I’m on a mission which begins this Sunday-Friday. My goal is to have “0% waste” during a trip to NYC. My inspiration? Mother Earth? Lets see how far we can take this!  Yesterday I attended the SLO green awards, a yearly event in San Luis Obispo, CA where the city Chamber of Commerce recognizes businesses, organizations or individuals who have voluntarily undertaken effective efforts, projects or operational improvements to reduce pollution, improve resource conservation and sustainability or improve air and water quality. This years winners were the Paso Robles Recycling and Waste Processing facility, A building company, a hair and skin care company, and Mr. Eco, whose video is pretty funny if you want a chuckle.  It was super inspiring to see what can be done on a large scale with the right intention and reasonable effort.

Have you noticed how much trash and waste is part of traveling? And how normal it is for people to travel by car and air these days?  I’ve been traveling often for the last five years and although I’ve made some simple changes I feel good about, it’s always a challenge minimizing waste when you’re outside your comfort zone. Lets see. I can’t bring food or water through security, so I guess I’ll buy some crappy airport food, if I’m lucky I’ll find a bean burrito with a bell pepper in it. You often end up buying some water and a smutty magazine. Breakfasts and lunches are often grabbed to go. The plane trip itself uses tons of fuel.

So, I already have some pretty awesome travel routines and I will outline my plan below to take it to the next level. It’s great to do the things that are easy, but eventually you’ve got to kick it up a notch and do the things that aren’t.

1. Airport food.  This is always the hardest.  Once I brought a kale salad and tofu in glass tuperware through security and it wasn’t a problem.  So I’m going to bring food from home for my departure trip.  Energy bars, nuts, fruit, a sandwich or burrito or something.  The SLO airport even said I could bring food in a thermos as long as it’s mostly solid food.  Maybe I’ll try that, but I’m afraid of causing a ruckus and losing my awesome thermos.
2. Water bottle.  I’m going to bring two this time because I often lose one.  I’m bringing the small one with a wide mouth for the airport.  I can often find a way to fill it with a drinking fountain or the water button at the soda fountains at fast food restaurants.  I’m bringing the 32 ounce bottle for my work event so I can stay hydrated while I teach all day.
3. Tea and Emergen-C.  I bring these on the plane so when they are serving the soda to everyone else, I can have some tea.  This would be another good opportunity to use my thermos so I don’t use a styrofoam cup.  Yes, I’m going this far!
4. Breakfast in my hotel room.  This is a no brainer which I do every time I travel already.  I bring “Roxy’s Oatmeal Special”.  It kind of tastes like pie.  It’s rolled oats, raisins, walnuts, vanilla soy protein powder made with the hotel coffee maker.
5. Lunches.  This will be a challenge.  I often only get 45 minutes in Manhattan for this.  I often get to go food from Whole Foods or a cafe which comes in to-go containers with bags and utensils that get thrown away.  My ideas:  I’ll try to eat in rather than take it to-go.  I could reuse my whole foods container for the week or bring my owner containers.  I could bring my own utensils and cloth napkins too.  I will try to avoid whole foods and stick to the local cafes too.
6. Dinners.  We often eat at restaurants but sometimes I get it to-go so I can have a hotel room picnic and relax.  Same ideas as lunch.
7. I’m going to offset my flight for the trip.  I figure the savings I’ll make by bringing my own food for my departure flight, eating breakfast on my own each day, can be applied to offsetting the carbon footprint of my flight.

I’ll let you know how I do!

I stepped outside of my comfort zone this week and attended a Kundalini yoga class at Kundalini Yoga East in Union Square, New York City. I have been invited to attend the class in the past, and never made it happen. I saw those kundalini yogis leaving classes at Yoga Journal conferences exclaiming things like “Oh my god, my arms, that was crazy!”. I resisted trying this different style of yoga, it wasn’t a big deal, but I resisted and avoided it. It’s so easy to keep on doing what we do and forget to challenge our habits and beliefs once in a while.

