The Sounds of OM - Yoga and Massage

A new begining

2014-08-02T12:43:00.001-07:00

This is both exciting and sad, but I made the decision to move site providers and start fresh. I've tried to convert this blog into a more professional site for me to use as I develop new skills and need to advertise myself more, but it was hard to move away what I had already created but also had so little time to maintain.

my new site is: omyogaandmassage.wordpress.com

This site is going to act more as a site then a blog about myself and my experiences. I hope you follow my new site and maybe even book yourself for massage or come visit my class!

Stephanie

Bringing love and support naturally

2013-06-11T11:00:00.000-07:00

It's been interesting lately, I have had a lot of comments from friends and loved ones who have all commented on the fact that I've acted at some point, even for many years, as a mentor or a someone they can confide in and be listen to.

I find this interesting because it's not something that I have ever intentionally made myself available for. Nor have I ever felt obliged to to be "that person", becoming burdened by their messy lives. It just seems to be something that happens. I care for these people, I care about what happens to them. I suppose I just ask the right questions and let them know that no matter what, even when I don't feel as though I have the comforting words, that I am present for them. Both then and later on. Even the simplicity of a gentle touch to the hand can send waves of information. All of this is to reinforce that they are not alone. That no matter what, there will always be someone walking beside them, somebody who cares for them and loves them. Also, reminding them that they are surrounded by many others who also love them and want to support them - they just don't always know how to tell them so.

I'm not exactly sure how or why I am good at this. If I were to take a guess, I think it has a lot to do with my own life experiences. I personally have gone through my own share of difficult times, tragedies, of friction. I've always done my best to view these moments as learning opportunities. Opportunities for me to grow, to become a better person. It doesn't mean that I never cried or that I had never been up late wondering "why? why me?" or have private tantrums with the world. I think and hope these responses are all natural.

At some point we stop asking these questions, at which time we can become grateful for those lessons learned, for those difficult times. And although it would've been nicer if we never had to go through those moments, but it creates this maturity, a wiseness. For me, I think it's important to share those experiences, to be open about them. Because we are never alone and my experiences are always somebody else's. Generally not exactly the same, but in some way similar. And by sharing, it creates connections, so that the burden is no longer on their shoulders alone. You do this so that they can have the time to develop their own strength. It is in that time we are then able to heal, and healing can only occur with space.

And finally one day they too will be able to help pass this same love and support to those that they love and care for.

Om Shanti.

Developing an intensive

2013-06-10T11:59:00.001-07:00

I'm sitting in one of my favourite Vancouver coffee shops... with no pen. Planning.
I have finally commited to developing an intensive. Ideally, I'll be running it in August, but that's dependent on finding a studio to use.

I have my concept. Now to fine tune it so I can start advertising and finding people who would be interested. I'm really excited.

Sneak peak:
- a 2 days a week practice, to experience progression and consistency
- for those who want to reignite their own practice
- for those who want more then the standard studio offering (more pranayama, meditation, and japa/chanting, asana workshops)
- for those who have thought about taking a T.T. but are unsure or don't want the commitment if they don't plan to ever teach

Sounds interesting? Stay tuned. Or leave a message with suggestions on what you would like to learn if you had the opportunity to join. Update: join my Facebook Event Page.

Namaste my friends.

more words?

2013-05-27T07:42:00.001-07:00

And then there was yoga for the rest of us

2013-05-26T12:40:00.001-07:00

Today I had the honor of hosting a yoga class for one of our yoga greats in North America, Sage Rountree. When I was asked to do this for Mountain Equipment co-op, not only did I feel surpised and excited, but I also felt the stress off being responsible for 30 bodies and their sense of peace. I didn't know if I could create the calm needed for a yoga class, especially in the midst of the chaos of a large store that even putting noise aside, the shear number of things too look at and distract you with! But I suppose it's in the midst of chaos that we need to find sanctuary the most.

What a great learning experience to have been able to host this event. To have been able to share my own love of yoga to the people in Vancouver through Sage. Who was able to bring such knowledge and experience for different athletes who want to practice yoga in a way that would be beneficial to their own training while respecting their bodies abilities.

This experience has taught me that you can create a sacred space no matter where you are. And even though I had things for the altar like flowers, a singing bowl and even a statue of Shiva. I even managed to clear enough space so that everyone was able to lay their mats comfortably. But it is, I realized, the action of everyone coming together and the subtle vibrations we all create together when we come together as a community.

