Everyday Yogini

Over at Find Bliss, where I blog about Yoga, there is a fantastic giveaway for a new Aurorae Yoga mat! To enter the contest, head on over there.

I hope you all are enjoying a peaceful holiday season!

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/

Maybe you don’t know, but when I chose the school I was going to attend for yoga teacher training, I went with the school that I felt the strongest aversion to.  That’s right.  I did not, under any circumstances, want to go to Kripalu.  At the time, I was injured (well, I’d been injured almost non-stop from practicing vinyasa) and couldn’t argue away the fact that my body couldn’t handle a month of vinyasa without a revolt.  I was “forced” to look at different options, because my body was having NONE of the vinyasa practice.

Now, of course, I look back on that as one of the best decisions I have ever taken.  And it’s largely because when something seems oddly repellent to me, I am apt to lean in and explore it.

This isn’t the kind of deep down, gut level, “don’t do it or you are going to be so sorry” kind of aversion, but a kind of mental acrobatics aversion, that, for me, has a flavor of superiority, like, “that couldn’t possibly be of any help to me because I’m really so beyond it.”

Yeah, right.   Those are the kind of juicy things that I like to hold my nose, and lean in to.

For instance.  I love the blog of Havi Brooks.  She is a yoga teacher, and a coach, with a rubber duck as a side kick.  But she is into this kind of weird yoga called Shiva Nata.  Whata huh?  So here is my seriously amped up ego on this topic, as I’m reading her explanation of how this practice helps the two sides of the brain talk more, while it rewires your neural pathways,  “I have been practicing yoga for 16 years and I’ve never heard of this and it looks ridiculous and I am left handed so my brain hemispheres work together really well already.”

Seriously.  This is what I have to work with in this lifetime.  *sigh*  Can you believe it?

So, I’ve been resisting.  And resisting.  And coming back to it and reading about it over and over.  While holding my nose tonight, I ordered the DVD.  I read through some of the materials.  I’m still holding my nose, but I’m leaning in, and I’m curious.  Because people I love, like her and her, subscribe to this wacko practice that looks NOTHING like yoga to me.  And, because I’m fascinated with the idea of rewiring the brain and the different ways we can do that.  Plus, anything that comes with a guarantee of hot buttered epiphanies sounds like it might be something I’ll enjoy.   Eventually. After I’ve rewired some networks…

Are you a Shivanaut?  Tell me about your practice.  Are you interested?  Check it out and let’s explore together.  Think I’m nuts and I should have steered clear?  Well, you might be right and we’ll find out, won’t we?  In any case, thanks for joining me on the journey - you’ll hear more about this, I’m sure.

Our bodies are faithful guides that are always giving us clues about the direction we are taking in life.  Unfortunately, since our bodies don’t communicate in words, it’s easy to miss the message in our very thought-centric society.  In Yoga class, I am often telling students to listen to their bodies.  This is more than just instruction for any physical activity, but an imperative skill that translates into living a better life. 

For instance, back in the day, when I was working in corporate accounting, I would often try to get up and practice Yoga prior to work.  I found that I often couldn’t rouse myself for that activity and, when I did, I always had a horrible, horrible day – I would feel tired and heavy, as well as VERY cranky.  At the time, I attributed it to not getting enough sleep and thought to myself, “Wow, morning Yoga and work just don’t mix, so, I will shift my Yoga practice to after work instead…” 

Complete insanity, don’t you think??

This time period popped into my head the other day and I laughed out loud – my body was sending me very clear signals that my job in accounting was the WRONG place for me.  I was able to ignore my body signals on days that I practiced Yoga after work, but on the days that I was actually present in my body before work through my Yoga practice, my body was sending a loud and resounding, “NO” to me about my career at that time.  Today, I am MUCH better at hearing the wisdom of my body barometer - I know what my body’s “yes” and “no” both feel like in my body, and I listen up and act accordingly.

The point is, that in all cases, if you follow your body barometer by moving away from activities, places, and people that your body barometer says, “No” to, and move toward activities, places, and people that your body reacts in a resounding, “Yes” to, you will find your life moving effortlessly in a positive direction.  Now, whether your social conditioning will happily go along for the ride is another story altogether!!  

What does it feel like in your body when you are engaged in something or with someone that is clearly not for you?  How about something or someone that clearly makes you happy??  Are there times that you experience these sensations in your body and ignore them? Why? Tell me about your body barometer in the comments. 

I love this.  I mean, I really, really love this.   Karma Krew is a yoga inspired nonprofit organization dedicated to mobilizing the collective energy of the yoga community to translate the insights revealed on the mat into purposeful action in the the world. In May, they are promoting a nationwide Yogathon!  Please, get involved and/or spread the word. 

