One of the best things about yoga (if not THE best), is that after each practice, you really do grow and you really do transcend into a higher self. You become enlightened by your own abilities and the miracles of your amazing body. You learn, you discover a lot about yourself, and you gain a great deal of humility. When all of this radiates from ourselves, we put peace into our lives and into the lives of those around us.
I used the same stones, I just switched to rosewood :) I think the meaning resonated with me more :)
YESTERDAY JAY THINGS:
- Jay touched my back and said, “OMG. You are so sweaty!” and lifted his hand abruptly as if he touched fire. Rude. LOL…that’s what happens when you do yoga in a 105-degree room, sweetie.
- Jay surprised me with this book. So sweet of him. I was filled with so much joy and all I wanted was to give him a big hug, but I was soaked in sweat. He finally caved and allowed me to hug him :)
- Jay said, “Why are you shampooing your hair outside of the shower?” when I was putting mousse in it.
- Jay is full of himself and called himself “Grand Master Jason” of Jiu-Jitsu. Please.
Oh, my love…he’s amazing :)
Tree pose for the rocks? I wish I took off my shirt for this picture…I kinda have awesome muscles sometimes, okay.
Haha :P Anywho, super fun day! Happy Mother’s Day to all of my tumblr mommies! And a Happy Mother’s Day to all your mommas :)
CULTIVATING YOUR STRENGTH
Sometimes…often…most of the time…the hardest part is always getting on the mat, maybe even a drag. As much as we don’t like it, there are and will be times when meeting our practice will be a challenge. Even DURING our practice, those feelings come up.
“OMgah…I’m too fucking tired for this.”
“What did I get myself into? This is starting off to be a hard class already.”
“I have so much to do, so many things to be completed…why am I here?”
“Well, look at this fucking girl with the perfect body in those lulu’s.”
“This pose makes me have rolls…”
“My quads are burning. Give me a break. I’m going to die.”
“My arms…my arms, damn it! My armsssss! Free me!”
It’s when we have thoughts like these, we practice the silencing of the mind. It’s okay to have these thoughts, but then detach from them. It’s like coming into a posture- fidgeting, adjusting, finding your edge in an asana, and then eventually finding stillness and contentment in it. When we have that, we can connect with the breath again. When we become intimate with the breath, then peace in posture follows; maybe the struggle, the sensation of burning muscles subside, and we welcome growth.
Stick with it. Surrender to the practice. Trust your body. Cultivate your strength! Listen to your body- be okay with having to modify if needed! Don’t push yourself through fatigue because please practice each posture with integrity, never sacrificing safety to satisfy the ego. At the same time, be okay with listening to that inner voice telling you that you can get a little deeper into the pose because YOU CAN! Deepening of the posture doesn’t have to mean going into a more advanced variation; maybe deepening the posture means staying in it for five or ten more seconds. You can. You always can.
There’s a reason we always come back to the mat, so remember that. You are stronger than you tell yourself. Really :)
Namaste.
We are living life and practicing yoga not to achieve anything but as the movement of life that is already fully established in us—life happening with an unfathomable depth of feeling. It is our natural condition, to be with the breath, to be with that which is breathing us. To simply be with your experience, whatever it is, altogether without idealism, is to be in the natural state. You are life happening here, you are whatever it is altogether.
happy spine. SAD spine.
I’m making a post on this because I see it WAAAAY to much on Tumblr, and it makes me cringe.
We need to learn to stop hyperextending the cervical spine!
Yoga is just as much strength and energy as flexibility so let’s stop letting that head flop around. (youch!!!)
When looking up or going into a backbend gaze with the eyes instead on letting the head fall back. You should be keeping length in the back of you neck rather than letting it crunch up.
Start by slightly pulling your head back inline with your spine and begin gazing up with the eyes, do not gaze with the whole head.
Hyperextension can cause some serious, painful problems. Please be kind to yourself loves. Anatomy & alignment is important!!!
As I always say, “Don’t crunch the neck! Don’t compress in the back of the neck, but create SPACE so energy can flow freely! Draw the palette back! Let’s strengthen the sternocleidomastoid muscles of the neck! Yes, like THAT!”
Ya’ gotta say it quite enthusiastically, too :) Throw in anatomy jargon and watch the magic unfold :P
Mala bead necklace/bracelet that I just made! I love it so much! I can’t wait to make more :)
