I like things in threes. Titles, standing poses, attempts at handstand sans wall. I compiled some links to recent news stories about yoga and mediation in sources ranging from The New York Times to The Times of India. I'm turning into a real yoga geek. Love it. Sometimes, though, it freaks me out. HA! Both are true. Duality is everywhere.
Anyway, I started teaching at the gym near me, Newport Swim and Fitness. Tuesdays and Thursdays, 6:15 a.m. Just as the "ambrosial hours" are ending. The sages considered 3 a.m. to 6 a.m. the best times to pray, meditate and do yoga. The buzz and hum of machines is at a minimum. The silence and stillness is at its peak. I'm up then anyway, usually by 4 a.m., so this works well with my schedule and my day job. Though the day job ... well, another post about that.
So far so good. I'm having fun. Hard to tell if the students are having a total experience of yoga, which is my goal. Trying not to let ego take over and cater to what i perceive as their desires: move fast, exercise, no OM-ing, don't talk about anything remotely related to god or spirituality, and why so much sitting and breathing in the beginning? Guess I'll see what transpires. One dude walked out more than halfway through on Thursday. Wanted to throw a block at him, but, yoga is an amazing tool for self control and detachment. So, I didn't even blink. Namaste.
A friend shared the following with me after reading my last post where I mentioned the
bacon people (anatomy models). Seriously considered getting them and wearing them to class. This is one of the times i get freaked out by my consuming passion for yoga. True love. Or (not so) minor obsession.
Check out the News from OM:
New York Times (blog)
The benefits of mindfulness meditation, increasingly popular in recent years, are supposed to be many: reduced stress and risk for various diseases, ...
Hartford Courant
Ask a seasoned yoga teacher or yoga student about the ancient practice and they likely will tell you about the benefits of yoga stretching and ...
WLBZ2.com
Scientists haven't been studying meditation long enough to prove all of its benefits, Houseknecht said, but science does show meditation can ...
Merinews
... of Yoga, pranayama, meditation, Yoga Sutras, Sanskrit terminology, spiritual benefits of meditation, mantra meditation, recite one of the Yoga Sutras, ...
Huffington Post
There is an increasingly nuanced understanding of the potential benefits and risks of mindfulness strategies (including meditation and yoga) in the ...
Deccan Chronicle
Some people mistakenly believe that enlightenment can be more easily attained by getting away from the world and retiring someplace that is cut off ...
RedOrbit
The neuroscience behind Buddhist enlightenment ... Buddha's brain, and how we might just be able to attain a little of his enlightenment for ourselves.
Military Times
Although the physical and mental benefits of yoga for military personnel and their families are well-known, what may be more of a surprise is the ...
What about your hamstrings, Lara? Why, thank you for asking! turns out, no tears, no
nothing. WOOT WOOT! Thank you Dr. Darshan, whose name means "glimpse of god." An auspicious sign. I've been way more mindful in forward bends and straddles, and especially Prasarita Paddottanasana (a pose incorporating standing straddle and a forward bend).
Good thing too, because I've started 300-hour training and we're working on the Ashtanga Primary Series. UH-MAZING. So beautiful, so rigorous, so FUN!
I think what's happening with my hamstrings is what happened to my body, mind and spirit when I started practicing with intention: they opened up. It feels weird, like something is wrong, but it is just unfamiliar. And given my moderation of daily practice to avoid injury, I feel confident that this is not just some story I am telling myself because I want it to be so. Confirmation by personal experience is the most empowering form of validation.
Yeah, yoga really is a balm for all wounds.
Yin post is next! I swear! Like a love poem that one will be.
Maybe I will write an actual poem. Since I can do whatever I damn well please here.
xo
L