Graceful Yoga

How Much Philosophy?

2009-12-01T11:33:00.000-04:00

I imagine as a yoga teacher it would be very hard to balance the physical aspect of yoga with the philosophical and spiritual components in their classes. Many teachers never venture into the “weird stuff” in their classes, sticking to the physical and health benefits of yoga, and then maybe offer workshops on the philosophical and spiritual components for those interested. I can understand this. If you’re struggling to get by you don’t want to scare away students who are either not interested or not yet ready. I bring this up because last night my teacher spent what felt like half an hour discussing the 8 limbs of yoga. She usually talks quite a bit at the beginning of each class where it is for beginners, and this doesn’t bother me, but I can see where students who have come to work on their fitness would be annoyed. At one point the student next to me mumbled, “Let’s get on with it.” (At least that’s what I think she said.) Well, was she ever in for a surprise, because when we finally did “get on with it” we jiggled around to the music of Krishna Das, and when the beat got faster the teacher turned the music way up and the next thing you know she had us dancing around and jumping. Most of us seemed to be having a great time—expect for the stiffy; the let’s- get-on-with-it lady. I wonder if she’s going to come back?

(The hubby was a good sport and went along with it, but I don't think it's really his thing. I love dancing, so naturally it was my favorite part of the class. It feels like a celebration, and since today is my birthday, what more could I ask for!)

What Are You Afraid Of?

2009-11-24T21:14:00.000-04:00

I'm not 100% on this!

Photo Source

Setting Goals Part 2: Self-Reliance

2009-11-23T18:56:00.003-04:00

Read my first part about goal setting here and why I’m writing about it.

Our plans miscarry because they have no aim. When a man does not know what harbor he is making for, no wind is the right wind.

-Seneca

First you have to get your priorities straight; you can’t do everything (this is a hard one for those perfectionists out there). Figure out what you want the most. If you don’t want it bad enough it will never happen. There’s nothing wrong with not waiting something bad enough, but there’s no point in wasting time either, so spend some time thinking about what it is you really want. If you want it bad enough, the easier it will be to make it a priority, such as saving money or finding the time for it.

I learned this the hard way. I told some people that I was thinking about taking yoga teacher training and I got caught up in the excitement (friends wanted me to teach them, a few yoga teachers wanted me to sub for them). And the fact that my hubby did not think it was a good idea put me into rebel mode, “He can’t tell me what I can and can’t do.” So I spent a lot of time studying and researching yoga schools. Eventually my inner voice got drowned out. Unfortunately, once I did find my voice again, I was lost. I did not know what to do instead. I became directionless once again and ended up spending a good chunk of my saved money when I should have held onto it more tightly. The money wasn’t wasted, but it didn’t go towards one of my priorities (because I didn’t have any!). I’ve learned my lesson.

One dream of mine that returns time after time is travel. I’m an expert at making excuses for not traveling. I’ve lived a protected, sheltered life, so it scares me. I’m used to having others make decisions for me, or at least have a hand in it. I’m used to stability. It is easy (and comfortable) to fall back into old patterns.

Now I have travelled for work (boring as heck), and I did spend the coldest nights of my life in Montreal with a group of college friends. But I didn’t take responsibility.

So, even though I’m well armed with every excuse in the book, I think this is something I need—the experience of being self-reliant in a strange place. This is my goal now, and I am saving once again. Specifics will be another post.

(Text Copyright: Graceful Yoga, 2009)

This is why you are fat.

2009-11-19T15:18:00.000-04:00

Sorry, I don't mean to sound harsh, and I wasn't talking about you. It's just the name of this blog. Just looking at it gives me a heart attack.

Banana Peanut Butter Cup And Marshmallow Grilled Sandwich

A sort of triple layer pizza thing.

One reason to aim for that "Yoga butt".