What is a kundalini class like? We did a series of movement meditations (like twisting quickly from side to side, folding forward and releasing) and breathing exercises which (in theory) opened the energy channels and released tension throughout the body in preparation for meditation. You work up a little sweat, but it’s not a workout in the way that vinyasa or more active forms of yoga can be. I felt good and stretched out after, and was a little sore the next day.

The meditation was incredible. I meditate regularly, and it’s a large part of my roxtar life practices that keep me sane, healthy, and happy. This time it felt so calming and clearing, I was on cloud 9 for at least 24 hours after the class. A typically stressful work day just slid right off my back. As soon as I settled into the meditation I could tell something was different, but then the gong was added. I’m not talking about the Gong Show here. The gong made this insane, vibrational noise that sometimes got so loud I wanted to cover my ears, but then the teacher (SJ, a good friend) would ease up on the sound and I’d want it to keep going.

Fun stuff! Stepping out of the box once again yields benefits. And meditation just might save the world from itself.

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.

After a week in London I am off to Dublin to begin my vacation exploring Ireland by bike.  My travel yoga practice in London consisted of a few sun salutes and meditation a couple mornings, a whole lot of walking, and a pint by night.  The pubs here are great, it’s sometimes confusing to get around the city as the street names change all over the place, you can’t find street signs, and the roads are nowhere near grid-like.  I was thankful for my shmancy smart phone often.  I loved the parks and old buildings, my hotel was cute and quaint and I felt like I was staying in a large home instead of a hotel.  My favorite British words that  this week are Cockfosters, Chiswick pronounced “Chizick”, and Leicester pronounced “Lester”. I totally embarrassed myself this week at our event mispronouncing British words. It was pretty funny. Yes, I am Americano.

I am super excited about being on vacation.  Rest, relaxation, and fun are my yoga practices during this next adventure.  I hope the mat keeps you good company while I explore the Emerald Isle.

I survived my 10-day yoga teacher training immersion with Shiva Rea and have landed in my sweet little apartment in SLO in one piece. With this training’s end I have officially completed the “classroom” hours required for my 200 hour certification with Shiva’s Samudra School of Living Yoga. I can also get registered by Yoga Alliance, which is the governing board of yoga teachers here in the US. I feel so amazing after spending 10 days with Shiva. She was even more grounded, radiant, funny, and real than she has been in the past. I’m afraid to type this, but I’m not sick either! Both of my prior training/immersion experiences left me depleted and sick for at least a few days or almost a week afterwards. Not this time, babe. I am energized, inspired, renewed, excited about being able to share this great practice with those around me.

To get my certification I still need to read and report on six yoga books, have someone take photos of some key yoga poses, have someone film me teaching a class, and doing a living sadhana which is sort of like lent, where I’ll give up or dedicate myself to something for 30 days, from new moon to new moon. I’m not terribly hung up on getting a piece of paper, but I feel like I have so much to learn from Shiva, and this is one of the best ways for me to continue to learn from her. So, it’s almost official. I’ll have that shiny piece of paper to hang in my office next to the McCarthy’s calendar

On another note, I will be writing about my experience at training on here, so expect to see a blow-by-blow account of what went on and how I felt about it. I also want to document exactly what I did for my spring Ayurvedic cleanse for my yogi friends who keep asking about it. I will also start posting the sequences I teach on a weekly basis so that any of my students or yogi friends can see what I’m up to and even practice the sequence outside of the studio (what a concept, I know).

Will be back online as I’ll try to document teacher training and maybe even a tidbit or two from my week in NYC. It’s amazing how you find energy when you like what you’re doing   (apologies for grammar, typos, and incessant rambles)

The Business of Yoga Conference is always an amazing experience.  I taught a group of 70 people Online Marketing strategies and techniques.  Online marketing is one of the best guerrilla marketing strategies you can employ to help spread health and wellness to the world, to get your message out there efficiently and effectively.  That is my favorite thing about marketing and sales:  you’re not trying to push something people don’t want on them, you’re trying to share something that you believe in and encourage others to experience the joy and benefits that you experience.  Coming from a math & software background this was something I didn’t really understand until now.  It feels good to  share your passion, thoughts, and true self with others, and more likely than not there are always a few people who resonate with what you have to say, if you come from a place of truth.

