Happy Memorial Day!

It seems an oxymoron to wish someone a "Happy Memorial Day" if you know the true meaning of the holiday.  To most of us it is the unofficial start of summer.  It's when swimming pools open and we fire up the backyard barbecues.  While I hope you do enjoy this holiday weekend, I invite you to remember why we have this holiday: to remember those who have died in wars for our country.

Here's the background and history of Memorial Day:

Now observed on the last Monday of May, Memorial Day was originally known as Decoration Day and dates back to the years following the Civil War. At the time, groups would decorate the graves of Confederate and Union soldiers, a practice still acknowledged with people often visiting cemeteries to decorate veteran graves.

While the tradition existed throughout the U.S., in 1966 the federal government declared Waterloo, New York - which had commemorated the day since May 5, 1866 - the official birthplace of Memorial Day. In 1868, May 30 was set aside as a nationwide Decoration Day, with the date selected because it didn't correspond to the anniversary of any particular battle.

After World War I, the day became known to honor veterans of both the Civil War and the more recent conflict. It remained on May 30 until 1968, when Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, which established Memorial Day as the last Monday in May to create a three-day holiday for federal employees. The change went into effect in 1971, the same day Memorial Day was designated a federal holiday.

Namaste,

Karin

Dealing with Change

My mom and I in 2013

“Problems often occur because we are grasping onto something we want to keep or to keep from changing.”

As many of you know, my mother had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and had been in declining health over the last several years.  She passed away this past Friday.

It was ironic in that as much as I have prayed for her release from the ravages of this disease, it was hard when the final moment came for me to let go.  I wonder how hard it was for her to let go?   As one of my students wrote to me:  “One dreads this moment of deep loss and then, suddenly, you have to step through it.”

During this week and in the coming weeks I will be stepping through it.

Many of you have told me that my sharing my journey has helped some of you who may be on similar paths and conversely, many of you who have already been through the loss of your parents have helped me through this stage.  And I thank all of you for that.  As Ram Dass said, “We are all just walking each other home”.

This week, I walked my mother home.

Tolerations and My New Year’s Resolution to Give up Sugar and Alcohol

On January 1 this year I decided to give up sugar.  I quite frankly was tired of the yo-yoing effects I experienced when I ate sugar.  I would crave it, I’d eat too much, I’d feel kind of wired and scattered in my energy and then I would crash.  Then I would complain about how I didn’t like the way it made me feel, only to give in to the craving the next time.

I did the same thing with alcohol.  I liked to have a glass of wine every night with dinner.  Sometimes it would lead to 2 as my husband and I would relax and catch up with each other’s day.  After the dishes I would find that I was too tired and unfocused to get anything done.  The next day I would have some guilt about that.  Sometimes I would have trouble sleeping.  I would fall asleep pretty easily, but I would often wake up around 3:00 am.  That time, according to Chinese Medicine is when the Liver Meridian is most active.  Since alcohol is metabolized in the liver that seemed to make sense to me.  The next morning I would feel a little tired in the morning and not motivated to get up.  I would complain to my husband that I felt hung over.  He would tell me that I could not possibly be hung over on 2 glasses of wine that were drunk with a meal.  All I know is that I didn’t like how I felt when I woke up but that I would probably give in to the craving to have another glass of wine that night at dinner.

In November of 2016, I took a Vision Board Workshop about setting intentions and manifesting your dreams.  In the workshop, the teacher talked about things she called “Tolerations”.  These were things in your life that were a little out of whack, but you got so used to them that you just tolerated them.  They could be anything, like the light switch cover you forgot to put back up after the living room was painted and then you became accustomed to it and now you don’t even see it.  She also talked about the things you do that you don’t want to do and the things you don’t do that you should.  She said that all of these tolerations were undermining your efforts to shape your life the way you wanted it.

So, I decided to work on those things.

Sugar and alcohol were clearly big tolerations for me.  So, I gave them up.  So far, it hasn’t been too hard.  The third day was the worst when I had a mild headache all day long.  I knew it was a withdrawal reaction and that if I caved in, it would be all over.  I haven’t given up fruit, so I was able to appease my sweet tooth a little with a Clementine or two.

My main reasons for giving up sugar were to feel my best all of the time. I was also interested to see if what people say about giving up sugar is true: I will have less inflammation, my energy will be calmer and I won’t have to worry about my weight.  Not that I worried that much about my weight before, but I have noticed that I have had to be more careful about my weight after menopause.  I’ve been told that it will take about 6 months to feel some of these other effects.

