Moments of Wisdom: Storytelling

Yoga reminds us that we live life simultaneously on many levels. The true essence of yoga is to find our own unity within our multi-dimensionality.

Every sound, sensation, light, flavor, and aroma we ingest from our environments influences our body and mind. And although our body appears to be stable, it is in a constant metamorphosis.

The stories unfolding in our personal lives and those around us, are perennial stories.

You are a living breathing story. Become aware of the stories you tell about yourself and your world. Even in dynamic activity, retain silence and centered awareness by practicing yoga every day.

Participate consciously in the writing of the next chapter of your life.

(Source:  The 7 Spiritual Laws of Yoga, Deepak Chopra)

Balancing Act

Wake up. Make breakfast. Make lunches. Get ready. Drop kids off. Traffic. Get to work. Phones Ringing. Chitter chatter of the day. Chitter chatter of the mind. Leave work. Pick kids up. Get home. Make dinner. Chores. Homework. Bedtimes. Chitter chatter of TV.

Sound familiar? (I know I am not the only one who struggles to stay balanced while playing the balancing act of life.)

Enter yoga.

Yoga works on the entire being, not just the physical body. The being comprises the physical body, emotional body (mind), and the energetic body (spirit).

If we can all find an hour a few times a week to practice yoga, amidst our crazy hectic daily lives, the benefits are endless. 

To start with:

• balances the nervous system which in turn makes us feel calm and helps you deal with stress a LOT better
• improves cardiovascular efficiency- for all those hoops you constantly jump through
• improves and regulates the digestive system- key to maintaining healthy weight and appetite
• weight loss
• increases strength, flexibility and mobility- this makes for better juggling of all the surprises life throws at you
• increases balance and co-ordination- bring it on tight rope!
• increases energy levels
• improves sleep- so long to counting sheep
• improves immune system- skip the next cold or flu swarm
• improves concentration and memory- i remember that!
• improves self image and overall sense of well being- show me someone who doesn’t want more of that!

The short version? Yoga calms the hectic mind, clears out the clutter of our thoughts, and makes us feel AMAZING, no matter what is going on in our lives. 

The even shorter version? Yoga = Balance

8 Limbs of Yoga: The Basics

Yoga as most of us are familiar,  involves asanas, or postures. For many, this one element of true yoga is enough. We make the effort to practice consistently, for whatever reasons (as Brian would say, any reason is a good reason to practice yoga!), and then we continue through our day feeling energized, healthy, happy, balanced, and proud of our posture. 

For others, the physical practice of yoga is just the tip of the iceberg. According to The Yoga Sutra of Patanjali, a fundamental guide for living with a cultivated body, mind, and spiritual awareness, there are 8 limbs to yoga. This ancient text was written in India between 200 B.C and 200 A.D. by the super cool ancient and revered physician, Pantajali.

These 8 limbs of yoga, or ashtanga (ashta= eight and anga=limb) yoga (to unite) are intertwined with each other like branches of a tree. 

The Basics:

1. Yama:
In a nutshell: Guidelines of how we morally interact with each other

• Ahimsa: Nonviolence
• Satya: Truthfulness
• Asteya: Nonstealing
• Brahmacharya: Nonlust
• Aparigraha: Noncovetesness 

2. Niyama:
In a nutshell: Guidelines of how we morally interact with ourselves.

• Saucha: Cleanliness
• Santosa: Contentment
• Tapas: Sustained practice
• Svadhyaya: Self study
• Isvara pranidhana: Surrender to God

3. Asana:
In a nutshell: Practice of yoga postures.

4. Pranayama:

In a nutshell: Practice of breathing exercises.

5. Pratyahara:
In a nutshell: Practice of bringing the awareness to reside deep within oneself

6. Dharana:

In a nutshell: Concentration of the mind free of external (noises) or internal (useless thoughts) distractions.

7. Dhyana:

In a nutshell: Meditation.

8. Samadhi:

In a nutshell: Bliss. Aka: enlightenment.

At this point, even I am a little overwhelmed. But don’t worry. By the time you have a chance to wrap your head around all this, I’ll be discussing each of these (really interesting) branches of yoga individually, and how to easily incorporate them into your daily lives (if you decide to).

 
Namaste!

Yogi Questions, Guru Answers (a new series)

As part of the renewed efforts to generate quality, fun, and interesting blog posts to all of you, I am happy to introduce a new post series.

Remember that one time during practice or a long drive, when you asked yourself,

"How many types of different breathing methods are there?"

or

"Is it rude to ask questions during practice?"

or while we are at it, what about this one:

"What can I do to enjoy Shavasana more?"


How cool would it be to get answers directly from your favorite yoga instructors at Ayuh Yoga?

 The Yogi Questions, Guru Answers series will be a collection of blog posts that answer some easy or difficult, and common or unique questions relating to anything and everything yoga, health, the studio, life... (you get the hint).

The best part? You run the flow.

Here is How it Works: 

1. Submit a question you want answers to via my email here.
Note: Be sure to include the subject line: Yogi Questions Guru Answers

2. I will pose your question to a selection of available instructors at the studio.

3. Not only will I get those questions answered, i will get you a series of answers from a handful of available instructors at the studio!