Namaste

Inherent Intuition. or is it?

2012-11-10T21:27:00.000-08:00

In our society we are told that certain things that we do as humans is simply chocked up to intuition. "fight or flight", "mother knows", "listen to your instincts", "follow your heart". These are all sayings that saturate our lives and when you freeze or you don't know something you feel you should, you begin to doubt your intuition.

Yoga is amazing because it is a reflection of our lives, we often see things in our practice that we might not have noticed off the mat. For instance judgement, judging ourselves, the way we might look or our ability to "perform" that day, especially when compared to that girl in the corner! We can sit in our seat and take the time to notice this behaviour and work towards correcting it, filling it with love, compassion, forgiveness. And again each day is different, there are good ones and bad ones. But out in the "world" judging ourselves in the mirror, to the girl walking down the street walking down the street in her Jimmy Choos... That might just seem like any other day!

So what does this mean to our practice? Well we aren't always reminding ourselves to listen to our bodies and listening to what it has to say that day. We have these goals about our physical practice that says, I want to do camel pose like the pictures, camel pose is not just standing on my knees opening my heart, I'm not going anywhere. I want to be looking behind me, I want to have my hands on my ankles, isn't the saying, "no pain, no gain"?

Expect pain, is not good, it is not a badge of honour. It is a very strong signal telling you enough. It is your intuition saying your body is not ready for that deep of a back bend.

So why do we not listen to our intuition if it is natural if it is part of our human nature to have this ability? Because, we as a culture, have desensitized ourselves away from intuition, developing doubt, developing a system that relies on "facts", on statistics, on an ideal of the way everyone should be. So our ability to listen has been dampened, has been questioned from a young age, to the point that we don't even know what our intuition is telling us.

How do we place more value on our intuition, how do we know what our intuition even sounds or feels like?

Start here:

Close your eyes (after you finish reading this of course!). begin by clearing out your thoughts, your lists of nagging things to do, of people you need to call or check in with, of your own judgements of how you should feel. Find the silence where it is simply just you and the sound of your breath.
Next, very clearly ask yourself overall on a scale of 1-5, how are you? Then do a check, starting with your feet, you can use your hands to start, but work to simply experiencing those moments in silence and stillness. start at your feet, how do they feel? your legs, your knees? your hips? lower back? your abdomen and digestive system? your lower ribs? your chest, your shoulders, your hands, wrists, arms? your neck, your jaw, tongue, even your teeth? your eyes, your head? even your mind?
And again ask yourself, how do you feel? Do you actually feel different once you became aware of your entire body? Do you have a better sense of your being?
Now finally, ask yourself, if you were to practice yoga, or do a presentation, would you hold this same awareness, would you listen more closely to your needs?

It's not easy, and even still you might start your activity with conviction and awareness, but then you get lost in the task and habit and next thing you know and your somewhere you don't necessarily want to be. In a headstand. You don't need to be in that headstand. So come down, sit in lotus and just breath. Ground yourself.

We are all waiting there for you!

Learning to Budget like a Yogi

2012-11-03T17:03:00.002-07:00

For about a year I have been working really hard at saving. I had the goal of saving around $2000 for my summer trip to Wanderlust California. This covered all of the travel costs including the rather expensive ticket to attend, and left me some moula for a second weeklong road trip to visit some family! I more than impressed myself, not only did I make it happen, I managed to live comfortably without making many sacrifices to my day-to-day spending - I just found new ways to make a bit of extra cash.

Now that I'm on the other side of this personal project ,it's high time for me to address my ability to save and my very unfortunate habit to spend what I save.

It's taken me years to figure out the best way to keep me from spending spare cash, and that's by not allowing day to day access to these savings. A normal person might use a savings account, unfortunately I find it too easy to transfer that money into a spending account, or simply attach it to my bank card. I've had it all!

The best method for me is with an old school piggy bank. Any time I have cash or I earn a little extra outside of my regular wage, that money goes in. And I have very strict rules on how I can spend it. Generally speaking, that rule surrounds yoga and training, but if I was going to take a holiday or needed it for an emergency, medical or home, then that's where that cash will go.

But I've also realized I need to try to cut back on some of my spending. Between my husband and I, we spent over a $1200 last months on food and drink in and outside of the home. That was OVER a THOUSAND DOLLARS! what???

