Choosing Your Response

We can't always choose what happens in our lives, but we can choose our response to it. Below is an awesome story to illustrate it (copied from this site).

"A young man died and was met by an angel. This Angel explained that the man must choose whether he will go to Heaven or to Hell. "But before you choose, I will show you both." The angel led the man down a great hall at the end of which was two great doors. "Which would you like to see first?" The man took a deep breath and asked to see Hell first, thinking to get it out of the way. The Angel opened the doors to Hell and led the man through. A great banquet hall stretched away from them, fading into the distance. On it were all manner of wonderful foods and drinks. Sitting on either side of this banquet were the residents of Hell. Everyone had a board tied to each arm extending from shoulder down to their wrists so that they could not bend their arms at the elbows, and thus could not feed themselves. As far as the young man could see were bodies: People dying from hunger and thirst, and corpses interspersed with skeletons. He backed out of the room in horror pursued by the screams and moans of suffering and shut the door behind him.

After some time the young man regained his composure and asked to see Heaven. The Angel opened the doors to Heaven and led the man through. A great banquet hall stretched away from them, fading into the distance. On it were all manner of wonderful foods and drinks. Sitting on either side of this banquet were the residents of Heaven. Everyone had a board tied to each arm extending from shoulder down to their wrists so that they could not bend their arms at the elbows and thus could not feed themselves. BUT some of them were dancing, while others sang, and everyone was talking and laughing as they fed each other at arms length."

Which response are you going to have?

Reflections on Self-Restraint and Moderation

Today I am reflecting on the fourth Yama: Brahmacharya. This is traditionally interpreted as celibacy, but modern interpretations tend to have changed it a bit.

Let's look at the traditional definition first. Celibacy is the absence of sexual activities. Why is this part of Yoga? The idea is that when we have sex we release some of our vital energy. Yoga strives to redirect that energy. But certainly celibacy is not for everyone. From a sexual standpoint this has also been interpreted as sexual respect, monogamy or marital fidelity.

But how does Brahmacharya relate to the rest of our lives? Doing anything in excess taps our vital energy. So Brahmacharya guides us to self-restraint and moderation. Not eating too much. Not partying too much. Not working too much. Not talking too much. Not accumulating too much.

Fabulous advice. How am I doing with Brahmacharya? I have a tendency towards excess. I have a very "all-or-nothing" mindset. And I've been working on that for the past decade.

I am getting much better at the practice of moderation. Of realizing that when my balance is off, that quietly sitting in the middle helps bring me back to balance quicker than running in the opposite direction. That usually a little bit of anything is nearly as satisfying as a whole lot of it. That moderation makes room in my life for more varied experiences.

Feel Your Yoga

I read this post today on feeling vs thinking in Yoga and I thought "Yes! This is what I've felt but haven't found the words for."

As a Yoga teacher, I provide the verbal cues to guide my students in Yoga (opening across the chest, tipping the pelvis, etc). But what I really want them to do is to feel the Yoga.

The cues are important. It's good to know the alignment points and it's good to know what type of stretch you are targeting. But it's also really important to see what feels right for you.

This is how I progressed in Yoga over the past decade. Part of it came from having a larger body and not being able to do the conventional poses in all cases. But I experimented: slowly, gently, compassionately. What happens if I take my shoulder back a bit? What happens if I roll my hip forward a fraction?

I teach a lot of modifications for my students, and most of them were a matter of trial and error. I encourage you to do some experimenting of your own. That's how you find the Yoga teacher inside you.

To Pose or Not to Pose

I want to say right up front that today I'm talking about my teaching style, not other teacher's styles. There are many styles out there that work for different teachers and that work for different students. This is just my story.

The teacher training I took taught us in a participatory role. What I mean by that is that we were taught to teach but also to do the Yoga while we were teaching. To demonstrate the poses. Sure, we would come out of some poses to adjust students, but overall we were doing the asanas with them.

I have taken many Yoga classes of both styles: those where the teacher participates and those where they just instruct. The latter has varied to the instructor giving a short demonstration to no demonstration with just verbal cues on the pose.

As a Hatha teacher, I have always participated in my classes. My head is often up to ensure that everyone is finding their way, providing modifications as needed and checking in on student's progress. However, I've always practiced along with my students.

I recently started teaching Yin Yoga. My initial intent was not to participate in the class, but rather to demonstrate the pose and then guide my students into it. I would spend the time they are in the pose ensuring they were each getting what they needed.

I think in a large group class setting, that would be a great idea. However, since I teach very small group and individuals, I was at a loss what to do with my extra time. I know that it's fine to just sit and watch my students practice. But that's just not me. So, again I find myself participating in the pose once I've ensured my student's needs are met.

