What calorie counting has to do with saving the world.

I like chocolate.  And popcorn.  And I really enjoy mindlessly eating crunchy, salty things.  But in the last couple of years, my body has started to let me know that eating chocolate and popcorn and delicious crunchy things doesn’t feel quite so good afterwards.  In fact, it’s started to feel bad.  Which sucks, because eating chocolate, salty and crunchy things has been a favorite way to distract myself from my uncomfortable feelings, my fatigue, my loneliness, my anger.  And it feels like pulling out my spleen to throw that lovely crutch away.

Enter calorie counting.

When I enter my food into my cute little calorie counting app, lo and behold it tells me how many calories I’m actually taking in.  I can’t hide behind, “Well, the creamer in my coffee doesn’t really count,” or, “it’s not that big a piece of chocolate,” or, “just one more.”  In plain, neat little script, the Reality of my unnecessary consumption is looking me in the face.  And then I have those fun, confrontational moments when my brain wants to NOT enter a particular food into the app.  As if not entering it in there would mean that somehow I hadn’t just eaten a second loaf of banana chocolate chip goodness because I was feeling compulsive.

But, as odd as it might seem that calorie counting can be a battleground for truth-telling and Reality-checking, I muster my courage and face the truth, and log in those 242 calories.

Let’s be clear: I have nothing against eating chocolate, salty, crunchy things.  Pleasure is the spice of life.  I want to dive into this world and nourish myself with all of its caloric and salty delights.  But I want to do so because it’s a conscious choice –not because I’m in denial and running away from something else.

As human kind, we must practice staring the truth in the face.  And we must increase our resolve to do this when the truth feels icky.  Food is just a tangible, measureable practicing ground. But how many other places in our lives exist where we turn our eyes away?  Where we’d rather avert our gaze and avoid the vulnerability and the heartache of admitting that something is not what we want it to be?

  • Global warming
  • “I was just following orders.”
  • Factory Farming
  • Homelessness
  • Difficult relationships
  • Elephants in the room
  • Depletion of our oceans
  • Etc, etc, etc…

Calorie counting looks pretty mild compared to these glaring global trends, but the intrinsic issue is absolutely the same.  If I can be really, truly honest about what I’m putting in my body, I’m one step closer to being really, truly honest in the Reality of the world.  And we know when we’re avoiding it (don’t we?), which is amazing news!   Because when we get that little tickle, we can square our shoulders, take a breath, and make a different choice.

We have such capacity for transformation and change.  When we muster our courage to bravely face the truth as it is, then we truly change the world – one person at a time.  One honest moment at a time.

Even one calorie at a time.

 

My new bones

The last time I was single, I had a different skeleton. I was literally standing on different bones, on different feet.

Since I was last single, I have had at least 7 different livers, and my skin has changed 260 times. The face that greets the world now is a different face than the one that I had before. Yet I am still, somehow, me.

The sublime intelligence our subconscious goes largely unnoticed by us as we walk in our bodies, breathe and eat, think, digest, and sleep. Our hurtling, effervescent circulatory system is generally unregarded; the dogged loyalty of our heartbeat unnoticed.

We are deeply mysterious, and what’s wonderful is that we are the mystery that we seek!

Marvel at your beautiful hands, revel in your full and glorious breathing! Thrill in the flow of your blood, delight in the drowsiness of almost falling asleep. Nourish your beautiful, feeling, sensational body.

What gratitude I feel to be conscious through this mysterious and ever-changing home of flesh and bone.

For a nerdy love in about the age of your cells, check out this New York Times article, called, “Your Body is Younger than You Think.”

Finding your balance: inspirations from the autumnal equinox

On September 22nd, 2012, the sun will cross the celestial equator, meaning that the length of day and night is as equal as it’s going to get during the year (Vancouver daytime will be 7 AM-7 PM).  Transitioning from the  summer can be bittersweet as we look over our shoulders at the departing days of sunny adventure.  And yet the darkness of fall offers a new opportunity to move inwards, reflect, and re-connect to the deeper and steadier currents in our lives.

Yoga Balance: Summer and Winter

This seasonal balance is echoed in our yoga.  In our practice, we are constantly moving between consciousness of our outer form (alignment) and the internal sensations of our inner body and breath.  Consciousness is an expression of the archetypal masculine energy of the sun; it shines a light onto our experience and invites us to cultivate fire, luminosity, and strength.  Focusing on our internal world engenders the archetypal feminine of the moon and the winter’s darkness; connecting with our inner body’s sensations invites us to soften, receive, and feel.

Empower your yoga experience by making your practice what you need.

On the days that we feel isolated, tired, or depressed, focusing on the strength and alignment of our outer body will boost our energy, burn out lethargy, and create a sense of empowerment.  Practice power, flow, and core styles to ramp up your inner sunshine.  Engaging in the social setting of a group class will encourage an invigorating and extroverted practice; connect to your fellow practitioners before and after class to get your focus out into the world.

When we are over-hyped, aggressive, or distracted, then we need the cooler energy of introspection to nourish our practice.  Focus on the inner experience of your body and your breath to pacify the nervous system, smooth out anxiety, and calm the mind.  Choose styles like yin, hatha, mediation, and restorative in order to reconnect to your inner world and come back home.

Life Balance

The autumnal equinox is also a potent opportunity to reassess the larger balancing act of our lives.

Some food for thought:

  • Do I need more alone time?
  • Am I making enough opportunities for play?
  • Am I finding a balance in my relationship of give and take?
  • Are there any dark corners I’m avoiding?
  • What part of my life need more nourishment and passion?
  • How can I refill my own cup?

As with all balancing acts, there is no one point of fixation.  Instead, balancing means moving continually in the dance between the extremes.  Relinquishing the need to find “the” exact tipping point frees us from the ossification of artificial perfection.

Invite the dance of light and darkness to your practice and your life.  Allow the balance to shift from day to day, moment to moment.

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving.” – Albert Einstein

 

Kitchen Music: Christmas Lullaby (Jason Robert Brown)

This is not the Christmas Lullaby you’re thinking of, but the one by Jason Robert Brown from “Songs for a New World.”   The lyrics are probably the closest thing to Christian rock that I’ve ever sung, which is a little out of my usual range, but the message is universal.

I love this song.  This is for all the mamas out there.

Christmas Lullaby, composed by Jason Robert Brown, sung by RAS

 

“Kitchen Music:”  Music recorded literally in the kitchen.  No auto-tune.  No fancy mixin’.  Just me and my Garage Band and the sink.  Right click to download.

