All Good Things

"Every time you appreciate something; every time you praise something; every time you feel good about something, you are telling the Universe: "MORE OF THIS, PLEASE!" You need never make another verbal statement of this intent and, if you are mostly in a state of appreciation, all good things will flow to you."

- Esther Abraham-Hicks

Pie Binge Detox

If you over-indulged for Thanksgiving (or like me spent 2 days eating nothing but pie) - than you'll really benefit from a detoxifying yoga sequence today. How do you make your practice into a detox? Twists!

Just sprinkle a few here and there to feel the benefits. The organs are compressed during a twist, pushing out blood filled with metabolic by-products and toxins. When we release the twist, fresh blood flows in, carrying oxygen and the building blocks for tissue healing. So from the physiological standpoint, twists stimulate circulation and have a cleansing and refreshing effect on the torso organs and associated glands.

There are tons of different twists in standing poses, seated poses, supine positions, inversions - every level of practitioner should be doing twists. Just remember when twisting to Lengthen the spine as you Inhale... and move deeper into your twist on the Exhale. Take it easy and slow - and you will find freedom in your twists.

Giving Thanks

It doesn't feel at all like tomorrow is Thanksgiving. Hrmph. Maybe if I was gathering with family or friends that would be different. Instead, I'm spending the holiday with my husband here at home. (He is currently at work doing a series of meetings and presentations today - blech).  I started cooking yesterday and I have great plans for the rest of my cooking today and tomorrow. In case you weren't aware, my husband and I are very nutritionally minded and love to cook. The holidays are just one huge fabulous excuse to cook and bake and give. ('cause I don't generally eat much of what I bake)

My schedule this week has been a little different than usual because of all the cooking, and today is no different. I've posted before about my usual schedule, but today I'm doing the internet stuff first. Get it out of the way... and as soon as I've got that done - I'll be off to do 2.5 hours of yoga - otherwise I might not get a real practice done at all for the next 5 days. I get really lax around the holidays. That's a little tip for my beginner yogis - do a full practice just before you launch your holiday festivities because you likely won't be doing any (or much) while you're off being sociable.

Everyone enjoy your Thanksgiving (or your regular old weekend if you're not in the US) and practice your yoga and be thankful for something. It's currently 5 degrees outside, so I'm thankful I'm not homeless and that I'll get to spend the next 4 days cooking and eating and watching movies with my Adam. If I'm really lucky, maybe we'll squeeze in a partner yoga practice - that's always fun.

I'm taking a 4 day weekend - will return on Monday!

What's Happening? - You Are

People of accomplishment rarely sat back & let things happen to them. They went out & happened to things. - Leonardo Da Vinci



John Friend’s 5 Principles (to create a new paradigm) - Video

John Friend spoke recently at LEADERShift 2010 - here is a video of some of his speech, but if you want to skip that and get right to the point - a short summary is below - and below that - an even shorter summary of the summary! Yay for concision!

John Friend Leaders Causing Leaders from davekennedy on Vimeo.

Every word below this point comes via Lia Aprile at Leaders Causing Leaders:

John Friend’s 5 Principles (to create a new paradigm)...

1. Be like the sky. Be open, have a beginner’s mind.

2. Be like the Earth. Embody your deep talents. (Like blogging. Um…wait…).

3. Be like water. Feel. Be fluid, be sensitive, be compassionate. (Yes, yes, and double yes)

4. Be like fire. Have a burning for the highest. Aspire to serve. Dare to be courageous no matter the darkness.

5. Be like air. Like the wind, that can move around any problem. Be imaginative and innovative.

In a nutshell: start fresh, be steady, feel deeply, burn with the desire to evolve, and let your mind and your heart be flexible and inventive.

(He also gets the Best Line of the Evening Award for: “All the opposites come together as contrary compliments.” (Love that.))

