’s a list of yoga resources from a mama herself.

Tuning to the Teacher Within March 29, 2010

This weekend I took yet another yoga workshop, this time with Kira Ryder of Lulubhanda’s Yoga Studio of Ojai, California. Yes, yoga is taking over the world muwahahaha.  Rumor is that Kira has given a lot of herself to to the yoga community in Southern California over the past six years and is one of our favorite “teacher’s teacher.” In fact, this weekend was designed with yoga teachers in mind and those seeking to broaden their perspective of the yogic arts and develop the ability to communicate from the heart.  What does that even mean you wonder?

We started by grounding into the earth with a yin (or more gentle, restorative) style yoga class.  We shared a little bit of info about each of ourselves and where we’re at with our yoga practice and/or teaching.  I found myself sharing how sick I have been of hearing my own voice lately.  Have you ever been sick of yourself?  Not that I don’t love myself, I’m just trying to find new words and inspiration in sharing myself and yoga with people.  I feel like I’m a solid teacher, but I want to get better, I want people to leave my class with that kind of yoga high you can only get on the mat. Similar to how I feel after Shiva’s class when I’m all gooey and I don’t even know what happened in class, but I know it felt good. It got me inspired to document why I teach yoga in the first place and what kind of class I’d like to lead. Have you ever thought about why you’re doing the things you’re doing, be it your job, relationships, or lifestyle?  I think it’s good to take stock of that reason every once in a while.  If I don’t hear a reasonable response maybe I should dig a little deeper or make a change. I teach yoga to help people become healthier, in body and mind. I teach to help people enjoy a few moments without coulda shoulda woulda thoughts. I teach to help people feel connected and inspired. Amongst other things.

Kira is an avid reader and I really enjoyed her sharing of reading recommendations and various information that related to yoga and life.  Saturday we conversed about The Effort Effect by Marina Krakovsky amongst other things. It’s a great article on research done by psychology professor Carol Dweck which attempts to answer the question, “What makes a capable child give up in the face of failure, where other children may be motivated by the failure?”  Dweck posited that the difference between the helpless response to challenges and it’s opposite – the determination to master new things and surmount challenges – lay in people’s beliefs about why they had failed.  People who attributed their failures to lack of ability versus those who thought they simply hadn’t tried hard enough.  I think that I often waiver in the face of challenges, more often than not I try harder, but I’ve definitely taken it personally and given up in certain scenarios as well. In college I tried harder, when it’s something not so natural to me, I tend to take it so much more personally.

How does this relate to yoga?  It relates more to who we are as human beings and the fact that this is what we have to face every day on the mat and in our lives.  Challenges aren’t easy, but they can be manageable if we learn to look at them as opportunities for growth.  We have to enjoy the learning process more than the results.

To be honest, I was feeling a little overworked and tired this weekend and didn’t want to commit to yet another thing to do on my schedule, even if it was yoga.  Yet as I predicted, I didn’t regret it once it was over.  I’m feeling pretty good for a Monday.  Kira is a wonderful teacher and she had me at her beautifully printed manual which I’ve been carrying around like a little puppy dog in my commuter bag.  I will continue to share thoughts from yoga workshop land. For now, I have to prepare to ride my bike home from work. The wind is blowing fiercely outside, at about 18 miles per hour.  That means that my leisurely ride home from work will be more like an uphill climb in my granny gear.

Yin Versus Yang March 4, 2010

At this point in my life I am a high energy, yang kind of gal. I’m a fan of vinyasa yoga, riding my bike, burning energy, and being challenged. I’ve even taken up circuit training lately just to try something new and challenge my body in a new way. Yet, some days, I have to honor the yin energy, the more subtle, restful nourishment or so I was reminded this week. Yin is usually characterized as slow, soft, insubstantial, diffuse, cold, wet, and tranquil. It is generally associated with Femininity, birth and generation, and with the Night. Yang, by contrast, is characterized as fast, hard, solid, dry, focused, hot, and aggressive. It is associated with Masculinity and with the Daytime.

After riding my bike with friends to Avila Beach last weekend, about 23 miles round trip, I noticed my legs were a little tired during my next vinyasa yoga class. Then I had a moment of tweaky pain that scared the crap out of me. I have had what I think is tendinitis in my right hip for the last few years and a regular yoga practice usually keeps it feeling pretty good. Before Monday, I hadn’t even noticed it lately. On Monday though, I don’t even remember what I did but I was practicing yoga and it was one of those moments of pain that makes you freeze and tear up and run to childs pose like it’s your mamma holding a bandaid after you’ve fallen out of a tree.

