Benefits of Meditation

Meditation doesn't have to be a huge ordeal. Most sane people don't just start with 30+ minutes a day of seated meditation. In fact, meditation can be done lying down, sitting in a chair, walking down the street - or wherever. Start with this One Moment Meditation to easily jump start a functional meditation practice.

TED Talk: Sarah Kay

I was lucky enough to stumble across this video of Sarah Kay giving a TED Talk about living out loud and making connection with others through spoken poetry. It's 18 minutes long, but so moving and inspiring that it's more than worth the time.

Other than the obvious fact that her talk can be taken AS IS and be perfect for my whole mission with this blog I felt that some of the points directly apply to a physical yoga practice too.

Just like she says about poetry:
Practice what you know 
Practice what feels authentic to you... not just what you've seen
Not just the way you think it's supposed to be or look
But what organically feels right in your energy/body of the moment

Monday Morning Motivation

This story is inspirational and it kicks all your excuses right in the balls.

 

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Caterpillar - Hoop Dance

I saw this video and I figured I just had to share it here. Some of it is yoga mixed in with the hoop dance which is of course right up my alley.

 

Caterpillar (Full Length) from Luna Breeze on Vimeo.

She is so talented and moves with such grace. I hope to one day be able to do this. Whereas right now I generally feel like my hoop-dancing looks something like this: 

(no matter how much Adam says it doesn't)

 

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Love the Process

I ♥ this video. It is obviously about hooping, but I find that it also applies to yoga. Whether it's hooping, yoga, or any other activity you're up to - you have to learn to love the process. Then you can stick with it and make progress beyond your wildest dreams. Enjoy!

 

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Reminders on the Wall

Just some inspirational wall-hangings I found while looking for home decor inspiration.

Source: gypsyville.com

Hemalayaa Inspires

This photo from the new Yoga Journal is exploding with thrilling joyous inspiration. I want it on my desktop, my phone, and every wall.

From the Sept. 2011 Yoga Journal article on Kirtan.

For more Hemalayaa - check out her website.

There Will Be Blood - So Be Prepared

Wow guys... I have been having one of those weeks where I just have nothing to talk about. Most of these posts this week have been written at like 1am (like this one). I've been spending a bunch of time in the gym lately trying to jump start a serious gym regimen. Adam is officially being paid to workout regularly so we have no reason not to go.

I love working out... it's awesome. Some people really have trouble finding motivation to get to the gym... or the yoga studio, or wherever... but I don't have that problem. I'm just one of those people that is always up for doing something. However, part of being ready when you lead an active lifestyle is being prepared for something to go wrong. I don't mean big things like hyperextending a knee or dislocating a shoulder. I mean small things like your hair tie breaking or overworking a bit. Be prepared to go fish an extra hair tie out of your bag (because you carry those all the time right?)... or be prepared to run an epsom salt bath as soon as you get home to avoid feeling crippled the next day.

What my hand looked like before it got destroyed.

I had an ugly reminder of this yesterday when I smashed my finger between a 35 lb weight plate and a giant metal machine. I didn't exactly plan on such a thing, so when my finger was missing some skin and a small chunk of itself I wasn't prepared for all the blood. Seriously, it bled all over the place. It seemed to have no intention of stopping bleeding so I had to ask the front desk for a band-aid. I got lucky because they only had one left and it was barely big enough to do the job. By the time I got it on I had blood on my legs, arms, and clothes. I was a biohazard! My finger is still throbbing and it's been like 28 hours.

I learned a lesson here - you can't always count on the gym to have band-aids, so carry your own. No matter what you're doing there can be blood shed (as I've definitely learned in yoga, weight training, hula hooping, team sports, etc.) so I'm officially keeping a bag of band-aids in the car. 'Cause you never know when you'll be bleeding all over the equipment.