Everyday Yogini

I am so excited about this course, Yoginis!  It is going to be loads of fun and I’m looking forward to working with a great group of people!  For a weekly investment that is less than your typical Yoga class, you get so much…  hope to see you there.

Do you want help, guidance and support to fit a dynamic practice of doing nothing into your life, without moving to a monastary or giving up your high heels? Do you want to connect to inner peace, innate joy, and a focused mind?

Join the More Happy, Less Stress 6-week telecourse! Each week will provide you with detailed instructions on a different type of meditation as well as practice in the art of doing nothing, additional coaching and Yoga tools to assist you, followed by Q&A and coaching around any thoughts that bubble up during practice.

The syllabus:
Week One: Introduction
Talk about intention, using the workbook, and how to approach the practice. What are the benefits of working with the breath. Practice with the essential breath.

Week Two: Mindfulness
Checking in from following week. Working with mindfulness meditation and putting it to work in our lives. Incorporating Yoga into a practice with the 5 movements of the spine. Practice with mindfulness meditation.

Week Three: Mantras
Check in from previous week. Using mantras and their benefits. Cultivating qualities in our lives. Working with daily intentions. Practice with mantra meditation.

Week Four: Loving-kindness, Take 1
Check in from previous week’s practice. Introduction to Loving-kindness meditation. The stages of this technique and choosing your focal people. Writing your own aspiration for the practice. Practicing with loving-kindness meditation.

Week Five: Loving-kindness, Take 2
Check in from previous week. Introducing loving-kindness into your daily life. Living with gratitude and grace. Practice with loving kindness meditation.

Week Six: Life as Practice
An intuitive practice – following your own guidance. What to do with persistent thoughts (aka: coaching yourself). Meditation practice, your choice.

To sign up, go to:
http://insighthealthcoaching.com/services/telecourses/

Each call includes:

* 5 – 10 minute introduction & basic instructions
* Breath-work to relax the body and calm the mind
* 5 minutes of practice with the introduced meditation, followed by quick Q&A
* 20 minutes of dedicated meditation time, followed by
* An additional 20 minutes of Q&A plus coaching with Nona Jordan, mind-body coach
and certified yoga and meditation instructor

There are so many reasons to practice the art of doing nothing! Studies show some benefits of meditation to be:

* Increased ability to deal with stress
* Less physical pain
* More mental flexibility
* Greater sense of control and purpose
* Higher immune function
* More peaceful sleep
* Better looking

Okay, I made the last one up, but don’t you think people who are relaxed and happy are much more beautiful??

Classes will be held via teleconference every Monday at 9:00am EST (6:00am PST, and 3:00pm Central European Time) beginning November 9th and with the final class on December 14th.

Introductory price: $69.00 (less than the cost of a Yoga class each week!)

For more info and to sign up, go to:
http://insighthealthcoaching.com/services/telecourses/

My little family will be going on vacation at the end of this week.  We are going to a family hotel in Austria.  It’s tough, but someone has to do it, right?  So while we are vacationing, the blog will be quiet - I’m running some of my favorite posts from Everyday Yogini, over on the coach blog- about the practice of parenting- over the next week, if you want to take a look.

I’ve been thinking (and writing) a lot about meditation and yoga, and their role in living a healthy, fully-engaged, happy life.  I have some upcoming offerings to help people incorporate a practice of meditation (aka: doing nothing) into their lives.  It will be lots of fun, so, if you are interested, you can read about them over at the coaching blog.

Is there anything related to meditation, yoga or coaching that you would like me to address here?  Got questions?  I’m happy to answer… it’s been a long time since I’ve had an “ask the yogini” post…

Until after vacation!

Crazy as it sounds, yesterday our little family spent the day at the beach.  It was in the low 80’s and Clara swam in the sea, then, we enjoyed a really fabulous lunch at a restaurant on the beach.  Oh how I’m loving this “Fall” weather!

