Alignment

One of my favorite things about yoga has become alignment....besides the breath, focus, meditative quality and samadhi, I mean. After coming to a close with my time with Yoga 216 studying alignment and anatomy along with my learning path of acupuncture and Chinese medicine everything is alignment! Its so important to keep our energy meridians open and flowing, and our bones and joints in healthy places! I have seen patients with severe pain and injury just from repeated poor posture or bad habits in movement. Its avoidable. To say alignment in yoga is unimportant is just CRAY. I also think I can work on Tadasana forever, and very few yogini's are able to do chattarunga correctly. Not a judgement but just an observation in which I come to the conclusion that...alignment is important. Its hard to imagine where your body is in space if you don't practice thinking about it. When you're in a twisted triangle pose, do you know where your butt is in relationship to your head? Its hard to figure that out!

I practice tadasana when I wait for the subway. Why shouldn't we practice a lot? To each is own in a yoga class and what you're looking for in a class might change day to day or whatever. I just read this link : http://bodhitreepose.com/2014/02/13/alignment-maligned-the-baby-and-the-bathwater/

Victory in the Breath: Ujjayi

The breath in yoga is victorious. It powers our movements and opens up our bodies. We often give up control of our minds and bodies without noticing. Our lives get so busy with jobs, relationships, goals and material things. And because we're not always aware we, allow what we do in life -our Karma to get in the way of our Dharma -our path or living. Our breath takes us back into our bodies and reminds us of our living or true selves. It reminds us to feel what its like to be back in control of our physical self instead of being on auto pilot or just going through the motions of life. When we're feeling anxious or or disconnected we can use the breath to take us back into our body, feel connected again with ourselves. We can use the breath to make our movements more meaningful and powerful in our yoga practice. We can use the breath the bathe the organs and cells with oxygen. Often pain and discomfort in the body is from lack of oxygen to certain areas. Which is why in Yoga we are always emphasizing to breath all the way down into the belly and not just in our chests. To breath into the rib cage and open up the spaces of the ribs. Breath into the back body when we fold forward and breath into the spine to lengthen it and feel space. Feel the victory in your breath as you ride it up into a standing pose or when it helps you to lift your legs in an arm balance. Our breath is strong, our breath is victorious.

Sometimes its the little things that make things different. Breath a little deeper today and notice how things can be a little clearer, little sharper. A little different.

Breathing

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

Why you should bring Yoga into your office!

I have been out of the 9-5 world for years now...nowadays its become more of an 8:30-6 or 7 kind of culture, no? What I know, since I've left that is my stress levels in my body have greatly decreased! I don't have people breathing down my back, I don't have to get on crowded subways, I don't have to work at my desk because its so busy, I don't have to...etc etc the list goes on. I also don't make as much $ and have to pay for my own health insurance which it's not even good health insurance! Anyways my main point here is the stress level! It's amazing that the amount of stress I deal with is just so much less. I will say mostly because of the subway ride itself. Sometimes I remember, just getting to work on the Subway made my day crappy to begin with. Smashed into a small dirty car underground and squished up against people I don't know? UGHHH. Ok this is the stuff I was talking about when it comes to prana and controlling your energy. Because its easily effected first thing in the morning! All we need is for one bad attitude on a subway car or rushing down a platform to create a chain of bad moods to bring into their offices! Our energy leaks out and infects other people. So make it light instead of negative!

This brings me to another point. I teach Yoga in offices. It's absolutely awesome for the people I teach. Their boss, manager or company sets it up for them and I honestly believe it makes for better employee relationships. Here is a list of great things it does:
1- the employees like their boss a better for shelling out and setting up something nice for them.
2- it helps people have better relationships with their co-workers because now they're all doing something together that's not "work".
3- they get a moment in their workspace that is not stressful. This helps them equate something pleasant with their work environment.
4- if they've had a stressful or bad day, they get the chance to leave feeling good despite the events of the day.
5- physical exercise after a day of hunching over your computers, running around helping customers, or whatever type of work you do all day!
6- the breath work alone can slow down your system that's been amped from stress and coffee.
7- It gives everyone a little more energy! This is especially great for a mid day session.
8- Those who have never tried yoga and might not be so inclined to walk into a studio are now introduced to a new hobby. If you're a beginner, its a great way to get started. You're not paying for the class and there's no excuses, its right there in your office!
9- Having something given to you by your job/company really makes your attitude towards work more respectful, especially if its something like Yoga which has so many great returns
10- an office that breathes together works smoothly together.

