Restorative yoga facilitates the four conditions for relaxation: relaxing the muscles with support, quieting the responses caused by stress, quieting the mind, and finding a relaxed, smooth breath. Unlike sleep, where your mind and body are preoccupied with dreaming and tensing muscles, this style of yoga provides an opportunity to achieve all four of these [...]
Velveteen PrinciplesAdvice from a Rabbit (On the Way to Being Real)I just finished unloading my books from an old relic of a bookshelf onto a new bookshelf, and came across a book that my mom gave me years ago but I never read - The Velveteen Principles, A Guide to Becoming Real by Toni Raiten-S'Antonio. [...]
This too shall passSo why the photos of rug cleaner, paper towels and a sponge? Isn't it obvious that we now have a puppy in our household? Armed with these three things, I can get through this puppy "pee" stage. But I just don't want to get through it. I want to thrive and be [...]
My brain is fried. This blog post will be pictures taken in the past few months, that have inspired me. Tapping into my inner photographer.Wildflowers of TexasThe BreathLions Breath (Simhasana)Sit comfortably either in Sukhasana (Easy Seat) or on your heels. Take a deep inhalation through the nose. Then simultaneously open your mouth wide and stretch your tongue [...]
Feeling the Waves of my Breath (literally)I just had the most delicious, relaxing experience. I floated for 90 minutes in a warm bath held up by over 800 pounds of Epsom salts and my breath. This experience was brought to me by Halcyon Floats in Roxborough, http://www.halcyonfloats.com, a sensory-deprivation float tank spa. I seized upon this [...]
1.1 With humility (an open heart and mind) we embrace the sacred study of yoga.The Yoga Sutras - Pulling it all togetherDuring class this week, I shared with you the first sutra of the Yoga Sutras. This first sutra is a wonderful way to begin this month of opening our heart. Many of you asked [...]
Brrr...Baby it's cold out there. Deceivingly cold. From my warm house, I see sunshine, plenty of it. So I go for a walk, round a corner in the neighborhood and wham the wind hits me. Now I am warm again and grateful. Grateful for the warmth of my home but also grateful for my brisk [...]
Picture this...the way a driveway glistens after a rainfall, the somewhat random mowing pattern of my neighbor, which created a mosaic on his lawn, or how each bird call outside my window is not so random and done with intention. I have been noticing the little things in my life this week and each of [...]
Life is full of ups and downs like the weather, like the sun and the moon. We have darkness and we have lightness. The constant line in life is that there are ups and downs and we ride the curves finding a little peace, a little stillness, and a little balance. These are our moments [...]
Ignoring irrelevant stuck back door, still wants in!Habituation - an organism is taught to ignore irrelevant stimulus (This article from the New Yorker, Dec. 23 & 30, 2013, The Intelligent Plant, got me thinking). The longer days have brought to light the many ways my life is habitual. The Ugly (in my opinion) - I wake up, [...]
