Eating my Words

On March 21 I wrote about a little bit of running I did (to catch the bus). And it had me stating that "I will not be running". I'm eating my own words now.

I used to run. I took a learn to run program from January to March 2009. And I continued running for a few more months after that. I injured myself a few times throughout that time (not running, but at other sports). One of those injuries was bad enough I had to stop running for a while. And I never went back.

And while my body was fine with me not running, part of me missed it. Why have I decided to start running again? I love the intensity of the workout I get with running. I love knowing that my body can do this. I love the zen like feeling that comes over me at a certain point in the run. I love the energy I have for the rest of the day.

What is different this time? I am trying to pay more attention to the biomechanics of how I run and really listen to my body. That would have been a great idea last time but since I was new to running just dealing with the increased cardio needs and trying to keep up with the training schedule of the program was enough.

Today was my first run so at this point I'm just curious to see how retraining progresses. I'm following the same training plan as last time but allowing myself additional time at each step as needed to really feel ready to move on. I'm trying to focus on planting my foot below me (not reaching) and letting my arms and legs relax. And I'm really tuning into what my body is telling me during the run to make any adjustments I need.

I'm shocked that my knees don't hurt right now. Running in my neighbourhood means lots of hills and I did 5-6 km today. And my legs are sore but my knees at this point feel great (not the case back in March when I ran that short distance).

I'm looking forward to seeing how my next run goes and seeing whether I continue to want to run.

Farmers Market Find: Rhubarb

It's that season again. I went to the Farmers Market on Sunday and Wednesday. I loaded up on yummy bread and cherry tomatoes both times. On Wednesay I also bought some pasta and rhubarb.

The rhubarb was from Compassion Farm (Dirk Becker and Nicole Shaw). While we're growing rhubarb at our house, it is only recently planted so not ready to harvest. I turned the rhubarb into a lovely strawberry rhubarb crisp using this recipe.

Now you might be asking: what does the farmers market and a tasty crisp have to do with Yoga? A lot!

I have made several committments of how I want to live my life. Included on that list are compassion, consideration and love. I've chosen each of the words to represent something that I want to embody and the definitions may shift over time.

Compassion I chose to represent vegetarianism. I am not a vegetarian but I do strive to eat predominantly vegetarian. So a yummy fruit crisp is definitely on the menu.

I chose consideration to represent local/sustainable options. This is the big reason to go to the farmers market. To allow me to buy food that I know was grown or produced locally. And of course, it generally tastes better because it's fresher.

Love represents my social connections. And there is part of that in buying produce from the farmers market, buying directly from the grower, particularly when it is someone I know, like Nicole Shaw.

Buying at the farmers market allows me to connect with my food and those who supply it more completely than buying from the grocery store. I encourage you to get out and sample the bounty available in your area.

The Freedom of Time

I left my day job at the end of March. However, some things are really just dawning on me.

People have asked what it's like to get up in the morning and not go to the office. And I've honestly answered that it's fantastic. I teach different times each day and usually start my day with a couple hours of computer work (website, emails, etc).

The freedom I've felt has been great. And I admit that some days I treat it like a vacation. Watch TV, laze around.

And the other day I realized just how much freedom I have. I have big portions of my day, nearly every day, that I can do whatever I please. I remember when I had to work Mon to Fri at the office, feeling that there just wasn't enough time to fit some things in or I'd have to choose because I had so little personal time. Now, I can fit in whatever I want.

And I am extremely grateful for this gift. And I will work hard to build my business so that I can keep this flexibility in my life. Even with my ideal teaching schedule (4 classes a day, 6 days a week), there is still plenty of freedom to explore my own life.

Letting Go

Teaching has become a fantastic lesson in letting go.

There are the moments where I feel like I’ve made a great connection with my students. There are the moments where I feel like I’ve made a difference in someone’s life. As a teacher, these are the moments I cherish.

But, previously, I would have tortured myself over the times that were less than stellar. Those times when I don’t respond the way I’d like to. Those times I missed an opportunity. Those times I could have asked a better question.