I would never have seen that statistic if I hadn't started using a free online program, mint.com. I had often considered purchasing one of those finance programs that are on the market, but always hesitated to put money into something I most likely would not use, or use properly. Something I do more often then I like to, and naturally that would become more wasted money! The irony of the expense was too much for me to dive into.

Not only is mint.com free, it's really simple to use, guaranteed SAFE!, and best of all it's aesthetically pleasing. You don't do any of your banking from the program (so that means money will never be transferred, which adds to its safety). It's simply a tool that you use to keep track of your expenses, create budgets, and a place to witness your spending trends(the good and the bad!). Amongst the different email notifications like warnings of irregular spending or getting close to or going over a budgeted expense, my favourite is the summary that you can receive weekly or monthly. A great snapshot or your habits so that you can hopefully catch any red alarms before they happen!

It's only been a month so far, but I'm hoping that by being able to see where my money goes on a weekly basis I'll be able to rein in more of my spending habits and start paying some of my bills a little bit faster. I would really like to start saving more money so that some of my bigger life plans can happen.

Go check it out, so far i'm REALLY impressed!

Learning and Teaching at once!

2012-10-27T12:37:00.000-07:00

It's been interesting teaching again, more then regularly too! Also, its been great having an ever changing number of people attend my classes, some of them repeats some of them new faces to me or to the studio. And it's REALLY interesting the different thoughts and feelings that run through me week to week.

There are some of the questions that I expected to face: Do they like me? Did they come back for another class because they liked my class? Am I a good teacher?

The one's I had never thought of before were: Are they giving feedback to my peers or supervisors? Will I get this feedback? (I actually want feedback, the good and the ugly!) How do I connect with my students? - Are they "my" students?

Both lists are endless, fortunately I haven't gotten lost in these questions and wonderings, but I do visit a couple of them each week. But my biggest questions surround figuring out my relationship with the studio. In my other life I also work with the public, in fact retail. The culture is: give amazing service whether they have a membership or are buying something, they will always come back for more of the lovin'! So it is naturally in my dialogue to not only sell our product and our culture but for that person who wants to see everything outside first I am more then happy to help and tell them about the different great places in the city. They will go there, check it out, develop a relationship and hopefully decide to come back, because hopefully we will always be more awesome, better people, better prices, and better product overall. And I honestly think 9 out of 10 times, it works. But can I do that to the studio, or is that frowned upon? I completely believe that no matter what, if you show someone a good time, and they groove with you, they will come back, especially if you remind them of that!

But most of this is superficial, and I only need to remind myself, if there is a problem or if they appreciate me, I will find out. Just like I did last weekend when I got called to sub a class last minute. At the end I had several of the students approach me and thank me for a great class. What I really appreciated was being thanked for not only being a good teacher, but for the poses or design of the class, being able to create a multi-level class. Because Asana class IS fun and there is a lot to learn when you push yourself even a little.

So my piece of advice? Talk to your teacher, we are all learning together! Tell them what you liked, what you didn't like. And teachers, just like when your practicing on the mat, keep an open heart, don't ask to many questions, be mindful of what your doing, who is in front of you and don't forget to have fun!

Fall Cleaning and Maintenance

2012-10-20T19:19:00.001-07:00

It's amazing that its nearly been 2 whole months since I settled myself down into a regular schedule. And I've quickly realized that working full time and teaching up to 5-6 classes a week is a energetic commitment. Don't get me wrong I love it, but boy do my weekends ever count when they arrive!

I've been doing a little blog maintenance over the last couple of weeks. Some changes are minor,that even myself might not notice, while others are of the function of the site as I grow as a teacher and learn more about social media and marketing.

Some highlights that I am especially excited about:

New Schedule and Workshops Tab

Now you'll be able to find my regular schedule on one of the tabs above along with classes that I might be substituting on a given day. On this same page, I am hoping to list some workshops that I hope to host in the nearish future. I'm not in a huge rush; I have a lifetime of learning and teaching ahead of me.

Library Tab

This was sort of a random page where I thought when I would buy a new book I would be so excited to review and share my experience, but when you have a limited amount of time and you just want to use that time to read and think about what you've read. The last think I am actually eager to do is review the book. I figure any time I happen to review a book I will still look the title of the book as I have done with one or two of the titles.

My plan now is literally to post my personal library on this page, so I can keep track of what I own, link the images to amazon where there are good reviews if anyone is curious to learn more. But with the background idea that perhaps I can utilize this library for others (that live around me) to borrow from. An easy way to track what is sitting on my shelf.

