The Everything Yoga Blog

Wisdom Heart Sutra

2008-07-06T14:16:22-04:00

This holiday weekend has felt like one long savasana. Unplugging from the computer proved to be a creative boost. I was reminded of the joys of embracing the emptiness, which puts you smack in the moment.

Today I've jumped back on the computer with a new passion that comes from being away from something for a little while. I found this wonderful video and wanted to share it with you:

Hope you're enjoying each and every moment of the holiday weekend.

Namaste!

The Joys -- and Rewards -- of the Subtle

2008-07-01T17:22:46-04:00

"Wait, you mean there's more to yoga than...yoga?" Ah, that was the wide-eyed yoga newbie me of many years ago. I am ashamed to admit it now but I don't even think I knew the word asana at that time. So discovering that there was more to yoga than asana totally intrigued me.

That intrigue propelled me into a world of exploration -- books, workshops, classes -- you name it and I gobbled it up. With relish. The truth is, I still have a lot to learn. For the first time since I've practiced yoga, I'm formally studying the Sutras. I'd read them before and even participated in discussions about them, but I had never -- until recently -- gone through the Sutras with a fine tooth comb. I love going in-depth, debating translations, and deciphering the deeper meaning of Patanjali's words.

The asana part of yoga lured me initially and remains a joy for me to this day. Still, as I continue to deepen my studies, I evolve my personal practice. Perhaps it's my stage in life (and I'm not necessarily talking about age here) but I find myself more drawn to the subtle practices in yoga a lot more these past few years. Meditation and pranayama, especially, have expanded into lengthy practices for me. According to ancient Indian times, I'm right where I should be.

Unlike society today, where age is a fluid thing (teens are having babies, people are going back to school in their 30s and 40s, women are having children later in life, etc.), India of old had more delineated stages of life. The student stage, which roughly ran through age 25, was one of learning and growing. A lot of asana with some pranayama and a sprinkling of meditation was the practice for those in this first stage of life. The next age group were the householders or those with family and work responsibilities. Because of time constraints and physical changes the householder's practice was more focused on pranayama with asana and some meditation thrown in. The transition stage and the final stage of life were focused more on the inner world than the outer so meditation took up the bulk of one's practice, followed by pranayama and a dash of asana.

By the numbers rather than the lifestyle, I would qualify as a householder. I guess it's fitting that I am focusing on the more subtle practice of pranayama. When I initially started practicing yoga, working in the framework of my body excited me. My body became my laboratory for all kinds of inner experiments that came about through asana. My body -- and my awareness of my body -- changed quite a bit.

Now I find myself longing to work on a deeper level -- one that affects the personality and the emotions. The work is more subtle, and more powerful. Pranayama has become something that I use throughout my day, not just something that I practice apres asana (don't know why I'm in a French mood today, but please humor me). The changes that my pranayama practice have wrought go beyond what I ever could have imagined when I first stepped on the yoga path.

What amazes me even more was how I neglected such an important bodily function, taking its power for granted because it was an automatic response. The breath is more than just life sustaining -- it's life changing. I'm so engrossed by the subject that I'm now in the process of writing an ebook focused solely on the breath and harnessing its power. You don't have to be a yogi to breathe. After all, I was practicing yoga for a few years (and feeling pretty darned self-righteous about what a dedicated/knowledgeable yogi I was) when I realized that I was often holding my breath quite often during my practice. As I look back on it, I was mostly likely creating stress and strain more than I was eliminating it.

My breath is my friend, my barometer, my constant, my savior, my teacher. I know that I can always come back to it and I often do.

As a wise teacher once said, "As the breath, so goes the mind."

Namaste!

Confessions of a Recovering Rusher

2008-06-29T17:29:21-04:00

"There is more to life than simply increasing its speed."
--Mahatma Gandhi

I have a nasty habit of liking things in fast forward. I like speed. I like my computer to function quickly. I like to drive fast. I walk fast. Hell, I even talk fast (although I attribute that one to being raised in NY and an Italian family). Even my workouts used to have a bit of a "rush and get through it" feel to them.The big problem with this awful little habit was the rush mentality, which seemed to creep into every aspect of my life. I had to do everything yesterday. Needless to say, I was one impatient chick.

[Blogger's Note: In the spirit of full-disclosure -- I can still be impatient. No, yoga has not righted all my wrongs just yet. Notice the title of this post used the word "recovering."]

You know what happened to me after all of that rushing? Burn-out. Back when I worked in the corporate world I would rush around Monday through Friday and then turn into a veritable vegetable on the weekend. How's that for one extreme to the other? It was imbalanced and quite unpleasant. And worst of all -- all of that rushing around left very little time for enjoying the scenery.

I didn't realize how much I rushed until I started practicing yoga. My soul was craving the slow-down. I suppose that's why I gave up those "hurry up and finish" workouts in favor of my yoga practice. Of course my rush mentality couldn't quite be contained, no matter how many times I savasana-ed. I craved fast-paced practices, which is no surprise as they mirrored my life off the mat. It took me a few years to realize that slowing down my practice would be a good thing.