But the most important reason for wanting to give up sugar is that it is implicated in many diseases, particularly Alzheimer’s.  Since my mother has Alzheimer’s and I have been witnessing the effects of this disease first hand, I will do whatever I can to make sure I don’t get it.

So far, it has been 15 days and I feel pretty good.  Last night was especially gratifying.  It was my birthday and friends had invited us over for dinner.  We stayed pretty late, later than I usually would have if I had drunk a glass of wine or two.  I did not feel sluggish.  I did not feel tempted to have any wine at all. (Often when I have a glass of wine, I get sleepy pretty easily.  Cheap date, I know!)   I got up early the next morning to take a yoga class and I felt great!   I was not sluggish at all.   My friends were also very supportive about my sugar abstinence.   Instead of birthday cake they made a giant fruit salad filled with raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, pineapple and all the good fruit that you usually don’t get enough of when you buy a fruit salad in a store or a restaurant.   They had ice cream to go with it.  Usually ice cream is my down fall.  But I knew that if I had any that it would unravel the whole thing, so I stayed content eating my fruit salad.

We’ll see how this goes.  My plan is to try to make it permanent, but my short goal is to get through January.   I have cut out all added sugar.  I do not eat cake, cookies, ice cream and such.  I haven’t changed all of the other things I am eating, yet.  There is sugar in the protein shake that I have in the morning.  I will either phase that out by eating more whole foods or, I will change it to a protein powder that has no sugar in it.   I was able to find a hemp protein powder that is pure hemp with no additives.    I don’t like the highly processed nature of the protein powder, but it has been part of my morning routine for a year now and it has worked for me.  Baby steps for now.  I will revisit the protein powder in the future.

I have a friend who does not eat any sugar and she has been very supportive.  She has applauded my efforts to go against the norm.  Sugar is so pervasive in our society that to not eat it feels like an act of rebellion.  The average American eats 66 pounds of sugar a year!  Sugar is addictive and its consumption contributes to obesity, diabetes, liver damage and heart disease.

I have found it helpful to re-read the book The Sugar Blues by William Dufty.  Hearing about how bad sugar is from an environmental, social and political point of view just reinforces my resolve.

Have you ever given up sugar?  If so, share your success.  If you want to join me, I will be happy to share my progress and all I am learning.

What do Aparigraha, minimalism, not eating sugar and the chakras have to do with writing your Personal Vision Statement?

I know of several people who shared with me that they were writing their Personal Vision Statements for 2017.  What I don’t know is how many of them are first timers or, how many Have done this before.  If you are a seasoned writer of vision statements, you may have been prepared for what happens when you open your statement and read it.  If this was your first time, it might have been challenging to read it.

Writing out a Personal Vision Statement is a lot like making a New Year’s Resolution.  Some people do it, but a lot don’t because there is a high rate of failure.  There is a lot of enthusiasm in new beginnings, we want to make positive changes in our lives, but sometimes making new habits stick is hard.

I have read a few blog posts about how difficult it can be to read a vision statement when some of the things you dreamed about didn’t happen.

In writing your Personal Vision Statement you are encouraged to aim high and see your life as you want it to be in your dreams.  When I opened my Personal Vision Statement from last year, I was pleasantly surprised about the things I did accomplish, but I have to admit I was pretty deflated by the things that did not happen.  There were some big dreams of mine that never got 1 millimeter off the ground.  Hmm…  But, as I always say, “There is a lesson or blessing in everything.”  So, what’s the lesson?  What’s the blessing?

Here’s the lesson:

I stumbled upon one of my favorite blog posts from 2014 called:  Warren Buffett's "2 List" Strategy: How to Maximize Your Focus and Master Your Priorities.  By James Clear.   The article shares one of the strategies Mr. Buffett uses to be successful.

The gist of the strategy is to make a list of the top 25 things you want to accomplish.  It could be career goals, household projects or anything.  After you make that list, you go through it and come up with the five most important tasks.  These are the things you need to focus on and accomplish.

What about the other list?

You get rid of it!

Wait, what?? 

I know!

It seems that a lot of us spin our wheels by spreading ourselves too thin.  Focusing on anything but our top five goals dilutes our efforts.  It causes us to be inefficient with our time and impedes our progress.

List #2 is not the list of things you do when you have a few extra minutes. It is the list of things to avoid at all costs.  These are often things that you do want to do, but they dilute your efforts at the other, more important things you want to do.  Those things pull at you, so you have to carefully avoid them.

