The Everything Yoga Blog

Unplug Your Life and Your Yoga Practice

2009-07-15T18:20:10-04:00

You might have noticed my absence from this blog this past week (or maybe not!). Where have I been, you wonder? In a word -- unplugged. If you thought that unplugged is only about VH-1 inviting rock stars to perform sans amp for a lighter, acoustic sound (I'm a fan of the acoustic sound. In fact, you can often find me at Acoustic Long Island) then you might want to read this post to see unplugged yogi style.

Turning of the Technology
As a self-professed technology geek (who loves her laptop, iPod, Smart Phone and other techie gadgets) I enjoy all things techie. Facebook...check. Twitter...check. Email...check. Text messaging (when done respectfully, of course)...check. Blogging...double, triple check. I log plenty of time on my laptop (and my Idea Pad when I want to travel light) and I've got the house networked. Still, there are times I need a break. While I love staying in touch with folks, spending my day on Facebook and Twittering my brains out can get a little old. And yes, there are days I dread checking my inbox, which is more bloated than a woman in her 9th month of pregnancy.

As much as I love technology, I sometimes overindulge and find myself needing to unplug.

Soooooo...these past few days I've been enjoying the three-dimensional world. Yesterday I was strolling through a field of wildflowers. This morning I met an extremely handsome deer on my nature walk. And this afternoon, I walked on the beach. Ahhhhhhh! I didn't miss my computer -- or any of my other gadgets -- one bit. And I'm reminded once again that perhaps I'm a bit too plugged in. I've barely checked my email all day and somehow the world has continued to spin on its axis (folks -- if you're waiting for me to return an email, you might be waiting for a while).

Unplug Your Yoga Practice
The plug has also been pulled on my yoga practice. I notice that I'm focusing more on pranayama and meditation than asana. I've mixed in a few Legs Up the Wall and Savasanas during the day. I'm taking things a bit slower. The result? My practice is sweeter. I'm calmer mentally (no wonder with all of the techie distractions gone) and I feel happier, lighter. I'm not beating myself up for having a filled to overflowing inbox. I'm just letting it ride. Being unplugged is nice.

Join me, won't you? Try unplugging your yoga practice with a few of these tips:

Take the emphasis off of asana. So many people I meet think that asana is the end all and be all, as if yoga doesn't exist without asana. Not true I assure you. Asana is just a small part of yoga. In fact, if I were living in ancient India, a householder of my age (37) would be practicing more pranayama than asana. Let go of the pressure to get into a certain pose and hold it for a certain number of breaths. Let go of the need for a demanding physical practice. Instead, try some gentle yoga. Here are some options: Healing Moves Yoga by Carol Krucoff (you can download this from Amazon or iTunes); Yin Yoga; Restorative Yoga (scroll down to find the Restorative Yoga DVD offered by Bodhi Yoga, formerly White Mountain Yoga).
Spend time in nature. Practice yoga outside (trade in your yoga mat for grass -- it's delightful), meditate outside, do your pranayama outside. Now that the weather is great, go out and enjoy it. Don't believe in the healing power of nature (I'm definitely a believer), check out this video on the importance of grounding. It's easy to do (no machinery required) and the benefits are astounding.
Practice yoga in silence. So many of us are used to having a teacher directing our asana practice while others regularly turn to DVDs and/or CDs. Try taking a break from class and turning off the DVDs/CDs for a while. Experience your breath initiating the movement and your body dictating the pace of your practice as opposed to an external force.
Amp up your pranayama practice. Pranayama is a subtle yet powerful practice that deserves your time and attention. You can use pranayama to wind down before bed, energize you in the morning (much healthier than coffee), recover from illness, enhance your mood, speed up your metabolism and much more. Take 10-20 minutes a day and breathe! Try this free kumbhaka breathing practice for energy and focus as well as this wonderful collection of breathing practices from Amy Weintraub (you can also download this on iTunes as well).
Extend your savasana. If you're used to spending 5 minutes in savasana, aim for 10. Or you can try 5 minutes of silence and then 15 minutes lying while listening to soothing music. Just let your body and mind go as you listen. I highly recommend my friend Fabeku's Remembering Through Resonance download/CD. You can try before you buy with this free sample download of Fabeku's musical talents.

Slow down. Let go of any guilt associated with doing so. Unwind. That's the process -- and the pleasure -- of unplugging.

If you don't see a post from me for a while, you'll know why...

Namaste!

