rumi

"your task is not to seek for love,
but merely to seek and find all the barriers
within yourself that you have built against it"

that rut is called something!

i had a major discovery yesterday!
that rut I keep mentioning every now and then in this blog, and that i have slowly been getting myself out of, has a name! it's called RUSTOUT.

Richard Leider and Steve Bruchhoz, writes in their book The Rustout Syndrome:

"rustout is the slow death that follows when we stop making the choices that keep life alive. it's the feeling of numbness that comes from always taking the safe way, never accepting new challenges, continually surrendering to the day-to-day routine. rustout means we are no longer growing, but at best, are simply maintaining. it implies that we have traded the sensation of life for the security of a paycheck ...
rustout is the opposite of burnout. burnout is overdoing. rustout is underbeing."

it's exactly how i've felt for a while after i became a mom two years ago. feeling strapped for time to do the things on my list and use my creativity in the way i ultimately wanted to. i felt i was just maintaining, and not growing.
burnout will wear down the body, but rustout can wipe out your soul and your spirit.
it is a horrible place to be. but then again, that place can teach us a lot of things about ourselves and if we are aware and willing to ask ourselves questions then we can come out of it with extremely rich answers that help us de-rust.

on that note, Jack Kornfeld:
"the questions asked at the end of life are very simple ones: "did i love well? did i love the people around me, my community, the earth, in a deep way?" And perhaps, " did i live fully? did i offer myself to life?"

some updates

hello all
if you've been following this blog for a while then you know i've been a bit lazy on my posts. i turned 40 and lazy :-) i had a few posts in my drafts folder that i had not finished. so on this full moon i finished them, and voila here they are!
you will find two new ones in the 'practice' category and one in 'my thoughts' category.

i got a mac for my birthday, so grateful for that, so now i am taking lessons in movie making, editing etc. it is so fun. i have a lot to learn, but am eager to learn it all. and i have a lot of stuff planned for 2010. so keep checking back to this blog for updates.

[i don't know if you have noticed, but i find that advertisement these days have became much more uplifting and positive. i like this holiday ad from the gap (picture above).]

shanti, shanti, shantiiiii,
ooooommmmm

hope all is well with you!

a privilege

it's not a privilege to know others.
know yourself.
that's a privilege.
- yogi tea bag

that is the message i got on my chamomile yogi tea bag today. so this is inspiring my blog post today. how brilliant. only a yogi (yogi bhajan) could be so blunt and direct.
it cuts straight to the source and when you think about it, there is no arguing with this message.

too often we pride ourselves in 'being associated with so and so, ' or 'knowing so and so.' often people like us for who we know, as well as for what label(s) we wear and what we do for a living, not always for who we are. but the ones who know us and like us for WHO WE really ARE, are true friends, to me anyway.

if i have one good friend for this reason, i consider myself a blessed person. and i am.

in my first teacher training with Beryl Bender Birch in 1998 i learned this powerful quote:

-> i choose to associate with people who enhance my magnificence <-

it has stuck with me during all these years, probably because it was something i had to work on, and it takes a lot of practice to surrender to this. we all know that misery loves company.

so to end where i began; it all has to do with knowing who you are, respecting yourself for who you are, change the things you can and accept the things you can't, and not selling yourself short because you need to be liked by everyone.

i always think that if you are liked by everyone, then you are too much of a people pleaser, and that's never a good thing.

so go out there, piss some people off, let them get annoyed by your magnificence.

- a few thought from the newly 40 year old.
it's a privilege to know me, myself and i!
LOL.

11 minutes worth listening to

i found this very interesting. artist Chris Jordan shows an arresting view of what Western culture looks like. i hope you enjoy the clip! it's stuff you might already know, but it's always good to get reminded of where our behavior is taking us. be the change you want to see in the world (gandhi).

make room for exploring and discovering

i had such a fun day with my son, Lars today. on Fridays we often go on some kind of exploration. today we journeyed [from brooklyn] to manhattan to check out the farmers market at 14th street (forgot to take a picture of that) and walked to SoHo for a breakfast dosa at Hampton Chutney (picture below). well, i had the dosa and Lars had an oatmeal raisin cookie.


on lafayette street, we discovered this wall writing:

the way we are on the mat is often the way we are off the mat. if we allow ourselves to explore, discover and have fun on the mat, it happens off the mat (and vice versa).

in my experience, we get stuck, lack energy, feel un-inspired when we do the same things over and over again MINDLESSLY. yoga is all about repetition, but MINDFUL repetition. with joy. with curiosity. just like a kid. i notice this with Lars. he repeats movements and words over and over again, he never gets tired cause for him it's a game, and it's fun. to me, it's so inspiring. he is an amazing GURU (teacher). through him i reconnect with my own inner child and allow myself to explore and re-discover or discover new things by not thinking so much, or editing myself too much.

we adults get so easily bored: what do you mean? AGAIN???? the mind gets bored before the body, that is the problem.
so if we train our mind to increase its attention span (dharana - focus) we will move into the higher stages of yoga, into meditation (dhyana) and ultimately higher consciousness (samadhi).

