Monthly Archives: July 2014

My Journey to Wellness with Yoga and Ayurveda

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This week’s blog entry was written by guest author Heidi Mair. Heidi is a graduate of Whole Life Yoga’s 200 hour yoga teacher training program. She can be contacted at heidi.mair@gmail.com.

Torrey Pines Namaste

For most of my life, I have been blessed with health and vitality. I enjoy gardening, cooking, eating healthy foods and an active lifestyle. I began practicing yoga in my teens and continued a regular practice throughout my twenties. In my early thirties, my husband and I bought a 100-year-old house. Much of my free time was spent on renovation projects, gardening, hiking and socializing. I no longer made time in my busy life to practice yoga.

I have had digestive issues including heartburn for as long as I can remember, but I considered it a minor irritation. After 13 years as a vegetarian I began eating meat again. I was busy at work and didn’t have the time to make balanced vegetarian meals. When I hit the big 5-0, the accumulation of a life well-lived began to take its toll. I became more sluggish with achy joints and experienced a bout of sciatica. My heartburn became more frequent and was accompanied by painful, abdominal bloating. I knew it was time to reassess my life and change some of my habits.

I began attending regular yoga classes and soon felt lighter, stronger and more flexible. Around the same time, I attended an Ayurveda workshop and was immediately enthralled by its holistic approach to wellness. Ayurveda is the science of life and is considered the sister science of yoga. Rather than treating symptoms, Ayurveda focuses on each person’s unique constitution (prakriti), nutrition and lifestyle. I researched and found Kerala Ayurveda Academy where I could be certified as a Wellness Counselor in 11 months. Although I was primarily on a path of self-healing, I was also intrigued by the possibility of counseling and teaching.

About 4 months into the program, I made several simple changes and my heartburn went away! I stopped drinking orange juice every morning, cut back on spicy foods and quit drinking wine. Ayurveda teaches us to live according to the seasons and emphasizes the six tastes: sweet, salty, sour, bitter, astringent and pungent. These concepts may sound challenging in our fast-paced and convenience-oriented world, but it can be as simple as waiting for ripe produce rather than eating out of season. And it increases your body awareness. Why didn’t I realize that my love of salsa was related to my heartburn? It is too easy to get out of touch with our own bodies!

Other changes I’ve made include a morning routine (dinacharya): scraping my tongue, using my neti pot, pranayama and yoga. I also discovered trifala, a digestive aid that has really worked for me. I have learned to cook some delicious and healthy meals using ayurvedic spices and nutritional principles. And I try to eat according to the seasons –  warming soups in late fall and winter, salads in the spring and early summer and cooling foods including  fresh apples in the late summer and early fall. These and other small changes have balanced my energy, reduced my stress and increased my sense of general well-being. I am not super-strict and still love my morning coffee. When I slip into old patterns, I am less judging and more self-aware.

Part of the Wellness Counselor program at Kerala included a regular yoga practice. One of my classmates is a Viniyoga teacher and therapist and she thought I’d enjoy Viniyoga.  Through her recommendation, I discovered Whole Life Yoga. After attending a few classes, I knew I had found my yoga home! I was certified at the 200-level in 2010 and have been teaching ever since. My classes are gentle and primarily geared to people over 50. I LOVE teaching and practicing yoga. Lilias Folan wrote a book entitled, Yoga Gets Better with Age and I believe that is true for me. I continue to deepen my practice of both Ayurveda and Viniyoga and look forward to the years ahead of me. There is always more to learn, no matter our stage of life!

Thanks to all of my teachers for helping me learn to age gracefully.

Heidi L. Mair

Some of my writings about Ayurveda and Yoga:

 http://floralinnae.blogspot.com/

 http://ayurvedaprograms.blogspot.com/2010/04/seven-sacred-plants-of-india.html

 http://www.ayurvedawama.com/91

Come visit Whole Life Yoga in Seattle, and check out Tracy Weber’s author page for information about the Downward Dog Mysteries series.  A KILLER RETREAT is available for preorder now from Whole Life Yoga. The first book in the series,  MURDER STRIKES A POSE is available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble,  and book sellers everywhere!