4. End result? An entire post to fill your head with a variety of guru knowledge and responses!

Send me your questions and lets get this yogi party started......

Namaste!

Spring Yoga Playlist: #1: Spirited and Folky

 For those of us who have had the opportunity to experience one of Sparkle's amazing Ashtanga or Core yoga classes here at Ayuh Yoga, knows that this experience is enhanced even further by the eclectic array of music she chooses to accompany us through each hour of blissful practice.


After every class, I just want to go home and download every single song she plays! Sparkle was nice enough to share her playlist for us.


Spirited and Folky Playlist:

1. "Reveling" - Ani DiFranco

2. "Journey in Satchidananda" - Alice Coltrane

3. "Nova" - Amon Tobin

4. "Natureland" - Amon Tobin

5. "Easy Muffin" - Amon Tobin

6. "Train Underwater" - Bright Eyes

7. "Skeleton Crew" - Kovacs and the Polar Bear

8. "Sometimes (I wish)" - City & Colour

9. "Sam Malone" - City & Colour

10. "Lua" - Bright Eyes

11. "Ruth" - Kovacs and the Polar Bear

12. "Heart Sewin" - Kovacs and the Polar Bear


Thanks for sharing Sparkle! For the rest of us: download like a yogi!

Vegan!

Vielka here.

I was doing our grocery shopping at Whole Foods yesterday. We usually alternate between grocery stores so that I can get my vegan items and not get bored. I was a pretty dedicated vegan a while back but after getting pregnant and traveling quite a bit, it proved difficult to stay a vegan. Now that the baby isn't a baby anymore, I'm back to being vegan-ish for now; meaning, I enjoy a vegan-lifestyle most of the time with the occasional piece of cheese or chicken to make a smooth transition. My veganism is for a number of reasons: some moral, some environmental, some health.

So back to yesterday. The person at the register said he was confused seeing a bunch of vegan items and then some kefir and a roasted chicken. I told him that I'm the vegan in the house but it is difficult for me to have my son be vegan, especially at 18 months. That really seemed to upset my friend at the register. Babies and toddlers have sensitive stomachs and are allergy-prone so giving too much soy or nuts can be harmful and isn't advised, I explained. He said to feed them beans; I responded that clearly he has never been around babies because that's way too much fiber to give a kid daily! I also told him that while adults don't need all that calcium or protein, growing kids do but that frankly, my kid does drink milk and kefir but rarely eats meat and can almost be considered a vegetarian. And he just kept shaking his head. The person bagging the groceries said that she completely understood where I was coming from so that made me feel better.

In thinking about yoga and diets, it does seem being a vegetarian or vegan is most appropriate. Meat is heavy to digest. This means that a lot of blood moves to your stomach to help you digest meat. The more meat, the longer it takes and the more blood. This is why after a large steak dinner, you might feel super tired and need a nap. This makes the cycle worse, slowing down that metabolism even more. The irony is, if food is meant to give us energy, why are we eating to the point where we have to take naps? Keeping this in mind, we know we can at the very least, reduce our portions of meat so we don't feel weighed down. I love reading Michael Pollan books for more of this logic: Eat food. Not too much. Mostly vegetables.

In thinking about working out and yoga in particular, if you eat too much or anything large directly before class, the blood is still helping your stomach while you are trying to get it to focus on your muscles during each posture. And imagine if you are doing an inversion, such as downward dog, trying to focus on your core and digestion. What confusion!

So wondering what you can eat to give you energy before yoga? Try some fruit, veggies, grains...

See you soon!

The Heat!!

This is Vielka from Ayuh. As many of you know, I do much of the logistics at the studio. Brian, as the director, creates the overall feel of the studio. Brian has, in the past, posted a commentary about the heat. So I thought it appropriate that I do the same, from my position, especially now that we are coming on a year and getting ready for summer.

A number of people ask me if yoga can provide a good workout, a good sweat. And I always tell them, absolutely! I am a former college track & field athlete and enjoy lifting heavy weights so I find Power Yoga to be my yoga of choice. And I don't think I would get that intense workout, that parallels an hour on the track, if it were not for the heat.

But like many of you, I also like a more meditative practice on occasion. Taking Hatha Yoga or Gentle Yoga quiets it all down for me...and neither class is heated!

We wanted to create something at Ayuh Yoga where people of all different backgrounds and abilities could find something and participate in that something regularly. So there is something for the quiet folks, active folks, and folks who like the heat extra hot!

But with any start-up business, we are not always able to accommodate all requests as quickly as one may like. And heating a studio of our size to the temperature needed while keeping costs low to our clients requires quite a bit of scheduling savvy especially with Bay Area schizophrenic weather. So on an unseasonably cold day, we might have to start heating up the room from the day before; on a hot day, perhaps just an hour before. And we have certainly floundered along the way. Our apologies for that.

I will say that when I am moving into Warrior II, making sure my gaze is correct, moving with my breath, engaging my legs and arms while positioning my toe at the correct angle, I don't often times think about the temperature of the room on top of all of that. I just know that at whichever temperature, I am definitely getting my yoga on.

Best, Vielka