Just Get Off the Couch Damn It!

Wow, if I that title came off a little harsh sorry about that.  But I believe I got my point across.  The reason for my unintended harshness is also the reason I haven't blogged in a while.

Jennie, my 88 year old mom fell mid September and it's been a roller coaster of ER visits, 911 calls hospitals stays, morphine hallucinations and all around concern and craziness. I love my mom very much and have been blessed to have her as my mom, but she is a poster child for how not to age.  I know a lot of it has to do with her generation as she was a child of the Great Depression and finding enough food to eat or coal to heat their homes was a priority in their lives.  She and my dad never went past the 8th grade but they worked hard and provided a wonderful safe life for my siblings and myself. 

As a child she went from selling apples on a street corner with her dad to having a home with my dad filled with warmth, love and lots of food.  She didn't ever want us to go through what she went though and we didn't. 

That generation was so busy taking care and making the lives of their loved ones better, they somehow lost sight of their own health and well being.  They didn't work on farms anymore or walk or bicycle everywhere as their ancestors did. 

My mom just came out of surgery for her back, her second in the past three weeks.  The surgeon said everything went fine, hopefully this one will help with the intense pain that she has been in for the last two months caused by arthritis, spinal stenosis, pinched nerves and crumbling vertebraes.  Please don't see this as picking on my mom, it's meant as a wake up call for the rest of us.  I don't want anyone to have to experience the pain and discomfort that she has been through.

I know that some aspects of aging are inevitable, but there are also a good portion of getting old that's not.  The first thing to do is just get off the couch, damn it.

The yoga classes that I have taught recently have included lots of twists and turns, a great way to keep our backs and spine healthy and that's one example of the health benefits of yoga.  Those who know me or have read my blog in the past know I am advocate any kind of physical exercise, just as long as you get off the couch damn it!

AARP (American Association of Retired Persons) shared statistics of how over the next few decades there will be less and less caregivers for every aging baby boomer.  Scary. Who is going to take care of us if we don't start to take care of ourselves?

Time to get off the couch, move, bend twist and most of all.....just breath.

Take A Seat......Please!

This past Wednesday was the first day of a new class on our schedule, chair yoga.  I have been wanting to offer the class at Santosha since we first opened the doors 4 years ago.  We keep on preaching (sometimes I do get a little preachy) that yoga is for everyone and this type of class proves it even more so.

 

We purchased sturdy chairs (non-folding) that would be safe for the practice.  Put the chairs on yoga mats in the room so they wouldn't slip along with bolsters, straps, blocks and blankets.  All the  "toys" were brought out to make sure everyone had what they needed.

 

Stacey, who is teaching the class, and I waited.  We were very excited to have 8 students show up to the first class.  There seemed to be an instant connection with the group and conversations between them started immediately.  The students were of various ages, the youngest being 50.  Their reasons for being there varied but not their need and desire for being healthier and taking better care of themselves. A few of the students were referred by one of our teachers who is also a physical therapist.  They loved it.

 

I have heard a lot of buzz from our students about this class, my mom gets dizzy in down dog,  my aunt has a hard time getting up and down off the floor.  One sweet gal came in to ask questions about it, she is waiting for a heart transplant and her doctor suggested chair yoga in order for her to get stronger for the surgery, bless her heart indeed!

 

I have included an article about chair yoga from a news letter I received and thought it was a good one to share.  In the article there are links you can go to for actual studies and research of the benefits of yoga.

 

Take a minute or two and think of who in your life might benefit from this type of class and give them a call.  They may not even know that this kind of experience is available to them.   If they don't believe me or the studies maybe they will believe Dr. Oz.  He was teaching his studio audience the other day how to do ujjayi breath (yogic diaphragmatic breathing) and explaining all of the benefits.  Yes even in chair yoga we practice the breath. So tell them the first step is just to take a few moments and just breath.

 

Meditation not Medication!

"The more man meditates upon good thoughts, the better will be his world and the world at large."

 ~ Confucius ~

 

We had our monthly meditation class two Sunday nights ago (the 3rd Sunday of the month) and some of the students who attended said that they just recently found out about it even though they have been attending yoga classes at Santosha for a while. We have offered this free class since we opened the studio four years ago. They gave me a gentle slap on the wrist and said I needed to advertise it more.  I promised I would so here is it: Free Meditation & Study Group, the 3rd Sunday night of every month from 6 pm to 7 pm.

