Applying the lessons of the Ashtanga Yoga practice for a healthy life.
Self-expression is the practice of expressing our thoughts, feelings, and opinions in a safe and healthy way, in a way where we get to know ourselves better and gain a greater understanding of our individual identities. This helps us live more authentically and enhances our overall well-being.
Read MoreWhen you are the only one in your family practicing yoga, things can kind of get a little tricky around the holiday season. The thing about seventh series is it requires a different sort of flexibility than your traditional primary series.
But flexible doesn't just mean in terms of physical flexibility, because with all of the work that I've done to myself over the past six months, the past year, the past 15 years of practicing, no matter how much I think I've changed, my parents still see me as this guy right here.
And so no matter how much I want to tell them, I've changed. That I'm not that three year old kid anymore. It’s pointless.
The catch is, instead of trying to convince them that I'm different, I need to respect the fact that they themselves are different.
Read MoreIf we want to achieve our goals, we must train ourselves to ignore self-doubt by eliminating the bad habits that feed it. But that’s not what we are taught in school. Stop trying to work on your mistakes!
If you got poor grades in math, your parents or teachers may have pushed you to go deeper in the subject, stay after school, summer school, etc. And you wasted a lot of energy trying to make up for this weaknesses, which only made you feel worse.
Here is one piece of advice I can give you: Do what you love.
Read More‘They’ say yoga is 99% practice 1% theory, and so everything that we eat, how we eat, when, where, and who we eat with falls into that 99 or is this the 1? I can’t figure it out. ‘They’ say, Do this, Don’t do this, The last thing you, or anyone needs is for someone who doesn’t know you, doesn’t know your medical history, your background, your ethos, your practice, or your personal relationship to food, to come around and tell you what to eat.
Read MoreAfter the brute force of COVID runs a train through the body, many of us are on bed rest. We are fatigued from fighting, have no energy, and aren’t thinking clearly. It’s similar in some respects to post-surgical recovery in the hospital. Except in a hospital patients are given a device called an ‘incentive spirometer’ that expands the lungs, keeping them active throughout the recovery process, by helping patients breathe deeper and fuller. Thankfully (hopefully) you are not in a hospital, and luckily there is yoga.
Read MoreLife doesn’t move in a linear direction. Life follows the path of least resistance while maximizing potentiality. Ever notice how quickly we move through the 5 breaths X5 in Navasana, while staying in Janu A a little longer or practicing Bakasana an extra time? We are simply doing what is natural.
Read MoreThe holidays are an emotional rollercoaster. This year it was the first time my family has seen Mako because of restricted travel, safety, and Stephanie’s fears related to COVID.
Fear is sometimes referenced as an acronym for; False Expectations Appearing Real. It is dismissed on 90’s t-shirts (NO FEAR,) and in the Ashtanga community, ‘Why fearing, you?’ as someone takes control of your body and limbs pulling you into a deep back bend.
Traditional Chinese Medicine links the emotion fear to the Foot Shao Yin channel, the channel that maintains fluid balance. Think, Kidneys, which happen to reside near the lumbar spine, the low back. This channel also happens to have the strongest effect during the winter time.
Read MoreThere are so many things to focus on that it can be hard to subjectively determine if we are getting better within our practice. Documentation of progression is something I had my patients do in regards to their blood pressure, or monitoring a rash with photo documentation, and even food journaling if they were trying to lose weight. So how can this apply to a yoga practice? How can I know if I am getting better without a teacher giving us the next asana, or letting bound hands in Mari C be a determining factor of ‘progression’ there should be some way to determine if we are getting ‘better’ and achieving our goals. There is
Read MoreAshtanga Yoga in Los Angeles, CA
