Quote of the day...

"The mind is everything. What you think, you become."
~Buddha

Daily dose of inspiration...

Peace, love & vitality,

 

Teacher Training 2012...

Birmingham Yoga has another teacher training class starting January 13th, 2012! If you are looking to expand your knowledge of yoga, I highly recommend this training. This yoga training is on the "Top 5 best thing's I've done with my life" list!

Training can be completed in two places:
Birmingham: 6 months
Guatemala: 1 month immersion

Click on the links below for more information:

About Birmingham Yoga Teacher Training (FAQ)

Information on Birmingham Yoga (Pricing, schedule, teachers, course description, books...)

Feel free to ask me any questions!

Love,


*The picture above was taken by Charles Walton. 
Pictured: some of the Birmingham Yoga 2009 teacher trainee's and two of our teachers, Akasha & Terri.*

Quote of the day...

"Joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls."
~Mother Teresa

Magic City Asana...

Come and get your yoga on at the Magic City Asana event at Lululemon! Saturday, July 30th Jasper Wolfe will lead a free yoga class with a live DJ, DJ-spins! Space is first come, first serve so be there on time! Class is 9:00-10:00am! Refreshments will be provided after!


Stay and shop the wonderful yoga clothing after class!

Details
Date: Saturday, July 30th
Time: 9:00-10:00am
Location: Lululemon Athletica at the Summit
(left side of the shopping center when you enter from 280)
Reserve your space here: store@lululemon.com

Come the day before! Lululemon Athletica opens at the Summit on Friday, July 29th!

Store Grand Opening to follow! (...and more free classes!)

A Poem...

The Invitation by Oriah Mountain Dreamer

It doesn't interest me what you do for a living
I want to know what you ache for
and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing.

It doesn't interest me how old you are
I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool
for love,
for your dreams,
for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon...
I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow
if you have been opened by life's betrayals
or have become shriveled and closed
from fear of further pain.

I want to know if you can sit with pain
mine or your own
without moving to hide it
or fade it
or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy
mine or your own
if you can dance with wildness
and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your
fingers and toes
without cautioning us to
be careful,
be realistic,
to remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn't interest me if the story you are telling me
is true.
I want to know if you can disappoint another
to be true to yourself.

If you can bear the accusation of betrayal,
and not betray your own soul.
If you can be faithless,
and therefore trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see Beauty
even when it is not pretty,
every day.
And if you can source your own life
from its presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure
yours and mine
and still stand on the edge of the lake
and shout to the silver of the full moon,
"Yes."

It doesn't interest me
to know where you live or how much money you have.
I want to know if you can get up
after a night of grief and despair
weary and bruised to the bone
and do what needs to be done
to feed the children.

It doesn't interest me who you know
or how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand
in the center of the fire
with me
and not shrink back.

It doesn't interest me where or what or with whom
you have studied.
I want to know what sustains you
from the inside
when all else falls away.

I want to know if you can be alone
with yourself
and if you truly like the company you keep
in the empty moments.

Quote of the day...

"The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong."
~Mahatma Gandhi

Healing Energy...

I was inspired in tonight's yoga class. A fellow yogini in class is a school teacher and one of her student's is loosing his battle with cancer. With tearful eyes, she asked if the class would dedicate our practice to him. I did my best to send all of my energy I created with my practice to him. I couldn't help but think how minuscule my problems were compared to his. She said that his sudden turn in health was a shock to everyone because he was always smiling and happy. Children are amazing, they are fighters, positive to the end.

In yoga, our practice is not about being fit, or being flexible, or being able to stand on our heads. It's about creating energy and using that energy in a positive way. If we know peace, the world around us will know peace.

"Be the change you want to see in the world."

~Mahatma Gandhi

At the end of class we sang the healing mantra, Ra Ma Da Sa. We sat in a tight circle and sang like the whole world could hear us. If you are ever in need, or know someone in need of healing energy this is a great mantra to repeat. 

Ra Ma Da Sa

Sa Say So Hung

*Here are instructions for practicing this meditation*

Posture: Sit in easy pose.

Focus: Eyes are closed and focused at the third-eye point.

Mantra: Ra Ma Da Sa, Sa Say So Hung. The mantra should be sung in one complete exhalation. As you chant the first Sa, your navel point is pulled in so that this syllable is abbreviated.  You should also pull your navel point in as you chant Hung.  Hung should be vibrated at the root of the nose. The rest of the syllables are drawn out in a strong, powerful chant. Strive to keep your chant at full volume (loud but not raucous) throughout the meditation.

