Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Entering the healing dimension

Community acupuncture is something that always sounded cool to me and I liked what it was all about -affordable, easily accessible and especially good for people who need frequent visits for chronic issues and last minute appointments for something acute. I never realized the whole other side of its amazing-ness until I started getting treated in a community setting.

If you've never had community acupuncture, the way they keep it low-cost is that everyone is treated in the same room. One large room with several table/beds and/or chairs. Which may sound weird at first if you're not used to it. BUT I have found that for people who are a bit anxious about acupuncture its kind of nice for them because they don't have to feel left alone in a room -espeically if they're being treated for anxiety. You just come into the room and sit down, and the acupuncturist comes to you and you can tell them in a low voice (as not to disturb the other people who are resting) about your problem. This allows them to treat several people at once and for you to pay a smaller fee. And the most amazing part is since everyone is being healed in the same room it creates this force field of healing within the room. Yeah, I said it force field! Its like walking into a whole nother dimension in which healing occurs. It feels like time has stopped and you've gotten an hour to yourself so that you can just get better. AND the person on the bed next to you who is starting to feel better...is also make you feel better...and vice versa. This is the power of healing!

If you haven't tried community acupuncture:

Olo Acupuncture

City Acupuncture

Friday, January 25, 2013

Needles in my ears.

Getting my headache cured while at work.



Monday, January 21, 2013

Practice

Sa tu dirgha kala nairantarya satkarasevito drdhabhumih I.14
Practice becomes firmly grounded when well attended to for a long time, without break and in all earnestness.

I refer back to this sutra all the time! I found I really understood the idea of "practice" when I stopped "doing" Yoga randomly, whenever, dropping into a class here and there and began a regular practice with the same teacher, every single Monday and Wednesday of the week. It became firmly grounded, I attended to it for a long time and was extremely consistent. This was when I truly began to notice my progression in asana, first. Then I noticed my progression mentally -I got passed the part of boredom, mind wandering, feeling like something was too hard or painful -I got passed the citta vritta -mental modifications. And as always, take this idea of "practice" off the mat...there are so many things in our lives that we want to work on...we can't expect an immediate result. These things we want to work on, they come with practice!

Friday, January 18, 2013

As if we needed a reason to do Yoga

10 Benefits of Yoga  (I snatched this from: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/health-fitness/fitness/Top-10-benefits-of-yoga/articleshow/18044744.cms )

Yoga is much more than simply twisting your body in impossible poses. It is a meeting of mind and body that together give you the health benefits of mindful exercise. 

With tremendous positive effects such as normalisation of blood pressure, reducing stress,weight loss and cholesterol control, yoga has become a global favourite form of exercise. Today, Ms. Sunita Pathania - Sr. Registered Dietician and Diabetes Educator, Healthy Living Diet Clinic, Mumbai, presents the top 10 benefits of yoga...

Benefits of Yoga # 1: Yoga for pregnancy

If you are pregnant, and want to stay fit, then you should practice yoga daily. Practicing yoga during pregnancy makes you strong overall. Regular practice of yoga helps ease tiredness, releases tension, increases flexibility by stretching of the muscles, offers internal benefits like good circulation, digestion, respiration and regulation of the nervous system. Besides, it also helps in relieving pregnancy ailments like insomnia, lower back pain, leg-cramping and digestive upsets. But, to avoid complications, it is recommended that you consult your doctor before practicing yoga.

Benefits of Yoga # 2: Mental peace

Yoga's overall emphasis on breathing and other balancing asanas help in harmonising both the sides of the brain and restores balance. This also makes us utilize both the sides of our brain and further enhances the internal communication, which we often fail to use during our daily tasks. By practicing yoga you can find a state of balance between your thinking brain and creative brain.

Benefits of Yoga # 3: Boosts overall health

Good health is not a mere absence of disease, in fact it is more of a balance between your mind and emotions as well. Practicing yoga, helps in achieving total fitness, it helps you to stay away from various diseases and makes you dynamic, joyful and enthusiastic.

Benefits of Yoga # 4: Good circulation

With the combination of various yoga poses and breathing techniques, yoga also aides in proper blood circulation in your body. Due to proper blood circulation in the body, oxygen and other nutrients are better transported in the body which results in healthy organs and glowing skin.

Benefits of Yoga # 5: Yoga for flat stomach

Before reading about how yoga helps with a flat stomach, you must know that no 'single' exercise can help you get a flat stomach. If anyone promises you a flat stomach with a low-tempo, zero core work, exercise that doesn't help you lose excess fat from all over the body, then you need to consult another expert.

In yoga, various asanas like NaukasanaUshtrasana and basic crunches will help you tone an already flat stomach, if practiced daily. Practicing yoga and following a proper diet will help tone down your stomach.

