Sunday, September 23, 2012
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Advanced Practice Demo
Hello Yogis. I am in the middle cramming for my midterms so unfortunately I haven't been writing much. But to give you a taste of what I've been doing with my weekends since April here is an instructional video with one of my teachers Jim Bennitt at Tejas Yoga in Chicago, where I've been studying. Enjoy!
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Yoga Nugget
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Nothing is more fleeting than external form, which withers and alters like the flowers of the field at the appearance of autumn.
Umberto Eco
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Sunday, September 16, 2012
Thursday, September 13, 2012
These Boots Are NOT Made For Walkin'
Last night I had the pleasure of attending a show at my tiny town's sh*tty
music venue. WAIT! did that yogi just dis her town's music hot spot? No, I did
not. See the venue is a barn, a barn that was kind of falling down till some
very groovy folks but a little money and a lot of time and sweat equity into it
and then invited some groovy musician folks out to the middle of nowhere and
asked them to play music in it. I can only guess the name was something of a
running joke that stuck but check it out, Sh*tty Barn.
Ok shameless Community plug over, on to the blog, so I was at the Sh*tty Barn, listening to the singer ramble on aimlessly, and quite frankly adorably, about how he didn't have anything to ramble aimlessly about. So he told us about his shoes and how when I was walking his dog 4 years ago he thought they were the most comfortable shoes in the world but today, 4 years later while walking his dog before the show all he could think about was "these are the most uncomfortable shoes in the world!" And we the audience giggled because like I said this guy was adorable, I think I even heard the term "man crush" a time or two.
Not that shoes automatically get me to thinking about yoga but this morning I was driving through the hills I was thinking about my own 6 year old boots and how they are kind of wearing out but I keep wearing them and that's when I thought about yoga. I remembered a teacher of mine saying that we live our day to day lives in the "illusion of comfort." He was teaching us some anatomy and what he meant was that instead of using our muscles to hold up our bodies we arrange ourselves so that we stack our joins on top of each other and "sit" in them, or we over extend out joints and rely on our connective tissue to do the work. This is bad for a few reasons:
1. When we "sit" in our joints the connective tissue (ligaments and tendons) is slack which over time will lead to the tightening of that tissue causing limited range of motion and flexibility. It can also put pressure on the fluid filled sacks (bursa) in our joints that help keep the joint lubricated so that it moves easily and also keeps the bones from grinding on one another. When we put pressure on these sacs the fluid can start to inflame or worse seep out of the membranes.
2. When we "align" ourselves with our hips popped forward or to one side, or hyperextend our knees what we are doing is stretching our connective tissue to its max, creating a sort of tendonous "hammock" for our bodies to rest in. This is bad because while the one side is over stretched the opposite side is retracting, this over time creates major imbalances in our bodies. In massage school we call is compensatory damage, where one side over works to correct the injured side.
So why is this an illusion of comfort? Because there's no work involved, it feels good because we are making little to no effort to hold ourselves up right. But, over time we develop aches, pains and possible injuries because we've relied on parts of our bodies to do the work of the muscles. That's why so many people in a yoga class discover they can easily go into a pose on one side of the body and find terrible discomfort and limitations on the other side. Which is also why yoga is so good for us, it helps us find and correct these imbalances but it also teaches us to be aware of how our bodies get like that.
Once you are steeped in your asana practice you begin to notice your posture when do everyday things like; filling out your back deposit, or doing the dishes, or leaning against a wall listening to a great singer/songwriter perform in barn in the middle of nowhere Wisconsin. But not only do you notice you start to alter your faux comfort into a little effort that soon becomes effortless; you stop rounding your shoulders down at the desk, you pull your hips off the rim of the sink and when you look down and realize your shoes are hurting your feet you throw them out and get new ones!
Maybe I could get Dietrich Gosser to write a song about that...
Ok shameless Community plug over, on to the blog, so I was at the Sh*tty Barn, listening to the singer ramble on aimlessly, and quite frankly adorably, about how he didn't have anything to ramble aimlessly about. So he told us about his shoes and how when I was walking his dog 4 years ago he thought they were the most comfortable shoes in the world but today, 4 years later while walking his dog before the show all he could think about was "these are the most uncomfortable shoes in the world!" And we the audience giggled because like I said this guy was adorable, I think I even heard the term "man crush" a time or two.
