The Secret of the Universe

I have discovered the secret of the Universe.  Yep that's right.  Lil' ole me, Marnie from Minnesota has discovered one of the greatest mysteries of all mankind and I want to share it with anyone who will listen. Before I share it I will make this disclaimer, I by no means am the first or the only person to have figured this out.  In fact, this knowledge is our birthright and there have been MANY before who have spread the word. However, it still remains a mystery to most.  With that said are you ready to have your mind blown?
Here goes....

You create your own reality.

Look around you. Everything, everything, everything, good, neutral or bad is a result of your own doing.  Your  health, your financial situation, your house, your relationships, your moods, your friends and enemies- everything is a result of your thoughts. That is the essence of  I AM THAT.  We are co-creators with God.  God has given us free will to use the Divine Intelligence as we wish. This Intelligence, Divine Will, is neutral.  It is not good or bad, it is simply the creative force.  We are the ones who put a property of positive creation, neutral creation, or negative creation to it through our motivation and intent.  We are free to choose according to our disposition and desires.  Trouble is most folks have no consciousness of this at all and therefore allow their entire lives to be ruled and determined by their idle, material, or negative disposition, desires, and thoughts.  Everything is a result of your thoughts, your choices and your words.  Where people get tripped up is feeling as if they are victims rather than creators of consequence.

Watch your thoughts for they become your words.
Watch your words for they become your actions. 
Watch your actions for they become your character.
Watch your character for it becomes your destiny. -Bhagavad Gita

Once you begin to take control of your own thoughts you begin to take control of your destiny. If you think that something or someone else is responsible for the conditions in your life you give up all of your creative power and ultimately you become subject to whatever it is that you gave your creative power to.  It is called the biology of belief.  If you believe your condition is not curable you are absolutely right.  If you believe you can be cured and you are healthy you are absolutely right.  If you believe life is hard and you have to struggle to survive, guess what? You're right! However, if you believe that life is a blessing and you are content, you are also right!  You will live a life of ease.  It's that simple.

And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee.  And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour.  Matthew 8:13

According to the Greek Dictionary:
believed - Pisteuo- faith, to have mental persuasion, to give credit, to be of opinion, to be entrusted with, confidence
be it done - Ginomai- to become, to be made or formed, to be made or created from nothing, to occur, come to pass, to be or become in general, to be done or performed, to be fulfilled, accomplished, to come to oneself, to have recovered ones senses or understanding

This scripture is a good example of the power of the biology of our beliefs.  A man (centurion) came to Jesus because his servant was ill with palsy and greatly tormented.  Jesus told the man that he would go to heal him. The man replied he was not worthy of having Jesus come into his home so he asked that Jesus speak the word only and his servant shall be healed.  Jesus was impressed by this mans faith and beliefs  that he spoke and healed the servant with his word. (Matthew 8:1-13)

It is our BELIEFS that are the driving forces in our lives.  Those things which we have mental persuasion towards, give credit to, be in the opinion of, entrust to or have confidence in.  Those are the creative, magnetic and driving forces in your life.

Which leads be back to the WORD and the creative force.  So in the last post I mentioned Sat Nam- "His Word is Truth."  God, the Divine Truth, Intelligence, speaks and that Word is creation.  Well wouldn't you know, your word is also truth?!!!  How else do you create your life- good, bad our neutral- but from your words. And where do your words come from but from your beliefs. If you say mentally to yourself and believe that which you are saying to be true, "I am fat, I am sick, I am broke, I am bored, I am so stupid" etc. you are putting the creative power of I AM THAT in to motion.  That is the Word- creation. We create our own realities with our beliefs, our thoughts, and our words.

When you understand this you become much more diligent about what you allow into your consciousness, what you think, say and believe.  That's why the scripture says, "He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city" -Proverbs 16:32

According to the Greek Dictionary:
ruleth- Mashal- to rule, reign, govern, have dominion, to manage

This scripture is saying that the person who is able to rule, reign, govern, have dominion, and manage his or her spirit is greater than anyone who rules a city.  To be able to rule, reign, govern, have dominion and manage our thoughts and beliefs is one of the most challenging endeavors a person will will ever undertake. It is also the one of the most important because ultimately it is at the core of free will and creating our reality and destiny.

One last vital piece for this lesson, you do not have to believe everything you think. If you start to watch over your thoughts and you become aware that some of your thoughts are not good for you you can choose to think differently.  You can choose not to have faith or mental persuasion in those thoughts.  You don't have to give credit to,  or be of  the opinion,or entrust, or put your confidence in negative or untrue thoughts.  Once you are aware you are in control of your thoughts you choose what thoughts you put your belief systems and faith in and ultimately you create your own reality.

I know this is a lot to chew but I invite you to dive in. Sit with, ponder upon, and meditate on some or all of what I have shared.  I also would love to hear what you think or if you have questions please ask.  We all have room to grow and learn and I would love to be part of that with you. Peace be with you!

