Ocean of “Yes”, Rivers of “No”

There is a great ocean of possibilities in every life.  We make choices every day that affect who we are, what we do and where we go.  Open to every opportunity and then make a choice.  This is what we call leading a full-spectrum life.  You begin with opening, and then you limit.  Some call this the ‘dance of yes and no.’ For many, it’s easy to say ‘yes.’  It feels good.  We open our arms to the sky and take in the full range of possibilities.  We imagine the whole world shining with potential.  And we’d be right.  There is all that in the clear blue sky.  And all that mirrored in the perfect melt of our spacious, beautiful hearts.

It feels good to say ‘yes.’  Again and again, yes!  Open and always free.  Our heart sings and we know the truth of our spirit.  We listen.  We listen to its call for freedom and we answer with ‘yes.’

And then we make the coffee, fill the gas tank, take out the garbage, cook dinner and get to work.  We choose how we drink our coffee, and for the most part, what we eat, where we work and what goes in our garbage cans.

We make choices.  We say, ‘no’.  Just as we lift our arms to say ‘yes’, we must also bring them to our heart, make a choice and say, ‘no’ to some things.  With each discerning choice we are carving out our individuality.  We are choosing who we are, and how we are being on this planet.

In this world we are given powers of discernment.  We are offered individual preferences.  In fact, this is the world of our ego.  And that is not a bad thing.  An ego decides whether you prefer your eggs scrambled or over easy or not at all.  An ego chooses your favorite colors, your style of dress, and your preferred dance music.   Each ‘no’ defines your river banks.  Say ‘no’ and you flow in one direction and not another.  Say ‘yes’ to everything lands you in the ocean.  Saying ‘no’ gives you flow and a path.  A balanced, skillfully applied action of opening to the ‘yes’ and limiting with the ‘no’ gives you the most freedom in your life.

There are those that may argue with me this point preferring the side of all ‘yes.’  Why wouldn’t we want to float in an ocean of possibilities?  Why wouldn’t we want to let the winds of grace simply take us where it wants us?  The adventure could be exhilarating.  But I’d argue, you’d end up restless, unsure and unsteady because you’d be denying your individual right to be, well, an individual.  And depending on how wrapped up you are in your idea of ‘faith’, you might even think you didn’t try hard enough to just believe the wind had the best intention for you.  I’d say consider the power of the wind to move things.  The less you define yourself, the less the wind has to blow.  If you really want to impress the wind, design, define and captain a kick butt boat.  You might be able to sail farther and faster.

Skillful application of ‘yes and no’ actually provides the most freedom.  It’s interesting isn’t it?  We draw our greatest creative juice from the ocean of all possibilities – from starting with an enthusiastic, ‘yes.’  But it is the ego, the chooser who eventually, out of all the possibilities of color and form, chooses red or blue; a circle or square.  If you say yes to every color and every form at the same time, what do you have? A dark, unformed mess.  And that could be labeled art I guess as much as art reflects the possibilities of all things.  Then a dark mess could be just that and is precisely just that.  Your ‘yes’ avails you to the ‘all’ things and the ‘no’ creates ‘something.’

This week we take a look at how we make choices. We become mindful of our own inner processing.  We learn how easy or how hard choices are for us.  We practice making mindful choices.  We choose our eggs with enthusiasm.  Even if you don’t care how your eggs are prepared.  This week, choose scrambled.  Or choose over easy.  Or eat oatmeal.  Just choose and exercise your individual ‘no.’   What you may find is that your ability to limit creates the freedom to grow.  You may find that the ‘ocean of possibilities’ is the greatest teacher of limitations.  A proverbial warehouse of everything awaits you.  Stand steady and pick one.  Try it on, taste it, whirl around and see how it fits.  And here’s the thing.  Even after you choose, you can still say, ‘no’:   you changed you mind, the color just wasn’t’ right, your tastes have changed.  Ever-evolving, you are free to choose.  Getting better and better at your choices takes skill and time.  It also requires that you try new things to continue to evolve.  And there we go again.  Back into the ocean, back into the ‘yes,’ hands up to the sky, open to all possibilities; hands at the heart; a new choice made.   Do you like it?  Does it fit?  Yes and No – these are two of your most powerful allies.  Know them and use them well.

This week you’ll enjoy the opportunity to choose.  Not every pose, but some of the poses you’ll be practicing this week.  It’ll be fun and it’ll be informative.  It’ll be a lot of ‘yes’ and a lot of ‘no.’  And we won’t be serving any eggs, sorry. J

Silence Week: What’s Being Said at Good Life Yoga

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Silence Deepens

The deeper you go into the quiet, the more you are able to observe.  You stand in the center of yourself and see the thoughts swirl, the emotions light up, the body registering comfort, discomfort.  All this is possible in the nurtured space of silence.  When we allow the general noise of our world to mask the inner landscape of our being, we are quite literally, tuning ourselves out.  In general, we tend to suppress unwanted thoughts, difficult emotions and the like because they are uncomfortable.  Like a difficult pose that takes us to an edge of being uncomfortable, we have the greatest opportunity to learn about ourselves in these spaces.

