A few words about planking and it’s useful effects on the body.
Plank pose. A pose that the majority of the yogis I come in contact with hate. Mostly, I’m in love with plank pose. But, like 90% of everyone out there I find it difficult to find comfort or ease in it when I hold for more than a few seconds.
The reason that plank pose is so difficult for people is that the action of the pose uses muscles in our bodies that we aren’t used to integrating when the force of gravity is placed upon it. Continue reading →
I generally don’t write much about the products I use, but when I love something I feel the need to share it. If you love your feet then this post is for you! When you are on the run as much as I am you learn very quickly not do do it in damaging footwear. I’m talking high heels, tight flats, or new hikers. Instead, after the first dozen or so times you gall the backs of your heals, spend the night soaking the soreness out, or limp about for a few days, you learn to love your feet.
The primary reason for foot love: so they love you back and in return you get the advantage of bipedal movement for about 80 or so years. Continue reading →
This is a post that will hopefully help me realize just how much work I’ve been doing lately and how I’ve been incorporating everything yoga into my life in that way. Continue reading →
I’m more than mid way through my 5-day spring cleanse. It’s been pretty good so far. I got through Day 1 with the ease that comes from a day of doing anything, Day 2 wasn’t all that bad either. Day 3 is where I have previously drawn my cleansing line. After the last cleanse, I gave up on day 3 because I was unprepared for the adverse effects of doing all things at once would bring.
This time, after nearly 2 weeks of pre-cleanse, Day 3 didn’t have too many adverse effects. I was merely a little tired and had a slight headache. I now think the headache was due to overexposure in the sun. This morning I have clearly identifiable burn marks in the shape of yesterday’s clothing.
I’m feeling quite light to be honest. I know that my portions have begun to fill me much more quickly than they used to. I’m not overeating and I’m quite proud that I’ve put in nearly 4 full days of this cleanse. To be honest the best part is all the fresh fruit juice I’ve been drinking. I do still miss sweets, even with the fruits and dates, but I’m guessing that is probably a hard habit to break. I just love my molasses cookies!
Day 4 is the day that I can say I’m finding a little challenging. Last night I had a dream that in my own Jungian interest had a lot to do with cleansing. I dreamed of two figures. A father and a wise old man. These in Jungian psychology stand as identifiers with spiritual growth and change, particularly to those things in us that are considered masculine identifiers. As for today, I’m not overly hungry but I woke up not exhausted but not fully awake. I’ve been in a pseudo daze. My body feels like I’ve been hiking for a few days. I’m not wanting to do too much. In fact, I’m probably going to take today very easy and do a home practice instead, of going into the studio.
Despite these ‘bad’ vibes I’ve been given so much today. I have connected with so many people who have come into the place that I work and had real conversations with them. It’s so great to be with people in those moments. Yoga has been an intense topic today. One new yogi, another regular yogi who is a co-owner of a retreat in Cuba. They gave me so much of themselves and I them. The way I talk has seemed to change overnight. I wait then speak. I speak from the heart without judgement or comparison. Not competitive but, peace, joy, and spiritual transcendence.
I have a busy day tomorrow too so I think my decisions are wise. It’s hard to believe that tomorrow is the last day that I will be sticking to eating Kitchari 3 times a day. I am really grateful for the experiences and the feeling of my system being a little more stable while at the same time ridding itself of all that toxic waste and stress of digestion. I’m slowing the way I eat and I’m making sure to only eat smaller portions of my meals when out and about.
I thought you all might like a quick update about how the cleanse is going 10 days in. So far things have went pretty well, especially in my day to day, but I have had a couple of unavoidable incidences of sugar or dairy interfere. I am taking it in stride though and i’m beginning to notice some changes and strength.
First of all,I cam 10 days free of caffeine not a stitch of espresso which is difficult when your working right next to the best coffee place in town (shout out to Post Espresso)! Secondly, I think any sidetracks have been minimal and guilt free. You cannot prepare for a cleanse if your worried about failure the whole time. Been there and did that before. Continue reading →
You have just stepped into your life. By coming to yoga you have made positive decisions about your quality of life. You have made it important to commute to your local yoga studio in search of something.
