Category Archives: My Thoughts

Who’s Your Yoga Role Model?

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There’s a belief that magazines and Instagram hold the secret to Yoga – that Yoga role models are the people in the pretzeliest poses, in the fanciest leggings, and with the prettiest flowing hair.

I’m not the pretzeliest one in my class, my leggings are boring, and as those of you who know me know, flowing hair … what?

And, so a flowing-haired pretzelly poser might not be the best role model for me.  And, maybe not for you either.

This is my Yoga role model.

thanks to my friend Tim Black for this awesome photo.

Hi, Mt. Shasta! How are you today?

I’ve come to learn that role models come in all shapes and sizes. And, sometimes a Yoga role model isn’t even a person at all.

Mt. Shasta reminds me of stillness and strength. Mt. Shasta also reminds me that Tadasana, the mountain pose, is more than just standing around waiting for another pose. It is being present, still, and strong. It is its own pose.

When I told a friend that Mt. Shasta was my muse, she got me this tee-shirt …

 

Sure, I like seeing what pretzelly poses they come up with on Instagram. I don’t discount anyone just because they have fancy leggings and many of them tell beautiful stories and share important Yoga tips.  But, I also learn something from everyone who comes to our Yoga classes. So, you, too, are my role models.

So, your homework this week – while Peaceful Hands classes are on break – is to find a few out-of-the-ordinary role models that can inspire your practice and I hope they will nudge you to unroll your mat and see where your Yoga can take you this week.

National Public Radio reported yesterday on a study that found that inactivity today does more than raise the risk of disease, it also reduces the ability to get around at all as we grow older. And, rebounding from prolonged inactivity becomes slower – much, much slower – as we grow older. The story is here.

So, do your Yoga today, so you can do your Yoga tomorrow.

(Fall Session at Peaceful Hands begins Monday, September 11. More details in a couple days … but, first, time to unroll my mat and see what Mt. Shasta inspires in me today.)

Shastafarianly Yours, Jackie

Old Pose, New Pose

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I’ll remind you in class from time to time that Yoga poses – asanas – are usually not as old as we think they are. And, while some instructional Yoga guides to asanas are a couple hundred years old, there aren’t any that are truly “ancient.”

As I mentioned in our Sun-Moon class on Monday, the Sun Salutation – Surya Namaskar – is probably only 100 years old or so. The Moon Salutation, Chandra Namaskar? Well, it’s younger than the Internet.

But, there’s nothing wrong with poses being young. They are born of the spirit of Yoga – which is ancient – and the knowledge of modern science, anatomy, and physiology. They are the perfect balance of old and young.

And, that’s what Yoga is, isn’t it? The balancing of energy – sun and moon, right and left, young and old.

Here are two poses for you to ponder. One old and one is so young it hasn’t been invented – yet. But, maybe you can help me with that.

Old Pose

Lilias Folan was one of the great teachers of Yoga in the United States. Her Yoga programs on PBS beginning in the late 1960s introduced thousands to the practice at a time when there weren’t many Yoga studios around.

During Wednesday’s heart opening class, we practiced Gormukhasana. It’s a wonderful way to open the shoulders and stretch the heart center.

I’ve always known it as “cow face pose.”

So imagine my surprise to find it in a book by Lilias from 1972. The pose hasn’t changed. But, the name certainly has …

lilias 1972 warrior

Any guess on what Sponge pose is? (I know the answer … we do it all the time and we call it something else entirely.)

New Pose

California blogger Casey Karp writes about all sorts of things, including technology, the Bay Bridge, baseball, and cats. Every Friday he shares a photo of one – or some – of his cats doing … something.

Today, he featured Rhubarb, curled up and sleeping in what looks to me like a wonderful, brand-new Yoga pose. A pose that hasn’t been invented yet.

rhubarbasana

Photo of Rhubarb from koiscribblings.com Thanks Casey!

Check out the entire post for Casey’s description of the specific alignment Rhubarb is demonstrating: Read here.

Casey believes that cats get short-shrift in Yoga. He knows about Down Dogs, but he doesn’t know about cat tilts … cat-grabs-its-tail … lion pose … tiger in the grass.

I told Casey if anyone could turn his cat’s photo into a Yoga pose – Rhubarbasana, of course – it would be us. Take a look and see what you think.

If you want to share your thoughts on how to make Rhubarbasana come alive on the mat, let me know or comment below.  Or, maybe we’ll invent something new on Monday!

(And, a Friday treat for you. Here’s the Heart Sutra from Wednesday’s Savasana.)

 

The Perfect “Giraffe Pose”

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My Yoga classes and I will, on occasion, rename Yoga poses.

Not because the original  names are wrong, but because sometimes they’re dull or just not the right fit for us. Sometimes we come up with something better.

Like Giraffe-asana. Which is standing wide-legged fold. It just feels so much better when you imagine yourself stepping wide to allow your long, long graceful giraffe neck to reach down and down and down in order to take a cool sip of water.

Really. It’s a totally better pose when you channel your inner giraffe.

