Yoga Nugget

I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community and as long as I live, it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can.  I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work the more I live.  ~George Bernard Shaw

Yoga Ink

I'm taking the week off from posting so I can spend some time cultivating some projects centered around the studio.

But as not to leave you hanging for your Om Y'all fix here are some images I've run across while pondering getting a new tattoo in commemoration of the training program I'm in.

Sunday Funnies

Sunday Funnies

Yoga Inspiration

originally posted in: Yoga Rants and Raves

From Running to Radiohead

Is it a cliché to write about how awesome Radiohead is? Probably, but I’m going to do it anyway. 

Sometimes I run, well jog, I do it because it’s good for me and because after a run I do a 30 minute yoga practice. “Could you,” you ask, “just do a 30 minute yoga practice without running?” and yes, but there are a few things about after a run make me really love doing yoga. First my body is warm, you might even say hot and I do love to sweat. I even do hot yoga sometimes because I really enjoy creating a deep internal heat and feeling how deeply and differently asanas feel in that state. Also if I don’t push myself too hard but also not be to gentle my mind is in a very pliable state after I run. I don’t want to sit down a do a crossword puzzle but the rhythm of running can get me to a place where I can really concentrate. So I do a very slow yoga practice, getting into only a handful of postures and staying there for around 30 slow and controlled breathes. Running increases and expands respiration so it’s nice to harness that breath into a concentrated effort. Also the heat in my muscles allows me to really “get into” the asanas. 

“Wait, I thought she was going to talk about Radiohead?” I am, and I will, I’m just creating a little scene for you.

Also after a run, at least when Wisconsin isn’t covered in snow I always do post run yoga outside. I love yoga outside, listening to nature, enjoying the occasional cloud burst and even basking in the sun and keeping a little of that heat with me. So yesterday after my run, I plopped down on the deck out back with my dog and started my slow, breath centered practice. Pigeon on each side with a little sun salute between the sides, pyramid for the back of the legs and a few variations of wide legged forward folds. Pretty standard but usually I do a few more to round it off but to I got distracted, by Radiohead.

I normally don’t run with music (mostly because my ears are tiny and reject all forms of ear buds) but yesterday I ran with a playlist made by a good friend who has a much broader (better) taste in music than me. Happily there are quite a few Radiohead songs on there and though it was on shuffle I got 2 in a row! Through the ear buds the music penetrated my concentration or rather took it to a different place. I didn’t want to be doing asana anymore, I wanted to be sitting in the sun and, well, that’s it, just sitting in the sun, while the music pushed all other thoughts away and I could fall into its rhythm. Some may not call that a “proper” meditation but it sure felt like it to me, the music sounded different in my head because it sounded like it was in my head, not being piped in over background noise. 

As the second song ended I had a moment of panic that whatever song played next would pull me from this beautiful contentment I was swimming in but it didn’t. It was another Radiohead song, you know the one, we all love it, let’s say it together now, “Fake Plastic Trees” I know total cliché. But the thing is it wasn’t. Normally I hear this song and want to weep, I identify with the weary vocals and sullen melody but today I heard it differently, when the famous line “it wears her out…” came through I didn’t feel worn out, I didn’t feel drug through the mire, I felt at peace, I felt like, in a way, I had worn my ego out and it surrendered its grip on all that fake plastic stuff it clings to, the stuff that keeps me from being who I want to be, all the time, all the time… (you know the song, right, I don’t have to make that reference, right). 

So Radiohead, pretty amazing band and pretty amazing meditation technique too, who would have thought.

Somedays...

Sometimes running a yoga studio feels like...

...constantly cleaning toenails off the floor.

...staring at the ceiling wondering what your students see if they don't close their eyes during Savasana.

...comparing yourself to more talented teachers.

And sometimes it feels like...

...you really make a difference in someone's life.

...inspiration is flowing to, from, and between you and your students.

...you are doing what you were born to do!

Top 5 (not so) Yoga Books

The Prophet: Kahlil Gibran

I first discovered this book when I was 15 or 16 years old. I picked it off the bookshelf in my mom's sewing room and thought, "oh this is broken down into short little chapters, I can carry it around and flip through it." I did not do that, I read it almost in one sitting and it was the only time in my life I remember feeling like my entire life afterwards would be different, and it has. The Prophet is the closet thing I have to a Bible, it rings true for me on every level and I always go back to it for advice and perspective. In fact when I turned 18 I made that emblem on the cover my very first tattoo (I have 6 as of now, if you are curious).

The Alchemist: Paulo Coelho

Ever pick up a book, read it, love it, and feel certain you are the only person in the world that knows about it, that was The Alchemist for me. I don't even remember how it came into my life I just remember thinking that everyone should read this book. I keep a copy at all times just to give to people when they are going through rough times or at a moment of profound change, I give it to them and make them promise me to pass it one when they run across someone who needs it. If you are in a slump, feeling challenged beyond your means, or at a dead end on the way to your dream READ THIS BOOK!


