Creating Abundance Through Simplicity

One of the many lessons of the last several months has been how meaningful simplicity can be. Many of us have found ourselves doing without things that we thought we needed, shifting our daily living patterns and bringing a greater focus to what is truly important and meaningful in our lives. As we make our way into the season that celebrates abundance, I find myself reflecting on how my experiments with simplicity at the beginning of the year created the space for dramatic shifts, eliminated unnecessary decision fatigue and allowed me to bring greater quality of attention into my life. If you’re curious about how 33 items of clothing could do all that & create a sense of abundance, read on!

In January of this year, I did something called "The 30 Day Minimalism Game" with some friends on Facebook. The idea comes from The Minimalists and goes like this: starting at the beginning of the month you remove one thing from your home on the first day, two things on the second day, three on the third and so on until the end of the month. As you can imagine, it starts out being pretty easy but when you start getting into 20 and more items per day, things get interesting. For myself, I found once the momentum began, and with the support of an accountability group, I ended up letting go of WAY more stuff than was called for. My husband even started to get involved!

I had no idea how important this little exercise would become just a few months later when I found myself suddenly running my entire business out of my home. Not only did I have the space I needed to teach my yoga classes, I didn’t have to move a bunch of stuff and figure out where I was going to put it to make it happen. A few months after that, when I found myself moving what remained of the physical items from my physical studio into my home, there was far less panic than there might have been otherwise. Who knew in January that I was creating space for such an important shift in my life and business?

After the inspiration of January’s accomplishments, I decided to take it a step further when I found out about Project333. I’ve never been much of a fashionista. I’ve often made the comment that I wished I could go back to the days when someone else dressed me. It seems such a silly thing to be stressed about, but deciding what the heck to wear every day was never my favorite thing because it always seemed to take far too much thought and consternation. And then I found this new possibility of simplicity.

Choose only 33 items to wear for three months including shoes and accessories.

Whoa.

(If you just fell out of your chair you’ll be happy to know the creator of the idea often jokes that she looses most people when she gets to the shoes part! 😂 Also, please note that there are certain things that don’t count including underwear, bras, socks, loungewear and workout clothes [as long as you actually work out in them] if you were worried).

I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but we have four dramatically different seasons here in New Hampshire.

Apparently so did the creator of the project, sighting that she had one day where the temperature swung from 90-30 degrees in her home state of Utah the first time she tried this herself.

“Ok. If she can do it, I can do it.”

Knowing that I was heading to California during that month I figured it would be a pretty good test.

So I went for it. I didn’t throw away everything I owned, but I did a thorough once over of all my clothing, and donated what no longer fit, got rid of what was worn beyond repair and what I simply didn’t want anymore. In the process I cleaned out a couple of drawers in my dresser and decided on what I would wear for the next three months.

Spoiler alert: I didn’t get down to 33 items. But I was around 40 or so. I figured that was pretty good for my first attempt, especially given the fact that I’d be going from freezing NH to a sweaty hot studio in CA and back in between. (I also traveled carryon only for a 2 week trip but that’s a story for another day.)

It took a fair amount of time to get started. I had to be really intentional with everything I chose.

Once the choices were made I noticed immediately how much easier it was to get dressed in the morning. I had spent a little more time on the “front end” of that decision making process and it immediately alleviated my decision fatigue when it came to clothing. That little bit of my morning was no longer a chore and didn’t set a negative tone in my day. My attention shifted to far more important things. Again, as I reflect back on this, I find myself so grateful for creating that mental space for a future that would involve a LOT of decision making in a short period of time.

After the initial work, I fell into an easy routine. And not a single person said anything to me about my clothing choices during those first three months. Not one. When my three months were up I actually forgot that I had to reconsider my choices until the weather started getting warm enough that I needed some different choices. So I decided to do another round. You can probably see where this is going.

I just did my revision for the third time and I intend to keep going with this approach to my personal wardrobe indefinitely.

So what the heck does getting rid of stuff and simplifying have to do with abundance?

When I took the time to be really intentional and considered about what I surrounded myself with and what I put on my body I learned so much about myself and what was really necessary.

I learned

• that I really didn’t need as much as I thought I did. A lesson that seems to keep coming around for me.

• that a clear plan and intentionality can save you so much energy in the long term. And that energy can be used to focus on so many other important things.

• that simplifying can actually create the space for change. It isn’t always the change that we would have wanted or the change we’d planned, but that doesn’t mean it’s bad.

• that quality over quantity isn’t just a catchy phrase. Abundance doesn’t have to equal excess. In fact, over abundance can actually be draining. That’s something we tend to think of when we have an over abundance of business meetings or tasks to do, I don’t think it’s something most of us think about when it comes to the physical objects we surround ourselves with each and every day. Or the physical objects we put on our bodies each day.

