Join Me On Woyopracmo

For another year, I will be participating in an online community called "WoYoPracMo" (World Yoga Practice Month). We are committing to practicing every day during the month of January and blogging about what we do. Please join us! Friend me. I am "Yoga Laura".



View my page on WoYoPracMo

Creating an Inspired Home Practice

How would you describe your home practice? (or the home practice you want to have...) Is it fun? Exciting? Something you look forward to doing each day? Or is it something you feel you should do? The first step to creating an inspired practice is to make sure your reasons are coming from within, the deeper within the more inspired your practice will be. Whenever you feel a “should” come on, your motivation is coming from without. (I feel there is a subtle, and powerful, difference between motivation and inspiration. You can read more here.)

Yoga is so much more than simply a physical practice. You can use a yoga practice to develop yourself mentally, emotionally, spiritually, as well as physically. The most important step to take when you are considering beginning a home practice or changing the one you have is deciding why you want to practice. Be honest with yourself. If your reason comes from deep within, you will have an inspired practice, and you will be excited to get to your mat. Be sure it is what you want, not want you feel you should be doing! Your reasons can be anything from strengthening the core to getting off your anti-depressant medicine to relaxing your nervous system, to enlightenment. Whatever your reason, if it is truly yours, you will be much more likely to stick with the practice. Your reasons will keep you coming back to the mat.

Once you know why you want a practice, plan the poses around that intention. If you want to create more calm in your life, restorative, forward folds and longer Savasanas are appropriate. If you want to build stamina and core strength, standing poses and strength building poses are what you need. If you aren’t sure what poses will fit your intentions, email me. I am happy to direct you to the poses you want.

Then, to keep your inspiration, be open to changing the focus of your practice. Most likely, your reason will change periodically which will often change the focus of your practice. Flow with it and be flexible. And enjoy your inspired practice!

Clutter: Part II

Laura
Originally uploaded by muselan

In my last post I wrote about how old beliefs create clutter in our hearts and we want to keep flowing and growing with life, discarding beliefs whenever it is time to let them go. Yoga can also help! Yoga keeps our bodies moving and more fluid. When our bodies are more fluid there is less chance for stagnation. There is a caveat: you must make sure that beliefs haven’t begun to stagnate your practice. Beliefs can come up anytime anywhere and in any situation, even your mat.

Here are some of the most common beliefs I hear from students:

I will never be able to do that pose...(whichever pose it is)
I will never be flexible
I will never be strong enough
I don’t have time for a home practice
I can do a practice, but I don’t have time for Savasana
That is my bad shoulder/knee/back...
I don’t know what to do for a home practice so I always to the same 10 poses.
I can’t do restorative poses, they are too boring/time-consuming
I can’t do power yoga, it is too strenuous/sweaty/boring

Any sound familiar to you? Challenge your beliefs. I am constantly challenging my students’ beliefs (sometimes to their annoyance!), inviting them to see more perspectives, more possibilities. Maybe restorative yoga isn’t right for you right now, that doesn’t mean it won’t be right for you tomorrow. If you keep telling yourself it isn’t right, however, you will miss the opportunity to practice it when it is right.

Surrender: Part II (or is it III or IV?)

Okay, I am back and what an interesting month it has been! Between being sick, attending a conference, going on a trip, and having internet on the fritz, I kind of feel like March was a blogging blur. I feel I abandoned my blogs! I feel renewed energy and a bunch of ideas are flowing around my head and I can’t wait to share them with all of you!

The biggest idea and the one I want to explore here is around my study of surrender this year. For those of you who read my blog often, you know I choose a theme each year to focus on. This year it is Ishvara Pranidhana, or surrender. What is surrender? We talk about it a lot. “Letting go” and “trust the universe” are the catch phrases of our current times, but what does that mean? How does one “do surrender”? I am a “doer” and I want to know what I can “do” to surrender. This question is one I am still answering for myself and continue to explore it on my mat in my practice (where I always turn when I have questions). You can read what I do to “practice surrender” yogically here.

Ironically, though, it seems surrender is more about not doing and instead merely being. Relaxing into the space of the moment, the process of what you are doing, and being fully present. It means not forcing yourself into the future nor being stuck in the past. When you surrender, you are open to what the future might hold for you (not your idea of what the future might hold for you) and you are grateful for whatever the past had to teach you so you can move on.