3 Important Aspects Of Building Your Spirtual Life

Several years back I made the commitment to develop my spiritual life.  I am going to start including lessons, struggles, and stories about my journey in hopes that they will inspire, empower, or simply entertain you. As I promised last week, this weeks post is about one of the most important lessons I have learned thus far- how to cultivate your own spiritual practice.

On the final day of my trip to India we had a small ceremony to close our training and time together.  It was simple, beautiful,  and turned out to be one of the most important lessons of my life.  As we were finishing up and getting ready to return to our homelands, Saji our teacher gave us this sage advice,

"Most importantly remember the 3 S's - Sadhana, Scriptures, and Service". 

It's been nearly a year since I received those words but I took them to heart and my spiritual life has continued to change and grow dramatically.  I have mentioned this probably a millions times so far, and will probably mention it a million times more (maybe some of you will get the fullness of this message) but until you experience a thing can not truly know it in it's totality. If you want a spiritual life you have to make conscious effort to make it a part of your experiences. I have spent the last year with these parting words ringing through my soul. Because they have made such an important impact on me, I want to share them with you in hopes that someone out there in cyber land  also takes them to heart and begins to transform their  own spiritual practice and life. 


1) First S - Sadhana
The word Sadhana in Sanskrit means, "endeavoring to obtain a particular result".  When you decide you want to grow your spiritual life it takes work.  It doesn't just happen over night but with time and effort things start to change.  For me my Sadhana includes daily prayer/mantras and meditation, my physical yoga practice on the mat, and walking.  I would be lying if I said I do all three of these daily, but I aspire to.  I do however do at least one of the three daily.    The Sadhana has three main aspects- choice, commitment and aspiration. 

What you do for your Sadhana is your choice.  There is no particular activity that is required to fulfill a Sadhana the idea is just a continual practice that is regular.  An example I once read was to light a candle then blow it out every night for 90 days.  Your mind will find all sorts of reasons why not to light the candle. That alone is the practice.  On a personal note I would suggest an activity that is edifying, meaning choosing something that will improve your moral or spiritual character.

The second aspect of this piece is commitment.  Of course you are the only one who is making the commitment to this practice.  It is often suggested to do the practice at the same time or in the same place everyday. This is the idea of regularity and commitment.  I have done practices where I was committed to doing a certain meditation  three times a day at the same time for ninety days.  At this period in my life my commitment is to do the practice.  It doesn't always work for me to do each of my practices at the same time every day.  For me it is more important to do them than to get worked up about the time or place.  But once again - do what works for you.  That is most important. I would suggest starting small like the candle idea, or 20 minutes of stretching, or 5 minutes of deep breathing- and committing to a time of day and a length of time, say 90 days.  It's in the action with intent that you start to get to know yourself a little better. You will get to see how much the mind will fight you over the simple stuff. 

The last aspect of Sadhana is aspiration.  If Sadhana simply meant repetitive action that means brushing your teeth could be considered a Sadhana.  The Sadhana means that you have to put a conscious intention behind your action.  It is not something you simply do everyday. You have to aspire to do something that is out of your norm.

2)Second S - Scriptures
 Studying of the scriptures is the second major aspect of your spiritual development.  Yoga is considered a Spiritual Science.  Do certain activities and you will enhance your soul and be in more accordance with your spirit.  Ancient Yogis thousands of years ago figured out there are certain things you can do to awaken the spiritual being within.  That's why it is not considered a religion because any religion or spiritual aspirant can use this Spiritual Science to grow.  Most Yogis do however believe in a monolithic God- meaning there is only one God with many ways of expression and worship.  With that said, whatever your spiritual teachings are study those scriptures.  Weather it is The Bible, Bagavad Gita, Sutras, Vedas, Torah, Koran, I Ching etc. -  study your scriptures.  Daily.  Even if you don't know where to start.  Pick up the Great Book, open to a page, and start there. Eventually you will find yourself searching out all your questions and inquires.  The fact is we were given instruction manuals to living, but you have to study them in order to really learn and understand what they are truly teaching.

What I want to mention about studying the scriptures is that you can not read them like you would the news paper.  They need to be studied and meditated upon. I would suggest getting commentary and study books to help search the deeper meanings.  For example, there are study Bibles out there that have references in that back.  So certain words will be underlined and then you can look them up and get even deeper meaning  in the original language. Then the Spirit of the word will be revealed unto you. "The letter of the word kills, but the Spirit gives life"- 2Corintians 3:6  Once you have studied a scripture spend some time meditating on it.  Understand it from the heart, the Spirit within, instead of the mind and intellect.  Revelation is the only way to truly understand.

