Padmasana & Jen Aniston

Padmasana ~ Lotus

Padma : Lotus

Remember this is a two-sided pose! (Practice with each leg on top.)

Padmasana can be considered the end-all-be-all of yoga. We practice Hatha yoga, the physical poses, in order to be able to sit in stillness comfortably for long periods of time. Sitting in Padmasana, or a version thereof, daily will undoubtedly help you to "Figure out your service on this planet. Figure out how that service nourishes the earth and go and do that." –– Elena Brower. Of course, sitting in any comfortable position will do. 

Jennifer Aniston received the Decade of Hotness award at the Spike TV's 2011 Guys Choice Awards on Saturday night. Jen thanked her yoga instructor Mary Ingber and vowed to "keep downward-dogging until the fat lady sings" during her acceptance speech.

If this isn't motivation enough for me to get back on my mat (I have totally been laxing, and "my wrist hurts!") I don't know what is. 

Navasana & Hello June!

With Memorial Day out of the way, let summer in! Still recuperating from the long weekend? I cannot figure out what day it is...

Paripurna Navasana ~ Full Boat Pose

Paripurna: Full, Entire, Complete

Nava: Boat

Until doodling this pose, I never knew or used the word Paripurna, but now it's a favorite. As far as Paripurna Navasana goes, though, not so much. Instead, I am a fan of Ardha Navasana: Half Boat Pose, where the legs are bent, so that the shins are parallel to the floor. My spine will not remain flat in the full pose in which case the abs are not working and the lumbar area is compromised. I also find I feel more strain on the hip flexors than strengthening anywhere else. Know thyself. Is Paripurna a goal? Not really. I use the variations that suit me to get into the abdominal muscles and leave it at that. Do not confuse 'full expression' with 'final goal.'  

I can only be afraid if I am thinking about the future

Even in moments of greatest danger, we are not afraid if we focus on exactly what we must do in that moment. Fear arises when we think about what might happen or what could have happened. Today, when you feel afraid, note that you are thinking about the future. Take a breath(or several,) and settle into the now. ––Judith Lasater, A Year of Living Your Yoga. 

Navasana

Paripurna Navasana ~ Full Boat Pose

Paripurna: Full, Entire, Complete

Nava: Boat

Until doodling this pose, I never knew or used the word Paripurna, but now it's a favorite. As far as Paripurna Navasana goes, though, not so much. Instead, I am a fan of Ardha Navasana: Half Boat Pose, where the legs are bent, so that the shins are parallel to the floor. My spine will not remain flat in the full pose in which case the abs are not working and the lumbar area is compromised. I also find I feel more strain on the hip flexors than strengthening anywhere else. Know thyself. Is Paripurna a goal? Not really. I use the variations that suit me to get into the abdominal muscles and leave it at that. Do not confuse 'full expression' with 'final goal.'  

I can only be afraid if I am thinking about the future

Even in moments of greaest danger, we are not afraid if we focus on exactly what we must do in that moment. Fear arises when we think about what might happen or what could have happened. Today, when you feel afraid, note that you are thinking about the future. Take a breath(or several,) and settle into the now. ––Judith Lasater, A Year of Living Your Yoga. 

Parighasana

Parighasana ~ Gate Pose

Parigha: Iron Bar or Beam used for shutting or locking a gate.

Side-stretching increases your capacity for deeper breathing by opening more space in the infrequently elongated side-body. Side-stretching allows your breath to be 3-dimensional. Breath is Prana, the energy source of life. This pose is life changing. Deeper breaths will calm your nerves and increase your metabolism; you will burn at a more efficient rate with Parighasana.

On being bored and keeping busy. 
Being bored is not the result of an outside stimulus, or lack thereof, but a discontentment with oneself. You are not bored, you are boring.  


