Semi Anti Social Media

I don't tweet, use instagram, or post (that many) selfies that are scripted/posed just to "further my brand" despite what yoga business counselors say you "must" do to be successful. The people I want to share my time with socially, intellectually, and professionally (clients), don't need in your face stylized media blitzing to sell them my brand of soap. They find me because we are on intersecting paths. I trust in the universe that way. Call me an optimist, and I"ll gladly take that label. Call me anti-social and you'd be inaccurate. You'd also be wrong if you say i'm against or anti social media. I value the connection enough to not cheapen it. Rami Malek, an actor with whom I am not very familiar I admit, talked about how he feels about the surge of social media inundation, and I relate:

"People are spending so much time staging photos - what they're eating, how much fun they're having … even the way they shape their faces in the pictures is contorted," the 35-year-old actor continues, getting on a roll. "Everything is filtered. Everything is manicured. It's a house of cards, and it's going to come crashing down one day and you with it." - Rami Malek

read the whole article here (it's about his movie but his commentary is interesting): http://www.bostonherald.com/entertainment/television/2016/06/rami_malek_finds_connection_to_cyber_vigilante_role

Wanderlust108

From today's yoga triathalon (5K walk/run, hour of yoga, hour of meditation, sprinkled with other fun events like hula hooping, slackline yoga, and dancing, and tribal body painting by Tribal Markers).

A day of joy to be sure, but a beautiful somber note during the meditation delivered by Noah Levine (refugerecovery.com) from the "Against The Stream Buddhist Meditation Society,” who posited:
"Can you be compassionate about what is unpleasant or even painful...?"

Here is a link to a video of a few hundred of my closest friends Om-ing together with Chelsey Korus.

You can't see but DJ Drez is spinning on stage

MC Yogi was leading this flow

Just had to come out of the pose to click a pic

These ladies wanted to practice with their new body markers

The results (1)

The results (2)

Less painful than a real tattoo but one heck of a suntan line

I'm a yoga slacker!

Poseur :)

Dream self, yoga self, authentic self

In this dream I had the other night I was teaching an unusually large yoga class, discussing how to come into a yoga state of mind to start our practice. One person spoke up and said "Oh, so we should put on our yoga personas?"

I gave it a thought, and then with much gesticulation energetically responded "Actually, think of it like peeling off the persona(s) you put ON everyday, to get back down TO your yoga self.  Take off all that outer shit, the stress of your job, the thick shell of negative interactions and defensiveness and sarcasm. Let the heaviness of responsibilities and obligations for the outer world, just for now, fall away. Shed that overprotective skin and allow the real, authentic you to be presented, to be present. Yoga is what is essential, at the heart of you, what is always there, what is true.

So, no, don't put on your yoga face, take off what obscures it. Get back to the authentic YOU.

Yamas - a little Etymology, a little Philosophy

Yamas are the first of the eight limbs of Yoga; the first of the eight guiding principles for helping to lead a yogic lifestyle, or, more generally, to "calm the fluctuations of the mind" (for whatever purpose you choose).

The word "yama" comes from the verbal root [yam] which means to subdue or to control, which implies that these "yamas" are controls or acts of curbing or suppressing our behavior (towards others or the outer world) to help us become more "yogic."

There are five of these principles, or disciplines, in the yamas, as follows:

Ahimsa: non harming. Ahimsa is a term meaning 'not to injure' and 'compassion'. The word is derived from the Sanskrit root hiṃs – to strike; hiṃsā is injury or harm, a-hiṃsā is the opposite of this.

Satya: truth. Satya is the Sanskrit word for truth. It also refers to a virtue in Indian religions, referring to being truthful in one's thought, speech and action.

Asteya: non-stealing. Asteya is derived from the Sanskrit root word "steyn" which means ‘to steal’ to ‘to rob’. The word for a thief is "steynaH". "Steyam" is the word for theft. By adding the prefix "a" it becomes ‘asteya’ which means "to not steal or rob".

Aparigraha: non-covetousness. This word is derived from the root word ‘grah’ which means to hold or grab something. Adding the prefix ‘pari’ alters the meaning only slightly to mean ‘hold onto something’. Adding the second prefix ‘a’ negates the meaning of the word and thus ‘aparigraha’ is variously translated as ‘non-hoarding’ or ‘non-possessiveness’, non-indulgence’ or ‘non-greed’ etc.

Brahmacharya: virtue/vitality. This complicated concept is a merging of two Sanskrit roots: Brahma (shortened from Brahman) meaning "the one self-existent Spirit, the Absolute Reality, Universal Self, Personal God, the sacred knowledge;" and  charya which means "occupation with, engaging, proceeding, behaviour, conduct, to follow, going after." This yama can mean an overall lifestyle that helps the pursuit of sacred knowledge and spiritual liberation. It is a means, not an end, and usually includes cleanliness, ashimsa, simple living, studies, meditation, voluntary restraints on certain diet, intoxicants and behaviors (including sexual behavior).

Wanna talk about the yamas? Come visit me in a class this week... I definitely have yamas on my mind. http://byomyoga.blogspot.com/p/calendar.html

Coming soon: the Ni-yamas (restraints of the self)

Customized Spring Flow

My yoga style is normally very Hatha oriented meaning we do individual poses with long(ish) holds and breathwork, then move to another related pose, etc. I'll add in sun salutations (in some circles called vinyasa flows) if the group is feeling energetic (or I am) or it seems appropriate, and add in creative offshoots, but these don't make up the whole of class.