If you aren’t a subscriber at the coaching blog (if you are, I’m sorry to duplicate here), I wanted to let you know about a new offering.  For new newsletter subscribers, I am offering a free introductory manual called More Happy, Less Stress: the sensible art of doing nothing that improves nearly everything!  In it are the top three tools that I use and that I ask each of my clients to use while we are working together.  You can sign up here to get your own copy:

I’m running of for my own practice - a walk, some yoga, followed up with my own art of doing nothing…

We can make our minds

So still like water

That Beings gather

About us,

That they may see

Their own images,

And so live for a moment

With a clearer,

Perhaps even with

A fiercer life

Because of our quiet.

-William Butler Yeats

For more awesome poetry this Thursday, go check out this amazing chick.  Love her writing….

If I could give you any gift in the world, it would be the gift of mindfulness.

Trying to avoid thoughts and feelings is a useless endeavor that most of us spend a LOT of our life energy on.  It is impossible to live a gratifying, happy life that is in line with our deepest desires when we are focused so intently on pushing away perceived negative thoughts and feelings.  

This past year, as I was teaching mindfulness to a Yoga class, after we had sat in meditation for a half an hour, someone asked the question, “So is the point to have no thoughts??”  For me, and for most people I know, this is simply NOT POSSIBLE.  What IS possible is stepping back from our thoughts and emotions and simply watching them, seeing thoughts and feelings as a part of our experience without making our whole life about avoiding them or wallowing in them.  

So, what’s the point of mindfulness if it doesn’t make ”it” (insert your own) go away??  Mindfulness is not a way to stop you from feeling or thinking. However, it does provide a way to live without extra struggle, fundamentally changing your relationship with painful thoughts and feelings in such a way that they’re no longer a problem.

By incorporating a practice of “doing nothing” for 10 - 15 minutes per day, we learn a valuable lesson.   Noticing our thoughts come and go, like clouds across a blue sky, the obvious question is, “Who is watching my thoughts?”  Well, YOU are - the deepest, wisest, most perfect part of you.  That core of wisdom that has every answer you will ever need to live exactly the life you are meant to live.  By learning to step back from the thinking mind, we are given the gift of ourselves. 

By accessing this part of ourselves, we make choices that move us towards our highest purpose and true happiness. What could be more important than that?

The benefits far exceed the investment of your time - to read more, Psychology Today has an excellent article on the science behind the benefits of meditation.

If you don’t have a practice now, but would like to get started, Audiodharma has a great (free) introductory series of talks on meditation. If that doesn’t appeal to you, just do nothing. Seriously. Sit down, with you and yourself for 10 - 15 minutes every day. Bring your attention to the rising and the falling of the breath and, as thoughts come up, just watch them - maybe even label them, “thinking”, and go back to the breath. Over and over, for 10 minutes, return to the breath. When you find that you have become lost in your thoughts (you will), kindly return to the breath.

For those of you who do you have a daily practice of doing nothing (aka: mindfulness), how has it impacted the way you live your life? Tell me in the comments.

I am back!

It felt like the fastest trip ever, but I have a secret. Well, not for long.

After the initial shock of Clara’s tears and getting out the door, I had a great time. I enjoyed thinking about Clara, but I didn’t miss her. At all. Hey, after almost five years (if you count belly-time) of togetherness, it was time for a break. I’m pleased to report that Clara was no worse for the wear and, dare I say it, enjoyed herself tremendously having some one on one time with Erick. And Erick? He’s pretty proud of himself for keeping Clara put together for a whole four days. He didn’t brush her hair the whole time, but a man’s got his limits. I can grant him that.

The flights were long and the food was bad, but, I managed to watch some films that kept me entertained and, I actually laughed out loud during a few of them… I had ample time to meditate and did so. I have a great body-scan meditation loaded on my iPod which is terrific when I am really tense and can’t relax (I don’t find airline seats conducive to relaxing deeply. Maybe it’s just me!). I highly recommend it to anyone who would like to start a meditation practice, or if you travel a lot, it’s a great way to relax in-flight.

I had the luxury of staying with friends who were so sweet to accomodate me! I had a nice space where I did Yoga when I woke up at 3am both nights due to jet lag… how lovely to stretch out and drop into the body when it’s feeling a little kooky due to time zone changes!

