Happy Daisy Yoga

Little Bits...

2012-01-28T18:44:00.003-06:00

It's hard to believe we will be celebrating (and I do mean celebrating as January is a hard month for me emotionally) the arrival of February in just a few short days. I've already noticed that the sun sticks around a little later in the afternoon lately before dropping over the western horizon. (YAY!!!) Since sharing my 2012 intentions I've written many a blog post over the past couple of weeks...all in my head...none which have actually made it onto the typed screen. So in an effort to stick to at least ONE of my 2012 intentions for January, I'm taking a few moments to share a few little bits...

***

I started seeing a new chiropractor this month. I've known for a while that things have been out of whack, but I just hadn't allowed myself to commit the resources necessary to deal with it. I'm feeling much better now that I have put myself, and my health, towards the front of my personal priority list. It's something I need to work on...constantly. Next on my list: get a massage & work on stopping the negative self talk that all too often occupies my thoughts as of late.

***

If you Google search "optimal room temperature for yoga" you get very little info outside of that related to Bikram Yoga. I find that interesting and a little frustrating as I'm trying to find some back-me-up resources for why I need better heat in the space where I am currently offering classes.

***

I can tell my body is ready for the promise of the coming spring. I'm starting to crave the lighter, greener, fresher foods that come with the warmer seasons in the mid-west. Today I sautéed some kale with garlic in an attempt to replicate my favorite salad from the New Pioneer food coop in Iowa City. Their original store was across the street from my teacher training studio and at least once a weekend I would walk over to gather my lunch. My first attempt at recreation left a little to be desired, but the bright green filling my plate was such a welcome sight.

***

I have been blessed with a yoga filled weekend to close out January. Last night I was invited by our local library to talk to a group of teen girls about yoga and lead them few a few breathing exercises as part of their Girls' Beauty Night event. They giggled a lot...OK, we giggled a lot...but I hope I was able to at least spark a little something in them that helps them start to build a healthy relationship with their bodies. Tomorrow I'm returning to the Des Moines Metro Knitters annual retreat to lead a room full of knitters through some chest opening, hip opening, retreat enhancing yoga. Those two events, on top of my normal Saturday morning class, has for one short weekend taken me back to the days when I had the privilege of sharing the gifts of yoga with others every day. It has been lovely.

***

A few weeks ago I, somewhat uncharacteristically, initiated a conversation that may, or may not, help me move my professional life in a new direction. While I'm not ready to share any details, I will say I'm super nervous for the meeting I have schedule for tomorrow as a result of hitting the send button on my initial email to my new contact. But I really have nothing to loose, and if the last 5 years have taught me anything it's how amazing life can be when you allow yourself to follow your heart.

namaste

2012 Intentions...

2012-01-08T18:36:00.006-06:00

In mid-December I was invited by a friend to attend a special holiday class at Kris' Hot Yoga in Waukee. It was the first time since last May that I had attended a class as a student, and only my second hot yoga class ever. (I can't recall if I've written about my first hot yoga experience here or not. If not the short story is the yoga was great, the overall experience was not. End story.)

Kris' studio is lovely, much like my own studio space would be had my plans this past spring carried through. And Kris taught us a challenging class with a lovely holiday message tied throughout. But the point of my sharing this experience was that, even though half way through class I wondered if I was going to die from heat stroke (I like it warm, but maybe not THAT warm), I left the studio feeling great. For the first time in a long time I was able to experience yoga in a way that allowed me to simply focus on the messages my own being was sending while enjoying the shared energy of a full room of fellow yogis. To be quite honest I haven't left a class feeling that good since my teacher training came to a close in October of 2010. Just that one class made me realize how much I've missed being that supportive environment. And it left me wanting more.

I've been working in the wellness industry for almost 14 years. As a result I have seen many a New Year's Resolution Season come and go. Honestly, I hate NYR Season. Maybe it's because I have seen so many people half heartedly commit to living a healthier, thinner, more active life because it's what you "do" at the start of a new year. Maybe it's because the start of the new year has never really felt like a natural time to take stock of my life and try to tackle a new adventure. January is the middle of winter in the mid-west. It's dark longer, cold often, and following the roller coaster of emotions that often accompany the holidays, I generally crave a simple return to the norm come January 1st, not the start of something new.

But this year I feel inspired to voice some intentions for 2012 related to my practice of yoga...and other activities that help me maintain a more positive physical/mental/spiritual state. Taking that one class in December, while the semester was winding down and holiday festivities were gearing up, encouraged me to take time over winter break to evaluate how recent life changes have affected my overall sense of well being. As was probably pretty apparent from my last post, my being has felt a bit shaken. It's being tested. And while I feel as if some sense of "normal" has been reached, the 10 pounds I've gained throughout the last semester and the general feeling of exhaustion I often encounter come the end of the week are pretty good indicators that things are a bit off balance. I'm feeling the need to follow the same advice I often give my own students and take time to care for my needs knowing that when I'm in a good place I'm better able to extend positive energies to others...including my family.

Intention 1: In 2012 I intend to make time to attend at least 1 yoga class per month as a student. I'm fortunate to have easy access to a number of studios in the Des Moines metro that offer a variety of styles of practices. In addition there's opportunities open to the public at a variety of great outdoor venues during the summer months and the 1 day retreat I attended last May is being repeated this coming April. I've often used lack of time, finances and conflicts with family events as an excuse for not exploring classes before now. They are simply that...excuses...and in reality I do have the time (and now, ironically, having a job allows for a small bit of play money) to attend a minimum of a class a month if I simply commit and plan.

Intention 2: In 2012 I intend to make more time to write, contributing at least 2 posts a month here at HDY. Over the past several years writing has become an important outlet for me. I've known that, but not being a writer by profession, I have taken more of a I'll write when I have time and inspiration hits approach to my writing. I'd like to be a bit more intentional with my writing practice both as a path for personal growth and an outlet for my thoughts.

These 2 intentions are quite simple, but sometimes I think that's what we need to get back on track...simplicity to off-set our often complicated lives. How about you dear readers, what intentions are you focusing on in your life at the moment? Please do share!

namaste

A Different Kind of Practice...

2011-12-19T08:38:00.004-06:00

I am at home taking care of a sick kiddo today. Cartoons are playing, tissues have been placed close at hand, and tea tree, eucalyptus, and rosemary essential oils are being diffused throughout the house. I should be using this unexpected extra time to catch up on household chores that have been neglected over the past week in the name of holiday parties, cookie exchanges, and gift gathering, but first I'm embracing the chance to sit for a few moments to write about why I have been absent for so long.

In August I embarked on a new adventure. I got a job. A full time job working as a para-educator for our local public school district. Rather than slipping into black spandex to spend my day in the "yoga classroom", I've invested in a new business casual wardrobe to spend my days in 5th grade.

Days spent in 5th grade are pretty much the polar opposite of how I have spent the last 5 years of my professional life. It's noisy, often hurried, and sometimes down right chaotic. It has been, on so many levels, a much bigger adjustment that I expected. I love that I am still working in an education based role, the difference being that 5th graders who have to go to school aren't necessarily as eager to embrace learning as my yoga students who have made the choice to attend class. I come home at the end of the day energetically spent and, more often that I would like to admit, frustrated by the events of the day.

From a strictly parental view point, working in the environment in which my children spend their days has been a very eye opening experience. I now better understand the period of decompression that happens at our house at 3:30 each day. It has also helped me realize how important it is that we do our best to extend our girls' opportunities for learning beyond what they are exposed to in school.

I'm am both in awe of our teachers for their commitment to creating fun, engaging environments for learning, and disgusted by how the education system in general (and unfortunately some parents) fails to support those teachers and the students they serve. A system, that as a tax paying, middle class American, I trust with the general education of my off-spring, and their peers, who I hope will one day help the world be a better, kinder place in which to live. With so much talk from law makers about how badly our education system needs a reform, I challenge those individuals who have not recently spent time in a classroom to spend a week volunteering as a classroom helper and then, with a clear conscious, push reform that ties teacher compensation to measurable performance through standardized testing.

I find myself thinking about how I'm practicing life a lot these days. There are days in which I have, admittedly, failed to extend compassion. Or patience. Or simple acceptance that no matter how much I try, there are just some factors in some children's live that affect their interest in being engaged in their learning that I can not change. Those days break my heart. And make me appreciate both my own parents for making education a priority, and my children for embracing their own learning.

We are nearing the end of the first semester and 12 glorious days of winter break. I'm looking forward to the time to recharge and refocus for second semester. I can honestly say I don't know what I will decide to do when my 2nd trip through 5th grade comes to a close. My family benefits greatly from the return of a second income to our budget. Plus the "office hours" allow me to be available to my daughters during the day that a 8-5 would not. At the same time I don't necessarily feel professionally satisfied by my position. Yet I think it's kinda like once you start to understand the benefits and awareness that come with practicing yoga...now that I'm in the system fighting the good fight, I don't know that I can fully walk away knowing how much our children, and our teachers, need supportive allies.

peace

It's About Respect

2011-07-01T09:00:00.000-05:00

As some of you know I maintain two blogs. This one dedicated to yogay things, and one that is more personal in nature sharing bits about my family, my life, and my thoughts/experiences/interests outside of the realm of yoga. Sometimes I have a hard time deciding on which blog to post certain content. I've decided this post gets to pull double duty.

Monday I went to Grinnell for a yoga class.

Not just any yoga class mind you, a special class taught by Jeanelle Boyer on her run across Iowa.

Yes, you read that right...she's RUNNING ACROSS IOWA. See...

It's not just any run across Iowa mind you, it's a fund/awareness raising run for Practical Farmers of Iowa and Slow Food USA. Which is why I drove 60 miles for a yoga class instead of the 15 minutes into one of the studios here in the DSM metro. Both of these organizations promote farming practices and a food supply model that is fair, healthy, and sustainable for our environment, those who work to grow/process/supply the food, and those of us who consume that food.

Jeanelle is one of those incredibly energetic people you kinda want to hate a little bit because she's doing amazing stuff, which in comparison makes you yourself feel a little like a sloth. But you can't hate her even a tiny bit. Here is a woman that on the day I spent a bit of time with her ran 30 miles (bringing her 6 day total to over 200 miles) and then after a shower sat down to ice her legs in the kitchen of my friend Monica (who had opened her home to Jeanelle and her support crew for the night) with blisters on her feet the size of grapes, a smile on her face, and questions and encouraging words for her new friends. (Never mind the fact she's mid-way through a 300 mile RUN!) She joyfully welcomed everyone who arrived at Grinnell Heritage Farm for our lovely outdoor yoga practice, laughing about the 4 goats who were our audience for the evening. And then, after returning to Monica's house for the evening, she generously offered us one of her run T-shirts, complementing us on how great we looked as we tried them on for size.

She's that positively nice.

But beyond the fact that Jeanelle is super sweet, and I got to visit old friends while in town, I wanted to participate in the class to help support the organizations and the farmers, like Andrew and Melissa, who promote respect for food, the earth that grows that food, the workers that grow said food, and those of us who are nourished by its goodness. It's a movement in the farming/food world that I find myself more and more passionate about. Maybe it's because I was fortunate to have grown up with a Mom who grew a big old garden, raised chickens, and canned/froze for our winter meals. I grew up loving (and honestly taking for granted) the goodness of home grown food and really never imagined there were kids who didn't have access to that same, simple pleasure. Maybe it's because as I have worked to make/find a peace in my relationship with food I've found I'm drawn to the natural goodness of locally grown, whole, REAL foods because it tastes better and makes my body feel better from the inside out. Maybe it's because as a Mom myself I hope to help my daughters navigate the often scary and confusing world of food in a way that helps them grow up with positive relationship with food and a healthy respect for the earth/people/animals who provide it for our consumption. Maybe it's because I've come to realize that one of the most valuable gifts I was given growing up was an appreciation for what it means to be respectful for what I am blessed to have in life. And in my opinion eating healthy, responsibly raised food while supporting local farmers and small operation food producers is all about respect.

To find your farmers' market, CSA, meat producers, etc visit Local Harvest and fill your dinner plate with wholesome goodness tonight!

peace

Well Hello There Stranger...

2011-06-28T17:24:00.008-05:00

Summer is in full swing. My oldest daughter is off having fun at a week of camp. My youngest daughter is enjoying her second week of swimming lessons. We have planted a garden, met friends at the park, enjoyed picnic lunches with my husband at the mid-point of his work day, and have even worked in a few day trips to play with friends afar. While the school year is busy, it has a rhythm. Summer is more relaxed in theory, yet at times feels more crazy for the lack of structure with the freedom we have to work any (and at times what feels like EVERY) activity into our day.

I've started to notice that come June it's like a switch is flipped in my brain. My main focus becomes that of being Mom. Of organizing full day schedules, activities, play dates, transportation, sunscreen applications, and snacks. As a result I feel like my business takes a back seat from June through August...which in part is the balance I was seeking when I took the leap of faith 5 years ago and quit working full-time for someone else so that I could work part-time for myself. (I'm still amazed when I think about the fact that transition took place 5 YEARS ago.)

I have been thinking about that work/life balance a lot this spring. In hind sight, now that the disappointment and emotions over the unexpected direction my business has taken have settled, I'm thankful things didn't turn out how I THOUGHT they should. Yet at the same time I do have to think about how, come September when our school year schedule returns, I can make use of my time and energies to contribute to the over stressed state of my family's financial bottom line.

It might not be easy to link this line of thought to the practice of yoga, yet for me the connection is unmistakable. You see, I'm a worrier. And a control freak. And I have, at times, been known to make rash decisions in an attempt to fix a problem as fast as I can, only to regret those decisions later. Slowly over the years since I started studying yoga, I've noticed some of those less than endearing, natural "go to" responses to stress have started to change. I still worry, and I'm still a control freak (just ask my husband), but I now allow myself to sit and breath when discomfort arises so that I can more clearly see the adjustments that need to be made to once again find a comfortable seat.

In my asana practice I'm naturally drawn to poses that target lower body strength, stability, and openness. My strength and confidence lives in the power of my lower body. But ask me to invert, arm balance, or (gasp) give some of the control of a pose over to someone else (think acro-yoga), and suddenly I turn into an anxious hot mess. Oh I may still appear calm and collected on the outside, but internally I'm a whirl of anxiety. In an effort to break my less than productive patterns of response to adversity I've been purposely putting myself safely in those positions (on occasion) over the past couple years. It's not been done with the hope of mastering the postures as much as dealing with the emotions that arise. This is, for me, where hatha yoga becomes a practice, and direct reflection, of life.

So as I consider my future options this summer I'm purposely sitting with discomfort, and at times fear, in an effort to hear the full story for my emotions. It's an interesting practice as my various life roles (wife, mother, individual) offer up their perspective on the situation. The views of each of those charges in life don't always align with each other and on any given day one view can carry more weight than the others. I am blessed that I have people in my life who have supported me as I consider my options, even if they don't understand or agree with the manner in which I am handling the process.

At this point I don't know that I have any clearer picture than I did a month ago about the direction I will travel on this journey. Though I do know a few truths that will be foundation of any decisions made.

I love teaching yoga and sharing the gifts (whether physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual) that it can offer individuals who care to explore the practice.
Trying to generate the income my family needs solely through teaching yoga is stressful to the point that it removes some of the joy out of the process. My yoga related income needs to complement (or be complemented by) another source of income.
The flexibility in my schedule, allowing me to be available to my family in ways a traditional 9-5 job does not afford, is incredibly valuable in a way that does not posses a dollar value.
I want to be able to both serve my immediate community AND branch out into the surrounding area in my professional endeavors through teaching, writing, and other creative ventures.
I enjoy the freedoms, and challenges, of being an entrepreneur, I just need a little more guidance in figuring out how to combine all my interests, skills, and experience into a passion filled, sustainable work/life arrangement that promotes growth and balance not only in my own life, but in the lives of those around me.
Nothing of value in life is simply handed to you. I must continue to work hard. To live life passionately on all levels. I need to not be afraid to ask for what I want. I have to believe in my own skills and abilities without question if I expect others to believe in them as well. From past experience I need to have faith that I can follow my heart, trust my gut, and know that in the end it will be OK.

These two articles/posts came my way today:

There is No Work/Life Balance

The Expert Trap

Apparently I'm not the only one pondering life these days...

namaste

Now Offering Workshops!

2011-05-24T17:42:00.005-05:00

Change is always a little scary. At the same time change often pushes us to consider options and opportunities that we may not have kept an eye out for if it wasn't for being in a state of flux. Generally being one who is a bit resistant to change, I've tired to approach the changes that have happened in my life over the past few years (whether it be personally or professionally) as part of my practice. Why am I resistant to change? How does change make me feel? Which of those feelings are valid and which are patterned responses? How does this resistance show up as physical expressions in my body? These are just a few of the questions I have tried to patiently work through with myself when fear and resistance arise in the face of change. Sometimes it's not easy being your own student.

For many years I have dreamed of having my own studio space, so when I was faced with the fact that moving forward with establishing a permanent space here in our new community was not going to work I wasn't quite sure what to do. Refocus my dream? Take it as a sign that this was not the path I was meant to take? Give up on the idea that doing what I love can also provide for those who I love?

It has been through the loving support of my students, my peer teachers, and my family that I have realized a studio space of my own is not the root of my dream, it was only a tangible idea that I felt could help me measure successful dream fulfillment. The root of my dream, of my passion for this work, and the reason I have always come back to the world of wellness after exploring other professional options is simply...I want to help people find comfort in their bodies through promotion of mind-body focused practices. That's it. Period. Simple as pie. And the fact of the matter is, I can continue to do just that whether I have a "home" studio space or not. Sometimes change simply means redefining, not totally rerouting.

So I'd like to announce that I am working on developing 3 workshops offerings and I will be looking for studios interested in hosting me to teach. I'm very excited about having some time to focus on fully flushing out these 3 topics, ones that are central to how I both practice and teach. Last year I had the great honor of co-teaching a couple of workshops with my dear friend Monica on the campus of Grinnell College as well as be a guest speaker on campus to discuss the history, theory, and practice of yoga in a gen ed PE course. I love the participant interaction and chance for greater understanding of the many facets of the practice of yoga that teaching in these settings allow. So it only seemed natural when I was recently approached by a fellow teacher about if I would be interested in developing a workshop to teach at her studio in July to say, enthusiastically, YES!

In no particular order, here are the workshops I will be developing:

Compassion and Non-judgment through Attention to Anatomy and Alignment
This workshop draws on my great love for the study of the human body. Over the years as I have developed my own practice, and then started sharing the gifts yoga has to offer through teaching, my background education in the field of exercise science and biology has been a key influence. Hatha yoga allows us to study how we extend qualities such as compassion and non-judgement towards our own being as we move our own unique bodies. In this workshop we will discuss what role attention to anatomy and alignment plays in that study.

Moving Towards Balance
We have 2 legs. 2 arms. We twist right. We twist left. Yet if we take the time to really explore our physical beings we are far from symmetrical beings. In this workshop we will explore how day-to-day movement patterns, past injuries, and even our emotional state can contribute to an out of balanced body and how we can use our asana practice to move towards a place of greater balance.

Working With Seniors: Building a Practice With Them, For Them
Somewhat unexpectedly a common thread that has woven itself through my professional life is one of working with seniors. Because most of my work in the fitness world began through health care based facilities, I have had the great fortune to work with closely with a variety of nurses and therapists focused on helping seniors regain, and then maintain, health after facing a variety of health challenges. Cardiovascular events. Pulmonary challenges. Joint replacements. Cancer. Even a few neurological disorders. It is a population that I have grown to love working with and who I have time and time again found myself teaching in the yoga studio. After 5 years, and hundreds of hours, of teaching seniors yoga I've gained much from what their bodies have taught me about building a senior focused practice. I have often been asked by other teachers about how I structure my senior classes, modify poses, and address certain concerns. With this workshop I am happy to have the opportunity to share that information with those interested in working with the senior population.

If you are associated with a studio that would be interested in offering one of these workshops, please feel free to contact me for more information! All workshop will be designed to be 2 hour offerings and will include a healthy dose of discussion and movement.

And all of a sudden, change doesn't feel quite so scary.

namaste

Stretch to the Cure...

2011-05-11T10:00:00.004-05:00

In April 2008 I got one of THOSE phone calls from my little brother. The call to tell me a soft tissue mass he had recently had removed from his leg tested positive as cancer. I felt as though my legs had kicked out from under me. My 27 year old, healthy, athletic, extremely active, vegetarian, eco-conscious little brother had cancer! For a moment the world stopped spinning.

Fast forward 3 years to today...after nothing more than "basic" surgery to ensure a clear tumor bed in the tissues surrounding where the soft tissue sarcoma once laid, he remains healthy, active, and cancer free. I am thankful for the wonderful care he received from his cancer care team at MD Anderson in Huston and that his cancer story continues to have a happy story line.

Even after he was technically physically recovered from his surgery, processing the experience and nurturing a positive relationship with his body mentally and emotionally took more time. He has shared with me how yoga helped him during this process. Having taught yoga now for a little over 6 years I've been blessed to get to witness in a few of my own students how yoga has helped them process a health related challenge, including cancer.

Recently I was contacted by the National Foundation for Cancer Research about their upcoming week-long Stretch to the Cure fund-raising event in conjunction with Yoga and Pilates studios across the country. The event is scheduled for a week in September. Studios can register to host a class that will benefit NFCR efforts and help spread word about cancer detection, treatment, and the benefits of including yoga/pilates during treatment and recovery. PLEASE visit the website for more information on how to get your yoga community involved.

I hope to find a venue to help promote this project here in the Des Moines metro area. I would love to hear from others in the DSM metro interesting in joining forces to offer a NFCR Stretch for the Cure event. The power of the yoga community is great, and what better reason to bring together that community than to help the fight against cancer!

namaste

Change Ahead...

2011-04-26T16:32:00.004-05:00

Over the past few years life has provided me several opportunities to learn the importance of flexing with change. Facing change, I have found, is often like practicing a balance focused asana. If we work with the pose by becoming rigid in an effort to hold on to balance, we often face frustration and a sense of failure when, inevitably, we have to place a foot down to prevent a tumble. However, if we step into the pose accepting of the subtle flow of movement that is necessary to help us maintain a centered balance, and aware of the importance of the interconnectedness of our body as a whole to offer support, we find stillness.

Change in life is ever present. We can chose to work with the flow of movement necessary to maintain balance, or we can fight change with rigidity. For me remembering to face change with an open heart, the flexibly that comes with acceptance, and an eye to how the whole of my support system helps me maintain a sense of balance, has been an important part of taking my yoga practice off my mat.

As many of you are aware, I have been working for several weeks on plans to more permanently establish a yoga and fitness studio here in Carlisle in the coming months. Unfortunately I have encounter a snag, a pretty major snag as it may be, in that process. As a result, I have had to set my plans aside to explore alternative options. So what, you may be wondering, does that mean for the future of my current class offerings?

May will mark the final month of classes in my studio space at 85 School St. The current class schedule will run through Thursday, May 26^th. If you have recently purchased a class pass, please plan accordingly to use up your remaining classes by May 26^th. There will be no refunds issued for any unused classes at the close of the month. If you need to purchase more classes to get through the month of May, please talk to me about options! There are no changes to the Senior Wellness Membership option for the month of May.

I am currently working on a Plan B, but do not have a clear enough picture as to what it may look like to share any details. It is my hope that Plan B, while not the stand alone studio I had envisioned, will still allow me to share my love of yoga and fitness with the Carlisle community. Rest assured that as soon as Plan B has some concrete structure, I will be sharing details with you all in hopes you will once again join me for class.

I sincerely thank each and every one of you who have come to share a class with me (or who have offered words of support from afar) over the past 7 months. It has been a joy to get to know each of you as individual members of this little community my family now calls home. It is my hope that this unexpected change in the direction of my business is simply a speed bump and that on the other side lies an option that serves our small, but mighty, yoga community well.

With Peace,
Jenn

For The Love of Food...

2011-04-08T10:31:00.007-05:00

Early last week a conversation about dietary habits broke out before class at the studio. I love when I can share these casual moments with students before and after class. It gives me a better understanding of them outside of the few hours we spend together each week and it allows me to share a little bit about my life beyond the studio. After all, we all have lives outside of our practice time together, and by sharing a little bit about those lives helps us to all better support each other in our healthy endeavors beyond the studio doors.

I used to get nervous when casual conversation turned to the topic of diet. My relationship with food has been a bit all over the place over the years. I'm somewhat ashamed to say that in my quest for a smaller body I've been sucked into a variety of low fat, low carb, meal in a can kind of approaches. I've eaten healthy and exercised. I've eaten not so healthy and exercises A LOT in attempt to off set the unhealthy eating. I've limited certain things...and then realized how miserable and pre-occupied restriction makes me emotionally. I've spent time not really paying much attention to either diet or exercise. My weight has gone up. And down. And up. And down. Yea, I could blame it on watching the women in my family struggle with their weight as I was growing up. Or the crazy messages we get from the media and our peers as moody, hormonal teens. Or the variety of messages grocery store stand magazines flash in our faces. (Get a flatter tummy faster...and then make this fabulous 8 layer chocolate desert for your next dinner party.) But who has time the time and energy for blame and excuses?