i heard Malcolm Gladwell, author of 'Blink' and 'Tipping Point' say: we have to train ourselves to be curious, to be interested in everything.

exactly. it increases our consciousness. the yogis say the possibilities are infinite then.

making room for exploration has just as much to do with being curious and interested as in quieting the mind. a paradox ...? well, much in yoga is a paradox. curiosity killed the cat because he/she got too greedy and wasn't paying attention. so you need to know when to PAUSE.
as wonderful as the TV, blackberry, iphone, computer, internet and YouTube are we got to give ourselves a break from them.

should you feel that you don't have time to 'make room for exploring' think about how you spend your time.
sit and breathe and let the mind settle into a quiet place. when the mind clears; there is all the time we need.

happy exploration to you.

naturally high and letting go

oh my goodness, i had an amazing night last night.
for years i've wanted to go trapeze jumping, and last night i did, together with 3 girl friends. every couple of months we have Girl's Night Out and we try to do something fun and out of the ordinary. one of the girls had turned 40 recently and i am turning 40 in november. 40 ... it's a big milestone. i am not scared of it at all, i just can't believe i'm going to be 40. i still feel like that 16 year old girl growing up in Norway.

i guess i'm a bit scared of getting stuck. yoga does keep me honest in many ways and although i do get stuck and in a rut at times i know that i have a choice to either stay there or do something about it. i always chose to do something about it. it's in my nature to have to feel like i'm moving forward, otherwise i feel dead and un-inspired. and that's no life to live!

so on the theme of turning 40, and letting go of fears, i made the suggestion to the girls to go trapeze jumping. the girls are so game. off we went and what a blast it was. oh my goodness, it was scary, but it was sooo liberating. what a natural high. wow. even today i feel that jolt of energy pulsating in my veins. last time i felt this naturally high is 2 years ago when i gave birth to my son. i was naturally high for 2 weeks after that. 16 hour labor with no drugs, all yoga breathing (riding the waves with the contractions), that was the way to do it, for me. it was AMAZING!

as i'm writing this it's becoming clear to me. i realize i am in need of taking myself out of the normal realm of things. i am not into drugs, and never have been. i like things to give me natural energy. i guess i tend to get bored easily and tend to feel i'm not in the center of where i should be, so that's where i tend to feel a bit stuck.

i'm not complaining, i love my life and am naturally high on life. i love what i do. i love my family and living in new york city. i am a happy person. but still, every now and then it's like i need an extra jolt - to take me out of a comfort zone.

so my epiphany @ 39 years and 11 months is: if i'm not going to trapeze jump and give birth every week (LOL) in order to feel naturally high on a regular basis, in order to let go of fear i must constantly let go of stuff that robs me for energy. i have to forget about being politically correct, and i have to stop self-editing. now, HOW exciting does that sound? just think about it, how much energy would you have left if you stopped the self-editing? i think a lot.

i know, i am insane. i'm a scorpio after all :-) always seeking thrills and meaning. as if living in new york wasn't enough :-) (see, that gets old after 16 years too). all joking aside, the key is to wake up every day with new eyes, and do as helen keller suggested: go out there and do something that scares you every day. it doesn't have to be trapeze jumping or giving birth. it could be as simple as smiling to a stranger (some people are scared of that) or tell someone you appreciate that you appreciate him/her. anything, anything that scares you.
just as i know what it is for me, you know what it is for you. just don't get arrested and make sure it keeps that prana (life force) flowing.

live, breathe and believe.

here is a clip of me doing my last trapeze jump for the evening. you'll see - i almost got it :-)

hopefully the clip inspires you to try !

www.trapezeschool.com

crow - tripod headstand - crow

for the month of october we are practicing the transitions of moving from crow into tripod headstand and then reversing back into crow.

watch the video below and then follow these 5 steps:

{practice close to a wall if you don't feel comfortable doing it in the middle of the floor. as you get comfortable gradually move away from the wall. at some point those "training wheels" got to come off}

1. find balancing chair - squeeze inner thighs together, lift moola bandha, 'drop' tailbone toward the heels, lift breastbone, roll shoulders back as you allow knees to draw to the floor and draw head over pelvis

2. hinge forward into a semi-malasana - again, keep squeezing innerthighs toward your waist, round back, draw in through abdomen, shift weight forward and work on lifting both feet off the floor from the core. when you have found crow, bend the elbows (crow push-up), keep hugging in as you lower crown of your head to the ground.