You Are Not Immune

What do you do when you get irritated, angry, and flat out pissed off? Do you fume silently? Do you yell? Throw things or maybe threaten people? 

Everyone has this happen. Everyone. You are not immune to emotional upset. Your guru is not immune. The difference is learned coping mechanisms. Most people just react emotionally and often make things worse. Don't allow someone else to be the catalyst for You to ruin your own day.

You can't control what others say or do - you can only control your reaction to them. Actually exercising that control takes practice. Step back, take a breath. No, make that like 10 breaths. Do some push-ups if you're just dying to hit someone. Do something steady and grounding to level yourself off. Just to bring things back to a "medium" space. A place where you can observe and assess rather than just React.

It's never too late to be level-headed. Even if you've already gone and screamed obscenities at the object of your anti-affection - you can stop right now.  Bring awareness to your actions so you can practice what you preach and walk your talk.

You're Doing it Wrong

I often have students, friends, and family members ask me about meditation. They always claim to have tried it unsuccessfully. They say - I can't shut off my mind. No matter what I do I just keep thinking about all these things. In response I like to say - You're Doing it Wrong! In jest of course, because I don't think you can really meditate "wrong".

You can, however, have expectations that are too high, or be judging yourself too harshly - all "wrong".  The monkey mind that swings from branch to branch (or thought to thought) is totally normal. We all have it. So don't be so attached to the idea that you're going to make that monkey stop dead in it's tracks. If you're crafty you can eventually manage to persuade the monkey to play on a single tree, but mostly he's just going to do his thing with or without your consent.

I read an article on Elephant Journal recently that made me chuckle - and I think it puts this common meditation worry into perspective. A little quote from it: "I never force my mind to go anywhere in particular when I sit zazen. When thoughts come, I let them come. When they go, I let them go. Of course there are times when the chugpi is struck three times, signaling the end of practice and I realize that really, I was just pretending to meditate the entire time." His meditation practice sounds a lot like mine so I was amused to read the thoughts that run through his head during meditation.

Read the rest of the article here: Top 20 Thoughts to Think While Pretending to Meditate

Just remember that to sit in meditation is progress. You don't have to be transported to God's palm and have deep psychic discussions for meditation to be "working". It's not about being productive, so just let it go.

Love Your Edge

I'm getting a really late start today. I'm about 3 hours behind my usual self-imposed schedule. After 3 nights of no sleep - last night I slept like a baby rock. It was awesome.

I keep reading that everyone has these poses they HATE. Poses that they just loathe with every fiber of their being. Yoga poses that make them silently curse any teacher that puts them in it. Everyone seems to have at least one. It's what I hear anyway. I literally don't know of any pose that I don't LOVE these days. I love them all. I love arm balances, I love backbends, inversions, forward bends, hip openers, core strengtheners, balancing poses... I love them all. There was a time when I hated handstand, but I did it over and over and over again until I loved it. There was a time when I hated half handstands, but now I'm neutral toward them. I just love yoga that much I guess. *shrug*

My husband hates warrior 2. When I teach, I apparently teach that pose aaaallllll the tiiiimmmmee. When he took my classes twice a week I found out that while I love to teach warrior 2 - people really hate to do it. Maybe that's why I taught it so much. I quickly find my student's edges - physical and mental. I find them and then I put them there. While I obviously balance it out with rest and counterposes and lots of good stuff to pamper them afterwards - I want my students to stare down the edge of their comfort zone - until it gives way and expands. This is how we grow in asana practice. You certainly don't want to go all the way to the edge everytime. A softer practice should be mixed in to keep balance and avoid injury. You don't want to LIVE on the edge, but you want to spend a healthy amount of time there.

You can learn a lot about yourself from your edge. Your mental state, your physical imbalances, how you handle stress... The next time you face a pose or a meditation where you find discomfort or unhappiness - sit with that feeling. Just observe it - without judgement. If you do this every time - eventually that feeling may dissolve.

Where is your edge? What poses do you HATE? and Why?

