Sense of Peace

It's 8:35 in the morning. While I wait for my tea to brew I scan over my 22 new emails. My inbox looks like it's been hit by a tornado. Nothing is in order, but they can wait. I scan the stacks of paperwork, magazine layouts, and raw text piled up on my desk. What to do first? The familiar pang tightens around my right should... the stress knot. Very easily I can let it all get to me. I can become distracted or overwhelmed with it all...I can allow “it” to become daunting.

But where's the joy in that?

Two more minutes and my tea should be brewed. My Sense of Peace.

This artfully crafted, recyclable tin sits, filled with lovingly blended sachets, on the shelf above my computer. It blends in with all the trinkets I've placed up there. Throughout the day my eyes gaze up and delight in these small trinkets, which bring me joy, peace, solace, and nostalgia. A picture of an airplane taking off and a small statue of the Eiffel Tower remind me of travel, a Mariksa doll and picture of my little sister remind me of childhood, origami, a model MINI cooper, a picture of my boyfriend, and a yellow piggybank all create various emotions—happiness mostly. I let my eyes dance around the objects until they undoubtedly land back on that tin...teatime.

Two minutes up… I sip on “Sense of Peace” and white tea created by Master Blender Zhena Muzyka of Ojai California. Her “Gypsy” teas are becoming a sweet addiction, one that I share with family, friends, colleagues, and yogis alike. I like to think about this kind-hearted woman gently blending this tea for those she loves… even if she doesn’t know their name. She gifts the world with such a small token, but really (for me anyway) sitting down in the middle of a hectic workday and enjoying a cup really can impact the way I respond to things, the stress I feel or don’t feel, and may sense of peace.

There’s less than half a cup left now… time to return to reality.

With Peace.

Backbend Bliss

The Beautiful Backbend: Urdhva Dhanurasana



Benefits
A Stretches the chest and lungs
Strengthens the arms and wrists, legs, buttocks, abdomen, and spine
Stimulates the thyroid and pituitary
Increases energy and counteracts depression
Therapeutic for asthma, back pain, infertility, and osteoporosis


Urdhva Dhanurasana or Upward Bow Pose

A heart opener; Stacey joyfully pushed up into this pose—yes blood may have been rushing to her face and her wrists and arms may have trembled a bit, but as she stretched into Urdhva Dhanurasana she felt energy rushing through her body. This pose stimulates all sorts of areas that we as adults forget to feel. In my practice, I find a child-like joy in the pose. Not only does it strengthen the core, but it also opens the heart.

I found a perfect break down in Yoga Journal: http://www.yogajournal.com/poses/473

I suggest following up with a lovely “legs up the wall pose” for a counter stretch. End your day with this…bliss!

Namaste.

Heat

Heat. Right now it’s all I can seem to think about. I wake up in the morning perturbed by the light hitting my windows; turning my little room into a sauna. I set my alarm for “early” hoping to elude the heat, hoping to get a nice little practice in before day is upon me, hoping to find refreshment, but the only thing I seem to find is myself…myself in a state of frustration. I honestly don’t want to move. I want to be lethargic, sit in an ice bath, and downright do nothing. I’m irritable and can’t quickly find my focus. I search for solace but instead find sweat. I struggle to get through my asana’s and worse yet some times struggle to even start my practice.

I voluntarily step into my Bikram studio. I inhale the 106-degree heat. I let it wash over me. So, what is the difference between the heated studio and my heated apartment…

Perhaps intention.

Regardless, when the forces of nature are upon us we can do nothing but to respond in peace. I’ve been fighting and resisting this heat, rather than embracing it. Perhaps if I can just sink into it I’ll find it less embracive than it seems…

Crazy Bikram Fun

Here is Nitin showing us all up with his crazy Camel Pose. "Who does he think he is?"

The Wandering Yogini

Life’s journeys can be like grapevines, twisting around each other, some ending, while others can seemingly twist into eternity. This metaphor is true for my many journeys, so much so, that sometimes I find it difficult to differentiate between them. Which came first? Which am I on? Which have ended? These many journeys are so closely intertwined, they compose one solid branch that is the core of my existence. So, as we’ve all question; what came first the chicken or the egg, I too question what came first the yoga or the travel?



For majority of the time I am convinced that the travel came first; but then again, I think back to my childhood and vaguely remember singing to the trees—if this isn’t a form of yoga, I just don’t know what is. My first “real” yoga class took place in Maui; but I remember sitting in prayer in my hotel room in Costa Rica before that, and before that I recall falling into meditation in the temples outside of Tokyo. These are all forms of yoga, which are so deeply intertwined with my love of travel, almost as if the two go hand in hand. I can’t fly without practicing pranayama breathing, or practicing an asana at the back of the plane. And even when I have absolutely no intention of practicing my practice seems to find me (see image attached to blog post: http://freeyogini.blogspot.com/2008/04/bend-it-through-bikram.html) as during a hike in the south of France I found my “OM”.

It’s the most powerful moment when that realization hits you that this practice is one of the core threads in your life. It changes you…it’s changed me. Which is why I’ve become the wandering yogini.

