Today my phone broke

It was a pretty old phone that was in crappy condition. But here's the thing. I am totally reliant on the internet to be in contact with people now. Once upon a time I was glued in front of the computer anyways, for the better part of the day for work and I realize now I have not signed onto AIM/Ichat until today...for a good 2 years almost! WEIRD. I am also constantly checking my inbox waiting for people to reply to me like a mad person! So what's the reality? Am I the ignorer or the ignored? I guess I will never know how many unanswered text messages and/or calls are on my broken phone. :)

Nature is cool!

10 Beautiful things created by animals.

20 Things You Should Not Tolerate -repost

I just liked this...from mindbodygreen...thought I'd share it. 20 Things You Shouldn't Tolerate
By Jason Wachob

Have you ever felt that you've been settling for less -- that you deserve better? You'll want to check out this list of 20 things you shouldn't tolerate from Marc and Angel Hack Life:

1. People who bring you down.

2. A work environment or career field you hate.

3. Your own negativity

4. Unnecessary miscommunication.

5. A disorganized living and working space.

6. Your own tardiness.

7. Pressure to fit in with the crowd.

8. An unhealthy body.

9. Fear of change.

10. All work and no play.

11. People or beauty ads that make you feel inadequate.

12. Not getting enough sleep.

13. Doing the same exact thing over and over again.

14. Personal greed.

15. A mounting pile of debt.

16. Dishonesty.

17. Infidelity.

18. An unsafe home.

19. Being unprepared.

20. Inaction.

What do you think?

image via

Published March 22, 2012 at 3:50 PM

I teach really awesome people

I went to teach my corporate Yogi's today and to my surprise they all showed up to class wearing team Yoga shirts! Their boss had company Yoga shirts ordered for their weekly Yoga class taught by yours truly. I was totally floored. The best part? In a couple of weeks I get my own team Yoga shirt! I mean the people I teach Yoga to are seriously AWESOME. They work so hard at their down dogs. YAY!

In conclusion...Why corporate Yoga?! This is why. You need it. Its awesome. Call me... I'll do it with you. :)

Good habits for waking up early

I used to have a hard time waking up early. I thought waking up early was for old Chinese Grandmothers -mine used to wake up at 4:30-5am. But then I started going to the gym and I found that the morning was a great time do work out. It started out as 8 or 9am on a weekend here and there. Once in a blue moon I'd get up at 7am to work out as well -I actually felt like I had more energy throughout the day. Then I began making a point to wake up 3 times a week to work out...and then it became every day. Eventually it became a habit to wake up early. And as years past waking up early has become earlier and earlier now. 3x a week I wake up at 5-5:30am. Sleeping in late is now til 9am..and that's really sleeping in for me...like really super tired or possibly-sick-sleeping-in. So people always ask me...how do you wake up so early? Here is my list:

1- Choose your goal wake up time. Set your alarm clock. Make a personal promise to do it everyday for 21 days. It takes about 3 weeks for really allow your body to form a habit. Now there will be days that you fail...that's OK! Don't feel like you have to start over because you can't wake up one day. Also, don't force yourself to sleep earlier yet if you can't. You end up creating insomnia for yourself. Just naturally fall asleep whenever your regular bed time is...and naturally as you for the habit of waking up earlier, you will form the habit of going to bed a bit earlier as well.

2- Never hit snooze. Not even once. Get up as soon as the alarm clock goes off. Put the alarm clock on the other side of your room so you have to physically get up to turn it off.

3- Wake up to something pleasant. NOT that annoying car alarm sound on your iphone, or the ringing of an old school alarm clock. Choose something that will ease your brain awake...I prefer Sade or some kind of Jazz/R&B/Slow jam.

4- Once you have gotten up to turn the alarm clock off, DO NOT GO BACK TO BED. Walk around the apartment/room instead. Allow your body to wake up. If you're a Yogi, do 5 sun salutations.

