Oct 3, 2011 |
You hear it all the time: be careful what you wish for because it may just come true. Well, I feel the same way about those powerful little wishes called intentions.
I have to say that setting intentions has been very effective for me this past year, so much so that when the cool peeps at Intent.com asked me to contribute a guest post to their 30-days of Yoga Intents, I couldn’t say no.
It was pretty difficult for me to come up with just one yoga intention to write about, so I opted to create a top ten list of my personal favorites. When you direct your mind and heart in a new direction, it can be very powerful, so take a leap on over to Intent.com and maybe you’ll find an intention that speaks to your heart or find the inspiration for your very own intention!
Would love to hear which intention speaks to you, or what intention is your favorite.
Sep 29, 2011 |
The very first yoga mat I ever purchased cost five dollars, came in a lovely shade of lavender, and was ultrathin. If you’ve never bought a yoga mat, I’d just like to say that ultrathin is not a product feature you want in a mat. I still have and love this mat. (Hey, you never forget your first one!) Despite its lack of cushion, I quickly learned that I could compensate with a trusty blanket under my knees during the kneeling poses.
The studio I was frequenting at the time had “professional” yoga mats for sale that had the thickness and support my body craved and came in a palette of gorgeous colors, but they cost over a hundred dollars. Yikes, there was no way I was going to shell out that much money. Even though my knees coveted those mats, my motto was that yoga should be affordable. I didn’t need hundred-dollar yoga pants or a hundred-dollar yoga mat to deepen my practice.
So, what the heck am I doing on a new mat that costs over a hundred dollars?
Well, I have learned an important lesson. Just as it is wise to invest money on the mattress for your bed (we spend one-third of our time there), it is wise to invest money on the best yoga mat you can find for added comfort and support of your body.
My downward dogs are now done on a Vernice Vita (VV) three-layered yoga mat and my wrists have never been happier. If you are familiar with memory foam, this mat is made with that material. And before you get all hung up thinking that there is no way you can be stable on a cushy mat, I’m here to tell you that I’ve never felt more stable and grounded on a yoga mat.
The bottom layer of the mat is a skid-proof EVA material that stabilizes your mat and prevents it from slipping and sliding on studio floors.
The middle layer has one-half inch of cushy memory foam that not only supports you, but provides a super-comfortable practice. This yummy layer relieves pressure points and pain in your knees, elbows, ankles, and hip bones in yoga postures and even your head during inversions.
The top layer is textured neoprene that is water-resistant, so it helps to stabilize your hands and feet when you are in poses like downward dog.
Rachel Ennis, a yogini from Manhattan Beach, California, came up with the idea for this mat when she found that her yoga practice was not progressing due to pain she experienced during some yoga postures. She bought a piece of memory foam and laid it on top of her traditional yoga mat and immediately noticed a huge difference. The relief this brought amazed her, and she eventually knew she had to share the benefits with others. She got a patent and has worked hard to develop an ethically manufactured product (PVC-free, 25 percent natural rubber, recycled packaging).
Thanks to Rachel, I’ve been test-driving my very own VV yoga mat for the past few weeks in both gentle Hatha and hot power classes and love the way it feels under my feet and my hands. No issues with slip-sliding away (although I still recommend using a NamaSTAY Yoga Towel on top for those really hot sweaty classes), and I feel as if I can hold poses longer.
If you are a fan of savasana, then I can tell you that doing savasana will never be the same now that I have experienced it on my ultra-comfy Vernice Vita mat. It is truly the definition of yogalicious!
I recently went to a three-day yoga workshop, where we spent a lot of the day sitting on the floor. While everyone was grabbing blankets and bolsters to sit on, I was totally comfy on my cushy VV. If you are in yoga-teacher training or spend a lot of time sitting on your yoga mat, I highly recommend a VV.
The VV yoga mat is also highly recommended for pregnant yoga students and is perfect for meditation and restorative yoga.
The mat is thicker when you roll it up, so you may want to pick up one of their over the shoulder mat straps so it is easier to carry, but I’m sure other yoga-mat straps would work as well. Be aware that when you take a VV mat into a class, it will attract attention. People get very curious when they see me unroll my mat, and I always let them touch it so they can feel the comfort.
My only complaint is that the mat does have a strong scent when you first remove it from the packaging. I’ve already noticed that this scent has diminished, and you can air out the mat by laying it outside just as long as you avoid direct heat or sunlight.
So, what is up with the name of this mat? Well, Vernice Vita (pronounced ver nee chey veeta) means to “paint life” in Italian and is a positive approach to how much more you can add to the world and the people around you when you’re at one with your own mind, body, and spirit. My Italian soul loves that, and my knees do too!
