In recent months, I’ve had to admit to changing realities in my neighborhood. I first started noticing that a lot of the original regulars who helped build the yoga center with me haven’t been around as much as they used to. Then, they’ll show up with a refrain that goes something like: “The old man who owned my building passed away; they sold it, and I had to move.” There are still lots of new people coming in every month. But they are not of the same ilk as when I opened. Don’t get me wrong, still great people. It’s just that the artists and counter-culturalists that made the place what it is don’t live here anymore.
The capitalization of culture through real estate is nothing new. First, I lived in Greenwich Village. Then it was the East Village. Then the lower East Side. Then Williamsburg, Brooklyn. But in all of those times there always seemed to be a clear next move. Whereas now there is no obvious place that the outskirts have migrated to. Bushwick? Croton on Hudson? Maplewood, NJ? Detroit? It’s just not clear. One thing is for sure, when that property you bought back in the seventies becomes worth 3-5 million dollars, it’s just downright stupid not to cash in. We’d all like to think that a sense of community is worth more than millions of dollars but that doesn’t hold up when you have medical bills or a family to look after.
Anxiety is the hallmark of a reality that favors trappings over human dignity.
Living in the “real world” usually means having to deal with really annoying stuff that you wish you didn’t have to deal with but you have to because that is how it is in the “real world.” Consequently, our conception of what is real is not pleasant. It’s a chore. It sucks. Reality sucks. And when this version of what is real is predominant, the result is pervasive fear and discontent. Nothing is ever right. We’ll never be able to get on top of it. Even if we made millions. There’s always an existential angst that is bubbling unconscious underneath, and bursts out in uncontrollable and detrimental ways. Other times the weight of it all is too much, function becomes impeded and we are forced to face ourselves, to varying degrees of success.
This idea of reality begs for escape. Yoga offers a rich canon of viewpoints and teachings that offer alternative concepts. Eastern spiritual paradigms generally consider the “real world” of western civilization to be “unreal.” The superficial trappings that undermine our sense of humanity are to be distrusted, even renounced, so that we may know a reality free from fear and anxiety. To westerners who have been born and bred in the reality of anxiety, the notion that this world of suffering is not real is quite appealing. Thus, the spiritual aspirant’s determination to do whatever is necessary to accomplish some transcendental consciousness. Some way to get beyond this crap reality.
Reality acknowledged as the miracle of life needs no transcendence and is not the least bit contingent on time, money or politics.
When I start to get overwhelmed by what I see happening in my neighborhood, my country, and the world, I have to remind myself of the entirety of what I know to be true. Yes, these issues I am pointing to are real and important. But they are only a small part of the experience that life is providing me. The real estate market in my neighborhood is absurd. It’s hard to imagine that rents could forever go up and never hit a peak or come down. (Maybe if the L train actually goes out of service for a year or more then that might do something to slow the real estate locomotive.) Regardless, my life encompasses more.
I am a thinking, feeling, human being who is having a life. I started out as a single cell that was created by my mother and father having sex. I have breath coming in and out of me. My heart is beating. I exist in this body, on a planet, and there is a sun and moon and stars. If I were able to somehow project myself past the force-field that holds me pinned to this planet without imploding than I would be released into infinite space. That is crazy. And that is reality. Just as much as time or money or politics. Maybe, in some ways, more.
This reality we are experiencing is so utterly amazing that we can’t fully comprehend it. So profoundly mind-blowing and all encompassing is the glory of a life that we often can’t even recognize it as such. In the unraveling of this great mystery, between what we identify as important and the inherent magic of its context, is where the riddle becomes undone.
By J. Brown
J. Brown is a yoga teacher, writer and founder of Abhyasa Yoga Center in Brooklyn, NY. His writing has been featured in Yoga Therapy Today, the International Journal of Yoga Therapy, and across the yoga blogosphere. Visit his website at jbrownyoga.com
We’re in an 80:20 kinda mood after just finishing up the New Year’s Conscious Cleanse, so we decided to make cookies! Yes, nutty, soft and oh so sweet cookies.
Our go-to flour of choice these days is typically almond or coconut flour when baking, so we decided to expand our horizons and try something new.
Quinoa flour is packed with a protein punch, and fantastic for gluten-free baking.
If you’ve never used quinoa flour, you can usually buy it at your health food store or online from Bob’s Red Mill.
So go grab yourself a glass of cold homemade almond milk and get ready to start dunking!
With 80:20 sweet treat love,
Nutty Quinoa Cookies
Yield: 10-12 cookies
Ingredients:
1 cup quinoa flour ½ tsp baking powder ⅛ tsp salt 2 tsp cinnamon 2 flax eggs* or 2 whole eggs 4 TB coconut oil, melted 3 TB maple syrup or Lakanto no sugar sweetener 2 TB water 1 tsp vanilla extract ⅓ cup raisins ⅓ cup walnuts (optional)
*1 flax egg equals 1TB flaxseed to 3 TB water. Whisk and let stand for 10 minutes.
Instructions: Preheat oven to 350° degrees F. In a medium mixing bowl add quinoa flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon to a bowl. Stir well.
In a small bowl, whisk flax egg or eggs, melted coconut oil, maple syrup, water and vanilla extract. Stir in wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Mix well until dough is formed. Fold in the raisins and walnuts.
Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Form dough into bite-sized balls. Place dough on the baking sheet. Wet a fork and press gently into each cookie. Bake for 12 minutes.
Jo Schaalman and Julie Peláez are co-authors of the book The Conscious Cleanse: Lose Weight, Heal Your Body, and Transform Your Life in 14 Days, a best-selling, step-by-step guide to help you live your most vibrant life. Together they've lead thousands of people through their online supported cleanse through their accessible and light-hearted approach. They've been dubbed “the real deal” by founder and chief creative director Bobbi Brown, of Bobbi Brown Cosmetics, beauty editor of the TODAY show.
To learn more about “Jo and Jules” and to download a free e-cookbook for a sampling of the delicious food served up on the Conscious Cleanse, please visit their website.
Conscious Cleanse Detox Flow - Jo Schaalman
Heart Opening Forrest Yoga Flow - Jo Schaalman
Traditional Hot Yoga - Julie Peláez
Aspects to this new moon offer fantastic flashes of insight that aid you in knowing your purpose and bringing your truth to bear. Your work at this time is to listen to these flashes and heed them. During the new moon, we are meant to cultivate what we want to flourish, and who doesn’t want dreams to become reality? It takes work, and the work may prove challenging with a square from Mars, but the diligence and fortitude will prove worth it. As you work toward cultivating your individual path to freedom, beware of burnout and tunnel vision that keeps you from bringing love-filled intentions with you.
One of the most interesting elements of the night sky during this new moon is the conjunction of Venus and Pluto, giving us the energy to penetrate deeply into the heart of our intimate relationships either to reveal new levels of commitment, or to allow the relationship to fall away. The Aquarian influence here wants you to communicate your needs, but don’t fall pray to the tendency for shock-factor or callousness, rather, speak with high intentions and love in your heart, so that the message you share is heard, respected and cherished. How we deepen relationships, or how we end them, determines the karmic bond we either release ourselves from, or bind ourselves to. Above all things, Aquarian energy demand freedom, and so we earn it by maintaining an open heart.
Use this new moon energy to move toward an open-hearted expression of your own truth, fueled by insights from without and love from within. Don’t be afraid to explore the unconscious at this time, for what you discover may be the kernel of life that resurrects your passion and purpose. The ritual below is designed to bring you into accord with opposing elements—like the old alchemical precept, “As above, so below”—so that like the great magician of the tarot deck, you can create seemingly out of nothing, a life that manifests your personal destiny.
Alchemical Ritual for Aquarian New Moon:
As an air sign, Aquarius often has lofty ideas and difficulty keeping its feet on the ground. This ritual allows you to capture the insights that come to you, while giving you the strength to manifest them in the real world, which is real magic.
If it is possible to do this ritual outside where both earth and air are present, this will super-charge your efforts. Gather an element of air (feathers are a good choice, a cotton-ball stand in for a cloud also works!), and an element of earth (dark colored crystals work well such as onyx, muldovite or kyanite). Build your ritual space by placing your elements at the center of a designated circle—perhaps outlined with chalk, salt, or a ring of candles. Use sage, sweet grass or palo santo to cleanse yourself and the space by casting the smoke over yourself and encircling your own body three times. Bring into the circle a pen and paper, and as you sit quietly inside the circle, write at the top of the page the date, and the statement: “This new moon allows me to manifest my deepest truth in the following ways…” Take some time to freely write about how you call your intentions into being. End the writing with the karma-free clause, “…if it is in the highest good of all."
Spend some time in quiet contemplation, feeling the earth beneath you. As you do, allow yourself to become a conduit for flashes of insight to arise about how you will manifest your new reality. When you are done with your silent contemplation, say aloud the following invocation:
Allow Venus to fill my heart with love, Pluto to guide my journey inward, and the strength of Saturn to manifest my deepest truth.
Meditate for a short time so that the power of this invocation takes hold. When complete, chant Om three times, and snuff the candles. Place your writing somewhere you can see it and be reminded of it daily as you do the work required to make your life’s purpose your reality.
