40 Days 40 Classes: COMPLETE :)

40 beautiful days ago (well now actually 42) I started out on a journey to find some peace (shanti) to my mind-body-soul, and make a physical life change.

I have been over weight since the end of 2007.  Depression had me on the Taco Bell/Del Taco diet for a good year.  I piled on a good 60lbs since high school.  Its funny, because in your mind and when you look in the mirror you some how still think you are healthy... and you are far from it.  So we joined a gym.  Youfit.  And have personal training.  I lost 8lbs the first two months and was pumped.  Then a true blessing came along and I got a job working at Blissful Yoga.  As a personal and business goal I wanted to take each class.  This way I was able to experience the class for myself while being able to speak about the class to a prospective student.  The summer solstice conjured a 108 Sun Salutations led by Margie at the studio.  AMAZING.  My body felt a live.  Electric.  The vibration of atoms in my body left me tingling. 

So the 40 Day Challenge has served several purposes.  I wanted to have the discipline and be able to challenge myself and grow my practice, move my body to promote wellness and fat loss, the addiction my body had started to create in response to the month of classes I had already taken just working there, and a jump start to making my body a healthy environment for a little one :)  I lost 17lbs, gained more strength in my body than I have ever had, and allowed myself to push through my own barriers.  The ability to use the body's natural systems to heal, cleanse, and balance.  And an expeirence that I can take pride in but also continue to use to keep me accountable.  My practice has grown exponentially and I want to continue to grow it.  Heck I can do inversions now and got down into full splits.  I haven't been in splits since middle school Razzle Dazzle!!!!!

Autumn Equinox 108 Salutations next month and the next 40 Day Challenge is in January.  I cannot wait :D

I love the way my body feels...that I know that I can go to yoga, no matter what is going on in life.. step onto my mat and shelf my thoughts, my mind stills and my body surrenders to the flow.

Yoga Love <3

36 Days

Today is day 36 of the 40 day Challenge at work at Blissful Yoga.  With 4 days of classes ahead of me here is where I'm at..

1. Hot Yoga w/Delene
2. Vinyasa w/Marci
3. Yoga Wall w/Rosa
4. Stretch & Restore w/Aleesha
5. Bliss Flow w/Suzanne
6. Yoga Fit w/Margie
7. Restorative w/Carrie
8. Hot Yoga w/Delene
9. Vinyasa w/Marci
10. Candle Light w/Tracy
11. Vinyasa w/Aleesha
12. Bliss Flow w/Tracy
13. Restorative w/Delene
14. Hot Yoga w/Delene
15. Restorative w/Carrie
16. All Levels w/Marci
17. Home Practice
18. Yoga Wall w/Rosa
19. Home Practice
20. Bliss Flow w/Suzanne
21. Home Practice
22. Extended Restorative w/Carrie & Josh
23. Hot Yoga w/Craig
24. Home Practice
25. Yoga Wall w/Rosa
26. Restorative w/Delene
27. Yinyasa w/Delene
28. Home practice
29. Restorative w/Josh
30. Candle Light w/Tracy
31. Bliss Flow w/Marci
32. Restorative w/Aleesha
33. Flow & Restore w/Aleesha
34. Monthly Ashtanga Primary w/John
35. Restorative w/Marsha
36. All Levels w/Marci
37.  
38.  
39.  
40.  

I have to say that Yoga really is something else.  For anyone who doubts it.. that its a foofoo thing for only women.. step up and do 40 days of yoga.. and then ask yourself again.  I personally have lost 17lbs while participating in the 40 day challenge.  The strength in my body I lost over the past few years I have gained back.. plus some.  My body feels alive.  The 108 Sun Salutations to welcome the Summer Solistice was a profound moment for my mind and body.  These 40 days are a gift.

I'm pumped for the NEXT 40 days in January :D  Even if I'm preg.. its going down.. Erin did it and she is going in Friday to have her son..  She came to Level I/II this morning. She is a rock star and is absolutely glowing.  And her practice is through the roof.

Also getting our first Bountiful Basket this weekend :D  Super excited about that.  A really amazing women, Kate, inspired me to try it :)  Check out her blog.. Kate's Blog :)

Well I'm off to put posole together in the crockpot.  I love that darn thing :D  Mom bought it for me a few xmas' ago and that bad girl does work son.

Shanti!

PS: my hubby is playing don't stop believing for me <3 even though he things journey is a butt band hehe

Flow to find Balance

 

 

 

 

 

Flow to Find Your Balance

Balance. Just the word conjures up a surreal image of a sunny, stress-free life in which work, friends and family peacefully coexist with plenty of time for shared meals, sleep and museum-hopping. But is that idealized vision really what finding balance is all about? 