3)Third S - Service
"If you knew what I knew about the power of giving, you would not let a single meal pass without  sharing it in some way." - Buddha (563 BC- 483 BC)

Really, this quote by Buddha says it all.  Infact, it is said that when Buddha would give a speech to others than his devotees he would always start with the lesson of giving.  After that he would continue his teachings on morality, renunciation, the 4 Noble Truths etc.  This is because service and giving is a foundation to all of your higher development.  

 Find ways, big or small to be of service to others.  What you will soon realize is that you think you are out there helping others but in reality you are the one who is also gaining greatly from your service.  I have mentioned in pervious posts according to psychology every single person on this planet has 6 human needs  - Love &connection, versatility, certainty, significance, GROWTH and CONTRIBUTION.  The final two are the only needs that are part of our spiritual being.  Sadhana, Scriptures, and Service (aka Contribution) are human needs that promote growth of your Spiritual Being.  Your Highest Self. 

Giving and being of service is not just about giving money, gifts, or time - it's also about your internal personal quality and disposition.  Maybe you just bless each person silently.  Or maybe just being in your presence picks a person up or inspires them.  Your presence should add to every situation, not take away.  Sometimes all you give is a smile and that is of great service.

What I have learned, as my honey so eloquently puts it, "You can't out do God giving".  You never ever lose giving or being of service.  You always gain -always.  With that said I must make one distinction.  Do not give or be of service  if your heart is not in it or if you expect something in return.  Then it is neither a gift or of any real service.  You are better off working on the first 2 S's, Sadhana and Scripture first.  The true gift or act of service can only come from a genuine heart.

Namaste -I Salute You!

The light inside of me bows down to the light inside of you- Namaste
The God within me salutes the God within you- Namaste

What would happen if every encounter you had with another person you first honored the God, the Divinity, within that person? And what would happen if you also honored the God within yourself as well?  How would that change how you interact with people?  How would that change how you felt about yourself? 

10 Ways To Prevent Yoga Injuries.

As a yoga therapist it's my job to help people feel better and teach people all the ways in which yoga heals. The yoga world is surrounded in mystery, and for many that is part of it's allure.  We know that ultimately we feel better after our practice but can't always say why that is. Many in the yoga world tout yoga as being the ultimate health practice, safe for everyone. In fact, many people including myself, turn to yoga for all of it's health benefits and healing capabilities. While yoga is capable of many health benefits and healing aspects, the truth is that yoga can also hurt people.  Many people get injured doing yoga asanas (poses).  As a community most teachers and practitioners choose to overlook or downplay this fact because of our love for the practice and all the benefits we get from our practice. Part spiritual, part physical, and part emotional the love for the practice runs deep. Though we might not be able to explain exactly how it works we know that something amazing is happening.  Yoga changes a person,  from the inside out.  It's because of this that yoga injuries most often go unmentioned. 

It's not that the practice in and of itself is extremely dangerous, although like anything it can be if done improperly or inappropriately.   In fact there are many reasons why yoga injuries are on the rise. As a yoga community we have lost our way.  Actually  with the gain in popularity the tendency is to puff up it's benefits and down play it's dangers.  

What we have largely failed to grasp, especially in the West, is  like anything there is a process.  Have you ever watched and old kung fu movie?  Almost always there is a young student who begs the old wise kung fu master to be his student.  The old master will refuse him many times before he even accepts the youngster as a student.  Then when he is accepted you see him washing the floor or holding two buckets full of water for hours on end, or doing some menial task and not doing any kung fu fighting at all.  Why is that?  The master is building a foundation.  The young eager student can't just start fighting with advanced techniques and technicality without having a foundation in the practice.  Why is it in yoga you can learn the basic flow of a sun salutation within 2-3 classes then be in and intermediate to advanced class without any other foundation? You wouldn't take one French lesson and say you spoke fluent French.  That would seem ridiculous.  Yet we apply that same principle to yoga all the time!

Therein lies the disconnect.  Yoga is ultimately a practice of awareness.  If you were to do nothing but sit on your mat for and hour concentrating on your breath you would be doing an advanced yoga practice.  But most people think,  where's the fun in that?  As Westerners we are goal oriented folks.  We like to push our limits, show our strength, perform, succeed and compete with ourselves and with others.  Ultimately that is what we bring to the mat.  And unfortunately, this is one of  the root causes of  yoga injuries- Ego and Obsession.  As Glen Black is quoted in the book The Science of Yoga, by William J. Broad, "You have to set your ego aside and not become obsessive.  You have to get a different perspective to see if what you are doing is going to eventually be bad for you."  In general most yoga poses are safe when practiced safely but often times ego and obsession take over the practice and safety flies off the mat.

Another factor that contributes to a vast majority of yoga injuries is what I call physical deficiencies.  As a nation, Americans are overfed and under nourished.  This malnourishment leads to being physical depleted and can cause serious weaknesses. In general we live sedentary lifestyles and for some the only activity they may get is on the yoga mat. Layered with being stressed out and sleep deprived. Then on top of it all, add the fact that most Westerners don't begin their yoga practice until they are well into adulthood. Many people take up yoga because they are already stiff.   Combine all these elements together plus our obsessive perfectionist culture and that is just a recipe for disaster.  A yoga teacher can't necessarily tell if their student has high or low blood pressure, or if they are diabetic, or fatigued.  In truth most students either deny, evade, or simply don't know their own health issues.