For now, surrender to me means not worrying because I trust God, the Universe, the process, the bigger picture, whatever phrase works for you, to guide me into the experiences I need to have to grow more into the person I know myself to be. It means not doing things out of fear (doing things because you are afraid something else will happen) and instead doing things because you know they will bring good things to you. (Coming from love not fear – intrigued to read more about that idea? Read my other blog entries here and here.) Surrender also means trusting that even the challenging times have their purpose and I needn’t add to the challenge by worrying about them.

As a recovering control addict, I find the balance between doing what I want to do and going over the line to doing what I feel I have to do for something to succeed extraordinarily fine. It is what I am working on now – it is only April!

Surrender

“…it’s hard to see the bigger picture when you think you are the great controller of your life.” (Donna Farhi)

“As I emptied my cup, the world flowed in.”
(Rolf Gates)

I have two quotes for you this month. They have similar thoughts and both are beautiful. In December, I decided to spend this year studying the last of the niyamas, Ishvara Pranidhana or surrender. Like many of us, I have long been the “great controller” of my life with deep-seated fears of letting go and trusting in the process of life. The more I let go, the deeper I go into my heart, to an inspired place from which to live. Both Rolf and Donna are right, I am seeing a bigger picture and the world is beginning to flow in in ever increasing and powerful ways.

I struggled with how to conceptualize “letting go” as we often hear these days. What did that mean? How could I just stop worrying and stressing? I did what I often do when I am unsure, I turned to my mat. Just as our lessons in life show up on the mat, lessons learned on the mat move into our life. Poses create awarenesses and feelings in our body and we can use them to help us do more in our life. I know forward folds are about letting go and being present so my practice has been almost entirely forward folds for two months. I also know child’s pose and Savasana are about surrender so I do them every night before bed. Finally, I knew the exhale aspect of my breath is about letting go so my breathing practice has been focused exhaling as well. In my meditations, I visualize handing over my worries to someone I respect and trust with my problems. Other than my practice, I didn’t “think” about letting go.

As always, what happens on the mat, came into my life. I am letting go. I feel control has much less hold on me. I am much more open to flowing with what comes in and, perhaps more importantly, what goes out of my life.

Think about issues you are struggling with in your life, things you are “thinking” a lot about. How can you take the issue to the mat? You can use poses to build courage, open to love, release grief, soften to the present, and much more. Not sure what to do? Email me. I am happy to help. Yoga is our gift and we can use it for so much more than merely stretching our bodies.

Day 28 and 30 and 31: I DID IT!!

(I committed to practicing yoga each day in the month of January as part of World Yoga Practice Month. I tracked my progress here in this blog and also at my World Yoga Practice Month Page)

Still feeling under the weather so haven’t been out to blog much. I am proud to say (or perhaps shout) I DID IT!! I practiced every day in the month of January. I have always been quite dedicated to doing something most days, but I can honestly say I would not have done anything the past few days when I was feeling sick if it hadn’t been for woyopracmo.

Even though I have been feeling less than my best, I have still been meditating and sitting on my mat. I was inspired by a fellow yogini, Nona, who brought her mat to the hospital when she had an overnight procedure done! (I especially liked the part about doing a headstand the moment the iv was out – THAT is inspiring!)

For the month of February, we are all setting a goal for ourselves. Mine is to deepen my meditation practice. I will let you know what happens.

Day 28: Not Feeling Well

I am still not feeling well and in a pre-woyopracmo day, I would have skipped a practice all-together, except for my meditation. Not so any longer! I am at least going to do my Savasana (with its focus on surrender) and then off to bed.

Day 26 and 27: Quick Report

I am tired and not feeling well so I am going to make this a quick report. Yesterday I taught in the morning and finished the day with Savasana. Today, not feeling well, I did some restorative work for myself and am off to my Savasana. Good night!

Day 25: Quiet Day

(I have committed to practicing yoga every day for the month of January for World Yoga Practice Month. You can track my progress on this blog and on the World Yoga Practice Month Site [name: Yoga Laura]. Better yet, join me!)

