Rules to Live By

Remember

                                                                                 AND


And you will do just fine!

MC Yogi

I was browsing through the i-tunes store to come up with some good music to set to my yoga classes.

I came across MC Yogi and fell in love.  He is a funkadelic yoga teacher himself, beatboxing and spinning soulful beats with uplifting lyrics about love, peace and beauty.  This ain't yo mama's yoga music!

Check him out!

Here is his video for Give Love

http://youtu.be/rpVUih5nY9g

Your Authenticity

Have you ever been told, "Just be yourself and everything will be fine!" What does that actually mean? Aren't you always your self? No, not really. Do you act the same way in front of your friends that you do around your co-workers? your parents? Nope. We have different masks that we wear during the day. There is that time though, that we feel most at ease with ourselves and with life. That is the, "just be yourself."

I completed a local yoga teacher training workshop this past weekend.  Might I say, that it was the most delicious and fulfilling yoga training that I have had to date.  I feel like a whole, new, enlivened person buzzing with creativity and energy for my practice and my teaching.                                   

We were asked these questions:

                                *When do you feel your most authentic self?

                                *Where are you?

                                *Is anyone with you? Who and why?

                                *Where do you feel it in your body?

 .

I invite you to sit quietly with these questions as well.  Go ahead, grab a pen and paper and write, I'll wait...
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

What did you come up with?  Was it hard to conjure a time and place of feeling authentic?  Or was it easy? Do you have it in your mind now?
.
.

In the hectic times during your day, you can close your eyes, take in some prana and go to that feeling and image. After writing that truth, it becomes more tangible, it is stronger felt, it is accessable. It has always been there, but in the chaos of humanness (is that even a word?)  we forget and it gets buried under all the junk.  So sift through the junk and pull that authentic self to the forefront and live from that space for a while. 

It feels so good.

Vegan Revolution

I typically shy away from animal rights videos and PETA and the sorts because sometimes they have such graphic depictions of what goes on with animals in the food industry. I literally just can't take it.  I'm way too sensitive.  I get upset, I cry and then I can't get the awful images out of my mind.  Those videos do serve a purpose as I've known people to evolve to vegan after seeing the horrifying details.  In fact, five years ago I stopped eating meat after reading about factory farming but continue to stay meatless for the countless other reasons.  This video is not one of such graphic negativity but one of shared love and a hope.  Enjoy.

 



I love this quote

A photographer gets people to pose for him.

A yoga instructor gets people to pose for themselves.

~Terri Guillemets

Spring Poses

It's time to AWAKEN from winters mini-hibernation. 

It's time to BLOOM a lotus flower within.

It's time to get OUTSIDE!

Did you get that? Let me spell it out.

Awaken and Bloom, Outside.

I dearly love spring, the warmer weather and the tender greens that Mother Nature begins to push up from the earth.  It is such a time to spend outside, talk a walk, and soak in the much needed warmth of the sun as our bodies recharge with its powers.  The flicker of heat that occurs between cool breezes of wind during the day are all moments of living in the present and enjoying the God given beauty and grace. 

During this time of year we all need a little internal spring cleaning, we need to clear out the cob webs of winter, awaken the muscles and deep layers of fascia connecting to our bones. It's time to cleanse the liver and gallbladder filtering out the toxins from winter lifestyle of heavy foods, indoor air and  low sun exposure.  Inversions, forward bends, backbends and twists are all great ways to tonify and detox the liver and gallbladder.

I have listed four great poses to relish and marinate in the beautiful spring sunshine and/or spring evenings. When you go through this mini flow, make sure you are breathing in deeply, the energy of spring and all that it has to offer.  Fill your lungs, heart and mind with the fragrance of spring.  This is of great importance.

Go outside. Sit in easy pose in the grass. Be mindful that you are with the earth.  Be mindful that you are infusing your body with the earth's energy as you inhale. Close your eyes, take a few deepies (deep breaths) and a few omms to center yourself right into your heart, and right into the earth.

The Butterfly: Bound Angle Pose
Butterflies are the brightly colored flitter of spring. Stay seated, bending the knees and placing the soles of the feet together.  Feel the cycle of energy circling through your lower body, your hips, abdomen, knees and feet.  Cradle your feet with clasped hands, inhale, lengthen your spine and feel the stretch through your shoulders and then exhale your body forward, bending at the elbows.  Feel the gentle stretch as your hips open. Hang here for a few, mindful of the releasing that's going on through your lower body.



