Day 344 Intention ~ Support

Day 344 Intention ~ Support

 

 

We get so caught up in our own little worlds, don't we?

It's easy to forget that there are others that just a kind word or an ear to listen, or just plain giving support is all they need.

 

Especially with all of the holiday gatherings and shopping, etc. that we are supposedly doing for others, we can forget to actually be present with the others when we are right in front of them.

 

So, today, my intention should be to be present and give support. The hubby has had a rough day and needs to get it off his chest.

 

 

Til tomorrow...

 

Shanti,

 

Marcia 



Day 328 Intention ~ Honor How My Body Feels Today

Day 328 Intention ~ Honor How My Body Feels Today

I say that in class all the time to students. One of the wonderful lessons of the physical yoga practice is that you learn to hear what your body is trying to tell you each time. 

You also become more aware off the mat. 

Today, I feel run down. Exhausted, physically and mentally. So, although yesterday's intention was to follow through with plans, we didn't go to the Browns game as planned. I rested by the fire, under a down blanket & dozed on and off all day long. Just what I needed. (And the game was horrific anyhow!)

So, learn to pay attention to what you physically need. We tend to push ourselves to do everything...too much...all of the time and this can not only wear us out, but can make us sick. 

Save yourself! Listen and do what your body says to do. Honor that vessel while you are here on Earth. 

Til tomorrow...

Shanti,

Marcia

Day 317 Intention ~ Give My Best Effort

Day 317 Intention ~ Give My Best Effort

Often when I am teaching yoga, I try to remind people that every time you come to your mat it is going to be different than the last time. It may be harder, it may be easier. A pose you were a superstar at getting into last week, may not be available to you today. It's just the way it is, but don't attach to that too much, just give your best effort and that's all anyone can ask. 

Some days the best effort may not be as intense as the day before. That's okay too.

Today I took a spynga class, a combination of spinning and yoga. Thirty minutes on the bike, then 30 minutes of yoga. I felt like I was giving so much effort, but I just didn't have the juice today. Everything (except savasana ~ corpse pose) felt difficult. Bike & on the mat. 

It's just the way it goes. I did the best I could do for today without overexerting and hurting myself. One of the keys to practice is learning that fine balance of getting to your edge, which changes daily, and pushing it too far. But, as we practice, we continue to learn awareness of our bodies and how far we should go that day. 

Be happy with where you are at, give your best effort & it's a win-win! 

Til tomorrow...

Shanti,

Marcia

Day 309 Intention ~ Just Listen

Day 309 Intention ~ Just Listen

Forgive this post today as I am using my newly downloaded Blogger app on my phone. My husband pulled in just as I arrived home & needed to go to Urgent Care, so I couldn't get to our computer. (He is okay btw, just a slight earache issue.)

As he arrived home, he started to talk about some of the frustrations of his day. Having just arrived home myself,  I wasn't the most receptive to listening at that moment.  As he went on,  I started to tune in more.

I realized that he just needed to get his day off his chest & to have someone listen. Certainly,  as his wife, I can take a few moments to just listen so that he can feel better.

We spend so much time with distractions in this world: tv, computers,  phones, social media,  that we forget to be with the ones we are with in the present moment...in person.

Take a moment to just listen today & show someone you care.

Til tomorrow...

Shanti,

Marcia

Day 304 Intention ~ Enter With An Open Heart

Day 304 Intention ~ Enter With An Open Heart

In Max Strom's book, A Life Worth Breathing, he suggests starting each day with an intention for that day. Not an intention for selfish worldly items, etc., but a way to create goodness in the world that day...for yourself and others. Of course, I have been writing these intentions all year long and admittedly, as you can most likely tell, they aren't set as soon as I wake up in the morning. The events of the day have definitely shaped what my intention turned into on several occasions. 

Often when the alarm goes off, I am struggling not to hit the snooze button several times, but today, the intention was buzzing in my brain. I lay in bed for a few moments and set my intention for the day. It was to enter each interaction I have today with an open heart. So, not pre-judging a situation, trying to be open to hearing what the people around me have to say and listening. It doesn't matter if I agree with what they are saying or not, but just being open to hearing it. 

Trying to lead with love. With an open heart.  

Til tomorrow...

Shanti, 

Marcia

Day 268 Intention ~ Play To My Audience

Day 268 Intention ~ Play to My Audience

I have three yoga classes today. All are very different audiences. The first are at the Centers for Families and Children. Most of these students are stressed out and just need some gentle poses and breath work to find ease and relaxation. We always practice yoga nidra also to soothe them even more. 

