Resolutions

I will never understand people who hate on New Years resolutions.

Whats wrong with setting goals?

 

Is it better to never set a goal?

Or to set a goal and fail?

 

Cheers to 2014, and all the goals you accomplish as well as those you simply dare to dream.

Dear Savasana

 

During Savasana I often wonder, “am I doing this right?”

It seems like the simplest pose, but in actuality it can be really difficult.

For my first presentation at Corepower Teacher Training I have been asked to present on this complex posture. Here is what I have come up with:

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Sit in on your mat. Close your eyes.

Imagine your at the beach. It’s a hot and humid day, and you have just taken Addy and Megan AND Ruby’s C 1 class.

Yup. Not just Addy, not just Megan, not just Ruby but all three.

Your feeling a bit overwhelmed, and your head  is spinning through queues, alignments, and Sanskrit all at once, while your body  as you finally slowing down and enjoying your surrender series.  Your fellow yogis are beside you, each in their own tranquil space on their mats.

Sweat is dripping down your forehead to your mat. Heat is radiating from your body.

Suddenly, as if everyone were to disappear out of thin air, you find yourself on your own little private cove. No one is in sight, and the sun is beginning to set.

Your body temperature is slowly lowering.

Exhale and slowly lay down onto your back.

Inhale yourself into a ball. Squeeze your legs into your chest. Tighten your grip on your shins. Point your toes down. Curl your head to your knees. Inhale squeezing everything towards your midline as tight as you possibly can.

Exhale.

Savasana.

Relax your entire body down on the mat.  Legs are straight.  Palms face up.  Hips are neutral.  Jaw and brow are soft.
Inhale, and recall the last 60 minutes of challenging and attentive work…

Now with a slow and deliberate exhale, release that memory.
As you lay here on your back, separate and straighten your legs, with your feet about twelve inches apart.  As if a warm wave were to gently lapse at your feet, feel the sense of water at your base. Unclench  your toes and release your ankles.

Imagine the waves have now creept up your lower body, and you feel your hips relax into the sand. Your arms are placed along your side body, palms are facing the sky, and the water grazes our fingertips.

Moving with the ease of a calm ocean, roll your shoulders back and toward one another, and allow your chest to expand as your breath slows. Smell the fruitful ocean air.

The waves creep up another inch.

Pull your head out of your neck, your arms away from your shoulders. Release your tongue. Relax your forehead. Neutralize your belly.

The waves are now still, and a thin layer of water surrounds your body.

Find your natural breath.

Notice your third eye. Blink it shut.

Let all your unique curvatures melt into the shoreline. Like a star fish, your sinking into your mat as if you are imprinted on this beach.

You have nothing to think about, no where to be. No better place to go.

Just you and your breath.

 

When you fully embrace this moment as an opportunity to heal, you tap into a renewed purity and authenticity.

Although “savasana” translates to “corpse pose”, in fact you feel more alive than ever.

Through your intentional stillness, you are rejuvenating your body, your mind an your spirit.

Here in savasna, your heart rate decreases, your blood pressure decreases, your muscle tension decreases, your metabolic rate decreases, and you experience less anxiety and less fatigue.

By frequently experiencing  savasana, your energy raises and you develop increased concentration, focus, and self-confidence.

Yoga provides the body with a host of muscular information, and savasana is like a rest button allowing the nervous system to pause and absorb that data.

Savasana allows the practitioner to turn inwards, after spending time focusing on the physical components of the body. Savasana solidifies the meditative practice of yoga, and is an incredibly important part of the ritual.

Ask yourself, without expectation or judgment – what do you like about savasana? What does it do for you?

According to many, savasana is the most important part of a yoga practice.

What is savasana to you?

 

(Silence and stillness, for at least the next 3-minutes)

 

 

 

Integration

One thing you should never do is oversimplify the “integration” between business and pleasure.

Integration is a fancy word for complicated.

I spent the greater portion of the past year discussing, researching, and experiencing the twisted phenomena of “integrating” Eastern and Western Medicine.

Lately, I have been integrating what it means to be a teacher with what it means to be a doctor.

I have also been integrating my personal yoga practice with learning to teach yoga.

 

The main function of integrating seems to be re-purposing to take advantage of the best elements of two “unlike” items.

Once things are integrated, it is harder and harder to define what, if anything, is “unlike” about these items.

 

re-purposing myself

 

I am having one of those reality check days.

 

You know those days when the scattered thoughts in your mind finally start to puzzle together with logic?

When the questions you have been asking yourself suddenly have answers.

. . . and part of you is sorry you asked because NOW THAT YOU KNOW what to do, you have no excuse not to do it.

 

That is today for me.

Today I am re-purposing myself.

I am making a call to action.

I am no longer going to complain about not having what I want.

 

Today I am going to CREATE what I want . . .

and I am going to SHARE it . . .

 

I WANT:

More time with family & friends,

More fulfillment in my daily activities (professional and personal activities)

Time to workout,

To cook healthy food,

To read more,

Yoga, and to learn to teach yoga,

To help people stay healthy,

To assist doctors in communicating with patients and their medical teams,

To assist teachers in communicating with students,

To support communication channels among youth, citizens, and their governments.

 

 What do you want?

 

Eat Chocolate!

HEALTH FACT:: Eating foods high in saturated fat can impair your ability to feel full for up to 3 days! Instead, try foods w monounsaturated fat to satisfy your fat cravings, like soy beans, nuts, peanut butter, or dark chocolate!!

Graduated!

I just graduated from the Communication M.A. program at San Diego State University.

If there is one thing I learned, it is that no one is an expert in Communication.

Another thing I learned is that formal writing is very challenging, and requires more vulnerability and flexibility that one might assume.

Still, I will miss it…

I will miss the creative process of finding my voice through written word.

I will miss discussing with my students all the interactions and events that contribute to our communicative styles.

I will miss conducting research with “objectivity”, and debating whether capitol “T” truth even exists.

I will miss getting feedback from classmates and advisers, and looking at the same concepts from different vantage points.

I will not miss the anxiety the comes with waiting for a test or a grade, but I will miss the rush of pride I get when I receive high marks.

Nothing creates these feelings quite like grad school.

Starting this blog will hopefully fill part of the void I will inevitably have while not enrolled in school.

 

If there is one thing I learned about myself in graduate school, it is that,

expert or not,

formal or not,

objective or not,

with critique or not,

… I have ideas to share.

 

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