One Man Come In the Name of LOVE

Today, in honor of the great Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., I encourage everyone to make an effort to live a life in which your actions are non-violent, & motivated my love rather than hatred. In yoga, this yama (or universal ethical principle) is called Ahimsa, which means non-harming. Living a yogic lifestyle encourages yogis/yoginis to live by thoughts & actions that cause the least amount of harm to themselves & to all beings. Through the Yoga Sutras, Patanjali teaches us that, "non-harming is essential to the yogi because it creates good karma -- not only for the person or animal that is not harmed, but for the yogi who has refrained from causing harm. Good karma leads to eternal joy & happiness."

People look at the actions of individuals like Martin Luther King, Jr., Mother Theresa, Ghandi and think, I'll never be capable of making as significant a difference in the world as they did. This is not true. Your actions don't have to be grand. Simple, small-scale efforts to decrease the suffering & increase the happiness in even ONE person's life matter just as much as an extremely generous gesture such as Bono donating a few million to bring aid to Africa. Each action, the seemingly insignificant & the impressive, bring good karma & make the world a better place. So, do something today to make a difference. Find a few articles of clothing in your closet that you haven't worn in the past year & donate them to a homeless shelter or a battered women's shelter. If you're not ready to commit to vegetarianism yet, just avoid eating meat for ONE meal -- "Producing a single hambuger patty uses enough fossil fuel to drive a small car twenty miles & enough water for seventeen showers." (Jivamukti Yoga -- Sharon Gannon & David Life, pg. 60-61). Or simply, bite your tongue before saying something negative or hateful about another being.

"I've decided to stick with love; hate's too heavy a burden to bear." -- Martin Luther King, Jr.

Adding Scorpion to my practice!

Warm up with Yoga & Soup!

It has been frightfully frigid here in Ohio over the past week or so. So, how did the Irishman & myself stay warm this past weekend? By doing some hot yoga, cuddling, & making two very delicious vegetarian soups, of course! Both soups are flavorful, hearty & very easy to make. Pair either soup with a side salad or a loaf of crusty, artisan bread & you'll have yourself a tasty dinner that will warm you from the inside out.

Curried Pumpkin Soup
Heat 4 teaspoons of olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add 1/2 cup diced onion & saute 2-3 minutes (until translucent). Add 3 teaspoons curry powder, ground black pepper to taste, & stir to coat. Add 3 cups low-sodium vegetable broth, 2 cups of canned pumpkin, 2 peeled, cubed potatoes. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium, partially cover & simmer 8-10 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Remove from heat & stir in 2 tablespoons of chopped fresh cilantro.
(Makes 2 dinner sized servings or 4 side servings)

32 Bean, Vegetable & Barley Soup
(*There is no actual recipe for this soup. We are lucky enough to have an awesome Whole Foods-esque store near us called The Mustard Seed Market. At the Mustard Seed, they have bins of dried legumes, beans, oats, flours, & nuts. One of the bins had the 32 bean combo. We bought about...4 scoops worth & then Nick, the master of free-style cooking, added spices, veggies, etc. at will. Anyone can easily do the same. Tailor the soup to your own taste buds & the quantity you need! Here are the ingredients we used:

32 Bean & Vegetable mix (place in a large sauce pan, cover with water & bring to a boil, then reduce heat. When beans are al dente, remove from heat & set aside until ready to finish soup), potatoes (peeled & cubed), celery, carrots, vegetable stock, white wine, salt, pepper, cayenne, bay leaves, garlic, canned pumpkin (we had some left over from the previous night), coriander, & oregano.

BON APPETIT!

Living without expectations

Today i got a nice, big taste of why Yoga teaches us to live without expectations...

I went into the Yoga studio bright & early this morning to work my 7:30 am -11:00 am desk shift with the expectation of then taking the 11:00 am Power Yoga class. I had been so looking forward to this class. My body was just craving an strenuous, steamy, & challenging Yoga practice. Instead, no one showed up to work the next shift so, I gave up practicing my asanas to stand at the desk for another hour and a half. What made it worse was that every other employee I encountered this morning on their way into classes seemed to know that this other person was not going to show up. I couldn't help but feel slightly taken advantage of & dreadfully disappointed that I wouldn't be able to get my vinyasa on. It was like experiencing Yoga withdrawal!

Regardless, Living Yoga lesson of the day learned: When you live WITH expectations you are only setting yourself up for disappointment, resentment & sadness. You can't be let down when you expect nothing & live each moment as it comes.

Namaste Yoga loves!