My hip was there to remind me that rest is just as important as activity. Aadil Palkhivala, owner of Yoga Centers of Bellvue, once said in a class, when you’re young, vinyasa yoga is appropriate, but as you get older your asana practice changes with your body and mind. It makes sense that our bodies need different types of nourishment and activities as we venture into different phases of life. One of my favorite aspects of yoga is that it reminds us how to listen to our bodies and not our minds. My mind thinks I should weigh what I did in high school, that I need to be the strongest person in the room, the strongest version of myself, that I need to sweat for my yoga practice to count (this week anyways). Sometimes it seems as if we “yang types” don’t feel it if it’s not a little painful and that kind of makes me a bit sad. Do I really need to beat my body up to feel something? What is my real goal? I want to take decent care of this vessel that I’ve been blessed with given the tools available to me. I want to become a more conscious, giving, and loving person. I don’t need to overly work it, nor should I use my aches and pains as an excuse to be lazy. Because, lets face it, the older I get, the more I realize my aches and pains are just part of life, little reminders that I’m human. May we find the balance between yin and yang this week.

yogis in the city January 28, 2010

I’ve arrived in San Francisco yesterday for the 7th Annual Yoga Journal Conference. The drive from San Luis Obispo was so beautiful, the hills of California were dotted with happy cows and luscious green grass. It was so lovely that even my phone camera was able to capture a tiny bit of the bliss. I highly recommend a road trip to enjoy the beauty that the winter weather has brought your way. It reminds me of how winter forces us all to slow down and how it’s definitely nourishing, even if our productive lives don’t allow us to slow down and renew as much as the earth does during winter. I am reminded to give myself the rest I need. We arrived last night and immediately went to dinner at Greens, quite possibly my favorite restaurant ever. We enjoyed fresh spring rolls, artisan cheeses, butternut squash crepes, mushroom pot pie, dessert, wine, and catching up with friends. We are all on “Bev Time” which is when our co-worker Bev is on East Coast Time and wants to go to bed at 9pm West Coast Time so we were all in our rooms by 9pm. It was wonderful to me as I had to work a long day today and woke up to yoga, meditation, and kitcheree for breakfast. That is the way to start a long day if you ask me.

Today at the Business of Yoga Conference we shared some great advice for people in the “yoga business”, but in reality a lot of the advice is relevant for many. As much as many people would like to just do yoga and meditate all day, sharing yoga is still a business in many respects, albeit one that should come from the heart. We enjoyed a video of Snoop Dog doing yoga. Take care of yourself as you would your own children, you don’t let them get too hungry or too sleepy, right? We were reminded to set goals rather than make more vague resolutions. To cover our bases regarding the more difficult parts of owning a business (and possibly our lives?), rather than burying our heads in the sand. Finally, we were reminded to just say no to free yoga classes, don’t do it, just don’t.

Right now I was supposed to be setting up the MINDBODY booth in the Yoga Marketplace but somehow our freight did not arrive on time and we’ll have to wake up early to set everything up. Hopefully I’ll be able to get my yoga in first. That’s one of the lessons of traveling, you just have to roll with it some of the time. Setting up the booth is quite the job though, setting up heavy kiosks with huge computers and this crazy backdrop that requires super strength zipper skills. I teach Online Marketing Strategies tomorrow, but tonight, I am off to enjoy some of the bounty San Francisco has to offer, Osha Thai it is! I hope you find some winter beauty to enjoy as soon as possible and don’t forget to roll with it when life demands it.

Cure a Broken Heart January 19, 2010

If you ever feel a little broken-hearted or down in the dumps, yoga is your cure just waiting to be unleashed. I am sharing this from Yoga Rants and Raves, a nifty little yoga blog, but I am adding my own input as well. Have you ever read or heard something someone said and thought, “yes. exactly.” That’s what this blog made me think, so I felt the need to share it.

