Gratitude journals have been around for a long time, perhaps getting a boost a few years back with books like “The Secret”. The same is true for vision boards and affirmations. And, although these ideas might have seemed trendy for a while, both have become part of me and my life since.
If you are thinking about creating a journal, now might be just the time to pick up a pen and start writing. Read the rest of this entry
Just when you think time can’t more any faster it seems to me it can. Is the rule the older you get the shorter the minutes, days and years seem and time just flies by at a pace that’s super impossible to keep up with?
I realized recently that my current thinking toward time passing me by was resulting in a feeling of being completely out of control….never a comforting feeling. So in an effort to slow the clock down and gain some of my power back, I decided I must change my thinking and a few of my habits.
As with any problem, a good place to start is my current beliefs or perceptions of what the problem is.
Perceived Problem: Time is passing me by (way too quickly).
Perceived Result: Feeling completely out of control (and a bit depressed / scared… you name it…I was feeling it). Read the rest of this entry
Yoga master B.K.S. Iyengar is credited with popularizing yoga in the West, and even today in his 90s, he continues to practice yoga. He’s also credited with introducing the use of yoga props. Although modern students may not consider yoga towels and yoga mats props, per se, but rather necessities, these, as well as other tools, such as yoga blocks and yoga straps, are part of many yoga studios today. Iyengar believes that using props promotes proper alignment and body mechanics when performing the asanas (poses).
On the eightfold path of Classical yoga, the asanas, or positions, are one of the physical ways, along with pranayama, or regulated breathing, to attain samadhi, or self-enlightenment. Yoga asanas can be performed standing up, seated or lying down; they can be structured in terms of how they’re performed and in which order, such as in Bikram yoga, or free-flowing and at the whim of the yoga instructor. However, yoga asanas are all designed to ultimately challenge the student’s flexibility and motor control.
The surya namaskar, or sun salutation, series of yoga asanas is ideal for the beginning student.
You may have seen them congregated in urban parks as a group or standing alone, moving in slow rhythmic patterns that appear very simple, and you may have wondered why they do it. Those who practice tai chi do it for the stress relief and healthful benefits of a daily routine, and these life-giving properties must be working because it’s been around since the 6th century.
A Shao-Lin monk named Bodihdharma is credited with developing six of the moves that are still practiced in modern tai chi. He noticed how poorly-conditioned his fellow monks were due to their sedentary meditative practices and introduced a form of exercise into their daily rituals. This practice was also incorporated into Kung-fu martial arts at the time; indeed “tai chi” is the shortened term for “tai chi chuan,” which means “supreme ultimate fist.”
You may be asking yourself, “What is Pilates and why is everyone in the world but me doing it?” If you find yourself struggling to get yourself off a low-sitting couch or sitting up in bed in the morning is an effort, the question “What is Pilates” becomes even more important.
The Pilates Method was developed by Joseph Pilates, a German prisoner during World War I who used his training as a nurse to help bedridden English patients increase their range of movement in a confined space and ultimately get out of bed. In fact, the first reformer, a machine used in Pilates, was most likely a mechanically-cranked hospital bed. Pilates moved to the U.S. in 1926 where he established his first studio with his wife, Clara, in New York City. The couple began teaching students there how to develop their core muscles to better support the spine and improve their posture and overall health.
During pregnancy, your body goes through some amazing changes, both physically and mentally. Unless your doctor prescribes otherwise, exercise should be a part of your pregnancy, and prenatal yoga is an ideal program to follow. Prenatal yoga gives expectant mothers the range of flexibility, muscle control and meditative focus that will come in handy along the way, in the delivery room and well afterward.
Many yoga studios and some local community recreation centers offer prenatal yoga classes; but if one isn’t available in your area, consider a beginning yoga class and tell the teacher that you’re expecting. Stay away from hot, or Bikram, yoga classes; these are conducted in rooms with temperatures of up to 105 degrees, which can raise your core body temperature and potentially affect fetal development.
In the eightfold path of Classical yoga, pranayama is the fourth step to achieve samadhi, or self-realization. As a yoga practice, pranayama is regulated or controlled breathing or breath flow used by students to transition between poses (asanas) as well as remain in them and achieve a meditative state.
Pranayama is the Sanskrit word for extended breath or, more strictly defined, prana (life force) and yama (extension). Beginning yoga students typically start with Hatha yoga, which involves regulated breathing, while performing the poses, to achieve more flexibility and control. With any type of physical conditioning, the proper breathing technique comes into play, whether you’re a first-time jogger contending with breathlessness or a conditioned athlete setting a personal best at the bench press. Think of it this way: breathing comes to us automatically unless we’re under stress, at which point it becomes an effort. Pranayama regulates the breathing so that the body directs its focus to the task set forth, be it a difficult pose or a stressful life event.
Kundalini yoga is believed to be the pathway to enlightenment through accessing the energy (prana) from the sacrum or lower spinal area. By clearing the way for this energy through the asanas (postures), breathing techniques (pranayama), finger positions (mudras), chanting (mantras) and body locks (bandhas), the student of kundalini yoga can access this chakra, envisioned as a sleeping, coiled-up serpent, which allows for a greater consciousness and increased perception of the everyday world. Indeed, this serpent chakra has been called the primal life force that ultimately connects the individual to the universal.
Through kundalini yoga, the blockages in the way of accessing this energy are removed through kriyas. Kriyas can take the form of long, sounded-out chants that make the body vibrate while performing the asanas. Controlled and sustained breathing comes into play when performing the mantras. Accessing this energy, through kundalini yoga, also involves working with bandhas, some of which resemble kegel exercises that regulate urinary flow. The mudras, or finger positions, allow the student to sustain poses longer by holding onto the extremities, such as the toes, or lifting the body from the floor with the palms. Read the rest of this entry
Bikram Hot yoga uses a series of 26 asanas, or poses, conducted in a studio with temperatures of up to 105 degrees Fahrenheit and was developed by yoga master Bikram Choudhury, who brought it to the U.S. in 1973. Hot yoga incorporates controlled breathing as students transition between poses to achieve flexibility and mental clarity. “Hot yoga” has become a generic term, and without the qualifier of “Bikram,” the class most likely is not taught by someone certified through Bikram’s school. Read the rest of this entry