In yoga there is a personal practice called Aparigraha which translates as non-hoarding.  Most people usually apply this to not hoarding things.  But the more you contemplate the meaning of non-hoarding you can apply it to many things:  you can hoard a conversation, by not giving others a chance to speak, you can hoard time by trying to get too many things done at one time and then causing yourself to be late.

Did you ever find yourself saying something that you know you didn’t mean?  Or, commit yourself to something you didn’t really want to do by talking too much?  In my 200 Hour Yoga Teacher Training we were talking about how important it is to be precise and careful with what you say.  One of the students shared an acronym that helps her with this:  WAIT – Why Am I Talking?

So, maybe in my Personal Vision statement I put down too much, or maybe I put down things that really weren’t important to me just like what happens when you talk too much and over commit to things.  Maybe those things are only “List #2” important and because I didn’t have enough time to go around, they just didn’t get done.  Maybe I should have made the two lists before writing my vision statement.  Was I hoarding goals and accomplishments?   Should I have focused on fewer things but spent more time on other things?

That’s the lesson I’m taking away from this experience: non-hoarding of goals and accomplishments!

What does this have to do with chakras and sugar?

The first chakra has to do with your tribe and where you came from.  It’s the group, or groups, you belong to.  When you are little, your group or family provides food, clothing and shelter, your basic needs.  If these weren’t provided for you, or there was any kind of instability in your early childhood, you may have fear and contraction in this area. When your first chakra is clear, you are secure in your ability to make it in the world.  Hoarding is a contraction in the first chakra; it’s not trusting in your ability to take care of yourself and have your basic needs met.

If you are curious about your chakras, I am offering a seven week workshop on the chakras starting this Thursday evening, January 13th, from 6:00 to 7:00 pm at the Treehouse.  We will cover one chakra each week.  This Thursday, we will discuss the first chakra.  You will learn about: its properties, how to recognize the energy of this center, how it influences your life by whether you have any unfinished business at this level and how it affects the choices you make.  You will learn about the chakras through asana, journaling, meditation and breath work.

I have been slow to learn about chakras.  I’ve had some resistance to working with something that I cannot see:  energy centers aligned along the spine?   But, I have taken some courses on the subject that have powerfully influenced me.  I am a firm believer in gravity although I cannot see it, either!

One of the things I know about working with energy is that there are a lot of things that affect my energy.   What I eat influences my energy; sugar being one of the strongest energy disrupters.  My plan, as I dive deeper into these energy centers, is to fine tune my own energy to become more adept at sensing it without interference.  I have given up sugar.  If you are interested in working with your energy, I recommend that you pay attention to your energy and take care of and cultivate your energy through good food choices, adequate exercise and sleep, as well as working on your mental and emotional states.

As I craft my Personal Vision Statement for 2017, I will start off by making two lists and carefully selecting the 5 most important things to work on for the year.  I will be working on improving my health through better diet and continued exercise.  And I will be working with the energy of my chakras to find balance and remove the obstacles in my path!

What will you be doing for 2017?   Join me either in the giving up of sugar or in learning about the chakras. 

Om Gum Ganapatayei Namaha 
(The chant to Ganesh, the remover of obstacles)

7 Steps to Get Younger Every Year

An article in the November issue of AARP Magazine about how to be "Younger Every Year" caught my eye. I liked their advice and the fact that they covered three main areas: physical exercise, diet and emotions, but I still thought it was incomplete.  Here is their list of the 7 Steps to Getting Younger Every Year:

1. Exercise six days a week for the rest of your life.

2. Do serious aerobic exercise four days a week for the rest of your life.

3. Do serious strength training, with weights, two days a week for the rest of your life.

4. Spend less than you make.

5. Quit eating crap!

6. Care.

7. Connect and commit.

And here is my take on it:

1. Exercise six days a week for the rest of your life.

   • Being active is important.  We all know that if we don’t use it we will lose it.  Exercise has been shown to be beneficial for cardiovascular health, muscle building, balance, bone density, mood elevation and maintaining memory.  Definitely do this!

   • AARP recommends 4 days a week of aerobics and 2 days of weight training.

2. Do serious aerobic exercise four days a week for the rest of your life.

   • The recommendation is to do 45 minutes of aerobic exercise a day four days a week.

   • Aerobic exercise changes your blood chemistry and makes it less acidic, which means more anti-inflammatory.

   • It reduces you’re your risk of heart disease and some cancers by 50%.

   • It reduces your risk of Alzheimer’s by 40%

   • There are many forms of aerobic exercise to choose from: bike, jog, swim, hike,...    The important thing is to choose some form that you like to do and get out there and do it.  Put it into your calendar and commit to doing it!  You might want to read the book Better than Before by Gretchen Rubin or The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg to help you commit to healthier habits.