Many yoga asanas are a practice for the healthy individual who has built a foundation, gone through the steps, and cultivated mind-body-breath awareness and practiced  all of these elements for some time.  They also live their yoga off the mat. A true yoga practice is not finished when you say Namaste.  In truth physical asanas should not be the focus of your yoga practice.  Instead they are a tool to help cultivate the true practice of awareness.   Most people think we use our bodies to get into a yoga posture but in reality we use the yoga postures to get into our bodies.

Obviously, this is a big topic and I have a lot to cover.  There is no doubt that the safety of a student is both the responsibility of the teacher and of the student.  Following is a list of 10 simple things you can do to help increase the safety of your own practice.

1) The Power of Awareness. Have you ever noticed that an accident or injury doesn't happen when you are very concentrated and in the moment, they happen when you are not paying attention or lost in your thoughts.  By cultivating a practice that is focused on awareness and being in the the moment rather than physical accomplishment you are more likely to protect yourself in your poses.
 2) Breathe! The breath is the language of the body communicating with the mind.  When the teacher is queing breath really check in with your breathing and be aware.  Often times it is easy to let the breath and queing of the breath become mechanical without any awareness.  Also, if you are holding your breath or struggling for a breath more than likely your are either not present in what is happening in the body or you have gone too deep and need to back out.
3) Less is more. Try practicing restraint vs. accomplishment.  This can become a beautiful practice of awareness in itself.  Sure you can go deep but can you also back off and play your edge?
4) Trust yourself. Listen to the teacher within.  A teacher can only que proper alignment.  They do not have an x-ray machine to see if everything is lining up exactly or pushing beyond it's limit.  But you do.  It's your internal knowing that you tap into with your breath and awareness.  If you can safely close your eyes and go in, often times you naturally align yourself just by checking in.
5) Trust your instincts.  This works on many levels.  If you don't feel safe you probably are not.  If you don't trust the teacher, trust yourself and either find another teacher or do a posture you feel comfortable with even if that is not what the rest of the class is doing.
Often times we give others way too much authority.  Sure it is important to respect one another including the teacher, but more often than not the teacher is your neighbor not your guru.
6) Your ego is not your amigo, especially in yoga class. Kick that ego to the curb.  That goes for obsession as well.  In yoga we use a term called Santosha- contentment.  Be content with your practice and your body. Be kind and gentle with yourself.
7) Take your practice off your mat. Practice awareness in your daily life.  Simple things can include meditation, breathing exercises (pranayama), and mindfulness during your daily activities.  For example, practice Ujjayi pranayama for the entire time you are cooking diner or any specific activity.  Or be completely mindful while eating an apple.  Think of how you can take the lessons you learn on the mat into your daily life and ultimately this will come full circle back to the mat.
8) Honor the process. Build your foundation. The alphabet has 26 letters not just 2.  Most of us want to get from a to z without going through all the other steps.  Though a teacher might offer various stages of a posture that doesn't mean you have to take it to the farthest point.
9) Be honest- with yourself and the teacher.  If you have high blood pressure, diabetes, are pregnant, stenosis of the neck, a torn rotators cuff, or a bum knee (to name a few) - these are all things a teacher should know about.  Even if the injury is old it is helpful that the teacher be informed.  If you feel uncomfortable about mentioning this in class simply tell your teacher one-on-one before class starts.  
10.) Be proactive.  If you know you have a particular aliment, injury or health concern look it up yourself.  The internet is a wealth of knowledge.  For instance you can google, "contraindicated yoga poses for _________"  Also, if you are uncertain about something don't be afraid to ask or sit something out.  Learn your limits. Yoga is a practice of self-discipline.

Live like a lotus

May we live like the lotus - at home in muddy waters.

Crap happens. Ugly filthy yucky stuff happens in our lives.  Stuff that hurts and makes us uncomfortable. Crap that we don't want others to see and filth that we don't even wanna look at ourselves shows up in our lives and sometimes keeps showing up in our lives.  We try to avoid the filth, suppress it and cover it up but the minute you are not watching -oops there it is again more crap! 

Here's a radical idea- what if we embrace the filth?  What would happen if you began a practice of gratitude for all the ugly in your life? Stick with me here.  Do you know why the lotus is a symbol of enlightenment in yoga?  It's because the more filthy the environment the more beautiful the lotus flower becomes. Why do you put manure-crap- in your garden?  It produces the best crop.  And how is it we get diamonds from coal?  Pressure.  See it's the hard times, the ugly crappy times and the times of pressure, pain, and hurt that produce the most growth, the most beautiful aspects of our being. Or at least it can if we allow it to. 