It will be interesting to see how this changes and evolves along with my teaching.

Are you Yoga?

Sometimes you read something so good you have to just pass it on. I never would have guessed that a post called Crack Smokin' Yoga Teachers would be the one, but I love this post.

Candice has hit the nail on the head with this one. There can be a tendency to feeling that to be "Yoga" you really need to do certain things or have certain attributes. Heck, that's one of the reasons I didn't become a teacher until last year (I felt my body was too big for me to be a Yoga teacher).

Yoga is so much more than those things. I used to meditate and do asanas every day. Now my personal meditation and asana practice is a bit more dynamic, ebbing and flowing with my teaching schedule. But I certainly feel more "Yoga" than I used to because overall I do more Yoga things and make more Yoga choices.

Overall, my life is more about peace and serenity than competition and anxiety. And, for me, that's what it's all about!

Ashtanga Sun Salutation

I have done many a Sun Salutation during my years of Yoga. During our Yoga Teacher Training, we mostly did Surya Namaskara A, which is the main Ashtanga Sun Salutation. This is a Sun Salutation without lunges.

As part of this Sun Salutation, there is a part where you are in your standing forward bend and you jump or step your feet back into plank. And later you jump or step your feet forward from downward dog.

Jump? My feet? Seriously? I always thought it was one of those elite things as I awkwardly stepped up (not everyone is awkward, but that's how I felt).

While at the Ashram in April I saw someone do the perfect jump. Her feet were perfectly lined up. I was so impressed, and again thought this was an elite move.

One day recently I was teaching and decided to try jumping my feet back. OMG! I did it! And it was awesome. Not nearly as perfect as that one I saw in April, but since Yoga isn't about perfect that's okay. And then I jumped my feet forward as well.

And now I'm sort of like a kid with a new toy. Jump, jump, jump. I am constantly impressed with how my body changes and how my body's abilities develop over time. Thank you Yoga!

June Love List

Wow, mid-June already? 20 things I'm loving right now:

1. New students (and the existing ones too).
2. Family Yoga in the backyard (enjoy the summer!).
3. 7 day reads from the library.
4. Yin Yoga. It's really helping me work out some of my hip and back issues.
5. Hashbrown nachos - so good!
6. Sandals (one thing I absolutely love about summer!).
7. Wii sports (especially golf).
8. Boxing (I love that I've refound my love for the heavy bag).
9. Life with less TV (a few hours a week).
10. That we almost have our wills done after years of saying we were going to do them.
11. The fawns in our yard the other day (please come back!).
12. My 5 K circuit around the neighbourhood (just walking right now, not running).
13. The little bunny hip hopping around our yard somedays.
14. Broccolli with my sweet/spicy/salty sauce.
15. Sleeping in some days.
16. My expenses going down, YAY!
17. My hair as it gets a bit longer.
18. Confirmation from the City on my Sept to Mar classes.
19. Plans with the RDN to discuss teaching in Cedar in the fall.
20. My cat sleeping with me last night.

Listening to my Body

Back before I started practicing mindfulness and Yoga, my body would ache sometimes, and sometimes I would have injuries. And when I did, it would complain for a long period.

Now I find that I listen to my body better. I'm hearing the messages sooner. And the pain is passing quicker since I'm mindful of the injury.

The old mindset: I won't let this slow me down!

The new mindset: I will listen to and respect my body's needs.

Being mindful and carefully practicing won't insure I don't get injured, but it does lessen the likelihood. I do have a tendency to occassionally push myself too far and have to deal with the consequences. But I feel so much more prepared for the consequences these days.

I find a lot of times, it's just a little modification necessary to let an injury heal itself. Today my hamstring feels a tiny bit pulled. This wouldn't be completely unusual as I previously pulled my hamstrings and they are very flexible. Given that I noticed it after my 5 K walk this morning, I might have overdone it a little on one of the hills.

I will be cautious of how I walk and how I teach today to try to let it have a rest. And tomorrow I suspect it will be good as new. And if it's not I will listen to what it needs again.

Esteemed CHICs

This summer I'm involved in the CHICs (ages 11-14) and CHIClettes (ages 9-10) workshops for girls. I'll be providing a Yoga session during each of the workshops.

The Esteemed CHICs programs are amazing. CHICs stands for Choosing Health and Integrating Changes. In the words of their website:

CHICs empowers and educates young girls to Be Who You Are! not who others want them to be by teaching them to challenge social rules and media messages which are statistically known to lower a girl’s sense of self. Their workshops aim to raise self-esteem, self-worth and increase abilities to cope with the challenges girls face as they move through adolescence.

