pain and meditation...

Pain has many faces, many expressions. physically our muscles and joints may ache, mentally and emotionally we deal with anger, loss and sadness. Any yogi will tell you that a little meditation can help but who really listens to yogis except for other yogis right? Well, a fancy schmancy research fellow by the name of Fadel Zeidan did a study last year with students at the University of North Carolina showing that, "Meditation reduced subjects' feeling of pain from electrical shocks during testing and increased their baseline pain tolerance." That's pretty sweet with the exception of the electrical shock, yeah?! Since most of us aren't exactly subject to systematic modes of pain such as this we can look at it in terms of a headache or other minor aches and pains in our bodies.

Through meditation we cultivate an awareness of our bodies, minds, surroundings etc.. When we train ourselves to bring our focus to the breath, these distractions become less important. When we feel a pain coming on, or an emotion welling up inside, rather than a siren sounding off in our heads we learn to approach these feelings nonreactively. Zeidan explains that even a basic meditation practice allows us to focus our awareness on the breath. When other distractions enter we are able to observe without judgment and gently bring our minds back to our breath.

He says that, "Pain is a subjective experience. Meditation is a way of changing the context of that experience. In meditation you experience each moment as it rolls by, and you realize there's no reason to react. You appraise sensory experience differently." And on that note I'm off to breathe this nagging homesickness away!

Love and miss all of you!

everlasting light...

Here's another playlist I've been using lately. One of my favorites right now! Melanie this one's for you. Just like ya wanted ;)


ping

balance...

I don't know how they do it. Those teachers who teach everyday, two sometimes three classes per day 5 - 6 days a week. How does one manage it physically, emotionally, and mentally? I suppose it's one thing if you eat, breathe and sleep yoga but this girl doesn't. She helps run a hotel, organizes a spa, runs another business from 2,200 miles away, acts as counsel to countless numbers of women every week, and teaches. My body is rebelling against me and my heart aches at the end of each week. As a teacher you put yourself in a position of unconditional and constant giving. And it's not that your students don't give back. They give plenty, but it is a different kind of giving. They inspire, fuel my love for teaching, and give an open heart, but ultimately their role is to receive. After 7 days with the amazing women and men who pass through these doors, all of which are here dealing with their own issues, finding their own answers, discovering their own selves, I feel both exhilarated and depleted.

Little do our students know that we, as teachers are going through many of the same trials and tribulations. We are in a constant state of finding balance. For me, right now the balance is between work and life which is becoming ever more gray as the months pass. It's finding balance between work and play.

cravings...

The thing I miss the most when traveling? Food from home. And coffee. Oh, coffee. Don't get me wrong, there is something wonderful about drinking a hot cup of Nescafe every morning but damn it, I miss my ethiopian yirgacheffe! So the spoiled, amenities and stuff loving lady is coming out in me today.

- 2 lbs of coffee from Heart
- small grinder
- french press
- 5 gallon tub of peanut butter
- American Apparel racer back tank tops
- TYR reversible bikini
- Any lululemon apparel
- st. eve cotton panties from The Rack

I always bring along a couple of comforts that make anywhere feel like home; the medicine bag my sweet mama made me, mala beads, journal and my yoga. What do you miss most when you're traveling? What are the things that make home home for you?

Playa del Carmen...

Due to an insane craving for peanut butter and the inability to find such a thing in Tulum I spent the second day off I've had since arriving in Mexico in Playa del Carmen. Yep, an hour and a half on a bus to get peanut butter. Playa used to be a quiet little beach town on the highway heading south from Cancun. Not so much anymore. Restaurant after restaurant, pushy sales people peddling the same blankets, scarves, sombreros, steaks, lobsters and massages as all the others, dance clubs next to one another so that as you walk down the street your ears and organs are filled with the thump thump and whoop whoop of 5 different techno songs converging into one seemingly discordant yet beautifully crafted score of beats.

All in all the experience was, at best mediocre. Found a great little place to sleep with a balcony overlooking the main drag through Playa. There was some question as to the legitimacy of the place while standing at the reception desk which doubled as the cash register of a cd store around the corner and down the block from the actual room, but everything worked out fine and Pedro and Aldo said they'd give us a deal next time. Unfortunately I don't think I'll make a point to get back to Playa anytime soon. Give me a sleepy beach town like Bacalar any day over the insincerity and exploitative qualities of Playa. If I want to party party party I'll head to Ibiza. However, the beach was beautiful and in the end I got some peanut butter, crema de avenella, natural yogurt, and a sports bra. Success!!!

savasana...