Nobody else may know this in fact, you may not even recognize your reasons for a newfound interest in yoga but, don’t worry your reasons will be revealed in time. It is most likely that your reasons will change almost as much as you change your socks over time.
Do not worry. You are uniquely perfect for yoga. You already have been built with all of the necessary capabilities to follow your yoga. You are exactly where you need to be. Continue reading →
As the signs of the Spring season are beginning to show face, I feel the need to make some long coming and appropriate changes to my life. It’s probably appropriate that I’m beginning to think of this as the Winter comes to close, ending the Ayurvedic period of Kapha dosha. For those of you who are unfamiliar this season between Winter and Spring is associated with the Kapha type. Its a time that’s associated with energy and structure yet, it can have some uncomfortable effects on the body: lethargy, congestion, allergies, and weight gain are all associated with the Kapha season.
Over the last week I’ve found my mind leading me in a one pointed place. My practice, meditations, and daily routine has kept reminding me of a particular yoga sutra. Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra 2.46 is possibly one of the most popular and essential teachings of this ancient text. Lately, I believe if you take nothing else out of the yoga sutras this one phrase can make the most significant impact on your life.
2.46 Sthira sukham asanam
The posture (asana) for Yoga meditation should be steady, stable, and motionless, as well as comfortable, and this is the third of the eight rungs of Yoga.
It’s not often that I think about putting reviews of products that I use up on the website but today I realized how useful this could be. It’s nice to try new things, especially when you have an idea about the product’s pros and cons.
I try not to be too consumeristic but the reality is that I live in the West. It’s a place full of things and somewhere between the extremes of having everything and nothing you must provide for yourself.
I’m contentious of my buying much more now than I was in my teens. I’ve lived a little in the world and I find that good things don’t come cheap, even if they appear to be so. Someone always pays the cost for making things cheaply. Continue reading →
While studying the ashtanga (8 limbs) of yoga I’ve come across the concept of asmita. Asmita is Sanskrit for egotism and has to deal with the nature of us humans to participate in ahamkara, I-am-ness. This primarily happens in our everyday thoughts and speech patterns. I think this is exceptionally permanent in Western linguistics. For example, a large part of the Western society subscribes to ego centrism in its cultural ideals.
When something is egocentric it means we consider our own personal idea to be more prevalent or important than that of another opinion. Asmita can be considered responsible for the thoughts of “me”, “my”, and “mine” which, I believe are partially responsible for increasing rates of depression and mental illness related misery for human beings.
Yoga’s function is to transcend this sense of ahamkara and thus asmita through it’s organizational structure of philosophy, practice, and ritual. Georg Feuerstein suggests that yoga attempts to realize this process of cultivating purity through sattva. When this happens we gradually learn to distinguish between the outside events & our environments from the internal mental processes & our sense of Self.
*Contains psychological theory and yogic philosophy in copious amounts* Continue reading →
For those of you who have known me for some time. I’m a feminist. Don’t scatter or scurry off to talk about what I value. It’s okay. I accept it if you don’t necessarily feel like agreeing with my beliefs. I also accept that you have your own path but, as a part of Ahimsa I think you should avoid re-creating negative themes.
Being a feminist doesn’t mean you’re ‘butch’ ‘lesbo’ ‘man hater’ ‘bitch’ ‘leftist’ or any other derogatory connotation. It also doesn’t mean you get to stand there and think I will accept these types of comments in public.
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Yoga’s function is to transcend this sense of ahamkara and thus asmita through it’s organizational structure of philosophy, practice, and ritual. Georg Feuerstein suggests that yoga attempts to realize this process of cultivating purity through sattva. When this happens we gradually learn to distinguish between the outside events & our environments from the internal mental processes & our sense of Self.