Since attending my first yoga class a little over a decade ago, I have become a healthier individual. I am stronger. I digest my food better. I am more confident and connect better with others. I am more aware of how I move and have maintained my flexibility. I have found my sense of spirituality and embrace opportunities to be in community. I have learned to accept my emotions and noticed that I am more balanced. I make myself a priority and don’t overextend myself. I continue to become healthier each day despite continuing to age. Yoga is not the only factor that enhanced my overall wellbeing. However, yoga was the catapult that promoted me to start making changes.
Befriend Your Monkey Mind
People often tell me that they can’t meditate because they have a monkey mind. However, the two aren’t mutually exclusive. A monkey mind can’t stop you from meditating nor does meditating stop the monkey mind. For most people it is present. As Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche so eloquently says, “The monkey mind is neither good nor bad.” Monkey mind is neutral. It is your relationship with the monkey mind that determines its label. Meditation is the perfect time to explore our relationship with our monkey mind and how to befriend the monkey mind.
Meditation Lessons from My Garden.
I enjoy getting my feet dirty as I play in the dirt and pretend to garden. I plant seeds, water them and let them grow wild. I enjoy the connection I have when I go out into the yard. And occasionally, I tend to the plants. After being on a vacation for two weeks in June, I was surprised that my overgrown garden turned into a garden of weeds. Why was I surprised that the weeds returned? I knew I wasn’t going to be able to clear all the weeds in one day, but I could clear a little section each week. So I put on my crocs and started to pull weeds. As the sweat poured down my face, the yoga analogies of thoughts being seeds made so much sense.
Disrupt the Cycle of Pain and Enjoy the Things You Love
Pain is a signal from the nervous system that something is wrong. The uncomfortable sensations that you associate negatively, such as tingling, sharp, or throbbing. For many people chronic pain is an everyday phenomena. The body might not be in danger, but the nervous system keeps sending the pain message. Chronic pain can interrupt daily functioning, including social activities.
What is Freedom?
Ground yourself for summer travel
Summer is here with heat on full blast. This summer many are finding themselves in a comfortable position to travel again. Whether you hope to get a quick road trip to a beach or are finally able to take the long trip you planned two years ago, traveling can be stressful. As we prepare to travel we have to remind ourselves to be in the present moment and enjoy the process of travel. Yoga offers many tools to keep you grounded and in the present moment.
Slow Breathing with Extended Exhalation Can Reduce Intense Negative Emotions
We need tools to reduce the intense negative emotions and return to a state of calm to promote clarity of what is true. What’s an easy tool to use? Slow Breathing with an Extended Exhale. For the month of June, you can practice slow extended exhalation using this Guided Extended Exhalation in our video library for free
Counteract the negative tendency of tech neck with yoga
Technology is changing our lives. We have the world at our fingertips. But the tool that helps keep us connected has a profound effect on our spine. Maybe you have images of humans evolving to slouch over a computer or perhaps you notice that you are looking down more often. Our beloved technology is affecting how we hold our neck and in response our spine health. The new norm of checking phones and tablets promotes us to spend more time with our shoulders hunched, neck flexed, head forward and chest withdrawn, a position that is sometimes called tech neck.
Creating new pathways through movement
As I was putting away mats and chairs after Jacob’s Optimizing Your Movement Workshop, I noticed a new sensation in my left hip. The awareness of new muscle fatigue made me laugh. During the workshop we spent focused time experiencing slow body movements connected to how the spine moves. This awakened stabilizing muscles of my hips and brought more awareness of how I avoid specific positions of my hips.
Explore Plant Communication with Herbal Yoga
As humans, we interact with the world through our senses. The information we “sense” cues us about the external environment. Thus, we communicate with our environment. We can communicate with plants with all our senses to experience a plant meditation. Any gardener or lover of the outdoors will agree that nature communicates to us through the senses, can have a calming impact on the body, mind, and heart, and allows us to enter into a state of simple presence. We can understand this as a yogic experience.