Yoga

This documentary came out a few months ago, but I just got around to watching it this week. This is the full length documentary, not just a trailer, that's been made available for free. You can click through to Vimeo to leave a "Tip" if you feel moved to contribute.Grab a cup of tea and settle in for some insightful interviews after a beautiful calming opening sequence. Bonus - a couple of cutie pup cameos.Why We Breathe - A Yoga Documentary from BackToAwake on Vimeo.

Snuck between the barefoot slaps in studio hallways and crouched beside the shedding rental mats, looped through the ashy whispers of forbidden pre-class conversation is a sneaky goblin of narcissistic posturing. What we say about our practice says more about our intentions than our product. And what we intend has been hijacked by this pandemic goblin, revealing a dearth of genuine yoga-ing. If your yoga-speak sounds like this, your practice is no longer your own: “I’ve been doing yoga for two weeks and now I can finally do one-legged-hovercraft-splits.” How quickly you mastered your headstand/crow/non-existent-circus-poses does not define your worth as a human nor a yogi. If you started practicing because you’d really like to eventually touch your toes for fun, that’s one thing. If you continually push yourself to figure out how engaging your muscles will help you move around in space in new ways, that’s another thing. But racing to get upside-down the fastest is not a thing. I’ve been doing yoga for twenty years and there are poses, transitions and adjustments I haven’t figured out yet. It’s part of what keeps me coming back. “I sweat so much in that class I had to wash my lulus four times. It was such a hard class.” Your sweat-to-difficulty ratio is not always aligned. These are separate concepts that occasionally crash together in a slippery epiphany. Sometimes making your body move makes you sweat. Sometimes a practice space is just hot. When I taught heated classes I had students who thought every droplet that fell to the floor was another calorie burned. They would ask me to turn the heat up and up until every face was red and every smell was a gym sock on fire. This is not how to succeed in difficult things. You have to do the difficult work first, not place obstacles in the way of ordinary work. “OMG, you have to have a Turbo-Pro Spider-Sense Self-Cleaning Mat. Otherwise you’re not really living.” I have a Jade mat. I have a lululemon mat. I have a Gaiam mat. I usually use rental mats because I don’t like carrying a bunch of stuff around all day. For a year I did yoga in my apartment on the floor with no mat at all. I haven’t gotten any weird diseases or broken any bones because of any of these choices. Which mat is the best mat? The one you use the most. “I’m so mad I missed class yesterday because I wanted to go every day this week.” Why? Did your body want to move that much? Because that is the only acceptable answer. Otherwise your brain is forcing your body to adhere to some notion of what legitimate yoga looks like. The outward expression of what your yoga looks like has to start with inwardly how it feels to do it. Does your body want to move around again? Start there. How many classes you took this week should reflect that. Nothing is worse than getting to class and realizing all you really wanted was a nap. “I just love back-to-back classes. I took two yesterday and I’m going for three today.” No. Just, no. The case against back-to-back classes looks like this: If you worked hard enough to satisfy your body’s movement cravings, you wouldn’t want another class. I say this because I’ve done it. The back-to-backs, the double workouts, the million classes a week. And then I moved to Boston and I slept for a week straight because I had spent a year moving my body more than it wanted to move. When we lose sight of what the physical body wants to do, our practice is no longer our own. It belongs to that sneaky goblin hidden in plain sight of your mat. Listen for it in the studio, splashed between drops of sweat and tucked into folds of spandex. Drag it out by its preening ego. And shut it up.

Plastic surgery is, sometimes, helpful. Sometimes, it’s practical. But often, it reflects a profound, and sad, dis-ease with ourselves. Maitri is an alternative, and it’s harder work: we all know folks who are charming, gorgeous…but not because they’re conventionally beautiful. Because of the joy and truth they manifest, from the inside, out. In relephant news: [...]

The controversy over conservative Christian parents objection to yoga in Encinitas, CA public elementary schools, which I first covered last October, ended up in court this week. Experts testified on the nature of religion and the secularization of yoga in the first three days of the trial without resolution before it was decided to put the case on hiatus for a few weeks. As before, the Ashtangi bloggers at the Confluence Countdown are doing a great job covering the nuances....Read Full Post

Your chance to meditate with Guru Dev Singh this weekend!