1. When you wake up in the morning (or anytime throughout your days or nights) and the nagging sense of loss and directionless despair appear, get ye to the yoga studio. Welcome a sense of direction.
2. When dressing for yoga, be sure to wear your diamond earrings (for me it’s pigtails). Now you feel desirable again. (Bonus: you’ve found a healthy distraction.) But do not wear makeup (or cologne). That would be ridiculous.
3. When asked to state your intention at the beginning of yoga class, do NOT state this: “I wish to gain the ability through yoga to crush my ex (work/boss/mother…) with the psychic powers of my mind alone.” Instead chose this intention: “I wish to love and respect myself.”
4. When doing the chair pose (or the splits, oh they hurt so good), bend as deep as your legs will hold you. Let the lactic acid build up in your thighs until you want to scream. Realize there is a pain worse than a broken heart.
5. Breath. Don’t forget to breathe. Don’t worry about breathing through your nose or mouth specifically. Those restrictions are for the whole-hearted. Just respirate. If you can continue long enough, you won’t die. If you’re alive, then you are forced to accept that your heart isn’t actually broken. It’s functioning as normal and the other stuff is just a figure of speech.
6. When given the choice between vinyasa and child’s pose, take child’s pose. You deserve a rest. Rest. But do not stay there for long. You are better than that.
7. When in warrior’s pose, realize that you are a warrior. Applaud your inner strength. You are awesome. Repeat your intention. The loving yourself one, not the other one.
8. (When doing a backbend, try to breathe and feel your heart open. Feel love for all the other relationships and situations in your life that you are blessed with that nurture you.)
9. When the exercises are over, listen to the wise words of the yoga instructor. Realize that everything she says about letting go and about having nothing to do or UNdo and about not having anything missing in your life, all that is true. With or without a romantic interest, (job, friend, lover).
10. When in shibasana (corpse pose), imagine your consciousness as a tranquil sea (perhaps resembling the set of Cirque de Soleil’s O). When the sadness and regrets and anxieties rise up and distract you from the sea, imagine those thoughts as little flash-paper boats. Set them sail, and just before they dip over the horizon, set them on fire and watch them flash and disappear. Enjoy the tranquil sea. Repeat.
11. At the closing, when you say “Namaste,” remember what that means: That the divine in me salutes the divine in you. Remember that you possess the divine, too.
12. Go forth in peace. And do not check your cell phone until you’ve gone forth at least 30 yards from the yoga studio.

funky wild thang January 7, 2010

Have you ever done funky wild thing in yoga class? Maybe on the dance floor? What’s that you wonder? Why it’s Parsva Vasisthasana! It’s what you’ve been missing in your life and yoga practice, I swear! I can’t really find an English translation of this pose so I am calling it funky wild thing. I will try to include a photo of it later, this photo is the traditional “Non-Shivafied” version, but the funky wild thing version is so much sweeter. This week I decided to bust out of my yoga teacher rut and taught and practiced a sequence which featured this pose from Shiva Rea’s Fluid Power DVD. My yoga teacher toolbox has some good sequences, but sometimes we all have to be pushed outside of our routines to experience something new. I love most styles of yoga, but Vinyasa yoga still has me by the heart strings. Each time I get on the mat and start flowing, the world around me drops, I smile, breathe, and enjoy feeling my muscles and body move in a way it should be (or so it feels at least). After the standard holiday excesses I am happy to find my way back to yoga this week. I think most people enjoy practicing yoga in a classroom format, but I really enjoy Shiva Rea’s DVDs and I highly recommend Fluid Power for anyone who is looking for a way to get into practicing at home or for new, fun, flowy vinyasa sequences.  When writing this I also noticed she has a new DVD out, Daily Energy.  I will be sure to check it out soon and let you know how it is.

This week I have meditated and practiced yoga asana every morning, eaten vegan, and ridden my bike every day. It’s been a great week. No matter how far I find myself from my nourishing routines at times, they always feel really good to come back to. It makes me wonder why I insist on veering so far off track, yet I know that is just the way it is and hopefully it is getting better with time. If you haven’t meditated, practiced yoga at home, eaten tons of fruits and veggies, or enjoyed some fresh air lately, I urge you to do so. These practices make me sparkle in so many ways.

I have a healthy little competition going with my man friend to see who can lose the most percentage of body weight within the next month or two (we haven’t decided how long this competition will last yet). It has been really fun! I am typically not a very competitive person, but I am enjoying this. It’s been interesting to notice peoples reactions to our competition. It often seems like many of the women I tell this to immediately internalize it and think it implies something about their own health or weight. “But you don’t need to lose weight!” I hear often. We decided to do this because we had both gained a little weight recently and although we are technically still a healthy weight by the books, we felt unhealthy and were heavier than we have been for most of our recent adult lives. A little pro activity now to prevent dramatic changes needed later in life. I plan on living until I’m 100 years old (at which point I’ll probably laugh at this blog) and I don’t want to do so miserably riddled with every degenerative disease in the book. I want to be vital, smiling, and kicking asana. I have learned that we can’t exactly question each other and our intentions and motivations when it comes to healthy living, but at least we can get a little inspiration from each other, if we want it. Compare not my friends.

I have no idea how old Dharma Mittra is, but wow.