5- Make your morning routine quick. Brush your teeth grab your pre-packed gym bag that you set up the night before. Yes, set it up the night before, don't set your self up to fail at this! Be out the door ASAP.

6- Feel amazing all day. Reset and Repeat for tomorrow!

Waking up early is a great way to live life in this city of 8 million. Nothing has begun yet. The city isn't buzzing or stirring. Today I left my place for the gym at 6:45 am instead of 6:15. Huge difference! At 6:15 there is no one out...maybe some street vendors and a couple of easy going early commuters. At 6:45 the streets are filled with rushing people, news trucks and vans, police, honking cars, etc. The meditative state of 6am is so ideal for me.

East River at 6:15am

Is Yoga your religion?

I think religion is so weird in this country. We try to act like its something we can separate. But people who are truly religious know that its a part of their culture. We say things like "I'm spiritual, not religious" because sometimes being religious is viewed as a person with unbending, conservative views who goes to church or mosque on a consistent basis. I find that people who are not American tend to view their religion as part of their culture, ethnicity or race. For example I have a Jewish friend who doesn't believe in changing his religion. He believes its not even something he has the ability to change -he is always Jewish by race/ethnicity, how can you really just "convert" or change that?

But not everyone views their religion in this way. In the US we can choose our religion. There are plenty of us who want to choose what we believe in, not follow what we were born into. We can decide to convert or just not practice what our family is practicing. And sometimes we turn something from a subculture into our religion. The Yoga we practice, the music we follow, the life style we try to live, the Martial Arts we train in. The list can go on. This can be great, we are practicing what we believe in as if its our culture, as if its something we are truly connected to. The not so great part of this is when people become evangelical about it. When people start preaching about how their Yoga is better than everyone elses. When people start putting down others for following not following a Vegan diet or training in a different kind of Martial Arts then they are. Ultimately we come to the same place...which is, to realize that we're all different, from different cultures with different stories and different body constitutions. If we were all doing the same thing, following the same religion wouldn't that make the world kind of boring?

There is something to be said about the differentiation of the world. The uniqueness of the individual. At the same time, I also believe in being able to connect to the rest of the world and relating to it -finding sameness among us. Its important to not lose sight of the world we live in. We need to find that balance in order to live peacefully in this world together.

*Disclaimer -I'm not saying being religious is negative, nor is following a certain kind of Yoga is bad. I'm also not saying all Jewish people think or should think the way my friend does. Just putting the thoughts out there for people to contemplate on.

We can all afford to move over just 1 inch in life, no?

I love the studio I teach at. It's very community based and people act like it. We all clean up after ourselves, wipe down rental mats after using them, wash the cups that we use, answer the door buzzer when the desk person is busy, take our shoes off before entering. People at the studio are friendly towards each other and we all take class and breath together. We create this awesome union which is exactly what Yoga is.

I love all of these concepts but they are often lost because Yoga is so Westernized or New Yorkified. I've been to other places where classes are so crowded and people are not willing to move their mats over to fit another student in. Or worse, "yogi's" will fight over what they claim is "their mat space"! Who does that?! My class that I have been taking for years is generally full of pretty nice and giving people but this past week the class was so crowded we were mat to mat. 4 people came just as the class was beginning and my teacher really had to move people around to try to fit them in...2 of them couldn't take class. Sucks! But it was an interesting dynamic because a few people acted like they couldn't move their mat over an inch or two. One person even commented on how they wouldn't people to open their arms out if they were too close. And another person refused to move their towel out of the way to give better spacing to the person next to them. Look I get it, its your morning practice...but its not just YOUR morning practice...its all of ours. How do we continue to enforce this sense of community and union in class? Are we here for only exercise? Or are we here for Yoga?