Memorial Day is almost here, and that means camping, grilling, and backyard parties. While classic barbecue sides like potato salad and macaroni and cheese are big favorites, they don’t always work for those following a vegan diet. If you’re planning a barbecue this holiday, here are 8 side dishes that will have vegan friends coming back for seconds: Spicy Chipolte Hummus: Ingredients >>2 (15.5 ounce) cans garbanzo beans, drained >>1/2 cup water >>1/4 cup tahini (sesame-seed paste) >>1/4 cup fresh lemon juice >>2 tablespoons olive oil >>1 canned chipotle pepper in adobo sauce >>2 cloves garlic >>1 1/2 teaspoons cumin >>1 (7 ounce) jar roasted red bell peppers, drained >>6 oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained >>1/2 cup chopped cilantro >>1/2 teaspoon salt >>ground black pepper to taste Directions Place the garbanzo beans, water, tahini, lemon juice, olive oil, chipotle pepper, garlic, and cumin in the bowl of a food processor; blend until smooth. Add the red peppers, sun-dried tomatoes, cilantro, salt, and pepper. Pulse the mixture until the ingredients are coarsely chopped into the hummus base. Transfer to a serving bowl, cover, and chill until ready to serve. Quinoa Tabbouleh Ingredients >>1/2 cup quinoa >>2 tablespoons lemon juice >>1 bunch flat leaf parsley >>3 green onions (scallions), finely sliced >>1/2 cup almonds Directions Bring a medium saucepan of salted water to the boil. Cook quinoa for 9 minutes or until cooked to your liking. Drain. Meanwhile for the dressing, combine lemon juice with 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil. Season. Finely chop the parsley stalks and coarsley chop the leaves. Toss together the cooked quinoa, dressing, parsley, green onions and almonds. Season with a little extra pepper. Roasted Garlic Artichoke Spread Ingredients: >>28 oz artichoke hearts, drained, rinsed, and water lightly squeezed out >>10-11 cloves garlic, roughly chopped >>3 tbsp fresh oregano, chopped or 1 1/2-2 tsp dried >>1/4-1/3 c olive oil >>1 tbsp lemon juice >>1/2 tsp sea salt >>freshly ground black pepper Directions: Preheat oven to 400. Chop artichokes into small chunks and pieces. In a baking dish, combine artichokes with remaining ingredients  and mix well until combined. Cover with aluminum  foil and bake for 45-50 minutes, stirring once or twice, until garlic is softened. Remove from oven and let cool a little before serving.  Season to taste with additional salt and pepper if desired, and a squeeze of lemon. Sweet Potato Fries Ingredients: >>aluminum foil for pan >>2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled >>2 tablespoons olive oil >>1 tablespoon brown sugar >>salt and pepper to taste Directions: Preheat oven to 450 F. Half the sweet potatoes lengthwise. Place on flat slide and slice 5-6 spears (thick and long strips) of sweet potato. Place them on the aluminum foil and toss with olive oil and sugar. Spread them in one layer. It is important that they have space around them and aren’t piled up on each other. Bake for 15 minutes and turn with tongs or a spatula. Bake for another 5 to 10 minutes, until lightly browned. Add salt and pepper. Serve hot, room temperature, or cold. Spring Salad Ingredients: >>1/3 c cooked buckwheat groats (not Kasha) >>75 g firm tofu (or protein of choice) >>1 carrot, sliced >>1 tomato, sliced >>3/4 c cucumber slices >>1/3 c fennel sliced >>50 g avocado, sliced and cubed >>1 c butter lettuce (or lettuce of choice) >>1 olive, sliced Directions: Cook buckwheat (I cooked 1/3 c raw buckwheat groats with 2 c water). Bring to a boil, and simmer for 20 minutes. Preheat oven to 375 F. Cube tofu and mix with 1/2 tsp olive oil. I also added 1 tsp curry but you can totally omit that if you don’t like it. Place in oven and bake for 20 minutes. Now wash, peel and chop/slice your vegetables and place in a bowl. This took me 20 minutes so my buckwheat and tofu was done just as I finished up the slicing. Drain buckwheat and measure 1/3 c cooked and add to bowl. Chop the tofu to smal

Hey! So did you catch the excerpt of ‘Teaching People, Not Poses’ by Jay Fields? Or were you too busy practicing? Ah hahaha. Trick question. If you’d read the post you’d think that was funny! Maybe. Or maybe we don’t know what you’d find funny, we’re not in your brain. [...]The post YD Giveaway: ‘Teaching People, Not Poses’ by Jay Fields appeared first on YogaDork.