Johnathan Livingston Seagull

Ok first The Prophet now Johnathan Livingston Seagull! What was this chick raised by a bunch of hippies? Yes, yes I was. And thank goodness for that. Not only did I grow up listening to the best music of all times but I also grew up among the "it takes a village..." mantality which had lead directly to where I am today and my family of friends and strong sense of Community. SO, when I was 19 years old and I knew that I was going to open a business one day called Second Star Studio not a single person in my family doubted it! So if you were born into the body of a Gull but you dream of flying like a falcon OR you just want a clever metaphor about finding enlightenment that you can also read to your children then go get Johnathan Livingston Seagull. And by the way My dad also owned the movie, which I too loved.

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

Perhaps and author you recognize as a fiction writer? But she is so much more than that. I originally read this book because some crazy (and use that term lovingly) vegan friends of mine read it and didn't like it because she ordered turkey's online. If it bugs a vegan, I am all for it! Just kidding...sort of... ok maybe that's another blog all together. But Back to Animal Vegetable Miracle, I loved it! I finally became a vegetarian before  the term Localvore had made it off the west coast. I gave up meet not because of my emerging inner yogi, or my fascination with Buddhism, no, it was the environment. Growing with aforementioned hippies I grew up really loving the earth. Seriously I dreamed about growing up and moving out not because I wanted to leave home but because I wanted to live somewhere that I could recycle! So I gave up meat because the meat industry's impact on the environment. I was living in New York City at the time so the idea of actual farms seemed quite literally miles away. Then I read this book and it was like Barbara Kingsolver had read exactly how I felt about food and the earth and even being able to bend the rules! So if you aren't already in the Green movement or don't have your own kitchen garden yet (even for you apartment dwellers) check it out.


Alcoholics Anonymous

There's a lot to be said for the similarities between AA's 12 steps and Yoga's 8! If you are not an alcoholic then chances are you know one, either in recovery or not. The disease of alcoholism is epidemic and as a firm believer that all disease, especially mental disease should be openly discussed in order to fight the negative connotations people who suffer with these diseases go through than I think we should ALL READ THIS BOOK! And as I sit here sipping my Chardonnay... just kidding, but no I am not an alcoholic (but I do suffer from depression and am openly taking medication for it) but I've been close to many, my Grandfather, my Father, Uncles, a Partner and I didn't realize the effect that kind of disease had on those close to the alcoholic themselves. It just like the way Alzheimer effects those closest to the ill, so I'm reading the Big Blue Book now and find it an amazing complement to my yoga studies. You should too!

Surrender to the Light

Disclaimer: I am not a medical practitioner, I have never been professionally diagnosed as having Post traumatic Stress Disorder, Depression, the following entry is my experience and is in NO WAY meant to serve as diagnosis or treatment of ANY mental disorder. If you have experienced any symptoms of  PTSD or any other mental illness please seek medical care from a trained professional. If you are experiencing suicidal thoughts call 911 immediately.

I call them panic attacks, I call them that because that it easier to say than Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) flashback. I do this for 2 main reasons; one, because not very many people know what a PTSD flashback is and two, describing them can sometimes set me off into one. So I’ll try to give you a good idea of what they are like without going into extreme details of what mine are like. Imagine your worst night mare. Now I don’t mean a figurative sense like, “oh, my worst nightmare would be falling into a pit of snakes.” Or “my worst nightmare is being chased down a dark ally.” No think of an actual nightmare you’ve had, one that you woke up from crying or too scared to go back to sleep or messed yourself. Yes that scary, so real you can still feel it with you when you wake up. Now imagine being trapped in that nightmare but to make it even more terrifying you know you are in a nightmare, you know that if you could just do something to wake yourself up you’d be ok. But no matter what you do you are trapped and everything you do just feeds into your terror, everything you do just makes you more convinced you are trapped in this nightmare forever.

That is what a PTSD flashback is like. It is in actuality nothing like a panic attack; in fact mine come complete with visual, auditory and sensory hallucinations. And I’ve had them since I was 16 years old. That was at least until I found yoga. 

A few years ago I went through a period when I was so connected to my yoga that I would have moments or spontaneous meditation. I’d be driving my car and see a hillside bathed in light or the way a shadow moved over the fields and i would have to pull over and let the image wash over me, it would fill me with joy and I would slip into a meditation where I could feel my heart expanding and bursting with contentment and peace. It was way cool! During this time I had an experience where I was in my house and I felt moved to go lay in my bed and meditate, so I did. It was like being wrapped in a blanket, all I could see around me was the color yellow. In color therapy yellow is sometimes connected with overcoming fears. I didn’t recall this at the time but when I came out of my meditation I knew in the pit of my being that I was cured of my Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and I would never be slave to flashbacks ever again.