3. Do serious strength training, with weights, two days a week for the rest of your life.

   • While aerobics keeps you alive and moving, strength training offers you a better quality of life.  Without strength training you lose 10% of your muscle mass per decade after age 40.  You suffer the same loss of bone density.  This means that by age 60 you have trouble getting out of a deep chair!

   • I love to lift weights, but not a lot of yogis do.  I find that lifting weights enhances my yoga experience and vice versa.

   • Get an app on your phone to create workouts, get a trainer at the gym, do free weights, machines, bands or body weights.  Do something!

4. Spend less than you make.

   • Overspending creates stress!  Live within your means, or, as the comedian Kevin Hart says, “Stay in your own lane.”  Don’t try to keep up with anyone else.

5. Quit eating crap!

   • I love the AARP article on this one.  It says, “Don’t eat crap!  We all know what crap is.  Just don’t eat it!”

   • Crap is also defined as “dead food”.  This is food that has no nutrients.  It is called dead because refining takes out almost all of the vitamins, minerals and fiber.  It’s tasty, digestible and you can eat a lot of it without feeling full. But since it is lacking nutrients it is not fueling our bodies.  It can make us fat and sick.

6. Care, connect and commit.

   • We are social animals.  We need other people and we need to feel needed and connected.  Work on your friendships, they matter more as we age.  Get a pet to love and take care of if you are an animal lover.  Make time for your friends and family.  Volunteer.

7. Meditate and relax.

   • Our lives are stressful.  And for a lot of people the stress never turns off.  Yoga, working out, being with friends, having a dog or cat that loves you and meditation practices can’t take away the stress of modern life, but these activities can create a pause in the stress of your day.  Often, that pause is all we need to break the cycle of stress and let our natural endorphins and hormones take over and heal our bodies.

   • 20 minutes, twice a day is what is recommended for meditation or relaxation.  There are apps you can use for meditation, or you can just set a timer on your phone and put your feet up for twenty minutes!

Three Steps to Crafting a Personal Vision Statement

What do you want to do or be when you grow up?  It is a question my 18 year old hears often.  He says he feels the stress of trying to decide his major.  But, as adults, do we ever hear that?  Or think about that?  In my parent’s generation you worked for one company and retired with a good pension, but that doesn’t happen anymore.  Most adults have a couple of career changes.  How many of us are still doing what we went to college for?  Can we reinvent ourselves? And if so, what is it that we want to do?  We can bump along in our jobs and keep doing the same thing, one year blending into the next.  Or, can we steer our ship and create different adventures?

This is where a personal vision statement comes in.  I am often inspired by Oprah Winfrey.  I remember reading somewhere about how the poem “Invictus” by William Ernest Henley inspired her:

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

 Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul. 

To become the master of your fate and the captain of your soul takes vision, planning and chutzpah!

First step: Personal Research

Your personal vision statement captures what you want to be, do, feel, think, associate with, and have an impact on by some date in the future. It is closely aligned with your most important, or core, values. Use the value identification exercise to guide you through this process. Think about your personal vision statement as a personal development strategy.

It's good to create or revise the "personal vision" you have for your life periodically.  Your goals and values will change as you change and age.  What motivated you at twenty will probably be different from what motivates you at 60.   A compelling vision can help you succeed and be more satisfied with your life.

Importance of Having a Personal Vision

Numerous experts on leadership and personal development emphasize how vital it is for you to craft your own personal vision for your life. Warren Bennis, Stephen Covey, Peter Senge, and others point out that a powerful vision can help you succeed far beyond where you'd be without one. That vision can propel you and inspire those around you to reach their own dreams. I've learned in my own life and in working as a psychologist that if you don't identify your vision, others will plan and direct your life for you. I've worked with too many individuals who late in their lives said, "If only. . . ." You don't have to be one of them.

Senge defines vision as what you want to create of yourself and the world around you. What does your vision include? Making a vital change in an area such as health, technology, or the environment? Raising happy, well-adjusted children? Writing a book? Owning your own business? Living on a beach? Being very fit and healthy? Visiting every continent? Helping others with their spiritual development? What are you good at? What do you love to do? What aren't you good at now, but you'd like to be? All of these important questions are part of identifying your personal vision.

Use the following Value Identification Exercises to think through and start to craft your personal vision. It's adapted from many sources and should prompt you to think and dream. Find a place without distractions such as a quiet table at a restaurant. Answer as many of the questions as possible, and discuss your responses with someone you trust.