We live the experience of our life.  And it is exactly for this experience that we chose to live at all.  Everything that is swirling and moving within you is the experience of your life.  Some of it is fabulous, some of it deeply painful.  But it is all You.  Remembering who you are; a divine spirit living a human existence is the key to embracing all the turbulence within.  Most often, the troubling thoughts, memories, emotions simply wish to be acknowledged as part of your life’s experience.  As you identify each one, ask if there is anything else you need to learn from them.  If all you feel is additional silence, then let them go, let them take their place in the fabric of your life and like a small scar, a slight imperfection in the weave they become an honored part of the whole.  If they lead you somewhere else, take your skills of observation and sit patiently.  You may need to acknowledge that they are not ready to take on a neutral place; that they need some deeper introspection.  Identifying just that is empowering.  Like a piece of work in process you know now what you’ll need to come back to and finish.  You may need to just finish experiencing the experience if you will.  And it will happen.  Breath moves in and breath moves out.  Days turn to nights and so too will these more uncomfortable thoughts eventually find a place to bed down, quietly taking their place in the weaving of your life.

This week as we again enter silence, we continue to cultivate the skills of observation and recognition.   In the quiet of our breath we watch the view screen within.  Asking, forgiving, embracing and ultimately letting go of the static as it is simply transformed into the fabric of our heart’s experience.

Expect to nurture silence and ultimately embrace the full experience of your life.  Oh, and let’s stretch our hamstrings, open our upper back and in general work out as we work ‘in.’…

Space is Silent

“Silence is a source of great strength.” - Lao Tzu

Last week we adored our 5^th Chakra.  We voiced ourselves triumphantly.  We bathed in sweet inversions, shoulder and neck work and we explored the beauty of our ‘vocal point.’ We learned that the element associated with our 5^th Chakra was space or ether.  This week we explore the silence in this powerful space.

These next two weeks we look at the power of Silence.  Quieting our voices and measuring our words are the first steps toward silence.  As you make this journey toward a softer ‘vocal point’, you’ll find your thoughts and actions slow down as well.  Ultimately, we become more attuned to the unfolding of the space within us. We open to the full power of our potential.  The next two weeks we embrace the power of a quiet journey.

We seduce silence when we make room for her.  Snap off the TV or radio.  Turn off your phone ringer and stop talking for awhile.  Avoid loud places.  Tune into nature.  As we move toward a less loud environ, silence creeps in and tickles our sense of deeper spaces within us.  As silence slips in, we begin to hear more acutely.  Our sensitivity to sound becomes more acute and our willingness to be quieter naturally ensues.  Now our footfalls become less noisy.  We place objects down with care to nurture silence.  We switch to a classical station and lower our voice.  Haphazardly loading and unloading the dishwasher is no longer tolerable.

Deeper and deeper we step into a place where sound becomes as loud as our own thoughts.  It is amazing the whirlwind of repetitive commotion going on upstairs.  But often as we quiet our surroundings, this orchestra of thoughts becomes more subdued.   Loud cantankerous rock and roll gives way to soothing flutes and tinkling piano.  In this quieter environment of our mind we discern notes; we hear melody, and we see our thoughts more clearly.

Allowing these thoughts to move into a larger space lessons the jumbled, screeching buzz of our everyday mind.  A steady calm ensues.  Our battered internal and external ears are soothed, lulled.  Silence has seduced us. She has laid open the caverns of quietude that hold the sweetest spaces of our heart and mind.  In her embrace we recognize the swirl of quiet thoughts, feelings, and sensations all to be aspects of who we truly are.  Silence is nothing more than the space of greatness longing to settle sweetly into every cell, breath and bone of your being.  So go bravely dear Yogis into this quiet landscape, you have only yourself to find.

This week you may expect a minimalist approach to your instructions.  Enough to get you there safely and effectively and then we let silence seep into our bones, muscles and mind.  Lots of quieting poses including hip openers and forward folds to entice you inward await you at Good Life Yoga this week.   Our eyes and smiles will speak loudly for us.

Throat Chakra

It’s time to pick up where we left off last fall with the 4^th chakra and turn our attention to the 5^th; the Throat Chakra.  This is the place of sound.  This is the place where we use words to reflect who we are being.  We speak from this place.  Just like anything else, your chakras can be in balance or they might not be.