 As Sadhguru says, "Do not carry the experience of life as a wound. Let it become wisdom. This is a choice you have. Out of every experience of life, you can make a wound – or you can make wisdom out of it. The harder life has been upon you, the sooner you should become wise."

That sounds all good and well, but it's learning how to transform these situations most of us need help with.  First and foremost you have to realize you have a choice.  So something bad has happened to you- Congratulations! You're human! Now are you have to choose whether you want to carry around all the wounds of your humaness, and continue to pick at the scab so that it never fully heals. Or do you choose to grow and gain wisdom and allow the wounds to scar and move on.  First you make the conscious choice to grow from your experience.  Then to begin that process you choose to be grateful.  Every time life throws me a challenge my first response has become "Oh thank you God."  And when the challenge is particularly difficult I am even more grateful because I know that the possibility of my growth is that much greater.  All we are doing is healing our perception and in doing so we begin to heal our lives.

You should try it.  Start small at first. The next time a challenge occurs in your life respond with gratitude.  Trust me after awhile it almost becomes fun as you watch your beautiful lotus begin to bloom!

Meditation chanes everything

Meditation has changed my life.  Dramatically changed my life.  I first sat down to meditate 12 years ago.  Let me tell you, for the first 10 years meditation for me was like trying to bag two dozen cats.  I would try to sit for just 5 minutes and all I wanted to do was jump up and run from my own skin.  In fact it was near torture and I could could barely keep my eyes closed for longer than a minute with out having to open them to see what was going on.  On good days sitting for a whole 10 minutes was a miracle.  I wanted so desperately to be a "good" meditator but I didn't know how. So I prayed for a way. Ask and ye shall receive. One day I was coming out of the Wedge  a man handed me a flyer with this guys face on it....

There he was, Sadhguru, this beautiful man with an answer to my prayer.  The flyer was for a 7 day meditation course called Inner Engineering.  I didn't know who he was or what this Inner Engineering was, all I knew was that this I had to take the course, and so I did.  In the Inner Engineering course we learned the Shambhavi Maha Mudra. A 21 minute meditation to do daily.  And I have been doing it daily (sometimes more than once a day) ever since.

In yoga we say our spiritual journey is like trying to reach God at the top of a very high mountain.  We all have different paths to the top.  Some prefer to zig-zag, some like the rough terrain, and some like to camp out along the way.  Prayer and Meditation is like jumping on the the Autobahn- it gets us to our destination faster.  Since I have began a regular meditation practice I can say with confidence everything in my life has changed for the better. Sadhguru calls it Inner Engineering because we have no control over the outside world.  The only control we have is on our internal world.  So what better way than to engineer an interior world that is peaceful and content.  Then whatever happens on the outside world we are able to approach it from that place of peace and contentment.

Most people sit down to pray to God for all the things they want, need or desire then say their amen and move on with their life.  They never give God a chance to respond.  "Dear God, I need this, this and this, Amen" We ask in prayer, but it's in meditation that we receive.  And you don't even have to be a Yogi or a Buddhist to meditate.  Even throughout the Bible it talks about prayer AND meditation. Heck, meditation is for everyone, even those whose paths are unnamed.Meditation is finding oneness with our highest truth.

There are many many many ways to meditate. There is not one way in which you are meditating correctly.  If it works for you then it's working.  Yoga means Union.  The Union of self with the Highest Self- God. Oneness.   The following is a video of Sadhguru talking about this union through meditation.

For more information about Sadhguru and his work you can check out his website ....

ishafoundation.org

On this website there is a link to a meditation called Isha Kriya.  It's free to learn but you do have to sign using your email address which will be used to keep you updated via email about different events.  But it's a good place to start if you need some guidance.

For the time being I hope this inspires a desire for your own meditation practice. Meditation changes everything.  I will do a little more research and get back to you in a future post with other resources for cultivating a meditation practice of your own. Whether I give you resources or you find them on your own, all you have to do is try (even if it is bagging cats) and have the desire and your practice will find it's way. Also, please feel free to leave a comment if you have resources or suggestions or even questions about meditation.  Namaste.

Relaxation is Action!

As most of you know I teach several Restorative Yoga classes.  I once invited a friend of mine  to come to one of my classes,  she said to me, "I would like to but don't have the time.  I only have so much time to work out during my week and I don't want to give up one of my workouts for relaxation."  The irony of this conversation was that this friend of mine had just been diagnosed with stage 4  breast cancer.

As I explained in my last post stress is acceleration.  Chronic perpetual stress reeks havoc on the body.  Not only does it accelerate the aging process (by decades!) but it compromises the immune system, causes poor digestion, can cause you to retain weight, be moody, poor sleep habits,  poor sexual function, and it can even prevent  pregnancy.  That is in addition to creating a toxic internal environment (acidic pH) perfect for dis-ease and illnesses to thrive in the body (plus all the symptoms and side affects that are associated with those dis-eases). Chronic stress is no good ya'll!

