Yoga & mindfulness inspiration for moms including Prenatal Yoga, Postnatal Yoga, Mom & Baby, Yoga Inspiration for Moms - online & in Charleston SC
Yes…
No…
Any questions?
P.S. I wasn’t going to post this video of me with my wee one. I wanted to re-record my awkward instructions, but I never got around to it. But when a new video surfaced last week similar to the one above of a woman swinging her new born around coined “baby yoga” I decided to post our version of yoga and show how incredibly different the two are.
Please, oh please, stop calling the exercise in the latter video “baby yoga.” OK? Thank you.
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Anyone who has written anything from a term paper to the Great American Novel has felt it: That sinking feeling of emptiness when you stare at a blank Word document or piece of paper. You know you want to say something, but for whatever reason the words just won’t come out. It’s like someone built a dam between your creative energy and your mind and there’s nothing you can do to access it. In our culture we call this writer’s block, and I learned early on that when this happens the best thing to do is get up, walk away, and hope that when I return to my computer in an hour.. or two.. or 24… the gate will be open and the ideas will flow freely.
When I’m in the right frame of mind to write or create, it’s never a struggle. The words just pour out effortlessly and when I’m done I often read back over my “work” and think to myself: Where did that even come from?
After spending some time reading Sally Kempton’s new book, Awakening Shakti: The Transformative Power of the Goddesses of Yoga, I know that this creative energy is the goddess Saraswati at work (I call her Sara for short). Sara often comes to see me in the mornings when I’m drinking my coffee. Often it’s right before a deadline when I’m panicked that she shows up as if to say, “Chill out, Erica. We got this.” Whatever I was struggling to say comes out like magic. Voila! (All this time I was giving credit to the caffeine!
Let me put it another way. Beyonce gets help from her alter-ego Sasha Fierce when she’s performoing. Saraswati is my secret weapon for writing.
In the afternoons, I imagine Sara leaves to help someone else, probably college students who stayed up too late the night before who work best after lunch. So I’ve always thought it was imperative to do my writing at that magic time of day where the words seemed to flow.
I never knew that I could simply ask Sara for help by imagining her in a meditation!
In Awakening Shakti, Kempton explains how to call on different goddess energies through meditation to help us with all areas of our lives, from wisdom and creativity to prosperity and beauty and more.
Growing up, I was taught that we all had God-given gifts and talents. The idea was that God decided before if you’d be a gifted artist or athlete, a whiz with numbers or a crazt scientist. Then, it’s your job in life to nurture those talents, as if by working hard and learning as much as you can about something you have some sort of control over how successful you’ll be in the world. The problem with this way of thinking is that it doesn’t give you much reason to work hard at the things that don’t come naturally to you–as if they’re kind of a lost cause. But just because you’re not great at getting things down on paper, for example, doesn’t mean the world doesn’t need to hear what you have to say. It’s like saying you can’t pracitce yoga becuase you’re not flexible… how are you ever going to get flexible if you don’t practice?
It’s nice to have an experienced guide who can demystify the whole process and make it seem so-very-accessible–even for people who aren’t experienced meditators. In fact, just reading the words in this book has a meditative quality. I think Saraswati must have been there during the writing process.
What energy do you wish you could cultivate more in your life? Have you ever thought about meditating on it?
I am not into hot yoga. Something about being in a heated room with everybody vinyasa-ing in puddles of their own sweat is just not my idea of a good time. The heat makes me irritated and uncomfortable–and the odor!? No, thank you. Yuck. I’ll stick to building heat from INside my body.
So, when the lovely folks at Rowve Yoga Bags told me about their bags, I had no idea that many hot yoga studios give their students plastic bags to carry their wet, disgusting, sweaty clothes home. While I understand the need to have something waterproof to keep the yuckiness away from everything else in your bag, yoga students tend to shy away from plastics that will take hundreds of years to decompose in a landfill–especially for one-time use. Most of us have made the shift from disposable plastic bags at the grocery store by bringing our own, reusable bags to the check out.
Rowve makes it possible to do the same thing when you go to your local Bikram studio–and they eliminate the stink factor, too. Even if you’re not into hot yoga, these bags are a great idea for anyone who changes their clothes before they leave the studio or gym. Did I mention how adorable the bags are?
Even more than the functionality of the bags, I love that this mother-daughter team saw a need in the yoga space and took matters into their own hands to fill it. Eve, (the VE in Rowve) the daughter who is a yoga teacher, asked her mom Ronnie (the RO in Rowve), who is a seamstress to come up with a design that would wipe clean and close up tight, keeping the moisture and that familiar smell away.
Are there other similar products on the market? Probably. But I love the idea of supporting folks who, like so many of us yoga teachers and writers in the world, build their business on an ideal that helps them share yoga with others (and in this case, make it more convenient, too).
Tell us: What do you do with your sweaty clothes after yoga class? Do you change before you head home? Do you get sweaty enough that you need to?
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| Image from Lululemon |
I’ve been teaching a yoga class at a gym for a few months now. The yoga class is the first one at this location, so the students are all mostly new to the practice. There are several flyers up around the gym that list the benefits of Pilates (one of the group fitness classes that has been on the schedule for years, I’m told). Now, I’m not a competitive type.. (OK. I actually am, but I try not to be), but it bothered me that there were so many flyers up in the gym touting Pilates and yoga wasn’t represented anywhere. So I asked the gym manager if I could put up a few flyers, too. I started to just write out a list of my own benefits (like this one), but I thought it might be more fun to let my students tell me what benefits they’d noticed after practicing yoga for a few months. Before class started last week, I passed around a sheet of paper with the header “Benefits of Yoga” and asked make the list.