• that just in the same way that the things get accumulated, the letting go of them is also a process. I’m still not down to only 33 items. I might never be. But the process of making the choices and considering fully what I spend money on and what I bring into my life is so very valuable in not only my possessions, but in all other aspects of my life.

• that I can actually feel more abundant when I own less.

• And so many more things I can’t quite put into words.

Would you ever consider doing something like the Minimalism Game or Project333? Leave me a comment and let me know!

I’m going to be talking more about TRUE abundance in my classes this month. Join me for a weekly class or sign up for my Thanksgiving Gratitude Flow.

You’ll find all the details here.

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How a Modern Interpretation of Foot Placement May Help Your Standing Yoga Postures

When I began my teaching career I noticed right away that many students had stability problems in standing yoga postures like Warrior 1, Warrior 2 and even Tadasana. As I continued to observe my students and experimented in my own practice, I found time and time again that a wider base of support seemed to eliminate these issues almost instantly. Depending on the lineage of teaching that a student and teacher may have come through, confusion may still remain as to appropriate foot placement for individual bodies in these postures. In this post you’ll find an anatomical explanation for this modern interpretation of foot placement and how it might help you feel more steady and at ease in these commonly practiced standing yoga postures.

Traditional versus Modern Interpretation

I often make the joke to private students when we start to work with these kinds of details in their postures that “this practice was created by skinny little Indian men, and honey, I’m an American woman and I have hips! I need space!” (If you’ve never met me in person I’m nearly 6 feet tall and weigh about 185, so I am neither small nor skinny!) All joking aside, what I’m pointing out is something very important to this understanding of foot placement - the traditional interpretation of the postures revolved around the narrow pelvis of the people that “created” the postures and the people that were being taught. Students of yoga in those days were of typically of Indian decent, young and male. They therefore had a naturally more narrow pelvis and were taught a more narrow placement of the feet in standing postures.

Anatomically speaking, our knowledge of an individual’s unique differences in their anatomy and how they might affect their practice has improved in the last century. We now know that the female pelvis is wider than the male pelvis, primarily to accommodate childbirth. This google search will give you some images and articles to make this more clear. But the important part for our asana practice is that, generally speaking, our unique anatomical make up, our general range of flexibility and the shape of our frame will have a great deal of affect on the stance we take in our standing postures. The majority of yoga practitioners in the US are female and with our more recent anatomical understanding many teachers, myself included, have begun to teach foot placement in standing postures in a more anatomically informed way.

Let’s give you some examples so you can start to put this into practice. And please bear with my rather rudimentary illustrations! And also bear in mind, the use of traditional vs. modern is NOT a value judgement, but a way of making a distinction.

Let’s take Tadasana (Mountain Pose) for instance:

In the traditional interpretation of the posture, the big toes would come together to touch as you stood at the top of your mat. Some people would even bring their inner heels together. Let me be very clear here: THIS IS NOT WRONG. For many bodies this won’t be a problem. For many other bodies this may feel like a very narrow base of support that isn’t at all grounded. In my body, this additionally creates a tension in my outer hips that doesn’t feel beneficial.

Also, when I look at the center line of my foot, it is offset compared to my pelvis. I can tell because when I feel my hip points (the two bones you might be able to feel if you palpate the front of the pelvis), if I were to draw a straight line down to the center of my foot, that line hits more towards my outer ankles. So instead, I take my feet “sit bones distance apart” (I often have people measure this by bending forward and taking two fists together between the arches of the feet. It seems to work well.) which gives me a broader base and more appropriately aligns my body. So it would look more like this:

With this broader base I’m more able to hold my ground, or be more firmly grounded in this pose that is supposed to embody stability.

This wider foot placement in Tadasana also translates into other common standing poses. Tadasana, is after all, the foundation for every other yoga posture. Take Warrior 2 for example. Here’s what the traditional foot placement would look like:

You can see from the lines on this mat (thank you Liforme!) that the heel of the front foot would have bisected the arch of the back foot. (I have also heard it described slightly wider, so that the heel of the front foot would have lined up with the heel of the back foot in traditional teaching.) This might give a practitioner with wider hips a feeling of, what I often call “walking the tightrope”; the base of support is too narrow to be stable. This often shows itself not while the practitioner is in the pose, but when they are making the transition up into the pose from a lunge, for example. There’s a wobble that happens in that transition and I’ll often see students reflexively step the back foot wider to catch themselves! What they’re instinctively doing is creating a stance more like this:

This comes into play again when we look at Warrior 1. Again, the more traditional placement would look like this:

But for many bodies, this foot placement becomes problematic when the practitioner attempts to make the transition into the pose from a lunge and/or places unnecessary forces into the knee joints in particular as the pose is held. With Warrior 1, as the pelvis rotates toward the top of the mat, the narrow stance may not allow for much rotation. With the pelvis unable to rotate and force still being applied (a discussion for another day), that torque has no where to go but to the next available joint, which is the knee. Unfortunately for our poor yoga student who is fighting to do what is asked, the knee is a hinge joint and does not lend itself to rotation. Chances are, they feel this as something happening IN the joint, a thing we typically want to avoid in a vinyasa yoga practice. This can all be avoided by stepping the feet wider like so:

With the broader stance pictured above, there’s greater freedom for the rotation of the pelvis, the integrity of the knee is no longer questionable and there will be a greater sense of stability in the pose overall.

What Does This All Mean for You?

To apply what you’ve learned here you might take the time to experiment with these different foot placements outside of a class. Start with Tadasana and see how your body feels with the two different foot placements. Depending on your specific body type and shape, you may find one that feels more stable and easeful than another. Then do the same experiment with Warrior 2 and Warrior 1. Take the time to really notice the effect on the joints of the legs in particular and your sense of stability. Do you feel like your “walking the tightrope” or if a strong breeze came by would you be steady? As with anything in yoga, the proof is in the experiment within the laboratory of your own body, life and practice!

I’m considering offering a workshop on this topic in the near future. If you’d be interested in such an offering, let me know in the comments below or send me an email!

If you’d like to experience a group class with me where I teach this more modern interpretation, check out my schedule for an upcoming vinyasa yoga class.

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Get to Know Your Shoulder Joint

Part of the study of yoga is getting to know our bodies better. With all our focus on the shoulders lately in my classes, I thought it might be helpful for you to get to know your shoulder joint a bit more from an anatomical standpoint. If your eyes glaze over when anyone says anatomy I understand! That was me for a very long time. But when you see how the knowledge of anatomy can inform healthy movement patterns and inform the choices you make in your practice, it all becomes a little more palatable. I'm going to give you a very basic overview here which I hope will enable to you to make good choices for your own body as you move through your life and practice.

What is a joint in the human body?

First - a basic definition. A joint is where two or more bones come together in the human body. You probably already knew that. We typically think about the knees, hips and shoulders when we think of joints but did you know there are also joints in your spine, your fingers and toes and other places? This simple definition helps us be clear as we move forward.

Bones of the Shoulder

There are three important bones that create your shoulder joint as you can see labeled above. I’ve given you both the common and the technical name for each of these. I highly recommend that you palpate your own body with your hands as you look at the image to really find these things in your own body. If you have a willing and consenting other human nearby that can be helpful too! The combination of read information and sensory input will help you learn.

The first and probably most obvious is your Humorous or upper arm bone. It’s probably the bone that we think about the most when we think about the shoulder. It may even be the ONLY bone we think about when thinking of the shoulder. But there are two more important players.

The second is the Clavicle or collar bone. It’s that bone on the front side of the body that extends from the front of your neck (just slightly offset to the right or left) out to your shoulder. You’ll find it at the top of your rib cage and it forms the part of the top edge of what we often think of as our shoulder. If I asked you to take your left hand and put it on your right shoulder the heel of your hand would likely be resting on this bone.

While you’ve got your hand on your shoulder [you did do that didn’t you?! ;-)], your fingers are probably curling over the back of your shoulder and that’s where you’ll find the third bone, your shoulder blade or Scapula. You may never have thought of this before, but your shoulder blade is called your shoulder blade because it’s an essential part of your shoulder joint! And what you’re likely feeling under your fingers is what’s often referred to as the “spine” of the shoulderblade. The tip of that spine (closer to the outside of your body) is called the Acromium.

So where’s the actual shoulder joint?

The actual shoulder joint (or glenohumeral joint if you want to get technical) is where the humorous and the scapula fit together. There’s a shallow cup on the shoulder blade where the upper arm bone fits in. They are connected together first by connective tissue (labrum, cartilage, ligaments, etc.) and then by a series of complex muscles known as the rotator cuff. So unless you have an injury or something else going on, the big thing to know here is that your upper arm bone (humorous) is attached to your shoulder blade (scapula). While the collarbone is not directly connected here it does play an important role in movement, but that’s a bit beyond the scope of the current exploration.

Why should you care?

Any time you move your upper arm bone your shoulder blade MUST move. This becomes really important when you set up for postures like bridge or wheel because how you position that upper arm bone will influence the movement of the scapula and therefore the whole shoulder joint. Any time you take the arms overhead like in Warrior 1 or Down dog, the shoulder blades must also move upward (that’s an over simplification but for the purposes of this discussion it’s sufficient). Not allowing the shoulder blades to move properly may cause trouble over time for the healthy functioning of the shoulder joint.

