This weekend, the Mosman yoga community came together to demonstrate support for the people affected by the recent bushfires in Victoria. Between 7am and 7pm on Sunday 1st March, Mosman teachers and students joined forces to practise yoga, chant and meditate together to raise both compassionate awareness and money to benefit the communities that have been devastated by the fires. 12 hours of yoga and over $4,000 of donations later, I sat and reflected on what we had achieved. On a practical level we have raised much needed funds that will provide assistance to families in need. We also achieved something more subtle but infinitely powerful – connection.
Yoga teaches us about non-duality, showing us that, despite the differences we may perceive on the surface, we are all one. Our suffering comes from the delusion of separation. Erich Schiffmann uses the image of the ocean to demonstrate non-duality. Rising out of the ocean are two mighty waves. They can see eachother across the expanse of the ocean and think ‘ah, look, another wave!’ They see eachother as separate, which of course they are on the surface - the crest of each wave is formed in a different place, following a different path, rising and falling in a different pattern. What they don’t realise is that they were formed from, and will return to, the same vast, deep ocean. And so it is for us. We appear as separate individuals with different colour skins, cultures and experiences, but many of us fail to recognise that we all come from, and will ultimately return to, the same vast and unified consciousness.
When we come together with a sincere intention to connect with our fellow men and women, we experience that non-duality. We recognise that we are all one. In demonstrating support, cultivating compassion and providing material support for our neighbours, we connect with them in a way that instinctively understands that their suffering is our suffering. If we want to feel better about ourselves (and, for most of us, that’s what yoga is all about!), we need to help others feel better too. My experience of watching so many caring teachers and students give their time and money to support the victims of the Victorian bushfires reminded me that this connection between people is at the very heart of yoga. It is our ability to care about others as well as ourselves that makes us truly human and brings us closer to understanding the reality of non-duality.
www.adoreyoga.com
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Temper, temper!
I get cranky when it’s too hot. It starts off with tiredness and generally feeling like everything’s too hard. Then something flips my switch and I’m off. Raging. Normal pre-schooler behaviour suddenly becomes an unbearable provocation and I find myself giving my 4 year old a roasting for the terrible crime of drawing on her little brothers hand with texta. So what happens to me when the temperature rises? And is there anything I can do to keep calm? The answers can be found in Ayurveda, yoga’s sister science (Ayurveda = ‘Science of Life”). I’ve mentioned before in this blog about the three doshas, or constitutions, from which all matter is made.
Pitta dosha is made up of fire and earth elements. It is this fire element that can get out of control during the summer and bring out the firey behaviour that my poor children have been witnessing! My constitution is mainly Pitta, but we all have a bit of Pitta in our make-up and these hot summer days can aggravate any of us if we find our Pitta dosha getting out of balance. Here’s a run-down of Pitta characteristics and some tips for keeping that fire in check during the hot weather!
Characteristics of Pitta
Pitta-dominant people are often of average or athletic physical build and have fine hair (often blonde or red) that tends to early grey. They have a strong, robust appetite and metabolism. A balanced Pitta is blessed with a sharp intelligence and an amazing ability to organise people and events. The Pitta dosha is made up of the elements of Fire and Earth and the fire side of Pitta can quickly get out of control if the dosha gets out of balance through poor diet or lifestyle choices. Flashes of anger and jealousy may flare up if Pitta dosha isn’t kept cool and balanced. You may not be Pitta-dominant, but in the hot weather, or if you live a lifestyle that aggravates Pitta, you can still experience the same symptoms.
Disease Patterns of Pitta
Pitta-dominant people are more likely to suffer from ‘heat’ related conditions – inflammatory diseases, fevers, rashes, burning sensations, ulceration, sore throat, and irritations such as conjunctivitis.
Lifestyle tips to keep Pitta dosha balanced
Things to avoid: Too much heat aggravates Pitta dosha, so avoid saunas and steam rooms and take special care during the summer months to stay cool. Make sure you exercise during the coolest part of the day (no jogging at lunchtime!) Strong, spicy, stimulating foods are not recommended (ie. Chillies, garlic, raw onion, coffee, salt) and oily food or acidic foods such as tomatoes and citrus fruit should be avoided. Pittas function best on a predominantly vegetarian diet, so keep consumption of red meat, chicken and eggs to a minimum.