3. now in a tripod - draw elbows toward each other, lift from your feet to help lift knees off the arms to extend legs vertical. feel as if you're pressing the floor away from you, at the same time surrendering into it. hold for as long as you can comfortably

4. gradually work your way in reverse. lower the knees to the arms, notice how i draw my tailbone 'under' in order to stay core connected. rest here for a bit to proceed to the final step

5. when you are ready to rewind back into crow, start bending the elbows, draw tailbone under and you lower your seat (pelvis) toward the floor. this downward action will help with lifting the head up naturally.

what goes down must come up.
what comes up must go down.
what draws in must expand out.
what roots down must extend up.

enjoy the practice.
if it is too much to lift into tripod headstand, then edit that one out until you feel ready.

have fun trying it step by step, breath by breath. only do what feels comfortable for you. pause between each step. you are not doing this to injure yourself! you are doing this to liberate yourself and to let go of whatever 'training wheels' you are holding onto ....
we all got to let go somehow, at some point :-) maybe this is the time .... trust yourself!

LA "yoga king" teacher Vinnie Marino

Vinnie Marino was in town this week-end, and the town was sweaty and HOT. together with 70 other yogis, i participated in his class today from 2.30-4.30pm and my asana got kicked. 30 minutes into the class i was drenched. by the end of the class my clothes and mat were soaked in sweat. it's a long time since i've sweated that much in a yoga practice. it felt so good and de-toxing.

Vinnie taught a hip opening flow, which is my favorite, and the flow was amazingly challenging, but at the same time it was in a very gentle and thoughtful way. that might sound strange, but it's how it felt. i was pleasantly surprised.
last time i took Vinnie's class was in LA and i was 6 months pregnant, so needless to say, today was easier :-)

the class in LA was good with amazing classroom energy, but as a teacher, the sequencing didn't leave me curious for more. maybe he didn't have a good day that day, maybe i felt the class differently since i was pregnant and hormonal, maybe i had such high expectations since i had heard soooo much about Vinnie and his amazingness ... anyway, the past is the past. i wanted to give him another try (i believe in giving people second chances. LOL) and i'm glad i did. wow. the class was out of this world. the way he designed the practice was very intelligent, creative and clever. he prepared the hips in a very unique way for major opening. we did some stuff i had not done before (i'm definately going to borrow that), and if the beginning was YANG, the end was YIN as he had us hold all seated hip opening poses for a very looooong time. which was just DE-lish!

i was so sweaty and wiped at the end i could barely get myself to ask Vinnie for a picture. but with my blog in mind, i managed! to make sure i would look ok for the shot, i quickly took a peek in the mirror. i am sooo glad i did, cause i had mascara all over my cheeks (it's true!). i had to laugh and vinnie commented with his new york accent: "atleast it looks like you had a good practice." i sure did. not from tears, only from sweat :-)

this class left me curious for more (as a student and a teacher), so hopefully it will not be too long until Vinnie returns to new york so i can experience another amazing yoga practice!

the picture came out great, don't you think?

www.vinniemarino.com

international peace day

smack in the middle of union square park there is a statue of Gandhi. it is so amazing i think that someone put him there. every time i walk by this statue i pause. i take a moment, a deep breath and i feel the peace within me. one day i took my camera with me just to take a picture of this statue. the city offers so many spots where we can find peace, but really, as Gandhi and yogis believe: peace is within us.

Gandhi practiced what he preached. he believed that we need to: BE THE CHANGE THAT YOU WANT TO SEE!

it's as simple (and as challenging) as this.

take a moment whereever you are. pause. breathe. notice what's around you. the people you surround youself with. are you allowing yourself to be the change you want to see in this world?

today, and every day,
peace,
a :-)

Emerson

"finish each day and be done with it. you have done what you could, some blunders and absurdities have crept in; forget them as soon as you can. tomorrow is a new day. you shall begin it serenely and with too high spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense"

just brilliantly said! we all know it. let's try to practice it :-)

september video 2 - Hummingbird pose

here you go! have fun incorporating this pose into your practice. if you come to my class this month it will be part of the flow.
step by step - breath by breath - enjoy the challenge - have fun flying -
it gets easier :-)

[notice] this is my second video posting, the quality is getting better. i'm new to this whole thing of being infront of the camera. i am following the same principles as learning an asana. i am doing it step by step, breath by breath. i am enjoying the challenge and i am having a lot of fun in the process. i notice my tech muscle is strengthening!! it can only get better from here. fly hummingbird, fly! :-)

september is a great month to ....

1. get started on the goals you set for yourself in august (or maybe back in january? remember them?)
2. practice a completely new yoga pose (how about hummingbird pose? see picture (found on fitsugar.com), video of me giving you directions on how to make this happen is coming!!)
3. buy something for your fall/winter wardrobe. somebody has to keep stimulating the economy
4. increase your home cooking repertoire. make 4 new recipes (one each week of the month)
5. let go of some old baggage on the full moon on friday september 4th
6. start something new on the new moon on friday september 18th
7. celebrate international day of peace on monday september 21st
8. celebrate autumn equinox on tuesday september 22nd
9. do something that makes you reeeeally happy :-) (maybe hummingbird pose??)

goa challenge - 4th and last week!!

the goa challenge was a challenge, that is for sure.
i am so glad i put myself on the challenge, but i am so happy that the month is over :-)

i have decided that i will make the goa challenge an annual occasion. every august i will put myself on a new challenge and next year i will invite you to join me!!

