BLOG
RESILIENCY BUILDING
As can happen, I have had an emotional and stressful week. As my internal world begins to right itself, I consider how that process happens.
Often, I think, there is a misrepresentation of yoga in popular culture. The underlying media message is that if we practice yoga we will be consistently and evenly calm.
A JOURNEY OF SELF-DISCOVERY
Many years ago, a girlfriend and I went on a yoga retreat in Costa Rica. One evening at dinner, someone asked why we did yoga. I answered spontaneously something like “to better be the person I truly am.” I didn’t realize it at the time but this off-the-cuff response held an essential truth of yoga.
TWISTS: DETOXIFICATION IN OUR ASANA PRACTICE
In our asana practice, twists are powerful detoxifying poses. The twisting action squeezes and wrings out our organs. Upon release of the twist, the organ is flushed with fresh blood and oxygen. This “rinsing and soaking” action is a natural and effective detoxification for the organs and glands of the body.
DISCIPLINE AND DEVOTION
One week into the studio fall cleanse and the word in my head is discipline. As a yogi, I am well rooted in the discipline of asana practice and now I am making more disciplined choices about food. Developing discipline is not an easy, straightforward path.
CLEANSING - A SPIRITUAL PRACTICE
At Shri Yoga, we started our first community cleanse yesterday. It has been several years in process with Barrie and I researching and trying various programs. This spring, we found one that was effective and also do-able with the context of our lifestyle. We are excited to share it with our community of yoga practitioners.
ON THE MAT
The previous two blog posts considered the gift of embodiment and how we can cultivate a sense of gratitude in every day life. Our asana practice can also be an opportunity to work with these ideas. During my practice, I remember my embodied experience through the physical and mental sensations of each asana.
BUILDING APPRECIATION
In last week’s blog, I wrote “Yoga teaches us that all moments, all experiences are opportunities to remember this gift [of embodiment]. We practice yoga to appreciate this body, breath and energy and even the contrast of discomfort is a reminder. “ Since then, I have been contemplating how this happens.
REMINDERS
This week I have had a head cold. Thankfully, I rarely contract a cold and so when it arrives, it reminds me of the many things I take for granted. Before the cold, I enjoy certain amount of energy and vitality without further consideration. I don’t recognize the ease with which I breathe in and out through my nose.
A GUIDED SAVASANA
This Savasana is a compilation of guided Savasanas used by various teachers over the years. I draw inspirations from those memoires and from the Savasana in Erich Schiffmann’s book, Yoga: The Spirit and Practice of Moving into Stillness and BKS Iyengar’s Light on Yoga.
BECOMING THE OPPOSITE
One of the first tenets of yoga is to develop an internal awareness, to know our self. On one level, this awareness is of our limited tendencies, our patterns of behaviour, our thought cycles. Ultimately, however, we come to know our spacious, infinite and serene essential nature, despite the tendencies that may obscure or hinder our connection to it.