First Step - Value Identification Exercises

• What are the things I really enjoy doing?

• What brings me happiness and joy?

• What were your two best moments of the past week?  Why?

• How can I incorporate more of that into my life?

• Three things I would do if I won the Lottery:

• Issues or causes I feel deeply about?

Circle your most important values:

• Having integrity

• Spirituality

• Being fit and healthy

• Having a nice home and belongings

• Leaving the world a better place

• Having fun

• Learning and improving myself

• Making others' lives easier or more pleasant

• Enjoying my family

• Others? (Add your own)

Things I can do at the good or excellent level:

What I’d like to stop doing, or do as little as possible:

Did any of these questions trigger some ideas about what you'd like to be doing with your life? If so, keep thinking about the questions and your answers, and continue your personal research.

Identifying your strengths

It's now time to pull together your research and write a Personal Vision Statement. Your vision must be unique and appropriate for you, so I offer the following Personal Vision Statement only as an example:

I am more physically fit, almost finished with my formal education, actively involved in two close personal relationships, meditating regularly, having fun every day, and making at least 75% as much money as before doing work that I love.

Notice in this sample that the person included several areas of life (physical, intellectual, social, spiritual, emotional, and career). It's a picture of how the person sees himself/herself and is written in the present tense.

Use the following tool to synthesize what you've learned about yourself and to write your own statement.

Second Step – These are the main things that motivate me, bring me joy and satisfaction.

My greatest strengths, abilities, traits, things that I do best are:

At least two things that I can start doing, or do more often that use my strengths and bring me joy are:

Something that I need to work on or improve upon that would serve me:

Things that I need to let go of or delegate: 

Third Step – Crafting Your Vision

There are a couple of rules to follow for writing your personal vision statement

Always state things in the present moment as if they are already true.

See yourself in that situation.  What are you wearing/ What is your hair like?  What is the geographical setting? What time of day is it?  Who are you with?  What does the air smell like. Engage all of your senses to make the scene as realistic and believable as possible.

Extrapolate outward.  How does your doing your vision impact the world around you?  How does it make the world a better place?

Dare to dream big.  Experts in this field say that most people dream too small.   Reach for the stars! 

What to do with your Vision Statement

Seal you Vision Statement and put it somewhere where you will find it in December of 2017.  I taped mine to the December page of my calendar.  Open it on December 1st, of next year and read it!  You may be astonished at everything that happened over the year.  Some things may not have happened, but that is ok.  Reflect on those things and see if they are what you really wanted, or you just thought you wanted, or thought you “should” want.  Then after some contemplation, start the process over again.  Revise, rewrite and reimagine!  Here’s to your best year, yet!

Learning to Relax.

The pose of the month for December is Savasana.  That does not mean that we will spend the entire class in Savasana.  Just like every other pose of the month, we will spend maybe 10 or 15 minutes working on the featured pose.   (And, if you are lucky, you will get a lovely Savasana assist by yours truly!)

So what do we need to work on in Savasana?  Aren’t we just supposed to relax and do nothing?  Absolutely, but how many of us can do so?  I know many students who cannot stay for Savasana.  They don’t see the value in “doing nothing”.

But relaxation is so important, it breaks the stress cycle.  We all know how stress is bad for our body and immune system. (You can read about how harmful stress is for your body here.)  While we cannot avoid stress in our lives, we can take steps to promote relaxation and Savasana is one of those ways.

We live in a high stress society.  I am amazed at how many people cannot relax.

All during class I am cueing, cajoling and encouraging my students to engage this, or straighten that, or hug towards the midline, or extend out.  When we finally get to the end, it is time to relax and let go.  Often a strong and sweaty practice is conducive to letting go.  But, I am surprised at how much tension some students can still be holding onto in their bodies during Savasana.

Sometimes during final relaxation, I will go around and adjust a few people. I usually let people know I will be doing this so I don’t startle anyone (and I allow people to opt out).   I approach them quietly and touch them gently before lifting their arm up and slowly wiggling it.  If they are relaxed, the arm should move like the empty sleeve of a jacket.  But more often than not, the arm comes up rigidly and the person moves the arm with me, anticipating which way I am going to wiggle it.  Some students are unconsciously helping me, even though I tell them I don’t want them to help.  It is not unusual for the arm to stay up in the air even after I have let go of it.  When I quietly tell the person that if they were relaxed, the arm would not stay up in the air by itself, they often smile and let the arm down.  Then I begin again.  I ask students to “let go”, to “play dead”, “relax”.  Some people simply cannot do it right away.  It takes practice.  We are so used to being on guard, to protecting ourselves from being taken advantage of, of not allowing ourselves to be vulnerable.  The result is that we cannot let go.