Things that balance Pitta dosha: Try eating ‘cooling’ foods. This doesn’t mean ice-cream! In Ayurveda, cooling foods and spices include fresh vegetables and fruit, cinnamon, coriander, fennel and cardamom and coconut milk. Cooling yoga practices when you get overheated are extremely helpful - there are lots of poses and breathing techniques specifically designed to balance Pitta dosha. Try some seated forward bends and start to focus on gently lengthening your exhalation (always check with a qualified teacher before practising at home). Cooling pranayama practises such as Shitali (poke out your tongue, roll up the sides to form a tube, then inhale over the tongue as you raise your head to look up. At the top of the inhale, put your tongue back in, lower your chin and exhale through both nostrils) can also be very helpful when you notice heat symptoms.
Pitta dosha health check:
• Avoid excessive heat
• Exercise during the cooler part of the day
• Eat cooling foods and avoid spicy foods
• Try some gentle, cooling yoga poses such as seated forward bends and cooling pranayama
Pitta dosha is made up of fire and earth elements. It is this fire element that can get out of control during the summer and bring out the firey behaviour that my poor children have been witnessing! My constitution is mainly Pitta, but we all have a bit of Pitta in our make-up and these hot summer days can aggravate any of us if we find our Pitta dosha getting out of balance. Here’s a run-down of Pitta characteristics and some tips for keeping that fire in check during the hot weather!
Characteristics of Pitta
Pitta-dominant people are often of average or athletic physical build and have fine hair (often blonde or red) that tends to early grey. They have a strong, robust appetite and metabolism. A balanced Pitta is blessed with a sharp intelligence and an amazing ability to organise people and events. The Pitta dosha is made up of the elements of Fire and Earth and the fire side of Pitta can quickly get out of control if the dosha gets out of balance through poor diet or lifestyle choices. Flashes of anger and jealousy may flare up if Pitta dosha isn’t kept cool and balanced. You may not be Pitta-dominant, but in the hot weather, or if you live a lifestyle that aggravates Pitta, you can still experience the same symptoms.
Disease Patterns of Pitta
Pitta-dominant people are more likely to suffer from ‘heat’ related conditions – inflammatory diseases, fevers, rashes, burning sensations, ulceration, sore throat, and irritations such as conjunctivitis.
Lifestyle tips to keep Pitta dosha balanced
Things to avoid: Too much heat aggravates Pitta dosha, so avoid saunas and steam rooms and take special care during the summer months to stay cool. Make sure you exercise during the coolest part of the day (no jogging at lunchtime!) Strong, spicy, stimulating foods are not recommended (ie. Chillies, garlic, raw onion, coffee, salt) and oily food or acidic foods such as tomatoes and citrus fruit should be avoided. Pittas function best on a predominantly vegetarian diet, so keep consumption of red meat, chicken and eggs to a minimum.
Things that balance Pitta dosha: Try eating ‘cooling’ foods. This doesn’t mean ice-cream! In Ayurveda, cooling foods and spices include fresh vegetables and fruit, cinnamon, coriander, fennel and cardamom and coconut milk. Cooling yoga practices when you get overheated are extremely helpful - there are lots of poses and breathing techniques specifically designed to balance Pitta dosha. Try some seated forward bends and start to focus on gently lengthening your exhalation (always check with a qualified teacher before practising at home). Cooling pranayama practises such as Shitali (poke out your tongue, roll up the sides to form a tube, then inhale over the tongue as you raise your head to look up. At the top of the inhale, put your tongue back in, lower your chin and exhale through both nostrils) can also be very helpful when you notice heat symptoms.
Pitta dosha health check:
• Avoid excessive heat
• Exercise during the cooler part of the day
• Eat cooling foods and avoid spicy foods
• Try some gentle, cooling yoga poses such as seated forward bends and cooling pranayama
Friday, January 2, 2009
New Year Revolution
New Year Revolution
Goal setting yoga-style.
What do you want? No, really. What do you really, truly, deeply, honestly want more than anything in the world? When I was about 14, I bought a record by Joe Jackson and one of the lyrics went “You can’t get what you want…. Till you know what you want”. There may be lots of things that you want, but what matters most? If you want to make some changes in your life, it’s time for some careful self-enquiry (Swadhyaya).
Goal setting is a very effective way of moving towards positive changes. If you’ve failed to reach goals in the past, it’s probably down to one of two things. 1. Lack of planning or 2. Setting the wrong goals. If you don’t plan out how you’re going to reach your goals, then it’s easy to get lost along the way. However, if you don’t set the right goals, it doesn’t matter how diligently you work towards them, things will never turn out quite how you’d hoped.