I'm not sure when it happened, but at some point over the past couple of years I've stopped letting the headlines and special interest groups and latest fads in the health industry determine what I should eat and have let my inner guide take over. I've stopped stressing over 5-10 pound fluctuations in my weight knowing they are often reflective of the season or the amount of stress existent in my life. I started to listen to my body in terms of what foods fuel it and support the activities in which I want to regularly participate, and what foods just simply don't. Food is an important part of my family culture and is often the force behind social gatherings with friends. With busy families, those gatherings are so few and far between these days the last thing I need to do is complicate them with my food issues. And, generally speaking, as I've turned my focus towards letting food just be a part of the bigger picture of my life and not a central focus, I've found a happy weight and my relationship with my body has healed.

So I thought I would just share a few of my thoughts regarding dietary habits that have helped me find this happier relationship with food and my body. They are realizations that have come from trial and error living in MY body and they may or may not be the path that you need to follow as an individual. But as one of my students said earlier this week, the more you talk to others about approaches to diet, the more you realize just how many other people struggle to find balance. It also helps to know that finding that balance can look any number of ways. Here's just a few ways I have found my balance:

I prefer to eat REAL foods. Foods whose source I can easily identify as it lays on my plate. Foods that have gone through minimal processing. Foods that tend to come packaged in their own skins rather than a box. Foods that don't usually have an ingredients list because they ARE the ingredient. Foods such as fresh produce, whole grains such as rice and quinoa, beans, nuts, eggs, dairy products, and meats that have been raised in responsible and humane environments. Because of this preference 75% (or more) of our groceries are purchased from the outside walls of the store or when possible, at the farmer's market.
If it took a lot of science to create it OR to make it shelf stable, I don't eat it. Period. Hence why you'll never see me reaching for "sweetener" for my coffee or with a can of diet anything.
I try to avoid wheat and gluten containing products MOST of the time. Not because gluten free is a hot topic right now in the diet industry, but because a little over a year ago my Mom was diagnosed with a gluten intolerance, which has strong genetic ties. After reading the list of symptoms gluten intolerance can exhibit in one's body, and committing to 2 weeks of totally gluten free eating to see if some of the symptoms I was experiencing ceased, I've realized I FEEL much better when I stick to a mostly gluten free diet.
Generally speaking, I avoid most processed food products. I could go on and on about this one but I will resist the urge. For foods that I regularly consume that do go through some sort of processing, I read labels. Not so much for nutritional value as for ingredients. I try to stick to processed food that list 5 (or less) ingredients...and make sure they are ingredients I can pronounce and visualize in their whole form. Label reading is also an important part of eating gluten free as wheat derived food starch (usually as a thickening agent) and barley malt (for flavor) are used in a lot of unexpected places.
I generally follow the 80/20 rule. I try to eat healthy and sensible 80% of the time so that the 20% of the time that I indulge in something a little less than healthy and/or sensible, I don't stress...and generally neither does my body. Read this great blog post by my cousin, a holistic health counselor, that explains her approach to the 80/20 rule when it comes to diet.

Generally speaking the above guidelines result in a pretty simple dietary approach. I eat food. Real food. I enjoy it. I eat what makes me feel good. I eat what fuels my body and allows me to participate in the life activities that enrich my life. I enjoy all the flavors and textures and smells that good, lovingly prepared food can offer. I make choices that are both healthy for me and the environment in which I live. And, probably most important for me, I view food and my relationship with it as just one part of the greater whole that is my life.

As an avid reader, you'll find more than just a few books about diet and food on my bookshelves. Here are few of my favorites:

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. I adore this book for so many reasons. Besides the great information it contains, as a memoir reading it often triggered my own memories of growing up on a farm where my Mom tended a large, beautiful garden each summer and where we often raised chickens for both eggs and meat.
Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan. A little more controversial, a little more pointed with it's message, I found reading Omnivore's Dilemma to be an interesting study in how I reacted to Pollan's message and how those reactions have been shaped by my life's experiences. I expect a couple of Pollan's other books will eventually make their way onto my bookshelf as well.
Food Matters by Mark Bittman. This is a book that I have not yet read, but is high on my must read list. I loved Bittman's PBS show, The Best Recipes in the World, and have been following him much closer since he launched his New York Times Opinionator column. I'm drawn to his straight forward "say it like I see it" approach and his recipes look pretty darn delicious.

Speaking of recipes, I have been requested to share the recipe for the muffins that were made in celebration of my birthday last month. It is by far our favorite muffin recipe and has been easy to convert to gluten free. Enjoy!

Oatmeal Muffins
(Taken from the Colorado Cache Cookbook produced as a fundraiser for The Junior League of Denver)

1 cup rolled oats (I find similar results from traditional and quick cook, use whatever you have on hand)
1 cup flour *
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup buttermilk
1 egg
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup dried fruit or chocolate chips (optional)
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Mix all ingredients together and spoon into greased/lined muffin tins. Bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

*For a gluten free variety, substitute 1 cup of the gluten free flour of your choice (I like quinoa flour or a basic brown rice/tapioca/potato starch mix) and 1/4 teaspoon xanthum gum for regular wheat flour. Due to the possibility of cross contamination, certified gluten free oats should be used by those who can not handle any amount of gluten on their diet.

namate

Lacking Definition...

2011-03-30T15:53:00.005-05:00

A curious thing happened on the way to writing this blog post...

For months, well actually years, I've been trying to concisely define my stance on yoga vs. exercise/fitness...yoga as exercise...yoga beyond exercise...tradition vs. modern movement science. However you want to look at it, I felt a deep NEED to figure out how to blend my back ground in exercise science and my experiences with yoga. I felt the need to justify my approach as a practitioner and a teacher in respect to the many conversations that go on around in the greater yoga community about what's "real" yoga and what's watered down yoga for monetary gain as a hot fitness trend. (Typing that sentence kinda makes me laugh...those of you who know me know my general distrust and dislike of fad fitness crazes...but I digress.) The volume on my internal discussion on this matter has recently been turned up as I work through a few decisions regarding the future of my studio. A future that will more likely than not blend more fitness into my yoga space...and vice versa.

Today as I prepared to put together a post to spell it all out in hopes it would help focus my thoughts on the matter, I realized...

I don't care.

It's a freeing feeling to realize I don't NEED, or really even have much of a desire, to form a precise definition of my approach. It's as comforting as that final purposeful exhale one makes as you settle into Savasana. It brings to mind one of the points that Rudolph Ballentine makes in Radical Healing (the book I previewed from the Himalayan Institute). When we have a abnormal symptom arise in our body, maybe it's a physical ailment or a mental struggle, we often go in search of a diagnosis. Through a diagnosis we hope to find relief from the condition. At the same time, often subconsciously, we allow that diagnosis to start to define who we are and what we can do, sometimes to the point of creating limitations in our lives. Ballentine proposed rather than spending time searching for a diagnosis, to simply address the immediate symptoms and respond accordingly as symptoms change or cease. That without defining through labeling with a diagnosis, we are more open to a variety of options when it comes to regaining health...and more responsive to recognizing that health when a symptoms ceases. It's an interesting concept, especially in a society where we generally have a want to label and define everything. At the same time, I get it.

I love yoga. I put a lot of time into studying yoga...the philosophy, the history, how asana has changed with a greater scientific understanding of the human body, the metaphysics of our subtle bodies...sometimes the amount of yoga related literature I have read over the past 10+ years boggles my mind.

At the same time, almost accidentally and against all odds, I have come to love fitness. I have put a lot of time into the study of the science of exercise and the science of the human body as approached from a Western perspective.

Maybe most importantly I have experienced both disciplines on a variety of levels in my own body. At some point and time since I first started exploring the practice of yoga 11 years ago...a practice I came to because of my involvement in the fitness industry...the lines between what is yoga and what is fitness have blurred to the point I don't know that they can be separated. My study and experience in regards to exercise science have greatly informed and influenced how I both practice and teach yoga. On the flip side the yogic philosophies that have become a part of my life, both on the mat and off, have greatly influenced my approach to fitness. The alignment principles I originally studied to obtain my degree in exercise science have greatly affected how I approach alignment in asana. At the same time the compassion, awareness of breath, and sense of presence I have gained through my practice of yoga now informs how I address the mental chatter that arises when I'm out on the road finishing the final miles of a bike ride or teaching the last few lunge reps in a toning class. My experiences and how they influence each other are uniquely, authentically mine. My approach to yoga, to fitness, and to the relationship between the two will continue to grow and change as my experiences change...so why should I try to limit myself by labeling with a definition?

I'm currently reading Yoga Body, by Mark Singleton. In his book. Singleton takes a look at just how much the asana based hatha yoga most of us practice today has been influenced by other traditions of physical movement (such as body building and gymnastics) and by non-yoga based organizations (such as the YMCA) that had a significant impact on the shift of attitude about physical culture in India in the late 1800s and early 1900s. While at times my eyes glaze over for the amount of cross referencing Singleton does (the tone of the book, to me, reads a bit more academic journal report than as casual educational reading), it's hard to read this book and dispute the fact that modern hatha yoga, regardless the style one practices, came into popularity at a time when more attention was being paid to the benefits of maintaining a healthy physical physique throughout Europe, the US, and in areas strongly influenced by colonization. I'm about half way through the book and I'm curious to see how these Western influences and the work of several key Indian yoga masters all come together to form our 21st century yoga practice, and how it fits into to the fitness world, through Singleton's eyes.

So what's the point of this post you might ask? Does the fact I've made peace with my internal dialog concerning the relationship between fitness and yoga mean I'm going to start teaching, or practicing either discipline differently? Probably not. Does it mean I'm going to stop studying fitness and yoga as separate and sometimes connected practices? Definitely not.

The practice of yoga often challenges us to sit and find ease when we are faced with discomfort. We learn that with regular compassionate work eventually the resistance lessens and often new knowledge is gained about the deeper meaning of said resistance. For a while now this topic of yoga vs. fitness has been a place of internal discomfort and questioning for me. Until today when I exhaled and just let the resistance go. I feel like an energy channel has been opened. I feel lighter. I feel more able to move forward with confidence in my practice and with the work that I do to help people feel more energized, more connected, more present, and a little lighter in their own beings through yoga...and through fitness.

namaste

New Special Session Classes Scheduled

2011-03-09T15:12:00.003-06:00

Due to the popularity of the first offerings, dates for a second session of Yoga 101 and additional dates for Yoga & Yarn have been announced. For more information on these offerings, and to pre-register, please visit the studio's website. Do it today...classes start as early as March 20th!

namaste

What I Meant to Say...

2011-03-05T12:00:00.005-06:00

Today is my birthday.

This morning, as is normal for a Saturday morning, I headed out to teach my 8:30 class excited to see all my Saturday morning yogis. As we got into the flow of class I started to take them into a little more intense place than we have maybe ventured together thus far. I had bumped the thermostat a bit and asked them to really challenge their bodies, and their minds, as we worked through our practice. The group's breath was strong. Sweat was dripping. It was lovely.

At the end of final relaxation I wanted to share a bit about what the challenge of today's practice meant to me as I celebrate the start of a new year. Only I started to get a little emotional, which scattered my thoughts a bit, and I'm not sure what came out of my mouth was a true reflexion of what I wanted to share. So I'm taking this chance for a do over.

It's hard for me to fully express how important the practice of yoga, and the physical challenges it has asked me to face on the mat, had enriched my life off the mat. There have been so many times through the years, whether in a class, or a workshop, or during personal practice, that I have been given the opportunity to find a balance of strength and ease in the face of physical challenge. Challenge that helps me to change my inner dialog when my body wants to step away from a pose that requires me step out of my normal comfort zone. To examine the reasons for resistance and to distinguish between my physical edge and mentally created barriers. Times that helped me to learn to listen to my breath as a gage, a guide, and a tool for finding peace.

The true gift of my practice of yoga has not been stretchier hamstrings (though I do enjoy that benefit as well) as much as how the lessons learned on the mat have transitioned into my life off the mat. It has helped me to find ease and breath in other areas of discomfort in life. To be able to objectively observe my reactions to challenging situations and to examine how I can flex my view to find a more comfortable seat. It has asked me to step out of the familiarity of my normal thought patterns, and to explore new possibilities and how they may better encourage growth. Give and take. Strength and surrender. Effort and ease. Whether on the mat, or in life, the opportunities to find balance are everywhere.

When I started exploring yoga a little over 10 years ago, I never would have guessed this is where the practice would take me over the years. How glad I am that it has.

At the end of class today I received another gift. The gift of celebration. My husband and daughters (and my friend's two kids who hang out at our house while she comes to Saturday morning class) arrived at the studio with a basket of freshly baked, gluten free, mini muffins to share with my students. (Apparently there had been a bit of planning going on behind the scenes this week. Sneaky.)

What an appropriate way to celebrate the start of a new year of life. In a very special place that has both brought both challenge and comfort to my life through the past 8 months. And in the presence of a lovely, supportive, amazing group of people who I feel blessed and honored to have in my life...as students and as friends.

Thank you all for the love and blessings!

namaste

Yoga & Yarn...

2011-02-20T17:31:00.002-06:00

I had 8 knitters join me today at the studio for our first Yoga & Yarn class. What is Yoga & Yarn you ask? Well, we do yoga, and then we play with yarn. (And drink tea, eat chocolate, and enjoy casual conversation.) As the yoga teacher and photographer it obviously doesn't work for me to snap any practice photos...but thought I would share a glimpse of the second half of our afternoon activities. (Who knew that everyone was going to clam up and get all serious on me when the camera came out?)

We had a lovely time and as such I will be putting up a few more Yoga & Yarn class dates for this spring. Do you knit or crochet? If so, we'd love to have you join us!

Thank you to all the lovely ladies who attended this month. I hope to see you again in March!

namaste

Hoping to Inspire a Community...

2011-02-16T16:08:00.003-06:00

Remember my little newspaper writing gig? Well, as I was writing my latest article inspired by my last post here about breath, I realized I never shared with you dear readers the article that was published 2 weeks ago. You'll note this one doesn't have much to do with yoga at all...except those of you who practice yoga know that in a way it has everything to do with yoga. Truth of the matter is as much as I love yoga and hope to someday find my studio overflowing with eager yogis, I'm just as passionate about spreading a more general message about taking an active role in your health, whether it be through yoga or walking or kick boxing. When individuals work to improve their personal health, we all collectively help in creating a healthy community. A community that supports the growth and maintenance of recreational trails and healthy businesses and healthy schools and healthy environmental habits...and then our little community becomes part of the movement to foster a healthier collective world community...and we ALL benefit. (At least that's how I see it working in my dreams!)

Now without further delay...

Movement Minutes: Add 'Em Up!

Every week I eagerly anticipate the newest episode of The Biggest Loser. As someone who grew up dealing with my own weight related challenges, I can empathize with the contestants whose struggles with obesity have been a life long journey. As someone who works in the fitness industry, I can relate to what drives Bob and Jillian to dish out their own forms of tough love. Eleven seasons of contestants have lost weight; gained weight; learned how emotions, mind set, and peer support can contribute to maintaining healthy habits; and have inspired a whole nation of Biggest Losers. Each week I watch for inspiration as pound by pound contestants work to regain their lives. Each week I’m a little saddened by the fact a wildly popular TV show has grown out of America’s epidemic obesity problem.

According to the CDC, approximately 28% of Iowans are obese. Almost 1 in 3 of us carry an unhealthy amount of extra weight around with us every day. For many years organizations such as the American College of Sports Medicine, the American Heart Association, and even the federal government have made activity recommendations to promote the maintenance of a healthy weight. Yet obesity rates, and a prevalence of obesity related conditions, have steadily increased for the past 25 years. Current activity guidelines suggest adults minimally incorporate 150 minutes (or 5, 30 minute sessions) of moderate intensity cardiovascular activity and 2 sessions of exercises to promote muscular strength into their weekly schedule.

While contestants are on The Biggest Loser ranch, exercise IS their job. But what about after they leave the ranch? What about the rest of us who simply need to make time for activity in our day to day lives? If you’re not currently making time for exercise, moving to following the guidelines can seem like a HUGE undertaking. Don’t underestimate how taking small baby steps towards change in your day to day activity level can provide a positive impact on your health.

Even short bursts of activity add up over time to help promote healthy habits. Take 10 minutes out of your lunch hour to take a brisk walk around your office building. If you regularly take an elevator at work or while shopping, opt for the stairs once a day. When you step out to grab your mail, walk to the end of your block and back before heading back inside. At the grocery store, park a little further from the front door than normal and carry your groceries out for loading rather than using drive-up service. Allow for a little extra time for walking to appointments that require you to travel less than a mile. Incorporating a little extra movement into your day can spark the desire to make time for more, and your health will thank you. Now get out of that chair and give me a trip to the corner and back! (I’m working on finding my inner Jillian.)

Now back to finishing article #3 before I head to the studio for tonight's class!

namaste

Just Breathe...

2011-02-04T08:27:00.002-06:00

Long before I started working with individuals through yoga, I was talking to them about utilizing their breath. In the fitness world regulation of breath helps to manage exercise intensity and stabilize blood pressure during the exertion of lifting a heavy load of weights. And even yoga helped me to understand the mechanisms of how the breath supports our beings, my body knew that a challenging workout simply seemed less stressful if I just remembered to breathe.

Those of you who have taken a class with me have often heard me guide you, several times through our practice, to reconnect with your breath. To use your breath as a guide. To allow your breath to both bring a sense of lift, lightness, and ease to your poses as well as a feeling of groundedness and surrender. Our breath can provide a rhythm. A focus point. A indicator of over-efforting. Our breath provides nourishment for our tissues, helps to remove toxins (both physically and sometimes emotionally), and helps to calm the nervous system. Without the conscious use of breath, one might just call a yoga class "group stretching." But with breath our movements become so much more than just a good stretch.

For another commentary on the place breath holds in a yoga practice, check out what Diane had to say today on her blog, The Everything Yoga Blog. I always finds Diane's posts to be thoughtful, informative, honest and a great source for further thought and exploration. Take a moment to give her post a read...and BREATHE!

namaste

The Dark Side of Yoga in America...

2011-01-27T15:49:00.006-06:00

There is a weird phenomenon in the modern yoga world. It can be kinda dark, and quite frankly quite ugly. It's the land of yoga bloggers. While I support critical thinking and analysis across all things, yoga included, we yogis are still simply people...and people can be mean. Normally I stay clear of the the dark side and avoid reading blogs that find it their duty in the name of "upholding the integrity of yoga" to repeatedly hashing over the controversy of what has become A PART of the yoga industry in America. This week, spurred by yet another NY Times article, yoga bloggers all over have their panties in a bunch. (I'm starting the NY Times has a special focus group of reports whose job it is to figure out ways to knock the yoga community off its meditation cushion.) For some unknown reason this week I found myself reading posts and threads that I would normally avoid. Reading them felt more like picking up the latest celebrity gossip magazine than a thoughtful discussion on the practice I hold so dear. It was a reminder of why I cleared subscriptions to those blogs out of my Google Reader last winter. What follows are my feelings on what's happening in one little corner of the internet...any why I won't be visiting that playground again anytime soon.

Because of where I live, rural middle America, my 11 year study of yoga has been mostly on my own. First through videos, books and self practice. And then through DVDs, books, workshops, a YTT program, and self practice. I've taught yoga here middle America now for 5 years. I've blogged about yoga just about that long. I blog to share my experiences and thoughts. To help me reflect upon my journey and as a venue for my students to get to know me and my yoga beyond what I can share in an hour as I guide them through class. At one point I followed a number of yoga related blogs...until about a year ago when I realized all the controversy and trading of negative energy was taking more away from my practice and ability to teach than it was enhancing it. I've found myself this week peeking in at what's being talked about out in the yoga blogosphere. What I've found..the names have changes, but the controversy and same old tired debates still live.

What strikes me is how these heated conversations going on in one little corner of the yoga related internet have nothing to do with the day to day yoga work that I do in my studio. I work at exposing people to the benefits of yoga, some who have NO IDEA what a Yoga Alliance might be. Most of my students (having in the past 6 months moved to a new small rural community who are much newer to the practice of yoga than my previous home town) do no know, or probably really care for that matter, that there exists a myriad of different yoga styles.They know that when they come to the studio for class they leave feeling better, lighter, and more free to move through the rest of their day. I share a bit of information about the variety of styles out there because should they decide to step into someone else's class some day (and I hope that they do) they should at least be aware that the experience may feel very different than our time together. My students don't care that I name poses in English 99% of the time, or that sometimes I let the beauty of Sanskirt roll off my tongue. They come to class willing to do the work to the best of their ability, to honor their own limitations, and to ask questions when needed. I take their trust in my position as their teacher very seriously and hold myself to a pretty high standard when it comes to my continued learning. They have let me know they love when I use my Tingsha Bells to call an end to final relaxation. I love knowing that.

To me so much of the controversy that exists in yoga blogland seems so irrelevant. Yes, I believe in honoring traditions. Yes I believe in breaking tradition when it better serves the person or group of persons directly in front of me when I teach. I teach traditional Hatha Yoga...flavored with the experience I have gained through my study of exercise science, what feels "right" in my own practice, and from the few teachers who have come in and out of my life through the years who have inspired me to consider a new possibility. It is the day to day work, the day to day good I see in my students, and the blessings that a mindful practice has brought to my life that keeps me coming back to my mat as a student and as a teacher. Blogland can keep it's controversy. It can debate itself blue in the face about who in the spot light are helping or harming the image and future of yoga in America. I for one know that when I step into my studio, the future of yoga looks beautifully bright. I'm quite sure there are 100s, if not 1000s, of students and teachers across the country who would say the same. And to that I say...

namaste

Look on Page 2...

2011-01-20T14:02:00.005-06:00

I've been published...in print...

As chance would have it, the editor of the local newspaper wandered into the gym where I work part time and signed up for one of my classes there. So last week while I made her sweat I picked her brain about the possibility of submitting health related articles to the newspaper. As you can see, we worked out an agreement. Thanks to the suggestion of one of my yoga students this first article was a cinch being as it is a simply a shortened version of my New Year's post here on HDY.

I'm already pondering what to write about for my next suggestion. Any suggestions? Any past posts here on HDY that needs to find it's way into print? Please do share your thoughts!

namaste

What's YOUR Best Warrior Look Like?

2011-01-13T14:58:00.003-06:00

I have often heard it said by presenters at workshops and teacher trainings that teachers often find themselves teaching a topic/a sequence of poses/a focus because it's something they themselves are working on/with in their own private practice. I would have to agree with that generalization having noticed over the past few years how my classes change and flow based on my body, my study, my continued learning, and my life. My teaching style, while still uniquely my own, flows and changes. The slight changes may not be as noticeable from those on the outside as they are to me in how they feel on the inside. More honest. More pure. More powerfully an expression of how I have connected with the wisdom on my own inner guide. In fact, without really intending for it to be, teaching has become its own unique part of my practice. A discipline that helps me find balance and stillness.

This past week I've noticed a theme weaving its way through my classes maybe a bit more strongly than normal. I've found myself repeatedly asking my students to REALLY take time to explore how they can move in lunge/warrior/triangle/what-ever-asana so that it reflects the best expression of the pose for them at that very moment. While this seems like a simple thing to do for those of us who have practiced for any length of time, how many times do we honestly take the moment to really check-in as we flow through poses which feel intimately familiar. I find it to be an even more important suggestion for those new to yoga.

Often in our asana practice we yogis can get a little lazy in the amount of present moment awareness we bring to the mat during a class. The teacher guides us into Warrior II. We, in our head, know what Warrior II looks like. We've been in the pose before and/or watched other bodies in the pose in class and/or seen it demonstrated in a magazine or book. We move our body in a way that will create the shape of the pose, knowing that if something doesn't feel quite right no worries because in 3-5 breaths we are going to change to a different pose. Be honest with yourself for a moment and you will agree that somewhere along the way you too have approached your asana practice this way. We all have...myself included. While generally this doesn't make for an unsafe practice (outside of extreme misalignment cases) it can prevent us from bridging lessons learned in our asana practice with life off the mat.

So why this focus of "best self expression" this week I ask myself?

The answer, as I discover it, really has nothing to do with pose alignment...and everything to do with confidently expressing my true inner self. As Sadie Nardini puts it, I'm working on finding my Core Voice. I bring up Sadie here because of another truth I have found over the past few years...as students of yoga we are drawn to teachers whose message speaks to whatever areas of our practice/life for which we are seeking guidance. For me right now, Sadie's focus on movement, alignment, and expression from the core is exactly what I am seeking. In my body and in my life. I'm honored that after exchanging a few emails following the Iowa City Yoga Festival with Sadie that she has allowed me to study "with" her through an at home-study program. Study that, while I know will benefit my students in the long run, is really mostly about me and my practice at this point.

I recently had an interaction with someone that left me wondering "Why can't I be in that inner circle?" I have to admit, it feels silly to be openly admitting how much this situation has bothered me. I mean I am 35, aren't all those silly high school insecurities suppose to be a thing of the past? It's as if I've been on the outside of the gathering bouncing up and down with my hand in the air going "Hey, hey, look at me! Over here! I want to be cool and popular too!" Cue the negative self talk about not being good enough, about always having to travel the bumpy road in life...blaa, blaa, blaa. Sadly I recognize the pattern, and can somewhat joke about it here, because it's not the first time I have faced such feelings of social inadequacy.