I slept in again today. Glorious! I just love sleeping in. I used to feel guilty sleeping in because I “should” be working. (Even in college I was in the library by 8 am on Saturday mornings.) No more, my friend! I love to do it, I relish it, and I am grateful I can. I am perfectly okay with missing my morning practice in order to sleep in. I no longer feel the attachment to my practice I used to. My practice is something I truly enjoy and look forward to doing so I know, even if I miss my morning meditation, that I will get to something at some point during the day. I am off to my forward folds and Savasana. Have a lovely evening!

“Your Edge”

What is your edge in a pose? You know, the place where you feel you cannot go more deeply into the pose? It feels like a wall, doesn’t it? Like you couldn’t possibly go further. Did you know there is no such thing as a “wall” in stretching? We are working with soft tissue here, it can always lengthen. Now, it is true you reach a place in which you can’t go further, for now, but that place is always moving. If you were to hold the spot for a moment longer, breathe into it, see it release, you would then find the “wall” moves. I have begun calling it a “speed bump” instead of a wall because although it may slow us down, it certainly doesn’t need to stop us. The key to transforming your wall to merely a speed bump is to keep your mind in the pose, feel the resistance, breathe into it, see it moving. What often happens, though, is we go into a pose the same way every time. We go to our same place, rest for a moment (often thinking about something else), then we pop out and do the next pose. Of course, this isn’t true with all of our poses. I find it most prevalent in poses you don’t enjoy or ones that you do so frequently you have developed a strong habitual pattern in it. I encourage you to enter poses anew each time.

Think of how many places in your life, off the mat, in which you do the same thing. You assume it will be the same each time, whatever it is. Your job will be just as stressful today as yesterday, your commute will be just as challenging, you will always make the same amount of money, your parents will always be controlling, your children will always be hard to handle in a restaurant. You get the idea. This concept shows up everywhere.

Instead of assuming the same position each time, assume it will be different. Let yourself open to the possibilities. Let your body open to the poses and your mind to your life. Let your life be unforgettable.

Day 24: A Quickie

I woke early for my japa and meditation. I skipped my afternoon asana to go to my homeschool playgroup. I am off to forward folds and twists and Savasana. You know, I am with all of you who want to continue this group. I am having such fun. Although I have practiced yoga for years, I do find I am even more committed because of this group. Fabulous!

Day 22 and 23: Another Lesson in Surrender

(Continue to follow my home practice as commit to practicing everyday in January for World Yoga Practice Month.)

Yesterday was glorious! Began the day with japa and meditation, did an arm balance practice to Mr. Rogers (other parents of small children will understand!), taught two yoga classes, and then ended the evening with a lovely forward fold and twist practice and Savasana. It is on these days that I have to pinch myself, I am so excited about what I get to do for a living!

Today was a sleep in morning so I didn’t do my morning practice. I also skipped the afternoon asana due to a play date for my children. I taught my advanced class tonight and had a great time! Now I am off to my evening practice.

I have mentioned before that one of my practices for this year is surrender. I found this quote today on my Compassion Club blog, left there by my partner, Marya (breezeatdawn). The quote is from Wayne Dyer:

“I release the need to determine how things “should” be.
If you are suffering in your life right now, I can guarantee that this condition is tied up with some kind of attachment to how things should be going.”

It was just what I needed and perfect for me! I have one area in my life in which I am currently suffering. I have been working on manifesting what I want in that area and then realized that my even bigger manifesting work has been on creating joy in my life, pure joy. My suffering has been because I didn’t think this area is going the way I think it should be. But what if the situation is heading me toward feeling more joy? I want to release expectation, enjoy what is happening, and let everything flow from that energy, not the energy of expectations and attachment, both fear-based thinking. Interestingly, my insight happened in the middle of tonight’s class. I had a burst of energy and felt the “expectation” just flow out of me. Wow! It was fabulous!

Day 20 and 21: Still Going Strong

(Follow my practice for the month of January as I journal what I do for World Yoga Practice Month -- I am YogaLaura if you want to check out my page!)

