Blog - Page 50 of 52 - Spoiled Yogi

I’ve Never Breathed Like That in My Life!

The following is from this week’s episode of Grey’s Anatomy, which I’m not ashamed to admit is one my favorite TV shows.

The scene: Two doctors, a surgeon and an anesthesiologist, walking down the hall of a busy hospital. (I couldn’t find a video, so you’re just going to have to use your imagination.)

Ben: Do you have plans for tonight?
Bailey: I’m going to yoga class.
Ben: There’s nothing about that sentence that makes any sense.
Bailey: Tuck’s with his father and the Fascist Vegan next door gave me a yoga class for Christmas.
Ben: No. You’re having dinner with me.
Bailey: The Fascist Vegan thinks yoga is going to make me a better person, which is unlikely, but if I don’t go I’ll have to hear about it.
Ben: “My back kind of hurts. But the breathing, I’ve never breathed like that in my life!” That’s what people say after their first yoga class. Tell her that, and have dinner with me.

What is a Conscious Consumer?

Image from icanhascheezburger.com.

Money, wealth, and abundance are complicated concepts for the yogi who wants to extend the philosophy of yoga into her everyday life.

In the name of living our yoga, we spend more money on organic items, buy fair-trade and goods made in the USA, and we donate our old yoga mats to those who are less fortunate. But, if we’re really being honest with ourselves, these are all things that we reap benefits from ourselves, too. We feel like we’ve done our good deed for the day by helping the environment or supporting fair wages for others, and we’ve helped ourselves become healthier, boosted our images as conscious yogis, and cleaned out our closets at the same time. Everybody wins, right?

At the same time, I don’t think twice about spending $18 on one yoga class. My dog eats better than many of the children living in low-income homes in Downtown Oakland (yes, right down the street from where I’m sitting right now). And if I stop buying overpriced organic and fair trade products, I wouldn’t have to hurt the environment driving to Whole Foods AND I could afford to donate a lot more than a yoga mat to people in Haiti.

With each purchase and donation, we make a choice prioritizing which lives are most worthy of saving. People or the environment? People or animals? Local or Third-World children?

Could my commitment to being a “conscious consumer” be less helpful to the world, than I’ve been led to believe? If my intentions are really to make the world as a whole a better place as a whole (as opposed to my own narrow view of the world) would my spending habits change? Is my yoga practice really inspiring those choices, or am I allowing myself to be led by the big businesses yoga machine that boosts its bottom line by taking advantage of my efforts to live consciously?

It seems there are no right answers, but I think these are important questions to ask. What do you think?

Meditation Minute

My friends at Yogamint posted this video today, and I had to share it with you. It’s a perfect, short guided meditation for those times when you’re feeling down or slighted. We are each SO blessed. Abundance is everywhere. Our true nature is happiness!

5 Steps to Instant Happiness

I know, I know. Yoga is a path and finding contentment takes years of discipline and practice. That’s fine. But, sometimes, you just need to remind yourself that the world is a beautiful, wonderful, fun place. Whenever I’m feeling whiny, there are a few things I know will help me realize how blessed I am and make me feel instantly happy.

1. Pick a flower. A daisy or a buttercup will do just fine. Tear off the petals one by one, saying to yourself, “He loves me, he loves me not.” If you get to the last petal and it’s a negative… tear that petal into two so you can end on a good note.

2. Eat a cupcake. Slowly. Get frosting on your nose, and then lick it off.

3. Remember something that gave you the giggles as a child. If you can’t think of anything, get some inspiration from a wee one in your life. For example, I recently called my niece to wish her a happy 4th birthday. The conversation went like this. Me: “Happy Birthday!” Niece: “Happy Birthday to you, too! And Happy Buttcrack!” (It was a proud moment for me.)

4. Practice a pose that makes you feel strong, playful, and free. That’s right. The skinny, awkward girl who couldn’t overhand serve a volleyball to save her life when she was 15, can now do some pretty incredible arm balances. And I’m filled with joy every time!

5. Watch a puppy play. If you don’t have a puppy, go to a dog park and just watch for a while. (Put a few treats in your pocket if you need a little extra love.) Or just watch my sweet Penny chase her tail when she was 4 months.

What makes you feel joy instantly?

Corpse Pose, You Make Me Feel Alive!

I know Savasana (Corpse Pose) is all about practicing death and everything, but nothing gives me more energy and makes me feel more alive than a nice, long yoga practice followed by a nice, long Savasana.

Right now, I’m in the middle of a week long vacation. It’s the first real vacation I’ve had since I started working five years ago—no traveling, no family visits, no obligations. And if feels like a 10-minute Savasana. One of those where you enjoy every breath, hoping your teacher doesn’t ruin your rest by talking or ringing a chime.

For me, the secret to a great Savasana is practicing a yoga sequence difficult enough to leave me physically exhausted. Then, it’s easy to let go. In life, this tactic only works if you have time for a vacation after all that work.

A few more of my Savasana secrets:
— Get comfortable. Wiggle around until all the wiggles are out, then surrender.
— If wiggling doesn’t work, use as many blankets, bolsters, straps, and sandbags as you need to help you feel comfortable.
— Make sure you’re warm. It’s hard to relax when your feet are cold!
— Help to calm your mind by covering the eyes with an eye pillow, scarf, or even a hood.
— When your mind wanders, try to focus on the breath in and out.

