Dear Mr Bikram,
A poem for you.
Ninety minutes
in 110 degree heat,
asana and breath
it just can't be beat.
I detox my body as I twist my spine.
My determination is fierce as I destress my mind.
This class is so challenging,
this is why I love it so.
I stretch and strengthen
to and fro.
The toxins I soak up,
throughout my days,
I have to get rid of,
through Bikram, I praise.
For the balance of body,
for the gain of calm,
for the release of the tension,
for my muscles feel strong.
Thank you Mr Bikram
for such a good type
of yoga for healing
and dealing with life.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Thursday, February 18, 2010
"There is a calmness to a life lived in gratitude, a quiet joy." ~Blum
Lately I have not been going to yoga "class." I have been creating my own class. It is within. It's about dedicating time to be alone in my space and allowing my self to practice asanas without distraction for a lift in spirit, in attitude and gratitude.
This is how my practice starts, with the Sun Salutes.
I begin with four rounds of Sun Salutes. In the morning I start facing east and work my way through each direction.
As I lift to Upward Salute I am thankful for the sun and all that the world has been offering me.
Swan diving forward, exhaling, reaching chaturanga dandasana, I am grateful for the earth below me, that it grounds me and is full of much needed nourishment.
I inhale into upward dog, thankful again, to the heavens but also feeling my self grounding through my hands and feet while lifting my heart and head to the sun, stretching and opening myself to the possibilities of the day.
And I fall and lift back to adho mukha svanasana. (downward dog) Here I take five deep, long breaths. I feel my breath radiate through each cell of my body, scanning my body for any areas that may need a little extra tender loving care. I go to those areas and mentally dissolve the stress. I have decided that I will not hold onto tension each day but that it will release through asana. I am thankful that I have learned to use my mind to release bodily pain.
I lift, inhale, to tadasana. My hands meet together in prayer position at my heart center.
When I move through the Sun Salutations with an intention of gratitude, I am tuned in; from the tiniest cell in my body, to the sun and earth, I am thankful each morning through Sun Salutes. It works for me. It enlivens me.
“As each day comes to us refreshed and anew, so does my gratitude renew itself daily. The breaking of the sun over the horizon is my grateful heart dawning upon a blessed world. ” — Adabella Radici
This is how my practice starts, with the Sun Salutes.
I begin with four rounds of Sun Salutes. In the morning I start facing east and work my way through each direction.
As I lift to Upward Salute I am thankful for the sun and all that the world has been offering me.
Swan diving forward, exhaling, reaching chaturanga dandasana, I am grateful for the earth below me, that it grounds me and is full of much needed nourishment.
I inhale into upward dog, thankful again, to the heavens but also feeling my self grounding through my hands and feet while lifting my heart and head to the sun, stretching and opening myself to the possibilities of the day.
And I fall and lift back to adho mukha svanasana. (downward dog) Here I take five deep, long breaths. I feel my breath radiate through each cell of my body, scanning my body for any areas that may need a little extra tender loving care. I go to those areas and mentally dissolve the stress. I have decided that I will not hold onto tension each day but that it will release through asana. I am thankful that I have learned to use my mind to release bodily pain.
I lift, inhale, to tadasana. My hands meet together in prayer position at my heart center.
When I move through the Sun Salutations with an intention of gratitude, I am tuned in; from the tiniest cell in my body, to the sun and earth, I am thankful each morning through Sun Salutes. It works for me. It enlivens me.
“As each day comes to us refreshed and anew, so does my gratitude renew itself daily. The breaking of the sun over the horizon is my grateful heart dawning upon a blessed world. ” — Adabella Radici
Monday, February 15, 2010
Inspiration Alley
So I'm super excited. After spending some leisure time yesterday surfing through some blogs of like minded people, I've decided to try the Green Smoothie lifestyle for a bit of time. http://www.greensmoothierevolution.com/ As soon as I finish this blog I'm happily skipping to Amazon to buy the book.
On another note, today I will begin my 40 day journal as well. This is not only for my yoga certification but also for my own personal gain. I will follow requirements set for certification but will go one step further and record what I am eating and how I feel about it. Last weekend we went to a vegan restaurant called Eden Alley. Another great inspiration to tantalize my taste buds and send me on a trip to motivation island where I seek out new and delicious recipes to try, this time transferring from vegetarian to vegan. This time the meals will be more fresh, more whole, more love!
So as a nice little detox and pick-me-up, I'm starting with a couple green smoothies of differing ingredients, followed by a dinner of fresh salad and maybe soup depending on what's going on around here. And then hot tea and lotsah watah!
Wish me luck!
On another note, today I will begin my 40 day journal as well. This is not only for my yoga certification but also for my own personal gain. I will follow requirements set for certification but will go one step further and record what I am eating and how I feel about it. Last weekend we went to a vegan restaurant called Eden Alley. Another great inspiration to tantalize my taste buds and send me on a trip to motivation island where I seek out new and delicious recipes to try, this time transferring from vegetarian to vegan. This time the meals will be more fresh, more whole, more love!
So as a nice little detox and pick-me-up, I'm starting with a couple green smoothies of differing ingredients, followed by a dinner of fresh salad and maybe soup depending on what's going on around here. And then hot tea and lotsah watah!
Wish me luck!
Sunday, February 14, 2010
My Yoga Journal
I had planned on writing each day during my yoga teacher training program.
Uh yeah. That didn't happen.
I was stressed out learning about the calming effects yoga has on the mind.
I was in turmoil over half a dozen pranayama techniques used to control energy.
I was exhausted from the rigamore of postures used to reduce stress.
I kid, I kid. Somewhat, but not really.
