Gratitude

In my private yoga training, I have been working on setting intentions for my practice. In line with that, I selected a home practice based on Shiva Rea's empowering sequence in Yoga Journal. In this flow, Shiva Rea assigns mantras associated with the specific emotions evoked by each asana.

As I worked through these poses and focused my intentions, I was overwhelmed with a sense of gratitude. The vinyasa yoga flow was indeed empowering and as I moved through each posture, I became aware of my own strength and possibility. I felt a profound gratefulness for my body, for the movements that I am able to make, for carrying me through my life.

So often, we take our bodies for granted ... not thinking of them at all, or simply treating them like a shell, or even a hindrance. We abuse our bodies by eating poorly, ignoring signs of sickness, willfully engaging in habits that damage our bodies like smoking.

But our body is our life. We experience our lives through our bodies. We all have to meet our physical needs - on a daily basis - before we can accomplish anything else. As children, we express ourselves physically first. We clap to show happiness, reach up to our mothers to show love, duck our heads when we are shy. When we are healthy, we are happy. When our bodies our strong, our minds are invigorated. The muscles and tendons and ligaments in our bodies support us, allow us to express ourselves and carry us through our lives. Overcoming physical challenges gives us courage to tackle other kinds of situations. When our body's health deteriorates, our lives become tenuous. Instead of ignoring your body, take a moment to say "thank you" for all the work your body does taking care of you. Make sure that you are taking care of it!

Today I am thankful that I have a healthy body.

Today's workout:
60 min. elliptical (interval program) (5.72 mi)
35 min. resistance training
60 min. yoga

Saucha / Purity

Today, in my private session with my yoga teacher, we discussed the concept of the niyama of saucha, or purity. Swami Shraddhananda describes the ways in which we incorporate this niyama into our lives:

Saucha is purity that operates on many levels. We aspire to cleanliness for our bodies by washing ourselves, maintaining clean and orderly homes, eating healthy food and drinking clean water. We aspire to cleanliness in our minds and speech by not polluting our minds or speech with negativity or grasping after emotionally and physically charged obsessions. In other words, we find a balance that gives us a way to feel ourselves as clean and clear. As are the other yamas and niyamas, saucha is a pre-condition for experiencing the fullness of yoga and attaining enlightenment.

In our practice today, we focused on cleansing breaths and using the bandhas to contain our energy within the body.

I found it ironic that this evening, when my husband and I were relaxing in front of the TV, he chose to watch the A&E show "Hoarders". This show focuses on individuals who suffer from compulsive hoarding, which leads to horrendous messes with disastrous consequences - potentially losing their children to foster care, the threat of homelessness from eviction, separation from family members. We have been watching this show for a few months and it has definitely created an impetus for me to create order and cleanliness in our living space. I even hired a professional organizer for a few hours to help me with some perpetually cluttered spaces.

While saucha certainly deals with internal purity of mind and spirit, the cleanliness and purity of our outside spaces matters too. When we feel comfortable and free in our living space, we can have clarity of thought and vision. As the cluttered spaces in my home became open and organized, I felt a weight and anxiety physically leave my body - an opening and release of tension that I had unknowingly been carrying.

This time of new year's resolutions and self-improvement is a great time for reflection on ways that you can incorporate the concept of saucha into your own life.

Today's workout:
35 min. run (4.30 mi)
60 min. private training yoga
60 min. yoga @ home

With Peace and Acceptance

Yesterday, I read an interesting blog post from Yogic Muse about finding the line between pushing yourself against your limits and not engaging in self-harm. Coincidentally, when I met with my yoga teacher today, she set a similar intention for our practice: focusing on ahimsa. Maria pointed out that ahimsa, the yogic principle of non-harming, starts with ourselves. I tend to be a "Type A" personality and sometimes push myself very hard, and can sometimes push myself too far with regard to the physical aspects of yoga.

As our practice went on, we started working on bhujapidasana. While I can get into this arm balance pose when I am practicing at home, it is not a graceful or flowing process. I sought Maria's advice on getting into the pose more smoothly and possibly some modifications. In any case, while attempting to get into the pose, I fell flat on my face! So embarrassing. Also, it hurt! It seems that in the midst of striving to achieve a difficult posture, I lost sight of our original intention - ahimsa - and my determination to do "better" actually caused me harm.

Maria took this teachable moment to point out the ways that ego can interfere with our practice, and that yoga can be about putting aside the ego. Through yoga, we can become aware of our bodies, and we can accept our bodies for what they can do today. Each day our body may be different, but when I practice yoga, I do so in the present moment, with whatever abilities or limitations I currently possess. Another yogic principle is santosha, or contentment - acceptance of what we have, or who we are.

So, for today, my intention is to practice with both ahimsa and santosha, both on and off the mat.

BTW, the photo above shows my amazing daughters practicing yoga at home with the help of their Yoga Pretzels deck. Love it! (and love them!)

Today's workout:
30 min. run (4.0 mi)
60 min. private session yoga
60 min. yoga @ home

Present Moment

Our family is currently struggling with a stressful situation, trying to reconcile past actions and choices with our current state, and figure our where to go in the future.

My thoughts and turmoils are brought to in perspective when I read these words from Thich Nhat Hanh, a Vietnamese Buddhist monk, which were transcribed in a tiny little book, be free where you are, from a talk he gave at the Maryland Correctional Institution.

"To be able to breathe in and out is a miracle ... I am alive. I can breathe in and become aware of my in-breath; I can breathe out and become aware of my out-breath. ... For me, to be alive is a miracle. It is the greatest of all miracles."

"Everyone walks on the Earth, but there are those who walk like slaves, with no freedom at all. They are sucked in by the future or by the past, and they are not capable of dwelling in the here and now, where life is available. If we get caught up in our worries, our despair, our regrets about the past, and our fears of the future in our everyday lives, we are not free people. We are not capable of establishing ourselves in the here and now."

"Life is only available in the here and now. The past is already gone, and the future is yet to come."

Today's workout:
30 min. run (4.06 mi)
45 min. resistance training