I'm now on Twitter

Come follow me! I'm still sporadic at best, but I hope to use this new (to me) tool more often especially for reminders of classes or updates on the blog. Search for @SoundsofOm and follow me. Please be patient as I continue to grow and learn in this department! You could also leave me a message to let me know what sort of things you might find interesting (eg. quotes, schedule, photos, my personal ongoings...)

A look backwards, a step forward, time to sit in the present

2012-08-28T13:27:00.002-07:00

Boy did I ever turn OFF this holiday season!

I have been disconnected and loving it. But I'm now refreshed and ready to be back! And best of all, I am armed with new inspiration and lots of stories to tell!

There are no more holidays in my near future, but still lots of celebrations left! I consider fall to be my celebration season and this year I'm excited to kick it off with my 1 year wedding anniversary to my husband and best friend! And best of all it is now less then a week away!

Fall to me has always been the time of year that is the beginning of something new, something like my own personal New Years! Even though I have been out of school for nearly a decade I have not been able to shake it!

So it's always neat for me to look at my year since, since I'm often filled with seated enjoyment thinking about the past moments and the setting of my future goals. But it is what I feel at this moment in the year that make it special, I am simply sitting between an end and a beginning, a past and a future. That leaves me in the present!

Taking snapshot highlights, the pretty and the not so, starting around now, this is my year in review:

1. Big deal, I got married! Yeah, perhaps a little ground crashing! I won't get into it, (you can read enough stories on the internet!) but I will say this: Hosting a wedding was the most rewarding, most stressful, most surprising thing that I have ever done and experienced. To come from a home that is rather broken and conventionally different, to feel people around me, people I wouldn't expect, to come up and help and be there and show me such love was so amazing and shocking all at once. At times it felt so unreal, I couldn't believe it was true. And it was here that I began to understand some of the true essence of what it means to live in a yogic life. Even if you aren't a "yogi".

2. I came to realize and accept that I suffer from SADs and it hits me hard in October and November, and it can be the most debilitating experience. This coming year armed with this acceptance, I am making it my mission to not let SADs take over my life for 2.5 months. And with the start of September I will be beginning a daily dose of Vitamin D. That and teaching yoga and having a direction with focus will help keep the spiral in check! Maybe even through in a little R&R retreat or meditation retreat and I think I will be rocking this West Coast!

3. Although this is old news for me, Christmas can do wonders for my spirit, probably because it is my favourite holiday! So December is when I snapped myself out of my slump, started practicing yoga and began making plans to jump start my career as a yoga teacher.

4. Okay things are rolling, doing a little number crunching, financially survived christmas, mmm I always wanted to go to Wanderlust in California! Baby, here I come, this is happening, chocolate chip cookies, yoga donations, cupcakes and selling my couch. Oh wait, Wanderlust is coming to Whistler?

5. I technically got hired at a yoga studio. Which, although I never worked a class there, was a huge ego boost!

6. Starting in January for 6 months straight I taught two yoga classes a week, which was so much fun and so rewarding to build that kind of relationship, and to really experience how much your students can actually teach you! And I always thought it was funny when people told me that I have a "yoga voice"at work. People new I was happy and calm then!

7. I enrolled in my first ever month long yoga intensive class. It was so great to go to the same teacher (someone I have a lot of respect for and have studied with previously) twice a week and to get to do a book project... It was nice to feel like I was part of a kula again, even if only for a month.

8. Passed my "L" Driving, although I still have a fair share of restrictions on my driving, I can now drive by myself! I'm 28 and I can finally legally drive!

9. Off to Wanderlust California (thank goodness I passed my test, not sure I would have made it!). 6 months of hard work, great saving skills, and a friend to join me for the ride, and a very long 2 days of driving I have arrived in Squaw Valley/ Lake Tahoe region. And there are no showers. Next to these perfect yogis I felt so dirty! Being stuck in a car for two days with some really messed up sleeping and coming to this pristine and perfect experience I felt dirty! Blah! After 5 days of feeling this way I finally muster the energy to spend some time at highcamp (that is over 8,000 ft!) and chill in the hot tub and get me spic and span!

10. Over these two week I manage to have my mind blown over and over and over again. California, the coast, and the Oregon coast are magical! There will be more on this later!

12. Worst mistake ever, come back to work for three days between holidays. So unfocused and excited to not be there! Hah, I do love my day job!