Savasana

Known as corpse pose - it is here in these final moments that we die. Not just as an idea but actually. Understanding that one has collected so much during their lives. Not only books, clothes, houses, but inwardly the memory of insults, flattery, neurotic achievements which give your position. to die to all of that without argument, without discussion or fear - to just give it up will create freedom. Die to everything you know psychologically so that your mind is clear, not tortured.

You come to your mat as one person, as a thinker. as you leave your mat today you are brand new. You are no longer your thoughts, your doubts or your fears. Each and every day you come to your mat this is what you do - you shed the old and become new - innocent...fresh. Through this innocence this is where you live. In compassion

no envy, no fear...

Another group leaves :(

I've said it before, each group is so different and the connection made is unique to the the each. The collective touches you deeply as do the individuals. I've had the chance to make special connections with so many people this past month and it's always hard when they leave. Each person touches the heart in a different manner, inspires something inside of me. Whether it's to be a better teacher, listener or all around better human, every person I encounter here drives me to look inside and be more (and sometimes less).

On a completely unrelated note, I just started a ping account on itunes and will be putting playlists up there. Here is the first one! Just click on the link below the playlist to link to my ping. You can keep up with new playlists on this blog or follow me on itunes. Either way it would be great to have your feedback about songs you like (and don't) to yoga to!

ping

you too could be a cover model! if...

If you're involved in the yoga "world" you have probably seen all the commotion about Yoga Journal's "Talent Search".

Since when did yoga become a talent? Okay, we can look back in history and say, "oh yeah, that Leonardo da Vinci was a talented fellow!" Some argue about the talent or lack there of in regards to Andy Warhol or Jackson Pollock. What about Lady Gaga? Talented evil genius or spoiled rich girl from New York?

So what is it that makes a talented yogi/yogini? Well, here are YJ's official guidelines to be considered a searchable, potentially talented cover model:


Make sure we can see your whole body in the frame.

Show us your face, if possible.

Wear something form-fitting and bright, so that you stand out from the background.

Show off a pose you’ve mastered, rather than something more advanced that you can just barely do. (Great alignment impresses us more than difficulty.)

My kind of talented yoga person doesn't need to wear tight clothes, or have a pretty face, nor do they have to have the kind of body that generally graces the cover of yoga mags. In my talent search this yoga person is compassionate, knowledgeable, playful, humble, able to listen and learn to each student, artful in their way of teaching, inspired and in love with life. I mean, when was the last time someone like this was on the cover of YJ?

I guess those are difficult concepts to translate to the cover of a magazine though? But hey, we're selling yoga these days right?

prelude...

After a couple of weeks of hard work a day off is on the horizon. I'm sad to see this last group of ladies leave but very excited to be heading out of town for a couple of days. Today we leave by bus from Tulum to Valladolid for the next day and a half. Little colonial town, tons of cenotes to get our swim on. Being on the giving end of things everyday all day for the past few weeks...well, I'm ready to receive. More on that later, right now my brain, body and heart can't write another word.

Like whoa...

Week one (and almost two) down!!! What an amazing experience this has been so far. It feels like everything I've learned in these past 31 years has been for this. We've been talking a lot this past week about intention and letting go. It's interesting that when you start talking about these things with your students how much it effects you, how much you also start delving into these ideas. Sometimes it's hard to separate yourself and continue to be the teacher when this happens but sometimes that's okay. I think it's good for your students to see you as a real person that deals with the the same emotional obstacles they face. It allows a space for you to share your own experiences in a way your students can relate.

We have had some extraordinary people pass through these doors the past two weeks: a gold miner, traveling yoga goddess, stay at home mamas, bankers, photographers, and a singer or two. One of these amazing humans did an interview with me about yoga and the like. She's been traveling around doing these little one on ones with yoga teachers for awhile now and I feel absolutely honored to be included. She is rad, I love her and what she is doing in this world so please check out her website. She's trying to figure out the process of getting youtube to select another cell since you know...I generally tend to have a smile on my face :) And yes, that beautiful scenery is my front yard. We happen to be sitting right outside our beachfront yoga palapa. Not to shabby right? Let me know how it is since I can't seem to watch it with as slow as the internet is around these parts. Hugs and love to all of you. xo ks