Congratulations and Recommendations

2009-07-09T16:03:57-04:00

Thank you all for participating in the Summer Solstice Giveaway! I appreciate the time and effort you took to send in your opinions and I'm happy to announce the winners. You can't hear it, but I've just hit my Tibetan Singing Bowl to signify a drum roll...

The winners are:

Kristine Hershberger -- Kristine has won the Beautorium Green Starter Kit
Megan O'Laughlin -- Megan has won the license plate holder
Kristin Wilson -- Kristin has won the latest book from Lucy Edge
Nancy Hughes -- Nancy has won the SIGG water bottle

Woo hoo! Congratulations Kristine, Megan, Kristin, and Nancy! I'll be emailing you within the next day or two to get your shipping information so I can get your goodies out to you as soon as possible.

Everyone Is a Winner
For those of you who didn't win, I offer 15% off your first purchase at beautorium. Simply type the coupon code itsallaboutyoga at the checkout page to receive your discount.

A Few Recommendations
While I don't have anymore free goodies to offer, I do have some recommendations of some cools stuff that I've come across recently:

101 Yoga Poses and Some Inspiration for Your iPhone and iPod Touch -- I must admit that I've downloaded a ridiculous amount of ultra fun and cool apps since buying my iPod Touch a few months ago. Some of my latest favorites are SixPack Yoga Cardz. This app offers 101 yoga poses including advanced poses, whole practices, and seated poses. It's a great way to take your yoga on the road. I also recently loaded a bunch of apps from my friends over at Oceanhouse Media. In addition to the Bowls app, which I use all the time, they've recently released a number of apps from the authors over at Hay House, including Louise Hay, Wayne Dyer, Esther and Jerry Hicks, and Christiane Northrup, just to name a few. The apps include card decks and perpetual calendars that are sure to brighten your day and lighten your mind. I highly recommend them! Click here to see them all.
Kundalini fans rejoice -- there's a new book out from Dr. Siri Atma Khalsa that features new kriyas for the ten bodies. Click here to learn more and read an excerpt.
What I'm reading -- right now I'm reading a two excellent books that I just have to recommend: Path of Least Resistance: Learning to Become the Creative Force in Your Own Life (not it's not about yoga, but it's quite interesting and it got me through the boring waiting during jury duty selection) and The Knowing Heart: A Sufi Path of Transformation (again not about yoga, but about something that has always fascinated me -- Sufism)
What's next on my reading list -- Yoga, Karma, and Rebirth: A Brief History and Philosophy (you can watch a video about the book here and read an interview with the author here) and Yogabody which is the latest from Judith Hanson Lasater (all of Judith's books are wonderful and I'm sure this one will be no different).
Low cost yoga in NYC -- Cyndi Lee's Om Yoga Studio offers yoga classes that won't break the bank. If you're a little budget challenged right now and you live in NYC, check it out:
OM community Classes
$5
Classes with chosen recent OM teacher training graduates
Sunday 9:30am
Monday 1:30pm
Wednesday 9am
Thursday 1:30pm
Friday 1:30pm

OM for a Good Cause Express Class
Donation classes
Mondays 8pm
OM yoga teachers donate their time and all proceeds go this month to
the Fresh Air Fund (sending underprivlidged NYC kids to summer camp
outside the city)

OM teacher scholarship class
Donation classes
Tuesday 9am
This is a wonderful way for our community to support OM yoga teachers
towards the fees of yoga continuing education classes.

Every Thursday this month Om is teaching yoga in the GREAT OUTDOORS of
Union Square (meet at the GW statue) with lululemon (FREE mats!). 8-
9am

Again, congratulations to the winners of the Summer Solstice Giveaway! Hope you enjoy the recommendations.

Namaste!

Making Your Yoga Practice Suit You This Summer

2009-07-06T20:00:01-04:00

For years I did something that I wouldn't even dream of doing now -- I did the same type of yoga practice regardless of how I was feeling. Sick or well; low energy or high energy; winter or summer -- it didn't matter. I did the same vigorous practice day in and day out. Not surprising that I found myself injured and unhappy and craving something different. That's when my yoga study began.

Luckily I learned a few things along the way and now I practice the yoga that suits me in the moment. Today's practice was completely different than the practice that I did last Monday. And my practice tomorrow will most likely differ from what I did today. My body, my mood, my needs are always changing, so why not change my yoga practice?