By Alanna Kaivalya
Alanna believes Yoga is for everyone and each student can develop the self-empowerment needed to embark on a personal journey to meaningful transformation. On this principle she founded The Kaivalya Yoga Method, a fresh take on yoga emphasizing the individual path while honoring tradition. Teaching students since 2001, teachers since 2003, Alanna has written and developed teacher trainings worldwide for top studios and independently. In January she debuted a comprehensive 200hr-online teacher training with YogaDownload. She holds a Ph.D. in Mythological Studies with an Emphasis in Depth Psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute, has authored numerous articles and two books: Myths of the Asanas, an accessible practitioner’s guide to stories behind beloved poses; Sacred Sound, a yoga “hymnal,” illustrating the role of chant and mantra in modern practice. Look for her third book, Yoga Beyond the Mat, in Autumn 2016.She lives in New York City with Roxy the Wonderdog.
Click Here to learn more about Alanna's 200hr Online Teacher Training with YogaDownload.com
1. Diffuse some summer scents like Ocean Breeze, Tangerine, Coconut, or Pineapple to transport you to the beaches of sunny Mexico or Hawaii.
Try essential oils or burning candles throughout your home anytime you need a boost.
2. Plan a vacation—you might be stuck inside now, but planning a trip will shift your mindset and give you something to look forward to in a few months
3. Buy some fresh flowers and place a few cheerful bouquets around your home to bring the garden inside.
4. Eat more citrus fruits—grapefruits, oranges and lemons give you a burst of sun and provide vital Vitamin C.
5. Break a sweat with an invigorating yoga flow or your favorite workout. Warm yourself up from the inside out and know soon enough you may be wishing for the weather to cool off!
Experiment with these techniques and before you know it, the sunny days of summer will be back.
Remembering Why
Post-savasana, I check in and remember why I’m practicing and ask you the same. Everyone has their own reasons, and I make sure I don’t steal a unique experience from someone by saying it has to be about one thing or another. But, whatever brought you to the mat, and whatever happened while you were there, I ask you to honour it and breathe into it. And when we bring attention back to our intention and confront the reality of what’s going on, sometimes we can get disappointed in ourselves or lose sight of what’s important. In that light, I ask you to give yourself whatever kindness or gentle reminders and assurances you need to stay committed to you practice when the going gets tough. You give friends and children kind support when they need it; so give it to yourself as well.
The Supportive Breath and Letting Go
We’ve practiced for an hour or so together as a group, so one last time, we support each other in staying committed to our practice by breathing together. Inhaling we feel the power and support of the room, as we exhale we feel the ability to let go of whatever isn’t serving us. The support of the group can be a huge influence in the ability of your practice to proceed. The letting go of breath out of the mouth also signals an end to all rhythms, movements, and fires we have sent through the body in the flow of the practice, and lets us know that we have finished, we are here, and we are now ready to move on with our day.
Commitment and Surrender
We bow down and commit to staying disciplined in our practice and the prioritising of our self-care. We surrender to where the practice may take us. Sometimes it’s lovely, sometimes it’s scary, sometimes it demands tough short-term choices to live a better life in the long-term. But we honour the wisdom we accrue and work with it and not stubbornly against it.
Namaste in deed
I don’t say namaste, but I look around the room as we close and bow to each student and try to enact its true meaning of honouring another. I look at each individual and acknowledge them and do my best to never give up on anyone. I hope that throughout each class and period of committed practice, I can find ways to spark the deepening of their self-practice and inquiry. As students, we can do the same by acknowledging the community, fellowship, and support of everyone else in the room. In acknowledging each other and the journeys we go through, we also keep our challenges and setbacks in perspective. We’re all in this together. No one is alone.We breathe together, we practice together, and we support each other in our journeys of awakening.
By Adam Hocke
Adam has been practicing vinyasa flow yoga since 1999 and has trained extensively with Jason Crandell. He offers precise, strong, and accessible classes to physically awaken the body and develop mindfulness both on and off the mat. His teaching is down-to-earth and direct, exploring traditional practices from a modern perspective. A native of South Florida, Adam spent ten years in New York City before becoming a Londoner. He teaches studio classes, workshops and courses throughout London, and retreats across the globe. As a writer, Adam contributes regularly to magazines and web publications on yoga. Visit Adam at www.adamhocke.com
I love coffee, probably just as much as the next person, but I’ve realized over the years that drinking coffee everyday does not love me back.
As part of my 80:20 I’ve found a new love – one that tastes delicious as it delivers many promising health benefits.
Matcha is a fine stone-ground green tea powder that has its own unique flavor unlike any other tea, plus it has a texture like that of a frothy espresso drink.
Jo and I both love matcha for its incredible nutritional value and antioxidant content – plus it makes a delicious latte with your favorite nut milk of choice.
I personally prefer this Matcha Green Tea Latte with Homemade Almond Milk (recipe in our book) but in a pinch the store-bought stuff works too.
Known for fighting against viruses and bacteria, lowering cholesterol and boosting metabolism, this superfood is one worth trying!
Ready to give it a whirl? Our favorite Organic Matcha can be purchased from The Tea Spot here.
Try it for yourself and leave me a comment below.
With love and matcha green grins,
Matcha Green Tea Latte
Yield: 1 serving
1 tsp matcha powder ¼ cup boiling water ¾ cup plain unsweetened almond milk Stevia or honey to taste
Instructions: In a small saucepan, bring water to a boil then whisk in matcha powder. Once powder is dissolved into water, mix in the milk and heat on low. Sweeten to taste with stevia or honey.
It’s still a very new program, but so far, have you seen evidence that this training has reached its target?
Totally. In fact, even more than expected. We have some really heartwarming stories from people who always wanted to take a teacher training but were never able to do so, and now it’s possible for them. Some who are professionals working with the underprivileged or severely ill, who want to learn in their time off and bring that practice to those individuals. It’s been great to hear it. And geographically, just in our initial email announcement we had people from pretty much every continent apply (not too much yoga in antarctica, that I know of), but some examples are Zimbabwe, Hungary, Norway, and the remote island chains of Alaska. It was really so rewarding to see such a wide span of replies. And a lot of them don’t even ever want to teach, they just want to learn more than what’s available where they live, others are teachers already and they want a refresher or to learn things they might not have come across in another training.
Right, which leads to the next question, do people need to have a lot of experience to sign up?
No. It’s designed so that novices can learn along-side those who are more advanced. If you missed something, you can back it up and play it again. Also the fact that we have individual mentors allows for really focussed attention, and they take the student’s skill level into account.
Can you explain how the training proceeds, and how the students interact with the mentors?
Sure. We utilized the best software programs, like the ones universities use for their distance learning curricula, and I reconfigured my full 200 hour program into an online format which includes nearly 100 hours of video lecture along with written content that complements and enhances those lectures. Students progress through various courses within the program, learning about topics including anatomy, adjustments, sequencing, chakras and subtle body, teaching techniques, concise cueing, philosophy, mythology, and more. There are 7 courses within the 200 hour program that students complete at their own pace, and as they do, they are tested on their knowledge via video uploads and individualized feedback from our team of mentors. When a student uploads an assignment, one of the mentors carefully watches the assignment and provides skillful feedback that helps the student further develop their teaching skills and understanding of the core concepts.
So basically, students might actually get closer attention in this method of training, even though it could be maybe thousands of miles away?
Yes. It’s personal attention, one-on-one, with a highly qualified teacher. Every single one of our mentors has more than 500 hours of training, and each has their own extraordinary passions and specialties that bring even more richness to the training. In an in-studio training, it is rare that a lead instructor has the opportunity to watch, critique, and support every single step of the learning path. In this case, the online learning model excels because we are there every step of the way to evaluate progress at every single level.
How did you choose the mentors?
They’re very experienced, dedicated, talented individuals whom I’ve taught and who have been teaching others for years and have been successful in their own contributions to yoga. I find them inspiring in their own rights, and I know they’ll inspire others to join them as excellent teachers.
Tell us about the content of the program, how similar is it to what students would get in an in-person training? Did you have to modify it a lot?
This program is the 200 hour teacher training that I’ve offered in the past, plus other content that I was able to include because of the online format. In an in-studio training, you’re really limited in the content you can offer because of timing constraints. But, with this online format, I am able to offer all the content necessary for a new teacher because they can review it as much as they’d like to, and because they can take their time to really absorb it. It’s very exciting.
That said, the courses within the program--there are seven in total--present the content and training necessary for someone to become a qualified, certified teacher of yoga.
Students start with Anatomy and Alignment through a distinctly yogic lens. They learn the ins and outs of how to teach Vinyasa and Sequence safely but cleverly, as well as the dynamics of the energetic body including chakras, koshas and prana. There is a course on the Art of Adjustments where students learn to think outside the box on how to assist asanas and connect with students, and every step of the way, they are asked to upload video of themselves adjusting someone so we can check for accuracy and give feedback. Students also learn various key teaching techniques like concise, effective Cueing, how to build a class from the ground up and strategies for Developing their Business and starting to teach in their communities. Courses five and six focus on Philosophy and Theming and Myth and Meditation, respectively; those are the things that make the classes deeper and more fulfilling for both the student and teacher. Lastly, after completing all the other modules successfully, the student will develop his or her own 60 minute sequence, submit that to be evaluated and, if all goes well, will then be a certified Kaivalya Yoga Method Instructor with YogaDownload.com.
What do you say to those who think teacher trainings require in-person contact?