Your Inner Dialogue

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This week’s blog entry was written by guest author Sarah Smith. Sarah is a graduate of Whole Life Yoga’s 200 hour yoga teacher training program and a student in our advanced training. She can be contacted at sarahesmith10@yahoo.com

Communication is powerful.  Just like the knife that can be used in a beneficial way to prepare food for nourishment, or a surgery to heal the body, or used against some one to harm them, communication can be positive or negative.

Sometimes when I am leading a yoga class I will bring the class to standing and ask them to close their eyes and think of one thing they love about their body.  A few more asanas later, coming back to standing, I will ask them to say one kind thing to their body.  At the end of the practice just before ‘namaste’ I will ask them to think of one thing they are grateful for or appreciate about their body.  Other times I will ask them to think of something they love about themselves.  Not surprising is how many people come up to me later and say how hard that is for them.  They are unable to think of one thing they love about their body or their self.

In our daily life how others speak to us has a powerful affect on us.  People who are our well wishers, are encouraging and point out our gifts and talents empower us in our endeavors.  People who invalidate, criticize, judge can throw us into a downward spiral that takes the wind out of our sails and can make us feel as if the life is being sucked right out of us.

Our internal dialogue is incredibly important.  We sometimes get into patterns of thinking that affect us in ways that we don’t realize.  “I have a bad knee” versus “I have a knee that is trying to heal itself.  I am so grateful for the healing power of my body”.  We may find ourselves mentally focusing on our ‘failures’, thinking they define who we are.  This life, this body did not come with a manual.  Maybe taking the word failure out of our vocabulary and replacing it with ‘great lesson’ would put us back in the driver’s seat.

Notice what you would like to have others say to you, and begin to give that to yourself. Words and thoughts that are kind, loving and honoring help our bodies to heal, and ourselves to grow into the spiritual beings that are who we truly are.  It takes practice, but that is why we call it yoga practice, not yoga perfect.

Sarah

Come visit Whole Life Yoga in Seattle, and check out Tracy Weber’s author page for information about the Downward Dog Mysteries series.  A KILLER RETREAT is available for preorder now from Whole Life Yoga. The first book in the series,  MURDER STRIKES A POSE is available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble,  and book sellers everywhere!

Do You Practice Hatha Yoga?

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I recently sat next to a very kind gentleman on an airplane for a six-hour flight back to Seattle from Malice Domestic (a mystery fan convention.). I don’t think he knew I was a yoga teacher, especially since he spent a good thirty minutes educating me about the benefits of yoga. Of course, I agreed with him. Yoga is good stuff. He then said something that made me both externally smile and internally cringe, at least a little. He mentioned that he doesn’t like the more strenuous yoga forms of yoga, and that he only practices “Hatha” yoga.

I didn’t disagree with them. After all, he’s right, in a way. He does practice Hatha yoga. Almost all of us who practice yoga in America do. “Hatha” is an umbrella term that means the physical practice of yoga.  But referring to all yoga as simply “Hatha” is a little misleading. Although there are definite similarities between yoga styles, there are even more differences.

One Hatha yoga class may be practiced at a hundred and five degrees. Another may focus on “proper” alignment. Yet another, on connecting movement and breath. Some Hatha practices flow from pose to pose, while others stay in each posture for a minute or more before moving on to the next. Teachers of some styles teach the exact same sequence of poses each time. Some classes, like most Viniyoga classes, are designed in the moment based on what the practitioners need that day.

When you sign up for your first yoga class—or next, for that matter—ask the instructor what style they teach and explore with them whether that style will fit your goals. If the teacher says they teach “Hatha,” dig deeper. What lineages has she been influenced by? Who did she train with? Does she believe form follows function or the reverse? Her answers will help you find the right practice for you.

Most importantly, if you don’t like the first yoga class you try, take another. There’s a yoga style, teacher, and philosophy that fits everyone.

This article from Yoga Journal is a great starting place to explore the options available.

