Yoga and Life

The Circle of Life – Taking Stock and Making a Plan

Hot Off The Mat Self Improvement, Yoga and Life , , , ,

We did an interesting exercise at my recent yoga retreat that I wanted to share with all of you. It is called The Circle of Life and it is a great way to take stock of where you feel that your life is on several dimensions, and then use that knowledge to identify one or two aspects of your life for improvement. I found it very interesting.

Here is the diagram which I borrowed from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition‘s website. As you can see, it is a circle divided into 12 slices, each labeled with an aspect of life: Creativity, Finances, Career, Education, Health, Physical Activity, Home Cooking, Home Environment, Relationships, Social Life, Joy and Spirituality.

circle-of-life
The Circle of Life

Here is how it works. Continue reading →

I Am Beautiful

Hot Off The Mat Class Experiences, Yoga and Life , , , ,

Yesterday I discovered that I am beautiful. I guess that sounds kind of egotistical, and shallow, but I don’t mean it that way. In fact I don’t mean it in a physical way at all. I mean it in an “I’m at peace with myself” way. In an “I respect myself” way. In an “I love myself” way. Not in a “let me model for Vogue” kind of way, because, believe me, they wouldn’t want me. This is what happened.

I was at my regular Bikram yoga class, looking at myself in the mirror as I struggled with my alignment in bow pose, and I almost did a double take. Who was that woman in the mirror, working so hard, yet so peaceful? Her leg was shaking, but she was strong. Her hip was not properly aligned but she was working on it. Her head was crooked but she adjusted it. She was so focused and persistent in her pursuit of excellence, I broke into a big smile. Hey, that is me I realized. And I felt proud, and beautiful and strong. And then I fell out of the posture.

So reality set in, but the feeling stayed with me and I wanted to share it, because we all need to find our beauty in the mirror. Rather than focusing on what is wrong with what we see, let’s focus on the effort we are making to turn things around. Rather than focus on our flaws, let’s acknowledge the improvements we are making. Let’s see the passion and the progress. Let’s find our own beauty — the strength we have found to enter the hot room day after day to work on our body, our mind, and our peace.

I am beautiful. And so are you.

Fellow yogis, please share this post with the beautiful ones in your life.

Should We Throw The Baby Out With the Bathwater?

Hot Off The Mat Yoga and Life , , ,

Since the recent NYTimes article about Bikram Choudhury, my friends keep asking me, “Isn’t that the yoga that you do? Are you going to stop now because of what he did?” A fair question, so I have given it some thought. And what I have decided is to not throw the baby out with the bathwater.

People are innocent until proven guilty, however, there is so much smoke in this situation that there is likely to be fire; meaning Bikram, the man, probably did some pretty bad stuff. And I think that is disgusting and vile. But is this a reason to stop practicing the yoga that I love, the yoga that has changed my life for the better? It is a tough question.

Others may disagree, but what I have decided to do is to separate the man from his magic. I did check with my studio to make sure that Bikram does not receive any revenue through royalties, or what have you, so I feel ok there. But even if he did, I’m not sure that would stop me from going to class. I have never felt healthier or calmer or stronger in my life, and that is worth a lot. In fact, my most recent physical at the doctor proved the case – higher bone density, off the chart good cholesterol levels and all other blood work normal. It would be foolish to give that up.

If Bikram Choudhury did these horrible things, I hope he is severely punished and goes to jail. There is no excuse for his behavior, particularly given his role as a teacher. But I hope the Bikram Yoga series lives on forever.

Fellow yogis, is it ok to hate the man, but love his yoga?

When Is It Smart To Take A Sick Day From Class?

Hot Off The Mat Class Experiences, Yoga and Life , , , ,

Today I took the day off from class. I hate to do that, but I was fighting a cold, jet lag, a sore hip, and I couldn’t stop coughing!  I needed the day to recover and rest so I could return to my practice strong and ready for action tomorrow. Let’s hope it works. I might have to wait another day or two with this cough… I guess it is that time of year.

I often waffle on whether or not to go to class when I am feeling under the weather. Obviously, if I have a fever or am contagious with something I don’t go, but what if I just feel a little bit sick. Will class help or hurt my prospects for a quick recovery? In my experience, it can go both ways.

Sometimes if I have a little bit of a head cold, the heat and the sweat just clean everything out and I have an almost miraculous recovery. Plus the compression postures help fire up my immune system, which has to help a little bit, right? I take the class a little easy and see how it goes. Usually I am happy I went.

But other times, going to class can be the kiss of death. My muscles are so sore I can’t really do the postures properly. I become dehydrated and weak, and my body just shuts down. I often spend those classes recovering on my mat. At least the heat usually feels good, but truthfully, I wish I was home in bed.

I have yet to find a full proof strategy, but maybe the difference is like the old saying — starve a fever, feed a cold. If it is just a cold, class will probably help, but if its something more severe, with aches and fever, it is best to stay home. For now, I usually just go with my gut. And this morning it was saying “Go back to bed!” So I did. Let’s hope tomorrow is a better day.

Fellow yogis, do you go to class when you are feeling under the weather?

Getting My Head on Straight

Hot Off The Mat Class Experiences, Postures, Yoga and Life , , ,

After five years of practice, I recently learned that I do not have my head on straight. The teachers always say “where your eyes go, your body will follow,” but apparently for me, where the eyes go, the neck follows. I have been over extending my neck, craning it up to the ceiling, especially in the spine strengthening series, but also in the forward bend to Standing Separate Leg Stretching Pose. No wonder my neck and shoulders hurt so much in these postures.

It is hard to explain, but this example may help. In Full Locust Post, when you raise your eyes to the sky to help guide your body higher, I was simply craning my neck up. Sure, I could see the ceiling because I was tilting my neck and my eyes came along for the ride. What I should have been doing was keeping my head straight while looking up with my eyes, and using my back strength to raise my body higher to better see the ceiling. Oops… I guess that is why they call it a practice.

This new awareness came out of my recent yoga retreat. I am sorry if you are sick of hearing about the retreat (my family definitely is!), but it has gotten me thinking about a lot of things. If you are not sick of hearing about it, you can read about it here and here. Anyway, I learned to get my head on straight at this retreat. It was not a Bikram retreat so the postures were different and one of the teacher’s favorite postures was called the forward fold. It is as simple as it sounds. You start from a standing position and fold your body forward from your hips while keeping your back straight. Your arms hang at your sides and glide down to touch the floor at the end. Well, simple or not, I was doing it wrong. My back was curved into a back bend rather than being straight and my neck was tilted up towards the sky.

As the retreat week went on, I learned to see my head as an extension of my spine, keeping it still and straight through the bend. I also learned to engage my abdominal muscles to better support my back and keep it straight too. This was a big change for me, although so obvious, now that I understand it.

I have been working to apply this new-found straightness to my Bikram postures this week, and it has made a big difference. My neck looks much more natural in the postures — not as tense, although I never really noticed the tension before. My spine strengthening series has also taken a turn for the better. I’m not sure why I get more height holding my head straight, but I do. It is also a lot less uncomfortable now that I am working the right muscles rather than just straining. My shoulders used to ache in these postures, but now they feel like they are opening up. I am very happy about that.

All of this has also helped me to get my head on straight in another way. I always believed that since Bikram yoga works all the muscle groups and systems in the body, it was all I needed to do for my yoga practice. But I now have a broader view. Mixing it up at the retreat helped me identify muscles I was underutilizing and highlighted a bad habit I had developed. I wouldn’t have seen this without the shift in perspective that came from trying a different form of yoga. I guess it is time to add some different styles into my yoga mix.

Fellow yogis, do you have your head on straight?