This online program is person-to-person contact, it’s simply not in-studio. And today, so many things are done remotely: college educations, graduate degrees, even robotic surgery, where the physician is across the globe from the patient. We live in a society and a day and age where technology allows us to be far less bound by time and space. So many other areas of our lives have utilized these capabilities, we’re simply bringing that to yoga teacher training, as YogaDownload has with taking classes.
Are you trying to take people away from in-studio trainings?
No. There are a lot of great teachers out there and I’ve met so many over the years. This is simply another option for those who find online learning more preferable, for whatever reason.
What is a student qualified to do, upon completion?
Upon successful completion of this course, the teacher will be qualified to safely and successfully teach yoga to others. All new teachers will be listed in our online teacher registration and there will be no additional registration or yearly fees. We are committed to changing the way that people learn to teach yoga, as well as the standard for what a yoga teacher learns. This training provides substantial accountability with extensive testing and feedback and everyone involved has their heart set on making sure all of our graduates exceed common standards of training. Further, the students we have taking the course are taking their learning very seriously and are studying so hard and demonstrating their knowledge with extraordinary video uploads of themselves teaching and doing yoga. We want to honor that by showcasing them in our registry and offering future students a place to find our teachers so that they can learn from them.
While other people are putting together Netflix playlists, we’re putting together our favorite blizzard-bound yoga classes. Bookmark these for when the snow falls:
Yoga For Being Snowed In
Heat Building Stay warm enough to melt mashmallows. Brand new to YogaDownload, Power Yoga with Dave Farmar 3 is a challenging advanced class with plenty of inversions, arm balances and intensifications to build heat in your inner fire.
Heart Opening When the cold has you all closed in behind scarves, hoods and earmuffs, your heart will still be wide open. Channing Grivas’ Breaking the Heart Wide Open is a slow-paced class to bring balance to the body and let in the winter love.
Snow Shoveling You clear 10 feet of walkway and your body screams for 2 days. Nothing beats Kylie Larson’s Upper Back & Shoulder Opening Flow for releasing tight muscles and getting those snow shoveling muscles warm and bendy.
Cabin Fever If you are feeling stressed, anxious, depressed or STUCK, April Laliberte’s Joy Infusion Meditation will help you break free. Even when you’re stuck in the house, your mind can wander and fulfill your creativity.
I find that it’s really easy to “drop in” when there isn’t anything happening out of the ordinary, you know, like life!
But you know, the reality is, life is always happening and it’s really easy to get tossed off your game of connection if you’re not paying attention!
There’s all these various ways to tap into your intuition and each of us has a sense of what works. Here’s a few:
Visionary experience - you may use your third eye and literally vision things. Audio experience – you may hear things, almost like whispers from the Divine. You can hear it in nature, in waves, wind and the birds. Feeling with entire body – the truth is that we feel other people’s energy all the time; the trick is to notice how you feel. Gut reaction – you just know it in your gut or in our heart. Download from the crown chakra – you experience guidance in a complete statement or sentence. Dream time – sometimes your intuition speaks in your dreams mostly through symbolism. Personally, I use them all on various occasions and when I find them hard to locate, meaning I am scattered, confused or in my head, I get on my mat and plug in. Literally, I plug into the energy that vibrates with my every step. Tap into the energy that swirls around my head with messages of Divine love and guidance. Connect to the internal guidance system that can’t wait to assist me in following my heart.
Intuition is something we feel, it’s not something we do. It’s a nudge, a push, an energy that, when cultivated, can guide us along our most divine path of Being. It’s the synchronicity of events that link together to create a bigger picture of what is.
The problem is we aren’t in our feeling body all that often. And we miss events that actually mean something. In fact,we spend more time in our head trying to figure things out. The ironic thing is, if we let go of the grip and allow the breadcrumbs to lead us along the path, all would flow in an intuitive way.
Here’s a mantra for you: I amplify in stillness. Does that mean you have to sit still to amplify your awareness? Well, no, not really. Messages come in clearer if you do, for sure! But the intention is to find that connection in movement, in chaos, in discomfort … so you can move from a place that is guided and not reactionary.
It’s a practice ... a life long practice. Don’t rush but please, start listening today. The time is now to get on your path and I’m thinking that if you don’t, something is going to push you onto it, whether you like it or not.
This week's blog is taken from my new book, Oms From the Heart. If you like what you read, I encourage you to purchase the book at danadamara.com/shop.
By Dana Damara
“My passion on the mat is proper alignment, powerful breath and effortless flow so you feel that off your mat. Your practice becomes sacred space where you arrive to find more meaning, depth, authenticity and integrity in your life." - Dana Damara: mother, author, yoga instructor, speaker and yogini.
Click here to download or stream one of Dana's YogaDownload classes!
A few short years after school, a good friend of mine started teaching a weekly yoga class at a local community center. I started to go to his classes because I knew yoga would help me stretch my body and maintain the mobility of my youth. Over time, I started noticing an added benefit – my level of concentration improved. I started loving yoga because I felt the difference in my life so I went on to become a yoga teacher. Because I had such a problem being still, I was initially attracted to a moving style of yoga. The kind where you turn the temperature of the room up, and sweat as much as you can. Back then, I told my students that meditation was not crucial to experiencing yoga and that it’s not about being still. (Oh how I wish I could take all that back.) Around that time, I read an article by Sharon and David (Jivamukti) that said that people often mistake their physical highs for spiritual highs, but that the highs or “connection” they are feeling are just physical, not really spiritual. At the time I was irate thinking “How dare they!?” Then, I discovered the truth for myself. In 2001, I met my teacher, Rod Stryker, at his “Tantra Yoga” retreat. It was there with Rod that I learned to meditate and experienced the benefits of finding stillness. The change was not immediate, but over a long stretch of time I came to realize that unlike the hot flowing classes where results were immediate, meditation took patience and commitment. Weeks would go by and I would not feel that connection I was longing for. I remember the first time I truly experienced what I had heard others talk about. I was living on Staten Island and the world had just fallen apart after 9/11. One morning, I was practicing listening to sound and I remember this moment of pure oneness washed over me. In that moment I felt still, serene, perfect, and aware. I tuned out the immediate sounds, and became aware of all the subtle background noise, without being disturbed. As my yoga practice has deepened and I have meditated more, my level of concentration has not only improved greatly, but I am able to accomplish so much more in life. Leading me to feel more fulfilled than I’ve ever felt before. I’ve gone from an unfocused child to being able to find the focus and calm even amongst chaos – which happens a lot when you’re the founder of a yoga retreat center in Costa Rica. I remember a few years ago, I led a yoga retreat and in a seven day period we filmed a documentary and shot four yoga videos, all while I led a yoga teacher training. I truly believe that it was the 20 minutes of deep relaxation, 20 minutes of pranayama, and 20 minutes of meditation that helped me find the focus I needed to get through the week. It was Rumi that said, “As you live deeper in the heart, the mirror gets cleaner and clearer.” For me, meditation is a way to clean the window in which I look through life. It allows me to live deeper in the heart. It is there that I am able to see clearly and find that focus I have spent my life searching for. Finding that place of oneness in mediation is not always an easy journey, but for me (and many others out there) it is worth it. Meditation clears my mind so that it is no longer preoccupied by all the dirty streaks that prevent me from living the life I want. And that’s how meditation improved my A.D.D. How has meditation helped you overcome challenges in your life?
By Yogi Aaron
Yogi Aaron, author of “Autobiography of a Naked Yogi”,brings passion and adventure to his teaching. Inspired, he guides students to secret and far-flung locales, empowers them to realize their own limitless potential, and makes yoga relevant and accessible for the modern world. Since 2002 he has been traveling and leading retreats worldwide and currently serves as the yoga director at Blue Osa Yoga Retreat + Spa in Costa Rica. Follow Yogi Aaron on Facebook.
If you’re cleansing along with us, you know that this weekend brings the opportunity to uplevel your detox process by taking on what we call Purification.
Purification is all about slowing down and tuning in. Take a brisk walk to soak up the elusive sunshine with your favorite pup, go to the yin yoga class you’ve been thinking about all week, or spend some quality downtime with friends and family.
Weekends can be challenging when cleansing and for that reason we have come up with a bright, tasty, and creative soup. It’s full of phytonutrients, minerals, and fiber. All of these contribute to overall nervous system health while being comforting and a little classy too! The gremolata puts to use the zest of the lemon and reminds us that spring is just around the corner. Use your creativity to swirl and twirl the Coconut Crema on top of the soup. Like a mini art class!
Enjoy! And Happy Purification!
Love,
Green Goddess Soup
Yield: 6 cups
1 TB. coconut oil 3 cloves garlic, minced and divided 1 head cauliflower, cut into small florets 2 large or 4 small zucchinis, chopped 1 large leek, thoroughly washed and sliced 2 stalks celery, chopped ½ bunch Swiss chard, chopped Juice of 1 lemon ¼ tsp. cayenne pepper Pinch of freshly ground nutmeg 1 tsp. pink Himalayan sea salt 1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper 4 to 6 cups low-sodium vegetable or chicken broth ½ cup parsley, chopped Zest of 1 lemon ¼ cup olive oil Pinch of sea salt Pinch of freshly ground black pepper Coconut Crema, optional
Instructions: In a medium pot over medium-high heat, warm the coconut oil. After a minute, add the 2 cloves of garlic, celery, and sliced leeks, and cook for 5 minutes or until wilted.
Put the cauliflower, zucchini, and Swiss chard in the pot, add the cayenne pepper, nutmeg, and season to taste with salt and black pepper. Cook for 4–5 minutes, stirring frequently.