PS: I need to sink a little deeper into this warrior 2 pictured, but it's the only pic I have of me in this pose, so we'll pretend it's "perfect".

Three Times a Day - (Video)

I wanted to share with you this Sianna Sherman interview via Bay Shakti. This is actually part 2 of a four part interview, so go to Bay Shakti for all four parts. Sianna Sherman, for those of you that don't know, is an Anusara yoga teacher. I had the fantastic luck of being able to take a couple of her classes at Wanderlust, and her classes are amazing.

I just wanted to share this particular piece of the interview because Sianna talks about working on a pose and bringing an aspect of play into it - 3 times a day - if you're really working towards this one particular pose. For instance - handstand. As I've written about before, I totally do this. I practice kind of around the clock - particularly inversions and backbends. Anytime I have a lull in my day - I do some handstands. I can probably already do handstands in the middle of the room, but after taking a couple of ugly falls doing that before - I'm slowly working my way back out there. The wall is my crutch and I'm trying to let it go. It's a process.

Great Deeds

"All great deeds and all great thoughts have a ridiculous beginning."  - Albert Camus

Light on Reading

As a yogi there are some books you're kind of "supposed to" read at one time or another. For some people that time is when they take the plunge into teacher training - others just wanna read all about it because they're readers. Some of the standard books to know are The Bhagavad Gita, Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, The Upanishads, Ram Dass' Be Here Now, Light on Yoga, The Ramayana, etc. I read a couple of these books during teacher training. I have a couple of these books on my wishlist, and I've owned one of these books for maybe 8 years, but I've never read it.

I'm not really much of a reader as an adult. My eye doctor says it's because I have a reverse astigmatism, so I'm soooo far sighted that by the time my eyes are focusing on something as close as a book they're working something like 10,000 times harder than they should really need to. Therefore, reading makes me sleepy before I finish a single page. It's ridiculous, but totally true. If I try to read a book, I can't focus because I will start falling asleep right away. 

Anyway, so I don't really read much. Maybe that's why I have never read Light on Yoga by B.K.S. Iyengar even though it's been on my shelf almost as long as I've been into yoga. I remember trying to read it once early on, but I wasn't really into it. I'm hoping that now - with all my experience, and all my previous studying - that I'll have it in me to read it. I always want to read more, so last night I finally pulled this book out and started it. I'm hoping to actually make it all the way through this time - and fully absorb and understand it. I should totally be able to "get it" now, and I'm hoping it will introduce me to a couple poses I never really do. It should be interesting - and maybe it will provide me with some inspiration for the blog.

Yoga Dreams

Today I want to talk about dreams - yoga dreams. I don't mean the kind of dreams where you dream to one day be a celebri-teacher, or you can only dream of one day doing an advanced pose like Shayanasana. I mean nocturnal visions - subconscious stories about yoga.

I generally don't dream about yoga which is odd considering my world revolves around my practice. I remember when I was in teacher training they said - "Get ready for Yoga Nightmares." I didn't immediately pick up on what they meant, so it's a good thing they elaborated. Once you're a teacher it's a common issue to have actual nightmares about teaching. Sometimes you're having bad dreams about students not listening to you, telling you they hate your class, or even just about trying to teach in a space with terrible acoustics. I thought - am I going to have nightmares about teaching!???! Weird.

It was a long time before I ever had one, but I have definitely had my share of yoga nightmares. I don't remember them, but I know I've had them. I thought of this because recently I had a pleasant dream about my yoga practice - in the dream I was effortlessly drawing my foot up to my head in backbends. So far that I could see my foot in front of my face before I reached for it with my hands. It was strange because I've NEVER dreamed about my yoga practice before in 10 years. It inspired me to get back to my daily practice 'cause I've been slacking recently.

