What Type of Yoga is Right For You

I like this article on choosing the right Yoga for you. It just hits on a few of the main ones, but in that way isn't too overwhelming. Personally, I practice (and teach) Gentle Hatha Yoga, Yin Yoga and Restorative Yoga.

Which Type of Yoga is Right For You

Week 21 Challenge - Big Rocks

This year I decided to challenge myself to reflect on various Yoga and Buddhist aspects throughout the year. The challenges come from a variety of places including readings in Deborah Adele's Yamas and Niyamas and Thich Nhat Hanh's Heart of the Buddha's Teaching and Happiness.

This week's challenge was inspired by some readings in Deborah Adele's book, but also came from another source. If you don't know the Big Rocks story - click here to read it.

I enjoy doing many different things. Take activities, for example. I like to kayak, swim, box, dance, do Yoga (of course), etc. If I took all the activities I like and did them all, I'd only get to each once every few weeks.

And I felt as if my life was heading that way in many different areas. Instead of focusing on the one meditation I really connect with (which is what I recommend to my students), I was trying to fit in all 6 that I teach.

So I spent this week thinking about my Big Rocks. What do I need to fit into my life? The rest is gravy. Sure sometimes I might go swimming, but it's not a big rock for me; it is more of a fun extra.

Some of my Big Rocks? My relationships, teaching, mindfulness meditation, asana practice, studying, spiritual community. It feels good to have wrapped my head around some of my priorities so that I can focus on getting in less things, more often.

Book Review - Yoga Cures

I received a copy of Yoga Cures by Tara Stiles for review, courtesy of Crown Publishing Group.

What I Liked

In general, I agree with much of what Tara Stiles has to say. I'm already picking out readings for my classes. I like how she's taken some really important key things in Yoga and made them more approachable.

I like that the routines for various ailments are short. It's much easier to "lure" people into Yoga with a few poses than an 1.5 long routine.

I love the section on Retreats and can't wait to practice them with some at-home retreats this summer.

I like the look and feel of this book. That may seem superficial; but I use a good Yoga book over and over for reference so that can become a pretty big factor over time.

Where I Thought the Book Missed

I teach a lot of full-figured students and am a full-figured Yogini myself. I think that Tara's book has a lot of good poses and there are good reasons behind the poses she picks. However, in many cases I think she might have forgotten that we're not all her size. I am blessed with great flexibility, but not all of my students have been. This is where the downfall comes of only have a small number of poses in each routine. In the routine for Sugar Cravings, there are 4 poses and 3 of them would not be possible for many of my students. In the routine for Diabetes, there are 2 poses (Plow and Shoulderstand) and most of my students would walk out of the room if I tried to start them there. Without modifications, newcomers might be intimidated by many of the poses in this book.

I feel like final relaxation (Savasana) gets sort of missed in this book. I understand how hard it would be to fit in since there are so many mini-routines and you might not need relaxation after only a few poses, but for me it's a critical piece of the puzzle. I often tell students that if they are doing Asanas without doing a relaxation at the end, I would consider them to be doing Yoga-based stretching (not Yoga). That might be overstating it but I think the importance of relaxation is often missed by new students.

The One Thing I'd Buy the Book For

At the back of the book is a Yoga Pose Library. I'd buy this book for that alone. It is such a great visual reference of poses along with some of the key benefits of each. I already use it as a quick reference since it's laid out in a much more concise manner than some of my more detailed volumes.

Overall Impression

I do like this book. It's a definite keeper. I would recommend it to any average-sized, flexible friends without hesitation. For my less-flexible or fuller-figured friends, I'd recommend it as long as you look at the book knowing not every pose in it is for you. It's probably more ideal for someone with a bit of Yoga experience (who has an idea how to modify poses and knows to include a relaxation) than for beginners.

Gillian B on Yoga (courtesy of Bodyhack)

See below for a fantastic video with Gillian B (a Yoga teacher out of Toronto), courtesy of Bodyhack. Gillian talks about her experiences with Yoga asanas and meditation, breathing, motivation, common beginner challenges, energy, religion in Yoga and nutrition. It's about a half hour long, but is definitely well worth a watch/listen.

Week 20 Challenge - Purification

This year I decided to challenge myself to reflect on various Yoga and Buddhist aspects throughout the year. The challenges come from a variety of places including readings in Deborah Adele's Yamas and Niyamas and Thich Nhat Hanh's Heart of the Buddha's Teaching and Happiness.

This week's challenge was purification. To work on the purification of my body, my mind, my spirit. It was an interesting challenge that led me in directions I didn't necessarily expect.

Generally, when I think of purification I think of healthy eating, staying away from toxic thoughts / environments / people, meditation, Yoga asanas, dharma reading, etc. Lots of self-care items that I love but that I also sometimes struggle to bring into my life.