Yoga has a lot to teach us about balance; the physical practice revolves around dualistic relationships—strength and flexibility, push and pull, engaging and softening. The play between these opposing forces mirrors the fundamental relationship a yogi has with the ground below and the air above, the body serving as the connection between the two.

Take a simple pose like Tadasana, mountain pose. The feet root down into the earth and, in reaction to that, the heart lifts a little higher and the crown of the head rises up a little taller—you push down to lengthen up. Your sense of connectedness to the earth helps you to find an expansiveness up and away from the earth. This kind of oppositional energetic movement is something you can recognize most easily in balancing postures.

Explore your balance with this sequence. Hold each pose for 3 to 5 breaths.

• Start in downward-facing dog pose.
• Inhale to lift your right leg up in the air. As you exhale, step your right foot in between your hands and lift your arms up by your ears to come into a high lunge. 
• As you inhale, bring your palms to meet in front of your heart in a prayer gesture and exhale to angle your torso forward. On your inhale, lift your left leg up into a Warrior III pose. Modify by placing your hands on blocks beneath your shoulders if needed.
• Inhale to come up to stand, balancing on your right foot. Bring your right hand to your hip and take your left big toe in yogi toe lock with the first two fingers and thumb of your left hand. On an inhale, extend your left leg straight out in front of you and lift your right arm up into the sky. Modify by keeping your left knee bent and interlacing your hands beneath your thigh. 
• Open your left leg out to the left side of the room and extend your right arm out to the right side of the room. 
• Come into tree pose by bringing the sole of your left foot to the inside of your right thigh and extending both arms up towards the sky.
• As you inhale, bring your hands into prayer at your heart and exhale to point your left knee to the front of the room.  Move through Warrior III pose with prayer at your heart into a balancing standing split, lifting your left leg even higher behind you and bowing your head closer to the earth. Keep your gaze on the floor for balance. Modify by placing your hands on blocks.
• Gently step back into a low lunge with your hands on either side of your right foot.
• Exhale to step back into downward-facing dog pose. Repeat the flow on the opposite side.

The Well Wisdom:

Life is full of ups and downs. Sometimes we encounter things that are hard and challenging, while other times life feels nothing but smooth. Just remember: these two opposite realms must both exist in order for us to practice living in the middle ground in between—it is there we will find balance.

(*by Jen Guarnieri
August 8, 2011)

Yoga is the Fountain of Youth

“Yoga is the fountain of youth.  You’re only as young as your spine is flexible.” –Bob Harper


Bob is on to something here.  In my last post 3 Common Misconceptions About Yoga, we discussed some reasons why people may not choose to practice yoga based on false notions.  As a follow up, it’s important to bring to light proven ways that yoga can be beneficial for your health at any age and at any level of practice: beginner, intermediate or advanced.
So, if you are wondering what yoga can do for you, here are 35 ways yoga facilitates better health, as both prevention and treatment, as supported by scientific evidence.

1. Relieves pain
2. Lowers need for medication
3. Promotes weight loss
4. Increases flexibility
5. Strengthens muscles
6. Releases unconscious muscular gripping
7. Improves balance
8. Improves posture
9. Improves immune function
10. Strengthens bones
11. Lowers blood sugar
12. Lowers blood pressure
13. Thins the blood
14. Improves lung function
15. Leads to slower and deeper breathing
16. Increases oxygenation of tissues
17. Improves joint health
18. Nourishes intervertebral disks in the spine
19. Improves return of venous blood, the veins that run from organs to the heart
20. Increases lymph circulation
21. Improves foot function
22. Improves proprioception (the ability to sense the position and location and orientation and movement of the body and its parts)
23. Conditions the cardiovascular system
24. Relaxes and improves the function of the nervous system
25. Improves brain function
26. Activates the left prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain responsible for positive emotions
27. Changes neurotransmitter levels
28. Lowers level of the stress hormone Cortisol
29. Improves levels of cholesterol and triglycerides (the good stuff)
30. Improves bowel function
31. Increases the control of bodily functions
32. Uses imagery to effect change in the body
33. Fosters healing relationships
34. Fosters spiritual growth
35. Encourages involvement in your own healing

As you can see, by practicing this ancient art we can increase the level of our body’s health and well-being.  Yoga truly is the proactive, mindful magic potion of the fountain of youth.

Yoga as Medicine: the Yogic Prescription for Health and Healing  by Dr. Timothy McCall, M.D.

(*viaZenFriend)