Down Dog Dilemma

Since last Saturday I’ve been thinking about my Downward Facing Dog, my sad, slippery, down dog.

According to Yoga Journal, Adho Mukha Svanasana is one of the most widely recognized yoga poses. It is supposed to stretch the shoulders, legs, and spine; strengthen throughout the entire body; remove fatigue; increase blood flow to the sinuses; calm the mind, lift the spirits, and improve digestion.

In my practice, all I feel is blood rushing to my face and head, my hands slipping on my mat, and the heel of my hands pressing (uncomfortably) into the floor. I attempt to stabilize, but find myself swaying side-to-side. Where is my balance in this “not so resting” pose?

This morning, all of the sudden, I had one of those “Ah ha!” moments. Again, I am reminded of my lesson in human anatomy. I’ve realized that my elbows hyperextend, which is probably resulting in this loss of balance, and worse yet, puts unnecessary tension and pressure in my joints.

I am mentally forcing myself to be more aware of my body in this posture. I think about it, visualize it, and practice it daily.

And then comes this: An emailed picture of “Sofie’s Perfect Down Dog.” Sofie, a friend’s Lab, so perfectly arches her back and stretches out. She looks so relaxed and happy. I’m learning from her; striving to find this sort of blissful sensation in my own down dog!

Face to Floor

I don’t know if it’s because I wore yoga clothes to work today, or because I touched my head to the ground in Separate Leg Stretching, or because the sun was out and shining beautifully; whatever the reason, I am radiating happiness. I feel this sense of pure joy washing over me. I stretch my arms behind my back and smile. I inhale “OM” and attempt to lock my knees. Everyday I find my practice improving and here, finally, my forehead reaches the ground. I still have work to do…but wow “face to floor” OM.

Stretching On Cloud Nine: Lessons Learned

We are a broken bunch, we 7, we come with car accidents, broken necks, scars, and sorrow. We sit, backs straight, lips curled up towards our ears, sans judgment. We meet in this sacred place—called our bodies, in this sacred time—called life. We lay down any notion of what it is that we think we know, any idea of who it is that we think we are; we set all this aside and come with hearts open…to learn. We come as students to discover the essence of this 5,000-year-old art form that literally means “to yoke” or “to bring together”; yoga.

We are seven students and four teachers—essential strangers to each other’s pasts—squeezed into a tiny room on the 10th floor of the Pacific Tower in Huntington Beach. We stagger our mats for our first asana intensive, which starts with a two-hour practice.

It’d be a lie to say this class was easy, in fact it was anything but: With intensity and intention we moved, nonetheless, to the rhythm of our collective breaths. I could feel the perspiration on my face, hands, and feet. I struggled to stay in Downdog, a supposed “resting” position, praying that I wouldn’t slip right out of it and onto the student in front of me.

In these first two hours I battled with fear, little inadequacies. Why won’t my hips open, or my hands stop slipping? These little voices in my head were quickly silenced during our first anatomy lecture.

I learned: In absolutely no way is one person exactly the same as another; so how unfair is it to compare oneself to anyone else; human composition is so truly unique. This is such a profound yet simple lesson; and yet I find myself doing this in both my practice and in my daily-life. Where is the fruit in this? I can’t seem to find any. So, I’m actively attempting to correct this learned behavior. If I look, I love. It’s amazing how much this self-adjustment can change one from the inside out.

Laugh and Be Free

We took a drive up the coast, pulled into the state beach, and set up camp. Cell phones went off—or on silent anyway—tents went up, and the kayak hit the water. The blue waters and glowing sunset illuminated our campsite. Responsibility and stress melted right off my back. My sister and I laughed, and laughed. We laughed when we squished ourselves into a one-person kayak and nearly tipped it over. We laughed while practicing yoga on the beach and getting splashed by a mini “sneaker” wave. We laughed when setting up our campsite—something I haven’t done since childhood. It was a laugh-fest weekend, mixed with wine tasting, braving cold waters, and soaking up some much needed rays. It was relaxing and refreshing, but I found my true mediation, my true peace, in laughter. It was my “yoga” of choice for the weekend; it was almost like being a child again: Being okay with looking silly and doing headstands in the sand, running on the beach like a wild child, and just being free in general. This is something that escapes us in adulthood so frequently.

There is this picture in my Grandmother’s house that I love to look at. It’s of myself as a toe-head little girl running on the beach. I don’t really remember that day, but I remember the feeling of being “free like a child.” I hold onto how happy it makes me feel every time my Grandma tells me about that day. It’s a return to the core of who I truly am; that girl that sings about trees, the girl that runs and giggles on the beach. We can’t allow this freedom to escape us. Yes, there is responsibility in adulthood, yes we all have obligations, yes sometimes we are just downright too busy and too tired to embrace this freedom, but try to find it, or better yet just allow it to find you, and when it does laugh and be free. …Or just do Happy Baby Pose until you become a happy baby!

Love, Peace, and Namaste.




Stacey in Standing Bow Pulling Pose Dandayamana Dhanurasana

Existential

Heat and light make for relaxed and stretched muscles, and glowing hot photography!