2007 July « yoga BLOG by abellaYoga

Archive for July, 2007

What is Yoga?

Most of us (in America) think of yoga as a physical practice; another form of exercise. To a small degree, it is a physical exercise.

Before delving into what yoga is, let’s start with the translation of yoga. Yoga is derived from the Sanskrit root “yuj” which means to yoke/to join/union. Taking this into true translation, yoga means joining the spirit of the Individual Soul (Atman) with the Universal Soul (Brahman).

In everyday American terms, yoga can be looked at as a process of getting to know “who we really are”, how we relate to those around us and how we are connected on and to this earth. In yogic terms, yoga embraces a wide range of disciplines all aimed towards creating union among an indiviudal’s body, mind and spirit and a connection with the individual’s external world. The major disciplines/paths of yoga are:

Raja Yoga (path of meditation –i.e. 8 limbs as defined by Pantanjali)
Karma Yoga (path of service/action –i.e. volunteer work, recycling)
Bhakti Yoga (path of devotion – i.e. finding tolerance for everyone)
Jnana Yoga (path of wisdom –i.e. study of yoga texts, scriptures)
Tantra Yoga (path of ritual –i.e. ceremonies, celebrations, celibacy)
Mantra Yoga (path of transformative sound –i.e. chanting)
Hatha Yoga (path of physical cultivation –i.e. Iyengar, Kundalini, Bikram, Ashtanga, Power)

One can select to follow just one of the above paths or a combination. From a yogic veiwpoint, there’s no right or wrong way to find connection with one’s self and the external world. What is required is consistency in whichever path you opt to pracitce.

When incorporated into our daily lives, even in tiny doses, yoga offers us multiple benefits. In our task-filled, busy days, a simple 10 minutues of yoga can lead to energizing our bodies, calming our minds and awakening our spirits.

So what is yoga? In the Western world, the most popular form is hatha yoga (and raja yoga) which is a style of yoga that focuses on exploring the physical body and using it as a means to attaining spiritual perfection. Raja and hatha yoga go hand-in-hand depending on the teacher and style of hatha yoga practiced. Simply put, in order to reach spiritual and mental benefits, the physical body needs to be unclogged. This leads into another blog entry.

Yoga is consistency. It’s a practice. The more you return to your practice (whichever yoga path you select), the more receptive your body will become to the asanas, the more open your mind will become and the more connected you will start to feel to the universe.

1 comment July 29, 2007

Know Your Options

(warning: this is a random entry. please enjoy.)

In many ways, our bodies are like sponges. Our life experiences are stored within us. Many of us are completely unaware that everything that happens to us leaves either a positive or negative impression in our bodies, minds and souls.

What we eat and breathe affects us. Toxins build up within us. What we see in the news impacts how we feel about and/or respond to our immediate environment and the world we live in as a whole.

We all have multiple roles: spouse/partner, parent, neighbor, caretaker, employee, brother/sister, son/daughter. We work. We commute. We volunteer. We party/network. We have house chores. We have financial responsibilities. The list is endless.

Mental and emotional stress gets stored in the body. I recently read a Gallup Poll stat that found 80% of workers report job stress. Neck pain (62% of them) and eye problems (44%) were the top reported work-related physical stresses.

The physical human body is an amazing structure. Unfortunately, too many of us neglect our bodies. The result: we start to become rigid —mentally, emotionally and physically. Everything is done on autopilot. We lose sight of our dreams and desires. We start to forget that “we have options”.

The stresses and the roles we play in life aren’t going away. Your challenge is to find and select options that will bring balance to your life. Start with small changes –maybe simply eating one more piece of fruit each day or take a 10 minute walk after dinner. Practice yoga 10 minutes each morning. Drink a glass of water instead of soda for lunch. Write your thoughts/experiences down and consider your options. List your goals –short & long term. Practice positive thinking.

Keeping your body, mind and spirit rooted and centered is essential to keeping your sponge porous. When your body can start to expel stress and maybe feel lighter, you’ll be ready to absorb the next thing that comes by and know that you can either cling to it or let go.

1 comment July 23, 2007

Freedom

I’ve been thinking about the concept of freedom for the last few weeks. What does freedom really mean? How can I feel a little freer in my life?

Over the weekend I went to the Women of Faith Association’s Amazing Freedom Conference at the Verizon Center with my sister Holly. She was going to go whether I went or not. This type of thing isn’t my cup of tea but I decided to keep an open mind and go because it was important to her.

I found it ironic that a lot of the concepts/principles being offered were very similar to some of my journal writings. Freedom for instance is a concept I’ve been pondering most recently and it happened to be the theme of the conference. I believe everything happens for a reason. I was invited to the conference for a reason –to keep my sister company. Though I also think I was meant to attend a conference that is “so not me” so that I could learn a little more about the word freedom and more importantly be reminded of how valuable it is to be open-minded. When you can approach life (events, people, places, etc.) openly, you start to feel freedom. Right?

Freedom is a condition of being unrestricted, free and open to whatever. It can be a quality you carry into your day after you practice yoga or go for a morning run. It can be a feeling of liberation when you leave a job you disliked for many months (or years). Freedom can be playful. You sing because you can. You dance because you can. Freedom can also be powerful when you can do what you want, when and where you want. It can be a feeling of lightness when you purge your “stuff” and donate to GoodWill.

Let me conclude by offering you just a few of the many ways you can set yourself free and bring freedom into your life. Freedom from fear. Freedom from worry. Freedom from busyness. Freedom from perfection. Freedom from stuff/baggage. Freedom to love. Freedom to sing, laugh, dance. Freedom to share. Freedom to be you.

Pick one area in your life and see if you can create the freedom your heart desires. Move one step at a time. Recognize the freedom in each step. Soon you’ll enjoy more power, fun and freedom in your life.

Add comment July 17, 2007

Time…

It’s part of the basic structure of our universe and it’s essential into how we move about and plan our days. Time to wake-up, lunch time, time for yoga class, dinner time reservations and of course, party time; however mundane the event, we set a time for it. My dog’s biological clock sets an eat time every 12 hours.

Time is so fundamental to our lives. Unfortunately, it starts to control us. Personally, I’ve been feeling rundown this past month. A lack to sleep has been part of it (due to lack of time). My personal yoga practice has been sabotaged slightly to make room for my business, abellaYOGA. Growth in both me and my business are very important to me. To excel in both, I need to dedicate time.

There always seems to be more I “need to do” vs. what I actually complete. It’s like a balance scale –the “need” side is more forceful and hence weighing down on me more than the “what I have accomplished” side. To top it off, this doesn’t even factor in the things I want to do, the books I want to read and the friends I want to catch up with over lunch.

I’m challenged by this. I’m challenged by time. As a yoga teacher, I’m perplexed. The perception of yoga teachers is that we’re all very peace, love and happiness. However, I think in order to live the peace, love and happiness image, freedom is required -and not just freedom in the mind and body; freedom from so many time constraints.

So what am I doing to find freedom? I’m in the midst of reviewing my schedule to see how I can cut back and not feel crunched by time. I realize time is important. Events need to happen. Business needs to happen. Life just happens. It’s learning to manage situations better. It’s learning to say “no” to things. It’s learning to “pick and choose”. It’s learning to be happy with what I have and not so much “where I want to go”.

Add comment July 13, 2007

yoga BLOG by abellaYoga

Archive for July, 2007

Know Your Options

Freedom

Top Posts

Blog Stats

Archives