So, what is the ‘right’ goal? The goals worth reaching for and the ones that will make you truly happy are the ones that are in line with your deepest, most heartfelt values and desires. It’s time to go inwards and ask yourself what really matters most to you. When you understand your core values and desires you can start to set goals that are in line with your deepest needs. Those are the goals that, with some careful planning and focus, will bring you the greatest reward.
Here’s a simple 4 step plan to help you identify and work towards your goals in 2009:
1. ENQUIRY – You’ve got to know what you want before you can set goals and sometimes, you have to dig a bit deeper to find out what that really is. Meditation is very helpful here. Rather than just thinking about what goals to set, meditation allows you to access the space between your thoughts where your true feelings, inspiration and wisdom come from. Meditation helps you to work out what matters most so you can set goals that are in line with your true values and desires.
2. PLAN – This is where you get it out of your head and on to paper. Firstly, set your goals according to the deepest values and needs that you discovered through meditation. Write them down so that they are clear, concrete and unambiguous, then set a timeframe for each of them. Now, what do you have to do in order to be, have, do and experience the goals you have written down? For each of your goals, write down what it would take to make them happen.
3. ACT – You know what your goals are and what it will take to reach them. Now you’re ready to take action and start living your life in a way that is in harmony with the deepest values and desires that you identified in Step 1. For each of your goals, write down three things that you can do this week to achieve the things you wrote down in Step 2. You can use asana to help you with this. When you feel stuck or unsure how to act, get up and move your body. The flow of energy will help bring clarity and momentum to your plans.
4. START AGAIN! To stay on track, keep tapping in to your innate wisdom through meditation, redefining your goals according to what matters most. Use your asana practise to help you move forward by conjouring the energy, awareness and effort required to reach those goals.
Yoga teaches us about the concept of Bhavana. It’s kind of like yogic goal setting in and is a tool to help us develop, realise or manifest something positive. We can also use Sankalpa (Intention) to give us focus. When you’ve worked out your deepest needs and values, create a short, positive phrase that encapsulates what you’re working towards. This needn’t be a concrete ‘goal’. An intention is a more universal concept, a feeling or direction that underpins every goal, action and choice you make. An example might be “I experience joy and success in everything I do” or “My relationships are filled with happiness and compassion”. Use your Sankalpa in your meditation, as a daily affirmation or during Savasana (Corpse Pose) at the end of your asana practise.
One very important difference with goal setting yoga-style is your attitude towards the outcome. Yoga asks us to surrender, let go and live in the present moment. Even though we set goals that help us to move in a certain direction, we need to learn to let go of our attachment to the outcome. Sometimes, when things don’t go exactly to plan, they have a strange way of turning out for the better. Go with the flow!
Make 2009 the year that you use these simple yoga practises to help you set and work towards the goals that will take you where your heart truly desires to go (and that may not always be where your conscious mind thinks it should be!)
www.adoreyoga.com
Copyright Nikola Ellis 2009
Goal setting yoga-style.
What do you want? No, really. What do you really, truly, deeply, honestly want more than anything in the world? When I was about 14, I bought a record by Joe Jackson and one of the lyrics went “You can’t get what you want…. Till you know what you want”. There may be lots of things that you want, but what matters most? If you want to make some changes in your life, it’s time for some careful self-enquiry (Swadhyaya).
Goal setting is a very effective way of moving towards positive changes. If you’ve failed to reach goals in the past, it’s probably down to one of two things. 1. Lack of planning or 2. Setting the wrong goals. If you don’t plan out how you’re going to reach your goals, then it’s easy to get lost along the way. However, if you don’t set the right goals, it doesn’t matter how diligently you work towards them, things will never turn out quite how you’d hoped.
So, what is the ‘right’ goal? The goals worth reaching for and the ones that will make you truly happy are the ones that are in line with your deepest, most heartfelt values and desires. It’s time to go inwards and ask yourself what really matters most to you. When you understand your core values and desires you can start to set goals that are in line with your deepest needs. Those are the goals that, with some careful planning and focus, will bring you the greatest reward.
Here’s a simple 4 step plan to help you identify and work towards your goals in 2009:
1. ENQUIRY – You’ve got to know what you want before you can set goals and sometimes, you have to dig a bit deeper to find out what that really is. Meditation is very helpful here. Rather than just thinking about what goals to set, meditation allows you to access the space between your thoughts where your true feelings, inspiration and wisdom come from. Meditation helps you to work out what matters most so you can set goals that are in line with your true values and desires.