Namaste

Tracy Weber

          A Killer Retreat

Come visit Whole Life Yoga in Seattle, and check out Tracy Weber’s author page for information about the Downward Dog Mysteries series.  A KILLER RETREAT is available for preorder now from Whole Life Yoga. MURDER STRIKES A POSE is available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble,  and book sellers everywhere! 

100 Happy Days/Persevering Practice

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This week’s blog entry was written by guest author Jeanette Sanchez. Jeanette is a graduate of Whole Life Yoga’s 200 hour yoga teacher training program. She can be contacted at jehanette@gmail.com.

“Clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth.” – Pharrell Williams

I was being a good yogi doing my persevering practice of trolling Facebook. What I should have been doing was working on my dissertation, grading papers or even doing yoga. That was when my close friend threw down the gauntlet: 100 Happy Days.

100 Happy Days (http://100happydays.com/) challenges people to be happy for 100 continuous days and to share that happiness by posting photographs of things that make you happy on social media or just with them.  They say, “The ability to appreciate the moment, the environment and yourself in it is the base for the bridge towards long term happiness of any human being.”  Of course, this sounds familiar, it sounds like one of the results of meditation and persevering practice which we, yogis, know brings on a state of nirodhah (control of the random fluctuations of the mind).

Sutras 1.2-4

Yoga is the process of ending the random fluctuations of the mind. Then (once we are in nirodhah) the seer will be established in our own true nature (we can see clearly). Otherwise, what we see is a product of our own conditioning, not what is really there.

Coming into a state of nirodhah means adopting a persevering practice (other yogi’s practices have been highlighted in this blog previously). It can be any practice that is sustained over time. I have experimented in pranayama practices, flossing practices, and making my bed each morning practices all with good results.

Sutras 1.12-14

Control of the mind’s random fluctuations comes from persevering practice and from non-attachment. The state of nirodhah is stabilized through sustained effort. Moreover, that practice must be done for a long time, and without interruption; with eagerness and sincerity.  Then it will become a stable platform from which you can grow.

So nearly three months ago, I accepted the challenge to find 100 things to be happy about 100 days in a row. I have posted them on my Facebook and enjoyed watching my friend post hers.  And for a while it was just fun. Lots of pictures of my husband, my pets and my pets and … my pets…

After about a month, I realized how reliant I am on my dog, in particular, to make me smile during the day.

I felt guilty that I wasn’t out there going on hikes and seeing the beautiful days we’ve been having and spending oodles of time with my husband in the sun doing all those wonderful outdoor things people do up here in the Pacific Northwest.
Then I realized that after one month of “being happy,” of working on this challenge, I had spent more than 20 hours in the library working on my dissertation.  I’d filled pages and pages of sources in my bibliography. I’d found a way back into my work. And so I persisted in my practice.

I found time to start doing my breathing practices more often. As a result, I slept better. I also found other regular practices that made my life better.  Chamomile tea before bed with my husband on our deck as we catch up with each other, walking to work rather than parking as close to the door as I can, and eating different varieties of apples each day. All of these things make my days more fulfilled and as a result, happier.

I will be finished with my persevering practice of 100 Happy Days by the time this blog goes up. I am nearly done with my bibliography, caught up on grading, have a happier husband because I spend time with him and sleep, and the bed is made every day. I will need to find a new practice to fill its gap. It is something I look forward to with happiness.

*The writing of this blog post was accompanied by repeated playings of “Happy” by Pharrell Williams (http://youtu.be/y6Sxv-sUYtM), much to the amusement (read: annoyance) of my husband.

**Another great Happy resource is The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. It is an amazing book. Her practice of giving yourself 15 minutes to work on tasks has dramatically changed my cleaning house lifestyle.

Jeanette

Come visit Whole Life Yoga in Seattle, and check out Tracy Weber’s author page for information about the Downward Dog Mysteries series.  A KILLER RETREAT is available for preorder now from Whole Life Yoga. The first book in the series,  MURDER STRIKES A POSE is available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble,  and book sellers everywhere!