Yesterday I had a lovely japa and meditation to start my day. My husband got up with the kids (read: he allowed my to sleep in). It was glorious! When I finally woke up, the room was quiet. I just sat up in bed and meditated right then and there.

I then had a long nap in the afternoon instead of my usual asana practice. Might I say, “good choice!” I felt so much better resting. I get so exhausted during my cycle. Wait, scratch that, I want to change my view of my cycle. It is the natural, introspective, quiet time of the month. The fatigue is just my body’s way of telling me I am not yet quiet enough. Apparently I needed some quieting because I had a fabulous nap! I then did some forward folds before bed.

Today I took a class with Matt Sanford, author of Waking. He is an amazing teacher and I very much enjoy taking classes with him. He spoke about nonviolence (seeing how it was MLK Jr. Day) and what was particularly interesting for me, compared nonviolence to surrender. He said if you aren’t surrendering, you are not practicing nonviolence. Very interesting that he brought up both since I am currently studying both in my own life. Surrender is my niyama study for the year and for my program A Year of Living Compassionately, we are studying nonviolence. Matt likes to teach the subtle. Since he is paralyzed from the chest down, that is the level at which he practices yoga and he is powerful. He encouraged us to surrender in Urdhva Prasarita Padasana (Leg Lifts) and encouraged us to view struggle as an act of violence. Very interesting study for me and one I plan to play with in my life off the mat.

Off to my forward folds. Have a lovely night!

Day 19 – Early Class

I had an early class today so I was up extra early for my Japa and meditation session. I am really getting to love that early morning time when the house is quiet and I can feel the peace of the pre-dawn energy. My house is frequently filled with the sound of squealing children (either from joy or anger) and that, too, is musical in its own way. There is something about the quiet, early morning hours that connect me to God and my innermost self that is truly powerful. Now I am off to forward folds and Savasana before bed. Good night!

Day 18 – Backbends and Surrender

So, one of my new year’s resolutions is to open my back and psoas to Urdhva Dhanurasana and ultimately Dwi Pada Viparita Dhanurasana. My shoulders are ready and I think my upper back is almost ready. My psoas needs some work. It is where I carry my fear and I need to let myself release a bit more control to fully release this muscle. I am also working on surrender this year so I see many cross-overs in my goals. Today I worked on my psoas both physically and emotionally. I spent some time releasing the muscles in my practice and working in Urdhva Dhanurasana. I also spent the day letting go and flowing with what came up. You know, it is interesting having children. I think it was small children that helped me grasp the concept of the illusion of outer control. I giggle now when I hear a reference to “controlling your children.” There is no control with children. They have their own mind and will and what I hope for is being so in-sinc with them that I can guide them to living from their heart and making beautiful choices. I find I do that best when I can fully let go of my agenda and be present with them completely. Today was one of those days. Although there were things I wanted to do (in the house and on the mat), I didn’t feel tied to anything. I felt like I was on vacation, feeling that light and careless vacation feeling. When a child came to me needing something, I was able to effortless set aside what I was doing and be fully present with the child. When I am fully present, whatever the issue is is always resolved quickly and effortlessly. I am frequently amazed at how much easier a day goes when I am fully present with my little ones. Ironically, I got more done than I had originally hoped to get done!

Day 17 – Same ol’ Same ol’

I was up bright and early for my Japa session and meditation. Then I spent the morning with clients in my life coaching business and doing writing for a new internet-based yoga company I am starting. So much fun! I spent the afternoon at my homeschooling playgroup. Now I am off to spend the evening with my husband, chatting and doing my forward fold practice and Savasanaaaaahhhh….

Day 15: Not Much New…

I didn’t sleep well last night – extremely unusual for me. (I use to say I slept like a baby. Then I had one – they don’t sleep that well!) So I slept a bit later and skipped my morning practice. I taught a couple of classes tonight so I did quite a bit of yoga. I am off to do my evening of forward folds and then Savasana. Good night!

Day 13 and 14: Surrender…Surrender…Surrender…

I was feeling burned out on the computer yesterday so I decided not to do anything on it for the evening (usually when I post). Then, I decided I would at least do my woyopracmo post because, well, I should do it, and wouldn’t you know! It was the same moment the site was down for upkeep. The Universe was out to help me release my control. I bet everyone survived without my post as well.

