Aug 24, 2012 |
If you’ve come to one of my yoga classes, you know that I continually make reminders to be present, let the mind go so you can focus on the union of the body and the breath, coming into the essence of what yoga is all about.
Of course, being present isn’t always the easiest thing to do. So, if you need an extra little reminder to take you to that place of calm, you might want to check out the line of simple and super comfortable yoga clothing by a company aptly named – Be Present.
Their cute lotus-themed logo can be found on most of the pieces, and when I wear mine and get a peek of that logo as I fold forward into uttanasana, it always give me a subtle reminder to stay present in my practice.
The cool folks at Be Present recently sent me two pieces of clothing from their line, and I wore them this summer when I taught yoga and also attended classes.
I have to say that I absolutely love the Modal Racerback Tank they sent. I’d never heard of modal, but this fabric feels silky and soft on the skin, and it fits tightly around the waist. I like the unique detail of the gathered racerback, and the ruching in the front provides a very flattering fit (especially if you want to hide your belly).
When I first tried on the Mobility Pant, I felt more like I should be taking off for an African safari than going to teach a yoga class. But, these pants are so comfortable, and that long side slit provided a nice breeze up my legs as I taught on the beach on hot summer days. I can see myself lounging around in these on a lazy Saturday afternoon as well.
Here are a couple of cool things you need to know about Be Present:
- All their clothes are made in the USA.
- They are a small, family-owned business that follows environmentally friendly practices.
- The colors for their line are inspired by the colors of the chakras. (Humm, they sent me my Mobility pants in purple, the color of the crown chakra, associated with wisdom and the spiritual world. I like that and feel very wise when I wear them!)
- Their clothing is perfect both off and on the yoga mat, and they have great styles for men too.
ENTER TO WIN A FREE PAIR OF MOBILITY PANTS
To help celebrate my blogiversary/birthday week here at The Daily Downward Dog, Be Present is offering a pair of FREE Mobility pants to one lucky DDD reader. To enter, please do one of the following:
Like Be Present on Facebook
Follow Be Present on Twitter
Check out their clothes at www.bepresent.com – especially their new VOTE shirts!
Then leave a comment below and let me know a technique you use to help yourself to be present either on or off the yoga mat. I’m hoping to pick up a few tips from all of you, and if you struggle with presence of mind be sure to browse through the comments!
The deadline to leave a comment and officially enter this giveaway is Friday, August 28th at noon, when one winner will be randomly pulled from a hat. The winners will be announced here and also on The Daily Downward Dog’s Facebook page. Giveaway is open to U.S. residents only.
If you’re feeling a little love in your heart, please tweet or share this giveaway on Facebook or with a friend.
I’m going to purchase this shirt below to serve as an extra reminder to my students to BE PRESENT!
Wear Be Present to be in the moment, to live!
Aug 22, 2012 |
Forget about the terrible twos. On August 20, the Daily Downward Dog hit its 2-year mark, and I’m here to tell you that the twos are not going to be terrible—they are going to be awesome!
I was feeling a bit nostalgic on this auspicious occasion, so I spent the afternoon with my baby taking a little walk down memory lane to review all my posts over the last year. I wanted to do a little exploration of where I’ve been and also set some goals for the coming year.
The main thing that struck me as I looked back on the previous year – I’ve had a kick-ass year of cool yoga experiences! It’s easy to forget sometimes, so this little exercise was very beneficial. For those of you who are new to The Daily Downward Dog (welcome), and for you loyal readers (thank you), I thought you might enjoy a few highlights of the past year in the life of Daily Downward Dog.
Yoga + Travel = Following My Bliss – This past year I got to combine two of my biggest passions: Travel and Yoga. I got to attend beach yoga classes provided by 3rd Street Beach Yoga in South Beach (Miami), Florida, join a Vedic chant class with Cheryl Hall in Scottsdale, Arizona, take one of the best yoga classes in my life with Dana Flynn of Laughing Lotus Yoga at the New York Yoga Journal Conference, hang from a wall in supta baddha konasana at Blissful Yoga in Phoenix, and practice for three days straight on the beach in Santa Monica with Kia Miller, Shiva Rea, and Seane Corne (to name just a few) at the stellar Tadasana Festival. I still have so many pictures and stories to tell from the NY Yoga Journal Conference and Tadasana Festival, so look for those posts to come in the next few months. One of my dreams is to combine my passions for yoga and travel together into my work, so you will be reading more about my traveling yoga adventures in the year to come!
Virgin Experiences – I had to open the confession booth a few times this past year to kiss and tell about my virgin experience with Bikram yoga and to reveal the explosive story of my first encounter with magic mushroom juice, aka kombucha.
Flying High – Yeah, yoga gets me high, and this year I went to new heights – literally – when I tried aerial yoga at Ra Yoga studio in Phoenix and a little Thai and Fly Acro yoga at Tadasana Festival. I’m still waiting for the call from the folks over at Circque du Soleil to recruit me, but until then I’ll keep practicing.