My head was so filled with joint actions, the 8 Limbs of Pantajali, and disecting downward dog and cow faced pose that I just didn't have it in me at the end of the day to record my glorious journey of becoming a yoga instructor. But fear not, my journey is not over! I still have part deux ahead of me. The "in house" intensive is now behind me and I can successfully repeat the 6 Components of Physical Fitness and tell you about the 12 Body systems and the wonderful effects yoga has on them. Incredible stuff, really.
Now begins the next phase, which will be taken at a much lighter, more graceful pace. I can , once again, see my childrens' smiling faces in the mornings as I pour milk over their cereal. I can tuck them lovingly into bed at night. Over the next few months, I will begin fulfilling my requirements to get my certification. That involves teaching some classes, CPR certification, journaling for 40 days, and some other life promoting experiences.
Now is the time I can write here, my continued journey, my experiences, the one I had this morning, Kundalini Yoga.
.
A M A Z I N G ! ! !
This woman, who taught the class, was so knowledgeable. She was...now, don't quote me, but I think a psychologist who worked for a medical school of some sort. I don't remember honestly but that's not where I'm going with this. She was so calm, so happy. You could see the peace radiating about her. The energy I felt upon walking into the center was so inviting, loving, accepting. The class, which was so gentle in nature, really gave quite a lifeforce jolt within, I felt dizzying goodness.
Let me back up here, the class was about an hour long, she talked a bit about the energy, love and made mention of the death experience. (fascinating) We did some gentle movement of the spine, in all directions. But the breath, the breath was were it was at! The breath in different postures created such an internal heat and ...it's really hard to describe, I'm new at Kundalini Yoga so I'm sure as with anything, the more you do it the better your understanding, but it felt like there was swirling white smoke inside my body. And it was okay, nice, really. I acknowledged it, accepted it and felt it. During this time the word that came to mind, with no prompting, was "heal." My intention was to heal everything in my body from the scrape on my hand from slipping on the ice a few days ago to any past regrets or childhood issues I may have suppressed, and then back to the superficial yet no less important in healing, that little stress knot in my upper rhomboid.
Using my breath and body to conjure up thoughts of self healing was refreshing and powerful in a passive observational way. It was different. I've decided that this yoga is something that I need to do more often. I have a feeling it may expedite an awakening for good things and a falling away of negative ones.
In life, I consider myself to be pretty lucky. I've got everything going for me. I'm healthy, I've got a great family, a home...but there's that something missing. I think I found it. Now I need to take the time to nurture it. It's inside of me. It's inside of you. It's about closing the eyes, and paying attention to the inside world. It's about figuring out what energy feels like to you and balancing it, opening it, experiencing it. Give it a try.
Namaste.
Uh yeah. That didn't happen.
I was stressed out learning about the calming effects yoga has on the mind.
I was in turmoil over half a dozen pranayama techniques used to control energy.
I was exhausted from the rigamore of postures used to reduce stress.
I kid, I kid. Somewhat, but not really.
My head was so filled with joint actions, the 8 Limbs of Pantajali, and disecting downward dog and cow faced pose that I just didn't have it in me at the end of the day to record my glorious journey of becoming a yoga instructor. But fear not, my journey is not over! I still have part deux ahead of me. The "in house" intensive is now behind me and I can successfully repeat the 6 Components of Physical Fitness and tell you about the 12 Body systems and the wonderful effects yoga has on them. Incredible stuff, really.
Now begins the next phase, which will be taken at a much lighter, more graceful pace. I can , once again, see my childrens' smiling faces in the mornings as I pour milk over their cereal. I can tuck them lovingly into bed at night. Over the next few months, I will begin fulfilling my requirements to get my certification. That involves teaching some classes, CPR certification, journaling for 40 days, and some other life promoting experiences.
Now is the time I can write here, my continued journey, my experiences, the one I had this morning, Kundalini Yoga.
.
A M A Z I N G ! ! !
This woman, who taught the class, was so knowledgeable. She was...now, don't quote me, but I think a psychologist who worked for a medical school of some sort. I don't remember honestly but that's not where I'm going with this. She was so calm, so happy. You could see the peace radiating about her. The energy I felt upon walking into the center was so inviting, loving, accepting. The class, which was so gentle in nature, really gave quite a lifeforce jolt within, I felt dizzying goodness.
Let me back up here, the class was about an hour long, she talked a bit about the energy, love and made mention of the death experience. (fascinating) We did some gentle movement of the spine, in all directions. But the breath, the breath was were it was at! The breath in different postures created such an internal heat and ...it's really hard to describe, I'm new at Kundalini Yoga so I'm sure as with anything, the more you do it the better your understanding, but it felt like there was swirling white smoke inside my body. And it was okay, nice, really. I acknowledged it, accepted it and felt it. During this time the word that came to mind, with no prompting, was "heal." My intention was to heal everything in my body from the scrape on my hand from slipping on the ice a few days ago to any past regrets or childhood issues I may have suppressed, and then back to the superficial yet no less important in healing, that little stress knot in my upper rhomboid.
Using my breath and body to conjure up thoughts of self healing was refreshing and powerful in a passive observational way. It was different. I've decided that this yoga is something that I need to do more often. I have a feeling it may expedite an awakening for good things and a falling away of negative ones.
In life, I consider myself to be pretty lucky. I've got everything going for me. I'm healthy, I've got a great family, a home...but there's that something missing. I think I found it. Now I need to take the time to nurture it. It's inside of me. It's inside of you. It's about closing the eyes, and paying attention to the inside world. It's about figuring out what energy feels like to you and balancing it, opening it, experiencing it. Give it a try.
Namaste.