New Goals Ahead

Day 25. I salute Mr. Rodney Yee on the mat again for his easy -to-follow and challenging yoga routines. I'll admit that this started out as an experiment to see if I could keep a belated New Year's resolution to revive my ailing chakras and renew my commitment to fitness through yoga. But it is clear to me now that those goals were way to transitory in nature to satisfy my inner aspirations. And with each passing day, my resolve to make daily yoga a regular part of my life grows stronger and stronger. Now I'm planning to take my yoga teacher training in the summer of next year. I have my sites set on the Anamaya program. Located in the lush rainforests of Costa Rica; not only is Anamaya Resort an absolutely breath-taking get-a-way destination, but it's creditials as a yoga school and it's curriculum are down-right some of the best that I've seen. What do I have to do to get into Anamaya. Well just enroll as soon as they post next year's calender of classes. Anamaya also recommends that their students have been regularly practicing yoga for at least 1 year. Check that box. By next summer I will have at least 1 1/2 years of steady yoga experience under my mat. I imagine where I'll be with yoga in over a year's time and I tingle with excitement and anticipation for the journeys to come!

Pulling It Together

Day 24. Today's yoga practice was all about symmetry. I've finally pulled all the lessons I've learned -- patience, humility, acceptance, forgiveness, and will-power together to begin forming all the pieces of the puzzle. I'm really getting into the flow of things, moving through my days and learning from each asana. What I'm noticing more than anything is how empty the day would feel if I missed a practice. Honestly, I've gotten to the point where if I skipped a day it would feel completely wrong. This is just where I want to be. The sweet spot of still feeling the challenge, while finding my place in the midst of things. It's almost midnight, and I just had to post how truly grateful I am for what it is I am able to do. I have all my 4 arms and legs, and though my body isn't perfect, it's mine to enjoy the full range of movements inside of, and to breathe into. And that's something that I cannot
and will not take for granted. I'm going to take that gratitude and run with it for the long-haul. I'm gunning full-speed ahead!

Body Rhythm

I had a strange discovery during practice today. It was the innate rhythm of my body. And I don't mean the kind of rhythm that makes you dance to a beat. This was something more integral-- soul deep. One might liken it to a sort of trance, induced by the musicality that dwells within you, enhanced by the music that is playing during your yoga practice; or if you practice silently, inherent to the atmosphere around you. In other words, the cars outside your city street, the birds chirping near your rural home, the crickets of an evening summer practice, or that Enya on your mp3 become a tapestry that connects you to your own little corner of serenity. For me it was the sound of falling water that moved me to stretch my practice to another level. Rainstorms have hit the California terrain with a vengeance and this morning there was a virtual downpour. The strong spikes in wind only served to drive the water more strongly against my windows. In the small space of my room, I practiced Kundalini yoga with steady breathes, flowing into each change of movements with a fresh energy. The hypnotic sounds of the drumbeats, Gurmukh's serene instructions, and the strenuous exertion of every part of my body began to blend with falls of water. As I was wildly flailed my arms above my head taking deep fire breaths, I could feel my energy, power and strength increasing, and my body's gain seemed to mirror the out-pour of rain. Day 23 -- a practice I will remember for years to come. It has taught me the beauty that lay inside of my spirit, and with what ease my mind can overcome itself when I just stop thinking and let my body take over.Them moving through my morning practice will become more of a reflex like hunger or thirst, and will just be a part of being me.

Photo Credits: seaskylab

Speaking Of Flexibility...