Wide Leg Forward Bend:
Since spring is a time of renewal from the earth, stretch your legs out wide in front of you. Stretch your arms overhead, clasping your hands, breathing in deeply then lower your arms in tune with your exhale, to your sides. Take another deep breath in, this time with your arms staying at your sides. On your exhale, bend at the waist while walking your hands out in front of  you until you feel the deep stretch in your inner thighs. Hang out there for a few...mindful of the gentle pressure on the liver and gall bladder, wringing the organs out like a dish rag.  Walk your hand back up and repeat this asana a few more times.

Fish Pose:
Not quite sure what fish do in spring, but this pose will open your chest to relieve those symptoms of congestion and allergies.  It will stimulate the thymus and help to strengthen your immune system.
Lay on your back and relax, man!  Bend your arms at the elbows, to a 90 degree angle, so that your palms are facing each other.  Inhale deeply.  Push your elbows into the ground as your chest lifts up to the sky, and your head falls back. You should be supporting your weight with your lower body, your elbows and the crown of your head.  Spread through your collarbones, feel the stretch through your neck and throat.  Breathe gently.  Release the pose and give it another go.

Newly invigorated::::::: Stand Up!

Tree Pose:
(One of my favs)
Inhale the arms up high over the head, lifting your chest, ribs and heart to the heavens. Let the palms of your hands meet, gently slide your left foot up the inner right leg.  Steady yourself where you feel comfortable.  While taking a few deep breaths, close your eyes (if you can still balance that way) and imagine you are a tree.  You are strong, durable, mighty and steadfast, deeply rooted into the earth, yet reaching high for the heavens, always growing slowly yet steadily. Take a moment and embrace your body's ability to balance itself.

Don't just act like a tree, climb one too!

As always, take at least one moment each day to sit quietly and feel your true essence.

Treat your body kindly as you renew it through this season.

  

    

   

Chaos and Quiet- When Nothing is Going on- Everything is Going On

Do you ever have those days when you feel like the list is neverending?  Mine actually is neverending.  As soon as I make a good dent in the list, things add on to the bottom of the list.  Managing a house and a family and all the activities, school work, housework, food-buying, preparing, laundry, the animals, the yard, the plants and the list goes on...can be hectic. Let it be known that I am in no way complaining, I love that I am blessed with all that I have, I'm only stating the facts.  I keep a folded up square of paper listing my tasks, my returns, my grocery list, weekly dinner menus etc in my back pocket for easy access.  I can reach in my pocket, cross things off, add things on..bring back to mind.  Then there are times when I have an added bonus project such as a kids school holiday party, and/or conferences etc.  It's times like these where my yoga practice falls to the wayside, yet it's the time I need it the most.  It's times like these when I'm not breathing, stretching with full intention, with my eyes closed and harnessing the energy. 
SO then that added bonus project goes through the  rigamore and it's over until next time and I am able to frantically catch up with my Mommy duties AND get back to working my body through breath and movement.   For this is when I feel most at home. It is what results in my peaceful disposition and relatively pain free body.  For when I take the time to link my breath with my body and stretch away the
 pain, it is then that creates all over peace.  I envision, when I close my eyes, my muscles stretching like rubber bands and as they stretch so, tension releases into the abyss. My lungs open up  and my body gently hums in balance with my mind and my breath.  It is truly a gift to find that stillness and access it whenever I feel the need.  There is so much radiating in the body, and when you can sit quietly and feel it all happening, it is remarkable and amazing and I can't quite be thankful enough that my body does all of this without my asking it to, without my conscious effort. In that stillness, I can feel my heart beating, I can feel the energy radiating in my fingertips and the blood coursing through my veins.  What a gift.  My body readjusts itself, warms itself., creates a balance within each layer from skin to bone, bone to skin.

So today I've pushed all the stuff aside for now.  I've carved out a few moments of space for myself and the practice that calms me, that calms my nervous system much like that of a cup of chamomile tea.  I so love chamomile.  I think I'll make a cup of it after my fingers leave these keys.  Sometimes you need to leave the list in your back pocket. Sit quietly and listen to the silence to hear the whispers of truth.  Acknowledge that higher plane and simply be there.   In between the chaos and hectic lovliness that is my life, that is my grace.

Since today is Valentines Day, I present a quote about love that I love.

Love is the condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own.”

~Robert Heinlein

Happy Valentines Day!