2009-11-19T14:35:00.000-04:00

I do yoga so that I can stay flexible enough to kick my own arse if necessary. ~ Betsy Cañas Garmon

Feeling Powerful

2009-11-18T15:24:00.001-04:00

If you don't know where you are going,

you'll end up someplace else.

-Yogi Berra

I did a power yoga practice today for the first time in a while. I think I missed it. I followed along with one of my favorite DVDs, MTV’s Power Yoga. Yeah, yeah, MTV . . . commercialization of yoga, blah, blah, blah. I don’t care; I like this practice. I always feel strong (physically and mentally) afterwards, and healthy, like I can take on anything. I don’t know of that is real yoga or not, but the main thing is I breathed.

And speaking of feeling powerful, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about goal setting.

A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds.

- Francis Bacon

I’ve never been the kind of person who strives for achievement. I’m way too relaxed and easy going. And I seem to have a hard time making decisions because I can be happy with many different outcomes, so I tend to have a “let’s wait and see what happens” kind of attitude. I am not a person of action. This needs to change. I’m all for “going with the flow,” but I feel the need to take more control. I’ve never been a “doormat,” but it’s come close to that at times. I’m getting better at putting my foot down and clearly saying “NO.”

This goes beyond just wanting to have control, it’s about being an active participant.

Now, I’m no expert on setting and achieving goals, as I’ve just disclosed, but I happen to work for motivational speaker and writer, so I like to think I’m well-versed in the subject, and perhaps I need to put some of what I’ve learned into action. Even though I changed my mind in the end regarding my last goal (yoga teacher training), it showed me that I could do it if I set my mind to it. And I met the goal of doubling my student loan payments.

I would like to write a few posts about goals, and you can consider this part one.

Care to share any of your success stories?

(Text Copyright: Graceful Yoga, 2009)

Meeting Goals

2009-11-16T12:44:00.001-04:00

In 27 months I will be free from my national student loan payments! Today I DOUBLED my monthly payments, something I’ve wanted to do for a while, but wasn’t sure if I was able. Yes, it will make my budget tight (don’t expect any fancy Christmas gifts), but I know I can handle it if I commit to it. It may mean, however, a break from yoga classes, but it depends on how committed the hubby is to a home practice (don’t want to stop him now that he just got started). I paid his for classes, and I’m considering it his birthday/Christmas present.

It feels good to have finally met a goal I set for myself.

A few more goals:

1. Eat better. My colitis is currently in a flare up, and I’m temporarily back on medication. I need to recommit to healthy eating as I had gone off track. This week is my first experience with ordering a weekly food box of local produce (the service just recently became available.) I hope this is easier on my wallet too, since I can’t do any impulse shopping (although that’s more of a hubby thing).

2. Even though I doubled my loan payments, I still want to be able to put some money away each month for rainy days, or if I’m lucky and nothing goes wrong with the house and the appliances don’t quick working, like our oven recently did, I can finally go to Costa Rica. A friend has expressed interest in going too, and she’s a seasoned traveler, and we’re a rare find in that we both like to do the same things, practically twins, except she can drink and I can’t (because of the my colitis).

3. RECOMMIT TO BLOGGING. I haven’t felt like I had anything worthwhile to say, and so I said nothing. I had this idea in my head of where I was headed in the near future, and I was working hard towards it, and that inspired this blog. Then it became clear to me that it was no longer what I wanted. I was acting on momentum supplied by other people and old situations that were no longer applicable. Yes, that had something to do with yoga teacher training.

What goals are you working towards?

(Text Copyright: Graceful Yoga, 2009)

Yoga and Cheesecake - Two Things that Make Me Happy

2009-10-26T12:33:00.000-03:00

But not so for the author of this somewhat humorous article about yoga who also wishes she liked cheesecake (she obviously hasn't tried my mother's cheesecake!)