Benefits of Yoga # 6: Healthy Heart

Various asanas wherein you hold your breath for a short time help improve the fitness of yourheart and arteries. Yoga helps in proper blood circulation, which prevents blood clogging and hence gives you a healthy heart.

Benefits of Yoga # 7: Prevents pains and aches

As yoga improves flexibility and strength it also helps in preventing back pains and joint pains. Sunita says - people who have a desk job and drive for a long time should practice yoga daily, as it helps to relieve the spinal compression and spinal tightness. Besides, it also helps in improving your structure which further helps in preventing various pains caused due to bad posture.

Benefits of Yoga # 8: Better breathing

Due to various deep and slow breathing techniques, which yoga involves, it improves the capacity of your lungs and abdominal cavity. This further enhances your daily performance and endurance training. The deep breathing also stimulates relaxation and helps you recover from physical and mental stress.

Benefits of Yoga # 9: Improves balance

With poor posture, we lose the ability to balance as we age. This is due to different aspects of sedentary living that involves little to no core engagement on a daily basis. This results in falls, fractures, poor back health, and many other issues. Yoga can help you regain this lost balance and core control. Yoga improves your sense of balance by fine tuning your strength and flexibility. This improvement also aids in making your brain work fast and makes you more able to control your impulses.

Benefits of Yoga # 10: Stress reduction

Yoga helps in relieving stress. When you practice yoga after a hectic schedule, you will notice that all your stresses will melt down. Of course, this does not mean that yoga is the only form of exercise that alleviates stress. Any exercise, when practised dilligently with focus and correct form and breathing technique, will help you relieve stress.

Thursday, January 17, 2013

Dreaming with Intention

If you haven't set your New Year intention yet, consider:


Wednesday, January 9, 2013

The power of the mind

Last night I was thinking about a text book I had to buy for a class and how it was expensive and I didn't want to have to purchase it. Nonetheless I put it on my amazon wishlist. Today someone I know literally just handed the book for me. The universe is fabulous!

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Balance your right and left brain

Bring your palms together in a prayer or Anjali Mudra, then press the finger tips together and separate the palms. You are now in Hakini Mudra -used often for memory and/or recall. This hand position helps to activate connections between the right and left sides of the brain. You can use this mudra when you are concentrating on something you want to remember later, or when you are trying to recall something.



Breathing

Every morning before doing anything...AND before making any big decisions, take 5 deep breaths.


Sunday, January 6, 2013

Doing what makes sense

In the name of the New Year...I would like to not make resolutions but instead lighten my load and list some things I am letting go of:

Impulse shopping -I am a person who loves things and attachments. And now...I have too many things. Time to stop getting more stuff and spending money to get more stuff. I am giving up clothes shopping this year. Giving my self the exception of...necessity (ie. nothing to wear to a wedding, boots are busted up and I need new ones) and also if I happen to travel to Asia this year...I WILL be shopping, but other than that no new clothes, shoes or accessories.

Being involved and taking breaks -I have for the past year...had my hands in everything. EVERYTHING. I mean, Master's program full-time, 2 different part-time jobs, teaching Yoga and being in a Yoga apprentice program and still living my life. I am slowly working on being less involved in everything, taking breaks when needed.

Eating junk -Part of eating poorly for me is because I am running around busy that I grab whatever I can get to. I eat an excess of bread carbs and meat, along with general junk. Stress eating from studying gets the best of me. If I plan my meals and snacks ahead of time, I can be a little better balanced.

In conclusion I am basically trying to get to a place of slowing down my brain, thinking more clearly and just making things simple so that I can rely on my common sense instead of following old routines that don't make sense.

Thursday, January 3, 2013

In Truth

Satsang is sitting in truth. I like this idea a lot because at Jai its what we try to make it all about. A place where we can all shed our stuff and just show up on our mats as our true selves. Free of attachments and egos.

I like to think of some of Yoga poses as being outward and inward. Outward poses are when we face the world around us, warrior I and II, low lunge, upward facing dog, tadasana. Inward poses are when we are turning inward towards ourselves and face ourselves, reflect, regroup. Child's pose, downward facing dog, standing forward bends, seated forward bends. The outward vs inward helps us to consider how we feel when we face the world or ourselves. How does it make you feel at any given moment? Do you feel attracted or repulsed by one or the other at any certain time? What do you naturally veer towards? Finding the balance as always...is the key.


Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Happy 2013!

I was sick last week...so I didn't get to participate in holiday over eating...that's the only good that came from it! But I don't feel so bad since it seems like 2/3 of everyone I know has been sick too. :)

Christmas day brunch after delivering meals.
Went back to Ananda :)


Pebbles the Ashram cat

Snowy scene at Ananda
Frozen lake

The trail to the Panini House

The only place not covered in snow :)