But thankfully this post is about relaxation and all the benefits relaxation has for the body.  Herbert Benson, a cardiologist and a professor at Harvard Medical School has determined that the body has a response that is the exact opposite to the stress response.  He coined this the "Relaxation Response" and this is the function of the parasympathetic nervous system.  So as we learned in the last post there is the "Fight or Flight" response of the sympathetic nervous system and then there is the "Relaxation  Response" of the parasympathetic nervous system.  Both of these responses are part of the autonomic nervous system which keeps the body in balance.

When the body is relaxed and calm it is operating in the parasympathetic nervous system , also known as "rest and digest". The functions of this system include decreased heart rate, increased metabolic rate (meaning that your energy is now focused on your internal organs and your digestive actions go to work),  elimination,  suppression of the production of adrenaline (keeps us mellow), stimulation of the vagus nerve, and has a role in sexual arousal and reproduction functions.  This system is your bodies restoration mode where it cleans, heals and builds. Ideally, we should be operating in this function most of the time.

What my friend had not yet realized was the Relaxation Is Action!!!! So much is happening in your body when you are relaxed that it is vital to keeping  it healthy and functioning at an optimum level.  Mind you, the body is indented to operate in this relaxed mode all the time except when it  is faced with an emergency or danger.  However, as I mentioned before we have conditioned ourselves to be operating in the "fight or flight" mode the majority of time which is not normal or healthy.

Getting people to slow down and relax is a hard sale.  I often tell my classes they are cross-training.  In fact if you exercise regularly, adding relaxation to your routine will actually increase your performance!   Let alone what it can do for your relationships (uhmmm sexual arousal), immune system, sleep, digestion, mood, healthy reproduction and over-all sense of well being.  Not only that, but giving yourself time to relax is a natural high.  You should see my students after 75 minutes of relaxation- everyone is so mellow and happy- it's great!

You have to be pro-active in your relaxation routine.  Relaxation doesn't just happen and nobody can do it for you- Relaxation takes action!  Make time for yourself to relax.  Even just sitting and being quiet for 5-15 minutes a day can have monumental effects on your overall well-being. Relaxation is not a luxury but a necessity! Stay tuned and I will continue to offer simple ways to include regular relaxation into your life.

Real or imaginary?

Hi everyone- forgive me for such a lengthy span in between posts, but the truth is I just have not been inspired to write lately. To be inspired means that we are operating "in - spirit". Rather than post junk just to post something I figured I would wait to be be inspired for this next post. Thank you for you patience and please look forward to my weekly postings every Monday.

This post is about what it means to truly relax. I asked in one of my previous posts what folks do to relax and the answers included activities such as cooking,  biking,  watching t.v., and reading to name a few.  See here's the deal, while most of us think those activities are relaxing the reality is that they are not actually relaxing for the body.  You are still doing something in each of this activities.  And while the mind may feel relaxed because it is not concentrated on the stresses of daily life, the body is still not getting to relax.  In yoga therapy this is called "sensory diversion". To most people allowing the senses to be diverted from what is deemed normal activity (I call it perpetual over-stimulation)  is considered relaxing according to our modern definitions of the word. Believe me, these activities are still very important because they are part of the stress releasing aspect of relaxation.  However, commit this next statement into your being....         
 Total Body Relaxation is the Best Antidote to Stress.

Stress is an accelerated poison to the body.  An antidote is something that can counteract a poison. When we are stressed the body goes into survival mode.  It's called "fight or flight" and it is a function of the sympathetic nervous system.  When this system kicks in adrenaline and other hormones are pumped in to the blood stream and create a chain reaction to prepare us for the ensuing battle or flight from the situation.  Breathing  gets short and rapid to supply the muscles with quick oxygen, the heart rate increases to supply the blood that carries the oxygen to the muscles, our metabolic rate changes and the body gets flooded with adrenaline and cortisol to aid in the reaction. This physiological reaction is critical to our survival in situations of danger or emergency.  However, today reacting like everything is an emergency or dangerous has become the new norm.  Screaming at the car infort of you to "MMMMOOOOOVVVVEEE IT!" so you don't get stuck for another 2 whole minutes at a stop light is considered completely normal behavior.  Even more importantly to realize is that even this type of reaction causes the exact same physical reaction as if you were being chased by a saber-tooth tiger!

Over time of constantly having increased blood pressure, short oxygen intake, and adrenalin and cortisol pumped into the body it begins to take a major toll on the body. Stress is acceleration and the long term effects are linked to all of the major dis-eases and illnesses present today.

For this next week I ask that you pay attention to how many tigers chase you?  Every time you feel your heart rate increase, or have a feeling of urgency, or impatience, or outburst of anger or anxiety, or feel you are all bound up in a ball of stress- ask yourself is the tiger real or imaginary?