Pour in 4 cups of broth and bring the soup to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer until the cauliflower is fully cooked, 5–8 minutes. Add additional broth to reach desired consistency.
Carefully transfer the soup to a blender and blend on high speed until smooth, about 2 minutes. Add lemon juice. Taste for seasoning and adjust with salt and black pepper if needed. The soup should be thick but still light. If it is too thick, thin it with a little more broth or water. Before serving top soup with Coconut Crema drizzle and Lemon Parsley Gremolata.
To make the Lemon Parsley Gremolata, in a small bowl combine the parsley and add lemon zest, olive oil, remaining 1 clove of garlic, sea salt and pepper to taste. A mortar and pestle works great for this too.
And I’m kind of obsessed with this salad right now. Mostly because it was insanely easy to make.
Multiple times my husband said how amazing this salad is (and he even had a second helping – which is pretty miraculous from a guy who grew up on meat and potatoes). One would think he married me because of my cooking abilities, but when we got married I could barely warm up a can of chili.
Don’t get me wrong, these days he’s a healthy eater and loves to make green food choices, but you have to give me props for getting a guy to transition from Idaho dinners to loving clean eating – not to mention that I now know my way around the kitchen.
So, I have a little secret about this magic salad. It’s pretty much all from leftovers. Sure, I chopped up some romaine lettuce and then used some spinach, but the rest, it was just hanging out in the fridge fearful of being tossed aside in the waste can.
For many people, they are working on their New Years resolutions to eat healthier or workout more, or in my case, be more patient. But what I am truly focusing on this year is watching my consumption and waste.
I spent time this week prepping food…and we ate it. In fact, we were eating it everyday. But in the end I over prepped a little and we had lots of little bits of foods left.
With that I was provided the opportunity for the creation of this magical salad. I really should have named it “Healthy Food Saved From The Trash Can”. Somehow Superfood Probiotic Vegetarian Protein Salad seemed to be more appropriate and one you might actually want to eat.
So here are instructions from the ingredient list.
Prep lots of healthy goodness at some point during the week. I chose to make Sprouted Bean Trio, Roasted Root Veggies, Quinoa, Pickled Beets and Pickled Radishes. Keep other healthy goodness on hand. For me that was a couple options for greens (romaine and spinach) + avocados and hummus. Grab a big platter and dish it all up. I didn’t even need dressing because of the hummus and pickled beets – but if I’m being honest I did drizzle some extra virgin olive oil over my entire salad. Enjoy this amazing superfood probiotic vegetarian protein salad.
So, I’ve mentioned the protein a few times (or a dozen). That’s because I have three different proteins in this salad. 1. Hummus – I love the roasted garlic! 2. Sprouted bean trio blend 3. Quinoa – it’s a complete protein and has all 8 essential amino acids. Did you read that – all 8!
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If you haven’t read them already, start with Yoga and Your Hips, Part I and Part II . The model of the “5 Muscular Compartments of Your Hips” in Parts I & II is the same approach that I take when I teach anatomy live and online. (And If you want to learn even more about yoga anatomy and yoga sequencing, you can join one of my ongoing e-courses.)
The sequence here contains my three of favorite postures for each compartment of your hip. I practice this sequence several times a week and I still love the feeling of space and mobility it gives me. I hope it helps you feel good in your body!
Hip Compartment #1: Hip Flexors
Pose 1: Anjaneyasana Keep your back thigh vertical here. Why? Because keeping your back thigh vertical and stacking your pelvis and spine directly over your thigh helps stretch your quadriceps and hip flexors.
Pose 2: Anjaneyasana Lower your hips forward and down to isolate and stretch your hip flexors, especially your rectus femoris.
Pose 3: Anjaneyasana Leaning into the side bend from Anjaneyasana helps stretch your obliques and quadratus lumborum along with your hip flexors.
Hip Compartment #2: Adductors
Pose 1: Malasana Malasana provides a thorough, inner leg stretch while also flexing the knees and hips deeply.
Pose 2: Prasarita Padottanasana with bent knee Bending one knee and pressing your forearm against your thigh allows you to create a deep, sustained stretch on the entire adductor group.
Pose 3: Bound Side Angle The action of binding in this posture provides you with a shoulder opener in addition to the adductor stretch.
Hip Compartment #3: Hamstrings
Pose 1: Parsvottanasana This foundational standing pose allows you to focus on stretching one set of hamstrings at a time. This may be more effective for students with tight hamstrings than stretching both sets of hamstrings at time like you do in Uttanasana.
Pose 2: Prasarita Padottanasana In addition to stretching your hamstrings, this pose also stretches your adductors.
Pose 3: Standing Split / Warrior III Hybrid While similar to Parsvottanasana, this one-legged standing posture provides a deep, isolated hamstring stretch.
Hip Compartment #4: External Rotators
Pose 1: Pigeon Pose This bittersweet posture uses the weight of your entire body to stretch your external rotators.
Pose 2: Ankle-to-Knee Placing one ankle on the opposite inner knee externally rotates your thighs even more deeply than Pigeon Pose.
Pose 3: Reclined Pigeon Clasping your leg and reclining in Pigeon Pose stretches your glutes, external rotators, and abductors.
Hip Compartment #5: Abductors
Pose 1: Reclined Gomukhasana Reclining in Gomukhasana allows your entire body to relax and settle, while providing you with a deep abductor stretch.
Pose 2: Gomukhasana This classic seated posture provides efficient leverage for opening your abductors.
Pose 3: Gomukhasana with sidebend Including a sidebend in this posture gives you a deep abductor stretch while also releasing tension in your obliques and quadratus lumborum.
Are these self-aggrandizing opportunities to satisfy our ego, or do we yearn for the limelight to serve the higher good of others? This is a key question in this matter, as reflecting the higher-side expression of Leo and honoring the highest in all through your gifts is the best way for us to shine. As we tune up our leadership roles, it’s important to make sure we are not burning ourselves out, as the candle that burns to hot and too fast quickly leaves us in darkness.
In order to find the balance here, I think of the Hermit from the Tarot, who stands cloaked as the wise elder, shining star in hand, ready to guide those that need a light to escape from the dark. The Hermit is similar to the figure of Gandalf from the Lord of the Rings, whose mission is to serve the highest good, even while serving the individuals in the fellowship. However, the role as a leader also requires us to rest and recharge, and few things are better to aid us in this than the light of the full moon. The ritual below helps you utilize the Leonine Moon’s energy to fuel your own inner light.
Along with this lunation, we have a tight relationship with Chiron, the wounded healer, who further amplifies this moon’s encouragement for us to step forward into our leadership gifts. Now is the time both to shine and create balance so that you may shine more brightly and more consistently. This aspect may stir things up within you that prevent you from stepping easefully into you power. That’s okay! Chiron calls us to look at our challenges in order to learn from them. Because we cannot teach others what we have not yet already learned for ourselves.
Another aspect here with Mars, Juno & Venus suggests a shakeup in love relationships…but only if the shake up is meant to occur. If it seems like a surprise that things are going awry, draw back and gain some perspective. You might see that this has been brewing for sometime, and it just took an energetic nudge to burst loose. Do your best to soften around the issue (Mars often hardens us, which doesn’t help in these situations), and see how it resolves in a way that ultimately is for the best.
Ritual to recharge & reignite:
As a fire sign, Leo burns hot and bright. In order to fuel this fire while avoiding burnout, the key is to stoke a quiet flame with consistency and the right fuel. This ritual brings this energy to life, allowing you to show up as a leader or mentor, own your power, and remain in alignment with the highest good.
Gather crystals (topaz, citrine, yellow jasper and clear quartz are good choices), sage, sweet grass or palo santo for burning, and find a symbol that represents your role as a mentor. This full moon is showering us with Leonine limelight, and as such, make sure you have a candle (or several) on hand to burn during the ritual. Set your items in an organized way within your space (perhaps in a circle, with you in the middle) and light your candle. As you sit quietly amongst the fire light, allow it to recharge you. It also charges up your symbol at the same time. Consider your leadership role and say the following invocation out loud:
Chiron & the Moon, light my inner fire so that the flame may burn off the impurities that block my power, allowing me to step fully into my role as mentor, shining light on others.
Quietly reflect on this invocation as you continue to feel the light shining upon you. Use your hands to “take in” the candle flame, by brushing your hands (at a safe distance) over the flame and drawing it’s energy toward you. Allow it to wash over you and take as much as you need during this process. Finally, hold your symbol in your hands, and bring your hands to prayer as you give thanks for this super-charged symbol that reflects your goals as a leader. Close the ritual by cleansing yourself with the sage, sweetgrass or palo santo (encircling your body three times with the smoke). Chant Om three times and offer a moment of gratitude. Snuff the candle.
Garlic Caesar Salad
Yield: 2 salads
Ingredients for Salad:
1 head romaine lettuce, chopped 1 cup celery, chopped 1/2 cup fennel, chopped 1/4 cup Garlic Caesar Dressing
Ingredients for Dressing:
1 cup cashews, soaked for in water at least 20 minutes and then drained 2 cloves garlic, chopped 1/4 tsp. sea salt 2 TB. freshly squeezed lemon juice 3 soft dates, pitted 3/4 cups water 2 large stalks celery, chopped Freshly ground black pepper
Directions: For the salad, combine romaine lettuce, celery, and fennel in a large bowl. For the dressing, combine cashews, garlic, sea salt, lemon juice, dates, water, celery, and black pepper in a high-speed blender and blend until creamy. Toss salad with desired amount of dressing and serve. Leftover dressing can be stored in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days and makes a great dip for veggies.
