Free Acupuncture coming up in June!

*gasp* I've become a statistic!

I fell off a Citibike! (p.s. beware of potholes on 15th street!) I am happy to write about this because the fall was not so bad. But it brought me back to last summer when I fell down the stairs and sprained my ankle! And I was thinking about Die Da in Chinese medicine and how we get these kinds of injuries...because...we're not paying attention. Our mind is somehow disconnected from our bodies. (or bikes?) Ironic because the hugest part of yoga practice nowadays is the physical part...and in the asana we're always thinking about where are limbs are in space. Where one foot is placed and then the other foot. What this knee is doing and what the pink edge side of the other foot is doing. Right are is over here...and left arm is doing this. Head is over the shoulders, over the hips...something like that, right? Where were my limbs in space..where was in in relationship to the pothole?The moral of this story is that Citibike is awkward and so am I. I can't blame my accident on the potholes or the Citibike, but I need to stop rushing, especially when I am not in a rush and I need to be honest about where my body is in relationship to other things. I honestly was not going to make it over the pothole and then over the metal slab, going in a 30degree angle as fast as I was going...just wasn't going to happen. Slow down before you do something stupid...That's the take away!

So grateful my injuries were taken care of with peroxide and band aids. It could have been worse....and the Citibike was totally unharmed!

Intuition

Vulnerability is our true self. It is our intuition. Because we rarely practice feeling it, we lose touch. I think that's why so many of us gravitate towards yoga. After a good class we all feel that connection and we all sit better in our own skin.  Our ability to trust our self and peel away that protection sometime to be open. Let ourselves not know or be uncomfortable. The practice of being in the discomfort teaches us our threshold, it teaches us how resilient we really are. It teaches us that its ok and with all of that we will find comfort in our discomfort.The practice of experiencing vulnerability in yoga again and again prepares us for uncertainty off the mat.

Being an intern at the acupuncture clinic at school for the first time has thrown me into the big unknown. I am suddenly responsible for the patients' treatments on my shift, where as for the last 3 years I was just assisting treatments. My voice now has to be the treatment, my voice has to be for the patient. Before that it was a mere suggestion. And add on to someone else's. Hearing myself make the decisions on my own has been shaky. But Yoga has taught me to listen to my gut, remember what I did to get here and allow it to be awkward for a while. If I start to feel self-conscious I am no longer thinking of the well-being of my patients, but myself, ...that thought alone has helped me to feel my feet in the ground.

With that said...make an appointment with me for Chinese herbs and/or acupuncture!
Pacific College Clinic

110 William Street (between John and Fulton)
Tuesday and Friday mornings

To make an appointment, call 212-982-4600

We come to the mat to be vulnerable

We do? YES! In many ways, that is why we all come to the mat, whether we think about it or not. We're trying something new, we're diving into the practice, we're letting go of our ego that normally protects us. Our egos help us in our careers, and move forward to be a part of the evolution of society. It helps us to be part of the bigger picture. We need it. BUT it sometimes...sometimes...trips us up and gets in our way. That's why we come to yoga! To be a part of something else. To connect back to the very core of our being, our source. To find what makes us all ultimately the same because thinking about how different we are, and who is better at what, how we can make money and find love can be all too exhausting. For a moment, stop holding yourself up, give yourself to the earth and surrender. That's being vulnerable. When we can find the seat in our body that let's us be our true self. To act on what is purely YOU and trust your intuition. Our lovely, handy and efficient technology has now mapped out how we get from point A to B, how to speed dial your BFF, and make all your appointments for you. But what about your instinct and intuition? We don't want to stop using the core of our being, right? Tap back into it and find that vulnerable place we keep trying to protect with our ego. Be vulnerable, leave your phone home for a day :) Or just come to yoga class...stick out your neck, open your heart.

Just some yoga pics

Lovely half bind bow pose!

Still my favorite place to practice.

Rare peacock moment

The pose I expect to work on for another 5 years!

Cleanse no more!

Kind of glad to be done with my juice cleanse! It was only 3 days long and to be honest, it was much easier than I thought. I've done juice cleanses on my own before the craze of juice companies and packaged cleanses and I have to say I like the 5 juices a day + 1 smoothie format. Doing it on my own I think I would try to drink every hour or two and I would probably have about 6-8 juices depending but no smoothie. I felt more full with the smoothie and I honestly only needed the 4 juices + smoothie. I have 3 left over so I am half cleansing now. It seems to work out for me to have most of my calories early, since I get up early and work out in the mornings. By the time I get to dinner I'm ok with skipping it sometimes or replacing it with a juice, fruit or small salad. Planning on having a yummy salad today with avocado in it. My body wants more fat though some of my love grace. shakes had almonds or coconut oil in it. Maybe meat will happen in my diet in a few days! Excited for that. But really using this opportunity to not dive into a box of cookies or something crazy. :)

Hitting reset on my body

Ananda helps me reset my spirit, trying out this juice cleanse to reset my poor diet habits! I am on day 2 of a 3 day cleanse by love grace. It includes 5 juices a day with one smoothie. I think there are enough calories to keep me going even while working out. I think I'm doing pretty good. Day 1 was definitely easier than I thought! I even skipped one of my juices. Hoping to keep with it today. I only found myself aggravated when I watched the food network and they were talking about SPAM! ACK. Now I feel like everything smells like SPAM or salty nitrate-y processed meats...kinda yummy...BUT I had my love grace. green protein smoothie and am looking forward to my next juice in 2 hours!

I love hitting the reset button

...to come back to the present moment. Ananda Ashram is my reset button!

Playing with primal

I have been introduced to this idea of crawling by one of the best personal trainer's ever (Coach Fury) When babies first begin to crawl its not just an amazing development for their bodies, muscles and joints but also the connections they're making with movement and their brain function. As adults we've strayed so far of the great purposes of crawling which are -connecting movements to our thinking and also playing!!!!! We walk around so stuck in our heads and egos. We sometimes forget to play. Crawl with me...this month...Wednesdays at noon at Jai Yoga Arts! An exploration in Lila! The dance between karma and dharma -learning how to enjoy it.

Conserve and burn. Alternate, switch it up and repeat, sit in your seat and change your mind.

One of my favorite ideas from yoga is practice and tapas. Our practice should be consistent, with patience and attended to for a long time. We keep ourselves on this consistent basis with tapas. Its effort that is not just automatic but proactive. We participate. This is when our friends ask us to go out to dinner after work instead of yoga or (insert other disciplined practice here) and we want to bail on our yoga..but we say no. Because we know what we set out to do. Its the passion that motivates us. Its the moment when we feel like maybe giving up or slacking but we decide not to. Pushing through the urge to slack is when we start to see the alchemy part, the part where we shift our perspectives and we fly, become lighter. Its what makes me understand that we can really change things for ourselves if only we participate. It also requires us to be accountable. Sometimes we can get stuck in a rut and feel like nothing changes for us, but nothing will change really if we don't put forth the tapas.

On the other end of burning the tapas, there is this idea of conserving. Eastern practices always emphasize the conservation of energy, prana, qi. Finding the balance of when to burn it, and when to hold it in and go home early to avoid being sick. To jump up into a handstand in vinyasa or when to skip it entirely and take child's pose. The truth is, our modern lives just burn away all of our fire/yang energy. Yoga is a practice that is meant to help us conserve and control that energy and be a little more yin. So as always we're trying to find comfort in sitting in our own seat in life. When to pull back and when to speed ahead.