So, yesterday I taught a class for teachers. I do it once a month and it is such fun! We work on poses as teachers and break them down in ways I don’t do in regular asana classes. I also got up extra early to do my own japa and meditation practice beforehand. Before bed I did my forward folds and Savasana.

Today I slept in and it was glorious! Being the last one up I chose to forgo my morning practice. I taught today and will be doing my evening forward folds and Savasana. Sorry so short and sweet. Must go do yoga…

Day 12: Celebration Craze

(I am tracking my yoga practice for the month of january for World Yoga Practice Month. You can read each day about what I did that day!)

I was up super early again today. I had an 8:30 class and I was up at 6 am to fit in my japa and meditation and boy am I glad I did! When I got home this afternoon, I had an experience of comic relief (something that other parents will appreciate especially.) First of all, I was deeply exhausted. You know the kind of fatigue, the-I’ve-really-had-enough–and-I-just-need-a-bath-and-12-hours-of-sleep kind. Only your kids need you and have been waiting by the door for you to come home to spend the rest of the day with you and your husband is already out the door to take a break, uh, I mean errands, before you have your shoes off.

I knew that when I came home my job was to make brownies for a family celebration. I have an extremely easy brownie recipe so I didn’t think much of it even in my fatigue. It would be an easy 20-minute job. Only my son was melting down because he was hungry so the first 60 minutes of my time at home was spent coaxing him to eat. Then I realized that I didn’t have the chocolate I needed for the recipe so I called my “errand running” husband (who was eating at Big Bowl when I reached him! ☺ ) to buy some and bring it home. Once I got the brownies in the oven, we began the frosting. (Yep, I forgot this part. Brownies are a treat but frosting makes it a celebration!) I made the frosting and then discovered that the celebratory boy wanted “rainbow” color. Since I homeschool, I am always looking for a way to sneak in a lesson so I agreed that we could make several different colors of frosting, mixing different combinations of food coloring. Out came four bowls, the craft table cloth (have you ever tried to get food coloring out of a wooden table?) and we mixed different food colors together into the bowls. Then he decided he wanted to make “cookies” out of the brownies and frost them individually. First I tried a drinking glass to “cut” them out only to find the brownies are stuck in there once cut (and it makes a very big mess!). The only thing I could think of to use was the cookie cutter my children use for the play dough. I did wash it quite well and I make my play dough from scratch so it is edible, I still found I didn’t want to share this part with my husband! We finally got the brownies cut out and frosted. I then turned to review the result in my kitchen. You guessed it, chaos. I took a deep breath and plunged in. I pulled out a pyrex container to store the leftovers only to find it was too heavy. It came down on the plate of brownies (squishing them) that were in my other hand then they both landed in a bowl of frosting which promptly broke splattering colored frosting everywhere! I cleaned the kitchen for 15 minutes before I even got to the broken bowl! Once the kitchen was cleaned, I realized it was time to start dinner. If I thought I was tired before…

I am off to forward folds and a lovely Savasana…although I must admit, I am not even going to try to stay awake for this one!

Defining a Yoga Practice

I am a huge supporter of defining yoga as so much more than the physical practice. I also firmly believe that you do not need 90 contiguous minutes of uninterrupted practice to consider yourself a “practicing yogi” (Thank goodness because otherwise I could count on one hand the number of “real” practices I have had since my children were born!) In fact, that is one reason I love yoga so much. It is a way of living, a philosophy, a spiritual path, it is so much more than exercise for the body. Truly I find I am practicing yoga almost all of the time -- a fact I hadn’t realized until a student asked me. She was curious if I had yoga on my mind all the time. I laughed, thinking, “of course not!” Then, only a moment later, I realized that I really do. I might be thinking about a piece of the physical practice, thinking about a pose I am going to teach or write about. I am just as likely to be considering the meaning of a Yoga Sutra in my life or thinking about whether I am breathing or wondering about ahimsa (nonviolence.) So, if you have narrowly defined your yoga practice, loosen up! A practice can be one pose, Tadasana in the shower, a twist in the car, savasana before bed. It could also be learning more about nonviolence. Learn more about what this fabulous art has to offer and expand your definition.