Hanging out with Kathryn Budig
When You’re Ready, the Teacher Will Come to Ohio – I will always be ready for more yoga teachings, and this past year several opportunities to study with some of the best yoga instructors in the world were available to me right here in Ohio! Last September I spent three days studying with Rodney Yee at Yoga High in Columbus, learned how to let go of fear and embrace love with Kathryn Budig at Evolution Yoga in Beachwood, brushed up on my yoga anatomy with Gina Schatz, and practiced yoga with Cora Wen at Nishkama Yoga in Cleveland. This coming September I am thrilled to be attending workshops with Eric Schiffman at Yellow Springs Yoga and Doug Keller through Namaste Yoga Studio in Brecksville, Ohio.
Finding My Voice – Over this summer, I hit the 500-hour yoga teaching mark. I still have so much to learn, but one thing that I have noticed is that I have really started to come into my own voice when I teach. It seems that I can find yogic inspiration everywhere, and I take these experiences and weave them into my yoga class themes. Throughout the year I shared many of these themes, and here are a few of my favorites:
Top Thrill Yoga
Plenty of Fast Out There
Seven Steps to Happiness
Santosha
Yoga…You Don’t Have to Be Good At It
P-R-A-C-T-I-C-E
DJ Drez at Tadasana Festival
Navigating New Musical Horizons – Over the past year I changed the tune of the music I play in my studio yoga classes. I have cut back on using mainstream songs with lyrics and am focusing on upbeat current yoga musicians like MC Yogi, C.C. White, and DJ Drez – all of whom played music live while I practiced yoga at the Tadasana Festival. There is a ton of cool yoga music out there, and I’ll continue to feature and review it on the Cool Yoga Music page.
The Power of Intentions – I really could be a poster girl for setting intentions. This past year I made a vision board and practiced what I preached in my post about the Top 10 Yoga Intentions. One of my intentions was to get to a yoga festival, and I was able to manifest that dream when I won tickets to Tadasana Festival. Put those intentions out there, my friends, and believe, because the universe really does want to deliver your dreams.
Beach Yoga Bliss – What can I say, I spent the entire summer doing what I love: teaching yoga on the beach with the coolest yoga playlist ever – the sound of the waves – and backdrops courtesy of the sunset. You can’t find a better summer job, and you can’t find students cooler than the ones I have in Vermilion. My only wish is that the summers were just a bit longer in Ohio.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNxuCvVa7Vg[/youtube]
15 Seconds of Fame – The DDD got some media attention this summer when my beach yoga classes were featured on the Fox 8 New Day Cleveland show and were also captured on film to be part of The Goddess Project documentary being produced by goddess visionary filmmakers Holli Thomas and Sara Landas.
Finding My Seva – I had been looking for an organization to support as part of my seva efforts and am thrilled to have hooked up with Girls With Sole, where I teach yoga to at-risk teenage girls. Actually, they are the ones who teach me about courage, strength, and overcoming obstacles. Through the power of Twitter, I was also introduced to the Street Yoga organization and got to attend their Street Yoga teacher training. Why not try a little karmic yoga this year? I can tell you how first hand how good it feels to give back and serve others.
The DDD Makes a Top 10 List – Just as the DDD’s birthday approached, I got one of the nicest presents ever: being named one of the Top 10 Yoga blogs of 2012 by DoYouYoga.com. It was nice to be recognized along with a group of fellow bloggers that I highly respect.
My Favorite Yoga Moments – Two yoga moments stand out for me. The first is when I stood totally blissed out in tadasana on a beach in Florida in January and was so moved that I cried. The second, which I never wrote about, occurred at a Thai yoga massage couples class that I attended around Valentine’s Day with my husband. I’m always trying to get my husband onto the yoga mat, so this was a special evening for us to practice together. At the end of class I was sitting in front of him in his embrace as we chanted om together, and I felt for the very first time the warm vibration of his om connecting to my heart.
These last 12 months have also seen awesome increases in site traffic and in followers on Twitter and Facebook, so I’m sending out a big birthday HUG and KISS to everyone who stopped by and showed their support. I love hearing from you, and please know that one of the nicest gifts you can give to a blogger is to leave a comment from time to time to share your experience and knowledge, provide feedback, or just to say hello.
Thanks for making this past year so incredible, and here’s to the awesome TWOs!!
Birthday Cake illustration: Billy Alexander
Aug 16, 2012 |
I’m really lucky in that I’m blessed with an awesome group of girlfriends. I recently had a bunch of them come to visit me for a girls’ weekend and invited them to bring along their yoga mats if they wanted to catch one of my beach yoga classes.
Here is how one of my friends replied to the invite. “Hi gang, sorry for the delay in responding. I was busy getting a note from my doctor stating it’s in the best interest of all that I not participate in yoga due to I may scare everyone and look like a jackass trying.”
Her response made us all chuckle, and to be honest, I’m sure that is what a lot of people want to say to me when I encourage them to give yoga a try. There just seems to be this notion out there that you have to be young, skinny, and super bendy to practice yoga. The truth could not be further away.
Yoga is for everyone!
When my friend arrived, she told me that she really was curious about yoga and wanted to give it a try. I assured her that everyone in class is there to support her, not laugh at her, and as long as she promised to not crack jokes throughout that she should just come to class with an open beginner’s mind and give it a try.