"What are you doing to keep busy?" This is often a question asked to the unemployed, a housewife or any other non-nine-to-fiver. This question always strikes me as odd: as though keeping busy is an end goal or achievement, and not-doing is entirely undesirable. This question has everything to do with the questioner and nothing to do with the questioned. (If you have ever been asked this and it irked you, rest easy and take pity!) People feel the need to "keep busy," or else they fear they have no purpose or are worthless. The idea of keeping busy comes from a place of insecurity and fear. Much like he or she who is often bored, the busy-bees are afraid of being alone in stillness with themselves, but the truth is there is nothing to do; just being is enough. 

Palace of Versailles Front Gate

Natarajasana

Ntarajasana ~ Dancer

Nata: Actor, Dancer, Mime

Raja: King

This pose feels beautiful and powerful. 

Patience doesn't exist. We are either in the speed of what s happening or we are impatient. Being patient is an attempt to cover our own impatience. –– Judith Lasater

This patience doesn't exist idea is revolutionary for me and has been haunting me, in a good way, ever since I read it last weekend. I hope it reverberates inside you the way it has in me and you find yourself mulling it over when confronted with daily 'situations.' This memorial day weekend, try moving at life's pace. My plans? Beach! BBQ! And more beach. 

Have you tried these? Nail strips. Pretty dope. Mine lasted one week ~ with lots of dishwashing and hot-tubbing. Buy them at CVS, Target, or anywhere where Sally Hansen products are sold. I heard other brands do not stack up, so stick with Sally.  

Matyasana

Matsyasana ~ Fish Pose

Mastya : Fish

Matsyasana is the "destroyer of all diseases." You are welcome to take your legs into Padmasana, Lotus Pose, if it is in your practice. 

Open and receive.

Today when someone offers you something –– an inviting smile, a warm cup of tea, or a chance to go ahead in line, receive it completely and without reservation. –– Judith Lasater, A Year of Living Your Yoga. 

“Whatever relationships you have attracted in your life at this moment, are precisely the ones you need in your life at this moment. There is a hidden meaning behind all events, and this hidden meaning is serving your own evolution.” –– Deepak Chopra

make your own Mala - asana

Malasana ~ Garland Pose ~ Squat

Mala: Garland or Necklace

A Mala is the name for the buddhist prayer beads. Made from 108 beads, a mala is used as a tool to keep count of the number of times a mantra has been repeated by touching each bead per mantra, slowly moving along the necklace. By using the mala one doesn't have to focus on keeping count, there is a guru bead of different size or texture to signify a full 108 repetitions have been completed. 

In traditional Buddhist thought, people are said to have 108 afflictions or klesas. There are six senses (sight, sound, smell, taste, touch, and consciousness) multiplied by three reactions (positive, negative, or indifference) making 18 "feelings." Each of these feelings can be either "attached to pleasure or detached from pleasure" making 36 "passions", each of which may be manifested in the past, present, or future. All the combinations of all these things makes a total of 108, which are represented by the beads in the ojuzu. This same number is also used in Japanese New Year services where a bell is rung 108 times. –– Wikipedia

This mala has numerous marker beads.

Make your own mala necklace with beads or gems you love ~ you certainly do NOT have to don those unsightly brown beads with the red thread! Use the above as a guide or one marker bead is fine too: whatever get you meditating.

Janu Sirsasana & real simple dinner tonight

Janu Sirsasana ~ Head to Knee Forward Bend

Janu: Knee

Genou (jenoo): french for Knee

Sirsa: Head

Making dinner at home always makes a big difference to how I feel. It is a project that is finished within hours or minutes with benefits that are reaped almost immediately and if the results aren't perfect there is always tomorrow. With practice, cooking becomes a daily accomplishment with instant gratification.

Kyleigh Kuhn courtesy of altamira

I have found that the forgiving and few-ingredient recipes from Martha Stewart's Real Simple and Vegetarian Times magazines make nightly at-home dining possible. Magazine recipes also keep life current and seasonal. With my lenient schedule I enjoy shopping as the French do nearly everyday buying only what I am missing for that evening's concoction and going to the market or specialty store most compatible with the required ingredients. If you do not have this luxury, which occasionally I don't have the patience for either, write down the ingredients for 5 dinners and buy those together. Write and organize your list because you are likely to have lots of overlaps or can make substitutions for multi-use. For example, you don't need pecorino for spring pasta and parmesan for bean soup. Choose one. (I like pecorino because it is tangier and creamier, and is made from sheep's milk, which is said to be more easily digestible.) I could go on forever about food! So...