If you've never switched up your yoga practice before, why not consider it now that summer is upon us? I don't know about you, but I don't want a fiery practice that overheats me in the summertime. My body craves lightness -- in both my food intake and my yoga practice. I'm drawn to lighter foods like watermelon, beans (I made a killer three bean salad for the 4th of July barbecue), smoothies, and berries. My Kapha constitution typically prevents me from being overly affected by the warmer weather, but I still watch my practice during the summer. Here are some tips to help you adjust your practice for the warmer summer weather:

I suggest eating lighter foods. As I've already mentioned, I turn into a watermelon junkie in the summer time. I just love the water content and the sweetness of watermelon and I tend to crave it constantly in the summer time. Click here for some great watermelon recipes from the folks at Kripalu.
Practice asanas that balance the internal fire rather than crank it up -- baddha padmasana, dhanurasana, matsyanasana, salamba sarvangasana, setu bandhasana, and vrksasana.
If you prefer to stick with your usual practice, try practicing differently. Practicing asana in a gentle, meditative manner can cool down your practice. Make sure your breathing has the two qualities mentioned in the Yoga Sutras -- long and smooth. Don't force the breath and be sure that you're not holding it during your practice. And if you're loathe to give up Sun Salutations (you certainly don't have to), try toning them down a bit by taking out the jumps. Again, think gentle.
Try cooling pranayama practices. My favorite is Sitali but sitcari and chandra bhedana are also excellent methods for cooling the internal fire. Click here for a wonderful Peaceful Pranayama practice from YogaToday.
Chanting extends the breath and cooling chants like om and shanti, shanti, shanti can extend your exhale and calm you down. Try incorporating cooling chants into your asana practice for a cooling effect.

For more tips on staying cool this summer, check out the ISHTA Yoga blog.

If you feel your temperature rising at some point during the day, take a yoga break. Kripalu offers some wonderful -- and short -- downloadable yoga breaks that can offer a welcome time out at any time during your day.

One last note before I sign off to enjoy some of this delightful summer weather -- don't forget that tomorrow is the final day of the Summer Solstice Giveaway. That means that you only have through the end of the day tomorrow to enter to win one of the four great prizes that I know you'll love. Click here for details on how to enter. I'll be announcing the winners later on in the week.

Stay cool and namaste!

Get Subtle with Chanting

2009-06-30T21:52:42-04:00

Just yesterday a student mentioned her love for chanting and how it's changed her life for the better. Along with the excess pounds, this person lost her impatience while driving in her car thanks to chanting. If you ever pull up alongside her at a traffic light, she's sure to have a chanting CD blasting from her car stereo. Who knew, right?

Actually, folks in India knew. And they knew a long time ago. So many yoga afficionados are so stuck on asana that the other tools of yoga are often forgotten. Chanting is one of tthose tools and a powerful one at that. When we look the Indian Pancamaya model, which moves from gross to subtle, we see that chanting works on the most subtle levels -- vijnanamaya and anandamaya. These mayas relate to personality and emotions -- the most difficult areas in which to make changes. The next time you're wanting to change a habit or pattern, why not try chanting? Outside of pranayama and meditation, chanting is your yogic tool of choice.

Yet why don't more people chant? Kirtan, which is different than chanting, has become quite popular and it's not unusual to find a regular schedule of kirtan events. Try to find a chanting class and it's quite a different story.

I went to my first chanting class with years of kirtan under my belt. I mistakenly thought that kirtan and chanting were the same thing and had quite a surprise when I realized that they weren't. Rather than being musical, chanting isn't done to sing or perform. Chanting is a way of reflecting, or svadhyaya. Through chanting you can get information about yourself that you can use.

Chanting can be either stimulating, calming or balancing depending on how you chant and the chant itself. One of my favorite simple chants is namaha, which is balancing. I include it in my daily yoga practice and I always feel quite balanced when I'm done. When I'm in need of a lift, I turn to Gayatri. And when I need to calm down, it's shanti, shanti, shantih all the way.

The benefits of chanting are numerous. In addition to helping develop patience, focus and attention, chanting improves our memory (it's been proven that those with memory degeneration can halt the memory loss through regular chanting) and helps us to listen. I don't know about you, but my listening skills could use some work, so I appreciate this benefit (come to think of it, my memory could use a little help too!).

If you can't find a chanting teacher in your area, I highly recommend CDs by Sonia Nelson (Sonia will be at the Colorado Yoga Journal Conference in September) I recently bought her Yoga Sutra chanting CDs and I love them. I know that CDs aren't a substitute for having a teacher from which to learn but it can be the next best thing in a pinch. I'm lucky in that I have both -- the real thing (a fabulous teacher) and a collection of excellent CDs.

If your meditation practice is getting stale or pranayama isn't your thing, give chanting a try. You just might find the same surprising benefits that the student I mentioned above did.

