A Yogini's Quest to Yoga Teacher Training

• "A good teacher is like a candle - it consumes itself to light the way for others"

  
  

  My future colleague Kadi's intentions, and authentic desire to do anything to fulfill her dream is admirable and inspiring. Please support her by visiting her site listed below and leave a comment:
  
  
  
  

  www.kadidriver.com

  
  
  What does Yoga mean to Kadi? 
  
  
  "Balance, yes. Nature, yes. 
  
  
  Breathing, ah breathing. Something we do during all moments of life. We inhale, we take it in. Then we exhale, we give. Simple. Been doing it for a long time, right?
  
  Now, take a second and do those two steps consciously. Breath in, pause, breath out.
  
  
  You just did yoga. 
  
  
  Do it again, and again!
  
  
  I hope we all know our infinitive beauties; there are 50 that Linnea reminded us about. 
  
  
  Visit my site, read my short essay/video. It touches on travels to Nicaragua and why I aspire to become a yoga teacher. Your comments give me votes… and with merely six days left, winning the yoga teaching scholarship may not be in the cards. But your words support my passion to spread yoga. Thank you for them. Namaste. And please, happiest of holidays!"
  
  
  
  
  Yoga Anywhere from Kadi Driver on Vimeo.
  

Yoga, The Big-C, and Physical Fitness

Cancer and Physical Fitness: The Benefits are Endless

Guest post by David Haas

The medical community has been taking a closer look at the potential benefits exercise can have for cancer survivors. Traditionally, the belief was that physical activity was too taxing for people going through or recovering from cancer treatments. 


However, over the past number of years there has been an increasing body of scientific research indicating that moderate exercise could indeed be beneficial. The growing number of exercise classes designed specifically for cancer patients and survivors would tend to offer anecdotal evidence in support of this idea as well.

Yoga has been found to be a particularly valuable type of exercise. It includes a lot of stretching and range of movement exercises that help maintain or increase flexibility. The range of movement poses has been particularly recommended for those experiencing lymphedema. The focus on breath that's part of the yoga classes can also be particularly helpful for mesothelioma patients.

Perhaps most beneficial are the impact these classes can have on energy levels and emotional well being, both of which are critical to maintaining a high quality of life. Attending an exercise class regularly can instigate an energy boost that helps you stay active and present well beyond your time in class. The sense of community and connection you can find in these classes as well can inspire a greater sense of optimism that is so critical to improving physical health.

Indeed, some of the studies on the connection between exercise and cancer have found lower rates of recurrence in cancer survivors who exercise regularly. This result has been linked to exercise's ability to improve the functioning of the immune system and increasing muscle strength. Physical activity isn't a cure or a guarantee of prevention, but it's positive impact on physical and mental functioning is encouraging.

A variety of kinds of moderate physical activity can bring these benefits. The key, some oncologists have indicated, is moving your large muscle groups at a pace that suits you. This can be through walking, stretching, working with resistance bands - any number of options, not just yoga. Since there could be days when treatment makes working out impossible or at least not recommended, you should discuss with your own doctor what a meaningful physical fitness regime would be for you. You might find the increased activity becomes its own spiral of improved well being!


David Haas is a Cancer patient advocate who writes and researches for the betterment of others. 

Look Familiar?

See original post on elephantjournal.com

Why Meditation & Action are Hand in Hand Practices

Meditation.

Its one of those words that has many images attached to it: of a person smiling, sitting cross-legged with their middle finger touching their thumb. Perhaps wearing gypsy pants, half naked in a cave in India, turning into a rainbow of their chakras as they float through their own psychic realm to instantly transcend all their problems, fear and pain into pure love, bliss and eternal consciousness.

And If you met me three years ago. I was on my way to that crazy train.

Okay, maybe not that extreme. But either way – I saw meditation as a my quick-fix solution. I viewed it as a way to find complete peace, stillness, awakening and extreme opening.

