East Meets West at Santosha Yoga

This past weekend we hosted two workshops at Santsoha but both with a common theme and great information.

Saturday we had the pleasure of hosting Dr. Joel Kahn. Dr. Joel is a good friend of Cindy, one of our wonderful yoga teachers. He is a cardiologist out of the Beaumont Heath system and just authored the book "The Holistic Heart"  and a columnist for Reader's Digest.  He is also a yogi and a vegan. He told me once that he wants to be put out of a job, wouldn't it be great if there wasn't' a need for cardiologists. He quoted many, many studies and research that supported what a plant based diet (not necessarily vegan or vegetarian) can be for our health and longevity. How exercise, moderation in all things and that even a class a wine a day is good for you (the crowd loved that). Dr. Joel isn't saying that there wont' always be a need for his type of medicine, but that he is "extending his tool box".

On the flip side, Sunday Meena Puri from the Ayurvedic Healing Center in Milford.  She came armed with information that taught us what "dosha" or body type each of us were and how to use food to heal our bodies. How if we change just one thing with our diet and life style it can shift everything.  That our bodies "talk" to us all the time but we usually don't listen.  That constipation shouldn't be ignored, our biggest meal should be in the middle of the day, that we can prevent diseases, another fact that Dr. Joel also told us.

It was one of those weekend where I wished I had recorded them because the was so much going on and taking notes just scratched the surface.

But even though they both came from a somewhat different angle, they both ended with the same message. Diet, yoga and meditation.  Both Dr. Joel and Meena stressed their importance and benefits. A student who attended both talks asked me why aren't more people getting it....I didn't have an answer for her....why aren't people getting the message.

Oh...one more thing they both agreed on an important part of a healthy and stress free life style....

don't forget to just breath!

Watch Your Thoughts!

I have a dear and wonderful person in my life whose has been though a lot in his life,  I mean he has really have been through a lot.  I don't want to go into great details so you are going to have to trust me on this one. 

Whenever we talk and I am just the least bit negative (don't be so surprised I told you that I am not enlightened yet, but a work in progress)  he spins it right back into a positive.  Sometimes it's like a ping pong match back and forth back forth with my friend always having the winning point.  I come away from these conversations feeling good but also a little ashamed.  

After a recent conversation with him, I sat down to journal and just let the thoughts and words pour out on the pages.  The pen drifted to my friend and I then had a ah ha moment. Ah ha moments are the best, one of the many benefits of journaling and meditation which both help the dust settle in your mind so you can think clearer. OK, back to my moment. Because of what my friend has been through I always sense that he is teetering on the edge of keeping it together or losing it all together. His defense mechanism for keeping it together is to always have positive thoughts and positive people around him. That was my ah ha moment. 

It reminded me of the teachings from Buddha.  After he came out of 49 days of meditation he told his followers that life is suffering but he also told his followers that he had a plan to help us find happiness which he called the 8 Fold Path.  Number 3 on that path is "right speech: clear, truthful, up lifting and non-harmful communication". 


That is what my friend is try to do to end his suffering.  We really don't pay attention to or realize how much our words not only affect us but everyone we communicate with.

"Watch your thoughts; they become words, Watch your words' they become actions.  Watch your actions; they become habit. Watch your habits; they become character.  Watch your character it become your destiny."     ~Laozi~
So the next time you go to open your mouth.....pause.....and just breath.

  

Human Perfection...it doesn't exist.

Belated Happy New Year everyone!

"The essence of being human is that one does not seek perfection..." ~George Orwell~

When I first stared blogging, I checked out other yoga related blogs for ideas and would find blogs that hadn't had a post in months, years and thought to myself that's not cool. And now here I am, 2 months since my last blog with karma biting me in the butt.

Let's do a little review over the last few months.  My 88 year old mom had two back surgeries in 3 weeks prior to Thanksgiving , Christmas, New Years, running a business, writers block, procrastination (blah, blah, blah)  and then red-faced because it had been so long.  Sound familiar?  I know that I am not alone in this cycle, we all start something with the best of intentions and life just gets in the way. But the problem isn't that we get side tracked.  It's when we come to the red-faced part of the cycle and just quit.  Just like that.  Sound familiar?  No judgment here by the way.

We are so hard on ourselves, expecting perfection where perfection doesn't exist, forgetting that we are human after all. 

Buddha gave us The Four Noble Truths, the essence of his teachings. It was these four principles that the Buddha came to understand during his meditation under the bodhi tree. The first one is life is dukkha, that life is suffering. But before he even gets to the second one, he breaks down the first one with what he called six occasions when life is pain that applies to everyone, rich, poor, young old.

1.      The trauma of birth.

2.      The pathology of sickness.

3.      The morbidity of decrepitude.

4.      The phobia of death.

5.      To be tied to what one abhors.

6.      To be separate from what one loves.

Wow that's intense. I know it's a lot to take it but he reminds us that's OK not to be perfect, we got a lot stuff going on. The moral of the story?  It's human to get side tracked and red-faced, it's ok.  Just get back on the horse, or blogging, or yoga, or eating healthier.  Or whatever your intention was, don't stop trying.

To help get you back on track of whatever path you are on I am sharing a link to "10 changes you didn't know you were making by practicing yoga".

I'm back.....and don't forget to breathe.

A Quote a Day.....

"Thanksgiving Day comes, by statute, once a year' to the honest man it comes as frequently as the heart of gratitude will allow". 

                ~Edward Sanford Martin~

I love quotes. I am a self confessed quote junky! They help put into words what I am feeling. They put me on track or back on track with their wisdom and thoughts. When my mind is in chaos about something or someone in my life, I just google and I always find a quote that speaks to me.  Some of the authors names are familiar, some come from the most unusual sources (ie: comedians & politicians ) but it doesn't matter as long as the quote speaks to me.

So when I was searching for a Thanksgiving Day quote I came upon Mr. Martin's quote (he was a poet who was born in 1856, I googled it) and of all the ones that popped up at that point in time, for that breath, for what I needed at that moment I chose him.

Why? Because everyday should be a day of thanksgiving not just once a year.  Not just for the length of time between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day. Why? Because they is so much to be grateful for there is no way in hell you can fit it all into those 30 odd days.Why? Because it should be impossible to do so.

I woke up the other morning well before I needed to and his quote came to mind so I just layed there in the silence of the world not yet stirring and started to make a mental list of all the things I am thankful for in no particular order:

• My family, my husband, children, siblings and everyone else that fits into that category.
• My friends.
• My practice of yoga.
• Santosha Yoga.
• The teachers of Santosha.
• The students of Santosha.
• My health.
• The health of my children, especially my two sons who have both battled and won the fight of cancer.
• That fact that they have health insurance.
• The fact that I have health insurance.
• My grandson and my granddaughter who is about 3 weeks away from coming into this world (I know they fall under family but as a grandparent I am allowed to boast.
• My warm bed.
• A roof over my head.
• Food in my belly.
• A car that runs, gas in the car and money to buy gas for the car to run.
• My landlord.
• My husband ((I know that I listed him already but he deserves another mention for putting up with me for over 29 years).
• My favorite pair of jeans.
• The change of seasons in Michigan.
• My grandson's giggle (I know, I know another grandson mention, those of you who are grandparents will understand).
• The struggles and hard times I have had in my life for they truly have made me who I am today.
• Dark chocolate!
• The breath and life that I have in my body.

I could go on and on, and that's my point exactly we need to go on and on to express our gratitude, not just once a year. 

So just take a deep, deep breath and just begin and say to yourself  "I am thankful for.........."

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?