Variation: Top with a sliced grilled portobello mushroom for a hearty option.
As I step back and look at the challenges my hips presented, I finally realize that the issue wasn’t just hockey and skateboarding. Part of the problem was that I didn’t understand the joints or muscles that I was working with. I didn’t have a “map” of the region to make sure that I was stretching and strengthening all the muscles involved in the hip joint. I was overly focused on my outer hips and hamstrings, while ignoring my hip flexors and adductors. I didn’t understand the nature of the hip socket and that truly “opening” the hips requires a more intelligent, comprehensive approach.
I’m creating this guide because I know it would have helped me practice and teach more effectively years ago. This is the approach that I stick to when I’m working with my students and trainees—and, when I teach anatomy live and online. I’m hopeful that it will give you a simple framework for understanding your hip muscles. Make sure to check out my Illustrated Guide to Yoga and Your Hips, Part 1. It describes the structure and ligaments of the joint and will help you understand the hip joint more clearly.
And, remember, understanding the joint structure and muscles of your hip will make you a better sequencer! When you’re aware of all the muscles that comprise your hip, you can make sure that your sequences target all of the muscular compartments instead of focusing too heavily on the outer-hips and hamstrings like I did for so many years!
The Five Muscular Compartments of Your Hip
Quick caveat: I’m going to describe the muscular compartments of your hip as though they are each separate and solitary. I’m doing this because it provides us with a simple, foundational “map” of the hip muscles and their functions. In reality, there’s a lot of crossover between the muscular compartments. The compartments often help each other out and work together. For example, the adductors–especially the adductor magnus–assists the hip-flexors. Similarly, your external rotators often work with your abductors to adduct your hip. So, as you learn these compartments, keep your understanding basic and simple. But, remember that these muscle groups are often helping each other out.
Hip Flexors: Your hip flexors in include the psoas, illiacus, and rectus femoris. These muscles connect the front of your pelvis to the front of your thigh (the psoas also connects to your spine). In simple terms, these muscles rotate the front of your pelvis and the front of your thighs toward each other. They are actively contracted in forward bends and core-focused work. The hip-flexors are often the most limiting factor in backbends. If your hip-flexors or tight, they will inhibit your pelvis from rotating backward over the femurs. This often requires the lower back to extend too much and become overly compressed.
Adductors: Your five adductors run from your pelvis (pubic rami) down the inside of your leg. Only one of them, your gracilis, crosses your knee. In yoga, these muscles limit postures that require your thighs to separate widely such as Baddha Konasana and Upavistha Konasana. All of the wide-legged standing postures like Warrior II, Triangle Pose, and Side Angle Pose do a good job of creating range of motion in this group. The adductors are strengthened in core-focused work.
Hamstrings: Yes, your hamstrings are hip muscles! Your hamstrings attach to the back of your pelvis (ischial tuberosity) and run down the back of your leg. Their job is to extend your hip and flex your knee. It’s obvious that hamstring restriction limits forward bends because it keeps your pelvis from rotating forward in these postures. What’s less obvious is the role that these muscles play in backbends. Contracting your hamstrings in backbends helps rotate your pelvis backward over your thighs. This allows your spine to move more deeply—and more comfortably—into backbends.
External Rotators: Beneath your gluteus maximus, your six external rotators run from your pelvis to your thigh bone. The most familiar name in this group is the piriformis. As the name implies, these muscles primarily rotate the thigh bone laterally. The external rotators are the main muscles that most students feel when they do Pigeon Pose, Cross-Legged Forward Bend, and Ankle-to-Knee Pose. Restriction in your external rotators makes it difficult to sit cross-legged and can reduce your ability to do forward bends and seated twists. Strengthening this muscle group can help keep your sacroilliac region stable and maintain optimal alignment in this joint.
Abductors: Your abductors include your entire gluteal family (maximus, medius, & minimus), tensor fasciae latae and sartorius. These muscles run from the outside of your pelvis to the outside of your thighbone. When they contract, they either stabilize your pelvis, or pull your thighbone out to the side. Although they derive their name, “abductors,” from the latter (to take away), they’re usually working to keep your pelvis stable while you stand and walk. Outer hip openers like Pigeon and Gomukhasana stretch this muscle group. Standing postures—especially the top leg in Ardha Chandrasana—strengthen this group.
Hip Flexors: Psoas, and Iliacus This drawing illustrates the pathway of your psoas. Ignore the fact that “major” and “minor” are both listed. These muscles contract strongly in postures like navasana and bakasana. They stretch in all of your backbends and lunges.
Hip Flexors: Your Rectus Femoris The rectus femoris is a “double-duty” muscle. It works with the other quadriceps (technically, it is considered one of the four quads) to straighten the knee. And, it works with the other hip flexors to flex the hip. Like the psoas and iliacus, the rectus femoris strongly contracts in most core strengthening postures and lengthens in all backbends.
Your Adductors I included this illustration in my Illustrated Guide to Yoga and Your Core due to the adductors relationship to the core. Check it out here if you haven’t read it. This 3-D cutaway shows the adductors running between your hamstrings on the back and your quads in the front. You contract your adductors in core-strengthening work and you stretch them in all the postures where you separate your thighbones such as Bound Angle Pose, Malasana, and most standing postures.
Your Hamstrings Your hamstrings include the semimembranosus, semitendinosus, and biceps femoris. You strengthen your hamstrings in backbends, especially prone backbends like Locust and Bow. You stretch your hamstrings in countless postures, including all standing forward bends and all straight-leg seated forward bends.
Your External Rotators and Gluteus Maximus This is my favorite illustration in this series. The left side shows the gluteus maximus. On the right side, the gluteus maximus is removed from the illustration revealing the external rotators that live underneath the gluteus maximus. You can see how layered and dense this region is. You strengthen your external rotators by engaging them ion standing postures and backbends. You also strengthen them in some of the transitions between postures in vinaysa yoga. You stretch these muscle groups in all Pigeon Pose variations and cross-legged forward bend variations.
Your Abductors You can see your glutes, tensor fasciae latae, and sartorius in this illustration. In yoga, we have to make a concerted effort to strengthen these muscles since they don’t automatically engage in most postures except for standing balances. In Part III of this series, I’ll provide you with some cues that will help you work these muscles. You stretch these muscles in all outer-hip openers, like Gomukhasana and Pigeon.
Thanks again for checking out this series! Be sure to keep in touch with me by signing up for our newsletter!
By Jason Crandell
Jason Crandell and Andrea Ferretti are a husband and wife team who have been teaching, writing about, and living their yoga for nearly two decades. Andrea is the former executive editor of Yoga Journal and is now creative director for Jason Crandell Yoga Method. Jason is an internationally recognized teacher known for his precise, empowering, down-to-earth approach to vinyasa yoga. They live together in San Francisco with their full-time boss, Sofia-Rose Crandell, age 3. To read their blog or to learn more about Jason's upcoming teacher trainings, please visit their web site www.jasonyoga.com
Additionally, If you want to practice arm balances, it is essential you have a strong chaturanga. It’s a heat builder of course and I like that. I like cranking it up and getting the body warm enough to dive into some of the more flexibility oriented shapes later on. And, yes, it’s a hard pose that demands strength in the upper body and core and is hard to do repeatedly with integrity. For me, the fact that it forces you to pay attention, slow down, and move with clarity and meaning is part of its charm and necessity. Because if you do it a bit too fast, too many times, with too much machismo, it might eventually fuck you over. And that’s life, isn’t it?
After a pretty fiery class sometimes I have temporary regrets about all the chaturangas and go back and count how many we’ve actually done. On a particularly big day in my class it may be somewhere between 20-30. I may be being bit of a bully but I think most people can survive 20-30 triceps presses, which is essentially what it is, especially if given ample opportunity to do them slowly or with knees down, or when strength fails, to find other comparable transitional movements to get to the next bit of flow. So, for now it’s staying in and we’ll have to pony up and meet its demands.
Quick Tips
Fundamentally, remember that it’s a pose, not just a transition. Don’t rush and actually take the time to make the shape! Most of my in-class adjustments involve stopping people mid route, slowing them down, and reminding them to actually do the pose. To that end here are some quick tips to improve your chaturanga.
Remember the Shape
Chaturanga Dandasana translates to four-limbed staff pose. Visualise the long stable staff supported by four points, not just some crazy roller-coaster ride into upward-facing dog. To that end, forget knees-chest-chin as a preparatory movement. It patterns a downwardly sloped action into the shoulder joint that may put too much pressure into the front of the rotator cuff group of muscles and ligaments that line the front of the joint.
Knees-Chest-Chin patterns a downward force into the front of the shoulder joint that is potentially injurious.
Think Forward
When moving down from plank come forward on to your toes and think more of moving forward rather then down. You can visualise a plane landing slowly and steadily. Similarly, hopping back into chaturanga is more efficiently achieved by thinking of bringing the chest forward. Both are so because it helps bring the arms into 90-degree angles with a bend at the elbow joints, providing a strong muscular support between the front and the back of the arms, the arms in external rotation within the shoulder joints, and the shoulder joints supported and stable.
