There's No Hangover with Yoga.

Every morning on my way to the studio I pass by a local bar and I have made a guessing game of sorts out of how many cars will be in the parking lot left over from the night before.  The other morning it was four.  My first thought is usually, well I am glad they had the common sense, or someone  they were with, not to drive home in an inebriated condition.  But then my second thought is what is going on in their lives that they had to get there in the first place. Some days the same care is still there, staying there for days waiting for the owner to come get it.  What are they doing that they couldn't come back the next day.

If I am sounding somewhat judgmental, I don't mean to be.  Just curious as to what path they are on that has taken them to this point.

I never was a big drinker, I was what you called a cheap drunk.  One glass of wine and I was done for the night.  But the hangover would last longer than the buzz.  I remember one of my first teachers told me the only reason he tired yoga was because someone told him he could get a "high" from it.

Can you get a high from yoga, yep! If you googled "yoga buzz" you will come up with tons of information about it.  It really does exist.

How does it work? You move and you breath, simple as that.  Working the "outer body" you increase the circulation of the blood, bringing in needed nutrients with your inhales and releasing toxins with your exhales.  With the postures you wring out the organs and strengthen and lengthen your muscles. You start to release the "issues that hide in our tissues".  This magic just doesn't happen with a kick ass hot yoga class, it happens with the most gentlest forms of yoga.

On the website urbandictionary.com there is even a  bonafide definition: "Yoga Buzz: the high or elated feeling upon completion of a focused hatha yoga or meditation practice.  The sensation that arises upon connecting the oneness of the universe".  Just reading that gets me a little loopy.  

We all have drama and obstacles in our life that we need to deal with.  With a chemical high when you come down  the problems are still there and  you haven't learned any coping mechanism.  With a yoga high or buzz when and if you come out of it, you have learned that there is another way. After all yoga is a journey of self realization.  So just don't put a band aid on your drama, hoping that you can drink it away.  Give yoga a try and start to change your life for the better and of course....don't forget to breathe.

Look at Me Ma!

I used to teach chair yoga where my 88 year old mother lives, a community for "active seniors" and if you call it a nursing home she will most definitely take you down, all 4'10"of her.  But I am getting off my topic of choice. I  loved seeing all the little ladies come into class all styled out, heavily dosed in Chanel No. 5.  Hats, broaches ( decorative pins for those of you in a younger age group), scarves, they were adorable. There were a few men here and there, but just like other yoga class, the ladies dominated.  And if you think you can't work up a sweat doing chair yoga, you my friend are sadly mistaken. try it sometimes.  Again I am getting off the topic.

Truth be told, the only reason my mom would attend the class was because I was teaching it.  She loved to show me off to her lady friends, just busting with pride. There were times when she wouldn't let me start class until I showed the students how I could do head stand.  She and I would argue but of course she would win and up (or upside down) I went.  She would just gush and everyone would clap.  Only then was I allowed to start class.

I thought of this recently when I was trying to remind someone yet again that the true essence of yoga isn't about getting up into handstand, even if your mom makes you.  It's about the breath, it's about practicing Seva (selfless service), it's about being there when someone reaches out.  It's so much more than the physical practice.  If you have read my blog in the past, you know that I bring this up time and time again.  But it needs to be.  We get so caught up about the "what about me" mantra that we forget where true happiness comes from. Not happy in your current life, good chance that it's all about you.  All about  showing off in handstand, headstand or what ever advanced pose that you can do. Here is a simple formula for you to follow: you + Seva = happiness.  Get it? Got it? Good!

If your ego is attaching your happiness to the pose of the month, what happens when you find yourself in a chair yoga class. Don't think that's going to happen to you, guess again people  I guarantee neither did any of the lovely ladies in the class that I taught.  

Moral of the story, stay active, move, eat right, practice yoga, but most importantly practice Seva....and don't forget to breath.

Happy Valentine's Day

“Without love,
all worship is a burden,
all dancing is a chore,
all music is mere noise.
All the rain of heaven may fall into the sea.
Without love, 
not one drop could become a pearl.”
~ Rumi ~

Happy Valentine's Day!

Yoga for One Please!

I remember when I was first interested in wanting to start a yoga practice..  I tried to talk everyone I knew into taking it with me.  Good Lord I didn't want to go alone, way too crazy.  Sisters, girlfriends, cousins, spouse, I couldn't fine any takers.  Years went by and the more I read about it the more I wanted to take it and one day I just put my big girl pants on and went all by myself.

 

I was reminded of this the other day when two new students came in for class and a third friend who was suppose to join them didn't.  Of the remaining two, one looked at the other and said "boy aren't you glad I came or you would have been all by yourself". Alone in a yoga studio?  Highly unlikely.  She said it has if it was such a bad thing, even though I am sure that she didn't mean it that way but that's how we perceive it.  What is so bad about being alone with yourself.  First of all most anywhere you go you really aren't by yourself.  You are surrounded by countless others, you may not know them but you truly aren't alone.

 

Why are we afraid to venture out on our own? To try a new experience, meet new friends, to put our big girl (or boy) pants on and embrace the world.  What is on your "to do" list that hasn't been done because you can't find anyone to do it with.  What if you never find someone to do it with, if you continue on the path that you are on you will miss out on it.

 

A few weeks ago I was to meet a friend for lunch, we got our signals crossed and I ended up eating lunch alone and enjoyed my own company. I was tempted to go to the car and get a book, but I didn't.  My neighbor went to the show by herself the other day to see a movie and enjoyed her own company.  Of course taking a break from 2 active sons was an added bonus. And please explain to me why some women need a bathroom buddy?  I have never understood that one.