Clarify: How saying “no” to the little stuff says “yes” to the big stuff

Like most of us, I get a lot of email.

“Shit-ton” is the word that comes to mind.

The steady deluge in my inbox can keep me responding, forwarding, and archiving for several hours a day.  There’s something about seeing the bold font of a new message that makes my brain say, “Oh, hey someone must really like me!” and “Now, THIS must be important!”  Before you know it, my afternoon has been sucked down the vortex of google mail.

Recently I was in a time crunch and had to edit our 300-page Teacher Training Manual in three days.  In order to finish this daunting task, I desperately shut down access to my beloved email in order to devote myself wholly to the project.

I was astonished by how much I was able to accomplish.

Without the “you’ve got mail” distracting me from my task, I finally made inroads into a seemingly monumental task.   In fact, I was able to deliver the revised manual to our marketing department a day early.  And because I had a designated structured time for answering urgent mail (answering – not just reading and postponing), I blazed through my communication obligations, too.

 

Getting real about distractions

Distractions – like email – keep us from getting what we really want.  While email is the shiniest toy, it’s certainly not the only one.  Here are some of my personal favorites:

  • Facebook (ohhhhh, Facebook!)
  • Unsatisfying or obligatory relationships
  • Pointless flirtations
  • Trashy reading
  • Emotional eating.  Cheddar bunnies.
  • Web surfing
  • Daydreaming rather than doing

We all have our seductive gremlins of comfort.   And while they each have their occasional place, we have to get clear with ourselves about whether these past times are taking time and energy away from our priorities.  When we learn to say “no” to these little seductions, we have the capacity to take action on the bigger projects that lay close to our heart.

 

Living your Vision

We each have a unique vision for our life that takes time, space, and effort to manifest.  Usually we try to add on action steps for this vision to an already busy life – without first letting go of the stuff that’s getting in the way!  Then we beat up ourselves for not being able to do what’s needed in a cycle of self-blame.  Our distractions keep us bogged down in an “I can’t really do it” mindset.  Whether our greater vision is related to work, family, travel, adventure, or health, we need to first create the time and space to commit to what is “Important” rather than what is “Urgent.”

 

Word of the Month: Clarify

Clarified butter is made by simmering butter and skimming off the foam and solids, leaving a warmed, golden, clear butter broth that can withstand higher cooking temperatures.

When we clarify our lives, we commit to a similar heating process of intensity and elimination.  We endure the fires of discomfort and self-reflection in order to separate the pure from the impure, the distracting from the nourishing.  We clarify how we are spending our energy and honestly evaluate what is serving our vision for our lives  – then we firmly let go of what is not.

Warning: this process of purification may cause feelings of emptiness, loneliness, discomfort, fear.  We may long to fly back into the arms of distraction rather than face the void that is created.   (At this very moment, I would much rather eat the nearby loaf Banana Bread than finish writing this post.)  While this journey takes immense courage, the resulting nourishment of your soul will ultimately satisfy you much more deeply than any short-term distraction can.

This month, consider:

  • Where do you spend most of your time?
  • What activities don’t increase your sense of well-being?
  • Which relationships are nourishing to you?
  • What can you let go of that isn’t serving you?
  • What does creating space look like?
  • Can you create more space by increasing your efficiency or creating boundaries?
  • Are there foods, substances that you are taking in that don’t take care of your body?
  • What habits are you holding onto that no longer serve you?

This month, rather than slathering on new obligations or to-do’s, engage in a practice of questioning and culling.   Prepare the ground for your greatest vision by opening the space for possibility.

 

How to make clarified butter

Unsalted butter, cut into cubes

1. Heat the unsalted butter in a heavy-duty saucepan over very low heat, until it’s melted. Let simmer gently until the foam rises to the top of the melted butter. The butter may splatter a bit, so be careful.

2. Once the butter stops spluttering, and no more foam seems to be rising to the surface, remove from heat and skim off the foam with a spoon. (It can be saved and added to soups, bread doughs, polenta, pilaf, or a bowl of warm oatmeal.)

Don’t worry about getting every last bit; you can remove the rest when straining it.

3. Line a mesh strainer with a few layers of cheesecloth or gauze (in France, I use étamine, which is cotton muslin) and set the strainer over a heatproof container.

4. Carefully pour the warm butter through the cheesecloth-lined strainer into the container, leaving behind any solids from the bottom of the pan.

Instructions: http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2010/03/how-to-clarify-butter-recipe/

Kaivalya – what dating has to do with aloneness

Okay, okay, so I’m sure that Patanjali was not actually referring to dating angst when he orated about kaivalya – the ultimate state of aloneness, or detachment, from worldly sensory objects.  However, embracing aloneness isn’t just for yogis meditating in caves.  It’s also essential for our adventures in relationship.

The Insane Mind

The merits of kaivalya became clear to me awhile back when I was trying to meditate.  (Let me stress – “trying.”)  As I sat, I watched in growing horror and bemusement as my mind trampolined incessantly about a guy that I’d recently met.  Despite every intention to focus on my breath, my mind kept returning to its increasingly paranoid chatter.  What was he thinking?  Was he going to call me?  Did I want him to?  Had I made a mistake.  Aaaarrgh!

Eventually, I gave up trying to control the gong show and just watched it all unfold.  I seriously needed a path out of the insanity.

Aloneness as a path out of crazy

When the crazy voices start, it’s time to take a breather and reflect on the merits of really being alone – and take a hard look at the fears that are keeping us tied to our distractions.

Rather than pitch our identity into the maelstrom of someone else’s (usually a stranger’s – for the love of god!) good opinion, we can step back and see the mind’s churning for what it is: an attempt to regulate our ego’s safety in an uncertain situation.

Watching the rolling of the mind in any situation (job crisis, personal change, yoga class, or yes – dating) is a profound opportunity to question what is real: are the thoughts real, or can we anchor ourselves to something deeper and more steady?

To summarize the first few yoga sutras (a 2000-year old yoga text): “Yoga is the restraint of the fluctuation of the mind.  Then you rest in your true nature.  Otherwise you think you’re all the crap that you’re thinking.”  When we can observe our thoughts rather than getting caught up in our drama, we are able to identify with the unchanging Purusha (Consciousness) rather than with our mind’s tempestuous swings.

The compiler of the sutras, Patanjali, says that the ultimate state of liberation is kaivalya, which is usually translated as “aloneness.”  While this concept initially seems sort of, well…lonely…there is a difference between being “alone” and being “lonely.”  Resting in our aloneness, we no longer need someone else to fill the gaps in our self-perception.  Connecting to a deeper sense of ourselves allows us to be fully present in our uncertainty, fear, and excitement so that we can observe these sensations come and go without attaching our identity to them.