One People One Cause One Month

 ~ May 2009 ~

Uniting together to support yoga outreach

Peace by Peace is Simple:

Receive pledges from friends and family to sponsor you for each yoga class
you take during the month of May. With each class you take and dollar you
raise, you support the non-profit, Karma Krew, and join in the effort to expand
yoga beyond the walls of the studios and into the hearts of our communities
through service outreach programs and yoga classes for the underserved.
Together, we can make a difference in this world - peace by peace.

Register Now

Donate Now

Become A Teaching Ambassador

List of Ambassadors

Download Poster

Download Press Release

Yoga Journal Blog

Register now and be eligible for fabulous prizes from our sponsors:                 

I like to encourage everyone to pursue a home practice, be it Meditation, Yoga, Tai Chi - really, whatever calls to you.  It can be really difficult to make time for a home practice, but, I think an even bigger barrier is the “What-do-I-do-now-that-my-mat-is-rolled-out” barrier.  Even after practicing Yoga for as long as I have, for crying out loud, I have days where I just want to follow a practice designed by someone else! 

So for those of you looking for a (free) full practice of an hour or so, I suggest subscribing to Yoga Today, a really fabulous group of Yoginis that provide free, daily Yoga practices via the internet. If you don’t have time for a full practice, but still want the benefits of practice, they also have a blog with lots of (free) mini-practice sessions. The range of clips they have is astonishing… they even have a practice you can do with your kids! Brilliant!

Even if you can’t find ten minutes to follow along with Yoga Today, I will encourage you with the wisdom of my very first Yoga teacher. She asked us all to pick a pose we really, really liked from class and commit to practicing that one pose every day. To slowly and gently be in the pose, to experience it fully. I was skeptical about ONE posture being a Yoga practice, but, I did it (mainly because I thought the teacher was simply amazing!). Every day, one pose. And, over time, my home practice organically grew to include more postures and also, meditation. But even had it not, one minute spent fully in the body, aware of the breath, can have more impact than an hour-long class where you are mentally checked out. Really.

What is your favorite asana? Can you find time to practice it every day? If not, what is stopping you? Tell me in the comments.

A home practice is the heart of Yoga. That being said, it took me years to get in the groove of practicing at home. It’s daunting, and, at least for me, I felt that if I couldn’t devote an hour, it wasn’t worth it. If this line of reasoning sounds familiar, please, learn from me and take this to heart: If you have 10 minutes, practice 10 minutes and bask in your 10 minute home practice. Even 10 minutes (heck, even 5 minutes) per day can be transformative!

When we come to Yoga or Meditation, we do so for a number of reasons. Knowing our reasons can help us stay the course with our practice. Some of the reasons that people choose to practice are:

- A healthier body
- To quiet the mind
- To be more present, mindful
- To strengthen the qualities that asanas embody
- To see (and transform) how we “do” life

No matter why we begin a practice, eventually, a steady practice leads us to perspective, a clear(er) mind, and a greater ability to respond instead of react.

______________________________

A home practice requires very little of us. An open mind, an empty stomach and bare feet are all that we really need. A sticky mat is helpful, but certainly not necessary (as proven by Lia). The most important thing is to know what is essential for YOU to be able to create a home practice. Do you need a video, or a podcast? Are books enough for you? Give yourself the gift of creating circumstances for success, and then, set reasonable time commitments for your practice.

Hint: I NEVER say to myself, “I am going to practice for an hour every day.” Honestly, I would never practice!! Typically I commit to 15 - 20 minutes of daily practice, and often, more time appears. It’s a recipe for success.

Here are some questions that can help you get started with a home practice:

Why do you practice? What are you seeking?

What do you feel you need to do at home to create practice time? (ie; “the house has to be spotless before I can practice.”) Is it really true? Or realistic?

Can you make (or find) 10 minutes per day for your practice?

If you don’t practice at home (and you want to), what stops you?

If you had 10 minutes per day set aside for practice, what would you fill it with? (ie; “3 asanas and 5 minutes of meditation”)

Got questions about creating a home practice? You can
Ask the Yogini, or, if you have a successful home practice, tell us how you’ve done it!

Over at World Yoga Practice Month (Turned into Year), this month’s challenge is to work on a difficult pose of your choice for the entire month. This would include choosing 4-5 poses to support you in getting into the pose and working with them daily for the month of April.

At first, I read the challenge, and kind of blew it off. Really, just doing the basics of Yoga is wonderful for me and I don’t feel like “challenging” my needing-to-heal body. And, plus, it would be so hard to choose ONE to work on. I’ve always been a “strong” Yogi: inversions and backbends (considered very challenging) are not so hard for me. But my hamstrings? HA! And my shoulders? Double HA! I really can just focus on the basics and gain great benefit…

So today, I went for a long walk and while I was walking, the April challenge popped back into my head for some reason. All of a sudden, Hanuman, and his Yoga asana, were also there in my head. So, of course, I am taking the challenge. I will be working with Hanumanasana this month.