Silly Names

2009-10-23T12:27:00.000-03:00

I was looking at some of the upcoming releases in Yoga DVDs on Amazon, and thought I may as well share with you some of the titles that made me laugh. Again, you can get angry at the commericalization of Yoga, but they are just titles meant to sell in our culture, and I'm sure that many of these are actually quite good; becase, really, it all comes down to the individual's mindset going in to the pracitice.

Ballroom Yoga
Ten Zen Tummy Toners
The Pursuit of Happy Hips
Yoga: Sweat & Freedom With Pilates! (I'm confused, is it Yoga or Pilates.)

And the winner is: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Power Squad Bod! - Body Slimming Yoga. The one that inspired this lame post.

Simply Yoga

2009-10-21T12:28:00.004-03:00

I remember the first time I found out there were different ways of practicing the system of yoga. Before that I thought it was all the same. I had heard of Iyengar, Satchidananda, Sivananda, and, of course, Rodney Yee (the prolific yoga DVD creator that he is). I knew what Hatha meant. I did not know that there were actually some great differences in approaches, let alone something called flow yoga or power yoga. I don’t believe the local Chapter’s had its yoga section yet.

During my first year of college, I signed up for a free meditation class. While there I was approached by an older couple, obviously excited to see a fresh, young face, and asked how I came to be there. I told them I practiced yoga and wanted to try a meditation group. Their faces lit up (this was just on the cusp of yoga’s explosion of popularity--I think Madonna had already been on Oprah doing her asanas, but this city was still a bit behind, as Nova Scotia often is). They asked me, “What kind of yoga do you practice?” There are kinds?!!! I thought. I panicked, never being one who was comfortable with looking stupid. I mumbled something along the lines of, “I don’t know . . . regular yoga,” and got away from them as fast as I could.

It was after that experience that I started to seek out books on yoga and began to study it. Things started to get complicated. Being in college at the time, however, I had to put yoga study on hold for the most part. But after college, during the last few years, I’ve felt I had to amass as much knowledge as possible about the system of yoga, despite the fact that I can never remember the Sanskrit names. I thought if I was going to teach I had to know everything or else I would be false, a fake. I think I was happier with my yoga practice when it was simply just yoga and being with the breath. I’ve began to remove the pressure I placed on myself to get back to that place. When I say I’m taking a break from yoga, I don’t mean that I’m not practicing and trying to “live” it, but trying to be less intellectual with it—it was taking up too much brain space (and god knows, I ain’t got much of that!). I just don’t want yoga to be an obsession (although I suppose people would be a lot less interesting without their various obsessions).

P.S. I never went back to that meditation group. They were a bit weird.

(Text Copyright: Graceful Yoga and Simplicity, 2009)

Graceful Simplicity

2009-10-09T10:55:00.000-03:00

Don't forget to visit my new blog: Graceful Simplicity.

Beginner Mind Again and Changes

2009-10-08T09:19:00.002-03:00

I’m happy that my hubby has decided to take yoga class with me. Another reason I love this is because it’s forced me back into a beginner class, and it has been “enlightening.” I’ve been moving away from physically demanding practices for a while now—I still do them when needed, and I’m physically active elsewhere—but lately when I come to my mat I need stillness. I’ve learned more in two beginner Kripula Yoga classes than I have in a long time. And I’m not talking about the postures.

I am tired of self-analysis, searching, and achieving. There is peace and happiness to be found in what is now. I do not need more self-improvement. I just need to remember to breathe and be mindful. Simple. Mindfulness is the backdrop that everything else rests on, and I feel like that is something I’ve lost recently.

What am I getting at here? Perhaps, I just mean that, for myself, there are more important things for me to focus on, more useful things to learn. I think I can be more “useful” if I can get my head out of this space. I may not have appeared to be outwardly busy, but internally, I had myself under a lot of pressure. I had myself under deadlines to have certain things figured out and decided upon. That has not been successful. And I fail to see how reading about the Chakras could help me.

Bliss Chick has written about something similar recently, and she puts this feeling into better words than I can. She writes about it here and here.