Aloneness as a path to freedom…and intimacy

Being comfortable in aloneness not only helps us negotiate the dating jungle, it is also essential for maintaining a healthy relationship.  When we are okay being alone,  we can be fully present with our partner without needing them to play a role in our own drama.  Without our ego clamoring for self-affirmation, we can drop our agendas and be in relationship more compassionately, honestly, and bravely.  In short, since we have the power to leave, we can make a free and clear choice to stay.  We can communicate without fear of being abandoned, because we are already intrinsically whole.   Instead of serving our need for psychological safety, our relationships become the field for mutual growth.

Practicing Aloneness

Whether you are single or in a relationship, embracing aloneness will nourish your self-love and support your intimacy.  Here are some ways to practice:

  1. Meditate for 5 minutes.  Become an observer in order to distance yourself from the stories of your mind.
  2. Take yourself on a date – by yourself.  Set aside two hours a week that are just for you.  Follow your own fascinations.
  3. Go for a long walk by yourself.
  4. Have an electronics-fast:  No cellphones.  No ipads.  No computer.  No tv’s.  No facebook.  Rest in the quiet of being totally unplugged and unreachable.

Ultimately, practicing mindful aloneness is the antidote to “lonely,” as we cultivate our capacity to act from a place of intrinsic wholeness.

“You are the sky.  Everything else – it’s just the weather.”  – Pema Chodron

 

 

Miss Celie’s Blues

Because when things are blue, singing about them can be oh so pretty.

Miss Celie’s Blues

 

“Kitchen Music:”  Music recorded literally in the kitchen.  No auto-tune.  No fancy mixin’.  Just me and my Garage Band and the sink.  Thanks for listening.  To download: right click to “Save Link As”.

Spanda: what relationships have to do with music festivals

Oh, Anticipation…

Bass Coast was my first music festival and the possibilities were exhilarating.  The venue was spectacular (imagine: campsites nestled in the Squamish mountains at the foot of a sweeping, glacier-fed river), the stages were stunning, lineups were killer, and the festival folk were both open-heartedly friendly and wildly costumed.

We danced, we frolicked, and we stayed up much too late under a banquet of stars.  It was glorious.

Reality…

But the bubble of possibility cannot expand infinitely.  As the vendors packed up and the stages were dismantled, everyone slowly realized that their three-day adventure was over.  Reluctantly and painfully, the starry-eyed (now bleary-eyed) hippie ravers began to pack up their camps and stagger home.  In the light of the third day, everyone was haggard, dusty, and wrung out.

What ensued: exhaustion, depression, deflation.

The highs must lead to the lows.  Expansion always leads to contraction.

Spanda

Spanda is the essential and divine vibration of the Universe.  What expands, must contract.  Which then expands again.  This ongoing vibration is intrinsic to everything we experience: the turning of the globe, the seasons, the tides, your breath, your heartbeat.  Big Bang.  String Theory.

I love hanging out in expansion.  After all, expansion seems to be where the party is: it embodies possibility, limitless potential, and creative expression.  When the circle starts to collapse in, I want to avoid the discomfort and sadness of reality and resist “coming back to earth” or “getting real.”  Some part of me is afraid that if I go to that smaller place, I will be stuck there forever.  Oh no!  But it is precisely this capacity for coming back to the center that allows for a fresh rebound into possibility.

Filling our cup

Rather than run from this discomfort, can we accept that contraction – in whatever form it may take (disappointment, rebound, loss, sorrow, envy, sadness) –  is the fuel for the expansion trampoline?

While we have a natural tendency to prefer life’s sweeter pleasures, being human means having the opportunity to experience the entire spectrum of sensation, emotion, and psychology.  When we acknowledge that life’s darker tones are just as intrinsic to fully lived experience, the texture of contraction becomes as potent, rich, and satisfying as the exultation of expansion.

Relationships and Spanda

Dating (even more than music festivals) is a virtuosic yoyo of spanda experience.  Through its heady up’s and down’s, we constantly vibrate betwixt the polarities of possibility and disappointment:

  • The anticipation of the first date!  And…we’re splitting the bill?
  • His linked in profile looks awesome!  Oh my GOD, he can totally see that I just checked him out.
  • He texted!!  Wait…now he’s not texting.
  • The amazing first sleep over!  Then, not being called the next day…or the next…or the next…..

These bounces tend to be pretty frenetic in the early dating days, as our ego relentlessly tries to stay on top of the up’s and down’s of our hormonally charged emotional roller coaster.  But relationship spanda remains potent as the partnership continues:

  • A glorious three-month anniversary!  Then having the first real fight.  Seeing something ugly.
  • The intensity and comfort of earned intimacy.   Using that intimacy to push each others’ buttons.
  • Seeing the darkness in our beloved.  Cherishing them anyway.

Relationships are constantly changing.  Rather than resisting the difficult moments, accepting these challenges is an opportunity to stay present honestly and with integrity.  Like the seasons, relationships bud, blossom, wither, transform.  Accepting that death is a part of the cycle allows us to resolutely (and finally, please!) dismiss the common fantasy that relationships should be conflict-free, challenge-free, and easy and instead lets us open to the dance that unfolds when intimacy occurs.

Riding Spanda

How do we keep our cool on spanda’s trampoline?

In the space between expansion and contraction, there is a stillness.

Practice:

  • Find a comfortable seat.
  • Bring your attention to your breath.
  • Settle in the pause between the inhalation and the exhalation, and rest there briefly.
  • Do this for 5 breath cycles.

Did you experience the quiet moment of the in-between?  Did you find yourself wanting to rush into the next breath or quitting early (are you a spanda-junkie?)  When we rest in this stillness, we practice rooting ourselves down into the quieter layer of our being beneath the heady waves of spanda.  Imagine the ocean: even as the boat bobs on the surface, the hefty drag of the anchor in the deep water keeps the boat stable.

When we can tether part of our consciousness to this stillness, then we can surf the waves of expansion and contraction with more perspective and freedom.  We can relish the high of the music festival or the “honeymoon” phase of our relationship – even while knowing that they will end.  In fact, we will enjoy them more.  And we can dare to fully experience the darker shades of sorrow, disappointment, and emptiness – because we can trust that these colors will eventually shift.

Self-inquiry:

  • What change are you now resisting?
  • What are you holding now that you need to let go of?
  • What keeps you steady and “in yourself” when you’re at the edge of your experience?
  • Can you enjoy all the sensations of this moment right now?  And now?  And now?