This week I've been working out the kinks of a little personalized flow to build some heat in the body, open the hips, strengthen the ankles, work on balance (vestibular orientation as well as we change directions), and in general have a little fun.

Time the inhales and exhales as they suit you, one pose, one 1/2 breath cycle OR take multiple breaths in each pose and use a single inhale or exhale to transition with focus to the next:

1. Start at the top of the mat.
2. Lift arms overhead for urdva hastasana (arms overhead mountain pose)
3. Forward Fold (uttanasana)
4. 1/2 lift (ardha uttanasana)
5. Step back right leg to Ajenayasana (Lunge pose), Back foot on the toe, front knee aligned with with front toe, no further forward than the ankle. Hips face forward.

1. Swing right arm overhead, keep left knee as is, drop the right heel behind the right pinky toe and peel the body open into Warrior 2.

1. Sweep the right arm down and to the front, left the right heel and turn the hips forward returning to Lunge pose.
2. Repeat the Lunge pose/Warrior 2 transition two more times, staying aware of the foot position, the gentle pressing open of the hips, the lowering of the shoulders while the lower arms lift to the upper arms.
3. Pause the sequence in Warrior 2.
4. Turns the left toes to face the same directoin as the right, having the body come to "star pose" or prep for Prasarita Padatonasan (wide legged fold, but no fold). 
5. Bend into the knees gently, and then step the left leg to the right then hover the left leg off the ground (or knee at 90 degrees) for Eka Pada Tadasana (one legged mountain pose).
6. Slowly turn the left knee out, press the left foot into the right leg for Vrksasana (Tree pose), raising the arms if you'd like. Level out the hips, lengthen the waist, lift the crown of the head up while pressing the standing foot down and hugging core up and in to the midline.
7. Disconnect the left foot from the right leg, turn the knee back to the front, and gingerly step forward into a lunge again (you will be partly off the mat).
8. Repeat the sequence: Lunge pose, warrior 2 transitions 3x.
9. Pause in warrior 2
   
   
10. Turn the left foot to the same direction as the right.
11. Step the left leg to the right and hover the leg.
12. Turn the left leg open for tree pose
13. Take the left leg off the right this time and step back with the left leg starting back in lunge pose with the right leg in front. 
14. Repeat this sequence twice with the right leg in front, eventually turning 90 degrees toward the side again then 90 degrees back to the front. When you step to hover one leg it will be right leg stepping to the left this time.
15. From here, you can repeat the 1/2 sun salute (arm lift, forward fold, 1/2 left) and this time step back LEFT FOOT, repeating this same sequence with the left leg in back 2x, then switching once you have turned 1/2 way around to step the right foot back to bring you back to the front of the mat. 

At this it's up to you if you want to do a few sun salutations that include Chaturangas and down Dogs, building more heat for deeper or stronger poses like backbends, or other arm balances, or just pause, smoothing out the ragged edges of the breath, and preparing to slow down your practice.

Enjoy

Be Free

I am not someone that likes to be in photos. Not unlike many, I am hyper-critical of the way I come across in two-dimensions, and find it hard to look with loving eyes at my self in a static form. It's when I'm moving, interacting and breathing that I feel beautiful.

But sometimes, someone is able to capture the spirit of what you feel, when you aren't worried about what you look like. When you don't worry about smiling or "smizing" or how your teeth look or whether or nor you are sucking in your belly, or how your deodorant wore off a hour before. When you are just having fun being silly, among friends, a little self conscious but encouraged to be playful.

HP Hart (Good Eye Designs), a friend who has children that attend the same school as my son, is the resident photographer at the school, and captures amazing things with her lens. She is rarely without her camera, and she has an intuition about people and their expressions that goes beyond the image...far beyond.

I chose NOT to pose for her, and she caught me a little off guard just goofing around with a scarf. The yoga here is in the joy I felt allowing her to snap a few pics while I played, while I breathed, while I was FREE. Enjoy.

County Wellness & Lakeside Health Awareness Month

I want to give recognition to the hardworking folks at the California Health Network (founder Steve Lauria) for putting together the Lakeside Health Awareness Month and the Health Fair "It's How We Live" taking place this Saturday March 12 from 9-12 at Linda Lake Park.

You can view a video about this month's promotion here: https://www.facebook.com/CaliforniaHealthNetwork/videos/1234959753184102/

Learn more about the vendors that provide services in East County here: http://californiahealthnetwork.org/healthawarenessmonth

There are two other Health Fairs happening later this spring too:

It’s How We LiveSaturday, March 12
Lindo Lake County Park
9841 Vine Street, Lakeside
Ballfield right after the running event “Run for the Arts”
9 a.m. – 12 p.m.

It’s How We Live
Saturday, April 23
Spring Valley County Park8735 Jamacha Blvd., Spring Valley
10 a.m. – 2 p.m.

Fallbrook Health & Fitness Fair
Saturday, May 14
La Paloma Elementary School
300 Heald Lane, Fallbrook
9 a.m. – 1 p.m.

Thank you CHN for putting BYOMyoga on your list of vendors that provide services in East County - I'm proud to be one!