Home Practice Helper!

Yoga Journal has a great sequencing tool on their website that is great for building your home practice around or for teachers to use when planning a sequence for class!

Just click on the title of this post (Home Practice Helper & it will take you directly to the sequencing tool.)

Universal Health Care! (FREE MC YOGI DOWNLOAD)

UNIVERSAL HEALTHCARE
chorus
if you believe in universal healthcare / then throw your hands up in the air
throw both hands up in the air / everybody everywhere throw your hands in the air
if you believe in universal healthcare / then throw your hands up in the air
cmon throw both hands up in the air / for everybody everywhere universal healthcare

how can we spend a trillion on war / but we can’t afford to get people insured
while the rich get rich the poor stay poor / tell me what are we paying our taxes for
we spend more on war than we do on a cure / while insurance makes a killing the sick get ignored
break your arm you might break the bank / the whole system needs fixing and we just can’t wait
so go tell your senator, tell the congress / tell the president how much we want this
how much we need this, how much we bleed this / lets put the pressure on and together we’ll achieve this
a public option? more like an emergency / internal bleeding in need of care urgently
tell the insurance companies and doctors / our patience can’t wait any longer

Mr. Leiberman what about the people and / all the kids livin’ on edge teetering
hanging on by a thread / laying sick in bed left for dead
while you travel around on the world in your corporate jet / getting special interest money while the country’s in debt
your wife’s hobby working for the lobby / promoting pharmaceutical and insurance monopolies
not to mention campaign contributions / sounds like a problem we need a resolution
the solution a peaceful revolution / but we seem to be stuck in an illusion
cuz they got us split right down the center / conservative and liberal but always remember
at the end of the day we’re all same / whatever happened to hope I think it’s time for some change

this pop a pill culture addicted to quick fix / treats the symptom not the cause so the problem persists
it’s just that we need to get up off the sofa / go for a walk maybe try a little yoga
let’s be more healthy if every American / ate organic food and was more vegetarian
we could prevent unnecessary disease / let’s motivate educate so that we can succeed (let it roll..)

New Year: New Blog & New Resolution

Working in a doctor's office I encounter multiple people on a daily basis complaining of back pain, neck pain, stress, & anxiety. In those cases where it applies, I encourage our patients to begin practicing Yoga. When I do this, they ALL look at me like I've just proposed they fly to Mars by flapping their own arms. It's astounding how many people overlook the practice of Yoga because they are so caught up in the misconception that Yoga is all about twisting yourself into a pretzel. Granted, as you get more advanced in your Yoga practice you will find yourself in some interesting positions, BUT the asanas (or poses) are just one-eighth of Yoga! Yoga, in all reality is a lifestyle & so many people forget or just don't realize this. Even those who practice regularly tend to forget that your Yoga practice should continue from the time you roll up your Yoga mat after a practice until you roll your mat out again for another physical practice. I, myself, am guilty of neglecting my off the mat practice in the past & that is why my 2010 New Year's resolution was to truly begin LIVING my Yoga practice. What does that mean? For starters, it means practicing the other 7 limbs of Yoga with as much frequency & dedication as I've been practicing my Asanas.
The eight limbs of Yoga are:
1.Yama -- Universal Moral Commandments (Non-violence, truth, non-stealing, continence, non-coveting)
2. Niyama -- Self-Purification by Discipline (Purity, contentment, ardor/austerity, study of the self, dedication to the Lord)
3. Asana -- Postures (practicing the postures improves your steadiness, health & lightness of limb)
4. Pranayama -- Rhythmic Control of the Breath ("Prana" means breath, respiration, life, vitality, wind energy, strength. "Ayama" means length, expansion, stretching, restraint)
5. Pratyahara -- Withdrawl & Emancipation of the Mind from the Domination of the Senses & Exterior Objects (Sattva-- illuminating pure/good quality; Rajas-- the quality of mobility or activity which makes a person active & energetic, tense & willful; Tamas-- the dark restraining quality which obstructs & counteracts the tendency of rajas to work & of sattva to reveal)
6. Dharana -- Concentration (concentrating wholly on a single point or on a task in which you are completely engrossed.)
7. Dhyana -- Meditation (the integration of body, breaths, senses, mind, reason & ego with the object of your contemplation -- The Universal Spirit)
8. Samadhi -- A State of Super-Consciousness Brought About by Profound Mediation in Which the Individual Aspirant (Sadhaka) becomes One with the Object of His Meditation; a state beyond consciousness
(Iyengar, B.K.S., 'Light on Yoga")