So I’m moving on and have decided to move on over to the Graceful Simplicity blog that I registered a while ago (it will be ready soon). Call it a fresh start or a clean break. This blog will still be here for whenever I feel like writing about yoga, but I hope my current readers will also venture over and visit me here. Change is good.

(Text copyright Graceful Yoga and Simplicity, 2009)

Last of the Flowers

2009-10-01T14:09:00.007-03:00

It's the first day of the most wonderful month, October, and the first day of the October Blog Party hosted by Domestic Witch .

There are only a few flowers left in the garden, but there are still a number of wild flowers (or weeds) left in the yard, thanks in large part to the fact that we haven't mowed the lawn in months.

The last Morning Glory. And below is the place it was hiding.

A new flower I've discovered this year is pictured below. I have no idea what it is but hope someone can tell me the name. It's a beautiful, exotic-looking yellow flower that grew naturally in one of my flowers beds. When you touch the seed pods, they explode in your hand like magic. I have seen them elsewhere, growing wildly in other places in Nova Scotia, so perhaps it's native.

(So as I was writing this post earlier today, the hubby fell through the glass roof of the greenhouse he is building. This is the 2nd time in 6 years that I've had to call the ambulance for that man. He is fine. He is definitely accident prone and for that reason is not allowed to use chainsaws. I assure you, we are laughing at this.)

(photos and text copyright Graceful Yoga and Simplicity, 2009)

Can You Earn a Living Teaching Yoga?

2009-09-30T11:10:00.003-03:00

I’m glad I found this article (thanks to Happy Daisy Yoga). It’s so hard to find an honest look at the reality of making a living teaching yoga. Everyone usually just says how great the training experience is, how it’s worth the expense, etc., etc.

I’ve been thinking a lot about my motives for taking yoga teacher training. And I’ve been having my doubts. Most of the time I like my job. My life is usually stress-free (there are hard times, but nothing that can’t be dealt with). Teaching yoga would be something I’d do on the side, so I’m not sure it’s worth the stress potential (time and money) it could bring. I like my free time in the evenings to explore my hobbies. I like having free nights at home without any engagements. In other words, most of the time, I like my life just as it is. I would have many obstacles to teaching yoga; the biggest one is a lack of interest in running and marketing a business or myself at this point in my life. It’s just not something I want to do. I don’t even like the idea of trying to promote myself to the recreation department to fit in yet another yoga class where there are already many offered (and how many does one small town need?)

(Update: Linda also has a number of frank and honest posts about teaching yoga, which I've always found to be helpful. Go check them out.)

(Graceful Yoga and Simplicity, 2009)

Still On Blog Vacation - A Few Thoughts

2009-09-23T10:35:00.003-03:00

Even though I posted yesterday (I had too, it's was exciting news), I'm still not ready to start blogging again.

My mind is all over the place these days. I need time to work privately on my path and quiet my mind. My recent weekend retreat was more energizing than than it was centering (but I still had lots of fun), and it took place in the location where the local teacher training is, so it was good to get a feel for the place, and I have lots to think about.

I am still unsure of so many things. I am quite content to remain a student for now. However, because I've talked to people about teacher training, asking questions etc., I now feel almost a pressure to take it even though I'm still unsure in my own mind.

I find that if I'm too immersed in the yoga community or too focused on spiritual pursuits, I actually begin to feel disconnected. Which I suppose is odd considering so many people take up these things to get connected. I personally become ungrounded easily. I am happiest when firmly rooted to this earth and instead of achieving higher consciousness or romanticising the natural world, actually get down on my hands and knees and get dirt under my nails. (One thing I like about my yoga teacher is that I feel grounded in her classes).

The present moment is all that matters, and yet sometimes we get caught up in esoteric ideals and goals and deep self-analysis that we forget that we are still part of this earth and we miss the present moment.

