Energizing Hatha Yoga with Tammie Returns: Saturdays in Spring!

Each day I notice the length of daylight increasing and I can't help but feel optimistic.  It is reassuring to see signs that spring is approaching, and, with it, the promise of growth. 

In March I will return to the role of student at a 3 day alumni retreat with the Temple of Kriya Yoga in Chicago (from which I received my certification in June 2002).  Remaining a student is a key to being an effective teacher.  I cannot wait to commune with myself, my practice, and other yogis and then bring back all of the knowledge and inspiration that I receive to share with my students.

Starting on April 6, I will be teaching an 8 week session of Energizing Hatha Yoga on Saturday mornings!!  Classes will be located in the Physical Education Center in the Dance Studio on Rock Valley College Campus.  Slots are filling quickly with old friends and new.  Be sure to reserve your spot!  Hope to see you there.

Namaste~

Tammie

Process. Passion. Repeat.

Every single thing that we encounter in our daily lives was once nothing more than a thought.  

As the old saying goes, "you were once just a glimmer in your mother's eye."  The same holds true for the chair you're sitting in as you read this and the computer you are reading it on.  They started as a thought in a person's mind.  So, how did they turn from an electromagnetic wave of a single person's consciousness into a hard, physical object that another person can grasp?  I'd say equal parts process and passion.  

Have you ever made dinner?  You had an idea or desire, like... macaroni and cheese sounds delicious.  Then you made it happen.  Easy breezy.  Nearly everyone has experienced a similar idea to fruition success.  The dinner one is fairly simple in the United States because lots of people help you along the way -- they have a vested interest in making it easy for to have the macaroni and cheese you so desire. 

Sometimes you have an idea or desire that is not so common, that doesn't have a built in group of vested supporters.  Those ideas require more process and passion, but can still be brought to fruition.  

You are the architect of your life.  Your thoughts and ideas are powerful.  What do you want to create? 

Besides a beautiful family, home, and life, I have always wanted to create a book.  Here's the story of my story....

Namaste:  A Little Yoga Folk's Tale 

I had an idea years ago that very few people were concerned about.  I wanted to create a yoga  book that I could read to and share with my unborn children.  I wanted it to make yoga accessible and meaningful to them.  In 2003, I had started searching for that book, but it couldn't be found.  

Yes, I found books with pictures and explanations of yoga poses aimed a children (a few, not many), but I couldn't find a book that translated the richness and meaning of a yoga practice directly into a child's life.  And, as an educator and a yogi, I really wanted the whole package.  

The book already out there felt like text books with colorful pictures.  Informative enough, but not meaningful or literary.  I wanted a story with a character and journey that children could relate with and learn from.    

So, since I couldn't find the book, I set out to write it.  I have my Bachelor's degree in Teacher Education and was a certified yoga instructor, so I had lots of ideas on making the poses come to life in a folk tale or fable type fashion.  I worked hard on a manuscript.  I studied publishing houses, and how to submit manuscripts and how to use active language and imagery aimed at children.  

And then those publishers I researched and submitted to rejected me.  8 times.  ....Ouch!

I tucked the manuscript away for about 8 years (one for each rejection letter, I think) and while I seldom thought of it, I never threw the manuscript away.  

Sometimes it seems that there is no growth or progress when you have a goal or idea, but not all growth or progress is visible.  Nurturing an idea often requires a fallow period (the period of time when land is left unsown to restore fertility) as well as active periods.

Fast Forward to July 2011  

A local publisher is in the 4th of July parade near my dad's home.  She is calling for contest entries.  She walks along the crowd and puts a flyer in my hand.  My heart dances a little when I read it.  I know right then that I will go home, dust off that old manuscript and send it in.  

January 2012  

Rejection #9 arrives in letter form from the local publisher, but this rejection letter is different.  It is not the standardized letter from an assistant.  This is my original manuscript sent returned with handwritten notes scrawled in every margin.  And many of these notes are positive --she loves the title, idea, and some of the writing.  

I find seeds of encouragement planted within this rejection letter, so I only sulk for a day or two this time.  And then I decide to try again.  Actively.  I spend a week rewriting and tweaking.  I resubmit.  

Rejection #10 arrives quickly via email.  It is frank and honest.  More ideas and suggestions are included.  Part of me believes this is the end because I'd have to compromise too much of my vision to bring this idea to fruition.  And then I realize....

She is right.  Absolutely, perfectly correct.  In one hour I write exactly the story I always wanted to tell using her suggestions, but compromising none of my principles.  I resubmit it the very next day, sure she'll think I'm crazy and stalking her and couldn't have possibly reworked it in the ways necessary....... but this time I know that I've done it and I will get a yes.   

That "yes" came one year ago.  And it made my year (thank goodness, because its been a long year of waiting since then). 

Today the illustrations and final edits are done and the book is "in design".  I can't wait to see and share the fruits of my labor when it finally takes shape this spring.  

But, until then, I wanted to remind myself and you to honor the process.  

You really can shape your life with your thoughts.  They need careful tending and management to bear fruit; but the potential of a single thought truly is infinite. 

Namaste~
Tammie  

    

The Taoism of Strength & Flexibility in Your Asana Practice

We humans tend to understand earth in terms of duality -- like light/dark, male/female, winter/summer, but the symbol of yin/yang illustrates clearly how in the height of any duality , the seed of the balancing concept is being planted and germinating (hence, the dots).    This concept of working in opposite directions applies directly to your yoga practice to find and maintain a balance by playing with the dualities of strength and flexibility and opposing isometric actions.