The gifts of teaching

There are so many cool things about teaching Yoga. One of which is when your students teach you. I, for one, don't think of myself as a "teacher" but as more of a guide. I unfortunately wasn't born into being a mind reader even though I try as hard as I can to read people's energy while teaching class. I want to know that everyone is having a good time and feeling generally pleasant or at least neutral. That everyone is getting what they want out of the class. I don't want to distract people from their meditative state. By trying to read people's energy I always get a better idea of how the class can flow. Like when people are sweating hard and looking like they might be struggling I will say "skip the vinyasa if you like this round" or "if you want to skip a chattarunga do knees, chest, chin", but then the whole room is still doing chattarunga and powering through it...then I'll wait a couple of poses before child's pose.

My favorite type of students are those who have been practicing for a long time but show up to class and often do their own thing. They don't do all the poses I call out, and have their own variations. I appreciate this. And if I've never taught them before I sometimes wonder, "do they hate this class? is it too slow for them?"...when they come back I realize they're just in their own practice. Often they're my guide to teaching. They set the pace and the breath even if they're doing something different or more advanced. Its great to have this kind of Yogi in class because it sets a rhythm for the beginners.

Beginners teach me to use clearer language. If they're not doing what I said or something different its probably because I said it in a way they don't understand. This helps me to find the right language and better guide them through finding their body awareness.

Thank you to all my Yoga students for keeping me going and teaching me something too!

Home

FYI I am teaching Vinyasa Flow Yoga today at 4:30pm. Jai Yoga Arts.
There are still some heart-shaped cookies involved. :)

Flatiron/Union Sq

Speaking of Love...

I LOVE my skull head Herman. He is rad

Please leave your stuff at the door

Your shoes and your energies. Start new for every Yoga class. Reset and make space for your practice. Then you can come in, sit down, have some tea and practice some Yoga. :)

How significant are we to this world?

Macrocosm...microcosm...

http://www.onemorelevel.com/game/scale_of_the_universe_2012

The universe speaks to me through my tea

"Travel light, live light, spread the light, be the light" -Yogi Tea

Make your body your temple!

The physicality of Yoga is often related to Asana, or the postures. Many people come to yoga looking for the physical. Its what opens us to the other aspects of Yoga. Whether it be for exercise, weight loss, relieving stress, or meditation...its all physical. This physicality also has a great deal to do with "being present". The cool part about this is that we've accomplished that as long as we've made it to class and made it onto the mat. On some days this part of asana is more challenging then others but that first step is always key.

Let's further look at this idea of "being present". The whole idea can sound kind of ambiguous especially after you've already made it to class and your Yoga teacher keeps using this catch phrase "being present" no? Sometimes its as simple as letting everything else go. Getting comfortable with your mat and letting go of anything and everything that exists outside of it. Just let it be you, your breathe, your mat, your practice. Its important to let go of the citta vritti -mind stuff so your practice is truly yours. This allows your practice to transform from just physical exercise into a moving meditation.

Life is humbling

We make mistakes all the time. Some are small and insignificant...others are big and really hurt people. How do we reconcile these mistakes? How do we make it ok within ourselves to know that we hurt someone? How do we make it ok in ourselves to admit we did something wrong? How do we move forward when the damage is already done?

One of my teachers once said "It's not about the mistakes we make in life, its about what we do to repair them."

The ultimate surrender is to do what we can to make things right in the world...the rest is up to the PTB.

Ways to say sorry.

Asana is a steady comfortable posture

Says Patanjali. Just remember that the next time you're making the scrunchy face in a difficult pose.

Let it Flow!

My theme lately is to reference things about my teachers. I have a teacher who always tells the class to shhhuuush. He is totally not afraid to treat a bunch of adults like kindergarten children and I think its seriously so awesome! He is also absolutely not afraid to lecture a person for showing up to class late. That is one of my most favorite thing to see him do. I just find it so great that he has no problem with doing this while other people are so afraid of offending people that they forget that people need to learn boundaries and respect. Either way...this is and old Shhhh sign I made when I used to teach Yoga behind a curtain while people were bouncing basketballs, playing loud video games, having loud conversations or just walking loudly through the space...reminded me of how he shussshes us. Shusshing is awesome, do it!

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.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Where?

Well I am sort of here...but I am also sort of here.