At some point, thankfully, my most patient inner teacher, who's has had enough of the crazy talk, bluntly tells me to "Snap out of it and get a grip girl!" As Sadie wrote on Elephant Journal earlier this week:

"Open your mouth, speak your truth, let some people be disappointed in you and others resonate. Just say what you think, respectfully...and your tribe will surround you."

Yea. What she said.

My lesson through all this: Through all the connections with others I make in life some will be just that, a one time (or short lived) connection. Some will bring a new member into my tribe. Both experiences add value to my life if I allow the experience to be simply what it is without strings attached. And when I'm confident in letting my best expression of ME shine I won't worry so much about try to mold myself as to fit into someone else's tribe. Slowly I feel like this is becoming my new truth...but it's obviously still a work in progress.

Damn you yoga for sneaking life lessons into my asana practice.

And thank you.

namaste

Book Preview...

2011-01-11T10:26:00.003-06:00

Last week a staffer from the Himalayan Institute contacted me to offer up a preview copy of Radical Healing, scheduled to be released in March. The UPS guy braved the snow to drop my copy off this morning...

I will admit, I'm pretty excited about this opportunity. I love books and am often looking for new additions to the ever growing yoga & health section of our home library. While the establishment of this blog was to simply share a bit more personal side of my practice than what I can often offer in a class, to be a place for personal reflection in relationship to my own relationship with yoga and life, it has also been a spark that has brought opportunities to expand my personal study. For that I am thankful.

I'm truly fascinated by science, and specifically the science of the human body.(All it's various layers.) I'm excited to dive into this book and get a chance to read more about it's holistic message of an integrated health care system that utilizes aspects of both modern and more traditional healing traditions to create and sustain health. It's gonna keep me company for awhile...being 644 pages and all. I'll let you know what I think as I read along!

namaste

A Little Laugh..

2011-01-07T10:51:00.003-06:00

Saw this over at YogaDawg's blog. Too cute not to share.

by Nina

Happy Friday all!

peace

Instead of a Resolution, How About a New Relationship?

2011-01-03T19:47:00.003-06:00

Gyms, group fitness classes, and yes, even yoga studios across the country today experienced a boost in attendance numbers. Oh the power of the New Year's resolution. Sparked by the feeling that one should make a resolution (because everyone else is doing it) and often fueled by holiday cookies, candies, and celebratory drinks, people hit the gym resolving that THIS will be the year they lose the extra weight/change their eating habits/run that 5 K.

From the point of view of someone who maintains a regular workout schedule throughout the year, the first few weeks of the year are pretty annoying. One's normal routine can be temporarily interrupted (especially if your workout time happens to coincide with the before work or after work rush of New Year's Resolutioners) until things start to slow down...generally about 3 weeks into the new year.

As a wellness centered business owner and someone who has working in the fitness field for a number of years, the January rush is refreshing following the slower weeks of December. It's a chance to reconnect with members/participants whose attendance may have dropped off during the busy of the holiday season, and to welcome new faces to the crowd. Everyone is eager to work hard, to step out of their comfort zone a bit, to SWEAT. Every step of the way there exists a challenge to draw people in hoping that their participation can be retained after the newness of the year starts to fade.

Unfortunately researchers will tell you that somewhere between 85-95% of people who set new year's resolutions will fail to stick with seeing their resolutions through...most having given up before February draws to a close. Those who set health related resolutions are no exception and generally the rush of January gives way to a busy, but calmer February. Generally by March attendance has dropped back to those members/participants who have for some time maintained a year long routine...plus the few new recruits who have stuck with their resolution long enough for it to become part of their regular routine.

I've never been big on setting New Year's resolutions myself, though I can think of a few years when weight goals and fitness plans were written down on January 1st and then never given much thought again. Some time over the past 5 years, the urge to make New Year's resolutions has completely ceased. Ceased because as I deepen my yoga practice my relationship with my body and my health has changed. Changed because I've learned to read and flow with my body's natural fluctuations in weight throughout the year. Changed because instead of randomly setting activity goals based on the start of the new year I've come to appreciate my natural fluctuations in my activity based on the seasons. Changed because my relationship with food and how I fuel my body has changed based on the knowledge of how nurturing my body through the foods I eat affects how I feel physically and emotionally. Changed because I find other times of the year, such as during the renewal of spring (and the celebration of my birthday) or the refocusing affect that fall has on our lives after the more casual days of summer, to be more natural/meaningful times for evaluating and redirecting my personal goals/practices. Changed because as I heal my own relationship with my body I see how it's helping my girls to grow up into strong, active, healthy, confident individuals who I hope find themselves struggling a little less with body image issues than I have.

I fully credit yoga, and how it affects one in a holistic manner, with helping to create this shift in my attitude. I'm happier carrying a little more weight around than what those medical charts say I should because I know my body is healthy, strong, and can comfortably enjoy the activities in which I choose to participate. I allow my diet to fluctuate with the seasons knowing that the heartier comfort foods of winter will be balanced by the fresh lightness of summer produce. I celebrate how both the outdoor activities of the warmer months AND the more sedentary activities of winter are important for balancing my whole being. I ride my bike and swim and let my body move in the warm months while the winter months bring activities that feed my creative and intellectual sides such as knitting, reading, and writing. There is an ebb and flow to life, and I've come enjoy the natural fluctuations of the year.

So this year, instead of a resolution, how about starting a new relationship with your health? Instead of resolving to change the aspects of your body with which you are not so keen, try celebrating those attributes and strengths that shine. Move your body not because you feel you should, but because you appreciate how it nurtures a sense of well being, strength and confidence. Engage regularly in activities that fuel your passions, that cause you to stretch outside of your normal limits, and that help you to grow holistically. Practice compassion towards yourself and find how it spreads into the love you extend to those around you. Make time to find a little bit of peace each and every day, and then offer that same peace to the world. Nurture a steamy, hot relationship not only with your body, but with your life...and you too may find yourself without the desire to set a New Year's resolution as we ring in 2012!

namaste

Because Passion Matters

2010-12-01T16:03:00.006-06:00

About a month ago I applied for a job with a well know non-profit in the area. A job with (mostly) regular hours, a desk, benefits and a paycheck. I will be completely honest, while the position itself was of interest, it was the thought of a regular paycheck that triggered me to prepare my application. It's been 5 months since we made our move. It's been 5 months since I've been able to contribute to our household income in a regular and significant way. This has caused additional strain on an already skin tight budget. And, as girl who comes from traditional, hard working roots, with 2 growing girls to feed and clothe, it makes sense that the best way to face the current problem with our finances is for me to go out and get a job!

The one negative...a "real" day job would require me to step down my offerings at the studio a bit. Most notably the morning senior based classes that are currently my most regularly attended. A fact that would need to be considered if I was offered a full-time position.

The position for which I applied is still posted on the organization's website. No contact has been made regarding my application. In the end I think I'm OK with that fact, because the process of preparing my cover letter and resume was, in itself, a valuable practice. While our ego can often get in the way and cause problems in life, sometimes it takes a little ego to get one to stop wallowing in a pool of self doubt and pity and move forward. In this instance preparing my application and being forced to highlight the many qualities and experiences that I posses that would make me the best candidate for said job, sparked the inner fire I've needed to find to REALLY work on making my new studio here in our new community a growing and (eventually) profitable business.

It's true that for years I've dreamed of growing my own professional space. In many ways our moved allowed that dream to start to become reality even if the process looks much different than I had envisioned. New community. Minimal financial resources. Even the available physical spaces look different than what I thought I would be choosing between. I've allowed those differences to hold me back. I've been skeptical about the possibility of success. In the back of my head I've been filing away various back-up plans as I was sure I was going to need to turn towards one when I had to close my studio doors at the end of my short 3 month sublease. Already ready to say, "Well, at least I tried."

In the month since I prepared and submitted my application I've attended the Iowa City Yoga Festival. I've connected with some amazing people who are living life as a full expression of their true inner self and who have, through their words and actions, extended their support as I work to do the same. (Big thanks to a certain Ms. Sadie Nardini!) I've witnessed how my work history has, in a way, come full circle as I supplement my teaching schedule by working a few hours at the local fitness center where I spend my time listening to the clinking of weight plates. And through that work, and my slowly growing community of yoga students, I've both reconnected with why I do what I do (because I have a passion for helping people live a healthier life) and why over the years I've been drawn into the practice of yoga (because I believe a truly healthy life comes from balanced and holistic practices such as yoga). And I've come to realize I have a much healthier, happier relationship with life (most of the time), even with the financial strain, because I am able to do what I love. This past week, as I've reconnected with the roots of my passion for this work, I have enjoyed teaching more than I have since our move. And I know that when I'm sharing my love for yoga from that inner place of pure joy and peace, good things happen for everyone involved.

Today marks the start of my 3rd month of business. Today I committed to a lengthened sublease. I'm already dreaming of the possibilities that may be available after our new agreement expires. Today I took a step towards trusting that what I have started to build here is a long term thing. AND that someday, hopefully in the not too distant future, I'll be able to write my own paycheck.

namaste

Iowa City Yoga Festival Recap (part 2)

2010-11-15T16:17:00.005-06:00

So where did we leave off in my previous entry about the Iowa City Yoga Festival? Oh yes, following the end of Saturday's sessions.

Saturday evening I was feeling kinda beat down after a full day of mental stimulation and warring with my draining sinuses. I did attend the presenter dinner to which I had received an invite and walked back over to the conference center to catch a bit of the MC Yogi concert benefiting Project Green, but then I had to call it a night to give my body rest. I am grateful for the presenters who invited me to sit with them at their dinner table as I had gone to the dinner alone and was feeling a bit overwhelmed by the set up of "join any table". Being the only mid-westerner, or should I say the only non-traveling Californian, at the table did prove to be a little awkward, but it was nice to casually chat with my new acquaintances about a variety of topics...both yoga related and not.

Sunday I woke feeling refreshed and on the healing side of my cold. I once again started the day with Sadie in a class focused on root energy. Once again it was a great way to start the day and nice to have the ability to repeat some of the same sequences as the day before which I believe to be a great way to reinforce newly learned info. I left feeling challenged but energized and very much appreciating the gift Sadie had shared with me by helping me reconnect to my inner foundation during a time when my grounding feels a bit unstable.

Session 2 gave me the opportunity to reconnect with a gentleman who I first had the honor of studying with 4 years ago when I attended my first yoga conference, Max Strom. Max is an amazing person and personality. His attention to breath, the way he weaves his compassionate yet motivating teaching style throughout class, and his appreciation of how yoga and breath can greatly benefit the quality of our lives all comes together in an experience that simply has to be had to fully "get it." It was because of Max that I changed the way I teach balance in my senior based classes...a change that I thanked him for after our session because of the great success and sense of accomplishment I have seen in my students thanks to following his techniques. I have yet to read Max's recently released book, but do believe I will be adding it to my holiday wish list...and I think you should too.

And that dear friends is where my festival ended. I cut out mid-day on day 2 because a dear, dear out of town friend was back in Grinnell and I in no way could pass up the opportunity to hang out with her for the afternoon before she headed back north. All things in balance.

Overall I had a great time at the IC Yoga Festival and I am super excited that a repeat of the event is already in the works for next year. I highly recommend that you make plans to attend next year if you are in the area. It would be a great first conference experience if you have never attended a yoga conference, and it's a nice intimate conference if you have been to larger events.

Many thanks to James Miller for his vision and hard work in getting this event organized. Also many thanks to the presenters who took times to put a trip to Iowa on their travel schedules. And last but not least thanks to the other attendees for bringing their energy to the party. What a great blessing to be in the company of so many positive, compassionate, passionate individuals!

namaste

Iowa City + Yoga = Love (part 1)

2010-11-09T14:49:00.006-06:00

The Iowa City Yoga Festival.

What can I say?

Really, there's a lot to say. I thought I could just give you a few highlights from the weekend. And then I started writing and realized that was not going to happen...so let's start with ICYF recap part 1.

First of all, this is the first yoga event that I've attended that has been referred to as a "festival" rather than a "conference"...and festive it was. I mean who knew that on Friday evening I would find myself Bollywood dancing in my stocking feet. Or clapping to the rhythm of yoga inspired hip-hop while a group of break-dancers did their thing on the small dance floor set up in the middle of the ballroom. But those things I did do...and it was way fun despite how crumby I was feeling due to a bit of a cold. Kudos to James, the festival organizer, for kicking the weekend's events off in such a fun and light hearted way.

The 3 sessions I chose to attend on Saturday actually worked really well with my lack of energy and ability to breathe. I started the morning off in the session that was the whole reason I decided to attend the festival in the first place...What is Core Strength with Sadie Nardini. Now I will admit, when I first heard of Sadie a few years ago I was not all that sold on what I viewed as her "rock star" approach to yoga. But slowly, over time, as I read her contributions to the many well known blogs for which she writes, and then as I started following her Facebook page, I started to see a real depth to her philosophy of yoga and wellness that really struck an inner cord with me. Plus, like me, she is a total Anatomy and Physiology junkie. (I can call her that because she openly admits it. I think her words Saturday were, "I totally geek out on that stuff." I sooooo get that!) The fact that her perspective on yoga (which she likes to refer to her Core Strength Vinyasa Yoga as a perspective rather than a style) is based on the concept that strength (physically, mentally, emotionally) comes from deep within, not from the superficial strength that we most often identify with, really resonates with me as a teacher and an individual. When I can step away from the emotions of the adversity which our family has faced over the past 3 years, it is quite apparent to me that when I have felt the most connected with my inner foundation and physical strength, I have been the most grounded mentally and emotionally as well. On the flip side, at times when I've felt like the rug has been pulled right out from under my feet emotionally, my physical body has reflected that as instability, irritation, and at times pain, at the base of my core.

Sadie's knowledge and understanding of the physical body, and how it interrelates to the more subtle body, is amazing. (Plus she can pretty much kick your assana with her sequencing of poses.) The fact that she shares that knowledge in a way that is honest and heartfelt, simple and matter of fact, with feeling and soul, but without a lot of new age mumbo-jumbo that can so often turn people away from understanding yoga as anything more than physical exercise, has earned her place as a "rising star" in the yoga community. And for that reason...I will be ordering her DVDs...and probably her book...in the coming months.

After getting some grounding with Sadie, and working up a bit of a sweat, I headed into the portion of my day that was more lecture based. First off, The Business of Yoga with Alon Sagee. I actually didn't register for this session when I first registered for the festival clear back in May. But I was lucky enough to be able to switch because as a new business owner how could I pass up the chance to get advice from one of the most sought out business coaches in the yoga business community! It was a great choice as I walked out with 5 pages of notes and lots of ideas on how to tighten up my business image and reinvigorate my marketing plan.

After a lovely lunch with some of my Grinnell yoginis, we discovered we had all registered for the same 3rd session, The Science Behind Yoga Postures and Practices with Eric Shaw. Looking back on the session I'm not sure that we ever really got into much depth of the science behind the physical practices of yoga, but we covered a lot of cool history, including how the science of yoga and empirical science started to cross paths in British ruled India in the early 1830s. And Eric referenced one of my very favorite yoga and science resources, Yoga as Medicine by Dr. Timothy McCall. I adore this book. I bought it as a reference...and as soon as I got it I read it cover to cover. It is by far my favorite book to turn to when I have a student with a special medical concern or consideration. One thing is for sure, Eric has a great depth of knowledge and appreciation for the history of the various traditions of yoga. And when someone has a passion for their subject, it makes learning with them an invigorating experience.

Up next in Part 2: Saturday evening's VIP dinner, the concert, and Sunday's sessions.

Class Schedule Update

2010-10-14T11:49:00.003-05:00

Just a note to pass on that a few changes have been made to the J. Mavin Yoga studio schedule. Check out the new schedule below, or visit the main web page for full class related information.

Many thanks to everyone who has made the first two weeks of classes such a joy! I have more news to share here soon about happenings of the past couple weeks. Stay tuned!

namaste

Professional Accountability...

2010-09-24T09:54:00.005-05:00

This past weekend during my teacher training, we got off on a bit of a tangent about professional accountability when it comes to individuals who are teaching yoga and teacher training programs. We briefly discussed the lack of an over arching system of checks and balances for the yoga industry. Sure, there's Yoga Alliance, but I have yet to talk to anyone who works full time in the yoga industry who feels Yoga Alliance really has any power, or the organization necessary, to help responsibly direct the growth of the ever expanding world of yoga teachers and teacher training programs. Upon returning home I caught wind, via Brenda who was sparked to write in response to a post by Roseanne, that a very similar conversation has started up among a section of the yoga blog community.

Instructor education and professional competency are topics I've been thinking about quite a bit myself lately as I work to introduce my yoga based business to a new community. A community who is being offered another "yoga" class option her in town at a greatly reduced rate in comparison to my service fees. I feel the use of quotes necessary because I have met the instructor providing the classes, have talked to her about her training, and I can not find it in my heart to define her classes as being yoga. However when the public sees our classes defined by the same label, especially if they have no previous yoga experience, they see no difference other than cost. And so, I feel compelled to add to the conversation.

Many years ago as I was entering the world of fitness and wellness professionals, newly earned exercise science degree in hand, I had a pretty narrow view of what made for a "qualified" fitness professional. Basically I believed my 4 year degree was far superior to any simple weekend certification and I went out into the world assuming that's how everyone in the fitness industry viewed the hierarchy of education. Only in practice that's not always how the fitness industry works. When it comes to fitness we, the general public, have developed a bit of ADD. Being a successful trainer or group fitness instructor seems just as closely tied to one's ability to entertain clients as it is to that trainer's knowledge about the human body and safe exercise practices. For the general public if someone works for a gym, has a few letters behind their name on their business card, or simply says they are a certified trainer/instructor that's all the information needed. Instructors who can keep on top of offering the latest trendy workouts often get extra credit and respect.

Now I'm not saying that a higher level of education automatically makes you a more qualified trainer/instructor OR that there are not highly competent trainers/instructors who have more practical life experience than book education. I've experienced both great trainers/instructors, and very poor trainers/instructors, with all sorts of educational backgrounds. What I am trying to point out is that we, the general public, often make decisions differently about who we trust with our fitness instruction needs than we do other decisions such as choosing a personal physician or an accountant. I personally find the level of competency from one trainer/instructor to be very individualized and anymore I'm am much more trusting of my direct experiences with a particular trainer/instructor than any number of certifications or years of experience.

So why all this talk about the fitness industry? Because I believe many of the struggles we face in the yoga industry when it comes to professional accountability are closely tied to the fact yoga has been most often exposed to the general public through the fitness model. The fitness industry thrives on providing the most bang for the buck. The hope that a "silver bullet" does exist. That new and trendy is better. And quite honestly it hasn't done a very good job of "training" consumers to demand quality above quantity. Dispute the fitness-yoga connection? Those of us who have received Yoga Journal for a number of years can testify to the slow, sad, transformation of the publication from an almost scientific journal of yoga to just another pretty, ad filled, grocery store checkout lane fitness magazine.

As professionals, trainers/instructors often experience a very wide range of expectations and level of compensation from potential employers. Often one's ability to be a salesperson and entertainer are viewed as more important qualities that point towards long term success than one's ability to educate clients about life long, holistic health practices. Often, unless a trainer/instructor is willing to tap into the potential of sales and cross marketing products with services in order to be able to make a living working full-time in the fitness industry, training and teaching are taken on as hobby jobs. Hobby trainers/instructors are often happy to make just enough to cover the cost of maintaining certifications (with maybe a little extra spending money left over) AND a free scheduled workout. I've been there. I've done that. I've taught simply for the joy of teaching, the workout, and just enough cash to justify going to the occasional training/conference. However as someone who has made the choice to find a better work/life balance through focusing on my yoga and functional fitness based business, I believe there is great need in establishing standards that promote as valid, income producing businesses the efforts of independent instructors of all kinds and small businesses, such as mine, who provide a much needed service to their immediate community. People who have a skill and a passion for working in the fitness and/or yoga industries should be able to make an honest living without resorting to selling/promoting gimmicks and trends. And some system of accountability is needed to help make that a reality.

While I promote fitness as well as yoga, as complimentary yet separate practices, the yoga business model, for the health of the tradition of the practice, needs to separate from the business of fitness. I believe that until we can disconnect the yoga industry from the fitness model we will continue to see stand alone yoga studios struggle to stay afloat. We will continue to see under-qualified teachers offering classes that fall short of representing the depth that exists in the traditional practice. We will continue to see amazing teachers who simply want to share the power of the practice with others settle for pay that represents a small fraction of the worth of their education and experience. And we will continue to see teacher training programs developed not based on the power of the tradition, but because they offer a more lucrative way to "sell" yoga to a smaller sub-set of the yoga community who can afford the price tag.

James, our trainer, is pretty open to the fact that he is trying to lobby Iowa state legislators to support a state licensing requirement for yoga teacher training programs and yoga teachers, much like are required for massage therapists and other body workers. I think given the complex nature of trying to organize all the various yoga traditions on a larger national/international level to create a set of guidelines and standards, it's a good place to start. Yoga as a therapy modality has a lot of power, some would argue just as much as other forms of therapy (massage, acupuncture, PT, etc) that already have a built in system of accountability. As someone who takes her continuing education and responsibility to my clients to offer a quality yoga experience very seriously, it would be nice to have a larger governing body make that same commitment to promoting professional competence among yoga teachers and training programs.

I suspect discussions such as this will be going on for quite some time before we see any real change or progress in regards to a universal system of standards in the yoga industry. However I am glad to know I am not standing on an island all alone when I hope for a more solid system of accountability. Accountability that will help ensure the health of the tradition, the advancement of the general public's understanding of the practice of yoga, and small yoga based businesses everywhere fighting to keep their doors open while providing a much needed service in our ever more sedentary, ever more stress filled western lives.

namaste

New Directions...

2010-09-22T20:38:00.004-05:00

As I have been working to put together a new space in which to offer classes I have wondered how Happy Daisy fits into the bigger picture. Those of you who have followed this blog for a length of time know it has gone different directions and served different purposes through the years. Once again Happy Daisy is headed in a new direction.

As the official blog for my business, J. Mavin Yoga, Happy Daisy will keep you all up to date on what's going on with the studio...events, specials, news...and will serve as a way for me to share information with clients outside the walls of the studio. Of course, as someone who is attempting to make a living in the yoga industry, I expect I will occasionally contribute to bigger conversations beyond my immediate yoga community...one such post is currently in the works.

But today's big J. Mavin Yoga news...

The studio supplies have arrived! It felt like such an amazing privilege to be able to shop for my own studio props. I have thought long and hard about how I would like to outfit a studio. Just as important to me as providing quality yoga instruction is making sure I set up responsible business practices that are in line with the ideals of the practice. When it comes to props I felt like I had to both consider the eco impact of my chosen items with the reality of limited financial resources. Striking a balance was key.

I think mats say a lot about a studio. After all you spend the whole class on a mat. There's lots to consider when it comes to mats. Stickiness. Support and cushioning. Durability. Ease of cleaning. Eco impact both during manufacturing and upon disposal. While I would have preferred to outfit the studio with natural rubber mats, the budget just couldn't support that ideal. I love, love, LOVE my Manduka black mat that, theoretically, should NEVER need replaced. But again the budget just couldn't support a room full of Mandukas. Luckily I also really like my "second" mat which was purchased as a slightly more budget friendly mat that travels with me to all places outside of my main teaching location. It has many of the same qualities as my Manduka, very supportive closed cell foam construction, longer 72 inch length, and the promise of durability. And wouldn't you know, 4 years after I originally purchased my secondary mat from Hugger Mugger for about $45, almost identical mats are available at wholesale prices through several yoga supply companies. I hope my new students will appreciate the supportive, comfortable, yet firm support that these mats provide...qualities that help the mat disappear during practice.

Additionally, because I am passionate about working with seniors who often need a bit more modification and use of props during their practice, I ordered a few blocks and straps. Cotton straps with easy release buckles and cork blocks. I will admit, the cork blocks were a bit of a splurge, but a splurge I feel good about making from an ecological stand point.

To fill out the boxes that arrived today where studio towels, mat cleaner, and a couple extra mats...one which will be given away at my OPEN HOUSE on October 2nd! Visit my main website, www.jennifermavin.com, for more details about attending the Open House. Come help me break in the new studio supplies and maybe you'll be going home with your very own premium yoga mat...or a free class pass...or a gift certificate donate by other local businesses. Come help me celebrate new directions!

namaste

Finding One's Own Path...

2010-09-03T15:59:00.004-05:00

I was quote searching yesterday for the website and ran across this quote:

“There are many paths to the top of the mountain, but the view is always the same” ~ Chinese Proverb

I has stuck with me. Stuck with me because in the 10 years that I have been practicing yoga I've often wondered if I was on the "right" path for my practice. Stuck with me because even as I have built my business over the past 5 years I have questioned whether continuing to teach other forms of group fitness took away from my credibility as a teacher of yoga. Stuck with me because while I whole heartedly believe in so much of what is taught in the tradition of yoga on how to live one's, the seriousness of it all can really suck the fun out of life sometimes. In short, I've questioned the direction of my path.