Meaning of Mantra:
Ra = sun energy
Ma = moon energy
Da = earth energy
Sa = infinity, universal energy
Sa = repeat in second half of mantra
Say = the personal embodiment of Sa
So = the personal sense of merger with Sa
Hung = the Infinite, vibrating and real.

The mantra literally means: "I am Thou." It is also means, "The service of God is within me."

Mudra: Bend the arms and bring the elbows against the side of the rib cage. The palms of the hands are parallel and face the sky. The elbows are snug at your sides with the forearms in close to your upper arms. The hands are at a 60 degree angle, halfway between pointing forward and pointing to the sides (see picture).

Time: 11 minutes.

End: Inhale deeply, hold your breath and visualize the person you want to send healing to (it can be yourself). Make that image in your mind very clear and see a glowing green light around the person. Keeping that person in your mind, exhale. Inhale deeply, hold your breath and continue to send the person healing green light. Still keeping that vision in your mind, exhale. For the last time, inhale deeply, hold your breath and see the person very clearly, see the green healing light bathing the person, bathing every cell in the body. Exhale and relax. 

May this sit with you as magically as it did with me tonight,

Whole Foods Summer Healing Expo...

Blissful Heights in Homewood is offering a Summer Healing Expo to showcase Birmingham's holistic health and wellness offerings! 

Come to Whole Foods Market on Saturday, July 9th (10am-3pm) or Sunday , July 10 (1pm-4pm) to visit the different stations set up by staff and colleagues of Blissful Heights. 

You can hear all about massage, acupuncture, nutrition and yoga from these licenses professionals, as well as get an organic mini-facial from their on-site esthetician. Designated appointment times are available for 10 minute one-on-ones with the specialists, but walk-ins are welcome for the rest! Sign-up at the customer service desk to reserve your spot or come in at your leisure during the expo times. 

While you're here, visit all the tables to collect stickers and enter to win a gift basket and gift certificates.

Don't forget! It's THIS WEEKEND!

Pay attention to your breath...

Pranayama is that obscure fourth limb of yoga that has not gone mainstream yet. Will it ever? Of course!

And think of the benefits: life extension, maybe a full 100? A focused mind, glimpses of what goes on behind the curtains, peace of mind. What is there not to like?

Starting a pranayama practice is a process, it requires finding right instruction, the blessing of a good teacher, time to dedicate it to a practice, building up a routine, etc. It is a practice just as much as asana, yamas, or meditation is.

And yet, beginning is simple because pranayama starts with awareness, continues with measurement and extension, and results in a focused and peaceful mind.

 However the first step is:

Paying attention
 Here are 32 suggestions on where to place the attention and create the right environment for the magic limb to show up in our lives:

1.- Pranayama beings with noticing. Every time you remember, pay attention to how you are breathing, do not judge, just notice.

2.- Understand what it is. Prana = life force, ayama = extension. Or, prana can also be breath.
Prana is whatever you understand and name that which is keeping you alive right now, your breath, your life force and how we get more of that.

3.- The main purpose of pranayama is to extend life, so we can have those full 100 years and work at our practice for a very long time. Having a longer life is useful in practicing breath extension and with having a better chance at accomplishing or rather, experiencing the other limbs of yoga, the ones that come afterwards, which require a very long time.

4.- Then to teach us slowly, how to extend our breath, and retain it and master it.

5.- The purpose of pranayama is also to remove lethargic tendencies -or tamas-. Pranayama wakes us up and is especially useful for those of us who practice strenuous asana practices, as in some ashtangis who enjoy their series -yes I mean me-.

6.- Then to make us bright and clear in mind. As a consequence be become more clear in our thinking. Also when both nostrils are active both parts of the brain are stimulated which provides a better ability for concentration.

7.- Then to help us focus. A clear mind can withdraw into itself and focus on just one thing, which is the way of the eight limbs of yoga.

8.- Then to aid in the limbs of yoga that follow proper breathing (pratyahara, focusing, merging with the object we focus on)

Noticing:

9.- Notice how the way in which your spine is erected, or not, affects the way you breathe. Change your sitting position or standing position and pay attention to the interrelation of it and the breath.

10.- What nostril is most active right now? How about as soon as you wake up? How about when you wake up in the middle of the night?