Knowing how these two bones are connected also gives us a better understanding of what “stability” in the shoulder joint really means. There are three very stable positions for the shoulder joint: 0 degrees of flexion (when the arms are resting alongside your torso in a standing position), 90 degrees of flexion (plank pose) or 180 degrees of flexion (arms directly overhead like in handstand). This is helpful if you DO have an injury or strain in this area because you can pay attention to how your bones are aligning to create stable positions and avoid unstable ones. You can also offload weight from the shoulders if they are moving between any of these angles if you do have an injury or you know that you still need to build strength in this area (chaturanga anyone?!).

Questions? Leave me a comment below!

If you want to get to know your shoulders more through movement, sign up for one of my livestream classes this month or join me on Patreon to practice on demand!

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Two Poses in Ten Minutes for a Simple Restorative Yoga Reset

2020 continues to be a year of significant stressors for most of us. We're worried about children's education, the stability of our jobs, the state of our country and our environment and it's taking a toll on our physical, mental and emotional health. And we all know, now more than ever, we need to engage with practices that can help us stay healthy and well on all levels. But the thought of trying to make that happen can just add to the overwhelm! When you're too overwhelmed to think straight, it's easy to miss the fact that the greatest effect on our health and wellness can come from simple things done with consistency. Today I want to bring you a simple (and I do mean S-I-M-P-L-E) restorative yoga practice that can help you reset and renew yourself for whatever comes your way next with two poses in just 10 minutes.

Before we get to the practice I just want to say another word about this idea of simplicity. I think it’s something that is SO over looked in our culture. We always seem to make things more complicated than they need to be. Got time in your calendar? Fill it with something! Have one monitor on your desk at work? Why not two! Making dinner? Add six more spices! That will make it better! Some of these things can make our lives better, but often times when we peel away the extraneous baggage we can find ourselves with much more calm and much more ease. I’m finding this to be one of the big takeaways from this time we’ve all been experiencing these last several months. It’s the simple joy of having a cup of coffee with a friend that we miss, not the running here there and everywhere.

So let’s get to relaxing, shall we? You’re going to need a few things:

Props

If you have yoga props, awesome. If not, you can steal from the couch or the bed to make this work. This is not the time to stress about gear. Remember simplicity?! Get yourself a big bolster or pillow and at least two or three blankets. Another smaller pillow can be handy.

Get yourself a nice sounding timer.

Not the kind that makes you jump out of bed in the morning, but one that’s kind of like your Mom gently shaking you to wake up from a nap when you were a kid. There are probably several appropriate sounds on your phone, but if you use that put it on airplane mode. Seriously. The world will be ok without you for 10 minutes.

As I mentioned, you are going to do two poses. Period. You’re going to repeat the first one twice. Here it is:

Supported Spinal Twist

I love this supported spinal twist because you not only get the benefits of a supported restorative yoga posture, but you also get a good twist in as well. It may be not be anatomically correct to say so, but twists tend to feel like they wring the stress right out of the body. We tend to hold a lot of tension in our spinal muscles and this pose will help to gently relieve them of that tension.

To find your way into the pose: set up your bolster or big pillows like a ramp. As you can see in the photo, I used one block at the low level and one at the medium level to rest my bolster on. Have a couple of blankets handy on either side of the bolster/pillow ramp. Get that extra blanket or smaller pillow handy. Then sit next to the ramp with your right hip up against it, your knees are bent out in front of you and your thighs are making a right angle to your hips. Place the small pillow or extra blanket between your knees for some extra cushion. Then start to lay your torso down on the ramp with one hand on each side of it. Your forearms should come to rest on the floor but if they don’t, that’s what the extra blankets are for. You’re going to fold those up under your forearms until they rest easily. Your head can face the same direction as your knees or you can turn it to face the opposite way if that’s comfortable for you.

Set your timer for 3 minutes. Breathe deep as you rest here and imagine that your body is getting heavier with each exhalation. It’s like your body is sinking into the floor.

When the timer goes off, press the earth away with your hands to come back to seated. Sit with the ramp behind your back for a moment or two. Then gently swing your legs over to the other side and repeat the pose there. You’ll likely need to adjust the blankets under your forearms if you were using them.

Set your timer for 3 minutes. Breathe deep as you rest here and imagine that any lingering tension is draining out of your body and into the earth where it gets washed away.

When the timer goes off, come back up to seated.

Supported Shavasana

Last pose. Shavasana.