 

On Joy and Sorrow
 Kahlil Gibran

Your joy is your sorrow unmasked.
And the selfsame well from which your laughter rises was oftentimes filled with your tears.
And how else can it be?
The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain.
Is not the cup that holds your wine the very cup that was burned in the potter’s oven?
And is not the lute that soothes your spirit, the very wood that was hollowed with knives?
When you are joyous, look deep into your heart and you shall find it is only that which has given you sorrow that is giving you joy.
When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.

Some of you say, “Joy is greater thar sorrow,” and others say, “Nay, sorrow is the greater.”
But I say unto you, they are inseparable.
Together they come, and when one sits, alone with you at your board, remember that the other is asleep upon your bed.

Verily you are suspended like scales between your sorrow and your joy.
Only when you are empty are you at standstill and balanced.
When the treasure-keeper lifts you to weigh his gold and his silver, needs must your joy or your sorrow rise or fall.

 

Open those hips! Eka Pada Koundinyasana A

My IT Band is tight.

Tiiiiiiight.

Or more correctly, I should say that my gluteus maximus, which feeds into and inserts on the IT band, is tight, so that the resulting pull tautens the IT band.  (“IT” stand for “ilio-tibial”, and this band is a swath of connective tissue that runs from the pelvis to the outer knee.  The glute maximus and the tensor fasciae latae insert into it.)

Here’s an IT band loving sequence that culminates in Eka Pada Koundinyasana A – a crazy extension of Side Crow (Parsva Bakasana).

Eka Pada Koundinyasana A

Component Parts:

  • core
  • scapular stabilization
  • thoracic rotation (and some lateral flexion)
  • IT Band/ outer hip opening
  • Engagement of back line

Now, to be fair, this is really more a pose about the torso’s rotation and flexion than about the IT band…but, I think it warrants the exploration.

Here’s the sequence I used:

  • Sukhasana with unleveraged, then leveraged twist

I place my hands on the ribcage and twist from there, then release the arms and keep the twist to work the obliques.  Finally, we leverage the twist by using the arms to find the full range of motion.

  • Cat and Cow with leg (and arm) extension
  • Surya A 5 times
  • Warrior II with a twist and fingers interlaced overhead  -> “floating” Parsvakonasana to work core
  • Trikonasana -> “floating variation” to work the obliques
  • Plank with one hand lifted to work obliques.  Can also lift a foot.
  • Uttanasana with IT band stretch (both sides)

My teacher Chris Richardson introduced this to me.  Come into Uttanasana.  Place your hands on blocks and then turn around to the right on your feet so that they face the back of your mat and your legs are crossed.  Then continue to walk your hands further to the right (you can place them on blocks) as you like.  Press through the big toe mound of your left foot and shift your hips further back to the left until you feel a stretch through the outer hip.

  • Crescent -> Pvt. Parsvakonasana (unleveraged, then leveraged twist)
  • Lizard  (deep lunge) -> Ardha Hanumanasana (externally rotate the front thigh for another IT band stretch…yikes!) -> Brigid’s Cross (IT band stretch and deep twist: it’s like Parivrtta Supta Hasta Padangustasana facing down)

Eka Pada Koundinyasana A – take off sequence

  • Stage 1: Squat with knees together, twist: belly, waist, ribs
  • Stage 2: Hands to floor, shoulder distance apart
  • Stage 3: Parsva Bakasana
  • Stage 4: Eka Pada Koundinyasana A

Happy arm balancing!

Rachel

Back to Basics: Plank Pose

You know it.

You love it, you hate it.  You love to hate it.

It’s plank pose.

 

What’s plank pose?

Also known as “Phalakasana,” plank pose is a modification of Chaturanga Dandasana (“four-limbed staff pose”), which is doozy of a core stabilizer found in the traditional Sun Salutations.  Plank looks like a high push up position;  Chaturanga is pretty much the same pose, but with the elbows bent to ninety degrees.  In a traditional Sun Salutation, practitioners jump back from a preparatory pose directly into Chaturanga – a challenging move even for advanced practitioners.  To better control this transition, we usually step back to plank first, and then lower down into Chaturanga.

Uses of Plank

Although it has humble beginnings as a modification, plank has become quite the showstopper in its own right.  Forearm plank is held for a minute in the YHot practice to help practitioners develop their core strength and stability.  Plank is used in power and flow classes to create heat in the body, cultivate scapular stabilization, improve core strength, and act as an intermediary through transitions.

Anatomy of Plank

Plank pose is a lot of work for the upper body.  The shoulder girdle is intrinsically a joint of mobility, not stability (this ball and socket joint actually looks more like a baseball stuck to a plate).   In order for the practitioner to effectively manage his or her body weight, he or she must actively recruit the larger muscles of the back to stabilize the scapulae (the shoulder blades), so that the rotator cuff (the four little muscles that hold the humerus to the shoulder blade) isn’t struggling to bear the burden.

The primary muscles that keep the scapulae happily secure are the rhomboids, the trapezius, and the serratus anterior. They work in opposition to each other to make sure that the shoulder blades don’t “wing out” or slide too far afield.  You can understand their respective actions through the following exercise:

  1. Come onto all fours with your hands under your shoulders and your knees underneath your hips, as if you were about to do cat/cow.
  2. Keep your arms and your spine straight (unlike cat/cow, where we round and arch)
  3. Now, slide your shoulder blades closer to each other on your back (your chest will move closer to the floor, but your arms stay straight).  The drawing closer of the scapulae to the spine reflects the action of the rhomboids and trapezius.
  4. Now, slide your shoulder blades apart from each other so that they wrap around your ribcage and your upper back lifts to the ceiling.  This action is created by the contraction of serratus anterior, a wing-like muscle that pulls your scapula around the sides of your ribs.

When these muscles act together effectively, the scapulae stay well-secured on the back for plank – and ultimately for the transition to Chaturanga.

Finding your awesome plank pose

To find your plank, first find and excellent foundation:

  • Come onto all fours with your knees slightly behind your hips.  Place your hands outer shoulder distance apart, line up the center of your wrist with the space between your index and middle finger, and press firmly through the four corners of your hands.

Now, engage your scapular stabilization:

  • Lift your back ribs up to the sky so that your shoulder blades slide apart (this is serratus working).
  • Keep the upper back inflated as you draw your shoulder blades closer to each other on your back until they are nestled securely against your ribcage.