2. PLAN – This is where you get it out of your head and on to paper. Firstly, set your goals according to the deepest values and needs that you discovered through meditation. Write them down so that they are clear, concrete and unambiguous, then set a timeframe for each of them. Now, what do you have to do in order to be, have, do and experience the goals you have written down? For each of your goals, write down what it would take to make them happen.
3. ACT – You know what your goals are and what it will take to reach them. Now you’re ready to take action and start living your life in a way that is in harmony with the deepest values and desires that you identified in Step 1. For each of your goals, write down three things that you can do this week to achieve the things you wrote down in Step 2. You can use asana to help you with this. When you feel stuck or unsure how to act, get up and move your body. The flow of energy will help bring clarity and momentum to your plans.
4. START AGAIN! To stay on track, keep tapping in to your innate wisdom through meditation, redefining your goals according to what matters most. Use your asana practise to help you move forward by conjouring the energy, awareness and effort required to reach those goals.
Yoga teaches us about the concept of Bhavana. It’s kind of like yogic goal setting in and is a tool to help us develop, realise or manifest something positive. We can also use Sankalpa (Intention) to give us focus. When you’ve worked out your deepest needs and values, create a short, positive phrase that encapsulates what you’re working towards. This needn’t be a concrete ‘goal’. An intention is a more universal concept, a feeling or direction that underpins every goal, action and choice you make. An example might be “I experience joy and success in everything I do” or “My relationships are filled with happiness and compassion”. Use your Sankalpa in your meditation, as a daily affirmation or during Savasana (Corpse Pose) at the end of your asana practise.
One very important difference with goal setting yoga-style is your attitude towards the outcome. Yoga asks us to surrender, let go and live in the present moment. Even though we set goals that help us to move in a certain direction, we need to learn to let go of our attachment to the outcome. Sometimes, when things don’t go exactly to plan, they have a strange way of turning out for the better. Go with the flow!
Make 2009 the year that you use these simple yoga practises to help you set and work towards the goals that will take you where your heart truly desires to go (and that may not always be where your conscious mind thinks it should be!)
www.adoreyoga.com
Copyright Nikola Ellis 2009
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Jingle Bells, Christmas Smells..!
So, Christmas is just over a week away, I have two sick children, one unemployed spouse, a homesick mother and enormous bags under my eyes. No, not from all the Christmas parties - 1yr old Eddie was up all last night with a fever and VERY bad nappies. Christmas does not smell like mulled wine and mince pies in our house, more like panadol and baby poo.
So what's the yoga practice that's sustaining me through all this? Savasana. Got a minute in between making lunch and putting out the washing? Savasana. Discover that I haven't been followed by a small child into the toilet for once? Grab 2 mins Savasana on the hallway floor before somebody notices I've gone. Short blog entry this week? I've just got to grab another quick Savas...
So what's the yoga practice that's sustaining me through all this? Savasana. Got a minute in between making lunch and putting out the washing? Savasana. Discover that I haven't been followed by a small child into the toilet for once? Grab 2 mins Savasana on the hallway floor before somebody notices I've gone. Short blog entry this week? I've just got to grab another quick Savas...
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Nappy-change management
There are some big changes going on. I’ve been wondering if the planets are aligned in some rare and dramatic way that is causing the seismic shifts we are experiencing in our little family. Everything is changing.
In yoga therapy, change is known as Parinama. When a yoga therapist works with a student, they follow the four steps of healing, starting by observing symptoms (Heyam), then looking for the cause of those symptoms (Hetu). Parinama is right up there with the Kleshas (ego, fear, desire, ignorance and hatred), Tapa (desire/addiction) and Samskara (patterns of behaviour/belief) as a cause of the emotional, mental and physiological symptoms of illness.
Of course, its our response to change that makes the difference between good and poor health outcomes and those responses are closely linked to our past experiences and patterns of behaviour (Samskaras). With that in mind, I have been observing my own health and noting how my reaction to change has been affecting my health.