However, as I’ve sunk into my teaching I’ve realized that I don’t hang onto those moments. I recognize that I would do it differently next time. And then I let it go.

This is something that I’ve had so much trouble doing in the rest of my life yet I’ve been able to bring it into my teaching and that means so much to me. Now I want to practice the art of letting go in the rest of my life. Do my best, give my all, let it go.

Plow? Shoulderstand?

I surprised myself the other day. I was teaching a class to relative beginners. One of them asked about a couple of poses: she asked about a pose where your feet go behind your head followed by one with the feet in the air. I knew she was talking about Plow and Shoulderstand. She had previously attended an intermediate/advanced class and been a bit intimidated.

I talked a little about how those poses are really beneficial but aren't necessary. I say this because I don't think any pose is necessary. I think that you find the Yoga poses that work for you. I also talked about the fact that I don't generally teach those poses (there are some exceptions with students who've been with me for a while).

And then I went to demonstrate the beginning of those poses. I say the beginning because I haven't been able to easily get into these poses for years. My intent was to show them partway and then discuss where you go from there. None of my students would be doing the pose, it was just part of the discussion. So, I gently rolled myself backward...

And went into Plow! I was so shocked. And then I went into Shoulderstand (which I've always found a bit easier than Plow). I was so happy that my body has changed and shifted enough that I can now do these poses. I've practiced them several other times since then (to ensure it wasn't some sort of fluke).

This has reminded me that even though I don't teach the more advanced poses on a regular basis, I would like to practice them myself regularly. My body is often ready to surprise me and I love it! And it prepares me more to teach my students these poses when they are ready.

Resistance

It is amazing the resistance our minds can come up with. I say our minds instead of minds and bodies for a reason.

I may feel my body resisting but experience tells me that resistance is pretty weak. If I decide I'm going to do something like run a race or take a hard class, my body will complain throughout but it will keep going, won't give up. This is why I've done a 5 km kayak race with almost no training and finished.

My mind on the other hand - and really when I say mind I mean ego. It wants to keep me inside my comfort zone. So anything new or perceived as a threat (i.e. something that might bring me out of my ego) must be resisted.

And this is why some days 5 min into meditation I really want to get up. My personal practices take up some of my day but they are easily fit in. So why do I resist?

I enjoy my practices but they represent change. They represent a desire to explore pieces of myself and embrace my divinity. And part of me finds that really scary. Which leads me to resistance.

The answer for me? To keep persevering. To keep making time. To know with time the resistance becomes less strong. To know this is what I want and move towards it. And when I stumble to pick myself up and keep going.

May Love List

20 of the things I'm loving right now:

1. My brand new white Blackberry with spring green case - so light and fun


2. Back to teaching


3. My studio space


4. My mom for all her support and the amazing work she's done in the yard


5. The extra time in my days - it is great to have a much more flexible schedule


6. Vegan Italiano, a fabulous cookbook


7. Good times with good friends


8. Season finale time - I admit I totally get sucked into shows I don't regularly watch


9. The way when you really ask for something it sort of falls in your lap, whether you're ready for it or not...more on this one later


10. The rain - I admit I love the cleansing power of the rain


11. Balancing being a Yoga student with being a Yoga teacher


12. Exploring and expanding my meditation and spiritual practices


13. Being chosen as one of the top 100 Yoga blogs of 2011 by HealthcareColleges.net


14. Helping to organize a fabulous 108 Sun Salutations fundraiser - more coming soon!


15. Lazy Sundays


16. Coconut Bliss


17. My lovable, cuddly cat


18. How smoothly my body moves when I move it regularly


19. That feeling of sweet inner calm and peace, even when it's sometimes fleeting


20. Honoring who I am and worrying less about who I was and who I will be

New Students

This has been a great “back to work” week. I’m back to a regular teaching schedule and I started three new classes with the City of Nanaimo. Typically when I get new students, it is one to two new students a week. This week, because of the City’s programs, I had 20 new students in the space of two days.

I find the first class with a new student sort of like that first date: getting to know each other, telling our stories. So I guess 20 new students is sort of like speed dating. Not enough time to get to know everyone’s story in detail, but a good overview.