Now find your core:

  • With your shoulder girdle well-supported, draw the sides of your waist skywards in order to activate your core.  This action will help you to support the back body with the strength of your front body.

Add the pelvis:

  • To recruit the integration of the pelvis, roll your upper inner thighs back as you draw your sitting bones down to your knees.
  • If this feels like good work for you, then you can stay here on your knees in modified plank.

Add the legs:

  • To come into full plank, keep the stability you’ve created through your shoulders and your pelvis and step one foot back at a time.
  • Engage your quads and fully straighten your legs.
  • To prevent collapse in the lower back, lift your pelvis in line with your shoulders and lengthen your tailbone to your feet.
  • Finally, reach your sternum forward as you reach your heels back to expand the length of your plank fully.
  • Eventually, you may lower your hips to make one straight line from your heels to your shoulders (rather than keeping the hips and shoulders in line).

Plank to Chaturanga

Once you are able to hold your plank solidly for 5 breaths, you are ready to explore lowering to Chaturanga.  Through this transition, it is vitally important to keep your scapulae securely on your back.  We often allow the shoulder heads drop forward and down as we lower, which is a compensation can be injurious for the rotator cuff over time.

To come into Chaturanga:

  • Keep your legs engaged and your scapulae securely on your back.
  • Shift onto your toes so that your chest moves forward in space a few inches.
  • Keeping your shoulder heads lifted, bend your elbows and smoothly lower until your shoulders and elbows are in one line and your elbows are over your wrists.
  • Nothing about the pose should change save the angle of the arms.
  • Work up to holding Chaturanga for 5-8 breaths.

Modifications and Variations

Here’s a couple common modifications to make plank more accessible:

  • For wrist issues, come onto your forearms or fists.  You can also place the heel of your hand on a rolled up blanket or mat to decrease the angle of flexion in the wrist.
  • For a developing core, keep your back knees down
  • To cultivate great adductor strength, put a block between your thighs

To increase the intensity of the pose:

  • Lift one arm
  • Lift one leg
  • Lift opposite arms and legs
  • Draw a knee into your chest
  • For abductor work, tap a foot out to the side, then back

Happy Planking!

 

 

 

 

Lessons in patience. Or, what yoga has to do with flowers.

Okay, okay.

So you’ve met a guy or gal.  You’re excited about them.  A connection has been made. Your eyes have gotten slightly glassy and you get a little breathless and a-flutter when they send you a text. You long to unwrap them (immediately) like a Christmas present and discover all their yummy secrets.

However, despite every screaming instinct to the contrary, this is the time to pause and slow down.

I know it’s hard: when I get excited about someone, I am NOT what you’d call a patient person.  The new connection is like an intoxicating, young flower that is all wrapped up in its own pretty petals – and I want to pounce on it like a tiger and shred it apart with my hot little claws.

And you know what I get then?

One pretty darn fucked up flower.

Like flowers, relationships need their own time to unfold in order to reach their full expression.   No matter how much we’d like to just move forward NOW, we can’t pry them open early without sacrificing their beauty.  By cultivating patience, we can give the relationship the space to find its own unique expression.  And then if we decide that we dislike this particular flower after all, fair enough.  At least then we’re pruning honestly.

Similarly in yoga, we often rush to get to the “full expression” of the asana.  Rather than letting the pose open in its own time, we push our way in and shred some petals in the process.  This kind of end-gaining may get us there, but generally we’ll also be rigid, overexerted, and strained.

So what if we truly practiced patience in our yoga?  Give the pose a month, a year, five years (ten!) to decant.  In the yoga sutras, Patanjali suggests that practice is “earnest, sustained effort for a long time.”  We show up, we practice, we repeat.  Nothing is quick.  Pattabhi Jois suggested the same longevity when he said, “Practice – and all is coming.”  By slowing down, we give ourselves the opportunity to arrive organically at the heart of the experience.  As in relationships and gardening, finding patience will allow our yoga practice’s unique and graceful beauty to be fully – and unexpectedly – revealed.

How Dating is a path to spiritual enlightenment

After nearly 9 years in the world of relationship, I have arrived in some incredibly fertile ground for spiritual evolution and self-development: dating.

Just a few years shy of true cougarhood (insert some mix of a sexy meow and “yikes” here), this is the first time that I’ve had any real consciousness about “dating”, per se.  In my twenties, relationships just sort of happened on the sidelines of my career pursuits.  I’d wake from the heady, self-involved cloud of my ambition and notice the person besides me.  “Oh, you’re here!” I’d say delightedly.  “Marvelous!”   Then, in my thirties, I became more serious about commitment, which led to a spectacular marriage failure that was almost Greek in its tragedy.

These relationships have been conduits for evolution and growth, no doubt.  In relationship, we have the opportunity to brush into our most tender places, confront our nastiest habits and – when we’re conscious –  move beyond stale patterns and create new dynamics that better serve our vision for who we want to be.   Or perhaps we don’t, and the relationship ends, and afterwards we smack our foreheads and say, “OH.  That’s what that was.  Well.  Fuck.”

But don’t despair, Singletons.   While relationships can be profound forums for self-work, dating is shaping up to be a pretty potent cauldron for spiritual fermentation.

It’s because of all the uncertainty.

The rampant, horrible, delicious uncertainty.

Uncertainty

When we embark on dating, some deep part of our psyche perks up and says, “I don’t know why, but THIS PERSON that I JUST MET is incredibly important and they could be the absolute key to my happiness and well-being for the REST OF MY LIFE.”   Call it hormones, call it romance, or call it delusion, but there’s a piece of us that gets stuck in the idea that this could be “it.”  The endorphins kick in, the toes start to tingle, and pretty soon we’ve imagined the relationship, the marriage, the kids and the divorce before the second date.

It’s no doubt evolutionarily advantageous, but it is also pretty hilarious when given a little perspective.  (Especially when we’ve been through this and know that an actual relationship is both better and worse than our visions.)  But the reason our mind struggles to fill in all the blanks is because we have so little to base our feelings on.  And because our mind is so uncomfortable existing in a state of uncertainty, it will restlessly ruminate and pick over the smallest scraps of information.  Like:

  • Why did he text and not call?
  • Why did he email and not text?
  • Why did/didn’t he pay the bill?
  • Why did she insist on splitting the bill?
  • Why did she mention her ex-boyfriend?
  • Why did she take a separate cab?
  • Why did she not respond to my text until the next day?  (It’s a text, for Christ sake.)
  • Is she dating other people?
  • Is he dating other people?
  • What does he/she think about me doing that thing I did?
  • Why haven’t they called/texted/facebooked/emailed?
  • Does he or she like me?
  • Aaaarrrrrghhhh! Etc.

