Why I am so passionate about Yoga

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I often get asked the question, "why am so passionate about yoga?"  Yoga has helped me find my power to heal myself, physically but also mentally, spiritually and emotionally.  We all have our unique story about our practice and this is mine.

In 2007, I was diagnosed with Antiphosphlipid Antibody Syndrome (APS); an autoimmune disease in which the body recognizes certain normal components of blood and/or cell membranes as foreign substances and produces antibodies against them.  One of the biggest hurdles I have had to face with this disease is 4 miscarriages.  

It was during that time I attended my first yoga class; (which was outdoors) with BYS Yoga in Pittsburgh, PA.  The class was led by Kristi Rogers, whom I absolutely admire.  She is amazing and if you have the chance to practice with her, do it!  I didn't have a clue what I was doing.  I didn't even realize I was supposed to take my socks off!  Kristi was so helpful and patient with me.  I definitely struggled through some of the poses but I left the class with a sense of strength and calmness.  

Recently I was diagnosed with Hypothyroidism.  I started a 6 week course of medications along with bi-weekly blood tests last week.  I am also being tested for M.S. and Lyme Disease.  Today my hair started falling out from the medication.  


Why am I telling you this?  Because Yoga has been my saving grace.  It's been a constant in my life.

There are days when my body feels like it’s been replaced by someone who has never set foot on a yoga mat though.  I practice supine poses, forward folds and breathing.  Maybe a few twists will help and eventually I may work into the “harder stuff”.  Sometimes the easy stuff is the hard stuff.  I hate those days because they start with such pain but I’m also grateful because those can be beautiful practices that come to mean the world to me.

I understand how my body mirrors my mind and my heart.  Sometimes I am in pain and need comfort.  Sometimes I’m in pain and need to find my voice or my power.  My mat tends to let me know what I need.

That is when yoga becomes Yoga – a personal practice.  I am so grateful to the masters who have come before me and who have taught my teachers and through them, me, but I am not them.  I may never achieve Iyengar’s more advanced asanas.  I may never Gravity Surf for what seems like hours.

But I have poses that challenge me to grow, stretch, become stronger and more balanced.  I have Yoga and I am so happy with that!

~Namastewww.serenitylifestyleandgifts.com 

Getting Through...Prayers for Boston

There is no easy way to get out of a difficult period, as much as we may want to find one.  We just have to go through it.  Rationally, we may know that our pain will lessen over time, but this is little solace at first.  


Still, we survive.  And we survive by living through our pain- day by day, week by week, month by month.  And then, suddenly one day, we are on the other side, looking back, thinking, "That was a rough period, wasn't it?  But I made it."


"The best way out is always through."  ~Robert Frost


Here is a positive affirmation I came up with to recite whenever you are having feelings of doubt...


I want things to be better- I want to be better- right away.  I hate being in pain.  But I cannot make the healing go any faster, so I just need to accept that I will heal, with time.  


Sending you all love and healing vibes.
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Journaling for Stress Management

Journaling is a term coined for the practice of keeping a diary or journal that explores thoughts and feelings surrounding the events of one’s life.  Journaling, as a stress management and self-exploration tool, is not the same as simply recording the happenings in one’s life, like keeping a log.  To be most helpful, one must write in detail about feelings and cognition's related to stressful events, as one would discuss topics in therapy.



Journaling allows people to clarify their thoughts and feelings, thereby gaining valuable self-knowledge.  It is also a good problem-solving tool; oftentimes, one can hash out a problem and come up with solutions more easily on paper.  Journaling about traumatic events helps one process them by fully exploring and releasing the emotions involved, and by engaging both hemispheres of the brain in the process, allowing the experience to become fully integrated in one’s mind.

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Unlike more physical stress management techniques such as yoga or exercise, journaling is a viable option for the disabled.  And, although some prefer to use a computer, journaling requires only a pen and paper, so it’s less expensive than techniques that require the aid of a class, book, teacher or therapist, like techniques such as biofeedback or yoga.  Journaling does not release tension from your body like progressive muscle relaxation, guided imagery and other physical and meditative techniques, however. But it is a great practice for overall stress reduction as well as self-knowledge and emotional healing.