We discussed e-newsletters and e-blasts, online advertising, online analytics, using blogs as websites, website design, social networking, and more.  Many of the students were enthusiastic and had great questions, it was a great forum for yogis of all technical abilities to connect and share.

Last night I took a hip opening class with Natasha Rizopoulos of YogaWorks.  I really enjoyed her description of the actions of the hips: external rotation, internal thigh stretching, pelvis neutral so your bowl isn’t spilling, front hips coming towards bottom ribs, tailbone descending, bring the floor to your hip in pigeon so the weight isn’t in your knee, your knees are expensive.  She adjusted me in Warrior II and I’m really not sure what happened, but it felt totally different than my usual stance.  I was on my right leg doing a lunge, back foot flat, back leg straight, and she pushed into my left hip crease forward toward the front of my mat and immediately my front knee caved in towards the center of my mat to alleviate the stretch in my tight ass hips.  What’s funny is that I really love Warrior II and the stretch it gives and it was interesting to learn that I have been totally taking it easy in the pose.  Now the hard part will be to figure out if I can do it again.  Two actions for me to remember: back hip crease moves forward, tuck the tailbone down towards the floor, pray to god your hips don’t detach from your legs and that you don’t fall over or grunt from the force of Your Tight Ass Hips.  I also really enjoyed doing Crescent Lunge with my back knee bent and exaggerating the same actions of the tailbone descending, front pelvis towards bottom ribs. Ahhhh, try it now while you’re sitting.  Feel your core engage?  Feel your shoulders come back? (not you Kristen

Today I took an Anusara Vinyasa Yoga class with Desiree Rumbagh.  Anusara means “flowing with grace”, “flowing with nature”, “following your heart.”   Anusara yoga teaches a few basic principals of alignment that you bring to all of your yoga practice which were kind of difficult, but felt really good the few times I got it.  In general you are always: “hugging your shin bones in, take your hips back and apart (kind of like you’re sticking your butt out in reality), tucking your tailbone under.”  Does that make any sense at all?  It sort of does when you see her incredibly strong body exaggerate the movements.  I have to say that all of my poses felt better and my body and mind felt great after class and I probably only “got it” half of the time.  I really liked her personality, she was having fun and it was just the right amount of yoga babble and asana to connect with.  Anusara is a style I’ll definitely try again.

Then I came back to my hotel room to enjoy lunch to ponder my practices. While I was in savasana or relaxation I noticed how my mind was alternating between pointless chitter chatter about past memories and this desire to create drama in my life.  I have been trying to create drama while traveling!  I noticed it twice this weekend, once when work got a little stressful.  The next time was when I still couldn’t connect with my loved ones over the phone.   I noticed both of these negative and frustrated reactions where I was angry and upset and thought, “what is this? what am i really feeling? how do i want this to change? what can i do to change this?”  In both situations I was quickly able to take a breathe and realize that the stress of travel has me reacting in ways that maybe aren’t my usual or most loving self. I wanted to take the stress of travel out on my loved ones for not being there when I wanted them to be, during the few moments I had to myself.  I wanted to force my work habits and expectations on others.  I wanted to take others stress and internalize it and make it my own.  The density of yogis in this hotel must have helped to clear my mind.  Yogi-ness must be permeating through these walls, I can feel the ooooommmmms resonating, or maybe that is the elevator making noise again.

I had a lot to say!  If you made it to the end of this you get a Gold Star!  May you find a little breathe in the drama and stress of life this weekend. Xoxoooooo.  Oh, and I encourage you to open your hips in thread the needle. Do it. Right now. Hold each side for 2-5 minutes and use a pillow under your neck if you need it.  It will make you feel better, I swear.