Check in next week - I'll start to address how to combat these imaginary tigers!

 

Shake It Off! - Living stress free part 2

 

We all know the scene right? She's a welder by day and dancer by night- dancing, shaking, and gyrating around the floor like a maniac. You may think  it is fun to watch, tiring or even obscene, I think this is a great example of stress release!

I have introduced this idea of living stress free vs. stress management in my previous blog.  What I really want to emphasize is stress happens people!  Stress is an inevitable part of being human.  So that begs the question how can we live stress free when stress is a part of every day life?  Great question! I am glad you asked. Living stress free does not mean we live in a world of rainbows and lollipops.  Living stress free means we learn how to RELEASE the stress when it comes into our lives rather than absorbing it.  That is the fundamental difference between managing your stress and living stress free.

 If you chose to manage your stress that means on some level you accept and absorb the stress into your being. Then because it hasn't been released it always shows up somewhere, somehow.  Maybe it shows up as pain or maybe it comes out as an emotional expression. Or even worse an accident or major illness.  Because you are just managing what already exists, often that stress just gets pushed into another hidden corner of your consciousness with only temporary relief.  Its that idea," if I ignore it it will go away."  But it never really goes away is just gets stored up in different parts of our being only to come out later.  More often than not this coming out has very bad timing.  Have you ever noticed when you may be going through a particularly stressful time in your life you somehow end up with an injury or illness to compound what you are already going through?!  That is your body saying, "Hey I haven't got rid of all this other stored up stuff and now you are adding to the stock pile!"  It is also the minds' way of creating a diversion from the emotional stress that you are currently going through and giving you something else to focus on.

In yoga we have a saying, "Our tissues hold our issues."  Generally our everyday consciousness is not holding onto the stress, especially old stresses.  Instead they get suppressed and are stored in our subconscious, tissues and nervous system.  So we need to release both the old stresses and new ones.  Now there are lots of great ways to release stress.  Back in the day when the Mongolian warriors, some of the fiercest warriors ever, would get done with battle the first thing they did (after a hot shower) was they would get massages.  Not just ordinary massage but deep myofacial release to rid their tissues of the stress of battle. That way the next time they went out on the battle field they were not carrying the weight of the last battle with them.  That is one of the reasons they are known for being extraordinary warriors of their time. Today that type of deep tissue release is called myiofacial release and/or Rolfing.

Another interesting example of this release comes from the animal kingdom.  If a gazelle is chased by a lion and narrowly escapes, when it knows it is safe it will go off into the bush and "shake it off".  In fact all animals naturally shake to release trauma.  It's a part of the body's natural balancing out system.  The fantastic thing is that this is part of our DNA too!  When we have put so much stress on to the nervous system it can literally be shaken off.


The following video is an example of T.R.E.  A shaking technique given to trauma patients to help the body release the physical storage stresses in the body.

 

This isn't rocket science.  It's simple movement.  The mind might be telling you that stress release has to be more complex than this.  But isn't it the mind that got you into this situation in the first place? The beautiful thing is that you are not expected to have all the answers or come up with the best possible solution that the situation may be calling for. What you can do is choose how you react to any given situation. I say SHAKE IT OFF!!! However you want to do it is up to you.  If you encounter a stressful situation as soon as you are able to go into a safe place SHAKE IT!  Whatever it may be- just shake it!  Push the table aside turn up the volume and have a Flashdance moment of your own or simply move in a way that feels good to you. Take control of your reaction, give yourself permission to really let loose and see just how much better you feel afterwards.

Would You Rather? Manage Your Stress or Live Stress Free!

The next few posts I am going to do a series on living a Stress Free life so please keep posted for follow-ups. Also, please check my interview with fellow blogger, Life Coach dynamo, yoga teacher, and all around inspiration Jasna Burza.  jasnaburza.blogspot.com

This idea of stress management has been a rising topic for the last 10 years or so.  If you haven't noticed already- people, businesses and corporations, and products are all jumping on the stress management bandwagon by the masses.  But I have a question for you, why do you want to manage your stress?  Don't you have enough in your life to manage already?  Why in the world do you want to add stress management to your "to-do" list when you have the option of living stress free?

The way I see it, stress management is like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.  Whether you chose to crash and burn or learn ways combat stress and compartmentalize stress in your life-you are still fighting and adding more to do and eventually it is going to take it's toll on you. The stress doesn't really go anywhere it just gets rearranged.  The problem lies in the fact that you are not addressing the root of the issue just the branches.  Surface cures create surface relief.  To be stress free you need to go to the root of the issue and dealing with the root means lining up with our true selves.  How you internalize and respond to any given situation determines the stress response.