One of the reasons why many thousands of people dedicate themselves to a practice of yoga is because of the promise of improved flexibility. I would have to say that, while that isn't the only reason I am practicing yoga, it is definitely a great incentive. In that regard, I am happy to say that my flexibility has gotten so much better. Giving an honest guesstimate, I will say that since I started I'm probably about 15% more flexible then I was before and it's only been 22 days. If you go on-line you'll hear a lot of talk about increasing your flexibility. People make a lot of wild claims about what their program can do, but I think that even though diet and proper rest play a huge part in being able to stretch further,there is no substitute for good old-fashioned hard work. One has to put in the time in order to reap the results. I think that my flexibility will become more and more pronounced through my practice, mainly because I am limbering up my body daily. One website even recommended yoga twice a day for optimum flexibility. I agree. Plus 15-30 minutes of slow easy yoga can really relax you before bedtime. I plan to add at least 15 minutes of gentle yoga stretches to my evenings just to see if this helps.The important thing I'm developing is patience and humility and I'm listening to what my body can and can't do. Slow and measured success will follow if I keep doing that. I've gone 22 days. 6 more days -- less then a week and I will take my chakra test. Then start the daily cycle all over again. I'm taking it to a year and beyond, with the goal of taking a yoga teacher training abroad for a month next year in the summer. That's another 343 days to go!

Temper Temper...

Yoga and meditation are wonderful to even out your mood and help you stay mellow. When a situation arises where I am angered I can always fall back on my mantra to breathe. During the most fiery of attitudes it is an anchor I can grab onto to stop the white-hot fury that can ensue. I'm most usually a calm person, but when something does push my buttons, it's difficult to hold back the tide of emotions that come from it. Yoga, meditation and Ho'oponopono are teaching me the power of forgiveness and how to overcome myself. When I feel overwhelmed by a negative emotion, I take deep breaths, and assess the issue to see if it warrants my energy. At the end of that analysis, even if I find that it does, I try to release that negativity into the universe with each inhale and exhalation so that I can better solve the problem. Then I repeat to myself 4 simple sentences that always seem to quiet my mind and soul. I'm sorry. Please forgive me. Thank you. I love you. In turn I am both forgiving myself for attracting this negativity into my sphere, and forgiving the other person for bringing it to me. Hanging on to all that pain is not worth it. I rather use that energy to benefit my life in some way, or help someone else. The word I'm keeping in mind for today is peace. Namaste.

Photo Credits: Jomphong

Gaining The Yoga Body

Day 20. Before today I didn't really notice the physical side of things, because I was so focused on all of the wonderful mental and emotional benefits I was gaining from my daily yoga practice. I haven't missed a day of practice and I plan to keep his going way past one month. I want to see if I can make it to one year without having ever missed a day of practice. If I get sick, I want to still practice a slow gentle movement of PM yoga in laying postures with breath-work. The biggest part of yoga lies in learning to breathe properly, which balances out your entire system and lifts away stress. So even if it's just sitting there crossed-legged and breathing, I will still have my daily practice. Getting back to talking about the visual changes in my body, I've noticed that I've slimmed down everywhere. And the slimming is not in a forced way, it's a natural shedding of anything extra around the waist. Not that I had a problem with weight per say, but my body's image is going through a
profound metamorphosis. My legs are more toned and muscular, but lithe and without bulkiness. My arms are more defined then ever, and I think I might have dropped any excess that was anywhere on my body. Also my skin is beaming from the inside out. It's like I had a facial everyday! I just feel so good all over, and airy and light, like I could fly away. I love that I've committed to doing this. I am... well... ecstatic!

I've Come A Long Way Baby!

Today I feel pretty on top of the world. I did 30 minutes of yoga with Rodney Yee. Sometimes you just have to keep pushing and trying no matter how much you want to stop. I can often have the determination of a pit bull terrier. Day 19. I can say that hope rains eternal for me right now. I've witnessed hard cold proof of my efforts. I was so strong in my practice that I was able to master the Urdhva Dhanurasana, or wheel pose, otherwise know as the back bend. With my eyes looking at the wall behind me I felt like jumping for joy. Instead, I put all the energy in to propelling my chest and hips forward to futher open up my heart chakra and just breathed into the pose to deepen in. OK, so my form could improve a lot but I'm completely in a back bend. I'm so juiced about this! A huge part of me can't believe that I've come this far. I feel like celebrating or something. I think I will too. I'll celebrate by doing 10 Urdhva Dhanurasana's in a row! Tomorrow is day 20. I can't wait to get back to my mat!