I really like this supported version with the addition of eye pillows in the hands and over the eyes. But that’s complicated. It’s perfectly fine to just lay flat if that works for your body.

Set your timer for 3 more minutes and maybe take two or three more deep breaths that you release with a big sigh through an open mouth. Then, just allow yourself to rest. If your mind decides to run away into the complexities of life, either just let it, or draw some gentle attention back to your breath.

When your timer goes off, slowly find your way to one side, press up to seated and celebrate that you did something really good for yourself today that is going to help your body, mind and spirit deal with everything life is throwing at it these days. You’ll face it all with a little more calm and a little more focus.

Repeat this short restorative yoga practice whenever you remember to do so.

What if I want or need more?

If you find yourself with more time or you’re just wanting to stay a bit longer you might hold each twist for up to five minutes and extend shavasana to 5 or more minutes. If you wanted to add in one more pose, you could add in legs up the wall. (If you have trouble with getting comfortable in that pose, here are some tips.)

Want EVEN more?! I’m teaching another online restorative yoga class via Zoom in October.

Space is limited and I’m only offering a couple of discounted spaces.

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The Ridiculous Looking Yet Highly Effective Breathing Practice to Keep You Cool This Summer

While it might look a little silly, Sitali breath can be a powerful breath for use in the summer when we might be overwhelmed by the hot and humid conditions that tend to pop up here in NH. I used to use this breath a lot when I was working in NYC in the summertime. As the 90+ degree heat radiated off the buildings and the streets I was often passed by buses and cars spewing hot exhaust while I briskly walked (near ran sometimes) the 10 blocks from my office to Penn Station to catch the train home. When I remembered to use this breath, I didn’t even break a sweat! If it can work under those conditions, with a little practice, I’m sure it can help you!

Here’s how to do it:

Sit comfortably, allow your mouth to open, stick out your tongue a bit and curl it into a straw that you’ll sip your breath through. This is an ability ruled by genetics, so if you can’t do this, just let your tongue lay low in your mouth broadly and relaxed.

Slowly inhale through your curled tongue or over the surface of your relaxed tongue.

At the end of your inhale, retract your tongue back into your mouth and exhale slowly through your nose.

That’s one round.

Repeat this process 3-6 times. When finished, breathe normally and notice how much cooler you feel. You may even get goosebumps when you’re doing this!

You can use this breath during a yoga practice if the heat catches up to you, on a hike, or any time you’re feeling overheated. If you’re experiencing some of the signs that the summer heat has settled into your tissues like a red rash, irritability or digestive issues like indigestion, you might add this breath to your regular practices. If you’re having the hot flashes associated with menopause, this can be a great breath to have in your tool kit as well.

I hope this helps you stay cool this summer! Let me know if you have any questions!

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Yoga Related Book Suggestions for your Summer Reading

One of the greatest things I did for myself when the pandemic hit was give myself the gift of Jim Kwik’s Reading course. It’s really sparked my love of reading again, something that has been lying dormant for sometime (translation: after I finished grad school the second time I didn’t think I’d ever want to pick up another book again! But that was ^cough^ years ago and I’m finally over it, thanks to Jim!). While I’ve been reading on various topics ever since, it occurred to me that this is the time of year people often ask me for suggestions of books on the topic of yoga. Below you’ll find a few recent reads and some old favorites to inspire your summer reading.

1. Lovingkindness by Sharon Salzberg. I’ve been familiar with Lovingkindness meditation for some time, I even did a 40 day practice earlier this year, but I had never read much in-depth about it. I’m so glad I finally decided to pick this one up and read it cover to cover. Sharon’s expertise in the subject really shines through, despite the fact that this is one of her first books and was originally published 25 years ago! I feel like I have a whole new insight into this type of practice, a greater understanding of the benefits and obstacles to working with it and a real roadmap of how to go about it and what I might experience as I practice now. I definitely wish I had read this sooner! If you’re interested in Buddhist psychology, meditation or lovingkindness in any way, don’t hesitate to pick this one up.

2. The Yamas & Niyamas; Exploring Yoga’s Ethical Practice by Deborah Adele. This one is an old favorite and I can’t recommend it enough. The Yamas and Niyamas are the first steps on the yogic path in a traditional approach, but in our modern exploration we often skip these and go right into the Asana or physical practice. Never fear! Deborah Adele’s book is here to help you shore up that foundation that you may have missed with explanations that make this ancient wisdom that is still so relevant to our modern lives accessible and understandable to the modern yogi. If you’ve been thinking, “I really want to know more about yoga but I’m not sure where to begin.” begin here. You won’t be sorry. And you’ll be coming back to this book over and over again for years!