 

Most often we aren't afraid to be physically alone but internally alone.  That means we will have to have a conversation with our own thoughts.  Horrors! What is so bad about being by yourself.  What are you afraid of. Yoga and meditation is a discovery of self realization. Learning about our body and our mind, what makes us move and what makes us tick.  No one else can do that for us or with us .

 

If I eventually didn't pursue my journey of yoga by myself I wouldn't have the wonderful full life that have today. There are no do overs in life. So listen up everyone, put your big girl or boy pants on and take that leap of faith....and just breathe.

 

The Hardest Pose in Yoga

Well today is the day that I have promised for a while, I am going to actually talk about a yoga pose!  It is often said to be the hardest pose in your practice, well you may have already guessed by now from the picture that it's not handstand.  Yep, it's Shavasana, corpse pose. Did you read that correctly? Shavasana the hardest pose. Goodness look at the gentleman in the picture, he looks totally "zened" out.  By the way don't you just love how the light is falling across his body. 

As a clarification,  I didn't say it was the hardest physical pose, I said it was the hardest pose and the most important in your yoga practice. Done as the last pose of your practice as you release all muscular tension and you take this time to repair and recharge, find a balance before you come out and enter the world again. Ideally it should last 10 to 15 minutes if not longer.  But of course some of us in the Western world shorten it up considerably so we can get that last boat pose or headstand in.  (as a side note I am working on bringing  a proper Shavasana back into my classes). It is somewhat of an intimidating pose because our heart is open our body is in a vulnerable position and we are asked to just let go and trust.  That's where the hard part comes in.

I always like to think of Shavasana as that final blessings to yourself or from a higher power, to seal up the practice that you just worked so hard at.  I was raised in the Catholic church and  wondered in amazement at all of the people who would leave church right after receiving communion.  They didn't even go back to their seats, just straight out the back door.  I still want to yell at them "wait, where are you going, you are missing the best part, the final blessing".  " The Mass is ended, go in peace" or "Go in peace to love and serve the Lord".  Why would you not want to receive that?  We all could use a lot more peace in our lives.

I remember being in a yoga class years ago where it was like a revolving door, people coming and going during the class and then half the class getting up and leaving before the final "blessing".  I never went back.

Now Shavasana isn't about sleeping, even though that sometimes happens. Think of it as active relaxation. Sort of a reflection of the practice that you just experienced.  Enjoy, noticing the new sensation of your body.

You don't have to save Shavasana for the end of your yoga practice.  Enter it when you need to find some silence or if you are having trouble falling asleep.   Start at your toes and slowing work your way up your body as you consciously release and relax every muscle till you reach the crown of your head.  And yes of course, don't forget to breath.

 

We Are All Related....

Mitakuye Oyasin

(All My Relations or We are All Related)

~A Lakota Indian Prayer

 

 

 

 

 

 

This past Sunday one of our teacher trainees, Amanda H., brought in her parents for "show & tell".  They were visiting from South Dakota where they live on a Indian Reservation with the Lakota Indians. They shared with us that the reservation is located in the poorest county in the country. 

  

We were explaining to them what the salutation Namaste meant and they shared with us the prayer above.  Their visit was short but wanting to know more abut the prayers and through the miracle of google this is what I found  "To pray this prayer is to petition God on behalf of everyone and everything on Earth.  Mitakuye Oyasin honors the sacredness of each person's individual spiritual path, acknowledges the sacredness of all life (human, animal, plant, etc.) and creates an energy of awareness which strengthens not only the person who prays but the entire planet."

 

This just reinforces my belief that we are all on the same path to happiness, no matter our race, religion, or social background.  We all want the same thing because we are all related.  Mitakuye Oyasin my dear friends and don't forget to breathe.

 

P.S. Just don't you just love the picture!

What's Required to Start a Yoga Practice?

When I was in high school I wasn't very athletic.  As a 4' 11" incoming freshman at an all girl high school, basket ball obviously wasn't an option.  Field hockey, I wasn't really all that coordinated. I tried out for the cheer leading team and didn't make it, still not quite sure why. Hmmmm, could be that coordination thing.

Why am I bringing up all of these ghosts from the past, which I thankfully have learned to let be in the past. Well, coincidentally, a gal that I went to high school with is now a student at Santosha. We really didn't hang around (do they still say that) in the same group but knew of each other and it was nice to re-connect. I had asked her the other day if she ever thought she would be taking yoga classes from me.  Her answer....".no, because you weren't athletic in high school."

So that brings me to the title of this post, what's required to start a yoga practice?   Do you have to be a certain height or weight....nope.  Do you have to be in a certain age group...nope. Do you have to be coordinated...nope.  Do you have to be athletic...nope.

So what is required?  Do you have to be able to breath...yes. Do you need to have a willingness to to change....yes.  Do you need to have the understanding that there is a another way...yes. Do you need to have the ability to honor your body...yes.  Do you need to possess the desire to have fun...yes. Everything else will follow.

There is a song from the mid 1960's by Buffalo Springfield (yes I keep on telling you that I am that old) and the first two lines of the song are  "There's something happening here. What is is ain't exactly clear...  I play it sometimes in my classes because the lyrics remind me of the magic of yoga.  Not sure sometimes how is all happens but it just does.  How do you start.....just breathe.