Forgive my rambling! In other news, I apparently made a Top 50 Yoga Blogs for a Healthy Mind and Body list. So while you're waiting for me to get my act together, go check out some of these other blogs.

Guess Who's Going to Yoga . . .

2009-09-22T14:36:00.004-03:00

. . . my skeptical, addicted to the Internet, needs constant stimulus hubby!

How it all came about:

I was gone for the weekend at an ecstatic dance retreat with no phone or Internet connection. We have never gone that long without communicating before. Normally when I'm away he fills his schedule with social activities. But this week he was mostly alone, hardly slept or ate, and we have no TV. In short, he was left to deal with his mental demons and realized he was incapable of entertaining himself. Apparently he tried to watch a movie and saw a preview for a film called "Grace Is Gone," about a man who loses his wife named Grace. I think he went a little nutty.

After my touchy-feely weekend (which I am so not--after 6 years I still have a hard time hugging and telling my in-laws "I love you" for example) I had plans to attend my drumming circle before coming home. The hubby missed me so much that he met me there! Shocked and worried he would make fun of us, I was overjoyed that he liked it and everyone appreciated having him there.

Then Monday morning I reminded him that my yoga classes started again on Tuesday and told him "you can go to the pub if you want." To which he replied, "Can't I go to yoga with you?" I said it was an 11 week and expensive commitment, but that if he was serious I would go to the beginner class with him, which started that night, instead of the Tuesday class. We went and we paid. I'm glad that he came to this decision by himself, recognizing the need to quiet his mind. We plan to do 10 minutes of gentle yoga every morning now, too, so I guess he really liked our Kripalu yoga teacher. He said that everything she said made sense and resonated with him.

I'm shocked. I need to go away more often:)

Taking a Little Break

2009-09-13T16:53:00.002-03:00

I think I need to take a break. I know the last time I said I was taking a blog break, I was blogging again two days later, but this time, I think, will be different. Not only will I be busy this week coming, but there are my things stirring in my mind that I need to let simmer and I feel a need to retreat inward, so I will be returning to my private journal for a while. I can't say how long this is be, perhaps just a few weeks, perhaps a month, perhaps more (probably not that long, but ya never know.) Thanks to my followers who have been with me so far.

Your Money or Your Life

2009-09-11T10:17:00.003-03:00

I started reading, Your Money or Your Life: Transforming Your Relationship with Money and Achieving Financial Independence, last night. So I thought it was interesting that the hubby should send me the link to this article this morning about people who's lives were ruined after winning million-dollar lotteries.

Yoga Adventure in Africa

2009-09-09T18:50:00.002-03:00

Helping to spread the word for Linda. I wish I could go.

For more detailed information, go here.

SCHEDULE:

Friday afternoon: Introduction to Mindfulness MeditationSaturday morning: Yin + Yang practice + meditation (2.5 hours)

Saturday afternoon: Yin practice + meditation (2 hours)

Saturday evening dharma talk:Buddha’s Four Foundations of Mindfulness as they apply to your yoga practice

Sunday: same schedule as Saturday

YOGA DESCRIPTION:We will explore both practices of passive (yin) and active (yang) yoga. Yin yoga consists of long-held poses (3-5 minutes) focusing on the connective tissue of the hips, pelvis, and spine. We will passively stretch the tendons and ligaments in order to unblock and distribute chi (prana) throughout the meridians (nadis), clearing blockages, and helping to balance our organ and meridian systems for our general health. This powerful practice opens your body and enlivens your mind for meditation. A slow flow vinyasa class follows the yin practice visiting the poses that you already love. You will relish the extra space cultivated in the yin poses as you discover a new sense of freedom and grace in yang movement. Recommended for students of all levels with a “beginner’s mind”, and is especially recommended for athletes and all “stiff” yogis! An open mind, rather than an open body, will deepen the experience of this profound and powerful practice.

Wishcasting Wednesday: What Do You Wish to Learn

2009-09-09T11:34:00.006-03:00

Another great question from Jamie for Wishcasting. How does she manage to time her questions so well?