I discovered what I need to do is to prepare people for relaxation; to tell them at the beginning of class what they need to do at the end, to describe what I see and feel in people’s bodies when they are tense.  This seems to help a lot.  In a society that values doing over being, we need instructions on how to relax.

Here are some tips on how to relax:

1. Plan a place and time to relax (if this is done outside of your regular yoga class.) Showing up is 80% of the work!

2. Determine the amount of time you have to relax and set a timer. It is easier to relax when you know how much time you are willing to give.

3. Make yourself comfortable. You should be lying down on the floor.  Place a blanket under you if the floor is hard and you are not on carpet.  Use blankets, bolsters or pillows to support your body in away way to insure you stay comfortable.

4. Make sure you are warm. As you lay still you will feel cooler than when you were moving, particularly if you were sweaty.  Put on an extra shirt, socks or even cover yourself with a blanket.

5. Use an eye pillow, if you like, or cover your eyes with something like the sleeve of a shirt or a hand towel. This does two things for you: First, it creates darkness which is more conducive to relaxing.  Second, it weighs the eyes down and helps to keep them from moving around.  (You don’t need something heavy on the eyes, just a gentle suggestion of weight.) Eye movement stimulates the brain and we want the brain to slow down as part of the process of relaxing.

6. Commit to stillness. Sometimes when I lay down for Savasana I may feel as if I am too fidgety to relax and all of a sudden I have these itches and twitches and urges to move.  90% of the time, if I ignore these urges, they will go away.  It seems that they are the mind’s resistance to staying still.  The mind wants to be stimulated.  If I am able to resist movement I begin to relax.  Now, 10% of the time, you may actually have to scratch that itch, move your leg or grab another pillow.  You have to use common sense here, but don’t be fooled by your restless, monkey mind or you will never be able to relax.

If you don't have the time or inclination to relax at home make sure you come to class during the month of December to work on it.  You’ll be glad you did!

Come on!  I know what you really come to class for:

I’ll see you in class!

Karin

Cultivating an Attitude of Gratitude

Several years ago I developed a daily gratitude practice.  I wanted to shift things in my life.  Somehow I knew I had a good life, or even a great life, but I found myself complaining a lot about things. I felt dissatisfied somehow.  I began to see that I was focusing on those things that were going wrong in my life, rather than what was going right.

Back in November 2013, I was waiting in line at the grocery store and I picked up O magazine.   I have always loved Oprah's article called "What I Know for Sure" which is on the last page of the magazine.   In this particular article she wrote about how much her gratitude practice helped her.  I remember thinking that Oprah, who seemed to have everything, had to practice being grateful???  But she did.  And, so, I thought that if it was good enough for her, then maybe I should give it a try.

I keep a journal by my bedside and write in it every night 5 things I am grateful for.  That was the beginning in a big shift in my attitude.  Sometimes I am grateful for the same things every night: my husband, my son, my house.  Sometimes I am grateful for the simplest things:  my car starts every morning when I turn the key, I have hot water, I don't have a tooth ache.  The act of being grateful points the way to other things that I am grateful for and so my life changes from feeling somewhat vaguely discontented to realizing how wonderful my life truly is!

One of the things I am enormously grateful for is my job.  I love teaching yoga and I love my students.  In one of my teacher training sessions, one of my students, who also shared a love of Oprah, shared a book with me:  29 Gifts by Cami Walker.

Here is the description of the book from Amazon:

"At age thirty-five, Cami Walker was burdened by an intensified struggle with multiple sclerosis, a chronic neurological disease that left her debilitated and depressed. Then she received an uncommon “prescription” from South African healer Mbali Creazzo: Give away 29 gifts in 29 days.

29 Gifts is the insightful story of the author's life change as she embraces and reflects on the naturally reciprocal process of giving. Many of Walker's gifts were simple—a phone call, spare change, a Kleenex. Yet the acts were transformative. By Day 29, not only had Walker's health and happiness improved, but she had created a worldwide giving movement. 29 Gifts shows how a simple, daily practice of altruism can dramatically alter your outlook on the world."

Check out the 29 gifts website here.

The book details the "prescription" given to Cami by Mbali Creazzo which I wrote about here.

