Balance and moderation

We discussed tonight the ideas of living life in moderation. What balances you?

Personally there are certain things in my life that are extremely grounding. Yoga helps. It's like the reset button that I can choose to press once a month or daily, if I so choose to allow myself the time for my individual need and desire for it. It's also the little things, like coming home to my cuddly dog, Izzy. The days when she's away ( my parents and I have joint custody over our furry children), certainly have an impact on my day, mood, happiness. A simple hug from someone like my mom or in a pinch just my roommate.

What are appropriate levels of moderation? I feel like since I am in an intermediate stage in life that I find myself living in moderation without always thinking about it. I've noticed I've become a frequent designated driver whereas I used to be the girl in need of one. Trust me- I still know how to have fun, I have just learned the consequences and am opening myself up to the options of moderation.

In other aspects, I used to only do yoga. Now, I am showing moderation to my addictions by tackling more than one athletic hobby. Yoga and now marathon running. I am training for a half marathon and thus try to run at least 3 days a week for at least 5 miles a run.

How do you moderate yourself? What's your balance?

Meditation

Mantras and meditation go hand in hand. In one of my older posts, I posted the Asato Ma mantra, which I really like because it signifies a surrender to something greater, spiritual or not. It's a means of asking for help or guidance, and let's face it, we could all use a little bit of that each day.

Some things I've learned about meditation is that you need to do only enough to being yourself inward. It's like a mental escape from daily life into a calm place of just you. Mantras are meant to be repeated over and over and are a key to finding self awareness and meditation. A typical mantra said during meditation is repeated 108 times. It seems like a lot, but it really doesn't have to be. You could use a sound for your mantra instead of some lengthy meaningful thing that you probably can't pronounce. One of my personal favorite sound mantras is the "so-hum". With each inhale you say either aloud or mentally, "so" and exhale with "hum".

Personally I like the sound mantras better because they don't necessarily have a meaning. They are so basic you don't really have to think about them (such as which line comes next). The mindlessness of it allows you to free your mind of thoughts or emotions and completely retract inward.

Give it a try. If you find sitting with spine erect to be uncomfortable, I often do my meditation laying down in savasana, corpse pose.

Namaste!

Kundalini and Ahimsa (Yama)

Kundalini is a style of yoga known as Pranayama - or a yoga focused on the breath, rather than the physical poses, or asanas. Kundalini's focus is to clear the senses and allow the yogi to unleash their Shakti - the force within that lies coiled in the lower spine in the lumbar region. Through fast paced breathing exercises where you "keep up to be kept up", this energy is pushed up the spine and into the three curvatures of the spine, allowing the yogi a new sense of energy and stimulation to the glandular system (higher in the neck).

To be honest, I need to attend more Kundalini classes. I found that the class was difficult because you use very short breath over a long period of time - causing lightheadedness. I'm not terribly fond of this style of yoga, which brings me to the next point...

Ahimsa is the first rule of Yama. Ahimsa is the practice of non-violence. Thinking of this and comparing it to my not-so-favorite Kundalini practice, I realized that yoga is highly individual. No style is better than another, just simply different. While I prefer asana practices, ESP power yoga, hatha-gong, or hot yoga, "my yoga is not holier than thou's" is in the back of my mind - I shouldn't take a stance against practices I dislike, but should explore them to further deepen my own practices and to figure out what exactly works best for me.

Namaste

Asato Ma

Asato Ma Sat Gamaya
Asato Ma Jyotir Gamaya
Mrtyur Ma Anritana Gamaya

"Lead me from non-being to being.
Lead me from darkness to light.
Lead me from ignorance to eternal bliss."

At the end of our asana practice today (which constited of learning the Sanskrit words of Surya Namaskara - the sun salutations, as well as other poses that can be incorporated to the sequence), we chanted the above mantra.

I feel as if this mantra was the perfect closure to the intention that I had chosen as the focus of my asana - enlightenment.

In the world of yoga, enlightenment means many things. It could be finding your first true meditation, or reaching samadhi and escaping the confines of the human body. But, as I am just a baby yogini, I want to explore what enlightenment means to me, each and every day. Today, enlightenment showed itself in a multitude of fashions.