When I did finally practice and do a deep backbend - I did accomplish new things - I easily did full pigeon without a strap. I was psyched. Studies have shown (sorry I have no sources at the moment to back that up) that simply visualizing yourself practicing does bring you some benefits as if you were actually doing it - maybe it works with dreams too.

Tell me my fellow yogis - Do you ever have yoga dreams?

Phillip Askew NYC Vinyasa (Video)

I'm always excited to share with you guys - videos that I find around the interwebs of inspiring yogis doing their thing. I love this video of Phillip Askew (yoga teacher) practicing vinyasa flow in New York and India. It's only about 4 minutes long so please watch it - it's artistic and beautiful.

I'm also extra intrigued by this video because he practices in public places surrounded by people - something I'm always self conscious about.

Readers via email - Click Here to watch the video.

Your Dosha Diet

On Thursday I mentioned that your Ayurvedic Dosha effects everything - including what you should be eating. Everyone knows that each individual has certain foods that don't settle well in their stomachs... and plenty of foods that we crave or are particularly averse to. What if you found out that all this was dictated by your primary dosha? Would you stick to some basic guidelines on how you should eat if it meant no more heartburn or diarrhea?

When I was a child I had intestinal distress of every kind - regularly. It was just part of being me. When speaking to my best friend of the last 20 years - he said he didn't remember much about our childhood, but that I threw up red stuff a lot. Everyone remembers that. It's true - I really should've quit ingesting things that were red. *shrug* Point is, that I eventually grew up and moved out and started buying my own groceries. I became a health nut and then I became a big time whole natural foods advocate - and these days my intestines are happy. They work just as they should with only a hyper-rare complaint about anything. All those years of distress could've been avoided by some simple dietary changes. I'm lactose intolerant so I buy lactose free milk and keep the cheese to a minimum. I don't eat processed food 90% of the time and it keeps me happy. 

One of the websites I've been pointing you to through this little Ayurvedic journey - WhatsYourDosha.com - has little charts that tell you the ideal diet for each dosha. When I saw mine - The Vata Diet - I was really amused because that's just how I eat now. Back in the day I didn't and it caused me grief. Turns out I've been listening to my body, eating right for my dosha, and my body has never functioned better for it.

The Vata Diet

The Pitta Diet

The Kapha Diet

Go check out your body's diet and see if it matches up with how you eat. If you still don't know your Dosha - Take the Quiz!

Like is Drawn to Like

By now you should know your Ayurvedic Dosha. If not, you can still Take the Quiz and find out.

How do you keep yourself balanced - or bring yourself back to balance if your dosha has become "deranged"? If you were to visit an Ayurvedic expert/physician they could give you specific daily rituals, such as abhyanga and tips to get you back to equanimity. What he would prescribe would be dependant on your dosha.

Whatevery your primary dosha, you are naturally drawn toward things with those same qualities. Vata people are drawn to light cool things - dry cool air (snowy mountain weather), tons of activity (partying perhaps), sky diving... Pitta people are drawn to hot fiery things - spicy food, the desert... Kapha people are drawn to more moist soft laidback things - comfort food, Seattle, quiet slow activites (scrabble)...

This being the case - just know that Like increases Like - so to be a pitta individual indulging in pitta things - you're increasing the levels of pitta in your body. This will eventually lead to too much pitta and you being out of balance if you're not careful. Therefore, to bring balance you would need to focus on more vata and kapha items to cool off and quiet some of the fire you're building. Maybe eat more salad and practice meditation to ease your fiery moods.

If your vata is gaining too much momentum - you need to focus on calm grounding things - kapha things. Warm foods, slower activity (again meditation or restorative yoga), a warm soggy climate. If excess Kapha is bringing you down - focus on more Vata qualities to give you a lift. Take up power yoga and move to Boulder, CO.

Like increases like, but opposites can keep you in check, so if you start feeling "off" then maybe this is something you could try.

