Whata does yoga teach you?

1. alignment and breath = clear mind: In yoga we learn to focus our awareness on our alignment, and breath to help steady our mind. We learn to listen to our body, making little adjustments so our asanas (yoga postures) embodies and shines out our love. We learn different breathing techniques to help fine tune our awareness, keeping our mind in the present wonderful moment. We allow the breath to guide us so we may flow with our inner energy. By training the mind to both focus on the breath and the physical alignment brings about a very clear, calm , blissful mind, and allows for a resolution. Practicing in this way learning to follow the different sensations of the body and the breath cultivates an attitude of compassionate self acceptance!

"When we get out of alignment with Spirit and we try to make or expect life to be something different than it really is, suffering happens. We all experience pain and suffering, but it is not the quintessential nature of life. Just because the earth turns away from the sun and night occurs doesn't mean that the sun isn't always shining. It might be hard to see sometimes, but goodness and divine beauty can always be found if you adjust your vision just right." --John Friend

2.Attuning to Prana: there is an intelligent life force in all of us called prana. Prana is life force energy which guides the functioning of both body and mind. Through persistent practice you will become aware of the presence and flow of your prana. Sensing your prana can be used in two ways. You can dance with your prana flowing from one pose to another. You can hold a pose for a longer time as you focus on the sensations, emotions and thoughts that arise. Or you can do a combination of both. This teaches you to listen inwardly so you may be guided and prompted from within. This ability to one pointedly focus on the body, mind, and energy will begin to spread through all aspects of your life. This is a very exciting part of your yoga practice. It gives you a deep peace and inner knowing that you are more than this body and mind. You feel more centered and more clear.

3.Genuine happiness and deep peace: As you continue to deepen your practice, the ability of the mind to witness the movement and quality of the life force energy (prana) grows stronger. You will learn to surrender to this energy and allow it to guide you. The essential mystical truth is realized, spirit dwells within us! We learn that to be present and aware of our breath, body, and mind in the present moment is a fabulous thing that cultivates a genuine happiness and deep peace. You can tape into this state of peace while sitting in stillness, performing yoga asanas, or in your daily activities. This deep peace allow you to celebrate life more fully with a sense of playfulness.

"You will become familiar with the creative God Force inside you, the energy at your core. The world will look more beautiful because you're seeing it as it is, without the distorting influence of your conditioning. You will feel different, happy for no apparent reason. It will seem as though you have undergone an important change, a rebirth, as though you've become a new person, and yet you will feel more yourself than ever before." --Erich Schffmann, Moving into Stillness

What is Yoga?

"Yoga is the practice of radical transformation" -George Feuerstein.

Yoga is not used to change ourselves into something better, but to bring us back to our divine nature, our true Self, that which we are all apart

The way to use yoga for personal transformation is by being fully present in the moment. When present, you are connected to your body, mind and spirit. You feel fully alive. You learn to be present by continues practice that over time gets easier, and becomes something you want to do. You want to get back to that place of centeredness. You do this by:

•Breathe: let your breath flow freely in and out
•Relax: soften your skin, let go of mental, physical and emotional tension
•Feel: stay present to the different sensations (physical, mental and emotional) flowing through you as a way to stay connected to this magical moment.
•Watch: observe your experience with compassion, neither grasping what is pleasant nor avoiding what is painful.
•Allow: accept yourself and your experience exactly as it is, dropping the need to change it in any way. Allow for a revolution an awakening!
•Celebrate: the beauty and truthfulness of life.

Practicing yoga cultivates:

•Peace of mind, calmness, and a sense of well being
•Better relationships, better health, and a better life
•Personal, philosophical, and spiritual insights
•Increase the flow of prana
•Cultivates a celebration of the heart and reminds you of your intrinsic goodness

No matter what your age, race, gender or religion, the benefits of living yoga are available to everyone.

Mental Naming = learning to observe the crazy monkey

Sometime when we sit to meditate, our mind can feel like an untamed monkey hopping around from thought, to body sensations, to emotions. we can struggle with this untamed monkey for a long time, but if we cultivate a compassionate attention we can allow this jumping monkey to be just another sensation that can anchor our awareness to, that actually helps us stay connected to this moment. the monkey hops to either pleasurable things that we enjoy, so naturally we try to grasp on to it, to keep it. Or the monkey hops to things that we don't like and in this case we try to avoid it, push it away or numb it out.