Not that shoes automatically get me to thinking about yoga but this morning I was driving through the hills I was thinking about my own 6 year old boots and how they are kind of wearing out but I keep wearing them and that's when I thought about yoga. I remembered a teacher of mine saying that we live our day to day lives in the "illusion of comfort." He was teaching us some anatomy and what he meant was that instead of using our muscles to hold up our bodies we arrange ourselves so that we stack our joins on top of each other and "sit" in them, or we over extend out joints and rely on our connective tissue to do the work. This is bad for a few reasons:
1. When we "sit" in our joints the connective tissue (ligaments and tendons) is slack which over time will lead to the tightening of that tissue causing limited range of motion and flexibility. It can also put pressure on the fluid filled sacks (bursa) in our joints that help keep the joint lubricated so that it moves easily and also keeps the bones from grinding on one another. When we put pressure on these sacs the fluid can start to inflame or worse seep out of the membranes.
2. When we "align" ourselves with our hips popped forward or to one side, or hyperextend our knees what we are doing is stretching our connective tissue to its max, creating a sort of tendonous "hammock" for our bodies to rest in. This is bad because while the one side is over stretched the opposite side is retracting, this over time creates major imbalances in our bodies. In massage school we call is compensatory damage, where one side over works to correct the injured side.
So why is this an illusion of comfort? Because there's no work involved, it feels good because we are making little to no effort to hold ourselves up right. But, over time we develop aches, pains and possible injuries because we've relied on parts of our bodies to do the work of the muscles. That's why so many people in a yoga class discover they can easily go into a pose on one side of the body and find terrible discomfort and limitations on the other side. Which is also why yoga is so good for us, it helps us find and correct these imbalances but it also teaches us to be aware of how our bodies get like that.
Once you are steeped in your asana practice you begin to notice your posture when do everyday things like; filling out your back deposit, or doing the dishes, or leaning against a wall listening to a great singer/songwriter perform in barn in the middle of nowhere Wisconsin. But not only do you notice you start to alter your faux comfort into a little effort that soon becomes effortless; you stop rounding your shoulders down at the desk, you pull your hips off the rim of the sink and when you look down and realize your shoes are hurting your feet you throw them out and get new ones!
Maybe I could get Dietrich Gosser to write a song about that...
Saturday, September 8, 2012
Sunday Funnies...but not TOO funny, I hope.
This is not a comic! However it is funny to me, as someone who has spent her life back stage helping others look and feel as great as they can so they can walk out in front of hundreds of people, now I'm the one putting myself out there for the virtual world to see. Yep, that to me is VERY funny.
Commentary:
This is not a "perfect" practice (oh the alignment!), yoga doesn't have to be perfect your intentions are where it's at. And I just wanted to flow along with some groovy music while enjoying the sun peeking in and out of the clouds, the new autumn breeze, and my dog chilling just out of the frame waiting for me to move so she can sleep on her yoga mat.
Namaste Y'all.
p.s. this is the first time i have ever edited and posted a video, ever!
Friday, September 7, 2012
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
What A Yogi Eats...
...On Market Day!
I am fortunate enough that my tiny town is surrounded by beautiful organic arms. So here is a quick breakfast I whipped up from things I bought at the Farmers Market this Saturday.
I am fortunate enough that my tiny town is surrounded by beautiful organic arms. So here is a quick breakfast I whipped up from things I bought at the Farmers Market this Saturday.
Farm Market Veggie Scramble
Free range eggs
Scallions
Carrots
Zuccini
Tomato
How I cook them:
1. heat some in a large skillet
2. toss in Carrots and Scallions
3. while those are cooking break 6 eggs into a bowl and scramble with a fork
4. add Zuccini and any seasoning you like to the veggies and cook for a few minutes
5. add tomatoes, let a little of the water in the tomatoes cook off then,
6. add the egg mixture and scramble all ingredients together.
optional: because it's still pretty hot out and tomatoes can aggravate Pitta Dosha I added a hearty sprinkle of fresh dill to the eggs as they were cooking, to help balance the acidic qualities of the tomatoes.
Final product...
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| Farm Fresh Yogi Breakfast |
Saturday, September 1, 2012
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