If you think and practice moving straight down instead of forward you may decrease the angle between forearm and upper arm, lose your strength and crash down into the front of the shoulder joint, which may be potentially injurious over time.
Elbows in, shoulders back
With the elbow moving back and holding tightly in to the ribs, you keep the arms in a plane of movement that most efficiently uses the arm muscles to sustain your downward trajectory, and helps the arms stay in slight external rotation with shoulder blades down and head of the arm bone placed without risk of pressing against the front of the joint. This is ideal for stability and perfectly set up to bring you in to backbend in the following pose. With the shoulders drawn down (try pressing firm into the mat like you’re trying to slide it back) and together, you bring in the support of the back-body to help stabilise the arms and the shape, rather than a sloppy crash forward. To keep this support in place, don’t go too low. Stop around elbow height.
Me working to bring it all together in a strong chaturanga
It’s not just upper body
Some students mid sections can start looking like sad over-worked pack horses in a lazy chaturanga with a belly crashing to the mat and a lower back in a dire dip. Remember that the core has to stay slightly lifted and engaged to maintain the support from belly to thighs to maintain the staff shape through your descent. Additionally thighs stay engaged and although I’ve asked for weight to be shifted forward in the shape, even to the point of being on your toes, there is energy also moving back through the heels – a sort of dual current of energy moving in both ways. If you forget the core and power of the legs, the pose will get top heavy and you’ll continue to crash downward.
Keep it real
Chaturanga is hard for nearly everybody so be kind to yourself. If it just ain’t working out, scale back and do less of them, or do it on your knees, or skip it and just find another way to transition with movement and breath or build strength in your body and in your practice. Most likely doing a combination of alternative poses like locust pose or cobra pose or knees down chaturanga will in time yield the same positive results as a well aligned, aware, and embodied ‘full’ pose.
See more Practice Tips
Videos to help strengthen your chaturangas
Discernment is defined as the ability to judge well. What does that mean anyway? To judge well? I’m not sure I agree with that definition. In my humble opinion discernment can be best described as:
a moment in time where we are offered an opportunity to know what is right for us. A moment in time when we choose what resonates deep within our heart. A moment in time when we make a choice that best suits the evolution of our soul.
I like to think of it as the space between breath and reaction. The quiet stillness between the conflict of the ego and the soul. An internal knowing of what is elevating us and what is contracting us. It’s the emotional time out we take before reacting from a patterned, triggered place.
The issues with discernment, as I see it are instant gratification and old triggers.
We have this appendage we call our phone, and it can get us the information we need right when we need it. The question is, do we really need it? And do we really need it in that moment? If we can find what we think we need, in a moment when we think we need it, are we offering up space to evaluate if we really even need it or not?
Maybe not. Then we’re left with information taking up brain space that we really didn’t need.
Old triggers … yeah, you know what I’m talking about. Something happens that is not really in alignment with your “chi” and you fly off the handle. You say something that feels “old”, react in a way that is less than love and then you’re left standing there wondering “who the hell was that person?”
How to remedy this? You take a breath. FYI, it’s free. And it feels good.
In that one breath, space is infinite, presence is palpable, love is emanating, and the soul is ignited. In that moment, that one moment in breath, we are offered a second to discern what is really happening. And we are better able to act from a place more in alignment with our soul.
Discerning what is real, not judging what is right. This one simple act can change the world.
This week's blog is a excerpt from my new book, Oms From the Heart. It and its sister book are now on sale. If you love what you read, I encourage you to purchase your copy today.
For more inspiration and to purchase Dana's new book, Oms From the Heart, visit www.danadamara.com
We all become creatures of habit since familiar actions and experiences can provide us with a certain amount of comfort and security.
Many of these habits can be positive and serve us well; however, we often develop negative patterns that may be hard for us to even notice unless we create space in our life to cultivate more self-awareness. The more we repeat the pattern the deeper groove we create and the more challenging it can be to alter the habit.
We need to polish our gems in order for our true brilliance to shine forth.
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit. -Aristotle
The good news is that it is completely possible to reshape the groove into a healthier habit. Yoga, including meditation and breathing exercises, can provide us a safe space to slow down, turn our attention inward and observe ourselves as we truly are with less judgement.
In our physical yoga practice our samskaras may play out as a tendency to push too far in the poses or maybe even give up on poses too soon. Maybe we have a tendency to ignore our bodies and act in a way that society has made us feel we ‘should’. For example, I ‘should’ be able to chatturanga (yoga push up) with my knees off the mat.
The ‘should’ trap is often an unhealthy mental samskara and with regular mindful yoga practice we can develop greater wisdom and trust in ourselves so we begin to listen to the ‘true’ self and not the ‘ego’ self that may tell us we aren’t good enough or if we just work a little harder we’ll be happy, etc. Let’s just let ourselves be happy now!
So, how exactly do we cultivate new healthier habits?
Some samskaras may hide deep in our subconscious and our entire life may be an ongoing process of polishing them so our inner light can shine through. For others we may be able to purify them within a few weeks or months of practice.
Let’s say for example you have a habit of overeating when you feel stressed (like I do). Here are some steps you can take to begin breaking that cycle. Please remember, though, the beauty of the yogic path is that it involves our own personal investigation. Use yoga as your own personal laboratory to experiment with what works for you.
Here is a good starting point:
1. Cultivate Vidya (Awareness)
Carve out time each day for a practice of being present and looking inward. It could be yoga, meditation, breathing, walking, journaling, being in nature…anything that connects mind, body, and spirit. Listen to the thoughts and the tone of the thoughts that arise in the mind; create a healthy distance between you and your thoughts so you are less likely to judge or critique what shows up. Self-deprecating thoughts, blame and guilt are very counterproductive to establishing healthier habits.
2. Create a Sankalpa (Intention)
Create a potent ‘I AM’ intention by first considering exactly what it is that is hindering you from achieving your goal and purifying the samskara. For example, if I tend to overeat when stressed, I must have forgotten that I am already full and complete. I don’t need anything external to soothe me. I have simply lost touch with my inner state of satisfaction and wholeness. My sankalpa could be ‘I AM WHOLE’ or ‘I AM COMPLETE’.
3. Set Micro Goals
The Zeigarnik Effect, shows that we have the tendency to want to accomplish and complete things we have set out to do. If we don’t finish them we are left dissatisfied and unmotivated to continue. Set small accomplishable goals that build naturally to larger goals. For example, if I’m not able to completely avoid eating when stressed, perhaps I begin by allowing my self just 2 bites and I commit to eating them mindfully and joyfully. Eventually I move on to one bite and so on. If I can accomplish these small goals and win small victories, I’m more likely to continue on my path and not give up.
Give it a try and let me know what you discover!
By Jennifer Meek
Jennifer Meek is a Certified Yoga Teacher (RYT 500) specializing in Yoga Therapy for common conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, and back pain. Utilizing her 25 years of movement experience as a dancer in combination with the tools of yoga and mindfulness she teaches people how to tap into their innate potential for health and happiness. Read More from Jennifer at jennifermeek.com
What’s your love-hate craving?
Is it sugar? (that’s mine in case you couldn’t tell by the photo!) Salty snacks? Coffee? Wine?
For many of us cravings feel like a never-ending spin cycle. Our innocent “I’ll just have one bite” turns into a daily indulgence. Before we know it, that sneaky food sinks its claws in us, holding us hostage. Eventually that one little bite turns into a full-blown addiction and starts to take its toll on our health.
Sound familiar?
Cravings are tricky because we want to learn how to listen to, trust and honor our body and its messages. But cravings can be very deceptive.
We may think, “I’m craving a glass of wine so therefore it must be what my body needs.”
Not so fast.
Sadly, it’s often the foods we loooooovvve, crave and feel that we wouldn’t want to live without that cause the most damage in our body.
So how do we know when are cravings are an insightful signal from our body trying to help us get back into balance versus a sabotaging little beast?
Therein lies the fun. We have to be willing to deconstruct our cravings.
When venturing into this endeavor we like to start with the physical body first, and then move into the deeper inquiry where we ask, “what am I really craving?” Ask the question and then be willing to hear the answer. You may be surprised to find that a sugar craving is actually masking a craving for deeper meaning in your life or more spiritual connection.
Cravings get a bad rap, but they’re not all bad. We just have to learn how to work with them. Below are some of my favorite strategies for deconstructing cravings – because the more tools we have in our toolboxes the more likely we are to become our most healthy, vibrant selves.
Check out the tips and then leave me a comment. Are these helpful? What are your cravings trying to tell you?
With sweet love for cravings,
6 Tips for Dealing with Cravings
1. Start with a big glass of water: Sometimes when we’re craving something sweet or salty we’re actually just thirsty. The feeling we get from being dehydrated is actually a very similar feeling to being hungry, so a good place to start is to stop and drink a large glass of purified water.
2. Eat some protein: Before you give in to the craving, ask yourself how much protein you’ve had today and when you last ate it. Try noshing on some homemade trail mix or some sweet chia pudding for a quick protein boost. Protein helps to control blood sugar patterns, which in turn can help diminish our cravings.
3. Increase healthy fats: Healthy fats help keep us satiated longer. Load up on wild-caught salmon, trout,avocados, olive oil, coconut oil, nuts and seeds and you won’t find yourself as hungry in between meals.