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Relieve Stress by Practicing Mindfulness

The practice of mindfulness can bring many benefits to your emotional and physical health, as well as to the relationships in your life.  Mindfulness is an amazing tool for stress management and overall wellness because it can be used at virtually any time and can quickly bring lasting results.  The following mindfulness exercises are simple and convenient, and can lead you to a deeper experience of mindfulness in your daily life.  


Meditation brings many benefits in its own right, and has been one of the most popular and traditional ways to achieve mindfulness for centuries, so it tops the list of mindfulness exercises.  Meditation becomes easier with practice, but it need not be difficult for beginners.  Simply find a comfortable place, free of distractions, and quiet your mind. 


Mindfulness can be as simple as breathing!  Seriously, though, one of the most simple ways to experience mindfulness, which can be done as you go about your daily activities (convenient for those who feel they don’t have time to meditate), is to focus on your breathing.  Breathe from your belly rather than from your chest, and try to breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth. Focusing on the sound and rhythm of your breath, especially when you’re upset, can have a calming effect and help you stay grounded in the present moment.

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Listening to music has many benefits — so many, in fact, that music is being used therapeutically in a new branch of complimentary medicine known as music therapy.   That’s part of why listening to music makes a great mindfulness exercise.  You can play soothing new-age music, classical music, or another type of slow-tempo music to feel calming effects, and make it an exercise in mindfulness by really focusing on the sound and vibration of each note, the feelings that the music brings up within you, and other sensations that are happening "right now" as you listen.  If other thoughts creep into your head, congratulate yourself for noticing, and gently bring your attention back to the current moment and the music you are hearing.



The term "cleaning house" has a literal meaning (cleaning up your actual house) as well as a figurative one (getting rid of "emotional baggage," letting go of things that non longer serve you), and both can be great stress relievers!  Because clutter has several hidden costs and can be a subtle but significant stressor, cleaning house and de-cluttering as a mindfulness exercise can bring lasting benefits.  To bring mindfulness to cleaning, you first need to view it as a positive event, an exercise in self-understanding and stress relief, rather than simply as a chore.  Then, as you clean, focus on what you are doing as you are doing it — and nothing else. Feel the warm, soapy water on your hands as you wash dishes; experience the vibrations of the vacuum cleaner as you cover the area of the floor; enjoy the warmth of the laundry as you fold it; feel the freedom of letting go of unneeded objects as you put them in the donations bag.  It may sound a little silly as you read it here, but if you approach cleaning as an exercise in mindfulness, it can become one.  (I also recommend adding music to the equation.)



Many stressed and busy people find it difficult to stop focusing on the rapid stream of thoughts running through their mind, and the idea of sitting in meditation and holding off the onslaught of thought can actually cause more stress!  If this sounds like you, the mindfulness exercise of observing your thoughts might be for you.  Rather than working against the voice in your head, you sit back and "observe" your thoughts, rather than becoming involved in them.  As you observe them, you might find your mind quieting, and the thoughts becoming less stressful.  (If not, you may benefit from journaling as a way of processing all those thoughts so you can decrease their intensity and try again.)



You are probably now getting the idea that virtually any activity can be a mindfulness exercise, and in a way, you’re right.  It helps to practice meditation or another exercise that really focuses on mindfulness, but you can bring mindfulness to anything you do, and find yourself less stressed and more grounded in the process.

Open your Mind, Body & Spirit with Hatha Yoga

Every time you step onto your mat, you connect into a custom that reaches back more than 5,000 years. You share the exact same objective as the rishis who were checking out the nature of truth and humans’ inner worlds through mind-calming exercise and the physical practice of yoga exercise. It appears like the menu of yoga exercise classes gets longer every year. So, which is right for you? Hatha? Ashtanga? Kundalini? All the above?  Since Hatha is the most preferred strategy to yoga exercise in the West, it’s wonderful place to begin a yoga exercise practice.