Or perhaps we’re on the other end of the spectrum.  When we meet someone, the self-protective part of the brain kicks in and puts a big “DO NOT ENTER” sign over our hearts.  Being bruised before, we withdraw, shut down, and lie in wait for someone who won’t feel quite as dangerous.  The uncertainty factor – not knowing if we can trust this new person – prompts us to find ways to undermine the relationship before it has even started.

Four Practices for Spiritual Dating:

1. Admit we don’t know

In the ground between these two extremes lies an opportunity to rest in the uncertainty of the situation and come back to our deepest selves.  When our mind starts telling stories, we can catch on and come back to the present moment.  Resting in the power of this moment and in the quieter part of our selves allows us to observe the exuberant chattering of the mind rather than trying to control the situation.  As we admit that “we don’t know”, we find that there is a steadiness within us that can easily withstand the tempestuous winds of uncertainty.  Coming back to our own center allows us to remember what is really in our control, rather than fixate outside of ourselves.

When the mind starts to go, ask yourself:

  • Is what I’m thinking actually true?
  • Is it possible that the opposite is actually true?
  • Can I rest in not knowing and enjoy the moment?
  • What in this situation is in my control?
  • Can I feel what I feel and not attach a story to it?

2. Feel more.

Dating can bring up some pretty delicious and intense feelings in our body.  They’re your feelings, enjoy them!  (And not just the sexy-time feelings, but also the nerves, adrenaline, and angst.)  Use these sensations to become more deeply connected to yourself and the present moment – without attaching a story or narrative to them.  Ruminate less.  Feel More.

3. Practice courageous honesty

As we become more centered and allow uncertainty, we can own our own truth (“satya”).  Whether that’s saying, “I really like you,” “This isn’t working for me,” or “I don’t know,” we can use this unusual landscape as an opportunity to practice being centered, brave, and clear.  Sometimes the hardest thing to recognize in ourselves is our own uncertainty.  The mind wants to make the answer “yes” or “no.”  Admitting that we don’t know gives us the space and grace to open to possibility.

4. Trust

Practicing honesty allows us to trust that everything is unfolding as it ought (“isvara pranidhanani”).   In the jungles of dating, everyone is vulnerable, everyone is uncertain.   Because we can’t possibly have a full understanding for the context that we are participating in, we must ride the waves – knowing that we can’t see the next one coming.   We can either surf, or fight the undertow.   So take a deep breath, feel your body, and dive in.

Ultimately, the water’s just fine.

And end of monsters

A woman said to me once
There are dark nights of the soul
Staying up
Boozy in wine
Eyes fearful on the door
Wondering what will come in

Those times, it’s harder to sit in stillness
And soften to the air
Pass through the sharpened feelings
And realize that there’s nothing here
But me

It’s strangely easier when there’s monsters.
Now I have to face
The bite marks are self-inflicted.

Tips to Mastering an Arm Balance

To master an arm balance, you must master your booty.

Seriously.

Your pelvis is heavy, and knowing where to put it during an arm balance will make a big difference in your ability to distribute your weight effectively and ultimately find lightness and ease in your pose.

Balancing in an arm balance is about:

  • hands
  • shoulder stability
  • core strength
  • pelvic placement/ weight placement

Okay, okay, naturally you need core strength.  But not as much as you think.  Place your weight smartly, and you will use less tension, find more ease, and gain levity and freedom in your arm balances.

Tip #1: Maintain excellent hand positioning

To protect your weight in arm balances, weight all four corners of the hand evenly.  For most of us, this means pressing more firmly into the index finger mound.  Without adult supervision, weight will naturally roll to the outer heel of the hand.  But we have a lovely little nerve in there called the ulnar nerve (if you’ve ever had numbness in the outer hand after practicing, the compression of this little guy may be the reason why).  There is also a nerve in our carpal tunnel called the median nerve.  Keeping weight into our fingertips and medial palm edge will take the weight off of the heel of the hand and help you to protect both these nerves from over-compression.  Weighting into the fingertips will also give you more control of your weight – just like your toes help you to balance when you’re standing.

Tip #2: Maintain shoulder stability

Our shoulder girdle is only attached skeletally in one little place: the meeting point of the collarbone and sternum.  That’s it.  That’s all the skeletal support you’ve got when you’re balancing on your hands.  Therefore, you need excellent muscular stabilization through your back and your shoulders to support your arm balance effectively.  In the YYoga TT, we employ the actions, “lift your back ribs while you draw your shoulder blades together on your back” in order to recruit both sets of muscles that will stabilize the scapulae effectively.  In a nutshell, this means that the shoulders and the back body must become a place of support.  While it becomes tempting in arm balances to drop our shoulders down to the floor, we must earnestly continue to stabilize the shoulder blades on the back rather than collapse into gravity.

Think of lowering into chaturanga.  Effectively lowering from plank to chaturanga means that our shoulder blades stay on our back and that the heads of the arm bones stay lifted towards the sky.  When the shoulder heads drop, we place far too much pressure on the front of the rotator cuff and joint.  Similarly in arm balances, we must lift the heads of the arm bones skyward to maintain adequate stabilization of this shallow joint.

Tip #3: Core strength

You knew it would be in here. Yes, you need core strength.  However, core strength isn’t just about your six-pack.  Core strength means finding the connection from your big toes through the inner seams of your legs, through the pelvis floor and into the deepest layer of your abdominals, the transverse abdominus.  In a nutshell, find your “leg magnets” (as Chris Clancy might say) that link the inner seams of your legs together.   This engagement through the legs will naturally lift the pelvis floor and help you to deeply engage your core.

When doing an arm balance, we usually have our upper leg against our upper arms: use this connection to assist you in finding the muscular engagement of the inner leg.  Also, remember that your toes are part of your body, too.  By maintaining awareness from toes to pelvis, you will be able to recruit the legs to work for you so that they are not dead weight.

Tip #4: Control your booty

When doing a pose like bakasana (crow), the booty actually needs to be down.  Lifting the bum high will disconnect you from your core connection and make the pose more precarious.  By keeping the tailbone down and lifting vigorously through the sides of your waist, you will recruit more muscular stability in the pose, rather than teetering in a balance.

