MINDing the Garden by Tam Terry

  

One of the walls in my sweet little city garden is packed with Impatiens flowers.  Even though I planted tiny pup plants just five weeks ago, they are exploding in vibrant colors and packed with new buds.  As I admire this unrelenting bounty, I see these buds as little packages of possibility.  I tend this garden and am surprised by the potent visual feast that defies logic since it came from that wild, crazy, Big Orange garden center.  Then I say it out loud, “MY IMPATIENTS IS FLOURISHING”.  Ha!  Even though the spelling is different (Impatience) the irony is not lost on me since I’ll admit to being in a patience cultivating period, it’s just taking more effort lately.  After all I am in many ways still the same kid that bent my bike training wheels up when Dad took too long to get them off.  To be fair-he was on his way to do it-had all the tools in his hands and everything but then got sidetracked by a visitor.  I waited and waited then suddenly, it hit me-wheels up baby, WHEELS UUUUP!  There you have it my personal gateway to years of taking matters into my own hands to change things I didn’t want to accept. 

The ability to be resourceful is an absolute advantage for many things and I’ll bet that you too have your own MacGyver-y gift for changing things that need it.  Thank goodness we eventually figure out where these skills are best utilized to support us and those we love.  Then again-it’s remarkable how beings as superbly capable as we are can entirely overlook another option for dealing with things we don’t like, things that are not within our power to change, that make us ill at ease and uncomfortable.  We are conditioned to suppress or run from these things, to get to our happy place.  We shield our hearts with armor and in doing so; we are actually creating less and less capacity to tolerate the very thing we are running from.  The feeling tone of this response shows up initially as agitation, restlessness, discursiveness, headache, a stomach ache or my current favorite-impatience.  If we can begin to notice and acknowledge these built in survival alarms we can act right then and there to train in techniques that support us rather than diminish us. 

This really works-but you have to put in the time on your mat regularly so you can access the benefits of the practice more quickly when you need it most.  Why not keep it simple and start by using your intention setting time at the beginning of practice to ask “How am I today?”   “How does my body feel?”  “What is my state of mind”?  By asking and answering honestly, with the care and attention you’d give your best friend, you answer with 1 word, no more than 3.  The area of the body that needs it most gets to answer.  Whatever the answer, you repeat the word to yourself as a form of acknowledgment-something like “Ok knee hurts today.  Got it” or “Ok, mind feels agitated but you don’t know why” or perhaps “Delighted by the Impatiens you took a chance on!”  Next, send feelings of love and compassion to the chosen area or thought with the  intention of simply allowing space for the thing that is going on to happen, it’s real so be with it for a few moments.  This is done with the same attitude you might have when putting a supportive hand on the shoulder of a friend who needs it.   That’s it, that’s the practice-just start there. 

Its training ground to practice really listening to yourself which helps hone awareness skills for identifying first sign triggers of stress in privacy and safety on your mat.  In time we learn to honor our body messages and respond with mindful techniques rather than suppress these caution symbols; which by the way-only exacerbates stress and dis-ease!  As with asana, don’t try to quantify an outcome in a timeframe, just be consistent whether you can get to the mat or not.  Try to take 30 seconds each day (same time each day) to ask the question/s followed by acknowledgement and your offering of love and compassion.

The beauty of this practice is that it reminds us to trust what we already know- that we can choose not to be overwhelmed by discomfort because what is happening now will not be what’s happening 60 seconds, 60 days or 60 years from now.  Everything is always changing-the stuff we think is good, the stuff we think is bad.  None of it lasts forever and life is just harder when we resist the elemental truth of impermanence.  Moving through this life humbly risking, falling and getting up to risk again is what creates the texture for each of our stories.  It’s actually freeing to relax into the teachings of impermanence; we can then use our energy to create the life that is waiting for us in the time we have to do it.

Oh!   So you want to know if I got in trouble for turning my training wheels into the shape of a Flying Nun hat?  Nah.  Dad tried to hide his laughter.  I think he knew he had his own little package of possibility.

Tam Terry

Sunday's: Sunday Sanctuary - 12:15 - 1:30pm

Yoga for Stress Management - more dates coming soon

Tips for Finding Peace of Mind and Re-Centering

Tips for finding peace of mind and re-centering.

There are just some days that I haven’t the focus, or the clarity, or the patience for anything. The world around me feels like its not making sense anymore. I like to think of myself as a generally calm and peaceful individual, but like anyone else I am human and have days where I feel unaligned with myself and can’t make sense of the smallest occurrences throughout my day. My mind feels like a bee trapped in a glass jar and I’m dying to let it free!

  I have made the choice to view the frustration that presents itself in moments like these as blessings in disguise. When the negative thoughts, emotions, and self talk starts to close in it is brought to my awareness for me it indicates to me that it is time for me to cleanse my senses and perception.

In addition to yoga and meditation, Here are some tips I have developed to regain focus, reenter, and achieve peace of mind.

1.)Give your Senses a break! Give yourself time away from any extra noise or anything that will over stimulate and continue to frazzle you. So turn off your phone, ipod, itouch, tv, your computer and any other technology. I know this is hard since we are constantly somehow connected to social media like it is blood to our veins. It will be worth it I promise.