I was right for almost 2 years. And then 10 days ago they came back. They came back quickly, out of the blue and forcefully. And they have eaten up any sense of security I have, they have stripped me bare of all confidence and self reliance. Since the day they came back I haven’t had a day when I didn’t feel them lingering on the back of my neck, like the cold hands of a serial killer just waiting for the right moment to tighten and maybe this time he won’t let go. So, exactly….

WHY THE HELL AM I WRITING ABOU THIS ON MY YOGA BLOG?!?!

Because I’m pretty certain that if it wasn’t for yoga I wouldn’t have made it through this week, at least without being hospitalized or on anti-psychotic medication! When it all started again I was riding back to town with a friend, we had gone to see a movie in Madison. Nothing strange or unusual not even a glass of wine with dinner, but on the drive home before we had even made it on to the highway I fell into a flashback. I knew it was happening but I was too scared to tell my friend what was going on so I closed my eyes and started breathing. It was the only thing I could do, surrender. In yoga it is called Ishvara Pranidhana, surrender to god. Maybe this is a very extreme interpretation of the practice but once I started slowing my breath down I just knew that what I had to do was surrender, ride this wave no matter where it took me. Once I stopped trying to fight my flashback I felt the tiniest pulse of peace somewhere deep inside me, deep in the base of my brain and from there I started chanting the Gayatri Mantra. 

Om bhur, bhuvah, svah
tat savitur varenyam
bhargo devasya dhimahi
dhiyo yo nah prachodayat

And that did it, the panic started to ebb away, the hallucinations started to fade back into reality and finally I let loose and cried. Crying means my adrenaline has crashed so it’s actually a good thing. My poor friend having no idea what he just witnessed asked if he should pull over, but I said no I just need to lay back for a while and I laid the passenger seat down and chanted silently in my head the rest of the way home.

I can’t describe the way it feels to be battling something like this, I just know that I don’t feel well, my body is exhausted from the rushes of adrenaline and pounding heart rates, I’m not sleeping to well because sometimes they happen in my dreams, and overall I just feel heartbroken. But that’s really all the mental story around it, those are just symptoms so there’s not much to be done. What I need to do is figure out why these are back and fight them off again, I have a sneaky suspicion why and an even sneakier way to combat it, but more on that long road later. Right now I have the best weapon I could imagine for the moments I really do feel like I’m trapped in hell. When my brain switches into a flashback and I can’t grasp onto anything real I can slow my breath and start the Gayarti Manta. I can, amid my nightmare be grateful for the light and know that the light will wake me up.

Sunday Funnies

And for the dog lovers...

...like myself...

...i just couldn't choose which adorable yoga dog...

...to feature today...

...because I'm in Chicago this weekend at yoga school...

...and I really miss my dog...

...Daphne, who hangs out in the studio with my while I teach...

...I'll be home tomorrow D, a little smarter and ready to get back to Second Star Studio with my black and white furry best friend.

Guest Blog: YOGA WITH HANNAH

Dear Reader,

I'm writing and studying. I'm in the middle of a few blogs that are putting up and emotional fight to get out of me (you'll see) and also studying for my yoga midtermns. So the free parts of my brain that I usually use for this cleaver and resourceful blog are all used up. So in lieu of my brilliance I offer the brilliance of Hannah Alexander, a dear friend and fellow teacher. I hope you enjoy her blog stylings and if you are ever in Wisconsin look her up for a private or maybe a class here at Second Star Studio.

Enjoy. Namste,

amy

 Original post march 30th, YOGA WITH HANNAH

2 Resources for Online Yoga

Many students have asked me for recommendations when it comes to free online yoga.
 Have you ever tried googling it? So many options come up, it's both wonderful and dismaying. Here are two resources I've become fond of, and why.

Yoga Today
This site has been my go-to for years. Three women out of Jackson Hole, WY: Adi Amar, Neesha Zollinger, and Sarah Kline.

Each with a distinct style and personality, each hosting hour-long yoga classes using local athletes and yogis as their students/models. The instruction is very sound, and often inspired.
The classes are primarily filmed outdoors, against the incredible backdrop of the Tetons, or maybe the red rock desert of Sedona, yet more recently they have begun to film classes indoors as well.
 The website  www.yogatoday.com streams one free class a week (plus mini-sessions on their blog) or they have memberships: something like $10/month or $90/year for unlimited access to their hundreds of classes. If you really love a particular class, you can download it to own for a few dollars.  A wonderful way to have access to great yoga classes whenever you would like, for a very affordable rate.  They offer a free two-week trial to the unlimited access option, which you can access with an ambassador ID: hannahcosetteyoga.