3. When Things Fall Apart by Pema Chodron. What can I say that isn’t said in the title? If you’re struggling with the circumstances of the moment we’re all living in right now you might give this one a try. Your thinking about many things will be challenged. But the love that underlies that challenge can be deeply felt if you’re open to it. This wisdom comes from one that knows suffering and is able to bear witness to it in such a way that I felt like I was being guided through Very Hard Things with a very soft touch. This book is a great gift if you can allow it into your consciousness. If right now is not that time, just put it on the shelf for later.

4. Buddha’s Brain by Rick Hanson. (I realize I’m pretty Buddhism heavy here but they did grow up in the same neighborhood with the yogis so go with me on this!) This book is all about the intersection of neuroscience and Buddhism. The author, having studied for sometime with Jack Kornfield, pulls the two subjects together in a very practical way. The first chapter can be a bit tough to get through, but if you hang in there, it’s totally worth it. I find myself drawing on this book over and over again for myself and my classes. The summaries at the end of each chapter of the key points really help solidify what you’ve read which is a nice feature. (I recently heard Mr. Hanson has a new book out which is definitely on my future reading list!)

5. The Heart of Yoga: Developing a Personal Practice by T.K.V. Desikachar. While I wouldn’t necessarily list this amongst my favorite books on yoga, I will recommend it because it does provide a foundational understanding of the practice from a source that is highly trusted. Desikachar was the son of Krishnamacharya, who is widely considered to be the “grandfather” of the physical practice of yoga as we understand it today. You’ll find some interesting historical context in here as well as a foundational discussion on yoga philosophy. The Yoga Sutras are included with commentary, but if you’re new to all this I’d definitely recommend starting with Deborah Adele’s book first. To the modern reader there are elements that will come across as dated (this one was first published over 20 years ago as well), but if you read it with context in mind including time and place, you may find yourself filling in the gaps of some of your knowledge depending on how yoga first appeared in your life.

BONUS: Meditations of John Muir compiled by Chris Highland. This is a bit of a tangent but you might find it valuable. If you love the outdoors like I do you’ve probably read some of John Muir’s writings. This compilation comes from a spiritual perspective and intersperses Muir’s words with quotes from some of the leaders of the world’s great spiritual traditions. It’s a great one to sample from while sitting by the campfire this summer.

I hope this gives you some inspiration for your time reading in a hammock at a state park campground, at the beach or in your backyard this summer. If you’ve got a title you’d like to share with me or you want to see what else I’m reading lately, feel free to look me up on Goodreads.

Happy Reading!

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Making the Most Out of Your At Home Yoga Practice

Nothing is as it was. You're doing everything online including seeing your friends and family. The moment you leave the house to run a simple but necessary errand, nothing is normal and you are acutely aware that the world is different. 

Even your yoga class is online and you're forced to practice at home in an environment that may feel anything but peaceful right now. You know your practice is an important way to help you through this moment in history, but how can you possibly make it work at home?! Here are a three ideas that might help you make the most of your next online yoga practice.

Carve Out Sacred Space - You may share your home with many other beings including animals, kids, significant others, roommates, digital assistants and more and this can certainly make finding a space for your practice difficult. If at all possible, talk to the people you live with and negotiate a space that you can use. Remind them that they will get a better version of you if they allow you this time and space for yourself.

Ideally, this space would allow for your yoga mat and props to be out all the time, so you just have to jump on and get going. In a perfect world, you might even be able to close a door between you and all those distractions, but I know the world is less than ideal right now. Even having a space where you have to move a few items and ask the other beings to vacate is better than nothing.

If you can, you might enhance this space with some sacred objects. It might be as simple as a single flower in a vase or a small plant. You might go as far as having a statue of a deity and some incense or a candle and an uplifting photo. Bringing even a small amount of beauty to your space will only help you feel more “at home” (at studio?) in your environment.

Clear the Distractions (and the Energy) - Now that you have a space to do your practice you’ll want to clear it of distractions before you settle on to your mat. This is probably the thing that will make you feel like you’re back at the studio the most. We usually ask you to turn your phone to silent and leave it in the lobby. How can you create that same thing in your home? Can you leave it in another room? Can you unplug the Alexa? Turn off the TV? Silence the notifications on your tablet that you’re using to stream your class? Consider what types of things might take your attention away from your practice and do what you can to turn them off or leave them in another room.

You may also consider doing an energetic clearing of the space. A lot of us are feeling the heaviness of the situation we’re all experiencing right now on deep mental and emotional levels. Clearing our space and clearing our own energy can be very healing at this moment and set us up for a great practice. It’s something I do regularly at the studio before and after people come in for class and whenever I can at home. You might burn some sage or incense, sweep the floor, do a little light cleaning or decluttering, or chant some mantras. To learn more about Space Clearing, you can check out my Ebook on our Digital Downloads page.