Give your body the comfort and support it deserves and purchase your very own Vernice Vita yoga mat from The Daily Downward Dog and save $10 on each mat. Just click the Buy Now button below, and you can order and pay securely through PayPal or your credit card. Or you can order direct from vernicevita.com and use offer code MARIA10 and you’ll still get the $10 savings!
The pricing for shipping and handling that is applied in the PayPal transaction is only for standard shipping within the United States. If you would like to order a Vernice Vita Mat and you live outside the United States or need expedited shipping, please contact me and I’ll provide a quote to handle your order.
Sep 27, 2011 |
Well I have to admit, I’ve been in a bit of a funk ever since Labor Day, when my beautiful days of summer were ripped away as temperatures dropped and rain clouds appeared. Worse than the fact that I had to turn my furnace on before summer officially ended, I had to pack up all my summer beach yoga gear and say goodbye to a bunch of super cool yogis and yoginis who attended my summer beach yoga classes.
My Monday morning nirvana of going to the beach to “work” is over, and all of a sudden I am back in my home office away from the sun, sand, and surf, dreaming about when and how I can get a winter beach venue lined up (hey, a girl can dream).
I have since given myself a swift kick in the ass; with most things in life, I have a choice. I can choose to be sad that summer is over, or I can choose to be happy about the change in seasons. To embrace the changing color of the leaves, pull out my sweaters, and jump into my new schedule of fall/winter yoga classes (which, by the way, I am very excited about).
I want to send out a big hug to all the wonderful students that attended my classes this summer. I really enjoyed getting to know so many new people while sharing the practice of yoga surrounded by nature in all its glory. It has been very gratifying to me to hear that many of you have fallen in love with yoga and plan to continue to practice it. I also want to send out thanks to the Vermilion Boat Club and Firefly Beach Resort for opening up your venues to me for these special yoga classes.
As the chilly northeast Ohio winter approaches, I will cling onto many warm memories of this summer. One of my most memorable experiences was a night in August when I taught a sunset yoga class. All day long the weather was beautiful, but the weather forecast was calling for thunderstorms to begin right about the time my class was supposed to start. Being the Polly Positive that I am, I held out hope and went to the beach as planned that night to set up for class. As I was raking the beach, the sky turned black, all the tell-tale signs of a good Lake Erie storm began brewing, and I figured the class would be a bust.
At ten minutes before the class was to begin, my first student showed up – right as the rain started to fall. She had a bad day and told me she had been looking forward to the class all afternoon, and now that it was raining, she was really bummed out. As we talked about her day, I saw a few more students dodging the rain and wind as they ran soaking wet up to the pavilion to join us. And then, another car pulled up with one of my students sticking her head out the window chanting, “yo-ga, yo-ga!” It was clear that these women wanted to practice yoga, and by-god, they were not going to let the rain stop them.
We waited a few minutes, the storm calmed, and a smidgen of clear sky started to form at the horizon. So we made the trek down to the beach and started class. About ten minutes in, it started to rain again. The class was looking out at the sky ahead starting to clear, but since I was facing the south, all I could see were black clouds. I kept looking into my students eyes, thinking surely they would want to get out of the rain, but they all had this fearless look of determination. These fierce yogini goddesses wanted to get their yoga on, and buoyed by their enthusiasm and smiles, I forged ahead.
It started to rain harder, and I started to worry about my students slipping on their mats, thinking to myself that surely part of my oath as a yoga teacher was to protect my students from the elements. I finally made the decision to call class, and we all quickly gathered our mats and scurried to shelter.
Within minutes, the rain stopped again (yes, the weather in Ohio can be psycho), and the vote was unanimous to go back to the beach and finish class even though the rain delays had left time for only a few more asanas. Their perseverance paid off, because when I awoke the class from savasana, we were all blessed to share one of the most beautiful sunsets of the summer.
In just a few minutes the sunset went from this…
…to this technicolor light show!
It was an incredible night spent with an amazing group of women, and it will definitely go down in my book of memorable yoga teaching experiences.
As you go into this new season, no matter where you are in your life, choose to be happy, choose to embrace the storms, and look for the blessings in your life with gratitude.
Sep 20, 2011 |
With the change of season from summer to fall I know many of us are feeling overloaded and stressed. When we get busy we tend to let go of really important things like exercise, breathing, and doing good things for ourselves. I know, because I have been struggling with this very thing and knew I needed a little kick in the butt. I went searching for a message I could share in my yoga classes about the importance of taking time to breathe and relax and dusted off this poem that I found a while back. I actually used this poem in the very first yoga class I ever taught, so it felt good to come back to it.