I know that Thanksgiving is the time of the year that we are already supposed to be be thankful.  So, I thought it would be a good idea to take this time to cultivate an "Attitude of Gratitude" that lasted for more than one day.  You might feel that with the beginning of the holiday season that you are already worried about what you are "getting" other people.  But I encourage you to think about these gifts differently.  A gift could be: a compliment, a hug, giving somebody something you already have (but maybe don't use) that you know they would want.

Mbali writes about how the prescription of giving for 29 days changed her life.  She says:  "When I am in service to another person, I am moving from a place of self-centeredness to selflessness.  The act of giving inherently carries gratitude in it.  For me, it is impossible to give without feeling grateful."

Maybe the timing is not quite right for you to begin giving 29 gifts right now.  If it isn't,  wait until you have read the book.  Maybe you start in the new year, as I did on January 4th of last year.  If you do this practice, I guarantee it will cause a shift in your perspective and may very well change your life.

I leave you with my favorite quote about gratitude.  I read this every Thanksgiving to my classes and at my own Thanksgiving dinner table:

“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.” - Melody Beattie

If you embark on this mission, please share your experiences below.  May you have a wonderful holiday filled with gratitude for all the blessings in your life!

Namaste,

Karin

Yoga Lifestyle: Self Care Rituals – Abhyanga or oil-massage

As the weather begins to get cooler, I begin my daily practice of Abhyanga.  My skin gets very dry in the winter when the humidity drops and we turn the heat on. I used to get painful cracks in my fingers until I learned this Ayurvedic technique:  Abhyanga is a Sanskrit word that means "oil massage".  It is a form of Ayurvedic medicine that involves massage of the body with warm oil. The oil can be pre-medicated with herbs for specific conditions.

I do this every morning before I take a shower.

• First I take my bottle of oil* and I put it in a sink of hot water to warm it.  While the oil is warming I begin a dry rubbing of my body to increase circulation and remove dead skin cells which helps the oil to soak in.

• Using exfoliating gloves, I rub down my whole body.  I use rather vigorous long back and forth strokes on the arms and legs and gentler circular movements on the face, chest, knees, shoulders, neck and belly.  While I am doing this I pay attention to my body and send it lots of love.  I appreciate all that my body does for me on a daily basis that I usually take for granted.**  Don’t forget your feet!

• Then I pour out a bit of oil on my hands and rub it into my body. If I am washing my hair, I will massage my scalp first, but I often skip this step on days that I don’t wash my hair.  I put oil on all parts of my body using the same strokes that I used for the dry rubbing; long straight strokes on the limbs and circular motions on the other body parts.  I do my face first and work my way down, doing my hands and feet last. (I am careful not to get oil on the bottoms of my feet.  That would make it very slippery and dangerous as I step into the shower.) As I massage each part, I mentally thank each body part for doing its job and for moving me through my world.  If I have any part of my body that is injured or just feels like it needs a little TLC, I send a little extra love to that particular spot.**

• If I have time, I will sit for a few minutes and allow the oil to soak in. This is a good time to nourish my physical self with thoughts of gratitude for all the things mybody does for me.  **  On most work days I practice feeling gratitude for my body while I am dry-rubbing and massaging the oil in.  I usually let the oil soak in while I brush my teeth.

• Then I turn on the shower and get in.  I allow the water to run over my body, but I only use soap on the essential parts.

• When finished I pat myself dry and get dressed.  My body feels warm, well loved and lightly moisturized.

According to the Charaka Samhita Vol. 1, V:88-89 (One of the great texts of Ayurveda):

“The body of one who uses oil massage regularly does not become affected much even if subjected to accidental injuries, or strenuous work. By using oil massage daily, a person is endowed with pleasant touch, trimmed body parts and becomes strong, charming and least affected by old age”

*About the oil

In my early studies of anatomy I remember learning that the skin is the largest organ in the body.  I was taught that it will absorb whatever you put on it.  My teacher told us that if you rub a clove of garlic on your foot it will give you garlic breath!  She suggested that you never put anything on your skin that you would not put into your mouth.  The only moisturizer I use on my skin is oil from my pantry.  I have used extra virgin olive oil, sesame oil and coconut oil.  I like to use coconut oil in the summer time as it feels lighter on my skin.  I often scent my body oil with a  few drops of lavender essential oil.

There are different oils you should use depending on your dosha or constitution: If you are vata use sesame, almond or olive oil;  for pitta coconut, almond or sunflower; for kapha use sesame, safflower or corn.  (To find out your dosha you can take this quiz.)