I found meditation my first year of college. Like many people I turned to spirituality because I didn’t know what else to do. I was fresh out of a serious relationship of several years. That same year I had five friends die from various forms of accidents or suicide. My mother was hit with the big-C: breast cancer. And I was “diagnosed” with depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress. Which let me tell you – was not the case.

Yes, I had nightmares.

Yes, I felt broken and lost without my ex.

Yes, I woke up and called people that were dead.

Yes, I was in a new place and was experiencing ongoing episodes of extreme anxiety.

Yes, I wasn’t sleeping.

Yes, my mother was really sick, and I wasn’t by her side. Nor could she be by mine. 

My answers to the doctors questions were always yes. I remember my mother sitting there in the chair, reading me like a multiple choice test. This threw me for a whole new loop of being caged in by my own pain rather than just simply being in a period of upset – that needed some serious processing.

Needless to say, there I was — starting my life, having absolutely no clue who I was or how to even begin. I was reactive, grasping, needy, stuck and I wanted a magic bullet (hence the need for the gypsy pants, and rainbow chakras).

I couldn’t understand how I had gone from a sensual, soulful, vibrant, playful soul… to a diagnosis. And in my pain, I knew she was still there, and intuitively I don’t think I ever fully believed anything that the doctors said. So I started with meditation and yoga with a defined goal (always a dangerous word when dealing with matters of the heart) to heal.

Without a doubt, yoga and meditation are the most heart-opening, healing, rejuvenating, remembering-who-you-are practices I have ever experienced. But eyes open, I was still afraid, sad and broken. So yes, It was absolutely how I accessed this foreign person again, but not at all how I brought her back to life.

This distinction became apparent in therapy a few years later.

This particular day is vivid in my mind – mostly because absolutely everything about my therapist was annoying me. He was sitting in the same position he always sat in, with the same expression on his face and yes – asking the same exact questions he had always asked. And with my goal-oriented, give-me-peace-and-love-now attitude – I snapped.

Dont you have any other questions? I mean I’ve been coming here for months. I meditate, I feel my pain, I notice it. I do everything I’m supposed to be doing. I just feel so stuck. This is your job.

His expression didn’t change.

Linnea,  you’ve been through a lot and you are very wise because of it – but I have to tell you… you need something other than your old life to apply it to. I’m sitting here listening, and I can’t help but think this is sort of like the process of recycling – you’re reusing all of your old pain, heartbreak and depression to try to reconstruct something new. The thing about recycling that most people don’t talk about is – well, only about 10% of it is actually used to make new products. The rest is irrelevant. And besides, you’ve got a lot of trash mixed in with the recycling, so that 10% is decreasing by the minute. You keep coming in here, saying you’re working through your problems. But the only thing you’re doing is just getting calm enough to talk about it over and over and over again. I can see that you’re very present with your pain. You are sincere about wanting to heal. You already have that wisdom. The meditation isn’t helping anymore. You think you’re going to go from being in pain, stuck and depressive to pure love and by sitting on your ass and meditating? And then going back to the same old patterns – expecting that to change your life? You know who you are, so what are you afraid of? You need some new information in your head. Stop processing the same old thoughts. Take action. The growth will follow.

His words hit me like a ton of bricks. Funny how our irritation with other people is always about ourselves. There it was, the light bulb moment (and I wasn’t even wearing my gypsy pants!)

If you think yoga and meditation alone will fix your problems, transcend your fears and just hand over: what I like to call the reach-your-full-potential-in-an-hour-package deal – you are way wrong. Even if you are doing it everyday. The growth comes in the cold, hard, dirty work of becoming the sole activist of your own well-being.

My habits had been repeatedly playing themselves out like a broken record. I wasn’t moving forward in my meditation. I was just noticing the same old crap over and over again. These old habits (the ones that got me in this mess in the first place) weren’t going to work for who I intuitively knew I was suppose to become.