“When you stand and share your story in an empowering way, your story will heal you and your story will heal somebody else.” - Iyanla Vanzant Truth. I haven't had a relationship with my mother in almost 15 years. Why? Sometimes I don't even know why. In an act of transparency I am coming out with it. It's not always easy to talk about challenging situations, especially when it comes to family. Life is messy, and doesn't always come in pretty little boxes like we may want to portray. For as long as I can remember my relationship with my mother has been strained. I never understood her even as a young child. No deep closeness. It's one of those things where karmically there wasn't a deep bond. I can't explain exactly why it was like this only that it was. I think in many ways I came into this life strong willed. I seemed to have clear idea of things. I was creative and boisterous, definitely curious. Especially curious in regards to God, religion and philosophy. Strange, I know. At the same time I could be lost in my imagination. My dreams were relentless. I also struggled with thoughts on death. Contemplating what would happen to me when I died. Blackness was all I could feel. Nothingness. I could scare myself just thinking about. These things I never talked to my parents about. At the same time I felt a strong presence around me at times. Because of a certain amount of sensitivity I held, I could take on the heaviness of others. I could easily absorb it. Especially from my parents. Somehow I felt responsible for everything. I never had a teenage rebellion. Maybe I should have. There was no room for it, truthfully. I was a good kid (yawn). Years of perfect attendance, a cheerleader, an honor student on and off. I was funny about school. Often I didn't have the drive to make the grades and then I would easily turn it around and make it, even when taking A.P. courses. It didn't seem to matter. For the most part learning in the traditional sense was boring. I didn't like playing the game. Soon, I learned I had to, and at the same time I learned the difference between book smarts and intuitive common sense. They didn't always go hand in hand. I always thought it interesting that book smarts seemed to take precedence in the eyes of many, especially my mother who didn't approve of my lack of motivation at times. When I was inspired I excelled often to the adulation of my teachers. I new how to work it, garnering my teachers' praises on numerous occasions. Then I'd ask myself is this all there is? You see, even though I never made waves somehow I was often met with my Mother's disapproval for whatever reason. I still to this day don't fully understand it. One of life's great mysteries. I managed to graduate highschool never drinking a drop of alcohol, never smoking cigarettes, never experimenting with illegal drugs and/or having sex. Yes, bor-ring. I never started arguments because most discussions were established on a one way street and often an interrogation would ensue on the most intense level. She talked, I listened, and often for many hours. It was drilled into me that I must at all costs respect because she was an elder and of course my mother. There was never room for discussion beyond that and I wasn't allowed to question it. I was groomed to live in fear of her ramifications, punishments, and mood swings. Even to the point where teachers reported signs of those ramifications to authorities. A part of me died then and through the years I have done my best to bring the young girl who has laid dormant since then back to life. But would I change the experience looking back on it? I really can't say that I would. Through the challenges it only quickened me to find an authenticity and truth that maybe if my life would have been more comfortable I might not have so hungrily searched for. I can't deny or judge the complexity that is called my life, or better yet, my story, because it is simply that. I can stand a

My 13th physiotherapy session today, hopefully not unlucky! She has at last received some notes from the Consultant about my rehab and what she is allowed to do and how soon she can do it . She tests my range of motion each week, but any improvement she can see is infinitessamly small to be invisible from where I’m seeing it. After she showed me my new movements, which are tiny but soon become very uncomfortable we moved on to passive therapy, I lay there and she tortures me! Some of her treatment is very gentle, before she then moved on to starting to slowly move my arm outwards for the first time, shit that hurt and luckily she soon stopped, hopefully next week will be better and less painful. But like in practice it’s a case of finding that edge without crossing the line. As well as what therapy should happen the “Protocol” also has notes about how long rehabilitation should take, which only goes to show how far I still have to go, these notes include *”Most patients can tolerate occasional work at shoulder level 4-6 months after surgery”. Nope to yet I can’t! *”Return to heavy lifting or overhead use may require 6-12 months”. handstands at Christmas then, maybe!

It’s almost Return of the Jedi‘s 30th birthday (May 25!) which means we’re all old and Yoda is really old. Just kidding, we’ve got the Force on our side, should we choose to accept it, or something. (Different movie franchise?) As the third film in the original Star Wars trilogy [...]The post George Lucas on Star Wars: The Force is ‘Like Yoga’, Yoda ‘Like a Guru’ appeared first on YogaDork.