Resolution Time. Again.

I've already heard the words being spoken, those words that seem fundamental towards the end of each calendar year. "In January, I'm going on a diet! That's my resolution..."

When we make a resolution, we are making a promise to ourselves with the intention of doing something that yields change, generally in the direction of self-improvement. The fitness industry banks on us making these promises and anticipates the January onslaught of new member enrollments. They often will tempt us with a great deal for the entire year and in actual fact, know that a large percentage of the new members will stop attending within a few months. If people were able to hold onto their desire for change as of January 1, there would be more people than gyms could manage.

Why is it that we have such great intentions only to realize a few weeks later we've lost our way?

My thought for the week is to offer ourselves more compassion when trying to make a change. It is said that permanent change takes anywhere between 21-30 days to take hold. That translates into it taking time. We often lose our way because we become impatient with the process and perhaps don't see any change in the time we expect.

Change also takes conscious and consistent choice and practice. If we want to create a new way of being or doing, we need to practice it over and over again. You know, try it on. See how it fits. We need to shift the unfamiliar feeling to a familiar one and that takes repetition.

One of my favorite sayings is, "consistency is the key". If we go to a yoga class randomly, then what we get out of it will likely be momentary. If we want to invite a more centered way of living into daily life, we have to create ways of doing that...DAILY! The magic happens in the doing.

So if you are thinking about making a resolution I would suggest being clear on ONE thing. Design a plan that fits into your life and stick with it, without excuse, interruption or hesitation for at least a month. Avoid the trap of letting what you would like to shift, move down your list of priorities. Keep it in the top position until you feel that it's embedded--like brushing our teeth every day.

And if now isn't the time, then go easy on yourself and ask the inner critic to keep the noise down. In this moment, we are all as we should be; beautiful, unique beings with nothing that needs to be fixed.

Center your awareness into the middle of your heart, breathe into that space deeply and notice how incredible you are!

Happy New Year and may 2010 hold peace, growth, good health and deep joy for all of us.

Winter Solstice

Sitting in the middle of the busy holiday season is the Winter Solstice (Summer Solstice for my Southern hemisphere friends). For the past three years, we have held a small gathering to celebrate the Winter Solstice.

During the evening we sing mostly yoga based chants and mantras (but the Beatles got a good showing this year); we sit quietly in meditation and then we eat...vegan and vegetarian food that people contribute to the evening and drink tea.



This year we added something new. I asked everyone at the beginning of the evening, to write on a piece of paper what they would like to begin to manifest in the upcoming months. What is it that you want to bring into your life? What is it that you need? What is something that is completely supportive of you and feeds your soul?



At the end of the meditation, we all then placed our written intentions into the fire, symbolizing releasing the intention to the Universe, letting the idea be carried out of our hands and into something metaphorically bigger.



If we have these seeds of growth sitting in our consciousness without the source of light or energy, how will they ever come to be realized? It's like having all the knowledge of the benefits of exercise but never moving.



Until we begin to realize and then act upon our intentions, they remain as seed pods that are dormant. When we begin to recognize, honor and then feed these ideas they begin to grow, as does our own transformation.



I love the idea of the Winter Solstice as it relates to light. The actual day in 2009 is December 21 representing the shortest day of the year as it relates to the number of daylight hours that we see. From December 22 the day light hours begin to lengthen.



Stepping from darkness into light.



Isn't that what our own personal growth is about? Gaining clarity about our own life path and purpose? Moving from ignorance towards greater wisdom? Turning inward to see our own inner light's radiance?



Let's take a moment on December 21 and connect to our inner radiance and all the potential that is sitting within.



Peaceful Solstice.



Love and Light.

Extremes

As I look up toward the snow-covered San Jacinto mountains here in the desert of California, wearing my fleece and long pants, I forget how hot it felt here just three months ago when my standard outfit was a pair of shorts and a tank top.

I sometimes wonder where those transitional months of basking in the high 80's and low 90's snuck by me so seemingly fast. It feels as though one moment I'm dripping sweat and the next, I'm shrouding myself in a wool wrap.