this month i worked on a lot of the things i had on my list, and i got myself out of a rut i've felt i've been in for some time.
it is very important for me to exercise and practice yoga, if not 7 days a week, 5-6 days a week. i have a lot of pitta (fire) in me, but i am very much a vata (air)person so i tend to get very airy, and just want to roam around aimlessly. so exercising and practicing yoga is a must for me to stay focused and remind myself of the strengths and possibilites that are within me.

i am very aware of my weaknesses, but i might not always be so willing to change them. a huge epiphany happened this month in that i realized that the reason i end up in a stuck place is that i have not been willing to let go and change something that i know is not moving me forward.
when we are afraid of letting go and we hang on to stuff that we know are not going to move us forward, we are bound to end up feeling stuck.

this is why it is important for me to practice yoga, run, dance, do weights, to release stuck energy and harness energy to move forward.
it is extremely important to me to move forward. i need to feel i'm progressing.

life is nothing but interesting. there is always an opportunity to learn, and i feel that by being on the path of yoga the sky is the limit.

life is exactly the way we see it. it's about making the most out of it.

carpe diem!

goa challenge - 2nd & 3rd week

helen keller:
"when one door of happiness closes, another opens. we look so long at the closed door, that we do not look at the one opened for us"

being on the Goa Challenge has been such a positive experience for me. i am a true believer in when we push outselves physically, we get huge realisations mentally.
challenging myself abit more has given me clarity in what i WANT to do and what i NEED to do to move forward.

it has become clear to me in my profession that i have to move forward in a more yoga inspired fitness way. one evening in the bathroom after i had showered i was by the sink brushing my teeth and a soft, but clear voice tells me out of the blue: "go for the fusion!"

it's happened to me many times before. one time, when my literary agent and i was shopping for a book contract, we got one offer. i wasn't so sure i was crazy about the offer, but at the same time i was so happy to have gotten an offer! one night in the bathroom brushing my teeth by the sink, a voice comes out of the blue: "you will get a better offer, let this one go!" i let it go and later got a better book offer.

the point is: the voice that talks to me is my intuition, it's the voice that never argues. we all have it! i always listen to it! it's a bit scary to listen to it cause i know it's right. it's just funny that it seems to happen in the bathroom by the sink for me :-)
and it is so interesting that always in that moment the voice talks, i know that my mind is completely still, no chatter is going on, i'm in a state of meditation, and there the voice is very clear. i want to be in this kind of state all the time!! so maybe i need to be in the bathroom brushing my teeth all the time :-)

it has also become clear to me that i don't want to or have to work out every single day, even if the 6th or 7th day is restorative yoga. it's nice to just be OFF, to take a break and not have to think about doing anything other than reading, watching TV, spend time with family/friends, get a manicure/pedicure, surf the net, putter around the house - whatever.
so i now know i am happy with working out 5-6 days a week, but no matter how many days i work out, make every workout count!

from me to you, find your own flow and flow with it!
[carpe diem]

what is wrong with this?

{i'll get to this picture in a minute ...}

so the media is at it again. first it was wrong that our First Lady wore sleeveless dresses. how could she show off her arms? and they are too toned! she should be covering them up!

now it's all about her legs. this week on vacation in the sweltering heat, she wore short-shorts. oh, no, how could she show off her legs like this? she should be covering up those legs. she can't show off toned legs like this!

the chatter goes on ....
she is the First Lady of the United States! shouldn't she be covering up her body??? this is not appropriate, none of the other First Ladies has ever dressed like this, showing off their arms AND their legs.

my goodness, for Heavens Sake. what is wrong with the media? how puritanical can we get?
i am not against the media at all, but SERIOUSLY, no wonder we got body issues.
the reason i am "blaming" the media is, i have not heard anyone in my circle of friends or students or clients feeling that our First Lady should be covering up. on the blogs i have visited, all comments are positive. go for it, leave her along, she is gorgeous, she's got a gorgeous body she should show it off, the list goes on and it's a long list of positives.

I AGREE. our First Lady is gorgeous and she should show off what's she's got. she is such a breath of fresh air.
i think the media just wants to create a stir, it gives them something to do. it's a yoga moment in there for us to "catch it" and chose for ourselves what we believe. it's a wonderful moment to create a strong center within ourselves.

so to the picture above. all over New York City i see the new Calvin Klein underwear ads. to me, these ads are AMAZING. the models Eva Mendes and Jamie Dornan are gorgeous. looking at their bodies makes me want to go to the gym every single day (which i happen to be doing these days!! part of my Goa challenge). it doesn't make me feel bad about myself, or make me feel like i want to be them, it just inspires me to work on the body i have and make it stronger and in better shape.

but it seems like there are issues out there with this ad campaign too, just google it. again, it's hard to know if it's just media stirring things up, or if actual people have been complaining.
the TV ad featuring Eva Mendes for Calvin Klein's perfume 'Obsession' got banned from TV (and YOUTUBE) for being too sensual!! google that too and you will see.

