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