13. Family.... the good the bad the ugly. But still worth every minute of it. My Aunt and Uncle are the greatest people ever and I know they will always be there!

14. Happy to be back at work. Happy to have a schedule. Happy to have responsibility. Oh wait, I'm going to Whistler in a week! Yay!

15. Wanderlust Whistler, lets see what you can do in Canada! Volunteering for Wanderlust Whistler was the best way to experience the festival, especially when you no longer have any savings. And a possible highlight has getting to hang with two fabulous and fat cats!

16. Oh yeah! My teaching is going public! Remember when I got hired at a studio 6 months ago? Well they gave me a class to teach starting in September and I'm getting trained to work the space! I couldn't be in a better spot, I have had a summer of inspiration and a year of real experience!

17. And look at that, here we are, moving into my full circle of a year! I knew this year was great, but I could never have said it was going to be like this! And to think I have another year ahead of me with lessons learned, new experiences and a career in yoga that is really beginning. I can't wait to jump back and get started again! Just two weeks to go!

Yoga with the Belugas

2012-06-11T09:41:00.003-07:00

Did you know that June 8th is celebrated as World Ocean's Day? Also, did you know that it is Canada who inaugurated this celebration around the world?

Here in Vancouver, the Vancouver Aquarium hosted the best World Ocean's Day Celebration! They organizing with Ocean Wise (this is the group that advises what fish are good to eat and which are endangered) the first ever Yoga with the Belugas! And even better yet, this practice was led by none other then Ocean loving surfer-yogi Eoin Finn!

When my husband showed me this event, I immediately latched on and decided that I had no other choice then to fork over the cash and go! Not only were all of the proceeds going to helping protect our oceans and environment but when will I possibly ever get to have this experience ever again???

Well, it was well worth it! There were countless times that you would look up and there would be this incredible creature brushing up against the window curiously looking in on us. It was such a surreal experience to be witness to!

Unfortunately on my way out the door, I grabbed the wrong bag, I grabbed the bag I had unpacked which had only some random things that I did not want for the day! So of course I showed up with no camera and no video camera, only my iPhone! Although the quality isn't superb, this clip I captured really caught the essence of the morning. You could tell there was a connection occurring with our event, the music and the belugas. You could see through music what they enjoyed and the music that they didn't understand. This song seemed to be one of their favourites, in their small entrapment, it looked as though they were dancing!

Enjoy!

2012-05-29T22:25:00.002-07:00

Remember a few months ago when the New york times published that excerpt from the book "The Science of Yoga" by William Broad titled "How Yoga Can Wreck Your Body".

Well back in April at the New York Yoga Journal Conference, they hosted a Panel of Yoga experts with such giants as Ana Forrest, Gary Kraftsow, David Swenson and of course William Broad, all debating whether Yoga should hurt and if the hype around William's book actually a wake up call or a scare tactic.

It is a very interesting listen!

I will learn grasshopper arm balance

2012-05-14T22:45:00.001-07:00

Stumbled on an image of this pose and kept trying to figure out the most efficient way to get in, but my awkwardness combined with gravity I could only find my limbs in twisted and unbalanced positions... straining ...everywhere.
...Now this, is so logical! I'm kind of ashamed I didn't think of it on my own. I will be trying it first thing tomorrow!

**Update: so I tried this, oh man do my hips need some more deep stretching, pigeon and thread the needle, you and I are going to become BEST friends over the next few weeks!

Flowing Through Grass Hopper from Elinore Cohen on Vimeo.

Romantic Buddha Tale

2012-05-14T19:04:00.000-07:00

~ Wake Up and Cook: kitchen Buddhism in Words and Recipes; from a Burmese manuscript adapted and translated by Michael Edwards

2012-05-14T18:35:00.003-07:00

On my quest for all things to do with running and Yoga, two great things fell into my lap.

1st.
The new book by Sage Rountree titled The RUNNER'S Guide to Yoga suddenly was in front of me and so it was only moments before I released it from it's shrink wrap (yes... not so nice packaging! yikes!). I have gone from front to back. I will properly review this later with all of it's pro's and con's. But I will simply state she has grown as a yogi and book writer since her other book, "The Athlete's Guide to Yoga". Lots of great running specific poses, tips to becoming a better runner, not just in the physical training but in the mental capacity and the balance of training and life.

