Yoga. For REAL people.

If you live in present day US, and you are not a skinny white woman doing intricate arm balances while modeling fashionable yoga wear, then you may have doubts as to whether yoga is for you................ a REAL person with a REAL body who struggles with flexibility, or balance, or strength.  

You probably think this because yoga has been largely marketed to skinny white women of a certain age.   

Don't believe the marketing machine.  

Sure, sometimes yoga looks likes skinny white women in Lululemon.  
Sometimes it looks like Indian men in ashrams.
Sometimes it looks like a new age hippie wearing birkenstocks and carrying crystals.

But, let me tell you from experience, it also looks like:

the 60 something lady with a sprained wrist who comes to class despite her injury to do just do what she can do and focus on her breath, 

or the 50 something guy whose hamstrings are super tight from a lifetime of overexertion who just wants to feel and sleep better, 

or the plus size 30 something lady who articulates every single pose with stability and balance that make me a tiny bit jealous, but mostly happy.

If you believe yoga is not for you because you are:

"not flexible"

"too fat"

not white

not female

not able to "shut off your mind"

not able to relax 

don't look good in yoga pants

Then, you may want to re-think the whole yoga thing. 

Instead, ask yourself if you want to experience anything from this list:

To know the self better.

To merge body, mind, and breath, so as to become a vessel for Spirit.

To feel healthier, more energetic, and happier.

To age gracefully.

To find greater compassion for self, and, ultimately, for others.

To feel at home in one's own skin and in one's own life.

Yoga is for the Individual who wishes to commune with Life.  If you want to achieve any of the results listed above, then yoga just might be for you!  Give it a try.

Namaste~

Tammie

Yoga Practice: Patience

If you are practicing yoga, you better get used to Practicing Patience. 

Inhale.  Patience.  
Pause.  Patience.  
Exhale.  Patience.

Patience is slow......... 
and I know how you might feel about that because I have been guilty of the same. 

Let's face it, not every day on your mat is a fireworks display.  

There can be long periods without visible progress or growth.  Without patience, your practice could feel repetitive or empty.  Because Practicing Patience is slow, it can feel counter intuitive to goal achievement (especially in our culture) where some marketing person is constantly telling you that there's a better, faster, easier way.  Don't believe the hype! 

Practice & Patience are key.  Here's why:

1. Yoga is a practice.   (which means you practice it.....over.....and over.....and over again.  without fail....)    

Think about this:  The Beatles performed live together more than any other group in history.  They had a "practice" of over 10,000 hours of experience before they ever invaded the US.  (Read Outliers for more info on that 10,000 hour rule) 


2. Patience is the key to accepting the space of time it takes for the "practice" to become REAL CHANGE (not just physical results) in our bodies, minds, and spirits. (Patience is the building upon building of concepts that become ingrained into our cells, our psyches, and our souls....)

Think about this:   
Practicing Patience is the key to Presence. 
Presence is the key to the Divine. 
Patience transforms our experience of the ordinary into something sublime by increasing our Presence.......Instead of tiring of your thousandth down dog, you revel in its myriad of intricacies, how you can experience it differently every time you observe yourself in it, how it transforms your inner body landscape into spacious plains and endless horizons of possibility.                



May you find peace in your practice.
May you find presence in your patience.
May your experience of life be transformed.

Shanti~
Tammie

Summer & Kids & Self Discovery

Shanti, Friends,

I am honored and excited to be a part of several fun kids yoga events this summer.   I believe summer is a magical time for self exploration, especially during childhood.  Unstructured time, longer hours of light, warmer temps....they all combine and create an atmosphere ripe with potential for self discovery.


Yesterday, I started a dialogue with my kids to get them thinking with these questions:


What do you do when not every moment of your day is accounted for and structured by someone else?  

What catches your interest and inspires you? 

Does the amount of time you are spending on activities accurately reflect what you say interests you?


Summer is ripe with possibility and potential and amazing growth because it allows children to explore themselves without too many demands or external pressure.  But its important for them to realize that the time is precious, a privilege, a gift.....because it allows us to explore what is in our hearts and minds.   

In my mid twenties I became depressed.   was in a state of constant anxiety.  And I remember finally asking myself one day when the last time I felt happy was.... (after looking for all sorts of external validation to fill the holes).  It was as a child......playing.  

So, I asked myself:

"What did you do when you were a child?"

(Its the smartest question I ever asked myself.)  



The answer was:

play make believe
dance, do backbends
look at the world upside down 
read
draw, color, and paint



I started to incorporate those activities into my life and slowly happiness started to emerge and bubble up from within me as I began to feel, well,  more like............me!

And now I do back bends and headstands for a living!  

So, let your kids (or  yourself)  free play this summer and watch what bubbles up in them and you.  

Namaste~
Tammie