11.-If one of the nostrils is blocked see if you can activate it so that both will be flowing by placing a yoga block or a small pillow under the opposite armpit and pressing the arm firmly. Did it work? If not, try laying down on the opposite side of the blocked nostril. Did that open it up? Notice what works.

12.- Is there a difference on how you feel when both nostrils are open together than when just one is open? and if so what are the differences?

13.- When you are agitated or mad, what happens to your breath?

14.- When the breath is shallow and short how do you feel? Observe especially when you feel agitated emotionally.

15.- How is your breathing when you are sick? I tend to do puffs of forced exhalations.

16.- Does your breathing change when you take a bath? I tend to yawn and breathe deeper.

17.- Take a long smooth and slow breath. How long did that take? in seconds? in heart-beats?

18.- How long can you comfortably retain that breath? in seconds? heart-beats?

19.- Exhale and see how long can you make the exhalation. Write that number down.

20.- Have you tried using a neti pot? Try it and make a note of how it feels. Note that if you regularly practice intense asana (poses) then the use of the pot is not necessary as an every day occurrence. Only when you notice that your nose is stuffed.

21.- On your next asana practice pay full attention to the breath, is it reaching every single cell in your body? If not notice the blockages, work to open. Become very aware of how the breath interacts with the pose. Breathe in and lengthen, breathe out and reach.

22.- Do you avoid breathing when you walk on the street near something you consider may smell bad? Are there other moments when you almost unconsciously breathe less to avoid something? bring it all to light, notice it.

23.- Clean your tongue with a tongue-scrapper in the morning. It will change your life to notice what gets stuck there, and you may enhance your sense of smell.

24.- Listen to Richard Freeman’s Yoga Breathing

25.- Try a pranamaya preparation exercise like kapalbhati and begin building the number of expulsions you can do per minute. Rejoice in how your mind gets clear after each round. Think quality, not quantity.

26.- Then practice a basic exercise called nadi shodana, which is safe and can help you calm the mind.

27.- Read about pranayama in the HathaPradipika, this is the commetnary that Srivatsa Ramaswami (a student of Krishnamacharya for 30 years) recommends. It has a lot of Sanskrit on the first part. However, if you are more into the “more English” camp, this is the one I read.

28.- If you would like to take a pranayama retreat here are some suggestions:

In Asia there is Paul Dallaghan.

In North America we have Ramaswami, who studied directly with Krishnamacharya and recently in his Facebook page said: “I studied with Sri Krishnamacharya for a number of years. I do not remember a single yogasana class which did not have a decent dose of pranayama and shanukhimudra (pratyahara) in it and short prayers to begin and end the session”

In India there is O.P. Tiwariji, who is elusive to find as he does not have a website (you will have to google him). He is however offering a pranayama teacher training in Mumbai in November and he is also is teaching with Paul, in October (1st to 14) in Thailand. Blessed are you if you can make it to any of these. He will also be giving short workshops in Paris and Taiwan pretty soon.

There are many teachers, make sure to do your research. Look for quality and lineage.

29.- Read about all eight limbs of yoga so you see where pranayama fits into the map, and the territory.

30.- Begin to investigate the concept of bandhas because they are critical when the retention part starts to happen Do you engage mula bandha during your asana practice (tightening of your anus). Begin experimenting with it if you do not already do so. Get used to it. Learn about Uddhyana and Jalandara bandha. All three bandhas are critical for pranayama practices, especially when they get deeper and they involve retention.

31.- The actual pranayama benefits are reaped through the retention of the breath for longer and longer periods of time. However, the retention has to be done in the proper way, engaging all bandhas, following strict rules, in a right sited position and environment. It takes deep care and dedication, but it all begins with noticing the breath.

32.- Read this book. It is the best I have found, and I have read most.

If you follow these suggestions and begin keeping a diary you will become very familiar with the regular, current patterns of your breath.

You will be in tune, and will become a connoisseur of your own breathing. The deeper your awareness the more prepared you are to go deeper into the fourth limb.

May you be successful on the journey.



I found this article (32 Ways to Pay Attention to your Breath) via Elephant Journal
This is a wonderful website. Visit and browse!

Never say Never...

A few years ago, at the beginning of my yoga practice I never thought I'd be able to do a headstand (sirsasana). Inversions were very hard for me... but here I am.

Never say never.

Love & Hope,