2nd.
Lululemon must have heard me calling. That and well all of their running races are happening across North America! But let us pretend that they were weighing in on my needs too! They have come up with a simple blog post providing 5 quick poses to practice before beginning your run to help limber you up for those 10 kilometres and help balance and strengthen your muscles to prevent injury.

Go and visit Lululemon's blog here and try these before your next run and see how it changes the way you move!

Teacher Profile

2012-04-28T14:54:00.001-07:00

My profile as a yoga teacher is and will always be a work in progress, as long as I continue to learn and grow as both a student and a teacher, so will the profile that describes what I'm about. I wrote a new profile to post as a teacher today...

Namaste! My name is Stephanie and it is always such a pleasure to meet you at your mat! My seven years of practice have been an evolution that has taught me that yoga heals both inward and outward, that it can be a dance or place to find stillness and peace, compassion, openness and most of all that yoga is such a joy to share. I strive to provide a safe and nurturing environment that will leaving you craving more, provide you the chance to discover something new, and the ability to take a brand new breath of air. I look forward to practicing with each and every one of you!

Love and kindness,
Stephanie

Thank you to all of my teachers and students, you are all interchangeable because each student I teach, has something to teach me as well!

Events and Opportunities

2012-04-28T14:38:00.003-07:00

These last two month have been pretty busy and exciting in my world of yoga. I have been making plans, picking up classes and making sure I have enough money to follow through with all of these plans!

Have you heard of Wanderlust? It is this fabulous music and Yoga Festival that began in California many years ago and is now being hosted in four different locations across North America (yes, this includes Canada!) I have been wanting to attend this festival for three years so when January rolled around and I began to receive emails announcing this years dates I decided, this would be the year. I'm married, I've completed my teacher training and then some, registered with the Yoga Alliance, purchased insurance, set up a regular teaching gig and I now I had a whole year ahead of me without much of a plan! So I started doing the math and decided that I could make going to this (rather expensive) festival work. Well that was settled, but I needed to find some more teaching work...

Hello Yogacara! Last month Yogacara contacted me to teach a demonstration class. Contract signed, I am now a substitute teacher for Yogacara. This is really awesome! Actually, I need to speak to this experience and to this studio, especially if you live in the Vancouver area. Yogacara is a small studio, they limit the size of their classes so you know that you will never be sardined into a class. Because of this, it's more of a family-feel studio; your teacher can get to know you and you your teacher. And as for getting to teach, well it went 'awesomely'. It was really great to teach a class of complete strangers. Although I have been teaching groups and individuals for close to a year, they are all people I know in some capacity or another. It felt really good to have students come up to me after and say that they really enjoyed my class and they hoped to take another class with me in the future! While I was teaching, at first I was nervous (it is just what I do, it's like taking a test to me!) but then, at some point it hit me; this was the same as what I had been doing all year, and i knew how to do it! I knew, not only how to tell people how to move but how to make them feel safe. And that is such an honour, every single class I ever teach!

So that was March.

This Month, I had a dear friend from my teacher training ask me to help take care of her studio classes while she celebrated her 25 year anniversary with her husband (this is a couple who are still so in love and you can see it in their eyes, kind of like the movies) So, Stephanie, meet Richmond, BC, Richmond, BC, watch out Stephanie is coming to town!

Shelly Jaffe has a beautiful little studio called Grace and Joy Yoga Studio and it is located off of Shell Road and Steveston Highway. Go visit her site and maybe even her studio! She has the most incredible sense of humour and beauty, and I couldn't be more honoured to be teaching some of her classes while she is away!

Oh and not to forget I will also have the opportunity to volunteer at the Wanderlust festival that is being held locally in Whistler, so not only will I get to spend a fortune and go to California (I couldn't be more excited for this trip!!!) but I get to wrap my summer up by spending a long weekend in Whistler and help others have the time of their lives at a Wanderlust festival! I shouldn't fail to mention in exchange for this service I get a free day pass to study with some amazing teachers! If you are interested in Volunteering at any of the four festivals just go here, fill out the form and be prepared to be amazed and have a ball of a time!

Just remember: Continue looking forward, there are always opportunities to be made in the horizon!

Rules for Happiness

2012-04-17T10:41:00.000-07:00

Yoga and the sports that we do (and a few poses to boot!)

2012-03-23T01:16:00.005-07:00

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about different sports that we do and how many of us use our practice to complement these other activities. Or maybe, what you complement is a sedentary work/life! Either way, we come to our Mats to fill in the pieces!