The next group is a group of seniors that need to go a little bit more slowly and gently. I also need to be clear and talk a little bit louder. They still do many of the standing poses, but just enter into the poses a little bit differently and more gently than in a full on vinyasa flow class. They usually have more questions or things that are harder for them to do, so it's always a good lesson for me also to discover what directions and processes are the best to help them get the most out of their practice. 

Lastly, I have a class at the community center. It's an open level class and it runs in 6 week sessions. Some of the folks have been coming since I started teaching this class 3 years ago and are getting pretty advanced; this time there are also a number of new people that are new, not just to my class, but to yoga in general. Although this class is more vigorous than the other two today, we are still working on some basic poses for the newer people. 

I used to go into classes with a whole plan and if I got off of that class plan, I was thrown off completely. As time went on and I got more experience, the plan became less strict. I always have something in mind that I would like to work on, but depending who is there and their injuries or limitations, teachers need to be able to adapt to what is going to be best for their clients that day. We always want to offer a safe, maybe challenging class to our students. A class that makes them learn how to listen to their own body, to feel stronger, more flexible, relaxed, and wanting more.

Til tomorrow...

Shanti, 

Marcia

Day 263 Intention ~ Keep On Truckin' (Baby)

Day 263 Intention ~ Keep On Truckin' (Baby)

Reading my September horoscope in Journey magazine, it says that basically, all this work and searching, etc. that I've been doing is almost there, but I have to keep the faith and keep it up to get there, but basically, that there is light at the end of the tunnel. 

Today's African proverbs calendar reads a Zimbabwean proverb, "To climb a mountain, you zigzag." 

Yoga Rocks The Park posted on Facebook, a status along the lines of, I can't remember the exact quote: Synchronicity feels like the universe telling you that you're getting warmer. 

So, again, I say, hello universe! I am getting the message! I will keep at it, knowing there are rougher days and easier days, but you have to keep going to get there. 

Just like yesterday's comments on how are physical yoga practice can help us become attune with our bodies messages, it can also help us become more aware of the universe around us. 

I am listening.

Til tomorrow...

Shanti, 

Marcia

Day 262 Intention ~ Go Easy

Day 262 Intention ~ Go Easy

Trying to take it easy today, even with 5 classes to teach. Four down, one to go this evening. With the fall schedule coming into play, and the busier schedule upon me, I fear that I have run myself down a little bit. When I got home last night, I was worried that I was falling ill early in the season for me. 

In this yoga profession, having a cold is not an option. So, I am listening to the cues today and going easy on myself. 

Luckily, I have this break in the day to rest and get it together for class this evening. 

In yoga, we get to learn our bodies cues. We become so familiar with how our shoulders, arms, legs, back, etc. feel in poses and moving through the poses, that we know when something just isn't right. We learn to listen to what our body is telling us that day. How far it can go, push further or pull back a bit that day. The key is accepting and being okay with what your body is telling you any given day. 

Learning to apply these lessons in our regular life off the mat is helpful too. When to push for that promotion or raise, how to assess a situation and deal with it, how we handle stress, and even when to call in sick. Allow the body to rest and heal when it needs it. 

So, that is what is going to happen here this afternoon. 

Til tomorrow...

Shanti, 

Marcia

Day 258 Intention ~ Listen & Learn

Day 258 Intention ~ Listen & Learn

I took a yoga class with a "new to me" teacher today. It is someone that I have known on the yoga scene for a few years now, but I have just never made it to her class. She led a beautiful class that kept me on my toes and led me to learn some new techniques. 

Yesterday I went to class with my teacher and I discovered that I seemed more receptive to being still and listening to the instructions instead of rushing into whichever posture she was signaling. It allowed me to think about how I was moving, how I felt transitioning into the pose (which, coincidentally, was the teacher today's theme) and enjoying it once I arrived. I felt more mature in a way with my practice that hasn't always been there. 

Both of these classes helped me discover things about my own practice, which is why I love to check out different teachers and different styles of yoga. There is something to be learned from each teacher and each class. It may not be your favorite all time class, but I assure you, that teacher has something to offer. 

As I came upstairs to the computer to write this, I flipped my African proverbs calendar to September 15 and it reads a Kenyan proverb:

"A listening ear leads to life but a deaf ear leads to death."

Too funny. I'm listening, I'm listening! 

Til tomorrow...

Shanti,

Marcia

Day 219 Intention ~ Accept Whatever Happens

Day 219 Intention ~ Accept Whatever Happens

It's a rainy day today in Cleveland. I have 2 outdoor classes scheduled with no rain backup. As much as I would like these classes to happen, I am just going with the flow and accepting whatever happens. 