Finally, and most importantly…

Release the Idea of Perfection - Your practice at home, even with a livestream with us, is not going to be the same as a class at the studio because it is not the same as a class at the studio. Maybe that’s obvious, but sometimes it helps to state the obvious! The cat is going to walk on you. The TV is going to be blaring in the other room because someone else is watching it. The phone is going to ring even though you thought you turned it off. The dog is going to lick your face endlessly because you’re rolling around on the floor and gee that looks like fun!

It is ok. Really.

The fact that you are getting on your mat and doing something?! Let that be enough. Because it is enough.

It doesn’t have to be perfect. Do what you can. Keep gently telling the dog or the kitty or the kid or the husband no, not right now. I’m doing my yoga. They’ll figure it out.

Keep coming back to your breath. Keep doing what you can.

Because this might be one of the big lessons for all of us right now. What is enough? This moment.

Just let it be.

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What happened when I did 40 days of Lovingkindness Meditation for The Difficult Person

A dear friend came to me on January 1st and said, “I want to do a 40 day lovingkindness practice. Will you do it with me?” You’d think that would be something I’d jump at, but you’d be wrong. I knew I should, but I can best describe my ethos going into the first practice as “kicking and screaming”. Almost literally. And yet somehow I just completed 40 days of the practice!

The most interesting part to me was the part where I offered the phrases to The Difficult Person. I’ll let you know who that was in a moment.

If you aren’t familiar with this practice it’s a pretty interesting one. Similar to mantra, some phrases are repeated in this practice but they are offered to a progressive series of beings, starting with oneself. I usually go with the following phrases:

May I be happy.

May I be healthy.

May I be safe.

May I be free from fear and worry.

May I live with ease.

(Replacing “I” for “you” when offering to another person.)

For my 40 day practice, I decided to eliminate the 4th phrase and to only offer to the following beings: myself, someone I love, The Difficult Person and all beings everywhere. I was only doing 9 minutes per practice so I needed to condense things. 

On my first day of practice, with my friend sitting next to me, I was fascinated at how much things changed as I offered these phrases to the different people, especially The Difficult Person. (Side note - some traditions even call this person “the enemy”. I don’t necessarily subscribe to that notion, but it’s nice to know even monks understand that relationships with others are not always easy!) When I got to The Difficult Person, I felt my whole body tighten up as if to say “I don’t WANT to offer happiness to this person!! Look at what they’ve done!!” I especially noticed my lips tighten as if trying to form the snarl that I felt inside.

This sensation persisted for the next several days. But I quickly found myself thinking, “If this person was truly happy, healthy and safe, maybe they wouldn’t be so awful! Maybe we need everyone to do this practice for them!”

With those thoughts, my body began to soften. I still wasn’t entirely happy about doing the offering and I certainly didn’t notice the same heart connection I did as my practice progressed with the person I chose as the person I loved, but there was an ease coming in.

Then The Difficult Person did something, yet again, that I didn’t agree with and that endangered hundreds if not millions of people and animals. 

The physical sensation of tightness in my body returned, apparently reflecting the tightening in my mind and heart. 

But it was different. Noticeably so. It was maybe 50% as tight as it was when I began the practice. 

Not long after this I found this passage about the Difficult Person in Sharon Salzberg’s book Lovingkindness:

“In the same way that cultivating lovingkindness toward a benefactor is easy, feeling kindness toward an adversary can be just as difficult. In order to begin to develop Metta toward a person with whom we have problems, we must first separate our vision of the person from the actions they commit that may upset or harm us. All beings are deserving of care, well-being, of the gift of lovingkindness. In developing Metta, we put aside the unpleasant traits of such a being and try instead to get in touch with the part of them that deserves to be loved.”

As I’ve been talking about in classes recently, the great ones from all the world’s great traditions tell us that we are Love, we came from Love and we will return to Love. All of us. That can be hard to fathom when we find ourselves face to face with the actions of a person that we’ve labeled as anything but Love. That’s true whether they are living in our home or we see them on television on a regular basis. But as Sharon says above, instead of separating them from us, we have to be willing to separate the actions from the truth inside and recognize that we are the same. And in some situations, that’s no easy task.

As I finished my 40 days of practice I started to notice outside of my practice that my reactions to The Difficult Person had softened when I heard about him or what he had done on Facebook or TV. I still don’t agree with him, I still wouldn’t have lunch with him, and I still wouldn’t vote for him, but I think I’ve begun, just the tiniest bit, to separate the actions from the being inside. 