So how can we optimize our practice to optimize what we do? So what I’m going to challenge myself to is to develop a practice for some of the sports, starting with running and then cycling.

Why running first? Well, because I decided about two months ago that I needed to find another reason to start to or at least learn how to run despite my usual

(and kind of still) hatred of the activity of running. Although I hate to admit it, the activity is starting to grow on me. It is something I can do at any time, virtually anywhere and in anything (almost sounds like yoga!). Running has always been really hard! I played sports and I was competitive, but that had a purpose, a tangible end-result. It generally hurt my throat or chest or both. I was told I wasn’t breathing properly, so I tried to change the way breathed, not that it helped. I discovered I could run a fair bit on a tread mill without the same effects, in fact I kind of found it enjoyable. Turns out what I needed was a little coaching on the natural running techniques and body form. Which after years of yoga, made sense to me. Now, I’m experiencing different areas that need a little extra stretch, or a little more strength to keep my form in alignment. After 19 years I finally understand why people run and am experiencing some of the benefits!

So runners, watch out, I’m coming after you! I want to know your favorite pose or areas that you want that juicy stretch or that one which mill make you sweat!

A peek of what is to come: Strengthen your Medial Gluteus!

These muscles are the ones located on either side of your buttocks just behind and below the top of your hips. This muscle, as it is named, is responsible for the medial rotation of your hips. As you run it ensures you run in a straight line, notice how your feet don’t land hip distance apart, but on a nearly straight line? That rotation is caused in part by this muscle. But even more important and more noticeable (I think, it’s main purpose!) is it’s role of stabilizing the hips in a neutral position when weight bearing on one leg. As you can see in the picture when someone has a weak gluteus medius, that same standing leg’s hip will rise higher then the other.

My top three favourite Yoga poses that will help strengthen this: (for pictures or more thorough instructions follow their links to yogajournal.com)

1. Tree pose! (Vrkasana)What better way then to stand on one leg and train yourself to keep both hips neutral! This is a very easy pose to practice, it will beneficial to train yourself to balance on one leg to train those stabilizers.

2. Warrior one! (Virabhadrasana I) Again, the single leg, hips neutral and body parallel to the ground. Lengthening your leg behind you as you reach yourself straight forward creating a long straight line of energy from heel to fingers. (think of your self as a pendulum reacting in line with your leg, the weight) The higher you can get your leg up, the closer your body will come to parallel. Don't forget to focus on not moving, scale back if you can’t breath naturally or get shaky. It just means you need to train your body some more.

3. Side plank! (Vasisthasina) This pose is a three stage pose. The most important thing to remember is, it is the same as standing, you hold an alignment that stacks from your toes all the way to the crown of your head! if your hips are sagging towards the floor then you need to start at stage one. In each of these, we are working on reaching our top arm towards the ceiling, a straight line from the supporting arm. Until you feel stable and comfortable you can rest your hand on your hip, being sure to engage through your shoulders, keeping your heart open.

1. Start in plank, shift your weight onto one arm and rotate the side’s foot onto the side (don’t allow your foot to collapse!) bring your top leg out to the side in front of you, inline with your hips. With this leg, support your weight in the centre.

2. Once you start to feel comfortable with your body placement and you feel strong enough, allow your top leg to remain stacked on top of your bottom foot.

3. When you are ready, you can begin lifting your top leg a few inches up and holding it there, you can do a few repetitions and work towards raising this leg higher.

Broga or Yoga for a Man's body

2012-02-28T21:40:00.000-08:00

I taught my first all men's yoga class today. Regularly speaking, this class is not a men's only event, and I would say that as a general rule, the women outnumber the men. And let's face it, that's what the community of yoga in North America looks like. A 2008 US statistic was published by "Yoga in America Study" stating that over 70% of yoga practitioners were female. So, as you might understand, I felt a glint of happiness and excitement that I am able to cultivate a practice in these men so that they will consistently come back and perhaps encourage more men that its a good idea to join the practice.

I had so much fun and they enjoyed the class so much, that it got my brain wheels turning. "Maybe this could be the first class I market myself for. Create a small class environment that is specifically for men, or those (I never want to be exclusive!) who are in need of that extra TLC in certain areas but have the brute strength in others." Oh the possibilities were tantalizing!

But then later, I remembered the honour that I received. Putting my business brain to the side, so I could enjoy the pleasures of teaching a class where each student is finding something they need and something that keeps them coming back for more.