So get some Yoga into your office! I see the benefits with the people I teach so instantly! Talk to your boss, manager, HR person! I can come to your office/shop/showroom/etc...everyone brings their own mats and I can usually provide 2-3 extras. We can vinyasa in your showrooms, conference rooms or a retail space! Some of the classes I teach are Vinyasa style, some are focused more focused on breath work, light stretching and meditation. Get some Yoga in your life!

Energy control and energy depletion.

Something I learned in relationships is that I HATE when I realize that I've started basing my actions and plans around another person. I hate when I allow someone else to dictate how I would act and especially if it changes from how I would normally act. I hate when someone else's actions or attitude can stir anger, anxiety and frustration with in me. And then it snowballs...I am angry because I'm angry and then I'm angry because I realize that I've lost control and I am allowing someone else to make me angry! Its the worst. This is how we sometimes allow our breath to be in control of us. Or other people's energy to dictate us. P.S. We have free will!

Breath can be conscious...so make it. Just like energy can be. If I choose not to engage with the anger and walk away instead of wasting my energy on a small disagreement I can use that energy better on things for myself...yoga, school, going out and having a nice time with friends. Instead of allowing this unreasonable anger to ruin my day. Today, most of the time...when I'm doing good...I can do this. I can walk away and choose my battles. Decide when its not worth it to engage and to not allow negative energy to take control of me. But its still a struggle. Practice, mess up, fail, do it again, make another mistake and practice again.

Bathe your body with the universe. Or just breath deep and feel good.

"By learning to appreciate breath, we learn to appreciate life itself. The gift of breath is the gift of life. When we receive a gift, we feel gratitude. Through pranayama we learn gratitude for life and gratitude toward the unknown divine source of life." -Iyengar Light on Life

Prana is energy/life force. Pranayama is all about cultivating that energy in you. We often connect that to the breath. Our breath is what makes us alive. It circulates everything within our body. Our energy, blood, body fluids and oxygen. It moves everything around to keep us alive and it gives us the simple rhythm of life within us. It is unconscious and intelligent. But we can make breathing a conscious act. Like when we just simply breath deeply and elongate our exhales. Or when we do our Ujaii breath. This is how we begin to practice pranayama.

Think about your yoga practice and how you move through each pose with your Ujayii breath. When you inhale your right foot forward between the hands, how the breath helps you move. Every movement becomes conscious and deliberate. It becomes meditative. Think about what your breath is like when faced with frustration or anxiety. Its tense and short.

Now take a deep breath in drawing it down your back and deep into the kidneys. And take a long, slow exhale returning the breathe back to the universe. Inhale again, fill yourself up with the energy around us. Hold it here at the top of your head and allow it to bathe your insides for a moment. Count to 5.Exhale give it back and empty out. Hold here again for 5 and feel the neutrality and stillness in your body. And inhale deep again receiving the gift of life...exhale let it go.

Now think about how only a few cycles of deep breathing can make you feel. Slowing everything down. Calming your spirit, slowing the heart..feeling all the cells in your body oxygenated and activated. Everything is calm yet aware. Think about what this could do for your body if every breath was deep and long verses what those anxious tense short breaths do. This is just one of the many tools our Yoga practice gives us to use in life. When faced with frustration...we can simply breath. It may not solve the problem...but it will make things easier to sit with. And that is the purpose of "practice".

Breath and feel good!

How do we practice Pranayama?

Breath work is such an essential part of our Yoga practice. Although pranayama itself isn't as simple as breathing or doing deep breathing exercises, these are both a great start to having a pranayama practice. The practice of pranayama to me is the practice of using the breathe to heal your insides. People often use deep breathing to calm themselves. It heals your emotional insides...breathe is what makes us alive and in breathing...we are keeping our physical body alive and working. Breathing helps us to flow through movements in our asana practice.