4. Take magnesium: Chocolate is a common food we hear about when it comes to cravings. This craving can be linked to magnesium – and up to 80% of Americans are deficient in it. No wonder so many people are craving chocolate! Our favorite magnesium supplement is called Natural Calm by Natural Vitality, which gives you 325mg in one dose. You also get a good dose of magnesium each time you take a hot Epsom salt bath.
5. Address your emotional state: Ask yourself the question, “What am I really craving?” Explore what’s happening in your emotional body. Are you sad, anxious, and stressed out? Write about it daily in your journal and let those emotions bubble to the surface. Be loving and kind with yourself. Nurture yourself with a walk in nature, get a pedicure with a girlfriend, treat yourself to a facial and a massage.
6. Do a cleanse: A whole-foods based cleanse is an excellent way to recalibrate your taste buds and tackle all of the above at once – stopping gnarly cravings in their tracks. It also provides you a time to slow down, tune in, and get to the real root of what else you may be craving from your life. Also, eating a diet rich in nutrient-dense foods can be helpful in correcting any nutritional deficiencies that might be contributing to your cravings.
I'm just going to say it: I have a screen addiction. I often check my phone needlessly, even compulsively. I know that there is no real need for me to be on my phone while I am doing it and, yet, I still do it despite myself. I know that I am not the only one who is finding easy escape in the black rectangles that we hold in the palms of our hands. At the same time, these words with which I hope to delve and share are also being captured from my imagination and soul by the very same means.
I owe my livelihood to the internet but my heart wishes for more.
I embrace the worldwide web and could never be doing what I’m doing without it. Previously, I may have been able to carve out a little niche for myself, but the success of my small local business has largely depended on the reputation I garner from my online voice. When someone moves to the neighborhood they don’t walk around to see where the closest yoga center is and stop in to talk to the owner. They do a google search, check out the website, and read the yelp reviews. While my friend and follower lists are not particularly extensive, I have offered original content and been consistent about the sort of things I post, so that the impression people have of what I do is largely accurate.
When it comes to being ahead of the curve and utilizing the new technologies, I got in early and have done well enough to survive. But it is a lot of work. And it has very little to do with my real passion for connecting with people through teaching yoga. Furthermore, the time I spend in the virtual world has an impact on the experience of my life and the relationships I have to others. Not just because more of my time is occupied by many different-sized screens but because of the subtle implications it has on my person and the way I interact with the world.
There is no predictive value to magic.
I got into yoga because the world felt disempowering. As a young man just trying to figure out who I was, I was utterly dismayed by the seeming lack of humanity at work in our modern societies. In yoga practice, I found a way to discover and identify myself with the wonderment and beauty of nature as it is in my own system, which is generally undervalued and had been missing from my perspective. After developing some skills in this regard for myself, I began sharing my process as a way to facilitate others doing the same.
Thus, yoga became my profession and my business. In order to make that viable over time, I have had to develop a range of web and marketing skills. As I have become more educated about e-business, some disturbing things have become clear. Mostly, it’s all about capturing data generated by users and mining it for predictive value. The problem is that, when it comes to yoga, the value of what I am offering can not be predicted. In fact, attempting to do so easily undermines the means by which we would bring it about.
The power of my imagination and will is critical.
If what some economists predict proves true about the “postcapitalism” we are entering into, then yoga is going to become more valuable than ever. For where our educational system was developed to teach us the skills of being good factory or office workers, yoga teaches us the skills of harnessing our inherent talents from which we can forge new possibilities. The skills of yoga were less important to an industrial economy. But in the information or “sharing” economy, my ability to think out-of-the-box and create of my own resources is worth everything.
Long-held models of how we are meant to live and work are beginning to crumble. That is scary. It means greater uncertainty. But the pendulum needs to swing back some. Our ability to access information has gotten ahead of us and we have sacrificed important aspects of our existing. We are all going to need to get a handle on the new place that technology holds in our lives. Let us not be in denial. There is no doubt that it is affecting how we interact.
Most importantly, the role that my phone plays in my life must be considered and determined by me. I need to ensure that I am utilizing the technology in a way that reinforces the person I want to be and the life I want to have. The internet can’t have the best of me. My inbox and feeds may be vital to my work but can never fulfill my spiritual needs. What is most cherished in me requires nourishment that can’t be found online. Only through the non-digital world may I know the truth of myself.
I mean, sure, I lead classes, workshops, trainings; facilitate retreats and sincerely enjoy mentoring and coaching people. However, at the end of the day, I am actually up leveling my own knowledge and devotion to this practice. Not only that, but I’m constantly learning about relationships, spirituality, connection, and business just with my “work”. And this is because everything I am experiencing is a reflection of me. Every person I am privileged to meet and discover has something to share with me.
Remembering this simple fact, by the way, takes a TON of discipline.
And, to be completely transparent, the real discipline for me is what I do with all that stuff I say and share on my mat. With discipline I take it off my mat and into my own, real world - the one that is riddled with adolescent girls, tasks that never end, creation and connection, and a new commitment to daily self-care and empowerment.
So I feel like the word discipline could almost be synonymous with commitment, but with complete awareness. Meaning that if we really looked at our life and what we “want”, we have to ask ourselves, are we disciplined enough to not be distracted by every ding, ring-tone, notification, and message we receive that is not on our path of teaching/learning? Can we really discern that for ourselves? And, if so, how long does it take?
I use the word like this: I am disciplined in my practice. I am disciplined in my thoughts. I am disciplined in my desires.
More than anything though, I think it is vitally important to discipline our breath. And that is the simplicity, the sacredness, the ease and practice of yoga. Here’s the deal: if you can discipline your breath, meaning teach yourself to focus only on a rhythmic cadence of your breath, you can begin the practice of creating your life in just the way you desire.
How?
Well, when you discipline the breath, you take a moment to focus on nothing but the breath. And in that nothingness, there are countless thoughts. And you, in that one breath, are offered the opportunity to “stick with it” or “distract.” And what’s so very important about this is that we are fed so much information in a second, in an hour, in a day… that we can’t possibly keep up with it all. Not only that, but we really don’t even need it all.
And in that one breath that we take, very consciously, we are offered a nano-second to discipline our thoughts so they are more in alignment with who we are and what we desire. We can notice before we react; before we fall into a pattern; before we go down the “wrong” path.
So, when I begin sharing this practice or this discipline, I like to ask:
How serious are you about your practice? What are your intentions? Are you disciplined enough to stay focused? To the end? To find the joy in learning, falling, growing?
Because this discipline, this practice, this journey of yoga is not for the faint of heart. It is for those individuals ready to wake up to it all. And, mostly when it gets difficult, they are the ones that sit in a pose that is uncomfortable, breathing into the tight spaces of their body so when they experience that constriction off their mat, say in relationship, they can breathe into that, too, with the same grace, awareness and acceptance.
That to me is discipline.
Or, maybe you’re looking at the finish line to go home and want to get the last 3 items done on your to-do list and then you can leave. Just push a little more, a little harder. The problem is, it’s taking forever. You’re re-reading lines, you’re slumping into your seat, and you’re attention is all over the place.
Here’s what we know about that: our pre-frontal cortex (PFC), our “thinking brain” is a very limited resource. For any activities involving understanding, deciding, recalling, memorizing or inhibiting, we need our thinking brain. Unfortunately, the brain’s energy gets depleted very quickly. When our brain’s energy is depleted, we resort to our mental maps (habits and shortcuts) to get us through the best we can without the PFC. This is when our work suffers, things take longer than we think they will and the end of the day leaves us with no energy to spare for loved ones.
And don’t we all want to do our best work and have energy to spare for loved ones (or ourselves) at the end of the day?
Yes, yes we do.
Enter the Office Breaks on Yoga Download. One of the things both your brain and your body need to refuel is oxygen. So when we get to that place where our brain is fuzzy and we feel the urge to push through… stop. Seriously, stop. Instead of taking the 30 minutes it will take you to finish up without your PFC, take a break and it will only take you 5 or 10 minutes to do even better work.
These Office Breaks are specifically designed for common moments in our work days like when your brain is fuzzy, you’re low on energy, or you’re overwhelmed (among others!). Workplace Evolved (WE) deliberately structures these breaks to give your brain the oxygen it needs, give your body the movement it needs, and give your mind an invitation to shift your experience towards something better.
The result is that you do better work, are more efficient, your body feels better, and you have energy to spare at the end of the day.
So taking little breaks throughout the day is the easy choice, right?
We wish! None of us make good decisions when our brains are already depleted. So don’t rely on your brain—make it a literal no-brainer. Scheduling a calendar reminder every 90 minutes to try an Office Break. This will give you a reminder at just the right time, and relinquishes your brain of needing to make any more decisions when it’s already exhausted. Wouldn’t that be nice!
Try the Office Breaks. Track the results for a few weeks. Let us know how it goes.
Workplace Evolved offers 5, 10, and 20-minute office breaks designed for common situations we encounter in the workday. If you have any requests, just let us know. We’ll use feedback, requests and your results to fuel this segment of YogaDownload.com and hope to have many more breaks available online over time.
Curious about Workplace Evolved? Check out their website here.
By Dia Draper
Dia left the practice of law to shift work cultures and improve lives. Dia believes work is most fulfilling when employees are engaged, valued and trusted to work towards a common goal. As the owner and CEO of Workplace Evolved, Dia is an experienced certified executive coach and she runs powerful programs for leadership development, and employee wellbeing and engagement in large organizations. Her mission is to improve people’s experience of work while simultaneously improving the organization’s profits, a true win-win.