 

But what makes this request even more interesting is that the age of the students admonishing me (lovingly) were in their mid 20's.  Of all the things they could be doing on a Sunday night they attended a meditation class.  Wow! We even had 13 year old Evan who attended with his parents.  If this is a sample of future generations, we are in good hands.

 

My husband is retired now so instead of watching the weather channel as from what I am told, most retirees do, he has taken to watching the stock market channel instead.  Boring!  The other day he called me into the room to watch the a segment. I nicely declined, but he said that I would be interested.  I was.  They had a gentleman on who works for Google and he was telling how he teaches a meditation class there and that there is a waiting list for the class. Imagine a waiting list to attend a meditation class, that to me is close to a perfect world. 

 

He went through a brief explanation as what meditation is about; calming the breath then the mind, bringing in positive thoughts and not judging yourself if negative thoughts come back in.  Exactly! He stated that teaching meditation to the employees have reduced stress, increased productivity and office moral.  Why isn't all of corporate American listening to this? Probably just unaware, however they could attend the Free Meditation & Study Group, the 3rd Sunday night of every month from 6 pm to 7 pm at Santosha Yoga.

 

In our asana practice we strengthen our bodies, but what about our minds.  That's where a meditation practice comes in.  If you googled benefits of meditation, you would be blown away at the results.

 

Not sure what meditation is all about?  Join us the 3rd Sunday of every month from 6 pm to 7 pm (next class is October 20).  Am I forgiven now Erin?

Taking Yoga to New Heights

Yep, that's me at the very top in the orange about 55 feet up.  Crazy huh?  What's even more crazy is how very yoga like it was.

 

One of my students, Paul, is an climber extraordinaire.  He has climbed rocks, mountain, ice and is preparing for a climbing trip next year to Peru.

 

Every time he talks about climbing he says how much like yoga it is.  How you are in the present moment, how much the breath comes into play. How very meditative it is.  Well after many months of gentle prodding on his part, my husband and I found ourselves at Planet Rock in Pontiac this past Friday night.

 

It is a huge old building that I am not sure what its' previous life was, but it seems to be enjoying it's present reincarnation.  The staff was very welcoming when we came in (very important to me, first impressions and all). We were paired up with Russ who took us through an intro for newbie's.  It took about 40 minutes or so where we learned all about knots, safety, harnesses, safety,  braking with the ropes, safety, belaying (the non climber on the bottom with the rope), safety, checking our harnesses, checking our partners harnesses and did I say safety.  Truth be told, my head was spinning just a little. And then it literally let us loose from the beginners wall and said have fun. Holy crap! Just like that.

 

Well he did follow us to the big walls to make sure that we could handle the rope if our climber were to start to fall and made sure we knew how to "break" for them when we were belaying.  Because my hubby is a tad heavier than me (giggles), my harness was tethered to the floor to make sure I didn't become Peter Pan if hubby started to fall. There was always staff walking around to make sure everyone was OK and Paul came over occasionally from his climbing partners to help out and give pointers. 

 

And this is where the yoga kicked in.  After tying the appropriate knots and checking each other's harnesses up I went.  And up and up.  The higher I went the more I seemed to become unaware of the others around me.  My concentration went deeper in as I determined where my feet and hands went next.  I would pause occasionally to make sure that I was breathing deep and full.  Others apparently were climbing within inches of me and I really didn't notice. In a sense I was meditating as I climbed! I reached the top, looked down and realized how high I was and it felt great.  Propelling down was just as much fun....weeee!!!! I went up a few more times taking a different route and still loved it.

 

The other aspect of where the yoga kicked in was with my physical body.  Using the strength of my upper body to pull me up (thanks to all those down dogs and chatarunga's),  the strength of my legs to climb (compliments of warrior poses, crescent, balancing poses when I had one foot planted as I figured out where to put the next one) and the awareness of my core muscles (bandhas) to bring it all together and of course let's not forget the breath. 

 

This practice of yoga is used every where we go and whatever we do in our daily lives.  What ever "mountain's" you have to climb in your life bring your yoga with you and don't forget to breath.

 

P.S. Thanks Paul!

 

 

 

 

 

Good Morning, Namaste

Good morning, Namaste. That was the note that greeted me this morning when I came to the studio, it was written on the back an envelope and tucked under the outside mat. How sweet I thought. 