let's loosen up a bit and create self-esteem and a love for our bodies, so when we see advertisement around us, we don't automatically have to feel bad about ourselves, but try to look at it for what it is. (and remind ourselves that in any picture you see, allot of retouching is involved :-) it doesn't make me feel better or worse, it's just the reality).

but again, i don't know how much it is the public that is so against this, just like with the whole hoopla about the First Lady, or if it is the media that makes it into a big thing.

in my opinion i don't understand what the whole fuss is about ... just a few of my thoughts in the sweltering heat :-)

natural born yogis

being a witness to my son's development and what i think of as his 'natural abilities,' i am convinced we are all natural born yogis. my son, lars is the best Guru i could ever wish for. he teaches me so much about being a yogi on a daily basis. he is free, happy, present and just pure LIFE FORCE. it's all within us!

[i had to post these pictures, pardon me, but it's my blog and i can post whatever i want to :-)]

balance: he started stacking these containers. it got pretty tall but he didn't stop. the taller it got, the more careful he was in how he positioned the next container. intuitively he knew it would fall. i think that is pretty amazing for a 21 month old, but i'm biased obviously

balance takes practice. let me see how it will work with glass! he is a libra after all.
open hips: just another natural position to be in on the floor watching TV.
ready to get into prasarita padottanasana
supta virasana: look at my spine, mom. can you do this?
kapotasana: you can see the joy in this backbending. no resistance! the heart is open :-)

goa challenge - 1st week

if you listened to my first video log (vlog aug. 2nd) you now know that Goa (me!) is challenging herself in her Goa Challenge! i set out to exercise every day (for 30 days) and the first week i did 6 days. i'm honest! i felt bad about not excercising on friday, BUT i was soooo tired, i couldn't even do restorative yoga. a nap was more important!! i had been up at 4.45am every morning to train clients until noon, did my self-workout from noon-2pm and then mom-in-chief for the rest of the day. it's two full time jobs :-)

[not complaining at all.]
a challenge is a challenge! and a challenge it is! a good one.

i did not do this to lose weight, but more as a mental challenge. also august would give me more time to myself, which is something i was craving. being a mom i don't have 2 hours to workout every single day, and i miss that, i really miss that.
[maybe after this month i will not miss it as much :-) be careful what you wish for, you might get it - and not want it :-)]

for the first week i did not feel like making a plan. i basically wanted to do whatever i felt like doing on that particular day. it worked well, and was alot of fun, and different. i made sure i worked on different things.

i followed my energy. i thought alot about moving in waves, the way Gabrielle Roth describes. and because i listened and followed my energy, the waves changed, and the pattern changed. it's amazing.

i feel so fortunate to be able to put myself through this challenge. i am moving out of the rut i put myself in. and that is PRICELESS!

august video log 1 - inspiration

alright, so here we go: my first video log (vlog).
it took me forever to figure out how to convert the file to a smaller file that would upload to this blog. i finally figured it out, but the quality might not be as great as i would like it to be. i'll keep practicing and get someone to help me.
it's like i'm strengthening a muscle that has never been used :-)

enjoy!

August is a great month to ....

1 say to yourself: I have plenty of time (if I just stick to my priorities)
2 give yourself a physical challenge
3 take yourself out of a rut
4 clean out the physical clutter (a messy house, room, drawer, closet)
5 clean out the mental clutter (stop procrastinating, meditate on what you need in your life)
6 spend time with people you care about (if you don’t make the time, you will not have the time)
7 take a vacation, or a staycation (stay at home while exploring areas you've never visited before, do not work)
8 be serious about having some (or alot of) fun!! life is too short to be too busy to not have fun.

ENJOY THE MONTH :-)

quote

" Carpe Diem! REJOICE while you are ALIVE;
ENJOY the day; LIVE life to the FULLEST;
make the MOST of what you HAVE,
it is LATER than you think."

- Horace, Roman poet

inner peace

i found this on gabrielle roth's myspace comment board.

Some signs and symptoms of inner peace:

A tendency to think and act spontaneously rather than on fears based on past experiences.
An unmistakable ability to enjoy each moment.
A loss of interest in judging other people.
A loss of interest in interpreting the actions of others.
A loss of interest in conflict.
A loss of the ability to worry (this is a very serious symptom).
Frequent, overwhelming episodes of appreciation.
Contented feelings of connectedness with others and nature.
An increasing tendency to let things happen rather than make them happen.
An increased susceptibility to the love extended by others, as well as the uncontrollable urge to extend it.

<< WARNING ! >> If you have some or all of the above symptoms - please be advised that your condition of Inner Peace may be so far advanced as to not be curable. If you are exposed to anyone exhibiting any of these symptoms, remain exposed only at your own risk.