True healing is creating new patterns to replace the old fear-filled ones. Once there is seeing, there must be acting. So yes, contrary to stillness, this means doing. What you fear most, is usually the exact direction you need to head. Meditation is like the blueprint for your potential. It is absolutely essential. It shows you where you are holding on. It tells you what you’re running away from, what you are most afraid of and most importantly that you have the capability to be so much more than the definition of your problems. This is only one small part of the equation. Use that blueprint in conjunction with the potential that is waiting to be fulfilled.

Notice the signals. Hunt down your fears. Don’t let them go back into hiding. They always have an important message to reveal to you.

Go after that impossible job, give that speech you’ve always been too afraid to do, confront your ex with the words you’ve always needed to say, apply for the PhD program you’ve always dreamed of, become the honest, loving and transparent partner that you’ve spent years searching for. Whatever your story is, be a visionary. And then act on it.  Embody that vision. Watch yourself grow, watch your meditation expand, and your confidence skyrocket.

It won’t always be pretty. In fact you might find that the first ten times you get up there and stare fear in the face, you make a fool of yourself. All the better.

You learn. You are alive. You are beautiful.

Growing is the imperfect process of being willing to look like a fool- knowing that you will soak up even more wisdom to apply to the next endeavor. This willingness to fail, to trust that taking daring actions is the only real way we can ever move through discomfort and into authentic, vibrant, sexy, explosive, expansion.

This article was written by Linnea Jensen Yoga. It was originally published on elephantjournal.com on October 22, 2011

How Yoga Taugh Me To Be Less Nice

Being yogic versus being yourself.

If you’ve practiced yoga for awhile, you’ve had the experience of one of those ethereal, poetic it’s-all-peace-and-love teachers. It’s astounding, inspiring, but mostly just gets you wondering are they serious? Sometimes yes, but some are just plain full of it. You’re sitting on your mat, perhaps still swearing in your head about the traffic that caused you to be ten minutes late to class because you just got in a terrible fight with your partner and your boss wants an impossible proposal on his desk the very next day.

You need yoga, without a doubt. But the fact that the teacher is om-ing right now is really sending your stress level out the window. Everyone is smiling. Sitting up straight. You feel alone, broken, vulnerable and yes, impatient. Let’s face it, you’d rather be screaming than om-ing. 

But that’s not yogic. 

And you see all these people, and they look so peaceful, and happy. So you smile anyway. And it helps. You feel better after class. You keep coming back, and yes, keep smiling. Its almost seems uncomfortable not to.  

Be the light of your heart, Open yourself to love, Withhold all judgment... Sound familiar?

These phrases were like bumper stickers spinning around in my mind. I became friendlier, more pleasant and always made my best effort to be nice (at the time, my version of compassion…). It’s almost like I was on a constant high. Who needs drugs when you have rainbows and unicorns coming out of your very own ass (au natural)?

I was like a girl in a new relationship – intoxicated by the promise of liberation, love and compassion. At that point I was probably regurgitating yoga-speak in my sleep. I felt I had finally found my perfect match.

But eventually the peaceful yogi in me was exhausted, burnt out, and was disappointed once again by something I had so much faith in. The blindsided romance came to an end. And like a fresh relationship turned vial, my love story faded and I was left with myself – raw and flaw-filled. This is a test that everyone faces with any love affair – no matter the circumstance. 

Reality kicked in and I realized I took my own humanity out of the situation. I was bending over backwards and extending my own boundaries for the sake of being yogic. As Ana forest once said,

There is a difference between having an open heart, and having an open heart that lets all kind of shit fly in.

I was like a Venus fly trap. Blossoming beauty, wide open embrace, but catching everything and I do mean everything that flew by me. Not only was I catching it – I was taking full responsibility for it. The real yoga began when I realized that yoga alone wouldn’t save me from my problems, and I certainly couldn’t use it to hide behind. 

Doing yoga was a co-participation that meant opening to my own confrontation.