My thought for the week is recognizing when we are experiencing moments of harmony and balance. Our awareness of no longer being in balance is often heightened when we notice our extremes. When we have swung the pendulum so far to one side that we look back and say, "wow...I was really feeling good, or enjoying that. And now...I'm noticing how _______ I am."

You can fill the blank in with tired, busy, hungry, agitated or any thing that speaks to the notion of having to change something. And herein lies the practice...hearing what it is that is no longer in balance and knowing what to do about it.

Then the tough part. The doing something about it.

I know that last week I said we were "human beings, not human doings". But, sometimes doing something with a clear intention leads us to become better at being.

Here's an example. When I was in college, I got sick EVERY semester break. Every time without fail. The pressure would ease, my load would decrease and I'd spend 7-10 days managing some type of illness. My body was screaming at me to stop pushing so hard, but I would ignore it. Then during the break - WHAM- down you go, as though my body was saying, "I told you to take a break, but you wouldn't listen. Now...I'm going to make you slow down and take the break I have been talking about these past few months".

One of the great benefits of my yoga practice is that I've formed a better relationship with that inner voice. I listen more closely and use the tools that I have learned, to support my well-being all year round.

That brings me back to the extreme idea. One of my favorite sayings is that, "consistency is the key". This is an idea also present in the yoga texts. So instead of going to a class or doing a workout every once in a while, or going to the most challenging practice six days a week, why not think about what the place in between might feel like?

Consistently looking after ourselves means listening to our inner wisdom. It means finding someone or something that is able to teach us the tools of self-care. And most importantly, it means DOING it...not just having the knowledge, but stepping it into action.

Perhaps underlying this whole idea is that of treating ourselves from a place of compassion. Holding our own being in an embrace of self-love and acceptance. To connect to this, try placing both of your hands over your heart. Close your eyes. Feel the beat deep within your chest and notice the movement of your breath.

Equanimity...find it within.

24/7/365

We are in a time when we have access to information and being available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. In the past, if we woke up in the middle of the night with burning questions we had only a few ways to find the answer...call somebody (but it's late), get up and check our Encyclopedia Brittanica or go back to sleep and wait until the morning to head off to the library.

Now if the same thing happens, we can roll over in bed and Google the question from our iPhone or Blackberry. We get the answer to our burning question almost immediately and can then roll over and go back to sleep.

My thought for the week is around finding the balance between humanity and technology.

It all began with the Internet and the increasing frequency with which we feel the need to check to see if someone has sent us a message. So much so, that we see people sitting in restaurants, medical offices, airports, driving and at the movies frantically sneaking a peak at their various devices. It's about time that being available 24/7/365 is added to things that are addictive in nature...right up there with television, drugs and alcohol.


I am fully aware of how beneficial rapid communication can be. I use it to connect with those of you reading this newsletter as well as with clients and friends, particularly useful for long-distance and overseas.
But I'm beginning to wonder: are we having better relationships with our devices than with people? I recently heard someone talking about all the cool "apps" for their phone and once they began to talk about it, they needed to show the "app" to someone else and proceeded to get energized, as though they had recently met someone knew. I know that new technology can be cool. What I would like to see become the new cool is sitting with someone and focusing on just one thing...them.

Sitting opposite someone, making eye contact and offering a compassionate smile holds great power and connection. It is fundamentally human. When we are present with other beings from a place of non-judgment, technology is the furthest thing from our minds.

We are human beings. Not human doings.

Let's keep humans and technology in perspective. One cannot replace the other. Part of the unplugging process and stepping into our own pool of stillness means shutting down our devices a bit more frequently and doing less multi-tasking.

As one of my teachers, Judith Hanson Lasater says, "let's become better at uni-tasking". In the process we can balance both our connection to people and the use of cool technology.

Ahhhh...the practice of yoga...finding balance!

Driving Ourselves Into the Ground...

"Way to give it 110%"
"Atta Girl"
"No Pain. No Gain"
"Go For It!
"Don't Give Up...Keep Going"

Sound familiar?