So, this week I've worked on a bit more patience with myself. And instead of trying to tackle the big numbers, I've worked on the little ones. Asking myself the little questions. Should I take my clothes down to the laundry room or leave them laying on my floor? Laundry room is the loving choice (clutter bugs me), so that's what I did. Should I take the time to put lotion on my feet after the shower? The loving choice is yes since otherwise my feet are dry, cracked and itchy.

These may seem like tiny things, but there is a common theme. They both speak to procrastination. I often procrastinate the simplest things (buying gas, taking the recycling out to the garage) but I also procrastinate the big things (healthy eating, exercise, spiritual study). I know that procrastination is not the loving choice and that in the end what I'm really procrastinating is my happiness.

Attending to these little items of purification is helping me feel happier. Which I'm hoping will make it easier to make some loving choices on the big items as well.

May Love List

20 things I'm loving right now:

1. Lots of fresh fruit.
2. My cute, fluffy cat.
3. How cool our house is as the weather warms up.
4. Putting my hair back in a ponytail.
5. Club soda with lime.
6. Season finale time.
7. The excitement of buying a new computer (I'll focus on that rather than all the downer parts of getting a virus on my computer).
8. Lots of office work.
9. How late it's light out.
10. New video game.
11. Planning my summer vacation.
12. An extra Yin session booked with the City.
13. My mom for all the yard work and cleaning. Thank you!
14. Lots of Yoga books to read.
15. A little break from the computer (it's nice, even if it wasn't by choice).
16. The joy of teaching.
17. My personal practice (a bit of "me" time).
18. Experimenting with new recipes.
19. The shade; I'm not a sun person but I can appreciate it from a distance.
20. That I managed to come up with 20 things despite feeling a bit harried by the computer problems and deadlines at the office. YAY!

Week 19 Challenge - MIA

Where have I been? Why is this week's challenge Missing in Action?

My computer was taken down by a virus on Tuesday night. Since then I've been running repair and recovery programs on it. I might get it back or it might need to be replaced. But, either way, I don't have a computer at home for now. So, here I sit in the public library typing my blog post.

I realized yesterday that I didn't give any attention to my challenge this week between the computer issues, a busy week in my non-Yoga life and some personal thoughts keeping my mind running.

So, this week's a bit of a break. A forced break certainly makes me appreciate some things about technology but it's also nice to have a bit of a rest.

I'll be back soon!

Need a Good Laugh?

I haven't done laughter Yoga in a while, but I have fond memories. It may seem strange to meet up with people to simply laugh, but it's not so simple. A good laugh is very therapeutic and sometime too many days go by without a good laugh. As well, laughter is contagious, making a laughter Yoga session that much more fun!

A great article about Laughter Yoga: A Laughing Matter

Week 18 Challenge - Expectations

This year I decided to challenge myself to reflect on various Yoga and Buddhist aspects throughout the year. The challenges come from a variety of places including readings in Deborah Adele's Yamas and Niyamas and Thich Nhat Hanh's Heart of the Buddha's Teaching and Happiness.

This week's challenge had to do with expecting the same fulfillment and comfort from things and people. It also included observing how those expectations left me feeling.

I definitely fall prey to expecting things not to change. As an example, if I had a piece of chocolate cake and really enjoyed it, I expect to feel the same if I have it again. The reality: that just doesn't happen. I can't recapture a past experience or feeling by recreating it. But only part of me knows that.

I find I have stale expectations sometimes with food, people, possessions, activities, events. You name it, somewhere in me is an expectation that is setting me up for disappointment.

How do these misplaced expectations leave me feeling? Whatever I was craving from the situation, person, object, I still crave. It's like a black hole of need. A moving target I can't hit.

So what do I do? I work at releasing those expectations. When I let them go and just let the moment unfold as it's meant to, the pressure is gone. Regardless of the outcome, I'm not disappointed because it was about the experience, not my perception of what that experience would be. Life's a journey, might as well enjoy the ride!

Space

I'm not great with space. I'm not great with unplanned time. I know I need it, but I struggle with it.

I'm a planner. I'm an organizer. So I plan and organize my days. With little space left to breathe. Sure I take time off, but it's planned time off.

I'm working at less planning, more options (working at working less). At a little more time to sit and just be, if I want to take it. At relaxation time that heals me rather than harms me (a nap vs. watching tv). I want to determine in the moment what I want and need.

I'm letting go of the need to be someone specific or get somewhere specific. I'm letting go of the need to be anyone other than me and just enjoying each moment as it comes.

May Newsletter - Karma Yoga, Classes in the Park and Feedback to the City

My May Newsletter has been posted - click here.