I love the message and so did my classes, so I thought I would share it again. Thanks to Aaron Hoopes of The Art of Zen Yoga for these beautiful words.
Too Busy to Relax By Aaron Hoopes
Too busy to relax they say… complaints, excuses everyday
They sound so weak, so stressed, so tired… a mundane world in which they’re mired
No time to sit and just be quiet… their mind’s a rush of thoughts, a riot
No chance they have to hear the sound… of nature’s wonder all around
Of birds and trees and clouds and air… too much work, it’s just not fair
This really seems quite sad to me… so much to do, no time to be
Breathe I say and move a bit
Then after that we can just sit
And watch the world at its own pace
There is no rush, it’s not a race
And if it were, what is the goal?
Where are you going mind, body, soul?
Too busy to relax I hear… these words seem like they’re based in fear
Tired, weak and too much stress… how did our lives turn such a mess?
We don’t need to look above… to find a place that’s based in love
Turn instead and look within… find your self, it is no sin
Forgive, let go, open your heart… it is the only place to start
Think on that and you might find… throughout your life you have been blind
Breathe I say and move some more
Run, walk, jump, stretch on the floor
Move your body, get up and go
Feel the energy, let it flow
Don’t get caught in negative
Habits that won’t let you live
Too busy to relax? Not true! … this hoax must end, it starts with you
If all you do is just the same… you never will escape this game
Do something new, do something Zen… begin right now, not ‘if’ or ‘when’
Do one thing different, or two, or five… change how you live, become alive
Do or do not, there is no try… step off the cliff and start to fly
Begin with this, you won’t go wrong… remember to breathe, deep and long.
Image: Greg Toran
Sep 15, 2011 |
Santosha. I love the way this word sounds and feels as it rolls off my tongue. It could be an exotic food, a tropical getaway, or a really excellent cocktail (one that is pink with an umbrella), but it is none of those things. Santosha is part of the eight limbs of yoga and is one of the niyamas. The niyamas take a deep dive into our attitudes about life and how we feel about ourselves as outlined by Patanjali.
As I was studying The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, the concept of santosha really resonated with me. It was the one I really wanted to follow, my favorite niyama, and I wanted to be its poster child.
From the translation of the yoga sutras by Sri Swami Satchidananda, the definition of santosha is being content with what you have and where you are at instead of wishing for things you don’t have or daydreaming of the future. It is living in the present and feeling true satisfaction. And here’s the kicker: When you have this kind of contentment, supreme joy is attained.
You have to be real careful with your interpretation of contentment, though. For some people, contentment is the way they feel after eating a four-course gourmet meal with wine perfectly paired to each course or after some awesome sex, chocolate—you get the idea. Those types of contentment fall more along the lines of satisfaction. Real honest-to-goodness contentment means just to be as we are without going to food, sex, chocolate, or other “things” for our happiness.
Here are a few ways to practice santosha in your daily life.
- If something comes, let it come. If not, it doesn’t matter.
- Practice remaining calm in success and failure.
- Cut back on energy wasted in thoughts of liking or disliking what is.
- Practice living mindfully.
- Ask yourself if you really need that new [fill in the blank] to be content. Seriously, do you really need more “stuff” in your life?
This next little exercise is the hardest one of all for me, but if I could do this each and every day, life would be so much sweeter.
- Live in the present moment without regretting the past or anticipating the future.
The thing about santosha is that it is a key element in living a spiritual life. If you cannot be happy with yourself and where you are in life, you are going to have a helluva long road ahead on your spiritual journey. Dissatisfaction with life has many horrible symptoms, such as psychic infirmity, complexes, and high blood pressure. I’d rather strive for the symptoms of contentment in life: happiness, peace, and the ultimate…supreme joy.
I’d like to share a little santsosha mantra that I learned in my yoga-teacher training.
I am content.
I am grateful for what I have and for what I do not have.
I learn from the joys and disappointments life brings me.
I honor the good in myself and others.
I refrain from criticism and fault finding.
I accept life just the way it is.
I enjoy life!
So, here’s a toast, a santosha toast, to all my fellow yogis: May you find contentment in your life, stop beating yourself up over the past, let go of fretting about the future, cease the coveting of things you don’t have, be at peace with your life as it is right now, fully present with a heart full of love, and grateful for all you have. Cheers!
Are you a poster child for santosha? Got a great example of santosha in your life? Would love to hear from other members of the santosha fan club!