Sometimes I just need a little reminder that my path is my path. There is no other "right" path than the one my inner guide has been mapping for me over the years. And I have to say, my guide has taken me past some pretty cool scenery.

namaste

Flexibility Necessary...

2010-09-02T21:00:00.002-05:00

Four years ago when I left full time employment to work as a "full time" teacher I had the perfect situation supporting my decision. I was simply increasing an already regular class load in a community that was familiar with me and my teaching style. I was teaching for established organizations that were both willing to work with me as an independent contractor AND do most of the leg work behind the scenes to run and promote our programs. For the most part I simply had to do what I love doing most...teach.

Fast forward to today and I have a whole new level of appreciation for all the little steps and details to which I never really had to give much attention. On the spectrum of yoga based business models I am really only taking one step up from what I was doing in our previous community. After all, I'm not opening a full out yoga center. I'm just me...moving into my own space. How much extra work can that be, right?

But boy howdy...

Business planning...I do that.
Marketing, public relations and communications...I'm in charge of that too.
Publications and web design...yep, that's me.
Purchasing and accounts payable...me, me, me.
Book-keeping, financials and accounts receivable...me again. (With a bit of guidance from my new accountant.)
Oh yea...and eventually I'll be teaching too.

Basically what I'm saying is WOW...the intensity of my professional life has definitely spiked. And quickly. While I am having a blast, not to mention the responsibility of being in charge of every aspect of my business growth appeals to my inner control freak, I sometimes long for the good old days when all I had to worry about was what sequence to use each day and what music I was in the mood to play.

I was once in a lunch panel discussion where Cyndi Lee of OM Yoga commented that if you plan to open a studio expect your personal practice to go to crap, you social life to become no-existent, and for regular full nights of sleep to become a frequent theme of your hazy day-dreams.

I'm starting to understand what she was saying. I'm hoping that once the initial craziness of getting everything in order to open the doors for my first class, things will settle down. That a bit more balance between work and life will be possible.

At least that's what I'm hazily day dreaming about at the moment.

(Please excuse any portion of this post that doesn't quite make sense. I blame it on the lack of good, full nights of sleep lately.)

namaste

Less Yoga, More Treadmill...

2010-08-24T08:49:00.003-05:00

It's true. I have been taking a bit of a break from yoga lately. Aside from teaching one last time in Faulconer Gallery last week, my August weekend of TT, and a short practice this morning, August has been a pretty yoga free month. I honestly think the break was needed. After focusing on and growing my teaching business over the past 5 years I was feeling a bit of yoga burn out. Too much of even a good thing is too much! This summer has allowed me to really figure out where I want to go from this point forward in regards to both my business and my personal physical pursuits. And right now that has meant reconnecting with my running shoes.

With the start of school for my kids this week comes the return of some sense of routine. I'm hoping this routine helps me organize my thoughts and energies a bit cause I've got some big things in the works!

I'm working with an accountant to help my business take "the next step."
Tonight I am looking at a space to potentially sub-lease to get my yoga business here in Carlisle off the ground.
I have started working part-time at the local Snap Fitness which has helped to spur a re-commitment to my own personal fitness, including more cardio to help shed a few unwanted pounds that have crept on over the past 12-18 months.
I've offered to teach some mini fitness classes at Snap next month (not yoga related) and I'm quite enjoying the process of promoting those to a new to me membership base.
As part of rebuilding my schedule I have set the intent to practice for a minimum of 30 minutes each week day morning before I get the kids up for school. Day one, today, was a success.
Breaking news! As part of rebuilding my business I am making a commitment to myself, my family, and now to the vastness of the internet to pursue developing another dream I've been entertaining for a number of years...taking the steps necessary to develop my love of photography into an additional stream of income. I've been talking of taking this step for about 5 years. Unlike my confidence in relationship to my teaching abilities, I'm a bit more hesitant to put myself out there as a professional photographer. Luckily I have loving family and friends who have been gently encouraging me along to the point I feel as though I'm ready to do it!

So there you have it. Things are moving forward for my business, for my practice, and for life in general. Moving forward.

namaste

Lost

2010-08-11T10:15:00.003-05:00

You often hear stories of individuals who are feeling lost in life who turn to yoga to re-connect with their true inner self in order to chart a new, more authentic direction. Best selling novels and countless blogs have been written about the process. But where does one turn when it's the practice and business of yoga that leaves you feeling lost?

It's been 3 weeks since I stepped onto my mat. Three weeks since I taught a class. Three weeks that have been full of travels, fun, family, and recovery. And as frustrated as I was feeling with my practice and with teaching when I last wrote, I think it's been a 3 week break that was much needed. But here's the honest truth that I'm trying to wrap my head around...I'm having a really hard time finding the desire and inspiration to find my yoga again. That scares me a bit.

Physically I guess I should say I do miss my practice a bit. I'm feeling a bit stiff. My hips are noticeably tighter. My back is a bit achy. But my sciatica has been feeling great. I have started doing some cardio at the gym where I started working part time this past week and it has felt good to have a bit of a change of pace. To find the rhythm of putting one foot down after the other as I run on the treadmill To feel the drip of sweat as I pedal away on the elliptical trainer. I'm looking forward in the coming weeks to breaking my road bike out of it's hibernation to explore the local trail. I'm finding joy again in moving my body for my own benefit rather than as extension of my "job"...and it feels nice.

Unfortunately I think my current feelings about yoga are more complicated than simply needing a break from the physical practice. I'm in the midst of seriously trying to find space to establish my teaching business here in our new community and it's not proving to be an easy task. I'm starting to feel the pressure of not yet having a plan that replaces the income my old teaching schedule provided. I'm a bit overwhelmed by all the factors that need to be considered when I look at being about to make a stand alone space work. I'm scared...not so much of failing professionally...but of failing my family. My relationship with yoga, I realize by choice, is feeling very complicated at the moment. I'm not sure how I feel about that.

Tomorrow I will be teaching my final class at Faulconer Gallery on the Grinnell College campus. This weekend I'm headed to weekend 7 of my teacher training. I'm hoping this funk I am experiencing is just that, a funk that a little yoga immersion can help lift. In the mean time, I'm looking forward to a bit of a run tonight at the gym.

namaste

Personal Practice Challenge: So Ummm...

2010-07-23T10:01:00.003-05:00

Yoga and I are not on good terms right now. Remember how when you were a kid you so badly wanted to spend every waking moment with your best friend? And then there was that summer vacation that provided the opportunity to do just that. And while you had a fabulous time you needed a few days after returning home away from each other before you could stand to be around each other again.

That's kinda how I feel about yoga right now.

Tuesday I woke excited to practice after taking Monday off to allow my body a day of rest after the intensity of training weekend. When I got to the mat I realized my wrists and forearms were still a bit tender so I kept my practice short and sweet. And it felt good.

Wednesday I woke less excited but still committed and lengthened out my practice a bit from Tuesday as all systems were feeling pretty much normal. It was nice. Far from enlightened, but a nice practice that left me feeling centered for my day.

Thursday morning I woke in a crumby mood. My night of sleep hadn't been very restful and I was just feeling off. Knowing I would be teaching 2 classes later in the day I decided to skip my personal morning practice, got up and went about my day.

I don't know if it was the lack of practice, or if thinking about the material we covered in TT this past weekend tripped me up, but classes felt awkward at best. Having spent the weekend talking about how the words one chooses to use when teaching can create different experiences for group classes, I over thought every phrase that came out of my mouth. When I tried to phase things as we had learned in TT the words coming out felt foreign and harsh. When I tried to reconnect with my "normal" teaching voice I mentally picked apart the clarity of the message I was sending.

On one hand I get it. I totally understand why James teaches teachers to cue they way he does. Present tense action verbs and very pointed instructions leave little room for confusion. Classes taught in his style are very clear, motivating, and always leave me feeling accomplished.

On the other hand I struggle to find my own voice when trying to incorporate his teaching style into my own. Rephrasing to fit his guidelines feels a bit cold and impersonal as the words leave my mouth. I feel less like I'm helping guide the class through their practice and more like I am simply marking steps off a checklist of actions.

In the end I think I will more likely than not work to find a balance between the two styles. But until that happens the road could be a little bumpy. And even though it's not Yoga's fault, my temporary frustration has given me a bad taste for my practice at the moment. This morning after laying in bed wrestling with what to do, I headed straight to the shower. I did not pass my mat. I did not collect the benefits of my practice. I showered and started my day. And I have totally mixed emotions about that decision even as I type these words.

Maybe yoga and I just need a few days apart from one another so we can remember how to play nice together.

Or maybe I need to simply get over it and go find my mat.

namaste

Personal Practice Challenge: Catching UP!

2010-07-19T10:19:00.002-05:00

I'm home from weekend 6 of my teacher training program. Tired and sore but again feeling good about continuing to work towards re-establishing my teaching business in a new service area. I've got a bit of catching up to do on reporting how my personal practice has gone over the past few days. Here's the quick and dirty:

Day 15: Thursday, teaching day. I did a short practice before my hour commute to the studio. I had a nice turn out at class. It was lovely teaching familiar faces and bodies.

Day 16: I really wrestled with the urge to skip practice Friday knowing I was headed into a weekend of yoga immersion. I decided on a simple short practice of Sun Salutations...what seems to be my "go to" practice when I know time is limited. I'm always glad in the end that I took the time for practice.

Day 17 & 18: Teacher Training Days
This was our first weekend of focusing on the technique of teaching yoga to groups. As such James had one of his current teachers from the studio, a recent grad of his program, teach us a class on Saturday morning. I found the class to be very comfortable as it was very similar to a class I might teach. Pacing was similar. Sequencing was similar. The feeling in the room at the end of our practice was similar. It was nice both from a personal practice stand point as well as a professional standpoint knowing incorporating what we cover over the next several months will not cause a great deviation from the teaching style that I have come to develop over the past 5 years. As with any workshop/training focused on group teaching, we had the opportunity to teach each other short sequences of vinyasas and asanas, which also meant we all had the opportunity to physically "perform" those vinyasas and asanas a number of times. I knew physically that my body would be challenged to get through our days of training and so I didn't do any asana practice on my own outside of the training day. In some aspects the best practice I can do for my own being on training days is to take the time out of class and focus on something COMPLETELY unrelated to yoga. Because I'm now staying in Iowa City for the whole weekend instead of commuting back and forth each day, Saturday's decompression involved many laughs and a mean game of dominoes with friends. It was exactly what I needed to feel mentally refreshed to take on Sunday's day of training.

Day 19: Today is all about recovery. Physically I'm feeling a bit beat up from a marathon of downdogs yesterday. Mentally I'm readjusting to family life. I just kinda need a day off. My youngest daughter asked me this morning why I didn't do my yoga like normal. Apparently reporting here isn't my only level of accountability to how I'm keeping up this challenge. I'm already looking forward to tomorrow morning's practice.

namaste

Personal Practice Challenge: Day 14

2010-07-14T19:12:00.002-05:00

Apparently the theme of my practice today was "community". Both of the locations in the house in which I have practice are open "public" locations. This morning my practice was set up on the landing at the top of the stairs...dogs curled up watching from the carpet around my mat and kids trying very hard to be quiet in their room just a few feet away as they too got out their own yoga mat to practice along with my music. At first as I was forced to pause for a dog crossing under my downdog just as I was getting ready to jump forward to close a Sun Salutation, and as my youngest ran up to have me look at something 1/2 through my seated meditation, I felt a little frustrated. And then I decided just to let it go. There will come a day when silence and time alone will be more available in this house than I will know what to do with. For now I think I will find joy in finding peace even if an audience of onlookers.

On an unrelated note, the girls and I packed a lunch and picked up Daddy for a short picnic today during his lunch break. There are basically 4 ways to get to/from his office depending on where you are coming from or where you are going. After we enjoyed a lovely lunch we dropped him back off to finish his day and headed on to our next errand. The direction of that errand took us past a meat packing plant. I didn't really realize it was there until that unmistakable smell started to make it's way into our car and I spotted a few animal pens out of the corner of my eye. Instantly my gut did a flip and my heart felt heavy. That reaction seems to get stronger and stronger each time I'm faced with the reality of the meat processing industry. While I'm currently consciously choosing to include some meat in my diet, I'm not sure how much longer I can ignore the obvious visceral response I experience when I have to consider the reality of how that meat makes its way to my plate.

namaste

Personal Practice Challenge: Day 13

2010-07-13T15:37:00.002-05:00

Thanks to a newly acquired internet connection at home I'm hoping that now that I am caught up on posts, I will be able to make reporting on my July Personal Practice Challenge a daily event rather than posting updates in clusters. YEA!

I woke this morning sore from my walk around town last night. Good sore. A sore that says I physically stretched the abilities of my body outside of my "normal" activities of the past few weeks. I also woke to the sound of cartoons, which means my practice space moved back upstairs today. This morning's practice was kept short due to the need to prep for a noon commitment today, but it felt good to move my sore parts and start to feel myself slipping into the familiar quiet of my breath. I'm finding it easier and easier to set aside busy thoughts as I practice. I have a feeling that as we continue to feel more settled in our new surroundings, I will more easily be able to find stillness through my practice.

namaste

Personal Practice Challenge: Day 12

2010-07-13T15:15:00.002-05:00

This morning's practice was lovely as our weekend had been full, keeping us out later than normal at night. As a result the girls slept in leaving the house quiet for about 45 minutes of my hour practice. I moved my practice location downstairs since the girls were sleeping up and I have to admit, I really like practicing downstairs. The floor is firmer, the room more open, and the east facing bay window in our dining room invites morning right into our house. Being able to practice in that space regularly would require me to move my practice time earlier in the morning...something I may have to take into consideration this fall once our schedule adjusts to accommodate the school year.

Additionally today I decided it was time to tie on my walking shoes and go check out our new community on foot. Our new little town is pretty hilly which makes for good challenging walking without the need for much speed. I had a lovely time exploring new areas of town which we hadn't yet seen. My favorite discovery, a whole street of houses whose lots are quietly tucked back into the woods. Woods that were alive with the happy sounds of feathered residence. Perfect.

namaste

Personal Practice Challenge: Day 11

2010-07-13T14:51:00.002-05:00

As I have tried to come to terms with my weekend practice habits (or lack there of) I've come to realize that this personal challenge is not JUST about making time for asana practice. It's also about making time to care for ME. To make nurturing my physical, mental, and spiritual needs a priority.

Cardio based exercise is one of the areas physically that has really taken back seat to the stress of the past couple of years. I haven't been biking or walking or jogging or anything regularly that promotes aerobic fitness. As a result I know my aerobic fitness level has dropped and a few extra pounds of softness has caught up with me.

So today, Sunday, I decided that rather than continue to beat myself up about not fitting in practice on the weekends, I've decided to redefine what weekend practice can look like. On the weekends I'm more likely to jump on my bike or take a walk around town. While a walk may not look like asana, it IS time I've set aside for self care.

Unfortunately, all day today I had a nagging little headache that just wouldn't go away and so by day's end a walk just didn't sound appealing. But a gentle restorative yoga practice DID! I sent everyone to bed and found a dimly lit area for about 20 minutes of gentle movement and a nice long Savasana with my legs up the wall.

Headache gone.

namaste

Personal Practice Challenge: Day 9 & 10

2010-07-13T14:49:00.001-05:00

Day 9: Practiced.

Day 10: Didn't.

namaste

Personal Practice Challenge: Day 8

2010-07-09T12:01:00.001-05:00

Monkey Mind! That was the theme of my practice today apparently. Things started out OK. I mean how can you not be focused on your breath through Sun Salutations? However as I slowed down to work some standing poses and then as I made my way down to the floor my mind was just busy. Busy thinking about the contacts I'm planning today. Busy thinking about a potential rental space we drove past last night. Busy!

I woke this morning feeling the most rested and in the best mood that I have in over a week. I think yesterday's day “out” reconnecting with my passion for teaching was exactly what my spirit needed to start moving forward. I'm sure there will still be times of emotional struggle ahead, but as of today I'm feeling better about facing those challenges with a more positive attitude.

Tomorrow internet service is being installed at our new home! It's amazing how that one simple thing can bring so much joy and comfort to my life. I think it was good to wait for installation as having to venture out to find WiFi has gotten us out of the house every day AND has allowed me to stay focused on getting the house unpacked and settled when we are at home. But beyond blogging and social networking we really do rely on our connection to the www for many other necessary functions...banking, bill paying, business connections, etc. It will be good to be able to access those things whenever I need to again and not just when we can fit in a trip to the library.

namaste

Personal Practice Challenge: Day 8

2010-07-09T12:00:00.001-05:00

Thursdays are the one day of the week this month that I'm commuting back to teach in my old yoga community. The worst part of the situation is the hour's drive to the studio. James is always reminding us during our teaching training weekends that the best preparation we can do as teachers is to take care of our personal practice. So while it was tempting to skip my morning practice this morning because I had only a brief period of time available, I wanted to honor the place I would be taking later in the day as a teacher by first taking my place on the mat as a student.

One of the first things I noticed as I stepped on my mat this morning was a total lack of sciatic pain. The difference between how my body felt this morning compared to how I felt yesterday morning was much welcomed. It's nice to know that trusting one's inner teacher is often how best to nurture the body. Additionally to feeling better physically today, I felt as though I was better able to stay focused on my breath and maintain a quieter mind even though I was very aware of the need to keep my practice time to about 20 minutes. A bit of opening cow/cat, 5 Sun As, some gentle chest and hip openers and a finishing twist left me feeling awake and ready to gracefully step into my day.

Teaching today was a tremendous comfort. With all the emotions that I have been processing this week being back in my element helping people move in ways that promote health and peacefulness was exactly what I needed to get back on track. Tomorrow, now that our house is feeling a bit more settled, I'm going to refocus on making business contacts and gathering information on how I can go about rebuilding my business in our new community.

After my morning practice of course.

namaste

Personal Practice Challenge: Day 7

2010-07-07T11:40:00.002-05:00

I will not lie, getting up to practice this morning was a challenge. I could have easily walked past my mat down to the kitchen and made coffee...but I didn't. And yes, I am glad.

I have been mainly working with the Ashtanga sequences as I build my practice each morning. I don't actually have much experience working with the Ashtanga sequences specifically, but since in our teacher training we have been working with them to build our individual yoga therapy work, I thought it might be nice to familiarize myself with them on a personal practice level. In general I appreciate the challenge and flow of the sequences, but I don't know that it's a practice that fully works for me at this time. First of all I don't know if I will EVER be able to do a jump through to work the seated series with vinyasas...and I'm not sure that I care. But more importantly than that, the focus on repeated deep forward bends really seems to aggravate my sciatica and doesn't adequately help me release my chronically tight left psoas...which aggravates my sciatica more. I've noticed after working the sequences during a training weekend I leave with a body that feels tighter, more painful (not sore, but painful) and more imbalanced than when I walked into the studio on Friday evening. It often feels counter productive and frustrating

This morning as I worked into my practice, having followed the standing sequence and a portion of the seated series in my practice yesterday, I quickly discovered a very tight and sensitive left back body. As such, after my 5 Sun As and my 3 Sun Bs (which were in their own way a struggle with tired arms and shoulders from practicing on a softer carpeted surface than my body is used to) and one held standing forward fold, I ditched the Ashtanga sequence for a series of asanas that I knew would help to bring some comfort. Crescent lunge to open my hip flexors. Pyramid focusing on squaring my hips and starting some outer hip release while lengthening my hamstrings. Triangle because it feels so good in so many ways. A nice long Pigeon on each side to get deep into my outer hips, including that pesky little piriformis. Hero's pose because I know I need to continue to work on opening my quads. And then down to the floor for easy hip circles to release my lower back in preparation for reclined spinal twists, shoulder stand, plow, fish, and reclined cobblers. I ended today's practice as I did yesterday, with 10 minutes of seated meditation. A challenging 10 minutes as I just couldn't let go of thoughts and bodily sensations.

I will be interested to see how my body feels tomorrow in comparison to today having followed the guidance of my inner teacher. And in turn will that translate into a quieter mind for my period of meditation? I let you know what I discover.

namaste

Personal Practice Challenge: Day 6

2010-07-06T11:18:00.000-05:00

I'm feeling back on track after the long holiday weekend. This morning I was able to get in a full hour practice followed by 10 minutes of seated meditation. My body is achy and cranky after schlepping boxes up the stairs yesterday, but my mind is starting to feel more settled after just a few minutes on the mat. I'm realizing my practice is simply going to mesh with the normal happenings and activities of our household rather than try to pull away into it's own sequestered space. This morning as I worked through sun salutations my oldest daughter woke up, came out of her room and quietly walked around my mat on her way to the bathroom. (I've decided to use the “hallway” space at the top of our stairs as my practice space for now...it's spacious, warm, and even though it is open to stairs and the gateway to our bedrooms, it's a rather quiet space.) On her way down for breakfast and toons she paused to give me a simple good morning smile. Rather than be annoyed by the interruption, it in turn made me smile and I was able to seamlessly continue to flow right back into my next salutation. As a result I was able to find that more familiar feeling of ease and focus post practice rather than the frustration I've felt earlier when faced with distractions.

As I continue to build this new practice I need to remember to celebrate the little victories and let pass, without judgment, what I might view as mis-steps on my journey. One day at a time. One day at a time...

namaste

Personal Practice Challenge: Day 5

2010-07-06T11:17:00.000-05:00

Today I did not practice. Plain and simple. I slept in and then we spent the morning moving boxes out of our front porch up to the storage attic. After lunch and a shower we went out on a bit of a family shopping trip followed by a stop at the local ice cream shop. After supper we just chilled watching comedy on TV as a family before it was time to put everyone to bed in preparation of the return of the “work week.” Which honestly means nothing different for the girls and I, except this week I'm going to start making some job/business contacts and so there will be some sense of purpose outside of more cleaning and unpacking.

namaste

Personal Practice Challenge: Day 4

2010-07-06T11:16:00.001-05:00

Happy 4th July America!

Personally I wasn't much in a celebratory mood when I awoke. The teariness that had gone to bed with me last night continued right into this morning. Mid-day my husband asked if I was doing OK, which opened the flood gates. Worries were shared. Many tears were shed. And as always, I felt a little lighter afterwards.

Weekend practice time continues to be a question of finding a few moments of alone quiet time when I feel like I should be spending time with my family. Tonight I decided to try a short restorative practice before bed to help my tired, achy feet and my slightly overwhelmed emotional state. My youngest fell asleep watching New York's fireworks on TV as we awaited dark here in Iowa, so I sent my husband and oldest out to see if they could find some local fireworks to watch while I rolled out my mat. I simply allowed myself to move for a bit in whatever way felt good and allowed me to stay focused on my breath. And then I kicked my tired legs up the wall and just laid there. Laid there listening to the world around me. I laid there breathing my body down into the support of the floor beneath me. I laid there...until my neurotic dog started going crazy because my husband and daughter had returned home and startled her as they walked up the sidewalk in the dark.

Sigh...

namaste

Personal Practice Challenge: Day 3

2010-07-06T11:14:00.001-05:00

Saturday. Weekends at our house are generally about catching up. Catching up on sleep. Catching up on work around the house. In general our schedule is relaxed but busy on Saturdays. This, our first full Saturday in our new house was no exception. I had a few goals in mind related to our continued unpacking project and mid-day the annual 4th of July parade was scheduled to run right down the street in front of our new house.

After sleeping in much later than I had planned, I got right to work unpacking more kitchen wares. The parade was a fun break in our day, after which I ran into the city for a few groceries and general house things. After hanging new curtains in our girls' room and making dinner, we decided to walk the few blocks to the downtown holiday festivities. We ambled home with with tired kids in tow of tired parents and settled in for the night.

After surveying the general scheduled for the day I had decided that an evening practice after the girls had been tucked in would be the most likely time to find a few quiet minutes. What I didn't expect was the general “homesick” feelings I would be experiencing by day's end. While we had been surrounded by people during the day's festivities, there wasn't a familiar face in the crowd. Our walk downtown was past houses of unknown residents. As I scanned the crowds looking for families with whom we might mesh in our new community, I suddenly felt alone and out of place. It was the first time since relocating that I have second guessed our choice of communities, wondering if it was a mistake choosing to move to a community without a local college. My husband and I had once discussed how much we love college towns and how much we appreciate what they offer to the local community even off campus. As I thought unrolling my mat for some gentle movement, tears sprung to my eyes (as they still do as I type this on Sunday morning) and practice was the last thing that I felt like facing. And so I didn't.

Weekends...I think they could present a special challenge all their own when it comes to finding time to practice...even when I'm not emotionally processing.

namaste

Personal Practice Challenge: Day 2

2010-07-06T11:08:00.005-05:00

*** Even those these posts are being written daily, they are being posted as time allows for visits to the library or other WiFi hot spots as we don't yet have internet service at our house. ***

After breakfast, a shower, and a quick stop at the library my youngest and I will be leaving to pick up my oldest at camp. We are all so excited to hear about her week. This was her first experience at going to a week long overnight camp. I was nervous to drop her off last weekend, but she simply gave me a hug and kiss when it was time to depart and ran off with a friend to go meet the other girls in her group. No tears, no worries, no hesitations.