This grasping or resistance to an experience stops our practice and stops our opening to our divine truth. As we encounter these experiences with a mindful attention, we discover that one of three things happen:

1. It will go away.
2. It will stay the same.
3. It will get more intense.

Whichever happens doesn't matter. When we expand our practice to noticing whatever states arise and choosing to not react to them, we can make them part of our practice. Instead of wanting to reach out and grab the monkey to keep it, or push it away and avoid it, we simply witness what the mind is doing. A helpful way to witness this is through a practice called mental naming. Consciously name the experience as it arises as a way of acknowledging what is present, instead of getting hooked by the story line and carried out of the present moment.

Begin by sitting comfortably, focusing awareness on you breath. As you feel each breath, simply name it as "in" "out" or "rising" "falling" say these words silently in the back of your mind. This mental naming gives your thinking mind a way to support awareness rather than wandering off. It helps connect you to the now experience. This is your life right here. This is what is happening when your not chasing or avoiding the monkey.

This process of naming can be extended to all the experiences that might arise in your awareness. You can name body sensations that come up, such as "cold", "itch" or "cramp". You can name feelings, such as "bored", "restless" or "tired". You can name also use mental naming for the kinds of thought experiences that arise, such as "planning", "remembering" or "anticipating".

When starting this practice first name the breath until a stronger experience arises that interrupts your attention. Then move your awareness to the stronger experience, feel it, name it, but don't label it good or bad. If judging comes up, name that "judging". Just be with whatever is most dominant in your now experience. One you name the experience, it will normally shift. Continue to name whatever is most prominent in each moment. When there is no dominant experience, return to naming the breath until the next strong experience arises. Stay simple, focus on one thing at a time. let the monkey mind be a tool instead of a nuisance.

Heart Centered in 2010

As a society we have developed habits in our breathing patterns and in our minds that stop of from connecting to the center of our heart. We tend to live more from our mind and our ego derived sense of self which causes a disconnect to the experience of life. When we live from our heart we steady into the "now" experience bringing us clarity, strength of mind, peace, and a deep connection. From this place we can learn honesty, compassion, and to love more deeply. With awareness to ones breath we can create space and openness in our heart so we can live more full from our center!

The Practice:

Turn your awareness to the flow of your breath. As you inhale follow the breath as the upper lobes of the lunges fill, and the heart space expands. At this point in the breath there is a tendency to get up rooted from the earth...As you reach the top of your inhale notice if your eyes flicker upwards, this is a sign that you have temporarily lost your connection to the apana (downward flow of energy) and have momentarily become ungrounded. Continue by softly smiling at the end of the inhaling breath. Allow the pallet of the mouth to become luminous and keep the eyes soft and down cast. Just like a tree we must be rooted in order to blossom and open more fully.

Now watch the out breath notice if the chest collapses in and the upper back rounds, work to maintain the openness of the heart as you feel the lungs softly peel. As if the lungs just finished gently kissing the inner ribs, instead of pushing the breath out. It's as if the peeling away allows a melting quality which keeps the center of the heart more fully open. Continue to follow the exhale and notice if you unconsciously contract the body at the end of the out breath. This squeezes and pushes us out of our heart. instead as you reach the end of the breath, keep the body soft with the heart radiating outward.

Continue to practice in this way, allow the breath to bring you into the present moment while creating an environment where we may live and flourish from the center of our being. Maintain an inward smile, feel this smile tickle your brain bringing more compassion, kindness, and a sense of humor into our life.

These natural breathing habits unconsciously push us out of our heart, for 2010 can we bring a conscious awareness to our breath so we my live more fully from our center.

Do your habits serve your higher self?

When we live our life every day, it's easy to fall into habits. Habits are actions that are repeated so frequently that they begin to happen almost unconsciously. It is important to pause every once in a while and examine these habits that have developed over time.

Notice if these unconscious actions are serving you.

• Are they helping you show up for the world in a better way?
• Are they helping show up in your relationships in a more positive way?
• Are they making you a happier, healthy, more energized and dependable person?

If they are then that is fabulous. But if you find a habit that is no longer helping you be the best person you can be, can you let this habit go. Habits are hard to break, like I said they almost happen unconsciously. You just sit down and turn on the TV, you get home and have a bear, you grab the third piece of pizza, you judge critically....

Yoga is a great way to help break these baits. In asana practice we can cultivate strength, courage, and determination. We can practice doing things on our mat that are uncomfortable, but still choose to do them because we know in the long run we will be a better person because of it. Can we decide on and off the mat to let go of old habits that are stopping us from showing up in the world, and in our relationships, in a more active positive way?

One way to do this is by asking yourself "is this action I am about to take going to serve my higher self?"

