Notice Your Obstacles, Then Conquer Them

I love how yoga relates to life. In this article, I'm amazed how going upside down is so hard for people when we used to do it as little kids. I remember my first experience. I was learning handstand and just couldn't do it. I felt like I was going to go through the wall or something. Even though I knew the wall was there to support me I didn't trust it or myself. I would see others go up with no problem and it both made me envious and hopeful at the same time. Now I do it like it's nothing but I'm aware on those days when I don't feel stable or confident. I inquiry within myself to see what's going on in my life. are there changes coming up? am I looking through a tunnel with a situation in my life and not the whole picture? What I love about inversions is that they give us the opportunity to "literally" look at things from a different perspective. The longer you stay and focus, shifts start to happen in your life and with other people in your life. So if you're worried about falling out of an inversion, let it happen! Be love and acceptance.

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(From yogajournal.com daily insight)

Inversions such as Pincha Mayurasana (Feathered Peacock Pose) present wonderful opportunities for profound physical and mental transformation, but they're also rife with obstacles. Begin by simply noticing the obstacles that keep you from going upside down easily. When you acknowledge these blocks, you have something to work with, and a pathway to new possibilities reveals itself. You can nudge things along by cultivating meditative awareness and breaking inversions down into smaller, easier steps. This makes the goal of "perfection" less important; instead, you can work creatively and enjoy the journey, no matter how long it takes.

If the physical aspect is hanging you up, concentrate on your upper body or your abdominal muscles to create the conditions necessary to go upside down. If fear is the problem and it takes hold, fully experience its texture as it arises, stay steady as those feelings move through you, and observe how they naturally dissolve.


IN THIS ISSUE
Pincha Mayurasana (Feathered Peacock Pose)

http://www.yogajournal.com/poses/1711
This Side Up: Building a Forearm Balance

http://www.yogajournal.com/practice/1775

Forgive Yourself

(From yogajournal.com daily insight)

Most religious traditions place high value on apology, forgiveness, and making amends. Yoga teaching, too, speaks to the importance of dealing ethically with others. The concept of karma tells us, in part, that our actions will come back to us. Karma yoga is the practice of selflessly putting ourselves in service to others, and part of this is trying to right the wrongs we have done.

But how do we make amends if our apologies are rejected? In the sacred Hindu text the Bhagavad Gita, the god Krishna tells the yogi Arjuna that it is a mistake to focus on the results of our efforts instead of on the efforts themselves: "The man who is devoted and not attached to the fruit of his actions obtains tranquility." Put simply, the crucial point in apology is not that you're successful but that you make the effort.

Kelly McGonigal, who teaches yoga and is a research psychologist at Stanford University, offers a four-step practice rooted in Tibetan Buddhist philosophy that can take us through the process of making amends. "First," she says, "recognize that you've done something that caused suffering or harm. Second, sit with the feeling of remorse and regret. Feel it in your body, and experience the emotions. Don't push them away or wallow in them." The third step, McGonigal says, is moving into a place of compassion for yourself as well as the person you harmed. Fueled by those compassionate feelings, we can move to the final step of setting an intention toward positive action.

IN THIS ISSUE
Forgive Yourself

http://www.yogajournal.com/wisdom/2413
Do Yoga, Do Good

http://www.yogajournal.com/wisdom/1492

My Practice #2

As I'm able to find more opps to practice, I've realized how much my practice has changed since I've gotten older. I started practicing yoga almost 10 years ago and my body has definitely changed! Of course I've been aware of this new neck "project" going on, just when I feel it's going away, I turn around and do something to aggravate it. Now I just don't do those things, even though I enjoy them. For instance, I can't keep my neck in full flexion for too long these days. So shoulderstand is out of the question (one of my favorites!). also setu bandha (bride). Although I managed to practice my back bends on Saturday, it bothered me that I couldn't do setu bandha for too long. Back bends are one of my favorites, or maybe my all time favorite poses in yoga. So as I write this entry, I'm starting to believe maybe this is an opportunity to practice some other poses that I've neglected? Like the ones I don't enjoy but I know that have amazing benefits? The ones I know I don't practice enough are: twists, forward bends and hip openers; mostly the seated ones.

This is great stuff to discover! Something to share with my students and clients.

My schedule speaks to me

In recent times, I've always jammed my schedule with as much as possible. Why? For many reasons, for which I don't want to go into and have mentioned in other blog entries. Well now it's like my body and mind are speaking to me every time I considering adding this or that, and they say, "Liz, what are you doing? You have massage school and it's a lot of time and commitment. What is your commitment?". These are the questions that came to me as I drove home last night from my yoga client's house after a session. It dawned on me that after giving up my Monday nite yoga class for more "time" in my life, I had to move my private yoga sessions to Monday because massage classes were starting on Tuesdays again! Aaaaahhhh!