The drive to camp is about 3 hours. We'll be there for about 2 hours as we watch the end of camp program, load up our camper's stuff, and give her a chance to say her good-byes. Then we'll have the 3 hour drive home. I knew that if I had much of a chance to get my practice in today it was going to have to happen this morning. Which brings me to one of “problems” I face when committing to a regular practice...finding the right time for ME to practice.

I am not a morning person. I've tried. I've worked the opening shift at a fitness center, taught 5:30 am classes, and for years have beat myself up over the fact I can't commit to getting up to get a workout/practice in before starting the remainder of my day. But in the end my true nature leans much more towards night owl than early bird. Some of my most creative moments have happened between the hours of 11 pm and 2 am. I know, crazy.

This month I have little in the form of outside of the home commitments. My time as a result is pretty flexible and relaxed. When thinking about this personal yoga challenge I had planned to get up at a reasonable time (7-7:30), practice, and then get on with the rest of our day. However, by 7:30 I always have at least one kiddo up and around the house. My youngest tends to be an early bird, a trait she obviously gets from her father. I knew this could be a small challenge when it came to finding quiet, uninterrupted time for my practice.

This morning I set my little monkey up in front of the TV on the first floor with her breakfast and her favorite PBS Kids shows and told her I was going up to the 2nd floor for yoga. I asked her if she could give me some privacy until I came down when I was done. On one hand I should feel fortunate to have a child who is at least thoughtful when she comes to interrupt me with a gentle little whisper. On the other, after about the 5th interruption for this question or that comment, I wrapped up my practice feeling frustrated rather than focused. Glad to have gotten some movement in this morning, but by no means feeling blissful.

I understand the benefits of an early morning practice, but I also know the greater chance for failure I face if I restrict myself to ONLY practicing at that time. However practicing and ending feeling more frazzled rather than less doesn't seem to be a good use of time either. If this personal 30 day challenge is to help me build a regular home practice I think the time of day in which I choose to practice, the length of time I practice, and my view of what a “successful” practice session looks like is going to have to be flexible. At least for now while my kids are young and home for the summer. I'm sure as our family dynamics change, so will the factors the affect my ability to find time and space for my practice. At least I hope that proves to be the case. I guess only time will tell.

namaste

New Beginnings: A Personal Challenge

2010-07-01T14:27:00.003-05:00

This past weekend my family and I loaded up all our stuff in a borrowed trailer with the help of friends and family and relocated to a new home in a new community. As of today, the 5th full day in our new abode, we are starting to feel a bit settled despite the fact we are still living in a maze of boxes. The move was made to better align our day to day actions with our values. While it was a hard decision to leave the community that we have grown to love over the past 10 years, we look forward to the new adventures and discoveries ahead. In addition to settling our family in a new community, I get to rebuilt my business in a new service area. I'm both nervous and excited to get started making a name for myself as a yoga teacher and wellness provider among the residents of our new community and the surrounding area.

Additionally I am taking this opportunity to recommit to my personal practice. I have challenged myself to make time for personal practice each day through the month of July. I feel as though this life change provides the perfect opportunity to reconnect with my practice, my inner teacher, my inner wisdom. So far, so good. Day 1, success.

It has been a week since I last did anything yoga related. That week has been full of lifting, schlepping, driving, cleaning, and a lot eating out. Today's return to the mat was much welcomed by both my body and my soul. I decided that today I would keep my practice short and simple. A simple opening sequence followed by Sun Salutations, a few hip openers, and a short period of meditation. It was just enough to get a gentle sweat started and to ease some achy joints. My hips were a bit tight, which is unusual for me, and I had a really hard time connecting to my core, which is not unusual for me especially during times when my life is in a state of flux. But more than anything it was comforting to introduce my practice to the space of our new home. Somehow the transition feels a bit more real and complete now that the two have come together.

namaste

Worry Wart...

2010-05-25T09:07:00.002-05:00

This morning as my oldest daughter was shuffling off to school I caught bits and pieces of a short piece on the Today Show about Happiness after 50. A fact that particularly caught my attention was that research has found women of child bearing age are twice as likely to experience depression, worry, and distress than men of the same age. (Hmmm...and we wonder why yoga studios across the country are jam packed full of ladies. It's NOT just all about the "right" body.) I found the timing of the report interesting considering I've been writing today's blog post in my head for a couple of days.

I am a worry wart. While I'm sure that has always been the case on some level (though I don't really remember worrying so much in my teens and early 20s), it's like the conception of my oldest daughter turned on some special hidden worry gene and it's gone as wild as co-eds on Spring Break. It's one of those less than attractive parts of my personality that has been the most challenging to face recently. Along with worry has come anxiety, fear and avoidance of experiences and situations that my worry has deemed as too risky. There are days I wish I could simply punch worry in the face and have it tuck tail and run, but it doesn't seem that worry plays like that.

As June draws near, the month in which we will be moving closer to my husband's job, my worry meter has tipped over into the danger zone. There are two topics that tend to be worry hot spots for me:

The safety of my children
Family finances

We have visited the school that my girls will attend next year which has turned much of our worry about that particular transition into excitement. My oldest daughter got to meet her teacher, our youngest got a taste of preschool life, and we were super impressed with everyone we met during our visit. Being as choosing a new community was so strongly influenced by the strength of the schools, I'm confident we made the right choice for our family in that regards.

But we are right in the middle of selling our current house and buying a new one and I am practically beside myself with anxiety as I try to wrap my head around how everything is going to work out over the next 5 weeks. Are we gonna have enough equity after the sell of our house is all said and done to cover what the bank needs to be covered to purchase our new house? What if the appraisal finds something that could prevent loan approval? What is my income going to look like after the move as I am re-establishing my services in a new community? Who's gonna watch my girlies while I work...and how much is it going to cost? So many questions whose answers can only be revealed with time. Time that I should be using to clean, sort, organize and pack...rather than worry.

Weekend 4 of my teacher training program is 10 days past. On Saturday and Sunday mornings we normally start our time together with movement in context to the topics we will be covering during the weekend. On this particular Sunday I had an unexpectedly emotional response as we worked through a group pace practice of Surya Namaskar A & B. Rather than feeling calm, focused and simply challenged as we flowed through at a pace a bit faster than I would normal practice on my own, I was overwhelmed with feelings of anxiety and frustration. Rather than push through knowing I COULD finish the sequence physically, I allowed my body to come to child's pose to help calm my breath and refocus my thoughts for the remainder of our practice. To be honest, what I really wanted to do was bolt for the door so I could let the tears flow in the privacy of my own craziness.

Mentally I could recognize this sudden anxiety as a response to the stress I've been internalizing regarding our family's transition. Emotionally I simply felt vulnerable and out of control. I guess as I read that sentence over, it pretty much explains how I'm feeling in general these days. Vulnerable without much control over the final outcome of our intentions.

Set the intention, move forward in good faith, and detach from the final outcome.

This seems to be the lesson yoga is bringing to my life these days. A practice that comes so easy for some, seems to be a reoccuring source of unnecessary emotional/mental suffering for me. We don't get to choose the lessons yoga presents to us on our journey. I have to admit, sometimes I'm not too keen on the topic at hand even if I can see how it pertains to the bigger picture. (How I wish yoga would simply be happy with helping me find a flatter tummy and thinner thighs.)

namaste

Celebrating Your Strengths as a Teacher...

2010-05-12T14:10:00.002-05:00

Preparing to establish my teaching services in a new community has caused me to pause and evaluate several things. Do I look to join an established studio/center or do I venture out on my own? What type of services do I want to provide, group classes or private teaching? Is it better to address the general population or focus on offering niche services?

As I have gathered information to prep my website and make connections in communities in which I would like to teach, I've had to champion my experience and knowledge as a teacher. I'll be the first to admit, it's not something that comes naturally for me. Which got me to thinking...

Why do we, in general as a society, seem to thrive on pointing out and focusing on fixing inadequacies rather than celebrating our own inherent strengths?

For example, I suck at Sanskrit. I have a hard time reading it, pronouncing it, and remembering what various word roots mean. (Which I find frustrating since learning Latin roots in relationship to medical terminology is relatively easy for me.) I have Sanskrit flashcards gathering dust on my bookshelves. I now have a book dedicated to the ancient language sitting pristine on that same bookshelf. Language learning, whether Sanskrit or Spanish, just isn't something that comes naturally to me. (Except for the aforementioned Latin.) I've often wondered if tattooing asana names to the inside of my forearms, kinda like the play "cheat sheets" that American football quarterbacks wear on their forearms, would help. But I'm afraid someone would ask me what my tattoos say and I wouldn't be able to tell them because I suck at reading Sanskrit.

On the flip side I adore the study of Anatomy and Physiology. I love to watch and feel the body as it moves through asana. The concept of how working to find physical balance in our bodies through asana can promote balance in other areas of our lives is a topic I could discuss all day. As a result of my interest in and study of A&P, I know one of the areas of strength in my teaching is my ability to help students find their individual best expression during asana. Which is also why I believe one of my favorite populations to work with are seniors, who often need a little more attention given to modifications.

Of course I'm not saying that continued study and growth isn't important. I don't know of any expert or master, in any field of study, who would say they have nothing left to learn. Especially in the study of yoga which is an ever changing journey of exploration and discovery whether you are approaching the practice as a student or a teacher. But often we seek out additional knowledge with the intention to fill what we feel are voids rather than as compliment to our already present strengths.

Over the past week I have, on more than one occasion, engaged in a discussion about how much and what kind of study is necessary to be considered a qualified teacher. A master teacher if you will. Is it travel to India to live and study with native yoga masters? Is it simply adherence to a personal practice? (Which I think we will all agree isn't always so simple.) Does being your own teacher and guiding your own path of study work or is it necessary to find a teacher outside of one's own self to help chart the direction for your journey? Is it better to learn along side your "normal" life or to be removed from any distractions that could affect your focus?

I think there are as many right answers to those questions as there are individuals traveling the journey. We each have our own best path. And for those of us who have chosen to teach as part of our path, we need to take the time to celebrate the unique strengths we can bring to the mat to share with others.

What strengths do you have to champion today?

~namaste~

Presenting...

2010-05-02T16:50:00.003-05:00

With a family and business move on the horizon, I figured one of the best ways to get my info out to potential new clients/students was a website. And so I'm proud to announce the creation of www.jennifermavin.com!

Picking a domain was tricky because I haven't been able to decide on an official business name. So I figured simply registering my name as my domain was safe since I don't plan on it changing any time soon.

Only the bare bones have been created thus far, but I'd love if you all could take a little peek at it and let me know what you think about the layout and design features. I hope to have a few more bits of concrete info up in the coming weeks...including details on the opening of my own new teaching space!!!

For now my blog will continue to live here at HDY.

namaste

What She Said...

2010-04-28T21:51:00.004-05:00

I'm back in love with the yoga blog world having cleaned out my reader of blogs that just want to talk yoga controversy and marketing and blah, blah, blah. I don't watch the news because of all the negativity. Since I applied that rule to my yoga blog reading list I'm a much happier yogi.

Denial? Maybe. But oh how sweet it is.

Especially when I get to read something so lovely, so perfect, so "that's exactly how I feel but you said it much better than I ever could" like this little bit by Nadine Fawell about what yoga IS to her.

I love that girl. Once again I find myself cursing the fact Australia is all the way down under on the other side of the globe from me.

namaste

Dear TT Diary: Reflections of Self

2010-04-22T07:57:00.003-05:00

It's hard to believe I have now completed 3 weekends of my TT program. How quickly the time has gone! I'm glad I ended up enrolling in a program structured as 9 weekends over 9 months. For me it's the perfect blend of weekend immersion with time to really reflect upon and OWN the information that we cover before moving forward. I took a month intensive Analytical Chemistry class once in college. While it was nice to only have to worry about one subject for that month, I retained very little information from that class in comparison to classes that were taken over a regular semester's worth of time. I'm glad that the structure of this program allows me to feel both a sense of immersion AND that there is time to process the information in such a way (and along side living the rest of my life...which in many ways tests/informs my practice in ways asana never will) that allows for long term retention.

I'm happy to report I passes my Yoga Theory test with flying colors. Honestly I would be a little worried if I hadn't. If you could see the yoga related section in my home library you would understand why. (Though I think Sanskirt will always be a stumbling block for me.)

This weekend was the first of three that will focus on teaching yoga one-on-one. To get the weekend started we were each charged with creating, and then "performing" for the class, a yoga demonstration of 5-10 poses. The purpose of this exercise was to give us a chance to watch different bodies in motion to start to get a sense of how to detect subtle imbalances and to see how each demo was a tiny reflection of who we are as individuals. We were reminded to look not only at the poses demonstrated, but to think about what type of poses were not included and what that might say about one's overall balance.

James is often reminding us that what is going on physically in our asana practice is a direct reflection of what's going on in the rest of our lives. In fact we took that a step further and talked about how we approach just about anything in life is probably how we approach everything. Such as our individual driving styles. Which immediately made me think of my Grandpas.

My Grandpas were both farmers. (Well, one still is. The other passed away 16 years ago next month.) I remember riding with them as a kid around the country side when we would visit. Both were very patient, deliberate, relaxed drivers...much like their personalities. Gentle yet firm. Patient but with purpose. Slow enough to enjoy the scenery, but not so slow as to waste productive time. I often think about how growing up in the presence of such souls has informed my life. What a blessing.

Granted, watching a room full of people who already regularly practice yoga isn't necessarily a direct reflection of what we will find when working with individual clients. But it was interesting to see how you could detect from every one's demo little personality traits that we have learned about each other over the past several months. There was a lot of strength in the room.

Surprisingly I was SUPER nervous once I stepped onto the mat at the front of the room. Keeping my breath calm and steady was a challenge. Looking back I realize I ended up choosing a number of rather extroverted poses. Interesting choices considering my general introverted tendencies. (Though on the mat is one of the few places where I am completely comfortable opening up to the world.) The opening qualities of the poses I choose could explain why I had a hard time finding my inner calm. (And going to sleep that night.) That and the fact that instead of being at the front of the room as simply a guide for group practice, I was the focal point reflecting me and my personal practice. I have always been very open here about the fact my devotion to a personal asana practice ebbs and flows quite a bit. At the moment I'm experiencing an extended ebb. And while I don't believe asana is the only way to be consciously present in life, I do find frustration in the fact that I can't seem to make the commitment to regularly practicing for ME.

It would be interesting to know what other perceived of me through my demo. Or how each of our demos may change over time with changes in life. Admittedly I've normally thought of yoga demos as nothing more than a chance to show off ones physical abilities in asana. It is interesting to shift my perception to one of using them as a tool for personal exploration.

I've got much more to share about weekend 3. It was a good weekend!

namaste

Exactly!

2010-04-12T21:23:00.002-05:00

I love when a blog post comes along just at the right time to help me iron out thoughts going through my head. This post from Everything Yoga was one of those posts.

I'm curious, how do you view the relationship between your yoga practice and your workout routine?

namaste

Just Drive...

2010-04-05T20:49:00.003-05:00

My girls and I took our annual trip to visit my family a "short" 665 mile drive away this past week. My husband was not able to join us which meant as the only person over the age of 8 in the car I got to spend many, many hours contemplating life as we rolled down the road. Because of the transitions going on in my life right now, I had plenty to ponder over the miles.

We have decided, in an effort to better align our day-to-day actions with our values, to move our family 60 miles west of our current home to be closer to my husband's employer. The past several weeks we have been busy making contacts with our Realtor to get our house on the market, with banks and a Realtor in the community we plan to move to, and I have been busy making contacts with people and businesses who I hope can help me transition my business to our new chosen community. So far every contact we have made has been super positive and helpful. For once instead of feeling like we are fighting to swim upstream, we feel as if things are starting to flow. It's a nice feeling we haven't often experienced in our lives. I can't help but thinking the universe is guiding us in this direction for a reason. With purpose. And thanks to the trials of the past few years in our life, I think we are ready and open to whatever that purpose may be.

AND, interestingly enough, my sciatica, which has been a MAJOR pain in my ass (literally) for the past 3 years, has suddenly started to feel much, MUCH better. My particular case of sciatica is mostly due to a super tight left psoas and a hyper-mobile SI joint which causes my pelvis to get all wonky, which in turn aggravates my sciatic nerve. If I had any question over the belief that our bodies reflect physically what is going on in our lives emotionally, that question has been answered LOUD and CLEAR. (Really I didn't have any question, but sometimes getting confirmation is good.) Spend much time grasping and trying to hold on to control much?

Tomorrow I am meeting with a potential business partner. And going to look at a few potential new homes. My body is at ease, as is my mind. I'll take that as a sign that we are moving things in a good direction.

namaste

Dear TT Diary: Back on Track

2010-03-21T20:46:00.005-05:00

So after my rather cranky post last night, I'm happy to report that today class was back on track! A wealth of information was covered. Poses were work-shopped. Personal experiences were still shared, but not in excess. It was a great day to end the weekend and left me excited to return in a month for weekend #3.

Interestingly my body also feels better at the end of today in comparison to yesterday. Yesterday driving home my back hurt, my shoulders were cranky, and my IT band was less than happy. I have normally felt great after our practices because it's honestly really the only time I've taken as of late to just take care of ME and my practice. My hips are feeling free and open. While I have a few sore muscles letting me know they have gotten a little more attention than normal, it feels good. I feel balanced.

Another interesting observation about a recent, possibly related, change I've noticed in my body...the sciatica that has haunted me for the past 3.5 years is feeling so much better! I think it's a combination of changes that have happened in my life as of late all coming together to help ease tension. I'll share a little more about that in a later post.

In unrelated news, my girls and I spent some time Friday afternoon at a friend's new photography/yoga studio doing a photo shoot for her stock photography portfolio. The theme was, appropriately, yoga. She emailed me this shot today...

Photo by Zink Photography

I normally hate being in front of the camera, but shooting with Jenny is so fun and relaxing. "This is so beautiful!" Jenny's words...and for once, I think rather than nit-pick I'll just agree with her.

namaste

Dear TT Diary: Decompressing

2010-03-20T21:27:00.003-05:00

Side note: Happy 100th post here on HDY! Thanks for reading.

Now on to the thoughts of the day...

One of the really great things about the teacher training program in which I am currently participating is its location. An easy hour drive to and from the studio means I can sleep in my own bed and reconnect with my family each night. While the freedom to explore this training for my own growth is appreciated, being a member of my family is an integral part of who I am and I love how a quick reconnection with them each night during training weekend. It helps to keep me grounded in the real world. After all it is in dealing with the real world where my yoga practice provides me with the most benefit.

I am fortunate in that I get to share my hour commute to and from the studio with a dear friend and fellow yogini/yoga teacher. We have spent countless hours over the past several years discussing yoga theory; talking about sequencing and alignment; discussing how to modify for this student or that student; sharing both useful and fun yoga related internet links; sharing books and DVDs; traveling to and from workshops; and basically navigating the yogic path as two Moms who teach yoga in a small Midwestern town for the love of the practice and the value it adds to our community. Whether it's talking about our families, local community happenings, or yoga, we never seem to run out of things to talk about during our commute. Tonight was no exception.

Tonight we found ourselves all a twitter with the need to decompress. I think one of the most interesting things about going into a group learning situation like this one is you just never REALLY know what's gonna go down during any given session. Even when you studying with a group of individuals who are familiar acquaintances, in a familiar setting, things change from session to session. We all bring our own experience, mood, expectations, thoughts, beliefs, emotional states, and energy into the room. Many of those things are by nature dynamic and ever changing and can, for good or bad, affect the tone of the group whether it be through how things are expressed or how those messages are perceived.

Today my perceptions of several of the messages expressed caused me to pause. Messages that I felt were directly contradictory to those given in our last weekend together, and quite honestly contradictory to what yoga IS to me. In some cases I think those messages where simply expressions of personal feelings/beliefs/choices that were not meant to be presented in a "this is what I think therefore this is what you should think too," sort of way. Messages to which I may be more sensitive simply because they are not in alignment with my own thoughts/feelings. On the other hand a few of the comments made came across as very judgmental in nature and caused me to pause for a moment of internal dialog about how I felt about what was being said.

Whether it was because of the subject matter or our growing comfort level with each other we frequently got off task with our discussions today. I will be the first to admit I love a good intellectual discussion. I ofter retain information which has been hashed over through discussion much better than that which is simply fed to me through lecture or reading alone. But today several of the conversations held, rather than being a helpful environment for learning and debate, felt as if we had slipped into "therapy session" mode. Paying for this teacher training was a HUGE stretch for me and my family at this time (truthfully it's been financed rather than paid for out-right...not my ideal, but a choice we made for better or worse) and while I'm open to discussion for added value and real life application examples of the concepts we're discussion, I'm not paying to attend this program to hash through some one's individual issues. I found myself mentally checking out throughout the day waiting for the next time the conversation came back around to the information on the agenda. As a result instead of feeling intellectually challenged, engaged, and stimulated I'm feeling a bit indifferent about returning for a full day tomorrow.

It makes me wonder if it's possible to find a TT program during which you never question the information presented or how it is presented? I seem to think, at least for me at this point in life, the answer to that question is...no. And is that such a bad thing? I mean to question?

Personally my practice is informed by my life and vice-versa. Any message or piece of information that contradicts what I have learned from the teacher within is going to cause me to pause in question. I have never really been one to simply believe something until I can relate it to my own life experience. Until I can feel its truth in my being. I guess that's why while I feel I'm a spiritual individual, I've never really been one to follow the teachings of any one specific religion. I know in my heart what I believe. For me there is no need for definition of that faith. No need for labels or boundaries. It's not a mind thought, but more like a bodily instinct. While I totally get that questioning may be a reflection/result of ego, I don't believe blindly accepting what one is told necessarily serves the journey on the yogic path either. So where is the balance between questioning and simply accepting?

It's an interesting thought to ponder. One that I'm sure I will be decompressing more in the coming weeks. As for now our commute to tomorrow's class begins in t-minus 9 hours. I think this yogini's ponderance at hand is that of getting some sleep!

namaste

So Much To Say...

2010-03-10T11:26:00.004-06:00

I have so much I've wanted to write about here...so many thoughts I have had as a result of discussions had and topics visited during/since my TT weekend. Finding time to sit and write seems to be the challenge. For those who don't follow my personal blog, my family and I have decided to relocate our household to be closer to my husband's employment. That decision has affected me in so many ways. I'm not good with change. At least not with big change...and this is big change.

I almost had to laugh at how strongly the message of detachment was coming through what seemed like EVERY conversation we had during our TT weekend. Sometimes I have to be hit over the head, multiple times, before I hear what needs to be heard. But it was really during those conversations that I started to feel an opening to the idea of this particular change. About how by accepting and pursuing the steps needed to make our decision a reality, I was allowing our actions in life better align with our priorities. That the flip side to fearing the unknown is the ability to explore a whole host of new opportunities.

I'm actively thinking about how this move will affect my business...and in general my professional pursuits. While I don't have a clear picture yet of just where those pursuits may lead me, I do know a few things that will strongly influence my decisions about how/where/if I will be setting up shop in our new community. I will be looking for an environment that supports the broader practice of yoga...a comfortable physical environment with the ability to have more control over things such as outside noise and the ambient temperature of the studio. Other instructors and a network of health professionals who have similar philosophies on the practice and what ones responsibilities are as a teacher. A schedule that supports a bit more "normal" family life and honors the needs/limitations of my own physical body. I realize that those requirements may mean my work life may take on a bit of a different look than my current focus...and I'm OK with that. Sometimes too much of even a good thing is just TOO MUCH.

There's much work that needs to be done in the coming weeks and months. Houses need to be sold and bought. Stuff needs to be sorted, organized, packed and in many instances...let go of! Contacts need to be made. New relationships need to start to be formed. I hope that through it all I can continue to approach the unknown with openness...avoiding my normal tendency to constrict into fear. A practice so much more challenging for me than simply striking a pose!

namaste

Dear TT Diary: Weekend 1

2010-02-22T14:15:00.004-06:00

Where to even begin?

I belong in THIS program.

That's the thought that kept running through my mind through the weekend as we began our journey. The focus of this weekend was on getting to know each other; to learn the origins of yoga and start our discussion on yoga theory; and to start our study of anatomy and physiology.

Our class is 15 strong and I so appreciate the diversity represented. Some of us have practiced and taught for years. Others are very new to the practice. We all have areas of knowledge/experience in which we are strong, and areas which we are looking to strengthen. The size, shape and age of our bodies are all different and uniquely beautiful. And as different as we are, we are much the same in our desire to better understand ourselves, the movement of our bodies and the bodies of others around us, and this journey we know as yoga.