Love Light & Laughter Blessing

jill miller Yoga TuneUp level 2 teacher training July 11-13 2009

i attended Jill Miller's 20 hour Level 2 teacher training last week-end. the focus was on the hips. now that i'm a mom it's such a production to get to these things, but i love learning from jill, so all of that extra work getting to a training is worth it!

jill is very clear and confident in her teachings and is extremely knowledgeable in anatomy. i learn alot from her and she always makes me think twice about what i say and how i structure my classes after i've studied with her.

jill can be found at www.yogatuneup.com
here are some photos from the training.



we are having a ball stretching the fascia of our feet



no it's not kama sutra. however not sure i will do this hip stretch with my clients :-)




i'm getting an amazing hip stretch here!



giving a helping hand (foot!)




me and jill miller

flowing part 2

another excerpt from gabrielle roth's book sweat your prayers

" in flowing we learn how to inhale, how to take things in: compliments, put-downs, gifts, intuitive hunches, moods, music, space - whoever or whatever else is going on around us. we like to delude ourselves that we're encased in an impermeable membrane floating through life in our own little space capsule. we think we're so self sufficient, but actually we're all just passing thoughts in one huge universal mind.

flowing is more than a rhythm; it's a specific energy field in which the feminine aspect of the soul is revealed in all its awesome beauty, fierce power, and animal magnetism. deep within each one of us is a mother longing to nurture, a mistress impatient to flirt, and a madonna serene in her wisdom. and they all bop out when the beat kicks in.

flowing part 1

there is a reason i teach vinyasa yoga - i love to flow.

i love to weave the breath with the poses, connect,'make' connections and create movement. sometimes i 'arrive' at the place i set our for, other times i don't arrive exactly 'there' but i always arrive (somewhere). that is the fun part of flowing, to allow oneself to flow with the current of the river. we're not salmons who naturally flow against the current of the river!
maybe we're trying to be salmons cause; god forbid, it might be "too easy" to flow with the current, so we need to create that extra challenge of struggling against it??? i think so, we humans love to complicate things, instead of simply following the flow ...

i love spontaneity, but i don't always allow myself to be as spontaneous as i would like to be. well, that is about to change.

i'm into gabrielle roth these days. i pulled out her book that i bought back in 1998
'sweat your prayers.' it's fabulous. gabrielle is a dancer and the book is about the 5 rhythms: flowing, staccato, chaos, lyrical, stillness. although i read the book back then (i see i have underlined allot), but i can't really remember much of the content. funny, how books come back again at the right time. now it is making so much more sense to me.

here is an excerpt from the book that i read in class thursday last week:

"flowing is the state of being fluid, of hanging loose and being flexible. the rhythm of flowing connects us to the flow of our individual energy, our base current. when we dance long and hard enough to cast off the world's spell, our inner rhythm takes over and we begin to sense who we truly are and how great our potential is. to my mind, michael jordan playing basketball is the essence of flowing. his internal rhythm connects with the energies of the ball, his team, his opponents, and the court, until they all emerge into one organic entity and it becomes as natural for the ball to swoosh through the net as it is for the breath to flow in and out of our bodies.

when we're in our flow, all we have to do is walk across a room to be mesmerizing. we feel confident in ourselves because we're connected to the earth and in harmony with her rhythms, cycles, and moods. in flowing, there are no separations or distractions between things, there's only continuous change.

we tend to resist surrendering to this rhythm because we prefer life to be predictable and safe, even if it means being bored. flowing is dangerous - who knows where it will take you or what you will find when you get there? that's why i love it."

meeee tooo!
she's talking about dancing, but all i'm reading is the essence of yoga.

i aspire to inspire you(and myself included)to:
be daring, find your own flow and just go with it!

core myths

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY
and
HAPPY SUMMER SOLSTICE

Check out the article on the Core today in the New York Times Magazine

Stuart McGill, a professor of spine biomechanics at the University of Waterloo in Canada, demonstrates a few core exercises that emphasize all the major muscles that support the spine.

http://video.nytimes.com/video/2009/06/17/magazine/1194841000095/core-values.html

Article: Core Myths
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/21/magazine/21FOB-physed-t.html?scp=1&sq=core%20&st=cse#

american masala

i love to cook, but i have learned that i need recipes to get a successful end result. i can't just 'dish up' something.
i have a lot of recipe books, but most of the time i use max 5 of the recipes in the book and find the books a waste of money, so i find recipes in magazines and on the internet instead.