When my one year old son starts to behave more like a toddler than a baby (tantrums, opinions and general non-compliance, particularly around nappy changes), I race to the book shelves to see what the baby-experts have to say – surely there’s a way to fix this unwelcome behaviour? When my partner is made redundant, I go in to overdrive, finding ‘creative’ ways to plug the financial gap with new schemes. When my mother visits from the UK and needs somewhere local and economical to stay, I pour out ideas for finding house-sitting, room-sharing and Winnebago driving solutions. I am a fixer. Whether it’s finding ways to accommodate the changing needs of my growing children or raising enough cash to pay the bills, I am right on the case, looking for the best ‘fix’.
And there’s the source of my fatigue, my sore throat, my all-round grumpiness. Because, you see, I can’t fix it all. I can certainly contribute ideas, provide support, find ways to manage the various situations in which we find ourselves as a family. But I can’t ‘fix’ toddlerhood. I can’t ‘make’ my partner get another job. So, what to do? Well, for now I’m working on Bhavana – setting and visualising goals without attachment to the outcome. Gosh, that’s hard! I’m looking at my notes for the yoga therapy workshop I’m facilitating later today and I can see the sentence “Dukham=Suffering. Yoga evolved to heal suffering.” So, it’s back to yoga I go. Not to fix my sore throat or even to help me find a solution to the challenges I’m facing. But to help heal the suffering. In my case, that means using yoga to help me moderate my response to change. I think it’s time to let go of trying to fix things and to start letting them be.
In yoga therapy, change is known as Parinama. When a yoga therapist works with a student, they follow the four steps of healing, starting by observing symptoms (Heyam), then looking for the cause of those symptoms (Hetu). Parinama is right up there with the Kleshas (ego, fear, desire, ignorance and hatred), Tapa (desire/addiction) and Samskara (patterns of behaviour/belief) as a cause of the emotional, mental and physiological symptoms of illness.
Of course, its our response to change that makes the difference between good and poor health outcomes and those responses are closely linked to our past experiences and patterns of behaviour (Samskaras). With that in mind, I have been observing my own health and noting how my reaction to change has been affecting my health.
When my one year old son starts to behave more like a toddler than a baby (tantrums, opinions and general non-compliance, particularly around nappy changes), I race to the book shelves to see what the baby-experts have to say – surely there’s a way to fix this unwelcome behaviour? When my partner is made redundant, I go in to overdrive, finding ‘creative’ ways to plug the financial gap with new schemes. When my mother visits from the UK and needs somewhere local and economical to stay, I pour out ideas for finding house-sitting, room-sharing and Winnebago driving solutions. I am a fixer. Whether it’s finding ways to accommodate the changing needs of my growing children or raising enough cash to pay the bills, I am right on the case, looking for the best ‘fix’.
And there’s the source of my fatigue, my sore throat, my all-round grumpiness. Because, you see, I can’t fix it all. I can certainly contribute ideas, provide support, find ways to manage the various situations in which we find ourselves as a family. But I can’t ‘fix’ toddlerhood. I can’t ‘make’ my partner get another job. So, what to do? Well, for now I’m working on Bhavana – setting and visualising goals without attachment to the outcome. Gosh, that’s hard! I’m looking at my notes for the yoga therapy workshop I’m facilitating later today and I can see the sentence “Dukham=Suffering. Yoga evolved to heal suffering.” So, it’s back to yoga I go. Not to fix my sore throat or even to help me find a solution to the challenges I’m facing. But to help heal the suffering. In my case, that means using yoga to help me moderate my response to change. I think it’s time to let go of trying to fix things and to start letting them be.
Monday, September 22, 2008
Spring Cleaning, Yoga Style
My partner, Kevin, went off to a yoga retreat four weeks ago and left me with two small children for three days while he cleansed, purged, posed and om-ed. I can't say I was too delighted about that (I know, not very yogic of me), since I was at home doing bottom-wiping, food-cajoling and generally refereeing the sometimes tempestuous relationship between my 4 year old daughter and 1 year old son. However, when daddy returned home on Sunday night, something miraculous had happened. He was beaming as he walked through the door. Not just the usual 'pleased to see you' smile. But a beatific, glowing, beaming light that filled the whole house. Wow, I thought, so THAT'S what you look like when you get 3 days off the parenting job.
But there was more to come. In the following days I found that I wasn't being ground down by the usual endless, thankless round of household chores. Quietly and unseen, like the tooth-fairy, Kevin was lifting the burden of domestic drudgery by performing little tasks that make a big difference. When I went into the kitchen to make breakfast, the dishwasher was already empty. Without warning, Ruby was dressed and ready for preschool without the usual United Nations-style negotiations ("not the purple skirt mummy, the green one etc.") I didn't seem to be changing quite so many nappies as usual.