More on Niyamas

Its been suggest by 2 of my teachers to keep a journal...this blog is the best I can do so far! I've been making a more conscious attempt to study the Sutras since I currently have really good teachers in my life. Something to be grateful -continuing with being thankful after Thanksgiving :)

Yoga is many things...its asana, its breathe work, its devotion, practice, surrender, being mindful. My favorite definition for Yoga is union. Its a union of all these things. Its a coming together, such as coming together in a class practicing as a whole. Its wholeness and its community.

Ishvara Pranidada, the last of the Niyamas is about surrendering to something bigger than yourself. I previously had a hard time digesting something that is written in such a religious matter...but I like these kinds of things because when you examine them, they can really be applied to everyday life. Surrendering even for a moment, your ego. Just letting it go in order to participate in something bigger.

Its the idea that we are all here as part of a community...be it your neighborhood, your gym or your yoga studio that you practice at. The union is doing your Ujjai breathing together...beginning and ending class with OMing together and finding the same sounds and vibration, each persons breathe or OM carries you until you here one sound in unison. If its only for the hour or hour and half of your Yoga class, just close your eyes and breathe, listen and breathe...everyone breathing in the same air.

A lot of times we talk about Yoga as a personal thing...we say things like "this is your practice", "focus on your alignment" and we should not be comparing ourselves to our neighbor wondering if her trikonasana is better than mine. Well, it is personal, however talking about practicing Yoga throughout life, not just in class, its about how you fit into the world around you. We are all unique individuals, but we're part of something bigger than that. Creating something that is treaded together and interconnected. Creating union and surrendering to the PTB, or whatever it is that brings you together to class. This type of surrender gives us lightness. Physically it can lift the burdens that we carry from trivial worries of our day to day.

Ultimately whether or not my phone bill was paid on time or I missed the buys on any given day, it is what it is. There is a bigger picture that we're a part of. Just like when you're exhausted in a Yoga posture and the ujjai breathe and energy of the room keeps you going. We all flow in class together!

As we flow through the poses we are also embarking on and experiencing a journey as a whole, despite our personal journeys.

How do you find your center?

In studying the Yamas and Niyamas of Yoga I find great importance to the idea of Ethics. Yamas and Niyamas are all about how you treat the world around and you and how you treat yourself.

"Ethics is the glue that binds earth to Heaven. One cannot serve two masters. The only way a human being can reconcile the paradox of the demands of earth and soul is through the observation of ethical principles." From Iyengar's Light on Life

I am a person who relies on ethics in life. I find it important establishing what my limits are and how I treat the world around me. I am constantly checking and re-checking myself. Where is the boundary of right and wrong and how close do I allow myself to be to it? Does this boundary still work for me? Do I need to change my limits?

I also find that being so ethical ties me very closely to the earth. This can sometimes be a heavy and burdensome. I'm by nature and over-thinker. So, I have this breathing exercise for meditation in which I imagine I am inhaling in heaven -not religious heaven but more like the universe, the air and sky that is infinite. And on the exhale I imagine rooting in to the earth.

And with this exercise I think about this Heaven and Earth thing and what lies between...us, people. Some of use are more Heaven oriented -have you ever met someone who is so up in the clouds? Flighty? Free spirited? And then there are Earthy types...myself -very grounded and realistic, easily brought down. There is this great middle path that has a little of both of these concepts. I like this breathing exercise because I'm overly grounded it helps me to breath in the heavens and take something in that is lighter. I feel lifted and freer. For my flighty heaven people, the rooting and grounding helps balance them out as well.

Breath your own mantra

Here is a tip for focusing on breathing and also creating your own mantra. As you inhale imagine you are bringing something positive within you, as you exhale you're expelling something negative. You can use whatever is going on for you. Inhale courage, exhale fear. Inhale lightness, exhale heaviness. Inhale forgiveness, exhale judgement. Just some examples.