I am truly blessed to be able to teach yoga and I look forward to the day when all I have to do is teach and share what I love.

What is your Mantra?

2012-02-06T22:42:00.004-08:00

We all have them! Often though, they aren't positive! and that is sad.

Mantra's are like the power of suggestion, if repeated enough times it will simply become a manifestation, a way of being.

In yoga we use mantra's constantly, even OM is a mantra. But what does OM mean. Well simply, nothing. But it is also everything. We don't need to understand what a mantra means for its positive effects to take hold. It is the vibration that the mantras create, the vibration within your own body as well the vibrations that you send out into the world as you chant.

The simplest Mantra that I know for anyone to start chanting is one that you can do silently and with your eyes closed.

Sit in Easy Pose with your palms facing down resting on your knees. Looking inwardly, begin focusing on your breath noticing each inhale and exhale. Once you feel yourself settling into your natural breath, on the following inhale silently chant SAT and on the exhale, NAM.

SAT NAM, translates to Truth is my identity, or as I prefer, I AM - THAT. I love this meditation when I need grounding and to reestablish my personal mantras. Some of my mantras are: I am: a teacher, I am: a wife, I am: a friend, I am: honest, I am: beautiful, and so on.

To me each inhale, as I chant SAT or I AM, I am grounding myself and going inside to my core and discovering what I am, and then as I exhale and I chant NAM or THAT, I am telling the world what I found.

I don't always finish my mantra, I more often leave it open since I am so very much and it leaves room for so many possibilities.

Now I ask again, What is your Mantra?

Don't Panic

2012-01-31T22:14:00.000-08:00

Let's Welcome February into our Lives!

2012-01-31T21:41:00.005-08:00

Here we are at the end of the first month of the year and entering into what most provinces know as the most difficult month to survive due to the harshest and coldest weather that typically visits this month.

This past week for me was a hard one, in fact only these last 3 days were really all that tiresome, and why is that? Well my usual excuse is due to the crappy grey weather that Vancouver treats us to, but really because I hadn't practiced yoga for the three days prior to that. When I keep up my practice I always feel fresher and more vibrant, I feel like I can handle what the day throws at me, even if that day is grey, rainy, and cold.

So join me as I celebrate some of the great things of February.

As of February 1st we will have already gained a full hour of daylight since Christmas!
At the end of February our days will be just a minute short of 11 hours!
Valentine's Day. I know this might seem weird, but Valentine's isn't just for those with a partner, it is the day of love, or as I prefer, connections. I like to celebrate all of my friends and my family, each and every loved one that I might cross paths with. And to be clear I don't necessarily mean chocolates and flowers and commercial stuff, I mean acknowledging their worth in my life.
In Vancouver with longer days usually means a little less rain and best of all...
Blossoms! In fact I have heard rumours about some cherry blossoms already downtown.

It's official!

2012-01-26T20:52:00.001-08:00

I am officially not only a certified yoga instructor, but I am now a registered with the Yoga Alliance. Get that registered! really what does that mean, after reading blogs and deciding if I would register with yoga alliance or the BC Yoga Alliance, which is a very active alliance with a lot of involvement with its members. So why didn't I choose them? Well I figured it made more sense to register with an alliance that no matter where my life takes me I can keep that same registration with me. If I eventually can afford to register with both or feel a need to register with both maybe we will go down that road, but for now I'm going to keep it simple, maybe even try to provide some help with the alliance to make them better and keep them accountable. But for now I need to take care of me and those around me. What's next? the insurance, one step at a time, right?

Update: Insure is had I have my registration number all that's left is some more paying yoga classes.

Aging with Grace and Beauty

2012-01-16T09:56:00.002-08:00

There have been so many responses and rebuttals to the New York Times publishing of the Yoga can Wreck your Body excerpt. I still stand by what I wrote while also respecting and considering others opinions.
Although the article completely missed the whole point of practicing yoga as well the beauty it can provide if practiced properly and wholesomely. I suppose that only means that we all just need to read the book once it's published and get the entire picture of what the exact message this author is trying to send.

I have been itching to find something, an article or a video that shows the complete other side of the story. And I got it! The below video is a woman who although doesn't practice yoga per say, she has practiced that yogic lifestyle and movements her entire life and it's beautiful to watch. This is what the whole envelope of "Yoga" can do for you when you listen to everything it has to teach.

Make it simple... and enjoy!

My friend Maia from julia warr on Vimeo.