AMERICAN MASALA on the other hand is a cook book well worth the money. this cook book is AMAZING. i swear that i have made atleast half of the recipes in this book, and there are a lot of recipes. every recipe is like eating in [author]suvir saran's restaurants.

i can't compliment on this book enough. the title is perfect. it has all the indian spices, which i love, but with a western influence. personally, i could eat indian food every single day, my husband (who is indian) on the other hand, refuses to eat indian food every day. but every single meal i've served from this book he loves.

the recipes in this book are a bit time consuming, but once you get into it and get into a routine of putting the spices together in little bowls and chopping up the ingredients it goes pretty fast. advice: you have to prepare everything before you start cooking, it saves a lot of time and is very important! because the end-result is so delicious, to me, the time spent making this food is so worth it!

suvir saran was on the martha stewart show not so long ago and here are the recipes he made on the show. try these as a start. i have not made the chicken wings but am planning on making it for our 4th of july party.

cardamom roasted cauliflower:
http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/cardamom-roasted-cauliflower?autonomy_kw=suvir%20saran
stir fried green beans with coconut:
http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/stir-fried-green-beans-with-coconut?autonomy_kw=suvir%20saran
spicy sweet chicken wings:
http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/spicy-sweet-chicken-wings-suvir-saran?autonomy_kw=suvir%20saran&rsc=header_1
garam masala:
http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/garam-masala-suvir-saran?autonomy_kw=suvir%20saran

if you want to see the video of him making the food on martha's show go to:
http://www.marthastewart.com/ and search "suvir saran" you will find both the recipes and the video there.

i would love to see a vegetarian cook book, american masala style.

American Masala @ AMAZON:
http://www.amazon.com/American-Masala-Classics-Home-Kitchen/dp/030734150X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1245524632&sr=8-1

bon appetite!

friends that practice yoga together ...

what horrible weather we have today. i do love the rain, but it has been raining for months now it seems, and i am quite sick of it. i know, it's not very yogic of me to say this, but it's true.

it doesn't matter what the weather is, my students are die-hard, they will come to class no matter rain or shine. for some reason today, only one of my die-hard students showed up, ron. he brought his friend, denise, who he has been friends with since they were 5 years old!!! how great is that. they are both extremely advanced yogis, and today on the most rainy day they decided to practice yoga together. so rod and denise were my two students in class this morning, it was basically a semi-private. they lined their mats up right in front of each other (see the picture).

i am not affected by how many people i have in my class. what matters to me is the energy the people bring to class. these two yogis had such wonderful energy and they were so happy to be there practicing together, it was such a great class and such a joy to teach them.

here they are in a side crow split/ekapada kaundinyasana.
they had already done one side and this is the other side. i quickly found my blackberry and took a picture of them.

so, the friends that do yoga together stay together.

Practice with Aarona Pichinson's Yoga Soundscape

wow, this was an amazing week for me. i got in ANOTHER practice with a teacher i had not experienced before. yoga works is opening it's new location in SoHo next Friday (i will be teaching there!) and to celebrate this opening, Aarona Pichinson, master yogini goddess creator of Yoga SoundScape led us through an amazing 2 hour class of movement, breath, heat and pumping beats by Derek Beres (and others) last night.

{sidenote: every friday night i make a delicious pizza, but last night i skipped that, gave my husband veggie burgers and dal (he was happy) and had him put lars to bed as i went off to class. see what happens when you get your priorities straight! i felt like i was back to being a free bird, let out of its cage :-) just partially kidding.}

this class was right up my alley, i have wanted to incorporate more movement/dance into my classes and aarona did it in a very nice way. you could feel the energy moving through you, and derek did a wonderful job playing music that pulsated with you. (derek is also a yoga teacher so he knows what music works for a yoga class!). re: dj'ing: it reminded me of my own dj'ing back in oslo, norway. i took a dj course while in college and did some spinning then "back in the days." i've always loved music and hence find it natural to play music in my yoga classes. i love dance (as you all know from my jane fonda, flashdance days), so the next step is to get going on the real GOA TRANCE class. oh, so much to do, the priority list keeps growing :-)

anyway, the theme of the class was NEW BEGINNINGS, and aarona put a card in front of each of our mats and mine read:

delight in the light!

take yourself lightly and you will cut through the dust and grit of the journey onto outright celebration. when you don't take yourself too seriously, you will be lifted out of causative thought patterns that hook you into believing you are here simply to cope with existence and overcome challenges. instead, you will thrive by delighting in the light that you are.

hmmm. i thought i was pretty serious about taking myself lightly ... maybe i'm not light enough!? :-)

so from practicing with two new teachers this week i got: alignment and pause/ease (natasha rizopolos) and lighten up! from aarona!

two very different practices, but both so wonderful in their own way. that is what i love about yoga, we can all interpret it the way we want. i practice/teach it my way, and they practice it their way. from that, i learn a lot. how boring it would be if we all did it the same way. we would not learn a single thing.

to check out aarona visit http://www.yogaofnourishment.com/

and derek visit http://www.derekberes.com/

move to the groove of your own beat!