As I am often reminded after attending a workshop or conference, it was reaffirming to find I have over the years absorbed much more foundational knowledge about the practice of yoga than I often give myself credit. I don't know that I would consider anything that we covered this weekend as "new" information. However much of my study of the origins and theory of the practice have to this point been done on my own with the help of insightful authors and their informational books. And while those books have provided the facts, learning simply by reading is not the best learning style for me. I am much more of an auditory learner. I learn (and retain) best when I can hear the information. When I can be involved in discussions to better flush out the full meaning of that information. When I can experience learning in such a way that not only involves my eyes and ears, but the movements of my physical being. I learn best when I am present in an environment designed to foster learning. That might also explain why I enjoy teaching. Through teaching I am not only sharing the knowledge that has been handed down to me, but I am continually learning through the unique experiences and perspectives of my students. For me learning through reading is relatively static and doesn't have much impact. Learning through hearing, doing and discussing is dynamic, exciting and the reason I will always seek opportunities for learning throughout my life.

I'm starting to see this training program not so much in the light of an opportunity to obtain new knowledge (though I am still hoping that new information does come my way) as much as a way to refine the many fragmented pieces of information I have gathered over the years. It's as if I have gone around gathering all the blocks to build the foundation of a building, and this training program will assist me in setting those blocks in a way that ensures whatever I choose to build on top of this foundation has stability at its base.

Today I'm finding myself a bit tired, as is often the case after an intense weekend of study. I'm trying to just get through the next couple of days of mothering and teaching while my body decompresses. Later in the week I'll share a bit about some of the information we covered throughout the weekend.

namaste

Dear TT Diary: 36 Hours and Counting

2010-02-18T08:39:00.003-06:00

Tomorrow evening officially marks the start of my Teacher Training class.

I'm excited.

I'm nervous.

I'm hoping my money was well spent to enroll.

I'm reminding myself to simply enjoy the experience and let go of the want to set expectations.

Over the past few years I've found myself experiencing more anxiety when facing anything new. I'm not sure where that anxiety has come from. It doesn't matter if it's something good new or unexpected new. The anxiety comes. It causes me to second guess. It usually dies down just as soon as I am in the process of "doing" said new anxiety causing activity. It's annoying really. I haven't always been like this. I think motherhood has been a bit of a trigger. I wonder if once my kids are grown and on their own if the anxiety will naturally begin to fade away? It would be nice to plan/experience something new without feeling like your heart is going to jump right out of your chest!

My anxiety over the start of class this weekend hit it's high earlier this week. I'm happy to say at this point I am mostly just excited with a little side of "normal" nervousness. The books I needed to order for class have been arriving at my door step this week a few at a time. I'm holding my breath that the one I really need for this weekend, the one that proved to be the hardest to obtain in less than 3 weeks time, arrives before I hit the road tomorrow afternoon.

What will we be reading you ask? Well I thought I would share our required book list with you today as there are some really great resources.

Listed in no particular order:

The Language of Yoga by Nicolai Bachman
The Key Muscles of Hatha Yoga by Ray Long M.D. (I also ordered the second volume of this series, The Key Poses of Hatha Yoga. These are the ones I'm holding my breath for.)
Anatomy and Asana by Susi Hately Aldous (I already own this book, as well as several other by Susi, and I love, love, LOVE them.)
Yoga Posture Adjustments and Assisting by Stephanie Pappas
Teaching Yoga: Exploring the Teacher/Student Relationship by Donna Farhi
Ashtanga Yoga: The Practice Manual by David Swenson (Another that I already had in my yoga library.)

Additionally I ordered a couple of the books on the recommended reading list which have been on my wish list.

Yoga Mala by Sri K. Pattabhi Jois
Yoga, The Science of the Soul by OSHO

As you can see, I am going to be very busy reading over the course of the next several months!

I'm mentally preparing my packing list: Water, mat, notebook, pen, books, snacks, yoga wear...am I forgetting anything?

The count down is on!

namaste

An Ah-Ha Moment...

2010-02-09T14:50:00.002-06:00

When I started blogging about yoga my exposure to the online yoga world was pretty limited. I read a few blogs by fellow small town teachers. I utilized websites such as Yoga Journal and Gaiam for their educational offerings. I occasionally read a newspaper article that mentioned yoga in some fashion. But really I surfed a pretty narrow band of yoga related bytes.

Since that time yoga's presence online has exploded. Websites centered around creating online yoga communities have formed. The number of high traffic yoga blogs have grown. Yoga is on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and people are talk, talk, talking about yoga all over. Free streaming yoga practices are available in just about any style, for any length of time you want to practice, at the simple click of a mouse. Yoga has become part of the mainstream culture.

As that growth has happened I've tried to be cautious about my participation knowing full well how easy it is to get wrapped up in all the discussion and debate about hot topics in the yoga world at the expense of actual yoga practice. I've somewhat lost sight of that cautious approach as of late. I think it's one reason WHY I've been kinda down on the whole yoga community/industry as of late.

Not to say I don't address some of those same topics with my local yoga community, but somehow discussing them on a public and rather impersonal forum such as the internet feels less conversational/discussional and more judgemental. More divisional rather than inclusive. It amazes me...we humans can figure out how to debate and creates sides on just about any issue. We seem to have a need to deconstruct and analyze every aspect of life. But I digress...

So, in the interest of finding, and maintaining, the joy in my yoga practice I've decided it's time to step away from following and participating in those online debates. I will blog here about my practice. About the good that yoga brings to my life and the lives of those around me. I will set the intent to remain OPEN to learning from yoga in all it's various forms and styles. I will allow THIS to remain a happy place. I will leave all that debate and discussion for face-to-face interactions where thoughtful conversations can organically grow over a cup of tea...at the end of a class...wherever they may happen. If that means living in a bit of a bubble when it comes to the modernization of yoga...so be it. I'll accept the confines of that bubble if it means keeping the bliss in my practice.

Now if you will excuse me...I have books to order for my teacher training program. 10 days and counting!!!

namaste

Dear TT Diary: Whose Your Guru?

2010-02-03T15:15:00.003-06:00

When I first started practicing yoga 11 years ago my understanding of yoga was very limited. I didn't know about the various styles...Vinyasa, Iyengar, Ashtanga, Anusara (which would have been young in it's development), Bikram, Kundalini...to me yoga was yoga. In some ways that beginner mind, the limited exposure I'd had to the various teachings of yoga, is I'm sure what allowed me to fall in love simply with the practice of asana and breath and to a small extent meditation. (Admittedly Meditation is one of the areas of the broader scope of the practice with which I have the least amount of experience.) It was uncomplicated...and full of bliss.

Over the years I have at times become very frustrated with the broad spectrum of information available about the practice depending on which tradition (or traditions) you choose to subscribe. For those of us who didn't start our practice in one specific tradition, or with a real life, face-to-face teacher, wading through the vast amount of information available can be overwhelming. Though the wading has exposed me to a variety of styles and practices which have all, on some level, influenced me as a yogi and as a teacher. The flow of Vinyasa. The attention to alignment of Iyengar. The power of Ashtanga. The energetic radiance of Anusara. The inclusive language style taught in Yoga Fit. It's all there in the whole of my practice.

I have through the past year or so been searching for, been craving really, more simple relationship with my practice. I guess it's kinda like reconnecting with one's roots. My relationship with yoga began very simply. The roots of my practice will always be just that...simple. No labels, no limitations, no set ideals or sequences...just yoga.

This is one of the reasons I think the teacher training in which I have enrolled speaks to what I need from my practice right now. James, director of the program, describes the style of yoga that we will be studying as Classical Hatha. Yoga as it was originally "modernized" by Sri Tirumalai Krishnamacharya. Yoga as it was taught to those, such as B.K.S Iyengar, and Pattabhi Jois, and Indra Devi, whose teachings who have influenced most of the styles of yoga practiced around the world today. All styles that when traced back have roots in Krishnamacharya's teachings.

During the past year I have read most of The Heart of Yoga by T.K.V Desikachar...Krishnamacharya's son who still teaches yoga as his father taught him. I very much am drawn to the teachings in this book. They are, like my yoga roots, very simple. Reading the words on the pages feels a lot like going home...a simple comfort that is hard to explain but which feels as natural as breathing. I'm glad to know that my teacher training over the next 9 months will have much of that same, simple focus.

namaste

Dear TT Diary: Enrolled!

2010-01-29T11:46:00.004-06:00

Yesterday was a big day for me. I made the commitment to begin a teacher training program next month. Signed the enrollment forms. Paid the fees in full. I've fully committed. I'm quite ecstatic about the whole thing!!!

I've researched many teacher training programs over the years. For one reason or another I just never really felt ready to make a full commitment to one of those programs. Never quite ready to commit the time. To commit the money. And while this program offers a lot which sparks my interests, I think it's also fair to say I simply "ran across" this program at the right time. At a time when I really feel like I am at a bit of a crossroads with both my personal practice and my professional pursuits. A time when I could choose to step back, or delve deeper. After sitting down with the director of the program yesterday I knew in my heart, in my gut, in my soul that I had made the right decision to delve deeper.

One of the things I really like about this program is the structure. FIRST we will talk about the history and theory of yoga. Then, with an eye towards that history, we will study asana as taught in one on one yoga sessions...much as yoga was originally passed down from guru to student. The final section will focus on group instruction. This structure is almost a mirror to most TT programs that I have researched. Being as I am taking this step as much for my personal practice as to benefit my students, I'm looking forward to approaching our training with a focus that moves from the individual to the group dynamic.

There are a few other perks that make this training attractive:

Training weekends occur regularly, once a month, over the next 9 months which means while we'll be having days of emersion, there will also be time in-between to really obsorb the information covered during each weekend. Having the program defined over a specific span of time will alos help me personally to stay focused in my studies. (Unlike the more casual "fit it in as you can" programs.)
The training location is a plesant 1 hour drive from home, which will make for an easy commute.
Since we are a "class" of students, I'm looking forward to building relationships with other instructors whom with which I hope to network even after our training weekends have ended.
At the end of the 9 months I'll be able to apply for Yoga Alliance 200hr CYT credentials. I will admit that once, early in my fitness career, I thought a certificate to say one was "qualified" a certain group class (be it aerobics or yoga) was essential, I have learned over the years a piece of paper doesn't always tell the whole story. I haven't stressed over my lack of CYT credentials, having full confidence in my commitment to constant personal growth and education in my yoga practice. But being able to put those 3 little letters behind my name on my business card will, I'm sure, have its benefits as I continue to expand my business.
And, as chance would have it, I'm getting to share this experience with one of my very bestest of friends. A fellow teacher, mom, and all around amazing woman who has come to be such a pilar of support and friendship for me over the past 3 years. Love ya Monica!

And so, the blog is back open, at least for now, to serve as a diary for this journey. A place to reflect, to share, and to document my experiences. Thanks to you all for continuing to read through it all!

peace

Doing Good Through Yoga...

2010-01-27T16:37:00.003-06:00

It's time for a little local Karma yoga! Click on the image below for more detail on the Yoga 4 Good event schedule next week!

Hope to see you there!

namaste

Why So Cynical?

2010-01-22T13:04:00.004-06:00

I'm having a hard time finding inspiration to come here as of late to write.

Uninspired to talk here about yoga as a life practice...as exercise...as anything.

I'm frustrated.

It's not the practice of yoga that I'm frustrated with.

It's the industry that has grown out of the growing popularity of yoga and the desire to turn that popularity into $$$ in the bank.

I realize that statement coming from someone who makes a living teaching yoga might be viewed as somewhat hypocritical. Judge if you choose. I'd be happy to show you my income statements from the past 5 years if there is any question that I do what I do for the love of the practice and the extra time my schedule allows me to spend with my kiddos while still bringing in a small income to help keep a roof over our heads and food on our table.

Frustrated with some changes in our local teaching/yoga scene.

I could hash through my frustrations here...but then I'd just be contributing to the negativity and sensationalism that has contributed to my frustration. So I won't go that route.

I think it's time for me to go back to basics.

To re-experience yoga in a way that caused me to fall in love with the practice in the first place. To simply practice and teach in a way that speaks to my heart. To stop searching for a label for my style. To stop thinking that validation from some outside source makes me any "more" of a "real" teacher.

I realize this step may result in changes in my life personally and professionally.

I'm OK with that.

I'm starting here by taking a break from the yoga blog community.

Maybe just for a little while.

Maybe forever.

Who knows.

Back to basics.

namaste

Doing Good...

2010-01-14T15:28:00.003-06:00

If you looked at my Google Reader subscription list you'd find I generally subscribe to 3 main types of blogs.

Those written by family and friends.
Those related to knitting/quilting/and generally all things crafty
Those related to yoga.

Of course there are also a few random feeds from photography blogs, mommy blogs, etc. But that's not my point here.

My point is this morning as I was writing a quick post for my other blog about supporting the relief efforts in Haiti following the earthquake earlier this week, talking about how amazing the knitting blog community has been for getting word out for support of organizations such as Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders, I realized not ONE of the yoga blogs that I follow (or yoga related people I follow on Twitter or am a Fan of on Facebook) have said any thing about taking time to show your support for the Haitian people.

Not one.

Are we a a community of blogging yogis really so focused on which is the best yoga mat/where you can find the cutest, most eco friendly yoga wear/which style teaches the truest form of asanas/who offers the best workshops/etc, etc, etc that we have forgotten the value of expressing compassion...especially in times of GREAT tragedy/loss/need...to the whole of humanity?

Please take the time today to extend your support to a people in need through the relief organization of your choice.

namaste

Whatever Happened to...

2010-01-11T12:22:00.003-06:00

...choosing how to treat our beings, whether it be through the foods we use to fuel us or the activities we choose to keep our bodies strong, our minds sharp, and our spirits balanced, simply based on how they make us feel?

...taking the steps necessary to change behaviors that do not contribute to our overall well-being?

...choosing directions in life based on how it feeds our soul, not our bank accounts?

...treating the world around us, and those who we share it with, respectfully because it's the honorable thing to do not because "green is the new black"?

...sharing our knowledge and expertise with others because it benefits us all collectively, not because it's a way to personally get ahead?

What has happened to our ability to think for ourselves, to feel for ourselves, rather than putting so much weight into feedback gathered from external sources?

These are a few of the questions rolling around in my head this morning.

namaste

Yoga for the New Year...

2010-01-05T15:23:00.004-06:00

This is the 4th year that I have taught a New Year's Day yoga class at our studio. We get together at a casually late morning time, enjoy practice together to greet the new year, and then chat and laugh with tea afterwards. It's a lovely annual event that many of us look forward to each holiday season.

This year we had the most diverse group of yogis in the room I have yet had the honor of teaching. It's really the only time through the year that people come together to practice at the same time during this one celebration class on this special holiday regardless of which class(es) they normally attend during the week. It was both a joy to watch as they greeted each other at the start of class (one of the benefits of small town living, students generally know each other even if they don't attend the same classes) and a little stressful to think about teaching the class I had planned to such a wide range of ages and abilities.

But somehow it worked. We worked through sun salutations with many variations being practiced at the same time. We breathed and bent and twisted and sweat and even laughed a bit and 75 minutes later we stepped into our new year a little more free, a little more relaxed, and for this teacher, feeling as if I had just been in the place of "learner" rather than "teacher". Class maybe didn't quite look as I had envisioned, but what is it we tell our students at the beginning of so many classes...let go of your expectations. It's a class I will not soon forget for the growth opportunity it provided. And for the lovely, lovely yogis in the room who chose to start 2010 in the studio with me.

Many blessings for a peaceful, prosperous, healthy New Year to you all!

namaste

It is the breath...

2009-12-27T11:23:00.003-06:00

I find myself, once again, trying to define Yoga in relationship to: my life; my business; my family; my practice; my teaching. I'm starting to think that it's a process that will be forever changing. Forever evolving as life changes and evolves.

Most recently I find myself trying to make sense of how my teaching of asana plays into my overall practice of yoga...a practice which is admittedly void at the moment of personal asana practice. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE asana. My body loves asana. For me practicing, and teaching, asana allows a chance to find balance, release, acceptance, and peace within the physical body. I truly believe that working through resistance and blocks in the physical body allows us to more freely access our spiritual bodies.

Today as I was working my way through my Google reader with my trusty latte at my side, I was touched by these words by Nadine

"...it is the breath that makes it Yoga. Ujjaiyi inhale and exhale, in equal ratio and importance, and with full receptivity to your inhale and full release of exhale, give the experience of being part of the flow of Life, and that, lovely friends, is Yoga."

It's lovely words such as these that remind me...stop over thinking and just practice. Be present in each moment of yoga...whether it's during asana or while searching for patience in a trying situation or while enjoying the sparkle of today's fresh fallen snow.

It is the breath that makes it Yoga.

And really, do we need any more definition than that?

namaste

Happy Solstice!

2009-12-21T15:24:00.004-06:00

Today we celebrate the shortest day of the year here in the northern hemisphere. While I know winter solstice technically signals the very start of winter, it also means that while we are dealing with the several remaining months of snow and ice we will be blessed with a wee bit more sunlight each day until warmer weather brings spring renewal.

Several springs ago I was fortunate to attend a workshop with Max Strom. I like Max...his teaching style, the thoughtful words he shares in his newsletters, the fact he's a big bear of a guy with a warm smile that instantly puts you at ease. Today Max sent his newsletter subscribers a solstice message, which included this little snippet:

As many of us approach the New Year we find this annual ritual is really more about approaching ourselves again. We reassess, make new decisions - hold to some, and loose our grasp on others.

I have to agree that there is something about sitting down to recap the year for our family's holiday greetings and thinking about what may lie ahead in the year to come that feels a bit like the chance to start fresh and new come the turn of the calendar. It's that promise of renewal which often gets me through the holiday season with my sanity in tact.

The holidays in general are an emotionally complicated time for me. Old demons, fresher frustrations...complicated. Imagine my joy when, on recommendation by Eco Yogini, I came upon Slow Christmas. A whole website dedicated to spending less money, spending more time when approaching the holiday season. PERFECT!

Earlier this month I actually called a family meeting to discuss the holidays come December 2010. It's very important to me that I help my girls understand that regardless if you celebrate Christmas or Hanukkah or Kwanzaa or Solstice or whatever, the holiday season is about so much more than the commercialism and materialism that dominates our surroundings this time of year. And so I made a proposal for a gift free holiday season come December 2010. Explaining that instead of getting and giving things we would plan to use our time and resources next holiday season to share our good fortune with others who may not find themselves with such and experiencing ourselves the simple joys of the season beyond the types of gifts that can be wrapped in paper. Santa would of course still make a visit, after all they are only 8 and 3 and that's one innocence I am not ready to give up. We talked about choosing charities to ask friends and families to donate to instead of sending gifts our way...such as a local animal shelter, a cause near and dear to our hearts. We talked about all the great traditions that we already have that will continue...our special Christmas Eve dinner, enjoying the decorating of the tree, spending one wild and crazy day with my husband's entire extended family including 15 (and growing) great-grand kids in the youngest generation...traditions that are about people and time well spend sharing the great gift of love.

I'm not sure how well my proposal was received, or even understood. The oldest kept asking for clarification that this plan would be for NEXT year and that it would not affect THIS year's wish list. The youngest simply kept changing the subject. But the seed has been planted. And really all I can do at this point is that...plant the seed.

There is still much THIS holiday season to which I am looking forward.

Christmas Eve dinner with my family, my brother and some dear, dear friends who are my brothers in spirit.
Waking up Christmas morning with the ability (if we choose) to stay in our PJs all day.
The fun that will be enjoying the simple joy of each other's company...and the unwrapping of a few packages.
The look of pure joy on the faces of my children as they discover what Santa has left specially for them.
Having my hubby home from work 4 days in a row!
A girls day (and night) in IC with my sisters.
Teaching New Year's Day yoga. A tradition that our little community of yogis started to welcome 2007 that has been growing ever since.

I'm often reminded in life that the only "control" which we poses is the ability to choose how we react to various situations. This holiday season I'm trying my best to focus my attentions on the blessings of the season and the joys of each present moment hoping that with time those nasty old demons will simply fade away.

Holiday blessings to all...and many peace filled wished for a healthy, happy New year.

~namaste~

I'm Back!

2009-12-15T10:48:00.004-06:00

I had a nice time over at Namaste & Knitting...playing with combining talk about my loves of both yoga and the wide world of yarn. But then I started sewing more again and blogging got complicated. So I'm coming back here, to this beloved space, to talk about yoga. And all that other knitty, yarny, quilty, crafty stuff will be moving to my original blog, jenn's spot.

Simplifying the blog life.

Feels good to be back.

~namaste~

A Little Bit of Everything...

2009-12-07T14:00:00.000-06:00

I have so much I want to share today...

First, a couple of words of thanks.

I was amazed (and deeply honored once the shock wore off) to learn that Roseanne over at it's all yoga, baby included one of my posts here in her review of her top 15 yoga blog posts of 2009. Roseanne, if Canada wasn't so far to travel, I'd run over and give you a big hug of thanks. I have a feeling the two of use could find a lot to chat about over a cup of coffee. (It might take several before we run out of things to talk about.) The other thing I love about reviews such as Roseanne's...it's a good way to learn about other blogs out there in the expanse of the WWW that I might enjoy reading. (Does Google Reader have a subscription limit?)

Secondly, thanks for everyone who has offered up words of support and encouragement after my last post. I don't have much in the way of an update on how things are going, but my thoughts have been busy processing it all in the quietness of my mind. For many reasons I think that's where I'm going to keep things tucked away for a bit.

And finally, due to the lack of knitted posts lately one might assume there is not much knitting going on around here. On the contrary...MUCH knitting has been going on, but photographing of said knitting has not. And let's face it, sharing knitting in word's just isn't as fun as sharing knitting in pictures. So for now I thought I'd share this lovely ~~high quality~~ web cam photo of my new button tab hat.

I actually finished this a few weeks ago, but awaking to our first "real" snow this morning has given me reason to add it to my "leaving the house" attire. The pattern is a free design I found on Ravelry by ilikelemons (it's also available on her blog). The yarn is a natural tweed by Araucania Yarns that I splurged on (at $17 a hank it was a definitely a splurge for me) because once I picked it up...I simply couldn't put it down! With a fiber content of 30% Alpaca, 45% Merino, 15% Silk, and 10% of those little Donegal flecks...it's as soft as a baby bunny. A new born kitten. A duckling...well, you get the picture. It's SOFT.

While the pattern is super simple I had a few bumps in the road to finishing this. First I mis-read the pattern and got nervous I wasn't going to have enough yardage to finish. (Because you know being "splurge yarn" meant I only bought one hank.) So I ripped back a bit to start my decreases early. After finishing all the way to the crown but BEFORE I cut the yarn I decided I should make sure it fit...and it was too short. So I ripped back to the row before the start of the decreases and re-knit what I had ripped out the first time before once again finishing the crown. I learned several things making this hat...including the fact that "hairy" yarn isn't as easy to work with in the reverse direction and one should not wear black when knitting with a "hairy" white yarn. Even with the bumps in the road, I'm quitepleased with my new winter accessory.

In case you were wondering, my worry about running out of yarn...

~namaste~

Keeping Perspective...

2009-12-03T08:50:00.000-06:00

A yoga teacher.

Someone who teaches yoga.

To me there is a difference between those two statements.

I strive to be the former.

Though sometimes, especially when faced with adversity in my professional world, I worry that I slip into the later.

It's a fine line. An area with many varying shades of gray. Sometimes it can all get so overwhelming I just want to throw in the towel and do something totally different with my time and my professional endeavors.

I know that will never really happen.

Yoga, being a yoga teacher, is part of my life.

Period.

So at times like today when I am feeling conflicted, frustrated, and a bit discouraged, I'm trying to keep perspective.

Yesterday I helped 46 people throughout the day move through their practice.

How lucky am I to be in a position to say that?

Perspective.

~namaste~

Yoga in KC...

2009-12-01T08:51:00.000-06:00

My family and I traveled to the KC metro area this past weekend to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with my in-laws. On Friday morning I met my good friend Monica (who lives here in Grinnell but who was also in the KC metro area for the weekend visiting family) for a Vinyasa class at Yoga Gallery.

(Side note: Many of the teacher at Yoga Gallery have studied with Max Strom. I studied with Max at the 2008 Midwest Yoga Conference and immediately felt at home with his style of teaching and philosophy about yoga in the modern world. It's no wonder I felt so comfortable at Yoga Gallery. I look forward to going back for classes during future visits to the KC area.)

As you can imagine our class was full of "post-holiday" twisting. I love twisting but I also have to be extra aware of how I am moving in my twists because of my crazy hyper mobile SI joint. The studio was warm, the music fun and motivating, the sweat was beading (and dripping) and afterwards I felt AMAZING. Taking the time to simply be a student on my mat is something I need to do more for my own practice.

A few general notes about class:

I tried not to be overly self conscious, but it was hard not to notice I was by far the largest body in the room. I'm not sure why that stood out to me. But it did.
The teacher assisted one of my Down Dogs using her WHOLE BODY to give me lift into my hips. Seriously, she laid her whole body on my back while lifting at my hips. It was amazing. While I have pretty open shoulders, I must look top heavy in DD because some form of that assist is the one I have received the most often in classes.
I love, love, LOVED the fact the studio was so warm. Because the spaces in which I teach are not dedicated yoga practice areas, they are often much cooler than I would like. The warmth of the studio on Friday was like a big hug of comfort and I am sure part of the reason I left feeling class feeling so great.
Practicing in a space dedicated to yoga always stirs up my dream of someday having my own studio space in which to teach.