Now I mix things up -- some days my practice is slower than others and some days my practice is a mix of yin and yang yoga. Now I actually notice the scenery when I drive. Now I veg out at times throughout the week rather than save it all up for the weekend. Of course I don't need to veg out as much because I'm not moving at the speed of light anymore.

Now that I have a bunch of new projects on my plate, I'm trying to schedule in some slow down time. Expanding my pranayama practice keeps maintains my recovery status. Whenever I find myself rushing, I slow down and do a little breathing. Just last night I was in the middle of working on a new project when I realized that it was closing in on the wee hours of the morning. I stopped and did a 10-minute pranayam. Without it, I doubt I would have gotten any sleep at all last night.

Rushing encouraged unconsciousness. Now that I watch myself I'm a lot more mindful and a lot more relaxed in my day-to-day activities. I suppose I've come a long way because a few months back I had to get my car serviced, which found me sitting in the waiting room at the dealership for 5 hours. Rather than get all impatient, thinking about the things I needed to be doing, I took that time to catch up on some reading, read emails (ah, how I love technology), even have some nice conversations with other folks in the same boat as me. Life in the slow lane is pretty darned nice.

Namaste!

Ab-solutely Fun: Hemalayaa's Beautiful Belly

2008-06-26T16:42:03-04:00

This morning my body was craving some fun in addition to my usual yoga practice (I love my yoga practice but there are days that I want to move in a new way -- preferably to some funky music). It's common for me to mix things up and this morning I was inspired by the ever-playful and fun Hemalayaa, a yogi and Indian dance student. Last summer I tried her Dance of the Kama Sutra DVD and loved it, so I added her new Beautiful Belly DVD to my collection.

The DVD is conveniently segmented so you can fit in a workout, even if you only have 15 minutes. You can start with a fast-paced cardio warm-up to get your blood flowing. Then you have 3 separate abdominal routines you can try. If you choose to do the whole workout, it takes about 40 minutes or so.

I must be honest -- workout DVDs bore me (there are a precious few exceptions, like Intensati). I'm also not one to like DVDs that focus on a particular area of the body (I like to work my whole body). Regardless of all of that, I loved this DVD. Hemalayaa has a great teaching style and the music really pumped me up (which is a good thing at 6:30 AM). Gone are the days of cheesy background music in a workout DVD -- the Indian-flavored music made me feel like I was in an exotic land. And I got a great workout. More importantly, I had fun!

Although I find a lot wrong with the promise of flat, six-pack abs as well as the ridiculous -- and often harmful -- exercises many fitness folks recommend, I liked Hemalayaa's approach. There were no crunches to be found in this workout. Floor work was included but it was balanced nicely by standing moves. Because this is dance-inspired workout, you might feel awkward with the moves at first (like you would learning any type of routine for the first time). I stumbled a bit at first but had no problems after I got into it. The only downside -- it seemed like it was over in a flash (even though quite a bit of time had gone by).

Click here to see a clip from the workout.

As far as I'm concerned, this is another excellent DVD from Acacia. Their line-up of yoga and yoga-related DVDs is impressive. In fact, I'd venture to say that Acacia had the best DVDs of the bunch. I've already got my eye on a few other releases (a few more from Shiva Rea, Yin and Yang yoga, and the second DVD from Desiree Rumbaugh). I'll let you know when I try them.

Namaste!

The Gratitude Challenge & Sangha

2008-06-24T14:15:53-04:00

I am not nearly grateful enough for all that I have in my life. I've decided that this summer is the perfect time to work on having the gratitude attitude. Usually my personal time line includes new endeavors in the fall (after all these years I'm still on the school calendar I guess) with summer being a time of fun and relaxation. I think it's time to shake things up and start something new right now -- developing my gratitude muscle. By the end of the summer I want to be ripped in the gratitude department.

This idea started a few weeks back and then solidified when I read about the Zen Habits Gratefulness Challenge. If you're going to be hanging out at the beach this summer, why not sit on that beach blanket reflecting on all that you have to be grateful for? Call it Thanksgiving in June or whatever -- just start shifting your focus towards gratitude.

I'm throwing downing the gauntlet folks -- think grateful thoughts, be grateful, act grateful.

And to keep you motivated, here is a source for daily inspirational gratitude thoughts (from -- very appropriately -- gratefulness.org).

One (of the many) of the things that I'm grateful for is all of the wonderful folks that I've met online and the opportunities that blogging has afforded me. I'm excited about the launch of the Living Yoga list and I'm currently prepping a bunch of free goodies for everyone that subscribed. I'm currently thinking about ways to transform this into something of a coop -- a place that we can all share good information.

And it's this gratitude for community that's inspired me to join the social media firestorm. I admit that when I first heard of things like Twitter and Facebook I rolled my eyes a bit thinking that these tools were a bit ridiculous. Well, my mind it's a changing. I've set up both a Twitter and a Facebook account and I'm also thinking about creating a Facebook group for all of us who know that there's no such thing as one-size-fits-all yoga. I'm starting to think of it as an online sangha. If you'd like to join me, I'd be honored.

You can find me at the following links:
Facebook (insert vision of Mr. Rogers singing "Won't you be my neighbor?" but sub the word friend in for neighbor)
Twitter

Ah, being grateful and communing with others -- sounds like it's going to be one hell of a summer!

Namaste!