Many people mistakenly think yoga is all about flexibility.  I don't know how many times I've heard people comment, "I'm not flexible enough to do yoga".  Or others feel that only certain poses build strength.   And while its true that some poses will clearly illustrate to us if we are lacking in flexibility or strength in certain areas, there is no pose that is all about one or the other........just like yin and yang shows us. 

In some poses, you will have to activate strength in one area of your body to find true flexibility, length, and openness in another.  Think uttanasana & forward bends in general.  The legs must be fully engaged to allow the spine its full release.  

The same is true for for awakening your core strength -- in order to do so, you must lengthen and extend yourself beyond your normal limits with your limbs.  Think plank.  You must reach out through the crown of your head and heels in opposing directions and trust that your core will wake up and sustain you.  

Similarly, to engage the full strength and grounding support of your legs, you must work the thigh and calf and sometimes even the bones and muscles in opposing directions.  Think Virabhadrasana (Warrior) I.  The head of femur is internally rotated in the hip and moving back toward the hamstrings while the lower leg muscles work in external rotation, helping to ground the outer heel down toward the floor. 

And in Parsvakonasana it is important that the upper arm is externally rotated and the forearm is internally rotated.  This opens the chest and stabilizes the shoulder.  Yin and yang at work to bring out your best yet again!

I have found in my personal practice that embracing the dual nature of my body in poses has made a significant difference in how I experience the poses.  It is the key to finding balance, comfort, and ease in any asana.  

Namaste~
Tammie

New Year's Resolution

my new year's resolution is that i don't need a new year to make a fresh start. 

every morning the sun is risen again and a day dawns new and every morning i, too, can be resurrected, or perhaps just re imagined....

yes, re imagined. 

because i don't need to start all over; i just want to tweak myself into a bolder, truer version of me -- the woman who reverberates with joy in each moment. she who is fierce with joy instead of cowering in fear -- that is the me that i long to be.

 the beautiful part is, i don't even need to wait for a sunrise -- every breath i take holds the same opportunity -- a reminder that there is infinite possibility and that i am the architect of my life.

In the Moment

When practicing Vrksasana (tree pose), or Lord Dancer, or Crow, or any other yoga pose that requires balance; if you are not in the moment, if you're mind strays away from what you're body is presently doing, you will fall over; or at least trip..... Literally.

Its that simple.

And, similarly, I have learned that when you are not in the moment during your everyday routine that is exactly when you will fall over or get tripped up.  Literally or symbolically.

Truth.


Simple tips for being in the moment:

hang out with children or puppies.

breathe.  mindfully.  in for 4.  pause.  out for 4.

practice yoga or run or dance or exercise in any way that you prefer.

create:  arts, music, crafts, writing, words, movement.

focus fully on one task at a time instead of multitasking (as a mom, i am fully aware that sometimes multitasking is necessary and a timesaver, but i also know that sometimes its just a distraction and nothing gets done well or quickly.  know the difference).

unplug from technology.  (after you read this blog)

plug into nature.

Namaste~
Tammie

Peace

My guru tells me:

"The world is in turmoil because the minds of men are in turmoil."

  

If you want to help the world, help yourself...... care for yourself, feed your soul, nourish your spirit.    

Find the activity or outlet that helps you commune with the contentment and peace that naturally dwell within you, then:

Emanate that peace.

Speak that peace.

Share that peace.  

(With everyone, even the difficult ones who make it hard.......they are ones who need it most).  

Namaste~

Tammie

Play, Snow Angels, & Yoga

One of the best things about yoga is that, in a lot of ways, it is simply play.  It is frolicking, exploring, and engaging your body in a non threatening way and finding out what feels good to you.  It is trying on different roles (poses) and investigating whether they are a good fit for you -- hhhmmmm......does this sound like playing "school" or "doctor" as a child?  

Play is fun.  

Yoga is fun.

Making snow angels is fun.

Making "snow angels" into yoga is at least 2x.... maybe 3x the fun.  

I think.  

I  did an impromptu experiment with it this week when inspiration struck like lightning.  I was hanging out with a fun group of 5-7 year-olds when one student decided to lay down on his back, wave his arms up and down, and giggle "snow angel!"  

Well, why not?  I thought.  First off, rubbing your back against the floor is great for grounding which a lot of people, especially children, (and dogs) find to be a pleasing sensory experience. Secondly, I had picked up a great technique for doing Trikonasana (Triangle Pose) at a conference a couple of years ago.  And its as simple as lying down.  

So I said, "Hey, let's all make snow angels!" (we did some traditional style angels on the floor and I then I wiggled over to the wall to show them how to make a yoga snow angel.  Enthusiastic exploration and lots of wiggling followed (which I interpret as a sign of success).

Recipe for Yoga Snow Angels:

Warm up with traditional snow angels on an indoor surface without the snow.

Wiggle to a wall that you can place your feet against. 

Wiggle your feet to a width that roughly matches your wingspan.

Turn your right foot open, so the right toe and right knee cap both point fully to the right and the baby toe side of your foot is flush against the floor, while your arch faces the ceiling.

Turn your left foot slightly to the right (about a 45 degree angle)

Press your feet firmly against the wall and keep them in place.  The whole time.  No matter what.

(Here's where it gets a little tricky and you may try to cheat.....)

Wiggle your right hand toward your right leg and/or foot.  See how far you can go without allowing your back and hips to leave the floor.  Your shoulder blades, back body, and hips must all stay flush against the floor.  This is important.  Very important.  

Stretch your left arm above your head, turn to look up at it.

Breathe deeply and enjoy how spacious you feel through your legs, spine, and chest.  Notice the intense lengthening of the side rib area.  Breathe right into it and fill yourself with a warmth, energy, and a sense of wonder and fun that only comes from play.  

Enjoy for several breaths.  Then wiggle around and try the other side.

Namaste~

Tammie