Thanks to class, several chances to get out into the fresh air and sunshine for a walk, and the extended weekend away from the studio I returned to classes yesterday feeling refreshed both as an individual body and a teacher. (Ironic since overall with the changes in sleep patterns, food consumption, and activity patterns I was feeling less than refreshed in my general mood/being.)

I hope you too found time to nurture your being this holiday weekend.

~namaste~

Letting Go...

2009-11-04T11:07:00.000-06:00

Feels a little like giving up.

I often find it hard to distinguish between the two.

I'd like to think that letting go means you have set an intention, worked towards reaching your goal to the best of your ability, and then are able to release your pursuit without regrets if it becomes clear that the path you have chosen is not right for you at that time.

But for me it still feels a little like just giving up.

Nine years ago I "applied" to massage therapy school. I use "applied" somewhat loosely because it's not as if there was any requirements to be "accepted" beyond showing interest and putting down a small deposit to hold my spot in the class of incoming students. It didn't work for me to start at that time so I set the pursuit aside.

Approximately 9 months ago I made contact with the school again expressing my interest in joining them for my training, feeling that while still not "perfect" timing, now was a more realistic time to pursue the adventure of returning to school. I once again applied after visiting their new location, paid my deposit to hold my spot and then had to defer my spot in the fall class with intentions to begin this coming spring. Today I responded to an email inquiring if I will indeed be joining the new spring class, sadly informing the school that attendance at this time just doesn't seem to be in the cards for me. I had started to make peace with this decision a few weeks ago, but it's so much more tangible now that I have actually expressed my plans "out loud" to the school.

On many levels I am disappointed. I love learning. Love being a student. I love learning about the body and how to care for our beings on many levels. I honestly felt as if working towards obtaining my LMT credentials were a key part in continuing to work the way I want to work...passionately with a schedule that still allows for plenty of family focused time. And, honestly, it was one step closer for me to answering that age old question, "What do you want to be when you grow up?"

But sometimes the universe has things in store for us that we don't understand. That we don't expect. Such as my new gig with my local quilt shop. And good news regarding my husband's career pursuits...mainly that he has a clearer path and is looking forward to taking his next step down that path on Monday! And as cliche as it sounds, I feel as if my growing love of knitting (along with realizing how essential regular chances to express my creativity are to my overall happiness) is somehow going to be tied into my future endeavors. I'm not sure how, but I just have this gut feeling...and I normally trust my gut.

Life will move on...and it will continue to be fabulous and challenging and rewarding and disappointing and so many other things I can't yet even imagine because that's how life is...ever changing. So I'm just trying to let this disappointment go...and let it not feel like I'm giving up.

~namaste~

Fabulously Fun Friday...

2009-10-30T10:47:00.000-05:00

Today's Fab Friday brought to you by the force...

(Fitting with Halloween less than 24 hrs away...don't cha think?)

I imagine if you took Scott (my hubby) and I, threw us in a bag, shook it up, and dumped it out...this is what would you would get. A little more sports wear would need to be involved...football pants, basketball jersey, soccer shin guards, baseball cleats...and some crafty, knitting accessories...but you get the picture.

For a chuckle, check out more of Matthew's Star Wars Yoga here.

Speaking of Halloween...I should be costume sewing instead of blogging! But first, a trip to the "big city" to lunch with my Star Wars loving, sports obsessed hubby...and to check out some new to me yarn shops!

(Priorities...I can always work on that costume tonight...after the yarn shops are closed!)

Happy, and safe, haunting all!

~namaste~

Yoga & Life...

2009-10-28T22:33:00.000-05:00

Almost a month ago (how did that much time pass so fast?) Roseanne over at its all yoga, baby tagged me with a meme. (Remember, I talked about it here.) And I publicly agreed to play along. And while that promise has been on my mind a lot lately, when I sit down to write 7 things about me and my yoga (or yoga in general for that matter), my mind goes blank. My fingers can't find the right keys. Not because I don't have anything to say, but because I can't quite figure out how to coherently express in 7 bulleted points how I feel about yoga right now.

So I'm gonna settle for these few thoughts as my response...it's a start any how.

When I began practicing yoga 10 years ago, never would I have guessed it would be such a central part of my life now. And even when I quit my full time job "just" to teach yoga a little over 3 years ago, I would have never imagined all the ups and downs, growth and frustrations, that would be part of the practice...and of making the practice my business. It has been an interesting journey thus far.

I know for a fact that my life is richer, happier, a more true reflection of ME because of yoga. That life has been both enhanced and complicated by deepening my practice. What I'm learning is that my yoga is richer, happier, and more true when I balance it out with the rest of my life. It seems like such a simple concept, I'm not sure why it has taken me this long to make the connection.

Finding the right balance can be tricky for me when it comes to how much, or how little, time I allow yoga to have during my day/week. As a teacher I want to soak up all the info I can to be of better service to my students. Yet when I immerse myself in study...teaching+reading+talking about+more reading+watching...I often feel burnt out and over-whelmed. Instead of being a joy, teaching/study become just one more chore to which I have to tend. I stress about which school of thought or style of yoga I should devote my attention. I worry about the validity of my "teacher" status, second guessing my credentials to stand in front of a class of willing and open students looking to me for guidance. I obsess about what yoga and what a "proper" yogi "should" look like.

Honestly, it all starts to become a great big downer...and then I consider ending my teaching career.

Lately I've taken more time to enjoy a few other, non-yoga centered joys in life. With the fall weather comes more time spent knitting. Taking on a new part-time job and challenge has meant learning new things. (Which is completely refreshing to someone who would have been happy never to have left college...and who still has dreams of "going back to school" some day, even if it's just for fun.) I've once again taken more time to explore the world through the lens of my camera. I've tried new recipes and variations of old favorites in search of gluten free goodies. I've tried to be more present for my family. (Which I actually find challenging at times because I kinda like my ME time.)

In short...I've paid more attention to life outside of yoga.

And guess what?

Yoga has become fun again!

I look forward to teaching, even when I feel as if I'm going into class to teach "the same old asanas". Some how even the most familiar poses feel more fresh. All those worries about devotion to a guru/style/etc. fade away with the flow. I allow myself to feel and accept that I am where I need to be on my journey right now, at this point.

It's as if finding more balance in how I feed the many layers of my being has allowed my yoga to more fully breath.

It's in realizations such as this...realizing that even the study of yoga needs to be done with balance...that I have come to appreciate how much the practice of yoga has simply become part of my life.

And how living my life fully is necessary for my continued practice of yoga.

You're right Roseanne...it really IS all yoga, baby.

~namaste~

Picking My Battles...

2009-10-13T13:51:00.000-05:00

I'm pretty sure my yoga practice has helped me better "pick my battles." Admittedly, I can be pretty stubborn. A bit of a perfectionist even. While at times those traits can come in handy, they have also caused a few growing pains over the years...at home, professionally, even in my crafting world.

My Mom is a lovely quilter. Last spring when we were visiting her over my daughter's school break she was showing me her latest quilting adventures. I love quilts. I love the tradition of what quilting represents. I love that in my family of crafters, quilting is one constant that spans several generations. I love how, much like knitting, quilting has found a fresh face with amazing contemporary fabrics and designs that reflect our ever changing world. I'm constantly amazed by my Mom's (mostly self taught) free motion quilting skills. While I was oohing and aahing, my Mom was pointing out the little mistakes she needed to work on fixing. Mistakes I would have never noticed had she not pointed them out. (And some I still really didn't see after she did!) The whole exchange prompted a discussion about how our need for perfection can at times stifle our imagination. I know personally my craft frustrations usually come in one of two ways:

Having an idea for a crafty project but not necessarily possessing the foundational skills needed to create something that resembles my vision.

-OR-

Being so hung up on making sure I'm using good technique that I loose sight of the creative side of the project.

I think in many ways yoga has helped me let go just enough to both trust that I can tackle a project with creative solutions if my skills are lacking and accept that sometimes a little imperfection is perfectly OK. That's it's often about the process of exploration as much as the final outcome. That sometimes "mistakes" lead you in a new direction that outshines your previous ideas. And sometimes things simply just don't work/look like crap/don't fit/have to be frogged or scrapped and that's OK too because at least you gave it a shot, hopefully learning a little along the way to give the next project a better shot at success.

This more relaxed approach has come in very handy in my knitting. I was thinking about it this weekend as I worked on MY hand-warmers which are currently on my needles. (Though not for long as I hope to finish up mitt #2 tonight! SO excited to start using them with this unexpected early arrival of winter!) I can't tell you the number of times I've been happily knitting along only to discover several rows back there exists a random purl stitch where a knit stitch should be. At first I would agonize over whether it was worth ripping out several rounds to go back and fix it or if I should just let it be. Don't get me wrong, I understand that there are times when un-knitting and fixing is necessary. (Like the pair of hand-warmers I made last spring that I didn't really notice until I had bound them both off that they had a significant difference in the number of rows in the palm section. Or the pair of warmers I completed earlier this month that just didn't look quite right to me after I finished them off. So I went back and redesigned the finished edge more to my liking. But I digress...) But I've decided 1 random purl stitch (as long as it doesn't affect the integrity of the item) isn't one of them. In fact I have come to loving think of them as my little hidden purls.

Just a little treasure that says, "Hi! I'm hand made and sometimes mistakes happen."

So far I've kept those hidden purls to one a pair. (And sometimes I can get through a whole project without a hidden purl presenting itself. Woo hoo!) With socks next on the list of "knitted items I want to learn how to make", who knows what could happen. Let's hope I don't find myself with a whole farm of misplaced purls. If so, I guess I'll be working on my "rip it out, re-roll the ball, and start again" meditation mantra.

~namaste~

The Safety Factor...

2009-10-11T11:55:00.000-05:00

Roseanne over at it's all yoga, baby has a way of prompting great discussions with her posts. Today she addressed the dangers of yoga. As I was writing up my comment to her post, I realized it was becoming a bit more than just a comment, and so decided to post my thoughts here instead. (Duh!)

Go check out Roseanne's post. Get a sense for where I stand on the subject. And then let your own view point be known! Leave a comment...create your own post and then comment to let me know you did so...I'm curious to hear what others have to say about the safety (or danger) factor in relationship to an asana practice!

My thoughts...

I think it is wrong for the yoga community not to address the fact that there is a chance for physical injury while doing asana. If there wasn't, why would yoga instructors carry liability insurance? The risk is there, whether we address it or not. But isn't it true that the more open the community is about the situation, the more it's talked about in an open light, the less the risk of occurrence?

For the media to single out yoga as if there are some hidden dangers we kept hidden in the closet, is also not fair...to the practice or those committed to safety in yoga. It would be interesting to know, if you included yoga in an overall study of "exercise related injuries" how would asana compare to say a step aerobics or a kick boxing class?

I have majorly pulled a hamstring in an asana class. In fact, it was during a class at a teacher training! The fault was mine for not listening to my body. For thinking that with just a little extra pull I could get a little more range of motion. Which happened for about 10 seconds...then I crumbled in pain and spent several weeks healing. It was a lesson learned about working to my edge and resisting the urge to step beyond where my body is ready to go on any given day.

That being said, as someone who has also taught a variety of group exercise classes, I have seen people stumble off a step and twist an ankle too. I have seen people strain muscles during resistance training thinking they could do just one more rep with that heavier load than normal. World class athletes are diligent with their training and care of their bodies, yet they too are not immune to injury...stress fractures, sprains, strains...the list could go on and on. (And I don't know about you, but I don't yet have a personal massage therapist waiting to warm me up and cool me down after each and every yoga practice.)

I do believe that there are times when inexperienced teachers are putting students at risk. They may not offer modifications as readily as a more seasoned instructor, or may not be confident in suggesting adjustments. They simply may not have the back ground knowledge to understand proper alignment or muscular engagement or specific risks of certain asanas. I also think inexperienced teachers may be more likely to teach more challenging asanas before students are physically and mentally ready for them, especially if they themselves have never really had a limitation provide challenge in their own practice. But i don't think we can blame everything on inexperience either, because I have seen seasoned teachers push students beyond a reasonable limit too. While I believe experience and education are an invaluable tool in your teaching tool box, they have to be accompanied by common sense and an eye for detail, limitations, and safety.

I also believe we teachers need to be diligent about educating students about personal responsibility. Students should to be responsible for their practice by questioning the qualifications and experience of their teachers. They need to feel comfortable to question poses and alignment that does not feel comfortable in their own bodies. They have to be present and compassionate towards their own bodies, understanding when it's OK to push and when backing off is necessary. And if they just don't jive with the style of a certain teacher, for whatever reason, they need to feel OK with finding a teacher with which they do.

As teachers it is our responsibility to create an environment where students feel comfortable doing such. We need to know when a student needs a little push to safely try something that may be a bit outside of their comfort zone, but we also need to to be supportive and accepting when someone decides they are "just not comfortable going there today." As an industry, not just the yoga industry but the "movement industry" in general, we need to be sure we are being diligent about promoting safe practices, hiring qualified instructors, and promoting activity and the practice for the right reasons...not just the $$$.

I don't think the finger can simply be pointed in one direction on this one. The responsibility falls on all involved...students, teachers, the yoga community at large, and even the fitness/wellness industry. As the popularity of the practice grows, as more players get involved in offering their style/brand of yoga for whatever reason (spiritual growth or pure physical exercise), we all have to take responsibility for keeping individual practitioners as safe as possible.

Your turn...what are your thoughts?

~namaste~

Welcome to the Neighborhood...

2009-10-05T14:00:00.000-05:00

You know what I love about blogging?

The community.

Sure, we all have our connections in the communities in which we live. Other parents met through our kids activities. Friends and co-workers brought together both my mutual interests AND physical local. But blogging allow you to strengthen your community web regardless of location. It allows people (from the comfort of their own home and when it is convenient for them individually) to participate in discussions and exchanges of ideas. And while I don't suggest giving up all your close acquaintances for virtual ones (because while virtual hugs are nice, real physical ones are still much, much better), I find comfort in being about to reach out around the globe to celebrate the human connection.

For example:

Through blogging I have met Nadine...my yoga teaching friend in Australia. We have been able to exchange information and stories about our wonky hips...among other fun yoga things of course. And there's Jen and Brenda, yoga instructors that are practically next door neighbors in comparison to Nadine, with whom I have exchanged lovely messages. Individual who, if the stars align, I might actually meet someday...like face to face. How cool is that?
I've recently discovered the blog of a knitter who lives close to where I grew up...in a town where my mom frequents the quilt store. (See, small world.) Fun! She knits some pretty cute stuff and every time I read her posts I think of home and the people there who I love and miss dearly between our too few visits.
This summer my Mom found out that some health problems that have been increasingly bugging her were being aggravated by gluten. As a result, I too am now "gluten free" and have so thankful for the great blogs out there dedicated to a gluten free diet. I mean check out these GF cupcakes and this great blog written by a gluten free mommy. I have a feeling both of these blogs are going to be of great use as I adjust to my new dietary changes.
And let's not forget all the blogs of friends and family (far and near) that simply allow me to keep up on the happenings in their lives.

I could go on, but chances are if you are reading this it's because you already have the blog bug. (Or your related to me and therefore obligated to read my ramblings.) I love opening up my Google Reader every morning to see what lovely things my list of blogs has to offer. I find my blog list to be a much more uplifting morning coffee read than whatever the paper normally has to report. And who doesn't want to start their morning off with a little joy, a funny story, or the pictures of the most current craft/baking/quilting/knitting undertaking.

This morning Roseanne over at it's all yoga, baby, one of the most recent blogs I have started following, tagged me with a meme. I'm so touched by the kind words she had to say about me. And am a little amazed at the timing of this particular tag. A time when the topics to be addressed are ones I've been rolling around in my head a lot lately in regards to my business, my practice, and my feelings about the modern picture of yoga in general. While I don't always participate in memes when tagged, I am looking forward to sitting down and giving this one some thought...of which I will post here of course.

So readers, thank you for being part of my community (both here and for those of you who have journied over here from Happy Daisy Yoga with me). Thanks you for sharing your ideas, stories, comments and for taking the time to read mine.

And now, I'm off to dive into my first felting experience. Wish me luck knitters! By the end of the afternoon I'll either have a cool new fall bag, or MANY hours of wasted HOT summer knitting. I'm hoping for the first option!

~namaste~

The Image of Yoga...

2009-09-28T11:04:00.000-05:00

This morning as I scrolled though my blog reader, reading about fall baking, alpaca farm visits, finding balance in one's commitments and of course yoga, my attention was turned towards two of the younger/newer/up and coming celebrity yoga teachers (here and here) making a splash these days and it got me to thinking...

What is the current western image of yoga?

Yoga first made it's big splash here in the west in the 60s and 70s. (Peace, love and yoga baby.) While the greater population may not have embraced yoga at first, through the years a more wide spread understanding/acceptance has meant today anyone can practice yoga without being labeled a quacky hippie. (All though, I don't know too many yogis who wouldn't mind being called a hippie now and then.)

When I first started practicing yoga in the mid 90s, western master teachers such as Patricia Walden, Rodney Yee, David Swenson, Ganga White and Tracey Rich (just to name a few) were helped bring Iyengar and Ashtanga and Surya Namaskara into the greater public view and conveniently into our living rooms. I truly believe, as Roseanne over at it's all yoga, baby talks about in this article, these devoted practitioners simply set out to share the gift of yoga and have unintentionally found themselves in the role of celebrity among the yoga community as a result. Even so, they remain (in my opinion) grounded examples of how we can live a yogic life here in this day and age. Do they benefit financially? You bet their downdogs they do. Do they flaunt it? Do they take advantage of the wisdom of yoga for their own personal economic gain? You can form your own opinions, but I don't think so. (Bikram Choudhury, yoga's bad boy, aside.)

As my friend Monica said when we were chatting about this the other day, no longer are there "accidental" celebrity yogis. As we see a new generation of (often self proclaimed) "master" teacher make their way into the spotlight I wonder how their edgy, modern, trademark styles will change the face of the practice. On one hand they do often offer a fresh, fun spin on the traditions of the practice. And who can't use a little more fun in their lives? On the other, at what point has one gone too far in creating a yogic style/product that it no longer reflects the true nature of the practice? At what point do the images we see of what yoga "is" and the marketability of a style or product change the rich tradition that has benefited so many in ways totally unrelated to their pocketbooks?

As someone who came into yoga through a background of exercise science, I often look at trends in relationship to how they will affect the overall health of our society. Obesity rates continue to rise. The occurrence of health problems directly related to obesity continue to rise. The occurrence of physical, mental, and emotional problems in relationship to living in a state of distress (resulting from poor de-stressing practices) continue to rise. The human race, in a very broad sense, is so very sick.

I can't help but believe these all too common problems have a great deal to do with our general disconnect from: our bodies; our environment: each other; how our actions affect the world; our spiritual needs; what it means to find balance in all things...need I go on? Connections that the practice of yoga has the potential to mend.

I love yoga because it is inclusive. Because it welcomes all bodies, all backgrounds, all those wishing to pursue the practice regardless of means into open arms. But I also worry how the explosion of yoga related products, branded styles, and this next generation of celebrity yoga teachers could change the public's view of just *who* is fit to be called a yogi.

I do find comfort in maintaining some perspective on the whole scene. The celebrity yoga crowd, while arguably influential to the future of yoga (and the yoga $$$ industry), is but a small representation of the greater communities of teachers and practitioners. There will always be yoga communities like ours where students come simply dressed in sweats and a t-shirt, sporting no more gear than a mat and a water bottle. Students who come to class first because it makes them feel good, and then maybe second because it helps them fit into their favorite pants a little more comfortably. And that the the large majority of teachers out there choose to teach not because it will bring us fortune and fame, but because yoga has enriched our own lives and we hope to share that blessing with a few other souls during our lifetime.

What do you think?

What draws you to yoga?

What turns you off about yoga?

In what direction do you see the future of the yoga industry moving and how do you think that will affect the overall meaning of the practice?

Do share. I'm curious.

~namaste~

Fabulously Fun Friday...

2009-09-25T14:28:00.000-05:00

After teaching my last class of the week on Friday my body and brain often take a joint sigh of relief, ready for a little fun. Don't get me wrong, teaching is fun, but it's nice to take a break from being "on" all the time too. I'm guessing I'm not the only one who feels this way. So I've decided Friday postings will be all about fabulously fun funniness. A little laughter to feed the soul.

Thanks to YogaDawg for posting this "yoga for vampires" video earlier in the week. I have actually never seen True Blood being as we get our TV reception the good ol' fashioned FREE way...with a antenna mounted to our roof. BUT I did read the Twilight series books and well, let's just say I haven't talked to a single female who has read the series who has NOT developed a bit of a vampire obsession.

(To be honest, my vamp obsession was sparked by reading The Historian. No teenage angst filled love lust. Plenty of intelligent mystical vampire suspense. Enjoyed by both genders. Read it!)

As long as we're on the subject of vampires, Tia over at Clever Girl Goes Blog has started treating her readers to Fanged Fridays. Let me tell you what a treat they have been. (I mean who doesn't enjoy a little calorie free eye candy?)

~namaste~

Moved...

2009-09-24T10:12:00.004-05:00

Please visit Namaste & Knitting for my latest yoga (and yarn) related musings.

HDY will remain active for archival purposes (And because I can't bear to take down this little site which holds so many memories.)

Thanks for stopping by!

namaste

Fuel Your Passions...

2009-09-22T09:48:00.004-05:00

An old college friend of mine thankfully took the time to share her thoughts on my most recent post about making a living teaching yoga. (See below.)

It was a nice kick in the pants. A kick I probably needed.

And she is right. Yoga IS a passion of mine. One of them. I mean I have several passions in life...my family, my kids, my husband, my friends, yoga, knitting, blogging. All parts of my life that feed my soul. All things that I can talk about, read about, study about for HOURS upon HOURS. (Just ask my husband. HA!)

Several years ago, I'm not even sure where, I read an article about finding contentment in your job. What stuck with me the most was the authors general measure of if you are in the "right job." Her observation was that people who feel fulfilled by their job generally get to do what they love about 80% of the time. The other 20% of the work is often just necessary to keep things running. (And it should be bearable...not horrible.) That article, those words, did a lot to get me moving down a different path. One in which, instead of simply doing a job I COULD do, I focus on doing what I LOVE while making a living at the same time.

I have been so fortunate to make changes in my life where I find myself able to do what I LOVE as my job...probably more than 80% of the time. I love teaching yoga. Period. I am the most comfortable in the "classroom" with my students. I feel at home, like I am with family, when we step onto our mats to practice together. It is a peace and confidence that is almost beyond words.

But turning your passions into your business can also be a bit touchy. Remember that other 20% of work that needs to be done to make the 80% possible? Well, I'm not always good at that part. It's when I'm dealing with that 20% that I start to question what I'm doing, why I'm doing it, and if I am making the right decisions.

Being passionate about what you do means you care. And to be truly good at something, you have to care. When you care there is always a little bit of fear involved. (Yoga as applied to life...learning to detach fear which causes suffering...working on it.) At times I question how that 20% affects my true (non-business related) passion for yoga...something I never want to loose. While I think keeping perspective, even occasionally questioning my motives, on that concern is good, I need to remember not to use it as a crutch to avoid being as truly successful as I have potential to be in life. (Yep, that little "fear of success" demon poking his head out again.)

So, all this to say:

YES, I am passionate about yoga.

YES, I believe I am doing the right thing with my life.

AND

With all this in mind, Happy Daisy Yoga is moving! Not moving as in I am changing my physical location, but this blog is moving. Taking on a little bit different direction. One I have been contemplating for a while, and well, remember that kick in the pants I said I needed...

So what am I up to?

I'm launching Namaste & Knitting. A blog that combines two of my passions that have, more and more over the past year, become closely related for the benefits they provide my well being.

I plan to continue to talk about yoga and how it affects my life, share resources, products, practices, and even a little bit of wisdom...much like I have done here, only with a less stressing about the job of being a yoga teacher. It's a fresh start. A chance for me to focus on my passion for yoga...regardless of what's going on in my yoga related business.

(Don't worry, I'm not totally deleting this blog...I'm NOT ready for THAT step yet. I just don't plan on contributing here much...or at all. We'll see.)

I'll be doing the same with the knitting side of the conversation. Sharing my favorite resources (being a self taught knitter...much like how I started down the path of yoga), products, yummy yarns, fun patterns, and projects. As a relatively new knitter I hope to share my knitting struggles with you ...and in turn have you share your wisdom with me. (Much as we have over the years discussed challenges we face in our yoga practices.)

And of course, I plan to be sharing how the two worlds often cross over...both in my life and in the lives of others.

I really think it's going to be a very fun adventure. I have over the years found increasing joy in writing, thanks to the adventure of joining the blogosphere. It only seems fitting that at this time these three joys in my life are coming together for one joint project. The stars are aligning...the universe is speaking...or I'm finally getting the message. Whatever it is, fun will be had!

(Sarah, I fully blame you for all this fun. Thanks!)

I do hope you will join me!

namaste

Teaching Yoga: A Living or a Hobby Job?