So instead of the usual pondering I did in the past, "Oh but I feel bad if I quit", "I'm letting myself and others down". Blah, blah, BLAH! I automatically made the decision that I'm dropping my other group yoga class on Wednesdays (which in ways I don't know why I picked up, but do know at the same time). I feel I'm in this really Zen place these days. Very present and clear about what I want. Before I know it, it comes to me! I don't judge myself or beat myself up about it. That's the way it is and that's cool! I already took the class out of my calendar and I haven't even told them yet, which says a lot about letting go (that's HUGE for me). So I want to acknowledge myself for taking control of my life and choices to better serve my health and well-being. It's so vital to me at this point in my life as I enter my thirties. I want my thirties to be vibrant, shiny, energized and full of joy and community. It feels great and I'm going with that.

My Practice

I thought I would journal about my personal yoga practices for my own growth and to share for others who are on their own path.

Last night I practiced for an hour. I started with some Yin yoga to loosen and juice up the joints and connective tissues--butterfly, saddle, seal/sphinx, child's & shoelace pose. What I love about Yin yoga is the holding of the poses and the meditative state that emerges within. Also the breath becomes, almost hypnotic. Then I moved into a more Yang (active) practice--sun salutations, standing poses. It was when I got to the floor that things started to happen. I decided to do some seated twists. A week ago I had some energy work done and I had a lot of blockage in my spleen area. The energy work, of course helped release this and I did process with the practitioner afterward. However, as I was twisting to my left (toward the spleen) I started feeling agitated and antsy. I thought this should be more associated on the right side since that's where the liver resides and is connected more with anger according to Chinese Medicine. So I decided to lay down with my feet on the floor and just be with the sensations and emotions which shifted to sadness. This made more sense to me, as in my energy session I released with a lot of tears and feelings of sadness. I know I have a lot of emotional stuff hanging out in my abdominal so I know it's connected to the sadness.

I really want to investigate this more with myself as I go deeper in my yoga practice. I love how yoga gives you an opportunity to get to know yourself.

Take Change in Stride

As I continue to work on my feet, I have to ask myself if I'm willing to allow change. For now, it's looking at the shoes I wear. are they serving me? are they impeding on my healing? Change is something I've either consciously and unconsciously embraced throughout my life. It's more conscious as I want to experience these shifts more and be present. It can be such a whirlwind of emotions and thoughts, both fun and not fun. So here I go into the unknown!

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(From yogajournal.com daily insight)

Part of the philosophy of yoga is that we can't always change the world around us. No matter what we do, bad things will happen and stressful situations will arise. The only thing we have control over—the only thing we can change—is ourselves. We can decide how to react to situations that challenge us. Will we allow them to throw us off center, or will we take them in stride?

Yoga teaches us how to respond to stress patiently. We must experience the physical challenge of the postures without fear, and use deep, calm breaths to move through them. If we can take that lesson off the mat and into our daily lives, we will move closer to the goal of responding to stress in a careful and considered way.



IN THIS ISSUE
Return to Stillness
http://www.yogajournal.com/wisdom/459

I am 10 years old again

So I had my birthday yesterday which was weird but also fun because EVERYONE should have fun on their birthday. It all started on Monday when I found out that a group of coworkers were taking out another coworker for lunch on her birthday which was the same day as mine. This rattled me because I work with these people too! I decided to email one of them very non-chalantly that it was my birthday too. No response. So I found myself as 10 years old again feeling left out and distraught. When my actual birthday came, I received lots of acknowledge from so many people (some being the coworkers) I decided to shift my attention to those who I didn't work with and feel the joy and love. It stayed for a bit....

But something kept eating at me about it. I know it triggered me deeply but it was also felt on the surface as well. I was having a lot of mind chatter. It was so loud I wanted to bang my head against the wall. I felt those emotions and let them flow. I can't just pretend that everything is okay. I did that for so many years and it's just not me anymore. It's like some people create this iron gate around themselves but are completely unaware of it. That's how I feel about these coworkers. It's like they haven't a clue that this could've hurt my feelings. That not even acknowledgment about it the fact that they forgot about me, yet I could feel that they knew what they did, but they just couldn't fess up to it that they fucked up. Thanks for the "Happy Birthday" but how about, "Happy Birthday and we're sorry we didn't invite you to lunch with us. Our bad!". Then I wouldn't have cared so much.

I feel like I've gone way too much into it, but for heaven's sake, IT'S MY BIRTHDAY! No one should feel dissed, left out or feeling like shit on their birthday. I always make it a point to say it, text it, email it, channel it, or whatever to that person.

This morning those feelings were still there but not as intense. It was hard to come to work and actually be friendly to ANYONE for that matter. It's definitely passed now but it still feels shitty. It's like being in elementary, middle and high school all over again! Come on, people, grow up!