I love teaching a class when I have friends or family members attending, and the class she attended was so much fun to make eye contact with my gal pals during class and see them smiling right back at me.
After class, my friend told me how relaxed she felt and how yoga could be a great stress-reliever for her. She also admitted that the class was harder physically than she thought it would be and that she “cheated” in class. I was quick to set her straight, because in my mind, there is no such thing as cheating in yoga class. If you can’t do a pose and make a modification to allow your body some ease and comfort, you are doing the wisest thing a yogini can do – you are honoring your body.
If you’ve been straightening a leg in Virabhadrasana II (warrior 2) because your thigh is quivering, or coming down on your knees in plank pose, that is not cheating. That is the most beautiful thing you can do for your body. The strength will come, and the flexibility will come, all in due time. In the meantime, stop beating yourself up, keep breathing, and make the modifications you need to flow through your yoga practice safely.
Don’t cheat yourself – give yoga a try!
Aug 8, 2012 |
It’s summer, and one of my favorite things to do is go see James Taylor perform live at an outdoor venue. I didn’t make it to his concert this year, so instead I pulled out my James Taylor greatest hits albums to get my JT fix. And, like most things in my life these days, James inspired me in a yogic way. I have used many James Taylor songs in my yoga class playlists (“Shower the People,” “You’ve Got a Friend”), and now I am deeming “Up On The Roof” my new yoga theme song. I’m thinking James may just be a yogi or really in touch with how to let it all go and connect with what’s really important.
Per the song, when James gets stressed out, he goes up on a roof to take in the beauty of nature and get away from all his worries. When Carole King wrote this back in the ’60s and James recorded it in the late ’70s , they didn’t have to worry about disconnecting from their wired lifestyle like we do today, but I don’t think they would be taking their iPhones up on that roof.
I love this concept of going outside to connect with nature and to just let go of all worries and stress. But, I’m swapping out that roof for a yoga mat! Yes, when I get on my yoga mat, I can let myself go, quiet the mind, and find a paradise that’s trouble-proof. When I can take my yoga mat outside for a practice, all the better.
So without any further set-up, here is the Daily Downward Dog’s new yoga theme song, except I had to parody the lyrics to make them a little more yogalicious!
Up On The Mat
When this old world starts a getting me down
And people are just too much for me to face
I’ll find my way to the yoga studio
And all my cares just drift right into space
On the mat, it’s peaceful as can be
And there the wireless world don’t bother me, no, no
So when I come home feeling tired and beat
I go to where the asanas are fresh and sweet
I’ll get far away from my hustle and stress
And all the rat-race noise chattering in my mind
On the mat, that’s the only place I know
Look inside yourself, baby
Where you just have to breathe and let it go
Let’s go out on our mats
And at yoga class there’s breathing, asana, and meditation
And, yogis, you can share it all with me
That’s what I said
Keep on telling you
That right smack dab in the middle of my mat
I found a paradise that’s trouble-proof
And if this old world starts a getting you down
There’s a peaceful practice for you
On your yoga mat…
Take this as a personal invitation to get on out there this week, enjoy some nature, do some yoga, and just let go!
Here’s a really cool live version of James Taylor and Carole King singing the real version of “Up On The Roof.”
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zbasjy2_IY8[/youtube]
Please leave a comment below and let me know where else you’ve found a paradise that’s trouble-proof!
And if you liked this yoga song parody, you might also like these yoga song parodies.
A Lovely (Yoga) Day
I’m a Breath Believer
Jul 9, 2012 |
I often marvel about the number of things I encounter in an average day that relate to my yoga practice and can bring a spark of inspiration for a class theme.
The other morning said inspiration came from a sixty-second radio commercial for insurance. I was driving up to Vermilion to teach a beach yoga class and was listening to the announcer explain the importance of slowing down when you make the important decision of selecting an insurance carrier. She ended the spot with the following tagline:
Slow down – there’s plenty of fast out there.
I’m borrowing that line from Liberty Mutual, because this is one mantra that bears repeating.
How often do you find yourself in a yoga class, rushing from pose to pose? Anticipating the teacher’s next instruction so that—before you’ve allowed yourself to find your breath in one asana—your mind has already jumped off to the next one. We’re so hardwired to rush through our day that sometimes it can be hard to shake off the frenzy in yoga class.
Slow down – there’s plenty of fast out there.
Do yourself a favor and consciously work on slowing down when you practice yoga. Take a moment to settle into an asana, listen to the cues, check to ensure you’re in proper alignment, slow down enough to really notice how you feel, and deliberately move through the postures to the pace of slower breathing that comes naturally when you focus on ujjayi pranayma. Aahhhh, slowing down in yoga class can be a beautiful thing.
Most of our day is spent rushing, so what a refreshing concept it is that in yoga our goal should be to slow down. Yoga is the antithesis to the rest of your stressful day. It gives you an hour of pure bliss and, more importantly, that much-needed time to give your mind the break it deserves.
Don’t worry – there’s plenty of fast out there when you need it. And hopefully the practice of slowing down on your yoga mat is something you can learn to do off the yoga mat as well.
