The Gift of Giving

This week my thought is around the upcoming holiday season and how we approach our gift giving. This thought has been stimulated from a couple of different people-most recently by my friend Cheryl Thomas, a yogini extraordinaire based in Sebastopol who recently wrote a similar article in her weekly e-newsletter.



As a kid, I remember sitting down with the Sears catalogue, folding over the pages of each and every toy that I wanted; stuff I hadn't even laid eyes upon until they were displayed within this 400-page tome of goodies temptations. I would mark off page after page and exclaim with excitement to my Mom, "I want this! Oh...and look at this! I want this as well and this and this...". Of course, Christmas day would arrive and none of my ear-marked goodies were under the tree. I'm not complaining as I had abundant, memorable and exciting holidays with my family and was plenty satisfied at not only the gifts received, but being at home sitting amongst the low tide of wrapping paper scattered over the living room floor.



As I've journeyed along in my life, I have tried to find my own way of celebrating the holidays. It still includes some gift giving, but now my intention is aimed more at subtle ways of expressing how I feel about family and friends. Plus, being in a marriage where we also celebrate Hannukah adds a different element of what it means to give and receive.



I would like to think that I give what I can of myself always...throughout the year, not just at the holidays. So, when the idea of staying local with our gift giving came across my desk, I was intrigued. What is available in my local area that will give a gift to someone but also give to a local business as well?



Here are some ideas and I would love for you to share what you've heard about or have come up with:



1. Instead of going to a corporate store (Target, Macy's, Saks etc), buy from a locally owned shop. We have many of these in our area ranging from local artists, florists, foodies, clothing retailers and many more.



2. Buy a local service. Massage, car detailing, pet sitting, gardening, handy person or even a private yoga class for you and your friends.



3. How about a gift certificate from your local hairdresser, manicurist or barber?



4. Buy a series of yoga classes for someone wanting to step onto the mat.



5. How about a tennis or golf lesson with a local pro, or a round of golf at a local course?



6. We have some delicious local bakeries and coffee shops that would love to offer you their goodies.



7. Things need to be spruced up? How about hiring a cleaning person for a day or a professional organizer to help you streamline your life?



8. Get a computer tune-up with a local I.T. whiz.



9. Want some custom woodwork, garden beds or repairs-hire a local handy person.



10. Need some 1-1 support try a personal trainer or private yoga session.



11. Find a nutritional consultant to support better choices and options.



12. Offer gift certificates from local restaurants that encourage more plant-based, locally grown and organic foods.



13. More? Think of local musicians and bands playing at nearby venues and local craft/street fairs.



My list could go on but the whole idea is to think locally even if it might seem so much easier to shop online. If you're out and about in your neighborhood, stop in to see what your community has to offer. Not only will it support them and their businesses, but it will enhance the connection you have to your local community. Rather than buying something that is made overseas, see what a difference YOU can make by keeping it local.



We can all make adifference in our gift giving. May the holiday season be one of ease, peace and conscious giving!



If you wish to contribute ideas or names of services and businesses, please comment on the Desert Yoga Therapy Facebook page.

Gratitude

It's the weekend before Thanksgiving which lends itself to an easy (if not obvious) thought of the week...that of gratitude. Recently, I was invited via Facebook to join a group that has set the intention of writing and sharing five things that you are grateful for, every day for a month. I thought this to be a great practice, one that I can share with a larger community, but more importantly, a practice that reminds me of how incredibly abundant my life is.



If we find ourselves trapped within the looping negative dialogue where nearly every thought and sentence begins with something like:


"I'm frustrated with...

I don't have enough...

I'll never get...

I'm mad at...

I'm not worthy and...

This country is in a..."



Then maybe it's time to undertake a serious gratitude overhaul!



One of the many striking things we noticed when traveling through India was that people generally seemed happy. Not only were they incredibly polite, but how they greeted us as well, as the day seemed to hold an authentic sense of thankfulness. So many of these people had much less in the material world than we here in the States, yet their industriousness seemed to hold an underlying sense of being thankful for the chance to make a difference in our experience.



When we sit each day and engage in an inner dialogue that conjures up all that we're thankful for, it's as though a switch is flipped. We shift our perspective away from what appears to be lacking to what is present in our lives. A practice of gratitude lets us remember all that we are, all that we have and all that we can do. It's more than enough when you get right down to it.