So yes, I judge, I sometimes yell, and for the first time in my life I’m realizing that I don’t like people. I may be less nice than I’ve ever been in my life. But I am much happier, much more in touch, and much more direct. And hell, I’m even sassy. Embracing my chaotic, tumultuous background gave me a voice of authenticity. 

Rainbows, sunshine and unicorns….not my thing. 

Facing your shit. Being who you are.….that is my thing. Censoring yourself and being mindful are two different things. Practice your humanity, embrace your flaws, and speak from exactly where you are.

Making this transition in your practice is essential for moving through discomfort and into growth. We aren’t all going to be peace and love all the time. No matter how many days a week you practice yoga. I always tell my students to never sugarcoat anything (especially a pose) for the sake of being yogic.

Being you, raw, expressive and sometimes uncomfortable is the most yogic and beneficial thing you can do. 

Only then can you really investigate what true compassion means – it’s in the corners of your own dark shadow that you find the juicy goodness that gets you into a place of real, authentic, badass, lasting transformation.

This article was written by Linnea Jensen Yoga. It was originally published on www.elephantjournal.com on September 18, 2011.

Love is Louder

I am always talking. And I'm surrounded by people that are talkers. Its wonderful because I don't feel inhibited to express myself. But my most profound moments are in silence with someone. That moment when you just stop "trying" and whatever is left is an unspoken effortlessness. Ever heard the saying "you might not remember what a person said but you'll never forget how they made you feel?" To me that is the strongest form of empowerment, change and growth. 

Were often talking instead of listening, or reacting instead of feeling. How can you make a bigger impact by saying less?


*This photo was taken by Jesse Sean Bernstein . Thank you!

4th of July Hangover Prevention & Cure

This is the weekend where we celebrate freedom. Which lets face it, most likely just translates to your alchohol intake and the fact that you don't have to go to work on Monday.

So on that note...heres the formula I've come up with (on top of the basics we all already know- ibuprofen, water etc) ways to prevent and cure hangovers. 

1) EAT before you drink. We've all heard it before. But it really is true. And this doesn't mean McDonalds. So what exactly should you eat? Think healthy slow-carbs and fats. This delays digestion over time, blocking the valve into the small intestines allowing alcohol to be absorbed at a slower pace. For example: a whole wheat bun and turkey burger with sweet potato fries.

2) Replenish your vitamin (B) levels. Opt for a sublingual vitamin B complex to carry around in your bag or pocket. Just put a few drops under your tongue before you head out- and then again before you go to bed. Drinking alcohol dehydrates you and subsequently sucks up all your vitamins. If you choose to do nothing else in this list- choose to replenish your b vitamins. It works WONDERS.  

3) Go for the clear substances- vodka, white wine, gin. Darker booze contains more chemicals called congeners which inflame the body and intensify hangovers.

4) Avoid Diet Drinks. Diet sodas empty out your stomach more quickly which makes you woozy at an unexpected pace. Be smart about your mixers.

5) Drink electrolytes in your H20. Alcohol reduces the liquid around blood cells making your brain shrivel which is what causes the most commons symptoms of headaches and nausea. Opt for some H20 + electrolytes. SmartWater is a smart choice. Jennifer had a point here.

6) Eat eggs for breakfast. Ever wonder why you just crave them in the morning? Your body is intelligent. Eggs contain a substance called cysteine which breaks down acetaldehyde- a hangover causing toxin in alchohol.

7) Sweat and twist. Studies show that people report feeling better due to the feel good chemicals that are released during exercise. Yoga is great for detoxifying the body and moving around the stagnant energy to get your blood flowing (all of which needs to happen after drinking). Good blood flow = happy hangover. Specifically, try twisting poses and back bends to reverse the blood flow and wring out the toxic build up in your spine!

So make moderation your mantra, get plenty of sleep and enjoy the bliss of a well planned happy hangover. Ahhhhh (Thats a deep breath).