Enlightenment first entered my practice when I realized how peaceful it is to sit in a very crowded room that is in nearly utter silence. The silence, interrupted only by the sound of yogi breathing seemed to manifest an energy that washed away any impurities in my day. Who knew peace and quiet could be found in a tiny room with more than 50 people present?

It was at this point that I chose this word as my intention. As the practice carried on, we held poses such as Utkatasana (chair pose) for nearly 5 minutes as we learned to properly pronounce the asana and as Stuart kept teaching, forgetting momentarily about his poor yogis' dying legs. The over lasting pose gave me a new sense of what I am capable of. It enlightened me to the sensation of being solidly rooted to the earth, which is the common theme of standing poses. Having held my asana for such a period, I truly did feel the roots of my being going through the test of strength and into yoga bliss.

My hope is that with this course and with yoga in general, that I become enlightened in every sense of the word. Mind, body, spirit, being. I hope to shed enlightenment on myself as I discover who I am. I hope to share my leanings with the world and enlighten all whom I touch.


Namaste

Virabhadrasana II

        Virabhadrasana II is the Sanskrit word for the yoga pose Warrior Two.  I chose this as the title for my first blog for a number of reasons. Firstly, nearly anyone with even the most minor yoga experience can recall what this position looks like and roughly how to do it.  Secondly, I love what it represents.
       Virabhadransa II is the physical representation of the story of each yogi's life.  The arm behind you represents your past.  The arm in front of you symbolizes your future.  In order to do the pose correctly, your arms must be level - not putting too much pressure on past nor future.  Your gravity must be centered - not leaning towards the past nor drifting one's attention too far into the future. An aligned yogi or yogini is present in the now. Perfectly balanced between past, present, and future.  (Thank you Izzi for teaching me this during Hatha-Gong this week).
        With that, I look to my past - Most recently, I have had a series of health problems.  I was dangerously ill for nearly 4 months after graduation where my weight was fluctuating like no other.  Finally, I sought help, only to discover that I am quite possibly intolerant to every food I absolutely love (red meats, berries, cherries, chocolate, grapes, olives and olive oil, peanuts, lemons, pinto beans, mushrooms, ect).  I went on a 4 day fast followed by a 7 day detox. I had to change the way I lived and ate. Before that I graduated college from ASU.  I finished out my days of being a sorority girl and life being a non-stop bar. Seems strange to think that I was once a die-hard athlete, playing hockey 7 days a week and living in the ice arena. I've moved countless times calling Minnesota, Boston, San Diego, and Phoenix all home at one point or another.  I've been successful and I've made my mistakes. I've made and I've lost relationships. I've learned that I am a stubborn friend - so a big thank you to my best friend, Laura, for putting up with all my crazy.
         And as I look back to the past, I also anticipate, fear, and draw excitement about my future.  I am currently in the process of applying to graduate school to (hopefully) study Audiology.  This being said, I am not applying to a school, but rather 20 schools. Yes, call me crazy - we all are a bit. And, with that, I have no idea where I may be living in a year.  I could be anywhere between Seattle or D.C.  Or, I could still be in Tempe in a year. With that, typical and fearful questions arise {Will I like where I live? Will my dog Isabel be OK without her best friend Baby? Will I know anyone there? Will I have or form a support group? Will I meet a date-able someone? Will I be successful? Will I be happy? Will I live up to my own and others expectations? Ect. Ect.} And one cannot help but to live ones life constantly looking forward into the unknown.  Its exactly that - unknown, with all its fears, expectations, and many twisting roads that may lead you to either great success, or another pity party catastrophe.
          So here we are back to Virabhadrasana II - The focus on being in the now.  What is happening in the now? What am I currently doing and achieving to make my life a success every moment in the moment?  For me its simple - yoga.  I am currently in a kind of void in my life - I'm not in school anymore, not in grad school either.  I have a steady, dependable job, but its not a career.  And that's perfectly fine.  I am only 23!  So, I fill my voids with yoga.  I fill my empty spaces with the rejuvenation of a sun salutation and the calming effects of a 20 minute meditation.  My daily goal is not so much to try to make tomorrow a success, as much as it is to make today a pleasure.

So I leave it at that - How canI live in the moment and make every day something that I enjoy?

~ Namaste