Practice with Natasha Rizopolos

yoga works sets up a teachers practice every 2-3 months, either with a local teacher or a visiting teacher. yesterday we were so fortunate to be led by visiting teacher from Los Angeles, natasha rizopolos. i'm sure you recognize her from the pages of yoga journal magazine.

i had heard so much about her but had never practiced with her before so i was very excited to be able to spend two hours soaking up some of her knowledge. natasha has an ashtanga background (like me) and i was wondering how hard the class was going to be.

she started us off in a supported backbend for about 5-8 minutes and from there led us through sun salutations and standing poses with a focus on backbending. she always made it a point to PAUSE and focus on alignment.

natasha is very softspoken as well as well spoken and has a wonderful way of explaining what she wants from her students, all while being encouraging. her voice makes your body want to melt into the asanas.

the practice felt very easy, i was a bit surprise, but when i woke up this morning i felt areas of my body i had not felt in awhile. so it wasn't that easy ...

when i experience this, i am always reminded of how hard an easy class can be when it is designed to focus on the right things.

key words i took away from the class were ALIGNMENT and PAUSE.

natasha made an impression on me and has inspired me to pause and to find more ease in the flow.
practice, practice, practice :-)

[i brought my camera so i could take a picture of us together, but after the class i felt so dazed that i totally forgot, hence the picture above that i found on yogajournal.com. oh, well, next time].

for more info on natasha, check out http://www.natasharizopolos.com/ when she's in your area join her class/workshop. i'm sure you will leave with your own key words to practice.

GoaVinyasaFlow playlist1 & 4

here you got 2 playlists to infuse your practice this month!
1. iMix "GoaVinyasaFlow1" in the iTunes Music store at:
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewIMix?id=319397795

2. iMix "GoaVinyasaFlow4" in the iTunes Music store at:
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewIMix?id=319398075

groove to the goa beat,
a :-)

Create S P A C E

my son, Lars was born 19 months ago. a new anita was born too. i was aware this would happen while i was pregnant and meditated a lot on accepting the changes.

it wasn't so easy.

for the last year and a half i've wrestled with the changes. not so much that i wasn't willing to change or that i wasn't grateful for Lars entering my/our world. it was more about that i wanted my TIME back. i wanted to be able to sit infront of the computer and surf and write for as long as i wanted! work whenever i wanted, take all the workshops i wanted. workout as long and whenever i wanted.

i wanted to be able to waste time like i did pre-Lars. my mind was rebelling. it was freaking me out that i felt like i didn't have enough time.

bla, bla, bla, so the mind says.

i put myself back on my meditation pillow and as i sat there i had an epiphany: it's all about CREATING S P A C E and MAKING TIME.

we have all the time we need, we just need to prioritize.

starting this blog has been on my mind for a long time, and it was annoying me that i couldn't get it going. when i had the epiphany i wrote down the things that needed to be the priorities in my life, and the blog is one of them. my intention is not to post every single day, but the blog will be a place where i can communicate what i need to share with my community.

it feels so good to have started! it actually takes less energy to get started. it was robbing me for energy thinking about it so much.

i'm so GRATEFUL to Lars and my meditation practice for being my Guru's (teachers). they teach me something about myself and my priorities every single day!

anything you've been thinking of starting? just thinking about it is robbing you for energy. GET GOING and it will give you energy. S P A C E is there to be created.

opening & closing mantras

opening invocation 1

om sahana navatu
saha nau bhunaktu
saha viryam karavavahai
tejas vina vadhitama astu
ma vidvishavahai
om shanti, shanti, shanti,
om

translation:

may we be protected together
may we be nourished together
may we work together with great vigour
may our study be enlightening
may there be benevolence between us
om, peace, peace, peace,
om

opening invocation 2 (gandhi's favorite chant, part of the shanti path mantras)

asato ma sad gamaya
tamaso ma jyotir gamaya
mrityor ma amitram gamaya

translation:

lead us from the unreal to the real
lead us from darkness to light
lead us from death to immortality

opening invocation 3 (on full moon)

om poorna mada poorna midam
poornaat poornam udachyate
poornasya poornam aadaaya
poornam evaa vasishyate
om shanti shanti shanti

translation:

this is fullness. this is also fullness
from perfection, the perfect thing arises
taking the perfect thing from perfection,
perfection remains
peace, peace, peace


closing prayer 1 (from the shanti/peace path)

asato maa sad gamaya
tamaso maa jyotir gamaya
mrityur maa amritam gamaya

saarvesham svasti bhavatu
saarvesham shaantir bhavatu
saarvesham purnam bhavatu
saarvesham maangalam bhavatu

lokah samastah sukhino bhaavantu

shanti, shanti, shanti

translation:

lead us from the unreal to the real
from darkness lead me to light
from death lead me to immortality

may all beings dwell in happiness
may all beings dwell in peace
may all beings attain oneness
may all beings attain auspiciousness

may all beings be unto the whole world

peace peace peace

welcome to my blog

hello everyone!

ok, so i've kicked myself in my own 'asana' hard enough now to get myself going with this blog. it's been vacant for too long. time to move in! thinking about something doesn't produce anything. at some point you got to take action. so no more excuses! let's get this blog on the road! more on all of this lack of action la'ta.

i am looking forward to reconnecting and connecting with the 'goa community' via this blog and sharing with you all things i know and discover related to yoga, fitness and living life with purpose and vitality.

hope you are having a great day!

carpe diem, a :-)