Headstand

A goal of mine is to perform a headstand, and be able to hold it, with proper alignment for around 12 breaths. I realize that, with any goal, I must practice, commit time to perfect this difficult pose. So, this week, I have practiced 3 times! Each time I have increased my time spent in the pose. Yesterday, I was in it a full 6 breaths until I needed to come down. Shoulderstand must also be addressed, as with classical yoga I am supposed to perform shoulderstand before learning headstand. So that practice is coming too. I am again facing a choice. A choice to practice, or sleep in. Life is very much a choice, don't you think? A choice to focus on negative things, or focus on the positive. We can choose because we have "intelligence". The awareness that there is a choice is liberating. It can also free us and help us to ask ourselves why we are "choosing" to behave in a certain matter, or feel a certain way. We absolutely have a choice. I prayed today that God would give me the strength and resolve to take one day at a time, to help me with balancing all my responsibilities, and to give me a push out of bed to practice yoga at 5:30. Wouldn't it be great if God's hand could literally pull me out of bed? Maybe that would do it! Just the thought of it kinda wakes me up right now!

5 days and counting

I have practiced now 5 days in a row! My Teacher says that the more asana you do, the more the body craves it. I believe this to be true! I feel stronger, taller, more in touch with feeling. I am practicing new things, new concepts, exploring and discovering places in my body that need increased attention. I did a 6 breath headstand without support! I folded completely into a pretzel and felt my low back round to the fullest. I crackled. I passed gas. (Not entirely unusual). I reflected on my life. I connected to my spirit, my breath. Now I am asking how I can reach out and spread this energy to all my students, and friends. How can I communicate, and teach this beautiful and transformative practice? How do I balance all the aspects of my life, and keep God and family at the center? Yoga is God's voice, leading me on my path. Emerson said to "blaze a trail..." . Alright, give me a pruners, a loppers, and some rare and unique seeds. I will plant and prune, water the seeds with awareness, nurture my growth with humility, and share my love of yoga with those who come my way.

Teacher training

I am immersed in the practice of yoga, this weekend. 11 hours today, and 8 hours tomorrow, and 6 hours yesterday. Every muscle in my body is sore. As I rolled out of savasana, I felt my hips rebel and groan, from working them vigorously all day. I am surrounded by students of yoga, all at different levels, mentally and physically. I am intrigued by the depth that is involved in this next level of training. It is now about deepening the practice, moving deeper and more intimatley into postures. It is about learning to demonstrate better, instruct better, and challenge myself, and my students to go deeper into the body, and mind. At first I felt overwhelmed. I felt as though I could not achieve this next level. I realized, that this would require a lot of work. A lot of effort. It is in a way, like being in school again. But it also involves mindful appreciation, and acceptance of where we are in life. I struggle with the fact that I am leaving my family for the weekend. I am grateful for my husband, who is such a support and keeper of the kids. I also realize that I, must dedicate myself more to practicing asana, meditation, and pranayama. Where will I find the time, you might ask. well, dammit, I plan on making the time. It is too important. I realize that much of life is a choice. We choose how to proceed in our lives. We choose to either sleep in, or get up early to greet the morning with vigor for practice. This is called intelligence. The power to choose. How beautiful! So, I will make this new intention, refreshed with the feeling of following my purpose, and staying on that path. Sometimes we all stray, and our journeys are always changing, evolving. Sometimes shrinking, sometimes expanding, sometimes inspired, sometimes stale as shit. That is life my friend. That is life.

A little bit, goes a long way

How much yoga helps us improve? A 2 hour session twice a week? A class here and there, and a few stretches in between? I say all of it! I know that when I start my morning, cup of joe in hand, dogs present, mat waiting, body stretching, mind opening, heart expanding, buttocks blossoming...I feel a heck of a lot better than if I don't practice. I do not get caught up in the fact that I cannot commit 2 hous a day to my practice. I am thankful and feel grand if I commit 15 minutes a day. The practice is, just that. A practice. The more we practice, the more we improve. 15 minutes at a time. Here is a 15 minute practice to try. Be happy with what you can do, and expand on that. Inhaling, I breathe into the present moment, exhale, I smile.

seated meditation-2 minutes with breath awareness
downward facing dog-2-3 minutes (with alternating knee bends)
down dog to lunge each side
lunge to crescent moon
standing forward bend with elbows crossed
standing forward bend splits
mountain- take a large sip of coffee here, and gaze out at the rising sun, reflect on your blessings
tree
triangle
warrior 2
warrior 1
seated twist
bound angle with foot massage (aaaah)
seated meditation
Namaste

A morning to practice

It's 6 am. A Cup of coffee, a warm fire, 2 pesky dogs, my yoga mat, and me sitting in the middle of all that. As I begin my routine of down dog to lunge, the dogs begin their stretches underneath, licking my nose. As I fold into pigeon, I fold into my mind, all the voices and highways of emotion and thought. Shhhh, I whisper, it's to early for all this chatter. Felling my body expand from my heart, I open into warrior 2, and adjust until I feel fully the quads working hard, in concert with the inner groins lengthening. As I gaze over my fingertips, the light from the fire lights up my skin, illuminating my hand, so that it looks as though my hand is made of light. I look at the other hand, darkness. Shucks. I think I'll look the other way, and smile at the beauty that is my hand, made of light and fire.

Today, I will lift my heart

Walking along the icy, crunchy slush, I watch the dogs as they dance around me, waiting for their leash to be put on. I love the mornings, especially Sunday mornings, where the whole world seems to be nestled snug at home. I love the quiet. I reflect on my life, how, many years ago I was faced with the choice of either growing bitter with despair or rising above the harshness that I faced. I recall those days that I often went outside, even in the bitter cold to find my spirits voice. This connection to nature reminds us that the whole earth is always undergoing change, harsh and beautiful at the same time. Just as we face challenges that sometimes want us to bury our head in the sand, we always have a choice to turn our face to the sun as well. This doesn't mean that we shove our feelings of despair away, and force a smile. Rather, we make a choice to feel fully, and allow these feelings to manifest. Once we do this, we begin to see that our feelings, our challenges, are temporary, just as the falling snow and melting ice are temporary too. This also disintegrates the power our emotions can sometimes have over us. Just as a wind storm blows through and wreaks havoc, our emotions need not wreak havoc to our inner life. As we continue to blaze our trails in life, may we be reminded of how nature is constantly going through change, how we are always changing, and there is real beauty, and truth in that. I invite you next time you have a lot on your mind, or feel "full" of beans (putt putt) go look at a leaf trembling on a tree. Look at a bud on the edge of a branch, tightly wrapped up, just waiting to blossom in full glory! Look at a bird, singing brightly, loudly, announcing it's place in the universe.

a new year

A new Year begins. I am struck by the energy feeling the new year brings. It is interesting to reflect on the past year, the joys and hardships experienced. It also leads us to resolve to do things a bit differently. I try to set "New Years Intentions". As I begin a new year, I am striving to be more kind, to others, and myself. I am intending to save my money, in hopes of finishing off my yoga space. I am intending to do more hand stands, shoulder stands and head stands. I am intending to meditate in the morning as much as I can. I am intending to help out at a homeless shelter. Mindful of this in meditation, it slowly becomes more habitual, to engrain these intentions into our consciousness. As we get our minds and hearts set for the day, may we take even the smallest moment of time, to remind ourselves of the bigger picture, the matters that mean the most to our spiritual growth. We can often get hung up on our to-do list, but we need to ask ourselves when this list stresses us out, who made this list anyway? Is our to-do list getting in the way of our new years intentions?