Wishcasting Wednesday: What Do You Wish to Learn

This year I began to learn (or relearn) some basic skills: sewing, vegetable gardening, and canning (just made dill pickles this morning). I know I learned many other things, but this is what’s on my mind today. I also learned that I like beets.

But what do I want to learn this Fall and Winter?

I want to learn how to create my own rituals and traditions to celebrate the seasons and holidays in an earth-centered way. I do this all ready, but it tends to be more spontaneous, with no connection from one year to the next, and is a solo effort. I like the spontaneity and solitude, but I would like to find some continuity.

The things I enjoy and connect with the most are the “practical” things, like changing the spice in my tea; gardening; eating seasonal, symbolic, and traditional foods; spending time in nature to observe the changing seasons; making symbolic crafts and decorating; and meditating on the inner and outer qualities of the season--the things that allow me to experience the flow and the rhythm of nature.

Blue Beach

2009-09-08T11:03:00.005-03:00

The hubby picked me up from my short--but long enough--visit with my family Sunday afternoon. On the way home we stopped to tour some of Nova Scotia's treasures, Hall's Harbour and Blue Beach.

(photo source)

Blue beach was once a tropical swamp and is now an important site for track fossils of our earliest 4-legged, five-toed ancestors who conquered the land earlier and more independently than expected.

''We're talking about a fundamental question in the history of life,'' said paleontologist Spencer Lucas of the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science in Albuquerque. ''We are talking about the origin of terrestriality. It's from this conquest (of land) that we are here.''

No wonder I feel so at home here in Nova Scotia, my ancestory goes way back!

Wishcasting Wednesday: What do you wish to begin?

2009-09-02T10:24:00.001-03:00

The summer is nearing its end (and it’s cool again already) and we’re moving into my favorite season, autumn. The older I get the more connected to the seasons I feel—deep down in my roots.

Tonight I’m leaving to visit with my parents and older sister for a few days, leaving the hubby at home (where hopefully he keeps things nice and tidy for my return). I’m looking forward to some quality mom and sister time Frenchy shopping, showing off our belly dance moves (my mom takes lessons too), some yoga, and maybe swimming if it’s warm—although I’d swim even if it was a bit chilly—and relaxing. Basically trying to squeeze out that last bit of summer before we bunker down for fall. Not sure if I’m staying until Saturday or Sunday—it depends on how much the hubby misses me and wants to come pick me up.

Jamie’s question this week for Wishcasting Wednesday: What do you wish to begin?

Since I feel that I’ve already started, I guess I just want to stay focused and dedicated to my chosen path. I wish to walk my talk so to speak, and find out exactly how that works for me—I won’t be a cookie-cutter version of what someone else has decided is correct. I also want to begin tackling all those used books I bought over the summer! I also wish to begin practicing surrender, or letting it take place, or however it is that is happens, I do not know! Call it flow, call it the cosmic universe, or call it by some divine name, I do not care, just let it happen.

The Throw Away Economy and the Future of the "American Dream"

2009-09-01T13:47:00.003-03:00

"From garbage crises in Greece and China to worldwide shortages of grain, meat and oil, our current consumption patterns are on a collision course with the Earth’s geological limits."

Read the full article from Mother Earth News.

More than just an ugly sight. Photo Source

Sunday Citar: Looking Forward to Winter?

2009-08-30T16:55:00.002-03:00

To poke a wood fire is more solid enjoyment than almost anything else in the world.

~Charles Dudley Warner

I'm joining in on Sunday Citar because, as a bookworm, it's only natural that I love quotes.

Niyaz - Beni Beni

2009-08-27T14:22:00.007-03:00

Here's one of my favorite songs to dance to, sung by one of my favorite singers, Azam Ali with the group Niyaz. Enjoy!

Photo of Azam Ali - This is what my fantasy world looks like--well, one of them anyway.