Finding contentment with what goes on...good or seemingly bad or unfortunate is just a part of life, therefore, we might as well not fight it. That just makes it harder. Everything happens for a reason, or so "they" say, so I am going to practice santosha and be grateful just for the day and be content with whatever happens. I certainly am not going to fight with Mother Nature about the rain! 

When things don't go as we planned, it can be an interesting investigation as to what the universe is trying to tell us. Maybe something bad would have happened if things went on as we wanted or perhaps something more important to the here and now will pop up. It's hard to know, but either way, I am content. 

Til tomorrow...

Shanti, 

Marcia

Day 188 Intention ~ Ease Back Into My Practice

Day 188 Intention ~ Ease Back Into My Practice

It's been a few days since I've gotten on my mat. Since then I have been on 2 long car rides, hiked, slept in funny beds and been dragged to the ground by George, hurting my shoulder (see post from a few days ago). Needless to say, my body is TIGHT!!! But, alas, my right arm is still not 100% ready for practice. Heck, it still hurts to lift my arm over my head. But, yet, I need to get on my mat. 

So, as I would tell my own students...listen to my body. Do what I can and be okay with stopping if necessary. It's still a hard pill to swallow when every part but one is ready to practice. Everything in moderation. Pushing oneself beyond capabilities is just asking to injure oneself during what is supposed to be a healing practice. 

So, as I approach my mat today, I will listen to my body and back off when my right shoulder starts to resist my attempts.

Til tomorrow...

Shanti, 

Marcia

Day 148 Intention ~ Work, Rest, Work, Rest...

Day 148 Intention ~ Work, Rest, Work, Rest...

Apparently I am pretty exhausted from all the excitement of the holiday weekend & am finding that I've needed to switch from work to rest, back to work and then rest again all day long. 

I suppose this could lead into a discussion about balance in one's life or listening to what my body is requesting, but the reality is, I have work to do, but I'm tired. Therefore, instead of work and play, today, it is work and rest...in short shifts for each. 

Sorry, but that is it for today! 

Til tomorrow...

Shanti, 

Marcia

Day 131 Intention ~ Be Okay With It

Day 131 Intention ~ Be Okay With It

I'll admit, today I am tired. Today's intention is about me being okay with having a lazy day...including in this blog. 

I often feel guilty if I am not being productive or doing something all of the time, but the reality is, it is more important to listen to what my body, mind & spirit are telling me. Today, that is to chill out.

Tomorrow, we can contemplate the niyamas and bringing them to our lives, but for this chilly evening, I am going to enjoy my family and watch a movie, snuggled on the couch. 

Namaste.

Til tomorrow...

Shanti, 

Marcia

Day 101 Intention ~ Remember to listen to my body.

Day 101 Intention ~ Remember to listen to my body.

One of the great things about the physical practice of yoga is that you learn how to tune into your body. Although, I try to practice everyday and teach 15 classes a week, I still get surprised when I feel sore. Not that I practice the classes I teach, but you do find yourself getting into positions to demonstrate or in even more awkward positions to adjust students, so it's not strange that I get sore sometimes. The last few days, my left side has been so so sore...more than usual. Hip, glute, thigh, shoulder...ugh. 

So, today when I have 4 classes (5 today because of an emergency sub situation), I am listening to my body and allowing myself to rest the body as much as I can between classes. 

Just as with other exercises, you can overwork the body and cause strain. I am hoping this is all this is :)

So, listen to your body. It will tell you what it needs. Today, mine needs rest. 

Til tomorrow...

Shanti, 

Marcia

Day 74 Intention ~ Listen to Signs from the Universe

Day 74 Intention ~ Listen to signs from the Universe

Okay, this one may sound silly, but it's true. Yesterday morning I woke up feeling really congested and not very good. I had to go teach a class though and ended up practicing with the owner of the studio where I was teaching. I felt a lot better afterwards. In fact, my congestion felt cleared up and all was good!

I went to my second class and as I was pulling out, my check engine light came on and my car barely made it as it sputtered over to my mechanic. I walked to my next class, about a mile from my mechanic's and then another 3 miles home afterwards. 

Luckily, my husband came home in time to drive me to and from my last class. When I got home, all of my congestion came back. 

No car, congestion...stay home the universe called out. So, I found a sub for my afternoon class today which is 20 miles away. I don't feel well, but I am resting. I am listening. 

I often feel guilty if I am not working and just laying around, but how often does that really happen!! So, I give in universe. Thank you for the break. 

Back to my couch & cheesy movie...til tomorrow. 

Shanti, 

Marcia