All this was done with a smile and the lightness of being that comes from the clarity, perspective and balance of a yoga 'spring clean'. Ayurveda, yoga’s sister-science, teaches us to live in accordance with the seasons and has plenty of tips for Spring-cleaning. Kevin had been observing many of these at his retreat:
1. EAT LIGHTLY - Eat light, easy-to-digest foods in spring and wait at least
3-4 hours between meals. Try eating less foods that increase kapha (the dominant energy in Spring that can make us feel sluggish) —dairy products, iced, cold and raw food or drinks, and fried or oily food.
2. GET YOUR BODY MOVING – Now is the time to do some vigorous yoga, focusing on the standing poses, flowing movements and twists.
3. PRACTISE DEEP BREATHING – Use ujjayi breathing as you do your Spring Practise. This deep, rhythmical ‘throat-breathing’ will help blow away the cobwebs, strengthening your breath and balancing your mind.
4. SAVOUR THE SEASON – Go out and connect with nature. At this time of year the earth is literally bursting with renewal and transformation. Tune in to the season, the earth and your inner rhythms by spending time outdoors and silently observing the regrowth and renewal all around you.
5. TRY YOGIC CLEANSING TECHNIQUES - Practises like Neti (nasal wash) and Shankar Prakshalana (colon cleanse) are excellent ways to clean out the body, thereby improving immune functioning, digestion, concentration and mood. Nasal washes can be purchased over the counter in pharmacies and a quick Google will provide instructions. However, more complicated yoga cleansing practices such as the colon cleanse should only be done under the supervision of an experienced yoga teacher.
So, next time Kevin declares he's off on a yoga retreat and leaves me holding the babies, I will be absolutely delighted. Far more that simple 'time out', a cleansing retreat offers healing and renewal for the body and mind and helps a dedicated yogi be a dedicated daddy!
www.adoreyoga.com
But there was more to come. In the following days I found that I wasn't being ground down by the usual endless, thankless round of household chores. Quietly and unseen, like the tooth-fairy, Kevin was lifting the burden of domestic drudgery by performing little tasks that make a big difference. When I went into the kitchen to make breakfast, the dishwasher was already empty. Without warning, Ruby was dressed and ready for preschool without the usual United Nations-style negotiations ("not the purple skirt mummy, the green one etc.") I didn't seem to be changing quite so many nappies as usual.
All this was done with a smile and the lightness of being that comes from the clarity, perspective and balance of a yoga 'spring clean'. Ayurveda, yoga’s sister-science, teaches us to live in accordance with the seasons and has plenty of tips for Spring-cleaning. Kevin had been observing many of these at his retreat:
1. EAT LIGHTLY - Eat light, easy-to-digest foods in spring and wait at least
3-4 hours between meals. Try eating less foods that increase kapha (the dominant energy in Spring that can make us feel sluggish) —dairy products, iced, cold and raw food or drinks, and fried or oily food.
2. GET YOUR BODY MOVING – Now is the time to do some vigorous yoga, focusing on the standing poses, flowing movements and twists.
3. PRACTISE DEEP BREATHING – Use ujjayi breathing as you do your Spring Practise. This deep, rhythmical ‘throat-breathing’ will help blow away the cobwebs, strengthening your breath and balancing your mind.
4. SAVOUR THE SEASON – Go out and connect with nature. At this time of year the earth is literally bursting with renewal and transformation. Tune in to the season, the earth and your inner rhythms by spending time outdoors and silently observing the regrowth and renewal all around you.
5. TRY YOGIC CLEANSING TECHNIQUES - Practises like Neti (nasal wash) and Shankar Prakshalana (colon cleanse) are excellent ways to clean out the body, thereby improving immune functioning, digestion, concentration and mood. Nasal washes can be purchased over the counter in pharmacies and a quick Google will provide instructions. However, more complicated yoga cleansing practices such as the colon cleanse should only be done under the supervision of an experienced yoga teacher.
So, next time Kevin declares he's off on a yoga retreat and leaves me holding the babies, I will be absolutely delighted. Far more that simple 'time out', a cleansing retreat offers healing and renewal for the body and mind and helps a dedicated yogi be a dedicated daddy!
www.adoreyoga.com
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Diary of a Yoga Mama
Soon after my first baby was born, I looked into the screwed up face of my howling tot and declared 'YOU are my yoga practice now." And so, baby Ruby became Guru Rubyananda and the 4 years since that day have been an enlightening lesson in putting the Yamas and Niyamas into practise. The WHAT's? Well, the Yamas and Niyamas are kind of like the 10 commandments of yoga.