Yoga Glo
A more recent experience for me, this site also offers a free two week trial access (as far as I know they do not have an ambassador program, instead you sign up with your credit/debit card, and if you don't cancel after the 15 days are up, they will start billing you).

Their membership is a little more expensive, at $18/month. Still, for that price, you have access to more teachers, both male and female, including many whose names frequently appear in Yoga Journal. You can also track your practice, and you can sort for classes by teacher, by style (Ashtanga, Basics, Vinyasa Flow, Yin, etc.), by level of difficulty, by duration (anywhere from 5 to 120 min), and specific purpose (travel yoga, stress reduction, partner yoga, immune system, backbends, energize, insomnia, etc.). I really love the option to track practice, I think you can even enter the non-Yoga Glo classes you take. And being able to access such a diversity of teachers and classes is very appealing as well.

You may be wondering why a teacher would undercut herself by revealing where her students can access cheaper, still-quality yoga. For the price of a drop-in class, access a whole MONTH of yoga? Why would any thinking student go to actual, in-person classes anymore?

1. Because there is nothing, NOTHING, like sharing a room with real-time, warrm, breathing, souls in the practice of yoga.

2. Because the on-line teachers, as good as they are, cannot see you, and therefore are limited on how well they can actually teach to you. They can offer verbal adjustment for common issues with certain poses, but they will not be able to know what you specifically may need.

3. See #1

4. Because coming to yoga class, for me as well as you, fosters community, and that is what human beings are craving at this point in time. Look at how the internet is organized, with Linked In, Facebook, even Twitter. With infinite ways to participate in gatherings of the mind, the internet can do little for our bodies, the vehicles of our experience in this lifetime, except allow us to share with each other information, such as video, about our physical experience. We are each seeking out the tribes that we belong to. When we come to share space with others, even if we simply show up, participate, and leave quietly at the end, we share energy, meditative/experiential focus, and soul-time.

So GO, be free! Explore the world of internet yoga, it has much to offer to deepen your practice.
 I know that I will see you in class.
Because like a gourmet choosing only the finest produce for their meal, the deepest satisfaction and beauty comes from the exquisiteness of responding exactly to this moment, to the day, the seasons and all the phases of the moon and our sun/star, from skillfully surfing the vagaries of life.

 To prove my point, the puppy just pulled her collar off the coffee table, toppling a stack of books on to the floor. She is saying, get off that computer and let's go out in the rain! It's lush and green out there, things are blossoming and there must be all kinds of new smells since last night!

What a Yogi Eats

PICKLES!

Delicious, delicious, fermented, dill flavored cucumbers. And I found the easiest recipe in the world for them! And I will now share it; sort of because I don't really follow recipes I just start tossing things into a pot.

First go pick some cucumbers. What?! You don't have any cucumbers growing in your garden? You have to try them next year, promise me you will. They are super easy, even in this crazy drought year this is what my cuc patch looks like:

Cucs Gone Wild!

Now before I go on, this is a recipe for Refrigerator Pickles, so they aren't water processed, they don't keep as long as "canned" pickles but they are so good you'll eat them before they have a chance to turn.

My first batched I made 3 pint jars which is the measurements I’ll share with you

Enough Cucumbers, thinly sliced, to fill 3 pint jars
3 Cloves Garlic
2 tsp celery seed
3 TBL dried Dill (fresh is better, you need less if you are using fresh, but I didn't have any)
1/2 tsp Turmeric (this is optional, mainly for color but it's very good for all 3 doshas if you are practicing Ayurveda)
1/2 cup Sugar (more or less depending on your taste)
1 1/4 cup White Vinegar
1/4 cup Salt, a scant1/4 cup or less if you are watching your sodium
1 1/2cup Water

In a pot combine all the ingredients EXCEPT the cucumbers. Bring to a boil and then remove from heat. While the brine cools to room temp slice your cucumbers and fill the 3 pints jars.

Note* this is more than 3 pint jars, this recipe is only for 3 pint jars.

After the brine is cool, strain the liquid into a bowl or large measuring cup, preferably something with a pouring lip. Pour the brine over the cucumbers.

Screw the lids on and place in the fridge. Let them alone for a few days until the dimple in the top of the jar goes down and then eat up!

From all the recipes I read online about fridge dills they all vary on shelf life so here is what I have to say about it:

1st I AM NOT A FOOD EXPERT! It is quite possible I have never gotten botulism by sheer luck. Fermenting food can be dangerous so please follow the recipes and suggestions of a qualified food professional.

2nd If it smells bad, it probably is.

3rd These are so good, if they come out ok, there is no way they will last long enough to turn. But I said that already so I’m going to stop blogging now and go eat some pickles. Yum.

Sunday Funnies.

Moon Flow

In honor of the full moon here is a beautiful, free style prana flow by Shiva Rea, Soma Mandala Namaskar, Moon Salute.