You can see Giraffe-asana here … if you watch this through … done to perfection.

 

Each Step Must Be A Goal

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I sometimes think that goal-making sends our awareness and attention only to the end result — the goal we seek to achieve.  And, then we miss the journey itself, the effort, the adventure, the process. And, it’s that process that is probably the most important benefit. ~ Namasté

“It is not enough to take steps which may some day lead to a goal; each step must be itself a goal & a step likewise.” ~ Goethe

 

Always Cheer The Underdog & Other Good Advice From Mom

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I try not to cross-pollinate my blogs.  I just have two and each serves a different purpose.

But, what are rules, if you can’t break them from time to time?

With Mother’s Day quite close, I thought I would share with you my post about my mom. 

It has nothing to do with Yoga, but it has everything to do with love. And, isn’t cultivating love what our Yoga is really all about?

So, if you’d like to take a look, you can click on my “Baseball, Yoga, Life (& me)” blog by clicking here

If you’re interested, you can sign up to receive emails whenever I post on either of my websites.  There’s a sign up for this website on this page.  And, you can subscribe to receive posts from my “Baseball, Yoga, Life (& me)” blog (just go to the “Home” link on that site and you’ll see the “Follow By Email” option on the right-side column). 

Happy Mother’s Day to my mom who left too soon … and to all the moms out there who fill the world with so much love!

Namasté

Finding Simplicity & Peace ~ Inside & Out

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I came across this peace prayer quite awhile ago.  It seems especially relevent during times when the fast pace of news and life can seem to overwhelm us and our senses. 

It’s important during these stressful times to come back to the Yogic practice of Pratyahara — drawing our senses inward for the peace, quiet, safety, and wisdom that our heart can offer.

I adapted the prayer so that it could serve as a Savasana Yoga meditation this week.  As we keep the Earth Day spirit in our hearts, perhaps this meditation can be of benefit.

A Blessing of Simplicity & Peace


We give thanks for simplicity and peace.   Let us find such places within ourselves. We give thanks for places of refuge and beauty. Let us find such places within ourselves.

We give thanks for place of nature’s truth and freedom, of joy, inspiration and renewal, places where all beings may find acceptance and belonging. Let us search for these places in our world and in ourselves.  Let us restore them. Let us strengthen and protect them.  Let us create them.

May we mend our outer world according to the truth of our inner life. And, may our hearts be shaped and nourished by nature’s eternal wisdom.

Namasté

Keep Calm & Carry OM

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I love to chant OM in Yoga class. 

Oh, I’m out of key sometimes, sure, but I still love the vibration that comes with a long and heartfelt OM.

And, I’m so inspired when everyone else joins in with me in class. 

In our new Yoga studio, the walls hum with the magical and healing vibration of OM.

OM is considered the sound of the universe — the universal hum that gives us all fuel and life.  To chant OM is to honor the energy that surrounds us and to tap into it for our own healing and calming needs. 

When we all chant OM as one in class, we join our energy together making it even more powerful. 

When the whole room OMs, my entire body vibrates with a wonderful, radiant and healing energy.

During the Second World War, the British government printed a poster that said simply, “Keep Calm & Carry On”.  Its purpose was to inspire the population — telling them to stand up to the urgent and dangerous threat of the enemy by continuing their daily lives in a show of strength and defiance.  By keeping calm, carrying on, the British could stand up to any dangers and any threats before them.

So, when I saw this version of the old British poster I had to smile and smile and smile.  Because OM gives us the same empowerment, the same strength, the same encouragement.  It’s the same reminder that our inner strength can overcome any threat. 

Thank you to the anonymous, and incredibly clever, online OMster who shared this with us all!

Spring Training ~ At The Arts Center in Orange

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The Arts Center in Orange — on Main Street in Orange, Virginia — just opened a sweet and warm exhibit called Spring Training.

All things baseball!

Many of you know that baseball and Yoga get all entwined on my path — both provide me with the inspiration to stay present, to stay ready, to stay peaceful.

So I was delighted to warm my winter bones with some amazing baseball at the Art Center this weekend … and I wrote about it on my other little “side blog” Baseball, Yoga, Life … (and me).

I especially loved this image, called “Venus Flycatcher,” by local photographer John Strader …

To be so still, so focused, so present … in the midst of dust kicking up all around … now, that may be baseball, but that’s also Yoga. 

You can read my post about the Arts Center’s “Spring Training” exhibit and see some more of the wonderful photographs, paintings, and multimedia pieces on exhibit by clicking here.

Even better, take a few minutes and wander through the exhibit itself. The Arts Center in Orange is a sweet little treasure, right on Main Street.  Definitely worth a visit … for the baseball … for the art.

 
On Exhibit at the ARTS CENTER in ORANGE
129 East Main Street, Orange, Virginia
 
February 7 thru March 30, 2013
Monday thru Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
 
No charge, although donations are gratefully accepted


All images are the copyright of the artists. Images used with the kind permission of The Arts Center in Orange. A special thank you to Laura Thompson, Arts Center Executive Director.