Then I glanced over to one of the two benches that we have in the front of the studio for gathering purposes (or to cool off after hot yoga) and there was a brown paper bag.  I looked inside and low and behold, not to my surprise, were two empty wine bottles and two plastic cups.

My reaction was bouncing between amused and sadness.  Amused because they chose (since there were two cups I assume it was "they") our studio bench to partake.  Amused because they didn't drink straight out of the bottle, they had some class.  Amused that they neatly had the corks back in the bottles, glasses stacked and put in the bag which was placed to the side so someone wouldn't trip over it.

 

Sadness because they felt that they needed to find their peace and contentment from a bottle in the dark hiding from others.  Sadness because they may not know that there are others ways to find your inner peace that lasts much longer that the buzz from wine and doesn't result in a hangover.  Sadness because what they are looking for is just on the other side of the door that they left the sweet note.

 

Sadness because all they have to do is make the first step and.......just breathe.

 

 

Just A Coincidence?

I just got back Saturday from a trip my family takes each year to Ludington MI.  It started out 20 years ago with one cottage and around 12 of us. This year it was four cottages and including all the coming and goings we had 42 in attendance. That's al lot of Italians!

 

A few of my mom's grandchildren in their 30's (including two of my kids) came up for the first time.  They were way too cool to come up when they were in their late teens and early 20's.  Did time make the rest of us more cool or them less judging?

 

Two of the grandkids were unable to make it due to work commitments and this is where the story gets interesting. Nathan lives in Roseville and Kimberly lives in Royal Oak and they ran into each other at a 7 Eleven at 15 & Crooks.  It's never happened before to them and most likely won't happen again. Crazy huh! 

 

It reminds me of the movie Casablanca when Humphrey Bogart's character Rick say to Ingrid Bergman's character Ilsa "Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into min". Well, in all of the 7 Eleven's in all the towns...you get the idea.

 

We are all share the same energy, no matter who or what we are.  Was it the energy of the family coming together, often mentioning that we had wished that they could have made it, that drew them toward each other.  Was it their energy, knowing that they were the only ones not up north that brought them together. Either way there was some intense sharing of energy going on to make that happen.  Of course we will never know, this is one of those mysteries of the universe.

 

Every thought, action, and word that we put out there does make a difference. It's energy in one form or another.  It connects us in ways beyond our comprehension.  They create situations  that make the hair on our arms stand up.  Most of them we don't realize, they aren't as "in your face" as the 7 Eleven encounter, but they happen.

 

Moral of the story?  Really pay attention to the energy that you put out there because remember the law of Karma, what you put out comes back. 

 

So before you open your mouth, think a thought and take action, ask yourself, do you want this coming back to you at some time in the future.....and just breathe.

     

$100 Worth of Karma

I went to get the mail the other day and there was an envelope addressed to Santosha Yoga without a return address.  I opened it up and out fell a crisp $100 bill along with a two page typed letter. It took me a second or two to process the money and I admit that I held it up to the light to make sure it was real.  It was.

The letter went on to explain the reason for the money.  It was an anonymous gift to Santohsa Yoga to use for 10 classes for students in need of yoga who maybe couldn't otherwise afford it.  The donor went on to explain that they came upon some unexpected money, that is was too difficult to truly explain but similar to finding money in a purse that you hadn't used in a while. We were to use it as we see fit, taking our time to decide who needs its.

The writer shared how yoga has changed their lives and they are ever so grateful for Santosha, the teachers and fellow students (as am I of course).  They was a lot more soul baring but you get the idea.

I re-read the letter several times first just to absorb the essence of it and then trying to play detective.  Hmmm, who could that be.  Must be a female because of the purse reference.  No, it could be male just trying to throw me off track.  By then I came to my senses and felt gratitude for this wonderful gift.

I have given out 4 classes so far of those I feel deserving at the time.  One is to a teenager who uses her babysitting money to take classes, another to a young gal who I know is struggling with school and bills. But as I give each one of them away, I tell them it has strings attached.  They must pay it forward.  They must preform a random act of kindness for someone else and it doesn't have to involve money. They have all assured me that they would.

Just think, that $100 worth of Karma will turn (not can) I repeat, will turn into so much more.  That's how is all starts.  That is the magic of yoga of the mat. Studies have shown

I was so excited by all this generosity that I had to remind myself......to just breathe.