CLICK HERE TO STREAM OR DOWNLOAD ONE OF DIA'S OFFICE YOGA CLASSES!
That being said, I’m the least likely person to be writing a blog post on chicken but since I live with two growing boys and a hubbie who says, “salad is what dinner eats,” I’ve had to (and continue to) educate myself on all-things meat related.
We always encourage our participants to become label detectives and this skill is never more important than when it comes to shopping for meat. Unfortunately, these labels can be the most confusing–causing the best of us to become a vegetarian! (Wink, wink.) Although these labels can guide us into making healthier decisions, they can also be misleading because the regulations behind the stickers are often vague.
So let’s demystify some of these marketing claims!
Let’s start with the term “Organic.” Just as with produce, buying “organic” chicken is always solid choice. Organic poultry means that the birds were raised on feed containing no antibiotics, hormones, artificial ingredients or preservatives. Yet unless the labels reads “100% Organic,” the chicken feed likely contained GMO-components, like corn and soy.
Next option is “Vegetarian-Fed.” This too can be misleading because a normal chicken diet is omnivorous, since chickens naturally eat grubs, insects and worms, in addition to grasses and grains. In fact, the omission of bug protein usually means even more GMO corn and soy!
Stickers that read “Free-Range” or “Cage-Free” are widely used and sadly, generally useless. These terms do imply that the chickens are not tightly compartmentalized and that they have access to open air, yet there are zero requirements ensuring that the chickens actually spend time outside. “Pastured” or “Pasture-Raised” may be a more transparent term because it has been widely adopted by small farmers who insist that their grass-fed chickens actually see the light of day. Unfortunately, it has no legal definition and, therefore, can be applied without consequence.
So how do we stop playing chicken with our chicken?!
The best way to find out where your chicken comes from is to go right to the source. If buying from a local farmer, ask about their practices for feeding and raising their birds because even if they’re not “certified organic,” they might be doing everything right. If you’re unfamiliar with your local agriculture, use a farm finder such as LocalHarvest to find fresh produce and meat. Participating in a local farm’s CSA program is another way to hone in on clean poultry sources.
Using a grocery delivery service like Door to Door Organics, can also help you weed through the options and their customer service department is available to answer any question about the products they carry. Use the code “detoxdelivered” for $10 off your first order now though the end of August.
The bottom line when shopping in your everyday health food grocery store is to look for “100% Organic” poultry.
Now that you’ve done your research, we bet you’re expecting a pretty great chicken recipe.
Well, you’re in luck! This week, our natural chef extraordinaire and Conscious Cleanse certified health coach,Jessica Bartlett, helped us create a spin on a favorite finger-licking dish: pulled pork!
Instead of pork, we’re using our well-sourced chicken and a BBQ sauce that isn’t tomato-based. Just like the original dish, we’re slow cooking the meat (in a slow cooker so it’s easier) and the result is spicy, sweet and downright comforting!
Enjoy and please be sure to leave us a comment below. This recipe was a request by one of our readers so we’re ready and listening. What other favorite comfort food can we make cleanse-friendly for you? Be sure to tell me in the comment section below.
With 100% organic grass-fed love,
Sweet ‘n’ Spicy Pull-Apart Chicken
Yield: 5-6 cups Ingredients:
1 large onion, peeled and sliced thin 2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 5-6 breasts) 1 ¾ cup chicken or vegetable stock, divided 2 tsp. sea salt, divided 1 tsp. paprika ½ tsp. ground coriander ½ tsp. ground cumin 2 ½ tsp. garlic powder, divided ¼ tsp. cayenne pepper 4 large carrots, peeled and sliced into discs (about 2 cups) 1 cup water 2 TB. blackstrap molasses 2 TB. pure maple syrup (or honey) 1 TB. apple cider vinegar 1 ½ tsp. smoked paprika ¼ tsp. black pepper 1 head Bibb lettuce or romaine lettuce 1 small cucumber, chopped 1 bunch cilantro, chopped Juice of 1 lime Green onions, chopped (optional) Red cabbage (optional) Brown mustard (optional)
Directions:
Place onion slices on the bottom of the slow cooker. Top with whole chicken breasts. Pour ¼ cup stock over the top. In a small bowl, stir together 1 teaspoon sea salt, paprika, coriander, cumin, ½ teaspoon garlic powder, and cayenne pepper. Sprinkle these spices over chicken and cook on low for 5-6 hours.
After chicken has been cooking for about 4 ½ hours, begin the sauce by adding 1 1/2 cup stock and water to medium saucepan. Add carrot slices and bring to a boil. Simmer for about 15-20 minutes or until carrots are soft enough to skewer with a fork.
Meanwhile, in a large bowl, mix together molasses, maple syrup (or honey), apple cider vinegar, 2 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon sea salt, smoked paprika, and black pepper.
Being careful to reserve broth, drain softened carrots. Add cooked carrots to a food processer fitted with an S-blade, along with 4 tablespoons of carrot broth. Blend until creamy. Add blended carrots (about 1 cup), as well as 1 tablespoon carrot broth to large bowl with sauce ingredients and mix well with a spatula or spoon.
At the 5-hour mark, check to make sure the chicken is cooked (there should be no pink flesh and an inserted thermometer should read 160o – 165o). If chicken needs more time, allow it to cook for another 30-45 minutes. If the chicken is cooked, add sauce to slow cooker and use two forks to shred the chicken and mix in the sauce. Let cook for another 10 minutes.
Spoon ½ cup filling onto 1 lettuce leaf and top with cucumber, cilantro, a squeeze of lime juice, or any optional topping. Roll or fold in half, and serve.
Store in refrigerator for up to 5 days or in freezer for 2 months.
Variation: For more heat, add ¼ – ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes to chicken while it cooks.
Looking back at last year’s round-up, Brave New Yoga World, my optimism proved to be warranted but did not account for unforeseen difficulties and trends that only time can reveal. The move away from coveting an idealized notion of a “yoga body” towards more intangible and profound benefits is where my intuition and hope most held true. But as the industry has adapted to economic shifts, the opportunities for this new direction to find its financial footing is being undermined by external forces.
People are over being boot-camped by yoga.
I’ve been touting a Slow Yoga Revolution for the last decade but this is the first year that I actually felt like it wasn’t just my own wishful thinking. For as long as I can remember, whenever I’d write something that called into question the convention of overworking our bodies in group classes, the majority of responses would be derogatory. I was generally viewed as a “hater” who was bashing opportunities to expose people to yoga who might not normally be interested. This still continues to be a line of reasoning, often to justify many common hypocrisies and misgivings. But in the last six months, I have come across a range of other voices that are also saying as much, and the comment threads are marked by a chorus of amens.
Of course, there are plenty of folks who are still in it for the sweat and don’t give a lick about anything that I or anyone else might have to say. And more power to them. There are enough people coming to many of the same conclusions I have that the old entrenched debates are becoming irrelevant. The more that people are applying yoga practice to contexts and populations beyond the physical fitness model, the greater public knowledge is being gleaned as to the distinctions and purposes behind different approaches. The end result is that those who want to do poses for fitness still have ample opportunity and those who might be looking for something more are finding alternative avenues.
Where things have begun to unravel is that, more and more, financial survival requires yoga teachers to obtain skills that don’t have anything to do with teaching yoga.
Last year, I was talking about the fall of the old guru- and brand-based models. I suggested that the future was going to be about individuals, value and personal integrity. This has borne itself out in many ways. People have become largely desensitized to coercive click-ads and email campaigns. The only thing that is able to pierce through the white noise of our many different-sized screens is something that feels authentic and human, something that can strike a chord in us loud enough to trigger an undeniable emotional response.
Yoga teachers are creating experiences and content that are marketable in ways that have never been seen before. But in order to turn that skill into a livelihood it needs to be marketed. The marketing gurus have read the tea leaves and are exploiting this for all its worth. And the workshops that claim to help folks become “Yogapreneurs” tend to be more of a bait-and-switch that plays right into the hands of the hidden movers. It’s not just a matter of having a website and a Facebook page and a Twitter account but knowing what to do with those media outlets. Yoga teachers are ill-equipped and loathe to develop marketing prowess because it is an entirely separate skill that is largely in conflict with the process of teaching yoga.
Like in other sectors of the economy, the ability for small business to compete with larger scale is diminishing. However, all is not lost.
It's understandable that yoga teachers are not good at marketing. It's disheartening that they need that in order to be able to teach — thus, the appeal of portals and services that seek to take the burden off them. But what might be gained in outsourcing the marketing needs can never match the kind of scale that Yogaworks and CorePower have in their favor. Not to mention the insidious nature of e-commerce that requires independent businesses to willfully allow the likes of Amazon to co-opt their hard-earned wares or become invisible.
For so many years, yoga professionals worked tirelessly to bring yoga into the mainstream. Succeeding in doing so has also brought with it repercussions. Yoga no longer exists on the margins. Yoga is no longer counterculture. Yoga business is subject to the same market forces that it once operated outside of. It has to be faced whether we like it or not.
But despite this somewhat bleak prospect for independent yoga teachers to thrive, there is one thing we have going for us: As the scaled operations continue to grow and overshadow the lone players, there is no way that they can provide the same kind of experience. The pendulum is going to swing back. When it regards personal needs and health, trust in the humanness of the provider easily outweighs the illusion of security that ordering from the big box gives us. What has become devalued in the swirl of our new digital universe will once again become cherished.