Until my early twenties, I could actually do this asana. Then years of sitting at a desk took priority over keeping my Hanumanasana fresh… I worked with it for the first time in a loooonnnng time today, and, I have, err, some work to do, to say the least. But, as Hanuman is considered invincible, immortal and super powerful, I look forward to channeling this energy by working with the pose that venerates his great strength.

Have you ever noticed how when you get tense or angry, you might tighten your belly or clench your jaw, or your shoulders come up around your ears? These reactions are, at their essence, body memories- habitual ways that our bodies respond to certain stimulus. Especially, I think, when we don’t express our negative emotions, they can get stored and compound our responses in the here and now. (ie; have you ever overreacted to a situation? I believe this is often a result of stored body memory)

About seven years ago, I was taking a wonderful series of online meditation courses through Wildmind. One of the things that the teacher, Bodhipaksa, shared with me was related to how we hold our bodies. I was expressing to him all the stress I was under at work and he, to paraphrase, basically told me to drop my chin when sitting at the computer and feeling stressed.

Well this was nothing short of a miracle. First of all, it worked. I would drop my chin, my neck would lengthen and all of a sudden I wouldn’t be a stressed out mess. Somehow, the simple act of dropping my chin and lengthening my neck allowed me to step back and be more mindful of the choices I was making. I had this total *aha* moment, “This is how Yoga asanas change our lives.” (But it took a Buddhist monk to show me!)

Let me explain. We learn these habitual body responses that “match” up with a neurological pathway that prescribe to us how we are going to respond in any given situation: remember our tight belly or our clenched jaw? By moving our bodies in new ways through consistent asana practice, we give ourselves the opportunity to rewire our brain’s responses. If our belly doesn’t tighten automatically (or we loosen it as soon as it tightens up), all of a sudden, we have shifted our habitual experience just enough to allow for a few moments of space in which to change our mind.

A relaxed belly, a soft belly, a long neck… all of these ways of being in our body are associated with relaxation, spaciousness, and perspective. Just as shallow breathing can bring about a stress response, so too can long, deep, relaxed breathing reverse that stress response. By changing the way we hold our bodies, we give ourselves the opportunity to change our mind. Practicing Yoga, we open and lengthen our bodies and the breath over and over again. Doing this, we are able to get past the layers of body-habit.

As our bodies move and respond in new ways, new neurological pathways are carved in our brains- this is one of the ways that the simple act of practicing asana over a period of time begins to spill out into our daily life. Organically, we find ourselves accessing our own wisdom, being able to step back and choose, which translates into being present and mindful. We find we don’t have to respond in the way we always have- through making space in our bodies, we magically make space for new ways of thinking and responding! We are, fundamentally, transformed.

Is there a way in which you respond physically that you can experiment with changing? Lengthening the neck, relaxing the belly? Uncrossing the arms? Loosening the jaw? Pick one and work with it for a week and notice if it changes how you habitually react. If you try it, let me know how the experiment goes for you…

Shannon at the Cole Mine posted this question earlier this week in regards to practice for beginners…

I have a question for you Yogini…In beginning yoga, how often do you recommend one practice? I am really wanting to get back into it again, but struggle to find the time. I want to take a class to learn to do the poses correctly (then maybe I can practice on my own at home) but really only have time for class once or twice a week. Any suggestions?

I am so glad that you are finding the time to take a class! Going to a class once or twice a week is a fabulous beginning and will give you a great basis for starting a home practice. After you come home from class, try to take a few minutes to jot down how you feel after your practice and also your favorite poses and key notes about those postures (this will help you develop your home practice).

As far as finding time at home, it’s hard. Just like anything else we choose to spend our time doing, we have to make time (especially when you have small children!). In this instance, though, it is easier than you might think. Once you have gone to even one class, you will have at least one or two asana (poses) that you remember and enjoy. Just do those. Whenever you have a moment, just drop into a pose, with all the attention you can bring to bear in the moment. Even better would be to choose a specific time each day that you will do your chosen asana. Do that everyday and now, you have a home practice! As time marches on, you will find more time on some days, and that will be a wonderful addition to your days!

If you have fifteen minutes, I have a simple sequence that you can download in Word stress-busting-sequence.doc. (I am working on technology to offer sequences on YouTube or by Mp3 files…) If you have an hour, there is a terrific site that you can go to for free Yoga classes that are offered daily (these are better if you are already familiar with the basic poses).

Let me know how it goes with your practice!