Finally, I put the whipped cream on top of my visit by having an Accupuncture treatment with Kate. I can’t recommend her enough if you are in the DC area. What a tasty treat before getting on a long-haul flight…

Clara was awake when I got home and I was as thrilled to see her as she was me. It’s wonderful to be home, but it was wonderful to be away, too. And now, I’m sure next time will come sooner than later.

Before I get started on walking meditation, I want to thank all of you who gave me such support, as well as great ideas yesterday! This last year has left me isolated in my parenting, which can make it feel like Clara and I are the only ones experiencing tantrums, pickiness, dawdling, etc. So I bow to each of you Mommies for all the love and compassion you show to your children… and for sharing your own challenges and solutions with me.

____________________________

As you know, I am a big fan of practices that don’t take hours or require living in the mountains wearing a loincloth. After all, we are busy and our attention is generally divided between roughly 1,000 things. But we all seek balance and, I believe, an inner place of stillness. Dare I even call it spiritual connection? Whatever you choose to call it, I think everyone should have at least five practices they love and are familiar with using. That way when a mini-break is needed, your soul is in need of a recharge, or, you have a few spare minutes to reconnect with yourself, you have choices.

I fondly think of these as my “guerilla practices”…

One that is easily transported, and also good when you might not otherwise be able to get your brain to settle down is walking meditation. Great if you can take your shoes off, but certainly not necessary.

Set a timer for five minutes (or longer) and choose a place to walk (around the playground, or the office, maybe?). Take a few deep breaths and allow the mind to loosen up and quiet down as you begin, very slowly, to walk- keeping the mind focused entirely on the sensation of walking. Feel the foot rolling from heel to toe, feel the weight of the body transfer from one side of the body to the other… focus on the sensations of moving the body.

You can certainly do this at a full-speed walk, but begin by slowing it down to tune in completely to being in your body and experiencing the meditation and your body completely.

May you all find time for your personal practices this weekend…

One of my favorite meditation practices is the Buddhist Metta (lovingkindness) meditation. The idea being that we extend a feeling of goodwill, happiness, love, contentment- really, whatever you want to call it- to ourselves and the world around us. It doesn’t have to be time consuming at all. 5-10 minutes usually is enough to bubble up some good feelings, a calm mind, and an open heart. (And, if you are someone who feels you ‘can’t meditation’ because your mind is too active, this is a great way to give your brain something to focus on!)

Beginning in a comfortable seated position, begin to bring the awareness to the breath. Not altering your natural breathing patterns in any way, but just watching the natural rising and falling of the breath.

Imagine yourself in your mind’s eye. (I like to think of myself holding me as I would Clara… but whatever way works for you is great)

Repeating the words, silently, but with your full attention, in regards to yourself:

May I be filled with loving kindness,
May I be well,
May I be peaceful and at ease,
May I be happy.

Repeating this to yourself a few times, on your own behalf. If you are feeling particularly crummy, or, if you find that you have a block (meaning no feeling for yourself comes up) you may just want to spend the entire time focusing on sending yourself loving kindness. Also, if the words don’t work for you, feel free to alter them to express your unique feeling of metta.

The next person to send loving kindness to is someone you love very much- I generally do both Erick and Clara in this category. Notice if you find it easier to generate a feeling of goodwill for someone other than yourself!

Next, would be someone you feel neutral about. The store clerk, an aquaintance,etc. Again, noticing how easy or difficult it is to offer love and compassion to this person.

Following the neutral person, choose a difficult person. Someone that you are upset with. I don’t recommend starting with someone that you cannot stand, but maybe someone you love that you are not getting along with. Don’t try and torture yourself with the practice!! Take time to note the ease with which you can offer this to a difficult person.

Last, send loving kindness to everyone that you have in this exercise and begin to project an ever-widening circle of loving kindness, beginning with your neighborhood, and then expanding outward to your city, your state, your country, and finally encompassing the whole world and all beings enhabiting the planet with your compassion, love, and peace.

Metta meditation creates an open-heart, softening, and compassion for ourselves and others. Try it and see for yourself. You won’t be sorry.