So, for this Thanksgiving and the next few weeks, I will stay committed to my daily gratitude practice. Feel free to join me...you'll be thankful you did!

Deeper Into The Breath

Last week as I taught classes and sat with 1-1 yoga therapy clients I used breath awareness as a teaching point. As I did so, my own insight into the breath and its power became deeper. (If you missed last weeks "Thought of the Week" called Just Breath, click here).



The longer I practice yoga or converse with esteemed teachers, the more highlighted the breath becomes. It's not as though I never knew on an intellectual level the breath played an important role, but the actual practice of using the breath to alter attention, emotions, release tension and penetrate into my being continues to expand.



If we look at the Eight-Faceted Path expressed in Patanjali's Yoga Sutras they are:

1. Yama (universal moral principles)

2. Niyama (individual disciplines)

3. Asana (physical poses)

4. Pranayama (breath regulation)

5. Pratyahara (withdrawal of the senses)

6. Dharana (concentration)

7. Dhyana (mediation)

8. Samadhi (spiritual absorption)



From this philosophical perspective, if you engage in the above practices you create a framework for living a yogic based lifestyle. The importance of the breath is integral to the yoga way because if you didn't include it, it would make the other practices something other than yoga. If you did physical postures without the awareness of breath it would be calisthenics; if you didn't have the breath to anchor your attention it would be difficult to pull the senses inward, to concentrate, much less glide into a meditative state.



The breath is the thread that connects our body, mind and spirit. We are thought to have five "bodies", called the koshas (also translated as sheaths). Our breath takes us from our most gross and obvious sheath (our physical body), through our breath, mental, intuitive and, hopefully, out to our blissful body. And who doesn't want to live in a more blissful state?



We need our breath to take us on this journey.



The other amazing insight that came to light this week was asking the question, "What other organ/system in the body is both able to function whether you are unconscious or fully conscious?". Can you dilate your pupils upon request? Can you digest your food just by thinking about it? Can you ask your heart to speed up or slow down (without using the breath)? Can you alter your temperature? I know I can't! But what I can do, is to bring my full awareness, my full consciousness, into how I am breathing. I can also completely ignore it without dying...my body will still breathe whether I'm thinking about it or not.



Ultimately, isn't that what our personal evolution is about? Consciousness? We become more and more connected to how we are living this life in a physical way through our bodies, in a mental and emotional way through our thoughts and words and in a spiritual way through our disciplines and actions. As these practices unfold, we begin to recognize that the key that opens all these doors is our breath.



OK...exhale. Digest these words and then...dive deeper!

Just Breathe

You're doing it now...as you read this. Your breath is most likely moving in and out of your body unconsciously, without you even noticing it. It just does what it does, minute after minute, day after day and year after year. In...out...in...out...



Now that it's been mentioned, perhaps you've begun to notice it. That's the amazing thing about breath awareness...we don't need awareness to breathe, but with awareness our breath turns into a powerful tool. Within a minute you can decrease your stress by paying attention to breath. You can stop yourself from blurting out words that you'll regret and can't retract. You can begin to calm and alter the voice of the harsh inner critic. You can begin to unwind tension in your body. You can notice subtle scents.



On a deeper level, the breath penetrates into the darker chasms of our consciousness, the place where we begin to become a witness to, rather than a participant in, our "stuff". If we have a feeling of confusion and begin to settle into our breath, we begin to unravel what is at the heart of the chaos. We can let ourselves "be" in the experience from a place of compassion and non-judgment. We begin to see what it's like to identify and sense the experience without feeling like a choice-less victim to it.



How do we tap into the power of the breath?



Through practice...over and over again.



You can begin now.



Sit tall with your back away from the chair if possible. Place your feet flat on the floor and rest your hands in a comfortable position on your lap.



Close your eyes and exhale as much of the air out of your lungs as is comfortably possible. As you begin to inhale, allow your navel center to move forward away from your spine and fill the lungs with air, expanding your rib cage. Hold the breath in for a couple of seconds and release into an exhale. At the end of the exhale, feel your navel center drawing back in toward your spine. Pause and repeat.



Breathe through your nose if possible.



Make the breath smooth and even.



Easy.



Don't just read about it...TRY IT!