The Three Doshas

Ayurveda is a Sanskrit word that literally translated means "science of life". It is India’s traditional, natural system of medicine that has been practiced for more than 5,000 years. This practice emphasizes prevention of disease, rejuvenation of our body systems, and extension of life span through finding a balance of the 3 basic energies of life known as the doshas.

The 3 doshas that make up everyone and everything are Vata, Pitta, and Kapha. We each have all three of the doshas in our physiology, just in different proportions, so each individual's dosha is unique. Usually one is more dominant in your system than the other two - and this one is your primary dosha. Sometimes a person has a pretty even split of two doshas, and kinda rarely someone is evenly balanced out among all three. These people would have, for example, a primary dosha of Vata-Pitta, or be Tri-Doshic. As I mentioned yesterday, I am a strong Vata dosha individual.

Your primary dosha effects every single aspect of your being. Your body type, your energy, your moods, how you should eat - everything.

What are the differences between Vata, Pitta, and Kapha?

Vata: Ruled by Air & Ether

Vata enables the other two doshas to be expressive. The actions of Vata are drying, cooling, light, agitating, and moving. The Vata dosha controls all movement in the body, including breathing, digestion, and nerve impulses from the brain. When Vata is out of balance, anxiety and other nervous disorders may be present. Digestive problems, constipation, cramps, and even premenstrual pain usually are attributed to a Vata imbalance.

Vata-type people are generally thin, energetic, creative, and find it hard to gain weight. Vatas need to get sufficient rest and not overdo things, stay warm, and keep a regular lifestyle routine. The Vata attention span is flighty. Fall and Winter is the season of Vata.

Balancing Vata is important for everyone - when Vata is in balance, Pitta and Kapha are generally in balance as well.

Pitta: Ruled by Fire & Water
Pitta types are known for their strong digestion. Their heat makes them particularly thirsty, and they should take caution not to consume too much liquid during meals. We rely on Pitta to regulate our intake of food, water, and air. Any toxins, such as alcohol or tobacco, show up as a Pitta imbalance. Toxic emotions such as jealousy, intolerance, and hatred also should be avoided to keep Pitta in balance for optimum health.
 
Pitta-type people are generally of medium size and well proportioned with a medium amount of physical energy and stamina. Pitta people tend to be intelligent, sharp witted, have good focus and ambition - but can be demanding and abrasive. Pitta types can go out of balance with overexposure to the sun. Perhaps that is why their eyes are sensitive to light. Summer is the season of Pitta.

Kapha: Ruled by Water & Earth
Kapha dosha controls the moist tissues of the body, so a Kapha imbalance may show up as a cold, allergies, or asthma. Cold and wet weather aggravates Kapha. They should not dwell in the past or resist change. They need lots of exercise and need to be careful not to overeat. Kaphas need stimulation to bring out their vitality. Kapha dosha teaches us steadiness and a sense of well-being. Spring is the season of Kapha.

Kapha-type people tend to have sturdy, heavy frames, providing a good reserve of physical strength and stamina. This strength gives Kaphas a natural resistance to disease and a generally positive outlook about life. Kapha types tend to be slow eaters with slow digestion. They also speak slowly. They are calm and affectionate but, when out of balance, can become stubborn and lazy. They learn slowly, with a methodical approach, but also retain information well with a good understanding of it.

You may have recognized yourself in one of these descriptions, but you can
Go Take This Quiz to find out your personal Dosha. Tell me your dosha in the comments.

More Ayurvedic Basics tomorrow - including the concept of Like increasing Like and How to Seek Balance for your Dosha.

Sources for 90% of the info/words on this post:
www.whatsyourdosha.com
http://www.holisticonline.com/ayurveda/ayv_home.htm

Ayurvedic Education

Way back in September I wrote about Changing with the Seasons and it turns out that all my winter lifestyle changes are pretty sound Ayurvedic advice.