However, in other poses such as Eka Pada Galavasana, Parsva Bakasana (side crow),  and Eka Pada Koudinyasana, we must keep our bum high.  Letting the pelvis drop in these poses will deflate the integrity of the pose and make it much harder to shift your weight forward to take the weight off of the feet and find your balance.  While core integrity is necessary, lift off  in these poses depends on your ability to control your weight in space  – much like we move weight in a teeter totter.  When the pelvis stays high, you have the ability to shift the chest forward in space, which will allow the legs and back body to become light and eventually float.  If the pelvis drops, everything will move earthward and the levity of the pose will dissipate.

Playing in the poses

Bakasana (Crow): Booty low

  • In bakasana,  place your feet together on a block and take your knees wide.  Then place your hands outer shoulders’ distance apart, spread your fingers side, and evenly weight into all four corners of your palms – particularly the index finger mound
  • Get low, and bring your knees as high up onto your outer arms as you can.
  • Clamp your knees onto your outer, upper arms.
  • Gaze forward.
  • Keeping your booty low and your side waists high (think of an angry cat), begin to shift your weight forward into your hands as if you were a hovercraft.
  • Play with moving back and forth, and you will find that your feet become lighter and eventually leave the block.
  • Once your feet leave the block, clamp in with your thighs, lift through the sides of your waist, then begin to press down through the hands until the arms become straight.

Eka Pada Koundinyasana: Booty High

  • Come into a low lunge with both hands to the inside of your front foot.
  • Lift your back leg and lift your booty high.
  • Clamp your front knee onto your upper arm
  • Press into your hands, lift your back ribs skywards, and keep that as you anchor your shoulder blades on your back
  • Lift onto your front toes
  • Lift onto your back toes and begin to shift your weight forward
  • Keeping your shoulders lifted skywards and your booty high, lift your front foot off the ground. Either keep it bending in, or reach it diagonally away from your body (like you’re reaching it to 2 pm on a clock dial)
  • Keep your booty lifted and shoulders lifting as your reach your sternum forward and bring more weight onto your hands
  • Find the teeter-totter balance here as you reach the chest forward.  When the weight moves far enough ahead, the back toes will lift off the floor.

Bonus Tip #5: Patience

Arm balances are not natural for human kind.  After all, we don’t often find ourselves suddenly falling into an arm balance as we walk down the street!  Naturally, it takes time for our body to become confident balancing weight onto our hands.  Be patient, work slowly, and the support and ease that you cultivate will put in you in an excellent position for coming into flight.

In the meantime, the conscientious practice of the following poses are excellent warm ups to include in your preparations:

  • Cat/ Cow – particularly cat so you can keep your booty low!  Also, work your excellent hand position here
  • Plank – Chaturanga: practice keeping the shoulder heads lifting and keeping the hips and shoulders in line
  • Lizard – good for hip opening and practicing keeping that booty high!
  • Malasana – good for hip opening and finding the engagement of the inner thighs
  • Crescent- hug your “leg magnets” to find your core from your toes to your pelvis

Happy practicing!

 

 

How arriving on time for meetings can help you reach enlightenment (and de-stress your life)

I am late.  All the time.

Usually only a couple minutes late, sometimes maybe five.  I’ll call if I’m going to get to ten, so at least I seem polite about it. But I am consistently, irrefutably, unarguably late.

I’ve been mulling over this habit of mine of late and trying to ferret out its origins.  Here are the top components:

1.  The ego: “Oh my goodness, I was just soooo busy at work that I could hardly tear myself away.  I am soooooo stressed out!”  I gush melodramatically.  Then I throw myself into a chair and wait for sympathy.  Because, after all, I must be very important.

2.  The obsessive-compulsive:  “I’ll just answer this one last little email, it won’t take but a minute.”  Fifteen minutes later, I’m running out the door.

3 . The masochist.  “I’m sooo sorry,” I cringe, “Sorry sorry, to be late.  I suck (am irresponsible, unworthy, etc. etc.)”

My habit is really a combination of all there.  But the truly insidious revelation is that I’ve simply gotten used to the stress of running late.  It’s become ground zero. And since I’m used to being stressed,  I create situations to manifest my “norm.”   I have been practicing being late.  And I’ve gotten really good at it.  I’m always just late enough to send my sympathetic nervous system into a tizzy; but never late enough to lose friends or a job.

We live in a culture that values stress.  Loud noises and fast cars get attention; meditation and quiet acts of kindness stay…well, quiet.  In the maelstrom of multi-tasking and escalating technology, stress has become synonymous with productivity and worth.  Despite the fact that stress is actually counter-productive (literally) and multitasking is actually impossible, we still expect others to look haggard if they’re really paying their dues.  In this climate, is it any wonder that we expect success and stress to be interdependent?

Similarly, we layer stress into our yoga practice.  As a power yoga practitioner, I have often muscled my way into poses and through chaturangas long after ease and integrity have left the building.  I have this idea that to practice “well,” I have to practice “hard.”  But really, all I’ve been doing is teaching my body how to layer tension onto a perfectly good asana.  And when we layer tension, we actually start to plaster over the intrinsic integrity and grace of the movement with extra stuff.  Just like when I’m late, I add a certain dramatic (and unnecessary) color to my experience.

What if practicing yoga were actually ease-full?  Rather than layering on more tension, what if we allowed our body to use its brilliant intrinsic support to move intelligently and efficiently through the asana practice?  Letting go of tension means sacrificing some of our ideas about doing a “hard” or “meaningful” yoga practice.  As one of my teachers said, it’s no longer about kicking our butt; now we have to kick our ego’s butt.

For those who aren’t yet convinced, allow me to offer a carrot.  In my own practice, I’ve realized that all the huffing and puffing holds me back.  When I practice with tension, all I’m teaching myself is how to stay tense.   In those moments that I remember to slow down and become more easeful, my experience shifts.  I’m still doing all the same poses, but they are less forced, more natural, more integrated.  Happier.

So here’s to the experiment.   Ferret out the little everyday stress triggers in your life and your practice and see how you are unconsciously nurturing them.  What is no longer serving you?  Then unlayer your asana.  Unlayer your life.  Relax your chaturanga; get to your meetings on time.

Let’s take a deep breath…and see what happens.

 

Top Ten Life Lessons from my students

1. Practice.

We all reach plateaus in our practice.   “I’ll never get handstand.”  “I’m afraid of bakasana.”  But with every class, their sun salutations get a little stronger, their bodies more integrated, and their feet a little lighter.  Then one day, we have the a-ha!  “I’ve never done that before!”  Watching my students inexorably progress in their practice reminds me to stay patient and wait for the inevitable unfolding – not just in practice, but in life.  Everything really does move forward.