And most important, don’t stress about Savasana. As my first yoga teacher used to say, “Yoga is about being, not doing.” As long as you’re there and resting, you’re getting the benefits. (And expecting more than what is available to you, well, it’s something a spoiled yogi would do!)

When you get back up, it will feel like returning from a little vacation every time.

10 Things I Hate About Yoga

What did you expect? I told you I’m a whiner. And even though yoga is my love, there are things about the practice that drive me nuts (kind of like when my husband gets crumbs in the margarine tub).

1. It’s not all butterflies and rainbows. Yoga is hard work, both physically and emotionally. There are times when a teacher asks you to hold a pose so long you want to either cry or scream, but you can’t because it wouldn’t be polite.

2. You’re stronger than you think you are. Part of the practice is learning when you push your boundaries and when to back off. When you get to your edge, you might think that’s all you can handle and you need to stop and rest, but there’s almost always more room.

3. It makes you realize you than although you’re wise, you don’t know anything. Sometimes, that’s a hard pill to swallow.

4. Just when you think you’ve mastered the hardest pose you could ever want to achieve, you see that there’s a cooler one that will take you 15 more years to learn.

5. There are yoga teachers everywhere–often your best teachers aren’t the ones who have studied yoga all their lives, but the ones who reveal something about your path. You have to just sit and wait for those teachers to show up. They don’t post a class schedule on the Internet.

6. Yoga pants are usually made for tall people, and I hate getting pants hemmed.

7. I know I’ll never understand everything about the practice, no matter how hard I try. There’s too much to learn. Many of its secrets are too rich, too deep, and too rooted in another culture for me to fully grasp it. But it’s so wonderful and magical than I can’t stop trying.

8. I hate extended chanting sessions, kirtan, and yoga dance parties. I like to leave music to the experts.

9. I don’t belong in any of the yoga “schools,” so in that sense I’m a yoga orphan. And it drives me crazy how divided the yoga world can be sometimes. I hate how people are so attached to their own way of doing things, and that they don’t seem to see that there are many paths to the same place.

10. No matter how long you’ve practiced, in many ways you start over at the beginning every time you get on your mat.

What do you hate?

On My Own

Image source.

If ever there was a safe, warm, supportive place to grow your yoga practice, it’s the Yoga Journal office. There’s a yoga class every day for staff led by an amazing, seasoned teacher (a different teacher and style each day of the week). When you have a minor injury or pose question, you can simply take a stroll through the office and ask your co-workers if any of them have any experience with it (someone always does). And when your work stresses you out, no one even blinks an eye at you when you go into the conference room for a quick handstand to help you clear your head.

Yesterday was my last day as the online editor at Yoga Journal magazine. And I’m scared as the dickens that the yoga practice I’ve spent the last 4 1/2 years building will go down the drains. All the time I’ve been there, it was so easy. My teachers were chosen for me. I never had to pay for a yoga class. Everyone around me was so immersed in yoga culture, I started talking about asanas and yoga philosophy like it’s a part of everyday life. But for people outside of the yoga world—where I’m headed—that’s just not true.

Of course, all the things that made it easy, also made me take my yoga practice for granted. When it’s everywhere you look, somehow it just doesn’t mean quite as much. It’s not the respite from the world that it could be. I know it was making me lazy, which is why I started this blog.

And even though, I’ll be on my own in many ways—finding my own teacher, making time for practice out of a busy, non-yoga day, maybe even practicing at home—I’m thankful I’ve found a virtual community that will be a support and comfort.

Do you have any advice for a spoiled yogi looking to do some rehab?

Timers and Technique

When I was a little girl, my mom insisted that I practice my violin for at least 30 minutes every day. “Practice makes perfect,” she’d say. My sisters and I would roll our eyes. For every practice session, she’d set the kitchen timer, and I was NOT to stop practicing until I heard that glorious ring that signaled the end of my practice.

Thirty minutes goes by SO slowly when you’re 8 years old. I hated that kitchen timer. Whenever my mom left the room, I’d put my violin practice on pause and adjust it forward a little.

It’s a little ironic, then, that I use a kitchen timer now to help me keep track of time when I sit to meditate.

Unfortunately, I’m not much more patient than I was when I was a kid. I sit for a few minutes, focusing on my breath. Then, I open my eyes to peek at the timer. Thnk, “What? How can there still be 15 minutes left.” Then, I close my eyes, and try again. Sometimes, I give up and just turn the timer off. Sometimes, I sit there, eyes wide open, waiting for the timer to get to 00:00. Rarely, do I make it through a whole session without looking at the timer.

A few times, I’ve been dedicated enough to practice daily for a month or even two without stopping and by the end it got easier. And I felt calmer and more centered as a result. However, I haven’t been able to make it a long-lasting habit. It’s frustrating. What am I doing wrong?

Do you have a meditation practice? Did it take you a few tries to get it to stick?

Rock Me Baby

Today, my yoga teacher focused on hips and used gentle rocking to release the tension.

You know this one? (Rocking the Baby is part of this article from Yoga Journal).

We did a lot of rockin’ hip openers, and obviously another song popped into my head and it won’t go away! This one:

It may be a bit of a stretch, but it does relate to yoga if you’ve got a talent for relating EVERYTHING to yoga—like me! You see, my mind is like a baby—well, more like a cranky toddler. The movement of my body in yoga class slowly rocks my mind, soothing it a little more with each pose. Until that sweet moment it goes to sleep, Savasana.

Now Enrolling:
Peaceful, Present, and Prepared Birth