"Ayurveda is an ancient art of healing has been practiced continuously for over 5,000 years. The principles of many natural healing systems now familiar in the West, such as Homeopathy and Polarity Therapy, have their roots in Ayurveda. Ayurvedic practices restore the balance and harmony of the individual, resulting in self-healing, good health and longevity." - Ayurveda.com

I've been aware of Ayurveda for a long time, and I had a whole section of Ayurvedic education during my teacher training, but it's not something I really maintain a good working knowledge of. I'm going to try, today, to do some research and fill you in on what I find (the rest of the week). I'm really into Ayurveda lately as Fall/Winter is the season of Vata (one of the 3 basic energies of life).

Vata is my primary dosha - I also have a slight bit of Pitta going on, and it seems that Kapha almost doesn't exist in me. Vata is also one of the easiest things to throw off balance which brings dry skin, nervousness, anxiety, and even mental illness. When everything is in balance Vata brings creativity and a laissez faire attitude.

Starting today I'm going to try a routine of abhyanga every morning. I read about it in Yoga Journal and it sounds perfect for me. It's basically a little self massage with warm oil that you do each morning before you shower. Check out the How To - Here. I've got my organic sesame oil and I'm ready to give it a shot.

During winter everyone needs to focus more on grounding, warming, soothing, and resting - hence the brilliance of my winter hibernation mode and the moist warmth of the warm oil massage. I'm going to try a restorative or Yin yoga practice today also. I've been feeling really "off" lately even before I got sick, so I'm hoping I can start to harness some kapha vibes to balance out against all the vata swirling about in the form of cold, wind, and dryness.

I promise I'll  go into some real information about the Three Doshas and Ayurveda tomorrow - like what are Vata, Pitta, and Kapha??

PS:  There's a Huge Giveaway going on over at Biscuit with thirty prizes from thirty different sponsors. Go Enter!

Third Eye Exams

Bridge for Beginners

I rarely ever get sick. I appear to be on the downhill slope of this cold I've got now. I'd like to arm you guys with a better immune system than I apparently had this year.

Backbends are great for your immune system. They stimulate a gland in the chest (that I of course forget what it is) that strengthens the immune system. So please incorporate some backbends into your days to avoid going through the hell of being sick for a week plus. Everytime I tell people that they need to do more backbends they kinda freak out - "oh backbends!? I'd just break my back or fall and smash my head on something!" I'm not asking you to do dropbacks, or to be able to sit on your own head. It doesn't need to be a huge backbend. Anyone can do baby backbends, so anyone can benefit from this.

Full Wheel is preferable if you already practice it. Hold it for a few breaths - do it maybe 3 times. Once you're fully warmed up of course, not many people can safely do urdhva dhanurasana out of nowhere. My urdhva prep pose is Bridge. Anybody can do bridge, and no matter how beginner or advanced your are - it should feel great. Bridge is plenty of backbend to stimulate your immune system. Try it today - you won't regret it! Again, hold it for a few breaths, repeat 3 times. (Instructions Below)

More backbends great for this: camel, bow pose, upward facing dog, and cobra.

Bridge Pose for Beginners:

• Lie down on your back, knees bent.
• Feet parallel and  hip distance apart - pretty close to your butt. (I reach my hands straight down my sides and barely touch my achilles between the tips of my 2 longest fingers.)
• Lengthen your neck, root your shoulders down into the floor.
• Spread your toes, root down through all 4 corners of your feet to lift your hips up. (don't let your knees splay apart or come together)
• DON'T flex your butt - keep it soft.
• Press your chest up and towards your face a bit (make sure your neck is NOT pressing into the floor)
• You can do one of 2 main things with your hands -

1. Either interlace your fingers together underneath you, and one at a time, draw your shoulder further behind your chest which will allow you to lift your chest higher and open your chest and shoulders
2. Draw your hands up at your sides, fingers wide, press down through your triceps and your shoulders. It really opens up the chest without the potential arm/elbow strain of interlacing your fingers. Plus it's really stable and solid.