2.) Just Lay Down. Take a moment and lay down. You can rest in savasana on the floor, your bed or choose any other position to lay down in.  Just make sure you are comfortable and still. Focus on breathing deep and with each breathe let go of something that is bothering you.

3.)Just shake it out. Seriously just stand in front of your bedroom or bathroom  mirror turn on some of your favorite music and start moving your body. Imagine all that frustration you feel exiting your body as you move. Try to feel where in your body the emotions are blocked. For an example If  you are feeling sadness in your heart try doing some standing cat cows imagining you are pumping out the sadness, and filling it with love.

4.) Soak it out. This one is my favorites. Draw a nice warm bath and add some epsom or sea salt . Feel free to light some incense, or candles and turn off the lights. Add some relaxing music, or allow there to be silence. Allow your mind to drain out and your mind body spirit to feel cleansed.

5.) Tea time. I love  tea. The act of preparing it and taking the time to drink it are a form of meditation for me. Try to focus on the smells and tastes and the warming soothing sensation to heal what might ail you.

6.) Get Natural.  Take a moment and spend time in nature. If you live in a more urban environment and don’t have access to forests or a natural oasis, lay in the grass, or sit with your back against a tree. Let the nature absorb your worries like a sponge.

I hope you have found this to be helpful and will give some of these a shot!  Let us know which one your favorite is J .

With love,

Karly

The Fruits of Our Yoga Practice by Julie Pasqual

         One of the things I love most about Indian culture is that it is so practical.  Reading through even the most ancient texts, one feels as if they are reading things that were written yesterday, as opposed to thousands of years ago.  Yes, the language is a little different, but the intentions, and the meanings, as well as the struggles are the same.  It seems like we humans have always been struggling with how to tame our crazy minds.  How to stop the thoughts that turn us from the peaceful, loving people we so want to be, and into the bickering, short fused harpies we sometimes morph into.  

          In the Bhagavad Gita, one of the most revered of all yogic texts, Arjuna - who is doing most of the listening in this book, says, "O Krishna!  The mind is very fickle, powerful, wild and stubborn.  It seems to me that to control the mind is as difficult as catching the wind!"  And, Krishna, who is doing most of the talking in this text says, "Yes, the mind is certainly restless and difficult to overpower.  But by practice, and detachment, it can be done!"

         Those two points: practice (abhyasa) and detachment (vairagya), are two of the hardest, yet most useful things we can bring to our yoga practice, both on and off the mat.  We have to acknowledge that what yoga asks of us - to still the restless mind, IS NOT EASY - there are going to be good days, and really days - days when our mind is spinning out of control with all sorts of wild thoughts.  But just like a child doesn't walk on the first try, just as we learned language one little word at a time, if we come back to practicing, again, and again - we make strides.

         And in this path of yoga, and in every endeavor we take up, we have to also learn to let go.  We try, we work hard, but ultimately, sometimes the result is out of our control, so we have to try our very best, but then throw up our hands, and say, "Done!"  But, here again, the Bhagavad Gita gives such great advice, because it says that whatever work we have done on this path of yoga - even if it's one down dog, or one moment of meditation - the rewards will always be there for us, and are never, ever lost.  We are always able to get whatever the fruits of our yoga practice, even if it's what a teeny, tiny practice give us.  

Julie Pasqual teachers:

Mondays - Bhakti Basic - 6:30pm

Fridays - Power Flow - 5:00pm

"Think Positive" by Michelle Goitia

Ever wonder if you are a "glass half full" or "glass half empty" kind of a person? As children we become who we are and often times it's hard to change as an adult. I always tell people to retry foods that they didn't like as a child-you never know what might become a new favorite food. As well, it is always good to look at how you react to certain moments, are you still reacting the way you would have as a child?
 
For some reason, I have been a "glass half empty" kind of person.  As I reflect about my life, I have everything I could ever need. A wonderful loving husband of 20+ years, two beautiful children and a career that I adore. So lately, I have been working on positive affirmations. Thinking about the way I state things that I need in my life. It is amazing how this has worked. 

From finding things that I have misplaced to asking to be released from Jury Duty, I have found that when I say things WILL happen, they usually do. By telling the universe that it will happen the positivity outweighs the negativity. Being strong with your affirmation will slowly eliminate any negativity. This doesn't happen overnight, there is always work to be done, this process is like our yoga practice-a lifelong practice.

Think of what you have in your life that brings you joy. Affirm all that it has given you. Then begin to change the things that you want to be different, one at a time,  by affirming what you need it to be.  "If you experience a sense of joy and well being, your mind is instinctively responding to something it believes to be true. When you get this emotion, you know your affirmations are working!"-vitalaffirmations.com

Being positive, expressing what you want and making things come true. What more could you ask for?

One of my favorite positive affirmations, especially when chanted.....

Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu

May all beings everywhere, be happy and free, and my the thoughts words and actions of my own life, contribute in some way, to that happiness and to that freedom for all. 

Michelle Goitia

Mondays: Prenatal Yoga at 11:00am - 12:00pm

Saturdays: Beginner Series starting June 15th - 10:00am

Yoga for Labor and Delivery - 6/9/13 - 2:00pm - 4:30pm