Wow! What a fantastic mission. If you know a girl age 9 to 14, I encourage you to check out these workshops on the Esteemed Chics Website.

Mindful Eating

I teach mindfulness meditation and I continue to study mindfulness. Mindfulness opens the door to now. It lets me enjoy the moment or deal with the moment and then move on.

I've been practicing mindful eating. This is one of the hardest things for me. I have always eaten either in front of the TV or reading. Now you know why I did the no TV experiment last week.

This week I've been working on sitting down at the table for a meal and enjoying that meal. Sitting down with my snack and enjoying it. Not multi-tasking my meal away.

What are the benefits? Because I'm present for my meal, I enjoy the food a lot more. I also find that, for me, mindful eating eliminates the mindless snacking. If I'm being mindful I'll eat just enough to satisfy myself and then stop eating.

I'll admit the mindful eating is a challenge because it is so ingrained in me to have entertainment and eating put together. But I'm glad to be separating the two so that I can enjoy them each individually.

Thich Nhat Hanh in Vancouver

If you are anywhere in the Lower Mainland or Vancouver Island area and interested in mindfulness, I encourage you to buy a ticket to Thich Nhat Hanh's public talk on Sunday, August 14 in Vancouver. This is a rare opportunity to hear this amazing Zen master share his insights.

Link: Open Mind, Open Heart

7 days, no TV

Last weekend I decided that I wanted to try a week without TV. I've gone without TV before, but only when I've lived alone or been somewhere without TV (like the Ashram).

Why did I decide to do this? Because I feel like some days I waste a lot of time watching TV and that I get sucked into it. I sit down to watch an hour and end up wasting way more than that.

In my mind I pictured myself as vastly more productive without the TV. Getting so much stuff done without all that wasted time. I'm on Day 6 and thought I'd let you know how this experiment has gone (it will continue until Sunday night).

No more wasted time? Not exactly. In fact, sort of not at all. I realized (and did actually know this before) that if I'm in the mood to waste time, I don't need a TV to do it. I read 3 novels in an incredibly short time frame and I've played plenty of Wii. In reality I sort of felt like I was wasting more time without the TV. Why? Because my days feel longer without the TV and therefore it felt like I was wasting more time.

Was I more productive? Absolutely. Even on days where I was mostly wasting time, I still was productive. When I was watching TV if I was feeling lazy I could easily keep watching TV and never get to anything productive. But with the TV off, I find there's a limit to how much time I'm willing to waste. Lazy? Sure. But still getting stuff done around the house and business. I do feel like my days are longer without TV, like I'm participating in my life more. And I do find myself actually getting to things I've wanted to do since I have the extra time.

What happens end of day Sunday? Will I go back to watching TV? Yes and no. I'm going to try adding a small amount of TV back into my life since I have things on the PVR I would like to watch. A couple hours a week. And then I think I'd like to try extending the no TV experiment. I feel like it has added value to my life and I want to see how I do continuing it.

Yogi Photo Contest

I want to encourage all of my readers to participate in this awesome photo contest.

Calling on all yogis: The Ladybird Animal Sanctuary (LAS) is on a mission to help as many dogs, cats and other domesticated animals in need, but we're asking for your help. In celebration of the joy of yoga and the beautiful relationship we share with our pets, the LAS is looking for photos that capture both of these things.

Here is the challenge: find yourself a friend with a camera and show us your best yoga pose. The twist, though, is that we want to see your beloved pet in the photo with you. We are looking for anything fun, playful, beautiful, poignant, peaceful... you name it. Anything that expresses your wonderful relationship to your yoga practice & your best furry pal.

The LAS will choose 12 winners from across Canada who will be featured in our 2012 calendar, which will be sold in yoga studios throughout our country. The Grand prize winner will get the cover photo and all winners will receive a gift pack with yoga and pet related goodies. Alongside your photo will also be a short description of you, your photographer and your animal. The best part of this whole project is that all proceeds from the sales of the calendar will go to helping animals in need.

So get your cameras ready and send your submissions to: ladybirdanimalsanctuary@gmail.com Just give us a minimum of one photo and a maximum of three and a quick description of yourself. The better quality the shot, the better for us. Ideally, 8 x12 inches at 300dpi (jpeg or pdf). This call goes out to yoga students and teachers alike. All submissions need to be in by August 31st and the winners will be announced shortly after. We thank you for taking the time to participate and helping out with such a great cause.

Namaste from Melissa, Janine and Lisa at the Ladybird Animal Sanctuary http://www.ladybirdanimalsanctuary.com