Kapalbhait Pranayama

December 12, 2009

Kapalbhati is often called breath of fire, or bellows breath. However Kapalbhati is actually made up of two sanskrit words 'kapala' meaning skull or forehead, and 'bhati' meaning shining or cleaning. Combined kapalbhati means an exercise that makes the skull shine and/or brain clean. Regular practice leads to a shining face with inner radiance. By the age of 25 many people start to show the first signs of aging and stress that are marked by little wrinkles in the middle of the forehead. Regular practice of kapalbhati of 10-20mins will help keep the forehead radiant, shining out your inner essence instead of showing signs of a stressful life.

**Kapalbhati should not be practiced by those suffering from heart disease, high blood pressure, or hernias.

How to practice Kapalbhati Pranayama:
Before you begin it can be helpful to blow your nose a few time :). In this breathing technique we will be breathing in and out through the nose rapidly.

1. Sit in a comfortable seated position allow yourself to feel grounded while maintaining a long spine, the length in the spine should help create more space for the lungs. Hands rest gently on the knees. The face is soft.
2. Inhale deeply through both nostrils, filling the lungs 3/4ths the way full. Then exhale forcefully through the nose while pull the abdominal muscles toward the spine. The air will be push out by the contraction of the diaphragm.
3. After you exhale forcefully the body will inhale naturally if you just relax and allow the lungs to automatically expand filling with air.
4. continue to exhale sharply through the nose, followed by an automatic inhale.

Begin with 15 respiration cycles. After completing 15 quick exhales followed by 15 automatic inhales, pause and breath deeply in and out allowing the body to rest. This is one round. Start the practice of kapalbhati pranayama with 3 rounds of 15 respiration cycles. you can then increase to 3 rounds of 36 respiration cycles. Remember to pause between each round and take long slow deep breaths allowing the body to rest.
After you have completed the pranyama practice close your eyes, allow the breath to flow freely and feel what effects the pranayama exercise had on your being. How do you feel, physically, mentally, and emotionally? What is the over all feeling tone of you, right now? Don't go mental, feel your way into this. Keep your awareness anchored on the different sensations of the body and the breath.
Benefits of Kapalabhati:
Kapalabhati Pranayama has many many benefits, some of which I have listed below. One of the most important benefits of kapalabhati is the cleansing effect it has on the lungs and the entire respiratory system. We live in an environment that is full of toxins. The smoke, the exhaust, the pesticides...all of these toxins make there way into our little alveolar sacs (there are 300 million alveoli in adult lungs) which are composed of a single layer of epithelial tissue. The alveoli are considered the functional unit of the lungs. And it is these alveoli sacs that become full of toxins over time. This can lead to respiratory problems as simple as asthma to as complex as lung disease where the cells die because of all the harmful toxins. Through this breathing technique the avioli get cleaned! How exciting. here are some other benefits:

1. Kapalabhati cleanses the lungs and the entire respiratory system.
2. The body gets an increase in supply of oxygen to all the cells.
3. The blood gets purified.
4. The digestion gets fired up.
5. Core muscles get toned and strengthened.
6. Prepares the mind for meditation.
7. Stops the need from gossip.
8. Improves the function of the 72,000 nadis (energy channels) that run through the body.

Camping for a cause workshop

On Septmeber 12, 2009 I taught two wonderful workshops at the Utah Girl Scout Lodge up big cottonwood canyon. It was so beautiful, we practiced on a hudge wooded deck that over looked a big blue calm lake. How divine.

Fearless Flow Workshop Dscription: This was a dynamic class with a flowing sequence of postures moved by the breath with multiple variations so you can play your personal edge. We focused on letting go of stress and tension so we became fearless, on and off the mat, while we created heat in the body. Some you experience was recommeneded.

The fearless flow workshop was a hit! We did a very dynamic practice that brought us face to dace with our physically fears within the confines of our asana practice. Can we transition netween balacnincing poses? Do we have the strength to hold our warrior poses longer? Do we have the courage to listen to our body and soften out when we are pushing into pain? Can we accept whereever we are in a pose with an open and compassionate heart? We also addressed our fear off the mat. Discussing how we can use the work that we do on the mat in a way that can help us confront and over come our fear in our every day life. This workshop was so great I felt like the students took a lot away from the practice. There are many scary and unpleasent things that come up in life, and yoga is a tool for us to have when it is time to confront that which scares us.

Receive Receive Receive Workshop Description: this gentle flow allowed the students to receive the amazing gifts of yoga without the strenuous activity. Emphasizes where made on slowing down, relaxation, and meditation which provieded an oppurtunity to connect to our body by following the sesations and quality of the breath. We learned modified postures, breatihng techniques and I guiede the group into a deep relaxation. Students of all levels were welcomed to enjoy this workshop.

The second workshop was so peacefull, we eneded with a long guided meditation. Thinking back to it I can still feel the summer breeze and the smell of the fresh outdoors.