Day 238 Intention ~ Don't Judge A Book By Its Cover

Day 238 Intention ~ Don't Judge A Book By Its Cover

Of course not! We learn this as children, but sometimes we forget. Today was one of those days. I had a student this morning that I had never met before who just looked like she didn't want to be there today. As we went through just a few gentle poses, she blurted out snarky comments like, "What is this supposed to be stretching? I don't feel anything." And just glaring at me for the rest of the asana part of class. 

I thought to myself that she will probably never come again. As we went through a 25 minute yoga nidra, I still wondered if she thought that I was trying to hypnotize her or if she was questioning me and my teaching or just plain counting the seconds til she could get up and leave. 

Much to my surprise, after class she came up to me and said that normally she can't relax during such practices like meditation, breathing or in savasana (corpse pose), but that she really turned off and was able to just focus on what I was saying during yoga nidra. She felt relaxed. She was smiling. My work was done. 

I often tell newer teachers to just remember that people make funny faces doing yoga and to not worry that it's your teaching. Nice to get a reminder for myself today! 

Til tomorrow...

Shanti, 

Marcia

Day 134 Intention ~ Stay in Savasana

Day 134 Intention ~ Stay in Savasana

There's always those people in class, you know the ones, they bolt as soon as the class goes into savasana, also known as corpse pose. I would think to myself, "They're missing the best part!" and go on to my own corpse pose. 

I was taught in teacher training, or at least in the Jivamukti portion, to keep students in savasana for at least 10 minutes. I thought that was fantastic. 

When I first started teaching, especially if I was teaching a 90 minute class, I would always give my students a 90 minute savasana. If they were the darting open eye type, I would be sure to place eye pillows over their eyes to help them draw inward. 

These days, I find my savasana's getting shorter and shorter. Not only in the classes I teach, but in my own personal practice. I am finding that I don't want to run over time in my classes and make my students late for whatever is next on their schedule for the day. For my own practice, I find myself getting restless. Today, I tried to lay there for 10 minutes and could only make it for four. Four minutes!! That is crazy. 

Savasana is so important to help relax the body and allow it to rest after the asana practice. It allows us to go inward and find stillness. This allows us to easily float into meditation. It also allows us to have a "rebirth" after each practice into the new person we are that day, physically, spiritually, mentally & emotionally. Savasana is not to be skipped and preferably not shortened. 

Til tomorrow...

Shanti, 

Marcia

Day 104 Intention ~ Slow Down

Day 104 Intention ~ Slow Down

I remember the first class I ever took with my teacher, Marni Task. At the time, I was pretty new to hot power vinyasa. Sure, I had done vinyasa in a room temperature setting, I had also practiced hot yoga, but Bikram, not in a flowing vinyasa. I found that I would often struggle to find ujjayi breath in these hot classes and would stumble and bumble my way through the poses as fast as I could. 

She came up to me and told me to slow down. And, guess what, it changed my practice. To this day I think of that when I am moving a little bit slower in class than the 20 year olds around me or when I am teaching and I see a student rushing through chatturanga, and upward facing dog. 

When you slow it down, you can feel your breath, heck, you can feel the pose. I have heard comments from different people who think moving more slowly is easier or more "beginner". Holding the poses longer is not easier in my book...I feel that it builds more strength and allows you to go deeper. 

It is beginner friendly because that newer student has a chance to get into the pose with more time, they also get to feel it in their bodies and make adjustments in alignment if needed. They get to find union between their breath and their body...connection...yoga. 

Today, 4 years after that first class, Marni reminded me (and the whole class) to slow it down again. This time coming out of savasana pose. As we all started to wiggle our fingers and toes ready to roll up and om...ready to move on to the rest of our day, she reminded us to slow it down, to move as if you are just learning how to use those muscles again. It was a nice reminder for that moment and for the rest of my day.

Til tomorrow...

Shanti,

Marcia

Day 41 Intention ~ To Let Go

Day 41 Intention ~ To Let Go

For those of you that read yesterday's intention, yes, I was a little bit upset. It happens. I don't usually like to bring it out to everyone, but I feel very strongly about how others treat others in general, and especially within the yoga community. Practicing ahimsa is one of the first things we are taught to practice in Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, and practicing it towards one another just seems like a no-brainer. 

But, it is a new day, and it is time to let go of my negative emotions from yesterday. I feel very lucky to have gotten to practice with advanced Jivamukti teacher, Julie Kirkpatrick, today. There was a gentleness to her teaching, although a Jivamukti asana practice is a rigorous practice, and we all moved and breathed together as one. The energy in the room was lovely and supportive. It felt like home. I felt reaffirmed in my practice and of how yogis behave towards one another. I also realized it was time to let go of my emotions from the day before and move forward. Each exhale allowed more release, each inhale, I felt myself expand towards new life and new energy. As I laid in savasana, I felt release and relief. Carrying around those heavy, angry emotions is exhausting. As we breathed in, we mentally said, "let", as we exhaled, we mentally said, "go". As we practiced this over and over, I could feel a lightness take a hold of me and I felt like myself again. 

"Let Go." If you ever find yourself obsessing over something in a negative way or if you are just feeling a little bit stressed and you can't find release, I suggest you try this technique. It can lead you into a nice meditation. Inhale "let", exhale "go". 

Til tomorrow...

Shanti & Namaste, 

Marcia

Living life limitless

"Limitations live only in our minds. But if we use our imaginations, our possibilities become limitless."
~ Jamie Paolinetti

As children it's easy to see 1000 different ways to spend our day. When the sky gives us rain, we splash in the puddles. When the air turns cold and snow piles up we build forts and have snow ball fights.

Children look at this difficult weather and make it into a joyous occasion and then they grow and we see it as a burden. We limit the world around us.

It's easy to get caught up in the humdrum of life and become so focused on one pinpoint spot in time we lose sight of all the wonders around us, and all the wonders that are inside of us. There is no right and wrong - there are only mistakes that teach us how to do it better the next time. Life is filled with fascinating lessons that we go through each day and what we get out of them should help us to see that the possibilities really are limitless.

All you really need is faith in yourself, the will to work harder than you ever have and embrace the passion that flows through you - and then you will see the glass ceiling wasn't really there at all.

"We all have possibilities we don't know about. We can do things we don't even dream we can do"
~Dale Carnegie

Meditation

"I am free to be the person I want to be. The possibilities in my life are limitless."

Find a quiet spot to lie down - if the weather permits it, outside would be perfect. Lie on your back in savasana with your shoulder blades rolled onto your back, allow your feet to fall open naturally and your hands to rest on the ground next to you, palms open to the sky.

Allow your eyes to soften. Allow your jaw to relax. Feel your body sink into the ground below you. Notice each point of your body that is connecting with the earth and realize that you are safe, you are grounded, you can let go. Then begin to chant either in your mind our out into the air that surrounds you - "I am free to be the person I want to be. The possibilities in my life are limitless."

Breathe in and out the millions and millions of possibilities that surround you and the opportunities you can have it you simply ask. You are free to be the person you want to be. Your life is limitless.

Urdhva Hastasana (Upward Salute)

Come to stand in tadasana (mountain pose) with your feet hip width distance apart. Stacking your knees over your ankles, hips over your knees and shoulders over your hips - inhale - swan dive upwards, drawing your arms out to the side all the way above your head. Keeping your fingers wide and your hands active, gently bring your gaze to your hands.

On your next exhale, draw your hands together at your heart in Anjali Mudra (prayer mudra) and slightly bow your head.

The light and spirit in me, honors the light and spirit in you

~Namaste