2009-09-20T14:37:00.003-05:00

I am fortunate that I provide the "second income" in our household. Having one stable, full-time income made pursuing teaching yoga as my "full-time job" a possibility 3 years ago when I took the leap and left my previous full-time job. That being said, the income I contribute to our family budget is important, essential even. Over the past couple of years our family has been, like so many others, affected by the downturn of the economy and job market. There have been many times that I have wondered if my "full time gig" as a yoga/fitness instructor should once again move to "hobby job" status to make room for more stable, more "traditional" income. Over the past couple of years I have, on more than one occasion, questioned whether I am making the right job/income choice for my family's needs. I can easily talk myself into leaning either direction with that argument these days.

I found the article, Can you earn a living teaching yoga?, referenced by YogaDawg today interesting food for thought. As I continue to evaluate the direction of growth I'd like to pursue for my business, as I continue to evaluate whether this profession can provide the income my family needs to thrive in our small community, it's always interesting to get a picture of what's happening in the broader yoga business world. (Not to mention learning about the HUGE difference in what I am making per class compared to some other "chain" instructors. Sigh.)

namaste

Information Overload...

2009-09-08T09:35:00.005-05:00

My yoga library is extensive.

The internet is frequently searched and read on the screen of my little computer.

I feel a great sense of responsibility when it comes to deepening my understanding of the practice. Both as a practitioner and as a teacher.

Yet as of late I have been feeling totally over-whelmed by the wealth of information available about yoga and the process of sorting through it all...figuring it all out.

As I have discussed before here, I don't practice or teach one specific style of yoga. My style is Vinyasa inspired. Iyengar influenced. It's been touched by Ashtanga and Anusaura and even a little bit of Bikram. And for some reason over the years I have let the fact that I don't exclusively follow one style fuel my insecurities about the validity of my practice and my qualifications as a teacher. (I'm sure if we sat down and broke it down in therapy it would come out that I have a fear of success and a sense of not being "good enough" the way I am that stems from years of connecting love, acceptance, and happiness with approval from others more than myself. Oh the things we learn about ourselves through this practice...)

Recently, as I was looking for a good, basic, one sentence definition of yoga for a beginners workshop I'm in the process of developing, I hopped over to my old friend Wikipedia. (Seriously, I love Wikipedia. It's so handy when you have a question about pop culture, or history, or those random "just because I'm curious" questions. I don't care what the academics say, I think Wikipedia is great!)

As I clicked through the pages defining the various limbs of Patanjali's Ashtanga Yoga and the individual styles that have developed from the teaching of Sri Tirumalai Krishnamacharya and Swami Sivananda it all started to come together and make sense. I had an Ah Ha! moment so to speak. It wasn't so much that the information I was reading was new, but having it all visually linked together, with references made through out each page as to how one style or teaching relates to another, allowed my head to wrap around the information like it never had before. I felt like in a moment's time, 10 years of study was suddenly made clear. To think, all that from a website NOT solely dedicated to the practice. Remain open to the possibilities and lessons come from the most interesting of places.

After an hour of clicking and reading and clicking and reading, I settled on this fact...my practice is simply Hatha yoga. (Duh.)

All these years, devoting energy to trying to define where exactly my practice is grounded, I was over looking the most simple truth. Though it all haven't I been looking for a practice that utilizes asanas, pranayama, meditation, purification processes, and attention to living "a good life" in order to take care of my physical and subtle body? Isn't that what drew me to yoga in the first place and has been the basis of my decision to share my practice through teaching?

Hatha yoga in it's simplest of definitions is just that. A basic structure that allows each yogi to develop a practice that fit his/her individual needs.

And really, that's enough isn't it?

I'm happy to say, for me, for my practice, for my teaching style...yes. Yes it is.

This post is like exhaling. It feels good to feel grounded. To feel lifted after allowing myself to let go of the resistance caused by over efforting my search for understanding.

Yoga as life. Life as yoga. The lessons are never ending.

namaste

Amen Sister...

2009-08-25T11:42:00.003-05:00

I LOVE this article.

Love it I say.

Why you ask?

(Thanks to the fabulous Nadine for sharing the link!)

Because the author, a yogini and a teacher of the practice, has taken a stand and conveyed feelings that so many of us yogis out here in the "real world" have ourselves...whether we own up to it or not.

I myself deal with a heavy load of self doubt as a practitioner and teacher because of my self perceived inability to live up to a certain ideal of what a yogi and teacher "should" look like. Yet in my heart I believe that we each must be at peace with the nature of our own individual, unique practice. We each travel down the yogic road in our own way. It's part of what drew me to the practice in the first place.

The openness.

The beauty that comes from the varied colors we each bring to the community through our experiences, practice, personal beliefs, individual personalities and a shared hope for peace.

It is my goal as a teacher to provide accessible yoga to EVERYONE who wishes to join me during their yogic journey. It's a simple foundation on which I have chosen to build my business...a business that I feel is both a blessing and a calling. But no building can stand the test of time unless all the blocks of its structure are placed securely, confidently in place. And while my business has grown, self doubt at times has stopped me from letting it flourish.

I'm working on not letting that be the case.

Thank you Sadie for your honesty. Regardless of what food we choose to eat, what clothes we wear to class, what mat we put under our feet....as a community we cannot lose sight of the simplest foundations of the practice.

Awareness.

Consciousness.

Ahisma.

Non-judgement.

Just to name a few.

It's those foundations that allow each of us to travel this road in our own unique way...at our own pace...surrounded by the love and acceptance that allows each of us to bloom.

How amazing is that?

namaste

Keeping it Fresh...

2009-08-11T10:44:00.003-05:00

The studio where I teach recently conducted a survey with our members to get a better idea of how our yoga programing is (or isn't) meeting the needs of our yoga community. Though the sampling was small (about 2 doz. responses), so is our yoga community. So I feel like we got a pretty good representation of the variety of yogis we serve.

We included both multiple choice and write in questions, each which provided their own valuable info for programming purposes. But as an instructor, I was most interested to read the write in responses. Yes, my ego was hoping to get a little boost by some flattering comments. But more importantly, I am interested in hearing the ways I can grow as a teacher to better serve my classes. And who better to offer up that insight than the community in which I teach? (As much as the ego might not like to admit that we're not perfect.)

One comment has really stuck with me since reading the responses. A comment I can't be upset by, because I fully agree. A comment that put in black and white the fact that while my classes are good solid classes, I tend to fall into a routine with my teaching. It's true. And while reading that thought articulated by someone else may have caused a moment of sting, I needed to hear it to help push me to grow.

I have actually been thinking about this topic a lot this summer. Well, honestly, I've been thinking about a lot of things in relationship to my business as a yoga teacher this summer...but the concept of growth as a teacher has been one of them. I'm feeling a bit stuck at the moment and I'm not sure how best to start getting unstuck. While conferences and workshops are helpful and inspiring, I don't think simply going to more is the answer I need right now. I honestly think this sticking point has to do with a variety of factors, all which need some individual attention before I'm truly going to feel like the journey has started to move forward again. Some of these factors just need time...and I will admit...I'm a bit impatient in that regards.

But...while all these things are working themselves out on this here journey, I still need to be teaching. And teaching classes that offer solid, challenging, and fresh practice opportunities for my students. So thought I'd come to my little communities of yogis here online for some ideas.

Mind sharing teachers?

Where do you look for inspiration when you need to freshen up your classes?

What are your favorite sources for fresh ideas when sequencing a practice?

Have you too ever felt stuck and what helped you get over the hump?

My eyes and ears are open. Thanks much for your guidance!

namaste

Let's Talk About Stress...

2009-07-31T15:23:00.002-05:00

Incontinence.

As a mom of 2 kiddos, both born vaginally, I have had my share of experience with this particular inconvenient and embarrassing issue. I must admit...I'm bad about doing pelvic floor exercises on any type of regular basis. But recently a cold accompanied by a hearty cough and frequent sneezing has me thinking A LOT about just what's going on with my urinary sphincters. I also notice that when my pelvis is slightly misaligned, causing my sciatica to flare up, I have more troubles than when everything in my hips are living in peaceful co-existence. Unfortunately that area is NOT happily co-existing at the moment. Double whammy.

I think the interesting thing about this particular problem is the variety of variables involved: genetics, personal anatomy, awareness and connection to one's root area, emotional influences. There is a whole list of possible factors that might need attention. And, as I become more and more open to discussing this issue with friends and family, I'm discovering I am far from alone in my frustration.

So I made a visit to the Yoga Journal website today intrigued about what I might find on the topic. With a simple search on incontinence I found a number of interesting articles. I'm hoping to incorporate some of the suggestions into my existing awareness exercises with the intent of less frequent leaks in the near future. I hope if you too have dealt with the frustration of stress incontinence, you too find these articles helpful!

namaste

To All My Teaching Buddies...

2009-07-17T15:59:00.003-05:00

Brenda over at Grounding Thru The Sit Bones wrote a great post recently on student retention. I so much appreciated reading her words. I felt as if they could have been coming from my own thoughts. I think it's safe to say that anyone who has ever taught has had to face the fact that not everyone who comes into our classes will return. It's hard. We choose to teach because we believe in the power of yoga and want to share that with others. But our path isn't always for everyone and when someone decides to travel a different way, we simply must let go.

So what have I been up to lately? Summer. Teaching. Reading. Crafting. Being Mommy. Summer.

My current reading pile includes The Heart of Yoga. It's a quite enjoyable read.

So there it is. A quick check in. Back to summer.

namaste

Bringing People Together

2009-06-30T09:42:00.002-05:00

I recently learned about a new yoga in the park project in Des Moines. Free and open to the public every Saturday morning at 9:00 (weather permitting I'm sure.) You can check out details here.

I'm thinking this yoga junkie is going to have to plan an early Saturday morning trip to Des Moines soon!

namaste

A Different Kind of Practice...

2009-06-23T21:50:00.006-05:00

Summer has fallen upon my household and with it a shift in our normal routine. A welcome shift. A more relaxed pace of life. No school for my oldest. Fewer classes for me. Activities that require us to be outside more...softball, gardening, lawn work. I love the ease of summer.

With the shift I find myself THINKING less about the yoga of life, and simply PRACTICING it day to day. In fact, I'm finding myself needing to remind myself to practice patience, compassion and non-attachment a lot these days. My brother is living with us for the summer into the early fall and with him has come a friend's dog. Both welcome additions to our family, but anytime you introduce someone new into a well established family there's adjustments to be made. And as someone who often over offers, over extends, and then at times feels overwhelmed when those offers are accepted, I have had to remind myself to find balance before things feel completely off kilter.

Additionally I am in the midst of figuring out how to move forward professionally. That direction involves returning to school. It's actually a direction I've been exploring for 9 years, only the little road bumps that one has to cross when making arrangements to return to school with a young family has kept me from seriously taking steps until now. I feel as though this is the right time to make this jump, but it doesn't mean everything is simply falling into place. I have to remind myself it will not be the end of the world if in 8 weeks I'm not packing my back-pack for my first night of class. I need to trust that with good honest effort, if now is indeed the right time, it will happen.

Change isn't always easy for me, even when those changes are exciting and welcome. And so my practice continues this summer to be more about my yoga off the mat...although I did start teaching a new "power flow" vinyasa class at the studio for the summer and I'm so enjoying the physicality and the heat and the fluidity of our practice. It's been a wonderful reminder of how I first came to know and why I first fell in love with the practice. It's been a nice (maybe even needed) change to my practice on the mat.

In unrelated news...many thanks to Brenda over at Grounding Thru the Sit Bones for interviewing me for her latest Yoga Journal article! I'm so honored to be included in her fabulous discussion of using, or not using as the case may be, chant in classes. As always, Brenda's piece is both thoughtful and thought provoking. Give it a read!

namaste

In the face of change...

2009-05-15T11:40:00.002-05:00

The past several years have provided many opportunities for change in both my professional and personal lives. Some changes planned, others not so much. Regardless, change can be hard for me. I truly believe I have been able to face change with more open mindedness and optimism (rather than fear and negativity) because of my yoga practice. It has helped me to find perspective, and breath, when faced with uncertainty. For some people that strength comes from prayer. Others find it through meditation. For me it's asana, breath and attention to present moment awareness.

One of the panel discussions at the Yoga Journal Grand Geneva conference was titled Yoga as a Life Tool: How the Practice Can Help You Through Challenging Times. I actually didn't make it to this panel discussion, taking time for a bit longer lunch break between sessions that day, and am so glad that Yoga Journal has added video of the hour long talk to their Yoga Journal TV website. The panel discussion is broken down into 5 segments. Some as short as 5 minutes, one nearing the 20 minute mark. The messages delivered are important, strong messages. Ones I'm not sure I personally was in a good place to hear on day 3 of conference. (As you may remember that was my "I'm hitting a wall I'm so tired" day.) But I so much respect the individuals who were part of the panel and am so glad I (and you) have the chance to hear their words and reflect on how the practice of yoga has extended for each of us off the mat and into our day to day lives.

Do you have a personal story to share about using yoga as your life tool? Please feel free to leave a comment and share.

namaste

What is yoga?

2009-04-29T12:36:00.002-05:00

"What type of mats are those?" asked the young high school boy who was helping me load groceries into the back of my car yesterday AFTER I had scooted a pile of yoga mats over to make room for my bags.

"Yoga mats," I responded.

"What is yoga anyway?" he asked.

Ummm....this is where I went blank. After all the times I've explained to people what yoga is, I couldn't for the life of me come up with a quick 30 second explanation that I thought effectively explained to my young helper the wonderful practice that is yoga. I finally settled on:

"It's an exercise where you do various poses that help build strength and flexibility."

"So it's not just stretching?" he clarified.

"No, a little more than just stretching." I said.

"Oh. I always wondered what yoga was." he said as he started to push the cart back towards the store entrance, wishing me a good day.

It was a brief exchange of words, but at the same time has made me ponder should it happen again, what will I say. How do you verbalize the wisdom of thousands of years of such an amazing and rich practice in 30 seconds or less?

I'm curious, what would you say?

namaste

And No One Left Early...

2009-04-19T21:44:00.003-05:00

This past week I had the privilege of guest instructing in a PE class at Grinnell College. I was asked last semester by the instructor teaching the class, a conditioning class, if I would be interested in helping expose the class to yoga. I offered to teach 2 classes. One to dialog about yoga, the history, the practice, styles of asana practice, and to set some foundation (breath, grounding, etc) work for an asana practice during class 2. It was well received and I was invited back this semester.

It's a fun class and the students have been engaged and eager to learn. Both instructors mentioned before hand that there may be a number of students leaving early. But it didn't happen. Even though our class ran a little long on Thursday, everyone stayed quiet and relaxed through savasana and leisurely rolled their mats before heading out the door. It was lovely and peaceful.

I'm hoping guest instructor for this class can be a regular occurrence. It's been a great way to expose 15-18 college aged students, sometimes for the very first time, the the benefits of yoga. And even if they don't pick up the practice now, or ever, I hope it sparks a thought the next time they think about the needs of their whole being.

namaste

Welcome YJ Conference Alumni!

2009-04-16T19:59:00.000-05:00

Welcome to all of you who are visiting Happy Daisy Yoga for the first time, having linked from the Yoga Journal Conference Connections newsletter. I do hope you enjoy reading about my YJ conference experience in Wisconsin this past March.

One of the most special aspects of yoga is the wonderful community which it fosters. I do hope you'll join the HDY community and visit for a little yoga conversation from time to time. Comments and your personal perspectives are always welcome!

namaste

Decompressing...

2009-04-01T14:15:00.003-05:00

If you've ever attended a workshop/training/retreat, yoga focused or otherwise, you know how it takes some time to fully decompress the event. A return to the normal rhythms of my life has been nice this week. I've enjoyed re-entering into my duties at home, a little calmer, a little more mindful. I've felt fresh in my return to classes, sharing a bits of the wisdom passed on at conference. But I also still find myself processing.

For example yesterday while doing dishes, the work we did in Jason Crandall's session in relationship to arm balances came to mind. Something I had completely forgotten to mention when I was writing up my thoughts here on Saturday. Basically we "did" our arm balances with our backs on the floor first, allowing our bodies to get the feel of the engagement and shape of our anatomy, before we flipped over to a more traditional approach. It was a fabulous experience and right away I thought "What an accessible way to work on arm balances with my seniors!" Not to mention when we did flip over to work with crane I was able to more easily access the balance, core engagement, and ease of breath that allowed me to lift my toes from the floor. For a split second I was doing it! Then I thought about the fact I was doing it and lost it. But the fact I could find the lift necessary even for a short while was totally empowering and inspiring.

I think one of the things that's taking me some time to fully process is how this experience relates to where I am in my practice and my teaching path. Last year when I came home from the Midwest Yoga Conference (and after the couple of shorter workshops I attended last year) I felt like I had a whole list of new things I wanted to share with my students. New ways to approach familiar poses. New ways to access unfamiliar poses. I don't have that same feeling post conference this time. It's true that a great amount of information, good solid information, was presented. I'm simply having a hard time figuring out how to apply it in my teaching. I'm finding there's less in relationship to anatomy and sequencing that feels fresh when I attend sessions. More that feels comfortably, confirmedly, familiar. Granted in Monday night's class I did share an adjustment with those in class for Down Dog. And today in my senior focused class we spent extra time talking about the knee joint and creating stability in various common poses. But I find myself thinking, "Now what?" when I think to future studies.

In general what I find myself thinking is "It's time for depth." In the past 10 years I've explored a broad amount of yoga knowledge, and now I'm feeling that the time has come to find depth. To go beyond the physicality of asana. To deepen my understanding and ability to make connections between one's practice of yoga and applications in life.

Cyndi Lee made the comment this weekend during a panel discussion that as practitioners of yoga, our practice informs our life. Whether it be in relationships, in business, in personal choices, one's choice to practice yoga affects more than jsut the physical being. I found that to be more and more true over the past couple of years as my commitment to study beyond asana strengthens.

What I haven't yet figured out is where searching for that depth will lead me. I have a sizable yoga related library. Books. DVDs. Every Yoga Journal issue I've received in the past 10 years. But I crave more. I crave a teacher. Someone to be my mentor. Someone who I can dialogue with about this fabulous mouth-to-ear tradition we know of as yoga. Someone whose knowledge I can learn from for months/years to come, instead of for a short 2-6 hours, one time at a workshop session. Someone who challenges me, yet who provides a safe environment for questioning and growth.

I somewhat run into a mental roadblock when I try to figure out how that craving fits into my current life. As a mid-westerner. As a mother of small kiddos. As a small town girl who has no intention of relocating simply to make it easier to travel this path.

Processing and decompressing...

namaste

Day 4, The End...

2009-03-30T08:34:00.004-05:00

I love to watch people move. I think it's fascinating to see where people are in their bodies...and where they are not. It amazes me how much one can tell about a person by observing their movements. It's probably one of the reasons I'm drawn to this profession. Part of the reason I find so much enjoyment in my work.

That being said, it would be interesting to see what people thought about my movement when I got out of my car in Iowa City 3 hours after departing from conference and took my first few steps as slowly as an 80 year old. OUCH! One should not do that much yoga and then sit in the car for 3 hours straight. Consider that my tip of the day for you all should you find yourself attending a weekend devoted to the practice of yoga!

I'm sorry to have missed the final session of conference yesterday, but I knew I had made the right decision when in my second session of the morning I spent the whole 2 hours wondering what time it was. My heart was no longer at conference. It was at home with my family...exactly where I wanted to be. Weather wise I could have stayed as the roads were clear and dry by the noon hour, but I don't know that I would have been able to taken in anymore information. My body and my brain were full! It was nice to make the drive home in the light and to arrive back in time to enjoy a couple hours with the family before bedtime rather than simply sneaking in to give goodnight kisses to my sleeping beauties.

I have 3 sessions to break down here to finish out my conference report. So let me get right on that task!

Saturday afternoon I spent 2 hours in Detox Flow with Seane Corn. If you ever have a chance to take a class with Seane, I highly recommend doing so. It's hard for me to explain exactly what draws me to Seane. She teaches beautifully, thoughtfully sequenced classes, but it's more than that. She's amazingly confident in who she is and where she is in her life. She doesn't hide, nor does she apologize for, the imperfections of her past. She draws upon her experiences to bring a truth and realness to her teachings. She embraces the mystical aspects of yoga that can often play second fiddle in our culture where the word yoga most often first brings to mind the physicality of asana. Her words make you take a look at your thoughts, your actions, the choices you make in your life in regards to your health and the health of the world around you. Last spring I attended a Yogini session with Seane at the Midwest Yoga Conference. An experience that proved to be amazingly emotional, yet also empowering. I'm happy to report this session was equally powerful, though thankfully didn't involve as many tears. Leaving a session with Seane makes me want to run out and do everything I can to make our world a better place in which to live...for EVERYONE. I could go on, but I think you get an idea of how I felt about my choice of sessions!

Saturday night I found myself driving back to the condo at which I was staying in freezing rain. While stressful, not near as stressful as the return drive to the resort Sunday morning in about 6 inches of heavy, wet snow. Don't get me wrong, it was beautiful and amazing, but not ideal driving conditions! I arrived at the resort just in time to slip into my first session of the day and settle before it got underway.

My first session of the morning was entitled Salutations to the Sun, Moon, and 5 Elements with Wade Imre Morissette. I knew nothing about Wade before taking this session, but I love the completeness and symbolism of Surya Namaskar. And salute we did! About 25 times. A far cry from 108, but plenty of challenge for this girl on the 4th morning of conference. In addition to the very familiar Surya Namaskar A and B (in the Astanga tradition) we did salutations that corresponded to the 5 elements (earth, fire, water, air, & ether), ending with a couple rounds of Chandra Namaskar (moon salutation). Additionally at the end of each salutation we stood in Tadasana to chant in unison a simple mantra while Wade accompanied us with his guitar. As someone who has never included chant in her practice, I found it both challenging and interesting to find the breath and concentration to not only move through the sequences, but also to sing! It was interesting to find that after some sequences I could easy join in the group chant, while at other times I had to just stop and re-find my breath while I listened to the group chant around me. It was a nice practice in devotion and I found myself thinking less about the physicality of the work and more about the flow of energy though my body which often resulted in finding ease in the work. It was nice.

One kinda downer, and I only bring this up because I think it's an important thing to think about as a teacher. Many of the instructors throughout the weekend used their cell phones as their clocks. Something I have done myself when I'm teaching in locations without a wall clock. Of course all the session rooms had NO CELL PHONE signs at the entrance and I'm happy to say that only once did I hear some one's cell phone quietly ringing in a bag at the back of the room. Anyway, Wade was using his cell phone as his clock and I didn't think much about it until towards the end of class when we were "resting" in a Down Dog and he commented that his wife had just sent a text to say good morning. Instantly my thoughts went from being present in the room, in my practice, with my breath, to my family 300 miles away. I'm sure that was not the intent of the comment, but something for us teachers to really think about in how our actions and words affect the mental focus of our students.

My second session Sunday morning, and my last session of conference, was with Marsha Wenig, founder of YogaKids. Admittedly by this time my spirit was already on it's way home and I found myself feeling a bit out of place in the session which was obviously intended for teachers. Not teachers of yoga, teachers of kids. I knew that might somewhat be the case when I picked this session, but decided to attend because we have YogaKids products in our home and I've used Marsha's program as a resource when I've prepared to teach our Let's Play Yoga classes at the studio. The session provided some good information for those hoping to introduce yoga in a school/classroom setting. While I enjoy sharing yoga with my own kids, and occasionally with a group of kids at the studio or a special event, and while I TOTALLY think introducing kids to the tools yoga has to offer early in life, doing so is not something I myself am passionate about in relationship to my own teaching offerings.

And so my Grand Geneva experience drew to a close. My final session, the one I choose to skip in order to get down the road to home was with Richard Freeman on Mula Bandha...a topic I've been exploring a lot recently. I was sad to miss the opportunity to sit and learn from Richard, but have faith that this will not be my only chance to do so. After all, this path is just that, a long and winding journey.

I'm also confident this will not be my last yoga conference. The teacher side of me is much more drawn to the all day intensives over the shorter 2 hour sessions that make up the main conference days. However, I also enjoy the chance just to be a student in the shorter sessions designed to be more practice, less talk. But 4 days was a bit much for me emotionally, physically, mentally. I think 1 day of intensives and 1 day of shorter sessions would be the perfect mix for me, and will take that into consideration when planning my attendance at future events. That may change as my life changes. In fact I'm certain it will.

I want to once again say thanks to all those who made my attendance at conference a reality. Thanks to the presenters who so thoughtfully shared their knowledge. Thanks to my fellow attendees for creating a wonderful sense of community throughout the weekend. And thank all of you who have followed my journey here on HDY. I do hope you'll continue to follow along with my yoga journey and share with the HDY community thoughts and comments about your own yogic path.

namaste

Day 4, SNOW!

2009-03-29T10:31:00.002-05:00

I'm in my second session of the morning. I'm admittedly ditching out early today because of a springtime snow storm that has dumped 6-8 inches of wet, heavy snow onto Wisconsin. I'll take some time to break down the last of my thoughts after I'm safely back in Iowa. Thanks for following my journey this weekend!

namaste