I know this isn’t going to change anything for The Difficult Person, but it has changed something for me. They say anger is like holding a hot coal and expecting the other person to feel pain. I’ve managed to give myself the gift of a little less anger through this 40 day practice. That seems like a pretty powerful gift to me.

Oh. And if you haven’t already figured it out, My Difficult Person is the current president of the United States.

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Scenes from the 2020 Inspire and Restore Retreat!

We had another amazing retreat in Vermont this past week and I wanted to share some of it with you today! I’m always amazed at how our small group comes together for these retreats. Some of the faces are familiar, some of them are new, but we all feel like we’ve known each other forever by the end. It’s really wonderful!

We had the barn to ourselves for the full time this year so we got to do our first practice in the space we think of as “ours”.

We spent most of the time we were there with these beautiful misty views and light snowfall.

Each year we make a collective altar that everyone contributes some small object or two to creating. It holds our intentions and reminds us of what we’ve come to do throughout our time together. It’s always beautiful and so very special. The stories behind each object are often quite moving.

The morning practice this year was very “workshop” like, focusing on moving pelvis and spine together for safe and healthy twisting and finding our personal alignment in standing postures. We always work hard but have fun too!

We always have a little gift for all our participants and this year my Mom and I created a special little handmade book for everyone that had info on our schedule, mantras and space for journaling. All the decorations on the front and back were made by my Mom on a tight schedule, which I very much appreciated and so did everyone else!

Restorative yoga with Heather in the evenings is always such a welcome end to the day! Her loving touch and soothing voice is absolutely a favorite with everyone. We hope to have her to the studio sometime soon so more of you can experience what she has to offer.

Before we know it, it’s time for one last practice and then we all head home. But we do our best to remember that the connections we’ve made do not go away when we go back to our daily lives.

We are already looking forward to next year!

Save the dates! January 24-27, 2021!

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3 Keys to a More Stable High Lunge

“Weebles wobble but they don’t fall down!” was a clever marketing catch phrase from my childhood (oh Lordy am I dating myself now!) and something I’ve been known to say to encourage my students with a smile and a laugh when they’re having a hard time in balancing postures. One posture that this comes up in is high lunge. It’s a common posture in a vinyasa practice and can present some real challenges depending on where you find it in a sequence and how fast it flies by. But I’m here to help! Here are 3 strategies that might make this posture more stable (and even enjoyable!) for you.

1. Set yourself up for success by aligning your feet well. Foundation is always the first thing to consider in any yoga posture, and how you align your feet in this pose will either set you up for success or failure when you try to lift your torso.

Traditionally, if you’re standing in tadasana or mountain pose, you may have been taught to have your big toes touching and your heels slightly separated. While that may work for some bodies, including the traditionally slight statured Indian male, if you’re an American woman such as me, you may find this not only unstable but restrictive in your outer hips. Instead, take your feet farther apart. I usually say sit bones distance, which can be measured by taking your two fists between the arches of your feet. With that little bit of extra space, you’ll have created a broader foundation for whatever you build on top.

Now with that broader foundation, as you bend forward and step one foot back to prepare for high lunge, see that the foot that goes back stays in that same line. There’s a natural tendency for it to drift into the center of the mat a bit, so resist that tendency and keep the foot wide to the side. This way, when you come up into your high lunge you’ll have that broader base to support you and maintain stability.

2. Draw the torso up through center rather than forward and up. This is subtle, but this is an energy management strategy. If you try to reach your arms forward as you lift the torso your energy and your focus will move OUT rather that in and up. Think of it this way, if you wanted to shoot and arrow up into the sky you wouldn’t aim it forward first and then expect it to turn upward somehow. The same is true for the energy of lift that you’ll need to bring up your torso.

Instead, as you exhale (because breath is always a good part of any strategy in a yoga posture), draw your arms up through center as you lift your torso. You might imagine that as you start to lift you’re going to take your hands up from the ground bending your elbows to touch your outer hips first, then draw them along the sides of your torso and up to the sky. Your torso will naturally follow this movement and you’ll contain your energy output to move in the direction you want to move, rather than a direction that isn’t necessary.

3. Engage the muscles surrounding your outer hips. This is an area we don’t think about very much in daily life, but the group of muscles that surround your outer hips are so important to creating stability in any standing posture.

As you move into the pose, feel as if these outer hip muscles are squeezing in towards the center of your body and maintain that feeling as you hold the posture. It’s as if someone came behind you and placed their hands on your outer hips and gave them a hug. You can even use your own hands to create this feeling and notice if the muscles here are doing the work you’re asking of them.

Having a hard time connecting to these muscles? We’re working on strengthening and engaging this area in my classes all this month. Come in for a class or sign up for Digital Membership to learn how to engage and strengthen this important area of your body more readily!

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