When our 5^th chakra is in balance it is connected to the whole of ourselves and deeply and authentically reflects the entirety of our being. When it is not in balance, there is a distinct disconnect with your words and your actions or your words and your actual beliefs.

When we feel balanced in this area we are content.  When there is excessive energy in this area we may speak too much, or with self-righteousness.  Too little of this energy produces timidity and an inability to express your thoughts.  It may also breed devious and manipulative behaviors.

Color associated with this chakra is sky blue.  The element is space/ether. This chakra relates to our sense of hearing.

At Good Life Yoga this week, we look at our own tendencies in speech and in listening.  We care for this area of our bodies that houses so much potential for authenticity.  Expect inversions, some shoulder and neck work, and quiet moments of reflection.

Self Care Week: What’s Being Said At Good Life Yoga

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Self Care Continues

So many of you were grateful last week when we took the time to step inside and listen to the needs of our full Self.  We continue on with this journey of attending to our needs this week at Good Life Yoga.  We will continue to pull ideas from the basket to help point us in a direction.  Fun stories from last week from students who took an idea and ran with it.  Here are some comments from students:

“….I got the one where you were asked to clean out one drawer.  I ended up clearing out my husband’s entire office…”

“…I pulled the one where you were asked to go to your least favorite room of your house and change one thing to make it better.  I’ve been on a rampage of change ever since!”

“…I was asked NOT to buy anything today…no grocery shopping!  And I had to ask my friend to buy me coffee and lunch..!”

If you have had fun with these – please feel free to post your experience.

I related my own experience of limiting sugar for one day….and how I broke down at Bunco when faced with an amazing piece of homemade chocolate cake.  As one sweet student told me.  “But you didn’t have ANY sugar the entire day.  That was at night.  ”  See you all on the mat!

Detox and Self Care on Every Level

This is February and an excellent time to nourish ourselves lavishly.  Did I mention it’s February?  It’s that place in the middle.  Not quite the throes of deep winter and certainly not spring.  We are left adrift in this seemingly endless gray sky days and temps zipping up and hitting bottom.  In short it’s a difficult month to navigate without some type of negativity just slipping in and trying to take root.  I say no to that this year.  Let’s take February and make it a month to inspire and lavish ourselves in deep nourishment on every level.  Think healthy thoughts.  Do positive things for yourself and others.  Surround yourself in color – if ever there was a month for flamboyancy February is it.  For two weeks we will surround ourselves with ideas and notions for self care and good health.  And then it’s Valentine’s Day before you know it and we will have become so practiced in the art of lovingly caring for ourselves we will have no trouble lavishing our friends and special people with acts of kindness, chocolate and well, more chocolate…

How do we carry the notion of nourishment on the mat?  Easy.  How does a diet of twists and Tapas to help rid the body of toxins sound?  Or a handful of beautiful heart opening backbends to get the Self  love moving?  And then there is always the slowed down forward folds and hip openers to take the edge off.  Leave it the good people at Good Life Yoga to help you maintain your Good nature this February.  You are worth it.

To help inspire your acts of simple nourishment, I’ve put together a list of positives that you can incorporate into your daily life.  Simply choose two or three things from the many options below to do each day.  Shake your world up a bit and see what happens if you take on this challenge.  You might find that the first two weeks of February just slip by sweetly and you are happy, healthy and feel ‘full’ – on every level.  Join me!   I’ll have a basket at GLY with these ideas on small slips of paper.  Close your eyes and reach in, take two or three ideas and nourish yourself.

Food/Drink Nourishment:

Eat a dark green vegetable today.

Eat a handful of raw veggies today.

Eat a healthy breakfast.

Savor one ounce of very dark chocolate with your eyes closed

Go for a low-sodium day – read all labels and no chips!

Severely limit or eliminate any sugar in your diet today.

Drink a hot cup of tea in silence

Prepare a plate of fresh food with three different colors of veggies.  Admire and eat by candlelight.

Make a soup from scratch.

Bake cookies.

Do not eat a thing after 8:00pm

Eat only plant based food today.

Eat a piece of fruit with dinner.

Drink a glass of room temperature water at every meal and an extra one after any caffeinated or alcoholic beverage you consume today

Chew each mouthful today 10 times before swallowing.

Self Care:

Three times today, remember to sit and breathe fully for one minute.

Enjoy an extra yoga class this week.  (I HAD to add this…)

Take a luxurious bath – soak for at least 12 min.

Chant Om for 3 minutes.  Sit still for 3 minutes and soak up the vibration.

Brush your teeth and tongue for at least 3 minutes – floss!

Climb into bed 30 minutes earlier than usual and read something inspirational.

Get up 30 minutes early and meditate.