Namaste!

Is Your Diet Supporting Your Yoga Practice?

2009-06-26T18:47:14-04:00

I grew up eating processed foods...a lot of processed foods. Foods I wouldn't even dream of putting in my body now. Why? Because I didn't know any better. And I didn't realize how awful all of those foods made me feel (after all, they tasted so delicious and made me happy while I was eating them). Over the years I gradually changed my eating habits, but it wasn't until I started practicing yoga regularly that I made big changes and made them stick.

A few years prior to my introduction to yoga were particularly bad. I shudder to think of the type of foods I consumed. ICK! If I ate now like I did then, I'd feel awful. Yet back then feeling crappy was normal for me. A few years after practicing yoga, I went to a weekend yoga workshop during which we practiced for a few hours on Friday, much of the day on Saturday and half the day on Sunday. I had never done so much yoga at one time (up until then, I'd been practicing anywhere from 30-90 minutes of yoga per day but never for hours at a time). Interestingly enough, the first thing I did after leaving the workshop on Sunday evening, I went to a Whole Foods for the first (certainly not the last) time.

Ever since then, I've cleaned up my diet quite a bit. Do I still eat foods that aren't nutritionally sound? Absolutely. The difference now is that I try to keep it to a minimum because when I don't, I start to feel bad (low energy, bloated, etc.). Prior to my practicing yoga, I didn't much notice how food affected me. I thought that having a sluggish digestive system was normal and I didn't think anything of the stomach aches, gas, and bloating that followed my junk food feasts.

The big difference between now and then is that before I would clean up my diet because I didn't want to gain weight whereas now I try to keep my diet clean because I feel better when I do. When I don't feel good, it gets in the way of my yoga practice. I suppose this is the definition of yoga -- the linking to something that is positive and unlinking from the thing that causes suffering. I like to feel good and I treasure my yoga practice -- that's enough to keep me from going on a junk food pig out.

If you're finding that feeling sluggish, apathetic, unwell, or your suffering from aches and pains, you might want to take a good look at what you're putting in your mouth. Food matters and the better you eat, the better you'll feel -- and perhaps you'll practice more yoga because of it. The thought of a diet overhaul can be quite intimidating so here are some of my favorite books (I've mentioned some of them before but they're worth reintroducing) to get you started:

The China Study
Green for Life
The Self-Healing Cookbook
Food as Medicine

Superfoods: The Food and Medicine of the Future
The Sunfood Diet Success System

All of these books offer excellent advice, recipes, and information about using food to support your in living well (and maintaining your yoga practice).

The last two books are by well known nutrition expert David Wolfe. I heard about David through friends (who ranted and raved about how brilliant he is and how his teachings and products changed their lives for the better) and I'm so glad that I did. His Web site, SunFood, is a wealth of information and the source for everything you need to know and have to get and remain healthy.

Just yesterday David released a groundbreaking program called Longevity Now. The amount of information he's packed into this program -- which includes a 400-page book with an entire immunity protocol, a set of 7 CDs that addresses everything from getting your mind right to detoxifying to pain relief to enhancing your creativity among many other things, 2 DVDs packed with insightful interviews containing information contained nowhere else, and admission to a free 3-day event that you can attend in person or online -- is truly astounding. I've never seen anything like it before.

I must admit that the price tag seemed a bit hefty but my health is priceless to me. It's one of my top priorities and I feel like anything I spend to maintain it is a worthwhile investment. Fortunately, a variety of payment options are available so you can make it affordable. I've already ordered mine and am counting the days until I receive it. If you'd like to learn more about the Longevity Now Program, click here. These days when stress is so much a part of our everyday existence, a program that can help us combat stress using proven techniques is a necessity not a luxury.

In addition to investing in David Wolfe's program, I also recently bought a high performance blender. I chose the Blendtec but I've also heard wonderful things about the Vita-Mix, so I'd say you can't go wrong with either one. Some of the books I mentioned above offer excellent smoothie recipes designed to get the nutrition you need to live at an optimal level of health.

I know that all of these things are expensive (I was just at Whole Foods today, so I know how pricey it is to eat organic), but I speak from personal experience when I urge you to make your health a priority. If I had stuck to my old diet of processed foods, there's no way I'd be getting on mat every day like I now do. I would most likely be heavier, lazier, and unhealthy. Try little changes that fit in with your budget (like reading one of the books I mentioned above). Don't let your diet get in the way of your yoga practice, or more importantly, living a happy, healthy life.

Namaste!