Here is a good mini practice that I did this morning. I did exactly what my body asked for once I hit the mat after flying across the US yesterday. I held the poses for 5-8 breathes.

Surya namaskar a x 2
Surya B x 1
Warrior 1
Warrior 2
Big toe hold forward fold
Standing thread the needle
Bridge
Headstand
Supine twist

While in Las Vegas last week I noticed how much the city had been effected by the current “economy” when I went for a walk one morning. There were a lot of vacancies and empty buildings and it was kind of odd, yet normal within such an excessive landscape. As much as evidence of the economic climate depresses me, I also feel some of it’s effects are fair and not so bad. I feel like expansion and contraction are normal parts of life’s cycles and I wonder where we will be after the current contraction. My gut tells me it’s far from over and I wonder where it will take us, how many people will have to suffer, will we ever make real changes, and how many corporate crapholes will get much needed reality checks, if any. There is always a positive side to every negative and I’ve appreciated the reminder to simplify my life, stop spending money on crap I don’t need, and focus on the parts of my life that inspire me and build up those parts more. It’s all about living my passion and sharing it in whatever ways I can. I have not enjoyed worrying about myself or my loved ones and watching them suffer unnecessarily. There are no guarantees in life, that’s for sure.

My three-day adventure in Vegas was actually quite enjoyable despite my original misgivings. It’s always so excessive, smoke everywhere, too much partying, too much everything. It is possible to be healthy when life gets busy and challenging I am finding. The hotel had a gym at which I was able to move my legs a bit after getting my arse kicked at a personal training session with friends before I traveled. My legs were quite sore and out of desperation I attempted to do some strength training on a squat machine to ease the pain. It helped despite my yogic aversion to gyms these days. I prefer to get my movement on my yoga mat, bicycle, and two legs while enjoying the great outdoors if possible. I have to say though, it did feel good to challenge my body in a different way. The hotel even had a good food. My travel routine sustained me. I enjoyed KÀ (a Cirque du Soleil show), a heroic journey of love and conflict, set within a dynamic theatrical landscape, on an enormous stage with a captivating display of acrobatics which left the audience in awe. I admit I’m not a huge fan of live theatre, but the synchronized fights, water rescue, and acrobatics were amazing and I really enjoyed the show.

I decided to look up the definition of Ka to see where the show got it’s name from. The Ka (k3) was the Egyptian concept of spiritual essence, that which distinguishes the difference between a living and a dead person, with death occurring when the ka left the body. This resembles the concept of spirit in other religions. Hmmm the concept of spirit is one shrouded in history and opinion and I’m not up for that discussion today.

I came onto this dreaded computer after an exhausted day on it already to laugh and share a bit of the joy of teaching software and working in Las Vegas, of all places. This morning I emerged from the elevator to very loud rock music. The volume of the rock music doesn’t change throughout the Hard Rock Hotel, no matter the time of day. It was a bit jarring at 8am. You would think they would switch to sappy hard rock ballads at that hour. It was funny walking through the hotel and casino in business clothes with my laptop while others where still partying from the night before. There are always drunk people here. There area also rugby players everywhere as there are 14 teams staying here for some sort of playoff game.

I’m really enjoying teaching to this size group, 30 people. Last year teaching 90 was a bit chaotic. I think this must be the golden mean size of a class for classroom teaching.

I don’t really think Avril Lavigne has earned as much play as she gets in this hotel.

Did I bring my yoga on this trip to Sin City? Why, yes, how dare you question my dedication I exercised a bit last night, meditated and practiced this morning, and exercised a bit tonight. I feel pretty good considering the lack of fresh air I’ve been inhaling. We’ve been eating good food. Life feels good today.

No yogi lessons for me today. Except to breathe when busy. Just breathe. Ahhhhhh.