What You Need to Know

The basics: Hatha yoga exercise is stated to have been presented by Yogi Swatmarama, a Hindu sage of 15th century India and compiler of the Hatha Yoga Pradipika (a classical Sanskrit manual on Hatha yoga exercise). The term Hatha originates from two Sanskrit words:ha meaning sun and tha meaning moon. Technically it isn’t a specific kind of yoga but any practice of yoga exercise poses. However, the term has actually come to be connected with a slower-paced practice which combines postures to improve strength, balance and adaptability. Hatha integrates the 3rd and 4th of the 8 limbs of yoga exercise: Asanas and pranayama (breath work).

The focus: To produce balance and merge the opposing facets of mind, body and spirit. The series of asanas (positions or positions) made use of in Hatha yoga exercise work to straighten skin, muscles and bones in order to open the body and enable energy to stream easily.

The class: Typically Hatha classes have three parts: Pranayama, asanas and mind-calming exercise. After seated mind-calming exercise and breath work, pupils will move with the asana sequence. Pupils are directed to relate to their breath as they relocate into each pose. Poses are typically held for 30 seconds to one minute in the standing series, longer in some of the seated extending poses.

The benefits: On a physical degree, a Hatha practice can help to improve muscular strength and adaptability, unwind the body and brain, massage and tone essential organs, unwind your body and produce open networks for energy and breath. The emphasis on bringing the body into balance could help in controlling illness such as diabetes and hypertension. On a deeper level, Hatha invites you to discover calm in stressful circumstances, to be present in the moment and to break through the barriers that stand between you and your complete potential.

The lowdown: Hatha yoga classes are both available to almost every student and commonly offered. Many beginning classes are Hatha. However, if you appreciate a rapid practice that streams from one asana to the next, you could choose a vinyasa course.

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Try Before You Buy

Hatha may be listed as “gentle,” however the wide variety of positions and the length of time these yoga postures are held can make it as extreme as any Asthanga or Power course. 

Padmasana(lotus posture). Sit on your mat with your legs directly in front of you. Cozy up by flexing your left leg and place the sole of your foot into the crook of your right elbow. Clasp your hands over your shin and rock your leg carefully side to side. Flex your right leg and bring your foot as near the left groin as possible. With your hands on the underside of your left shin, flex your left leg and slide it gently ahead the right. Bring the right knee as close the left as possible and keep the soles of the feet perpendicular to the flooring. Reverse and duplicate with the right leg on top.

Virabhadrasana I(warrior I). Stand in Tadasana (mountain posture). Action your right foot to the back of the mat– about 3 or 4 ft. behind you. Raise your arms, flex your left knee so that your knee is directly over your toes. Align your left leg and press all four sides of your left foot into the mat. Raise your arms overhead. If your back permits, arch back. Return to Tadasana and repeat by going back with your left leg and bending into your right knee.

Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana(prolonged hand-to-big-toe position)Note: You might require a strap for this pose if your hamstrings are tight. Start in Tadasana (mountain posture). Bring your left knee up in front of you. Hold the beyond your left foot with your left hand if that’s available to you, interlace your fingers and place them under your foot or loop a strap around your foot. On an inhale, extend your left knee forward and straighten your left leg as much as feasible. Focus on your breath and the security of your supporting leg. If you feel steady, bring your left leg out to the side. Hold for 30 seconds, then repeat on the other side.

Salabhasana(locust posture). Lie face down on your mat. You could desire added padding under your pelvic bones and ribs. Rest your forehead on your mat and place your arms alongside your upper body with your palms up. Take a few breaths to get the feeling of pushing off the mat as you inhale and burrowing as you exhale. Inhale and raise both feet and your arms off the floor. At the exact same time, raise your head. Keep your gaze down or somewhat forward.

Halasana(plow posture). Lie on your back. Flex your knees and bring the soles of your feet near to your butts. With your arms by your sides, extend your heels towards the ceiling. Press your palms against your back and start to lower your legs over your head, releasing one vertebra at a time. At some point, your toes will touch the flooring in back of your head.

The charm of Hatha is that even the easiest postures stay difficult and fascinating as you learn to deepen, relax and explore the edge of the certain movement. The discipline makes it much easier to be present fully and taking advantage of the life-enhancing possibilities of a yoga practice that extends, reinforces and balances mind, body and spirit.

~Namaste  

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