 Now don't get me wrong, taking steps to address your stress and change patterns can indeed be very powerful place to start and believe me you have to start somewhere. The thing is, we are the only ones that create stress in our lives and therefore we are the only ones that can eliminate it as well.  A situation that totally stresses one person out may be completely enjoyable for the next. I'll give an example, you and a friend are shopping downtown. As you exit the store there is a parade happening on the street just outside the store.  You really don't like crowds but you friend loves parades. So you are persuaded into staying to watch.  During the whole parade you might be feeling stressed in the crowd while your friend is having a grand ole' time. Both of you are at the same place, seeing the same things but having completely different experiences.  The situation is the same the difference lies in the individuals response.

 Some of you are really going to be bummed out when I say this, but there is no secret magic pill to eliminate stress.  Stress release and learning to become stress free is going to take effort, awareness, and knowledge.  But believe me the pay offs are infinite.

As I was doing some research on this topic I found lots of websites with plenty of helpful information on how to manage the stress in your life.  The problem however is that most help out there on this topic is single dimensional. Most of the advice was "find time for yourself- do activities you enjoy, read a book, take the dog for a walk, keep a journal.  Say no."  What I am not reading in most of these other sites is that stress is multidimensional and affects us on many layers - biologically, physiologically, emotionally and spiritually.

When you are doing all of those "relaxing" activities you are still DOING something.  The stress just get pushed into another area of your life.  As one of my teachers Dharma Mittra so beautifully puts it, "TOTAL BODY RELAXATION IS THE ONLY ANTIDOTE TO STRESS."  Not only does stress has a cumulative effect but it .  It builds over time and the effects can literally be deadly.  If you really want to get to the root of your stress and eliminate it you need to learn how to be in the quiet.  Sit in silence. Just be.  Meditation, yoga nidra, soaking, pranayama, restorative yoga, and similar techniques are all ways to go into that deep space of your being.  What is most important is that you make an effort to disconnect from the outside world and go in.  Since we are all trained so well in always being on the go and being "productive" with our time we need to retrain ourselves in how to be quiet and still and go in.

So in an effort to keep this blog post short (hehe) here is your first tool.  Give yourself some time each day to be quiet.  To sit in silence, close your eyes take long slow deep breaths and just be.  A technique used in Vipassana meditation is to simply focus on the point below the nose and above the upper lip as the breath moves in and out.  Thoughts will arise.  Rather than following the thought bring your awareness back to that point and your breath. Try this for 5 minutes then eventually work your way up to 15 minutes. Now you are doing yoga.

Take a deep breath and relax

Ok, so I have officially been back for a full week now and I am still decompressing and processing all the information I learned in India.  I also realized that I had broke my computer habit while I was away which is great for my personal life but not so great for this blog.  I guess now is the time to learn balance in all things.  I would also like to invite you to become a follower (like my mom and my friend Linn-thanks Ladies) and leave comments.  I have so much I want to share with you that sometimes I don't know where to start so your comments would be appreciated.

The last post I introduced the Pancha Koshas (5 sheaths of our being) and mentioned that  imbalance in the first 3 layers- the body, the energetic layer, and the mind manifests as dis-ease in the body.  See ancient yogis thousands of years ago figured out that there are only 2 causes of dis-ease: Stress born diseases or non-stress born diseases.  The non-stress born diseases are injury, infections, toxic exposure, or congenital.  Everything else is born from stress. Knowing this is powerful!  If something is caused by stress it can be healed by removing stress from your life and learning new ways to move in the world that benefit rather than harm the body.

This is where yoga comes in to play.  In the western world we have adapted yoga to mean physical activity for our physical body.  It's time to learn that yoga is so much more than that.  The physical practice is only a part of the picture. Yoga is a way of life.  It is an ancient spiritual science that has the capacity to bridge the gap between the demands of the modern life-style and the natural rhythms of our true-selves.  Where modern medicine is largely a science of disease and treatment,  yoga (and other alternative modalities) offers techniques for the healthy functioning of the human mind and body that both prevent and reverse disease.  The World Health Organization (WHO) recently defined health as a state of complete physical, mental, social and spiritual well being. Sure we all know the mental and physical aspect of good health but did you know that your social life and spiritual life also play a major role in your overall health as well?   Each factor is interdependent on the next for good health.  If any of these areas are lacking or dysfunctional, dis-ease will occur. Another way of saying that is poor attention or misguided attention in anyone of these 4 areas can cause stress and stress will breed dis-ease in the body.

So here is your first basic lesson on how to combat stress in your life.  

                         Calmness of the mind
                         Relaxation of the body
                         Slowness of the breath
 

 Can you think of any area in your life where implementing these three things would not be beneficial?  So the first step to calming the mind and relaxing the body is slowing down the breath. One easy technique is making the exhale longer than the inhale.  Try it- over the next week anytime you start to feel stressed out or pain- slow your breath down and make your exhale twice as long as your inhale. Take 10 of these slow breaths then just observe how you feel afterwards. Now you are doing yoga.