It does to me. It was a revolving door of dialogue that was spoken to me as I was growing up and well into my adult years and words that I no doubt, spewed out to the thousands of fitness classes I've taught over the years. As a young athlete, it was ingrained into my being that if you didn't give it all you had, you weren't a team player or were "soft". You had to push it to your limits every time. You know, "leave it out on the court, or in the gym, or on the balance beam".

But what about the yoga mat? Do I need to give it 100% every time I step onto my mat in order to be a good yogi?

This past week, I asked the students who attend my more challenging classes what it would be like to give it just 70%. What would it feel like to dial it back a bit?

When I was asked that question, my answer was "I don't know, as I always give it 110%..."

With the holiday season in full swing, what would it be like to practice yoga (or anything else) at a lower intensity? Would this be a supportive way of helping you to not overdo it? I suspect it would. And for those high-reaching achievers, how about throwing in some restorative yoga where you are fully supported and allowed to rest. Yes. I said it...rest.

So when our natural tendency is to shove it into high gear, take a moment and put it on a 70% cruise control. It might actually be more challenging than stepping on the gas.

Keeping the Peace

It's been about a month since we returned from our Australian retreat and holiday. During that time, we had some deeply reflective and peaceful days that left us with a strong residue and feeling of wanting to hold onto that experience once we arrived back home. But how?

How do we hold onto that peaceful feeling when we step back into being busy, getting back to work, catching up with people and sorting the laundry? So often, it feels as though the holiday was just some distant dream and now that we're back home, the craziness is beginning all over again.

One thing that stood out for me during this past trip was how easy it is to get distracted by unnecessary happenings and dialogue. Part of my return-home strategy is that I have been on a news fast. No morning news. No evening news. No newspapers. No news radio. Why? Because the news doesn't make me feel good. And I have found that by not watching the news, I don't become invested in drama that doesn't concern me. If it's an issue that does concern me, it seems to finds its way into my awareness through other people talking about it. I get wind of what's going on, but I don't invest any unnecessary energy in it.

I've also been sticking with my daily meditation routine and trying to slow down to be in the moment more and more frequently.

I can call up an image of my Aussie trip, of sitting on the beach as the sun rose over the Coral Sea and feel the experience all over again, even if I'm sitting at my computer or driving my car.

Further, it reminds me of the basic need we have to find our own way to being in quiet. To find our own peace. To look after the relationship that we have with ourselves.

As the holidays approach, try to do things more slowly, with focus and attention. Slow down. Breathe. And of course, eat and share this Thanksgiving with loved ones. They will benefit from being near a peaceful you.

One Step At A Time

When One Teaches
Two People Learn

I came across this saying within the past couple of weeks, presented by one of my teachers-Judith Hanson Lasater. And as often happens, I see the saying and think "that's cool" and then don't think about it again.

That is, until a situation happens and then...POP...it lands back in my awareness. My thought for this week is based around this experience happening throughout this past week of teaching classes.

I often think it would be a great idea to have a camera when someone attends their first yoga class. But, as you can imagine, the other implications from this thought may not be agreeable, so the camera is my own memory and mind's eye of how the student looked and acted.

One of the most blessed moments that I experience in teaching is that I will be progessing through a class, look up and seemingly in a sudden swift moment, I am hit by the brilliance of my students! Once again I think, "WOW! I wish I had a camera because you all look so amazing! When did it happen that you all turned into yogis?"

It's probably not dissimilar to a parent looking at their own kids and thinking, "when did you grow up and learn so much? Did I miss something?"

In those moments, it is reaffirmed that consistency is the key. Stepping onto our yoga mat (or into any other endeavor) with a clear intention and purpose in practice on a regular basis equals progress.

When I teach I become a student each and every time. My students teach me to be patient, to be present, to hold the space for all that comes into the practice from the outside world and to remember that I don't know it all.

I hold such gratitude to the many students who have been in front of me. I feel fortunate to have the opportunity to keep becoming a better teacher. And, I am humbled by how much I still am able to learn.

Take a moment to reflect upon the experience of being both a teacher and a student and place a seed of resonating gratitude into the process.

Om Shanti!