Is Yoga for you? I believe there is a Yoga class and a Yoga teacher out there for everyone. I’m not vain enough to believe I’m the teacher for everyone. But I’m grateful for the opportunity to introduce people to Yoga asana and meditation and possibly start them on a journey of discovery. Discovery of what their bodies can do, discovery of ways to quiet their mind and discovery of connecting with their inner wisdom.

To all my students, new and not-so-new, thank you for the opportunity to share. Thank you for allowing me to guide you in your practice and help you discover where you want Yoga to take you.

Whistler Yoga Conference

This past weekend I was at Whistler Yoga Conference. It was a busy, fun weekend of learning. I took the following workshops:

• Bollywood Vinyasa – Hemalayaa



• Chakra Shuddhi Meditation – Shivani Howe



• Opening the Inner Temple – Anodea Judith



• Pranayama (Vijnana Yoga): Cleansing, Balancing and Energizing – Leslie Young



• Qi Gong for Awakening the Flow – Shane Perkins



• Rhythm and Repetition as Mystical Keys: Classical Kundalini Yoga – Yogi Vishvketu



• Taking Your Yoga off Your Mat and into Your World – Shivani Howe



• Yin for Yoga Teachers – Colleen Felgate

I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to study briefly with these amazing instructors. There were a couple of classes I'm very glad I took but just weren't for me. There were a couple that I got what I expected out of them. And then there were the others! The class I was most looking forward to was Chakra Shuddhi Meditation. I was so impressed with both the content of the class and instructor (Shivani Howe), that I changed around my classes the next morning to take her course on Taking Your Yoga off your Mat and into Your World

....and that ended up being my favorite class of the weekend. It was great to talk about living your Yoga. About what I want to put out into the world and what is standing in the way of that. Much food for thought.

And I was very struck by Shivani, who it turns out I met in April at Yasodhara Ashram. Shivani has a retreat centre in the Purcell Mountains which may be the site of my next retreat.

My Name Up in Lights!

You know one of the Hollywood signs you've made it? Seeing your name up in lights.

I had a similar experience today. Last week my friend called to tell me that the City of Nanaimo were advertising my Full Figure Yoga classes (that I'm teaching at City facilities) on their Facebook page. I was really happy with this news.

Today I was driving down Bowen Road. As I passed Beban Park, I looked up to read the signboard that discusses what's happening at the facility. There it was: Full Figure Yoga May 11. Hee! I was completely tickled. I'm super happy that the City is promoting my classes. I know part of it is because they aren't full, but I also know that the City has faith in the classes and I'm grateful for their support.

Coming on Wednesday - a post on Whistler Yoga Conference this past weekend!

Review - Midnights with the Mystic

As previously posted in April, I am excited to share a review of Midnights with the Mystic by Cheryl Simone with Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev. I was sent it for review by the publicist.

I really enjoyed this book. Cheryl Simone has a great writing style and a way of welcoming you into the story. I felt as if I were sharing in the late night learnings. Cheryl's own story and her journey on her path are very inviting. Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev's wisdom is great.

I have read some books where I see myself in the author. This was not one of those books. I greatly respect Cheryl and her journey but for me it wasn't my journey. There is nothing wrong with that and I enjoy reading other people's journeys. And I enjoy reading about other gurus; because while I respect Sadhguru, he is not my guru.

However, as expected with such a great teacher, I certainly found some pearls of wisdom to take away. One of these:

• "I want you to understand that life around you will respond and create itself to match the way you are and not the way you and the people around you think you are. What you think about yourself is existentially irrelevant."

This book is a great glimpse of a spiritual journey. It is an easy read on some deep subjects. I highly recommend Midnights with the Mystic.

Facebook Video - Shaw TV Segment

Here's a link to the Shaw TV video that was filmed and aired in February.

Full Figured Yoga

You need to be logged into Facebook for the link to work. Otherwise, copy and paste this link into Facebook once you're logged in:
http://www.facebook.com/#!/video/video.php?v=10150123275957404