Journal Posts
One of my first experiences with yoga was a kundalini yoga class at a YMCA in Oregon. My friends and I would attend every week. Although, I had no idea why the woman leading the class wore a turban on her head, it was the highlight of my week. One of the poses we practiced was Urdhva Prasarita Padasana. As we lay down on our backs, our arms remained along the sides of our body while our feet extended up to the ceiling. Instead of stretching the palms, we created fists with our hands and beat the ground with our fists for about 60 seconds. Afterwards, we bent our knees and rested on our backs for a few moments before moving on to the next pose. (Which was always something like Virabhadrasana II while breathing Kapalabhati Pranayama.) Even at the very early stages of my yoga practice, I understood that this relatively simple practice was hugely effective for releasing anger and I have practiced it several times since. It was the first time that I truly comprehended the mind body connection; that I can do something...
posted: 3 years 7 months ago
posted: 3/29/19
As a Virgo, I believe I have organization loaded into my DNA. It somehow comes naturally. I have always loved stationary stores & school supplies. But I never really had a method for my madness. When I merged households with my husband, clutter started to take hold.
Several years ago, I learned of Marie Kondo and quickly read, "The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up". I followed her method and was immediately inspired by its effectiveness, so I wanted to share a brief synopsis so you can try it for yourself. I highly recommend reading her book, too!
The method is to collate...
posted: 8/1/18
One of the people most exemplifying the path of compassion is Yeshi Donden, the Tibetan Physician for the Dalai Lama. Every day he recites this Buddhist Prayer:
“May all living beings be free of suffering and the cause of suffering….May everything I do go to ensure that they be free of suffering and the cause of suffering…May everything I do go to ensure, to remind them they are in fact living in joy and have the causes of Joy. May all living beings interrelate fully, lovingly, compassionately and joyously with one another, without any discrimination or partiality of near...
posted: 5/12/14
ahimsa satya asteya brahmacarya aparigrahah yamah
Non-violence, truth, abstention from stealing, continence, and absence of greed for possessions beyond one’s need are the five pillars of yama.
sutra II.30, light on the yoga sutras, bks iyengar
“The yamas are the great, mighty universal vows, unconditioned by place, time and class.” (II.31, iyengar) I came to yoga because of a physical need, an ilial-sacral injury, but the first time I practiced yoga, I was immediately drawn to the way it made me feel, physically, but also emotionally. It gave me a sense of peace and...
posted: 10/8/13
“Yoga is a science which liberates one's mind from the bondage of the body and leads it towards the soul." – BKS Iyengar, Tree of YogaMany scholars have searched for the date of the first reference to yoga, but BKS Iyengar reminds us in The Tree of Yoga, that Yoga, like Ayurveda, is apauruseya, not given by man. "Brahma is the Founder of Yoga” and also "Lord Siva is the Founder of Yoga, which he first taught to his wife, Parvati." (156). Yoga is one of the six orthodox systems of Indian philosophy, which was organized by Patanjali, in his classical...
posted: 12/22/10
I could not think of a better class to start my Winter Solstice 90 days with than a kidney sequence with Sarah Powers. I consider Sarah Powers to be one of my teachers, even though I have only practiced with her in person TWICE! She came to Virginia and I followed her from Richmond to Yogaville. But this is the power of media and why we created iHanuman. I can bring her into my living room as if she is giving me a private lesson and I really needed to hear what she had to me tell last night. Winter time is Kidney time in the Chinese Medical Tradition. Kidneys govern the water element, which...
posted: 12/15/10
I had so much fun with my 30 days of gratitude that I am commencing on another project, 90 days of yoga!�� 2011 marks the tenth year of my serious studies as a yoga student. And I will take back the seat of the teacher in the Spring of 2011! I finished my teacher training in 2004 and immediately began teaching. It was something I absolutely loved! But then we started iHanuman which took up a tremendous amount of time and energy and I could feel my energy for teaching begin to wane. I also had some personal healing to attend to.
At the end of 2008,�� I decided to take a short sabbatical...
posted: 12/2/10
If people walk the eight - limbed path of yoga they do not harm, do not steal, nor do they lie. They are more clean and healthy, more moderate, more content. If the reason we walk this planet is to know God then we cannot see ourselves as separate from. When we see ourselves as separate from, it is easier to want more for our own goals, instead of being content with what is. This is a life long practice and why we return again and again to experience it. So to break free of the cycles of suffering, we practice yoga. This also means we study the scriptures or ancient texts and we seek the...
posted: 11/30/10
I have to say, in many ways, I am grateful for a reprieve from the daily gratitude post, but it has also been an excellent discipline and learning process. Typically I write my morning pages every morning and move on with my day from there. But this month, I have had to stay put in my seat and write for another hour to get a Gratitude Post on iHanuman. And the fact that I am writing about gratitude has set the tone for the day. So I would like to keep as part of my daily ritual to contemplate what I am grateful for every day. It is also very possible to write a post every day and still get to...
posted: 11/29/10
My sister and I like to go on an annual retreat if we can. This year we return to We Care Holistic Health Center for a cleanse. During my first visit, I was very impressed with the whole energy of this oasis in the the Palm Springs Desert. I attribute this "vibe" in large part to the Center's founder, Susana Belen. Susana took her healing crisis into her own hands and turned it into a program to help others. Most of her philosophies are simple and many of them are typical teachings of the traditional healing methods. One philosophy, however,�� struck me in particular during one of Susana's...
posted: 11/28/10
Today we shifted our life around literally and figuratively. Literally because we are moving spring and summer clothes up to the attic in favor of the warmer variety.�� We did so just in time for our first heavy frost last night of 25 degrees! And I am just about to receive many boxes from my childhood which were waiting for us to create space. In some senses it feels like a grandiose task. Figuratively because this is what happens when you move things around.
According to philosophies of aesthetics like Vastu from the Indian Tradition and Feng Shui from the Chinese Tradition, your home and...
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