Besides preventing dry, cracked skin in the winter, there are other benefits of abhyanga:

1. Nourishes the entire body—decreases the effects of aging

2. Imparts muscle tone and vigor to the dhatus (tissues) of the body

3. Imparts a firmness to the limbs

4. Lubricates the joints

5. Increases circulation

6. Stimulates the internal organs of the body

7. Assists in elimination of impurities from the body

8. Moves the lymph, aiding in detoxification

9. Increases stamina

10. Calms the nerves

11. Benefits sleep—better, deeper sleep, especially if you do abhyanga at night right before bed

12. Enhances vision

13. Makes hair (scalp) grow luxuriantly, thick, soft and glossy

14. Softens and smoothens skin; wrinkles are reduced and disappear

15. Pacifies Vata and Pitta and stimulates Kapha.

**The part about appreciating your body is an important step in your daily self-care.  All too often we take our body for granted.  If we get injured, rather than listening to our bodies, we often get impatient and aggravated.  Our bodies have a miraculous ability to heal.  Sometimes, all we need to do for this to happen is to allow it to happen and appreciate it.

Our bodies are always sending us messages.  In her book Healing Consciousness, OB-Gyn and Breast Oncologist Dr. Beth Dupree talks about how our bodies are often communicating with us.  We will often get subtle impressions and inklings or sudden urges or instincts to act on something, or not to act.  If we listen to these urges, they tend to guide us. If we ignore these messages, they will become stronger and more insistent until one day they “hit us upside the head with a 2 x 4”.  These events are usually major health crises.  I recommend that you use abhyanga as a means to love your body and to get in touch with the subtle messages it is sending you.

What is yoga?

Is it exercise? Religion? Lifestyle?

I originally got into yoga for the physical aspects. I was told that it would help me relax, and it did. I liked the way I felt after a yoga practice—calmer, certainly, but also more flexible and stronger, too.

In the yoga studio where I first started practicing, there were these printed signs around the ceiling: Ahimsa, Asteya, Satya, Aparigraha, Brahmacarya, Saucha, Santosha, Tapas, Svadhyaya, Ishvara Parnidhana ... I remember vaguely wondering what they meant but ultimately I did not care enough to inquire until several years later.

Eventually I learned that these were the first two steps on the path to yoga: the Yamas, or how you act in the world and how you treat others, and the Niyamas, or observances and practices that you do for yourself. I also learned that while the yoga poses were a doorway inside of yourself, these Yamas and Niyamas were the real tools that helped you be calmer and more content in your life.

It seems that I followed the natural progression of most people in yoga of starting with the physical when you are young and moving toward the more philosophical as you age. (I was in my early 20s when I started.) As a general rule, as people get older, they tend to turn more inward, becoming more philosophical.

Over the years, I have become more interested in the other steps on the path to yoga other than just asana. There are eight of these steps. The first two are the "Yamas" and the "Niyamas." The third is "Asana," which is what we practice as Hatha Yoga, and then "Pranayama," or breath work.

The next four steps are about turning inward. This was probably the real reason I wanted to get into yoga, but I just didn't know it. It took many years to get here. Like most people, I resisted these steps.  I just wanted to do the poses.  These four steps start with "Pratyahara," or withdrawal of the senses. This is the ability to not be swayed so much by our senses; to not be affected as much by attachment and aversion, which is often the cause of suffering. The next step is "Dharana," or concentration. If you can control your senses, then you can concentrate. It is hard to concentrate when you are being pulled by different likes and dislikes. After you develop the ability to concentrate, then comes meditation or "Dhyana."

Meditation isn't something you do; it is a state that can be entered into after controlling the senses and developing your ability to concentrate. When you can keep your concentration and stay in the present moment, without worrying about the past or being anxious about the future, you might be able to enter into a state of "Samadhi." This is the last step on the ladder of yoga. It is often called Bliss, which can be misleading. It is more like a calm and connected state. While Joy is part of Samadhi, it is not the joy of winning the lottery. It is more of an inward contentment and sense of connection with the world around you. Most yoga practitioners experience brief states of Samadhi. Maybe you have, too, and just didn't know what it was.

If you are ready to learn more about yoga, it might be time for you to sign up for an immersion experience. I recommend that you start with the Foundations Module of my Yoga Teacher Training Program. You don't need to want to become a teacher to take this module. This first step is simply to learn more about yoga. You will learn how to develop your own home practice. I will introduce you to Pranayama, or breathing exercises. We will begin to develop habits that lead toward meditation. We will also contemplate the Yamas and the Niyamas, the practices that lead to more happiness and contentment in your life.

Contact me to find our more about teacher training.