2. Community elevates.

It never fails: doing partner work in a class elevates the energy in the room.  Given the opportunity to connect with our fellow yogis, we all become brighter, more energized, and more dynamic.   Helping someone else reminds us how much we know and how much we can share.  Take this into the world and we find that connecting with our community helps us to tap into our potential.

3.  Connection energizes.

There have been many times where I have arrived to teach dog tired and done.  But I never fail to leave a class better than when I have arrived.  The opportunity to connect with my students and share gives me energy.   Teaching reminds me that when I share of myself, I am also elevated, healed, inspired.

4.  Be yourself.

The best classes that I have taught are classes where I have not tried to be an “ideal teacher,” but have simply been myself.  While this may have led to some goofy moments (“make your butt like Beyonce” was a recent artifact of this authenticity), I have found that students immediately respond when I am genuine.  Being a pristine asana robot just doesn’t cut it; they want the real thing – goofiness and all.   They remind me that sharing my silliest parts is actually far more rewarding than trying to fit into a box of perfection.

5. Fall Down.

Sometimes you have to fall over in Half Moon to figure out where the boundaries of balance are.  I’m thrilled when students dare to fall down.  How else will we find out where our edges are?  They remind me that moving forwards isn’t always about looking pretty.

6.  Turn the Heat Up.

Having just finished the YHot training, I can attest that sometimes you just gotta turn the heat up, close the door, meet yourself in the mirror, and sweat it out.  Like life, sometimes we need to move into the discomfort in order to break through.  Dare to face the intensity.  On the other side is a great Savasana.

7. When it’s tough, breathe more.

In the moments where we hit our peak pose, the room will often go silent.  As we intensely concentrate, we forget to breathe.  But once the reminder is sent out and the room starts to inhale again, the poses actually become more integrated and find softness.  When we face our greatest challenges,  we can get out of heads and back into our hearts by simply focusing on our breath.

8.  Take child’s pose.

The most advanced student in the room is the one who takes child’s pose when she needs to.  While there can be great value in rallying into intensity, sometimes the practice actually calls for surrender.  Determining which path to take requires discrimination and self-love.  Having the bravery to practice self-care by softening can do more to propel us along our path than twenty chaturangas.

9. Feel.

One of the gifts of the yoga practice is to feel more deeply into our bodies, our breath, and our aliveness.  I love to see my students take an extra breath in downdog, give a deep sigh, or take the arm variation their body craves, because it means that they are feeling into their bodies and following its guidance.   Rather than simply doing the practice “right,” they are using the practice as a conduit to greater self-connection.  When my students feel their way through the practice – rather than just “doing” the practice – I am reminded that the body is a deep and innate source of wisdom.

10. We are all human.   

When I share a personal story at the beginning of class and see nodding heads, I am reminded that we have far more in common than we have divergent.  Each of us has dreams, regrets, conflict, hopes, loss, and love.  Each of us is trying our best to negotiate the waters of life with grace and compassion.  When we practice yoga in the classroom, we come together with a diversity of people from all walks of life.  On the mat, these differences drop away and we meet each other from the heart.   Out in the world, this reminds me to look for the good in others, rather than staking my ego on our differences.

Michelangelo’s Yoga

“I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.” 

“Every block of stone has a sculpture inside it and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it.”

– Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni

 

Michelangelo had the ability to see the form inside the sculpture.  He carved away that which was not necessary from the marble in order to reveal the beauty of the form already underneath.

We are like Michelangelo’s marble.

When we think of aspiring to be our best selves, we often think about slathering on more duties and obligations.  We feel that we have to do more – exert more – in order to reach some sort of far off potential.   But we’ve got it backwards.  Our best self is already innately inside of us.  The form is there.  Our highest creative calling is to discard that stuff that is getting in the way so that our best selves can be fully revealed.

What do you need to carve away?

For many of us there is the literal stuff.  Here’s some of what’s on my list:

  • Mom’s old pots
  • dress that hasn’t been worn in five years (because you never know)
  • crazy, high uncomfortable heels that I will wear….when, exactly?
  • cosmetics from the 90’s (seriously, this stuff is practically dangerous)
  • notebooks from college (makes me feel smart)

How is holding onto your stuff serving you?  Is is protecting you or holding you back?  What would spring cleaning look like?  After the initial pang, how would it feel to let all that go?

We  perform a similar kind of plaster job in our yoga classes by overlaying tension on our asana.  Rather than trusting ourselves to find ease and work less, we over-engage as some sort of admission price for advancement.  Not realizing that if we actually stopped working so darn hard, the yoga would have more space to emerge.  Now, I’m not saying we don’t work in asana.  We do.  Just like chiseling a rock is sweaty and deep.  But we want to do the real work and find where we actually need to be stronger, rather than simply engaging everything and hoping for the best.

A bit more tricky to identify our emotional baggage. The relationship that is no longer working.  The job that doesn’t allow us to express our best selves.  The habits we casually fall into that keep us from doing what we ACTUALLY want to do.

The Road Home

Rather than adding on more obligations to your day, get out your chisels, and start carving away what is not working from your life.  Start with the externals.  Do a spring cleaning.  Get rid of Mom’s old pots – she loves you even if you give them to Goodwill.  In your asana practice, start finding more ease so that the parts of your body that need to be stronger will actually have the chance to work.  And the parts that love to over-effort can finally find some space.  When we let go of what no longer serves us, the opportunity appears for the luminous parts of ourselves to emerge.  Sunshine appears through the chinks of the armor.

As we blow away the dust in our physical world, the emotional and mental baggage starts to become clearer.  The quiet whispered messages from your deepest self will begin to get louder.  You already know what you need to do.  Can you let go of what is getting in the way?

So maybe today you make a tiny tap into the marble, then tomorrow more of the rock falls away.  Eventually, if you keep chiseling, more of you will be revealed.

A Warning

Despite the fact that he is widely regarded as one of humanity’s greatest artists, Michelangelo’s works weren’t all that proportional or even always pretty.  Powerful, yes.  “Pretty?”  No.  David’s hands are too big and Jesus would never actually fit on Mary’s lap.   And it is exactly this unreasonableness that makes his works so genius.   Michelangelo wasn’t interested in “reasonable” art; he created from his soul.   Similarly, as we carve down into our most essential selves, what we unearth may not be “pretty” or “reasonable.”  We may not fit neatly into the social box anymore.  We may find that the old habits feel confining rather than comfortable.   Others may not understand.   Like Michelangelo’s works, you will be more than “pretty.”  You will be powerfully and uniquely yourself.

Pull out your chisels.  Make a small nick.

And remember: “I am still learning.” – Michelangelo