I couldn’t have been more pleased by the things they wrote:
More flexibility
Strength
The ability to laugh when you fall
Teach concentration without taking yourself too seriously
Relaxation
Deep stretch
Peace of mind
Feel soooooo good afterward!
Just letting go of the day!
I added a couple about breathing, mindfulness, and self-care.. but I think they pretty much nailed it! It was also a great exercise for me to see what messages I’ve been effective at getting across. I might try this exercise again in 6 months to see how the list changes over time. In the meantime, I hope it helps get more people to the mat.
When I first moved to Charleston a couple of years ago I was thrilled that my apartment was only a few miles from Holy Cow Yoga Center (little did I know that a “few miles” could take up to 30 minutes in Charleston traffic–but that’s a different topic). The first yoga class I went to here was led by Trace Bonner. From the first Downward Dog, I knew I’d found a teacher I’d be able to connect with—this lady says what she means and means what she says. She’s direct, relatable, and funny in a way that comes so naturally I don’t think she even thinks about it—it’s just who she is. This is a quality that, for me, is the difference between a good yoga teacher and a great one. So I wanted to talk more to her about her approach to the yoga practice and find out what makes her tick.
Being a business owner has to be tough right now–as there’s still lots of uncertainty in the economy. How does your yoga practice help you to stay grounded? Does it inform the choices you make as a business owner?
Am I a narcissist?
Don’t answer that.
It’s a question I’ve been asking myself a lot lately, though, mostly because of a book I recently read about Bikram Yoga.
Hell-Bent: Obsession, Pain, and My Search for Transcendence or Something Like It is one of those books that every yoga teacher should read, not for inspiration or teaching tips (certainly not!) but for a good chuckle and some insight into what NOT to do. It paints a picture of Bikram Choudhury as an egotistic, selfish, power-mongering, money-hungry man that founded Bikram Yoga. I laughed at his crazy antics and even crazier tall tales. He sits in a throne during his teacher trainings while his students fawn over him offering massages and fetching him his drink of choice–Coke. He says he never sleeps, and yet is never out of bed in time to teach an early class. He no longer practices the yoga that’s made him rich. He invented the disco ball. There are a million other unfounded and ridiculous claims.
It’s easy to condemn Bikram–to say he doesn’t embody the true spirit of yoga. He definitely has his faults. But here’s the thing: All of us have some of the narcissistic qualities Lorr describes in his book.
I’ve never made any outlandish claims. I don’t have any trademarks. I’ve never sued any one. But all the Bikram hubub of late has made me think about my own motives for becoming a yoga teacher. I often tell people about how the yoga that I practice can improve their lives. I fancy myself so wise that I write about my experiences with yoga in 3 different blogs (sometimes more!). I look at other people’s postures and tell them how to improve. I collect money for my expertise. And while I certainly practice as much as I can, there are those times when I don’t unroll my mat nearly enough. I occasionally enjoy a Coke. I collect yoga clothes in much the same way Bikram collects cars. I don’t always practice what I preach, but I still think people should listen to what I have to say. And I have a LOT to say.
If I learn nothing else from Bikram, I’m thankful for this lesson: It’s important to explore my own narcissistic qualities from time to time to keep myself in check. It’s even more important to be honest with my students (and everyone else who might look to me for guidance or inspiration) about my shortcomings and my own struggles with ego, ambition, and pride. Because it’s only after we understand and accept ourselves (the good and the bad) can we begin to teach others how to accept themselves. For me, that’s what yoga is all about.
In case you haven’t been clicking around the links on this blog lately, I thought I’d let you know that I updated my Frequently Asked Questions page.
I updated the answer to questions such as, “Are you a yoga teacher?” And I answered some new questions such as, “Why are you such an asshole?”
As I was updating the page, I thought it might be fun to answer some actual questions from readers! I’ve made up the Q&A section since SY was a baby blog. I do get reader questions from time to time, but I rarely answer them in a public way…
So Dear Readers…
This is your opportunity to ask me anything (and I mean anything–yoga questions, life questions, random questions, you name it!).
Comment below. I promise to give you a speedy response.
And… Go!
What’s your favorite pose at the moment? What are you learning from it?
A vegan diet/lifestyle is an important part of Jivamukti Yoga,
correct? Can you briefly explain why?
Great music is something else people can expect from your studio. What’s your favorite song to practice with now?
What inspires you? Tell us so we can be inspired, too!
It is going to be really terrific! Is the third book we have worked on together and is a translation/commentary on a very old yogic scripture. The other two are called An Offering of Leaves and Sweeping the Dust by Ruth Lauer Manenti. They each have 40 teachings in them, with a verse from ancient texts or songs at the beginning, and a story that helps to convey the meaning. They are sweet gifts for anyone you know. You can buy them at lanternbooks.com.
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| Image via Flickr user istolethetv |
True/False Your shoulders are creeping up toward your ears in this very moment.
True/False Sometimes you get tired and grumpy in the afternoons.
True/False You often notice your mind wandering and find it difficult to concentrate.
True/False When given the choice between a light, healthy snack and a decadent cupcake you almost always choose the cupcake.
True/False You avoid looking into the mirror because you just can’t stand to see all the imperfections staring back at you.
True/False You wish you had more money/power/success.
True/False Reality TV is your favorite “hobby”–even the really bad shows like American Idol and The Apprentice.
True/False You need a glass of wine or beer at the end of the day to “take the edge off.”
True/False Every Sunday evening you start to get that yucky feeling … of dread and anxiety for the week ahead.
True/False Some days your poses are better than others.
True/False Meditation is difficult for you. You can’t calm your mind.
If you answered…..
Mostly True. You need more yoga! WAY more!
Mostly False. You need more yoga! WAY more!
You thought you needed a quiz to tell you that? Of COURSE you should do more yoga! Silly head!