YAMAS
Ahimsa - non-harming/ non-violence
Satya - truthfulness
Asteya - non-stealing
Brahmacharya - moderation / self restraint
Aparigraha - non-posessiveness (simplicity)
NIYAMAS
Saucha - purity/clarity
Santosha - contentment
Tapas - austerity/discipline
Swadhyaya - self study
Iswarapranidana - surrender
In the Raja path of yoga (that's mostly what we yogis in the west are following) there are 8 limbs, or branches of yoga. Before we get to all the asana (poses) and pranayama (breathing), we need to think about taking on board these Yamas and Niyamas. When we start to put these ideas into practise, the stuff we do on the yoga mat takes on a whole new dimension.
Yoga is a type of practical psychology that uses the body to access the mind. When I first started doing yoga, I noticed how much better I felt. It wasn't just the endorphin rush of doing some exercise and it was more than the good feeling you get from straightforward relaxation. After several months of regular practice I began to notice that I was thinking new thoughts and seeing the usual stuff of daily life in a new way. Yoga was actually changing the way I think.
These Yamas and Niyamas provide signposts that help us navigate the our interactions in the world, offering us ethical ways to think about our relationships, work and connection to the world. As a mother, I battle to be mindful of each and every one of these concepts every day. Is putting up with being treated like crap by my 4 year old a violation of Ahimsa (non harming)? I might not be giving her a smack for her cheek (ie. I'm not being violent towards her), but the build up of stress that I experience when I try to turn a blind eye or laugh it off certainly causes me harm. How can I best practise Satya (truthfulness) when she throws me a curly question about death or even asks me if fairies are real?
Yoga and Parenting. That's what this blog is all about. Yoga, parenting and working. As a yoga teacher and owner of a growing studio, it's an interesting juggling act when you have a preschooler and newly walking one year old to contend with when the phone rings and student asks for help in handling a diagnosis of cancer or a teacher calls to say they can't make the class they are supposed to be teaching in 30 minutes. All great opportunities for practising the Yamas and Niyamas.
www.adoreyoga.com
YAMAS
Ahimsa - non-harming/ non-violence
Satya - truthfulness
Asteya - non-stealing
Brahmacharya - moderation / self restraint
Aparigraha - non-posessiveness (simplicity)
NIYAMAS
Saucha - purity/clarity
Santosha - contentment
Tapas - austerity/discipline
Swadhyaya - self study
Iswarapranidana - surrender
In the Raja path of yoga (that's mostly what we yogis in the west are following) there are 8 limbs, or branches of yoga. Before we get to all the asana (poses) and pranayama (breathing), we need to think about taking on board these Yamas and Niyamas. When we start to put these ideas into practise, the stuff we do on the yoga mat takes on a whole new dimension.
Yoga is a type of practical psychology that uses the body to access the mind. When I first started doing yoga, I noticed how much better I felt. It wasn't just the endorphin rush of doing some exercise and it was more than the good feeling you get from straightforward relaxation. After several months of regular practice I began to notice that I was thinking new thoughts and seeing the usual stuff of daily life in a new way. Yoga was actually changing the way I think.
These Yamas and Niyamas provide signposts that help us navigate the our interactions in the world, offering us ethical ways to think about our relationships, work and connection to the world. As a mother, I battle to be mindful of each and every one of these concepts every day. Is putting up with being treated like crap by my 4 year old a violation of Ahimsa (non harming)? I might not be giving her a smack for her cheek (ie. I'm not being violent towards her), but the build up of stress that I experience when I try to turn a blind eye or laugh it off certainly causes me harm. How can I best practise Satya (truthfulness) when she throws me a curly question about death or even asks me if fairies are real?
Yoga and Parenting. That's what this blog is all about. Yoga, parenting and working. As a yoga teacher and owner of a growing studio, it's an interesting juggling act when you have a preschooler and newly walking one year old to contend with when the phone rings and student asks for help in handling a diagnosis of cancer or a teacher calls to say they can't make the class they are supposed to be teaching in 30 minutes. All great opportunities for practising the Yamas and Niyamas.
www.adoreyoga.com
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