Do “feet up the wall” pose for 5 minutes today.

Look in the mirror and say out loud three times– “You are beautiful today”

Sing a happy tune in the shower.

Buy flowers for yourself.

Buy flowers for a friend!

Take a 15 minute walk outside.

Put on a dance CD and dance to 2 songs.

Listen to a new radio station today for 30 minutes.

Buy a magazine on something you know nothing about – read , ponder and enjoy.

Put your pajamas on one hour before bedtime – relax.

Rub your feet with some great smelling lotion – take your time and love each toe…then put on snuggly socks and relax.

Connect:

Call a friend and talk for 10 minutes about all the great things in your life.  Then listen for 10 minutes as she/he tells you about the great things in their life.

Smile and say hello to 3 people you don’t know today.

Do a “random act of kindness” today – your choice

Do not buy anything today.

Give away your home baked goodies to friends and neighbors.

Pass along one great read to a friend today.

Place three of your favorite tea bags in a baggie and give to a friend to enjoy.

Choose to speak positively about EVERYTHING today.

List 15 things both small and large that you are grateful for.

Revisit your intention for the year.  Do one thing today that will aid that intention.

Forgive someone from your past by writing a letter releasing them and then burn or cut into tiny pieces

Send a “thinking of you” card to a friend.

Look in the mirror and say slowly out loud, “I Love My Body.”

Detox:

Give away or throw away 9 things you find lying around your home.  Repeat 3 times throughout the day.  You can also do this with your work space another day.

Listen to classical music for 30 minutes today.

Take a news fast – no internet, TV, or paper, or radio news

Set a timer for 15 minutes.  Declutter one drawer.  Stop when the buzzer sounds.

Throw away any foods in your kitchen that you will regret eating

Put all of your toxic cleaning supplies in one location.  Decide which three NEVER to buy again.

Add a plant to your home or office and enjoy the oxygen

Do a mini-declutter of your clothes closet.  Be ruthless for 30 minutes. Stop.  Give away or throw away whatever isn’t ‘you’ anymore.

Clean off one shelf.

Fix one thing that has been bugging you.  If it can’t be done in 30 minutes, or is beyond your skills, schedule more time or find someone to do it for you.

Give away or throw away something of your past that makes you sad, angry, guilty or ashamed

Detox guilt:  Give yourself permission to NEVER finish an unfinished project that you have laying around your life.  Give all parts of it away or discard completely with a satisfied smile.

Go to your least favorite room of your house.  Change one thing to make it more positive.

Step Back Into Loops: What’s Being Said at Good Life Yoga

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Land of Loops Continue…

We continue on with our rediscovery of these amazing loops of energy that create extension in our bodies.  When working with Loops your attention is focused on a small area of your body.  It is amazing that we can hold our awareness with such focus and yet continue to absorb all the vibration and alignment of the 5 Universal Principles of Alignment.  As if we are painting a beautiful picture, we have the vision/intention (UPA #1), structure (Muscle Energy) and creativity,(Inner Spiral) dedication (Outer Spiral) and desire to share our accomplishment (Organic Energy)and yet, we continue to look more closely, add a brush stroke here, a flash of red there, a quick touch up and a delightful twirl there.  And all the while we are enjoying the experience of observing the painting, being the painting and being the painter….whoa.  Are we getting too Loopy here?  Maybe, but I think not.

Loops simply take you to a deeper level of your practice.  And the deeper you go, the more you are delighted to find that you are infinitely fascinating.  Indeed the world is a fabulous place.  If you can go deeper; if you have the capacity to cultivate more refinement in life – then go for it.  Loops remind you to add flair to your world.  They remind you that sometimes great things can come in the details.  These small Loopy wonders illuminate the grandness of your structure and of your world.

Your Ankle Loop reminds you that you are worthy to stand on this earth.  Take account of yourself.

Your Shin Loop is a powerful sheath that proves even the smaller muscles of your leg delight in supporting you.  Look for support from all areas of yourself.

Your Thigh Loop takes you back so you can go forward with ease.  Take the best of you into the present.

Your Pelvic Loop confirms your existence on this earth.  You matter.

Kidney Loop affirms your individual power and keeps it connected with the Source.   There is true strength in Remembering…

Shoulder Loop frames and brightens the light in your heart.  You have so much to offer.

Skull Loop places your beautiful mind in line with the intention of your own sweet heart and the Universal flow of all things.   You are never alone, never isolated. You are Greatness itself.

And even as we savor these details that highlight all the intrinsic good, we never forget that these details, these Loops ride within the big energetic  flow of Organic Energy.  Indeed, we see that the edges of our painting are always expanding….

Go on, call me Loopy.  It won’t be the first time…