In summation: check out the recipes in Real Simple magazine, realsimple.com, or Vegetarian Times and shop with specificity! Forethought might even give you the chance to go to specialty stores or farmer's markets.

Creamy Fettuccine with corn and Arugula, courtesy of Real Simple

A few favorites:

Real Simple: great website if you don't want/get the mag.

• Thai Curry Vegetable and Tofu Soup with soba noodles or rice noodles cooked in the soup.
• Roasted Sausage and Grapes with roasted potatoes and lemon with dill
• Fettuccine with Lima beans. Peas and Leeks or corn and arugula (Lighten up! I use a lemon/parmesan sauce or creme fraiche if I'm not feeling the cream. Creme fraiche can be bought at Trader Joe's.)

Vegetarian Times: I find the website pretty annoying, and I do only the real-life mag.

• Sugar Snap and Snow Pea Stir Fry
• Strawberry Rhubarb Tart with Apricot Cream (May issue, not yet online.)

Courtesy of Audrey Kitching

Hanumanasana

Hanumanasana ~ Splits

Hanuman: Monkey-faced Hindu Diety

This pose is no easy feat, and if you are unable to take full position it is truly a great pose to come face-face with your ego. How do react when you know exactly where it is you want to get to, but you are not there? What arises? Pain? Agitation? Anger? Frustration? Watch your reactive and emotional selves and learn. Can you find peace where you are in Hanumanasana right here right now?

Full 'flower' moon from my deck. 

fun with google & full moon

Yoga doodle girls get down with google. 

Full Moon Tuesday! This photo is taken from our deck in SD. 

Halasana and thyroid health

Halasana ~ Plow

Hala: Plow

Hollah! I love this pose. This pose stimulates the THYROID. The thyroid gland, found in the neck, makes proteins, controls how much energy we use and controls our sensitivity to other hormones –– by producing it's own hormones which regulate our metabolism. 

In halasana your feet do not need to touch the floor behind your head, it is more important that you keep the legs straight. In the morning, especially, when we tend to be stiffer, do not push this pose hard or far. There is never a need to "push!" yourself in order to reap the benefits of yoga. If you are an A type and this compassionate approach sounds outlandish to you just think of all the time you will waste recovering from an injury. 

The thyroid gland is shaped like a butterfly; let us discuss The Butterfly Effect:

In chaos theory, the butterfly effect is the sensitive dependence on initial conditions; where a small change at one place in a nonlinear system can result in large differences to a later state. For example, the presence or absence of a butterfly flapping its wings could lead to creation or absence of a hurricane. ––wikipedia.com

 

There is no insignificant action. Recall that every action has a consequence far beyond your understanding and be present in your decisions. J and I watched the documentary Food inc. last night. Although I would recommend any of Michael Pollan's books over this film, I appreciated the reminder of how important our role is as consumers. Keep in mind the ripple effect of your behavior the next time you are at the grocery store. 

Michael Pollan food rule #39: Eat all the junk food you like, as long as you cook it yourself.

You do not need to eat 'perfectly,' just be aware and above all enjoy yourself. I love to bake--- CLICK for some of my favorite recipes.

Gomukhasana and Sugar Cookies

Gomukhasana ~ Cow Face Pose

Go: Cow
Mukha: Face

Somehow this pose looks like a cow face; the arms are the ears? The legs the lips? Boobs the eyes? If anyone knows... please shed some light on this for me, it has long been a source of wonderment.

Kelly Wearstler's Hue is my latest book love. 

J and I have a busy summer lined up and so, of course, when we don't have our feelers out for, or, at least, have loosened our grasp on 'career/future/money' the propositions are pouring in. Between the two of us, we have been offered four jobs in less than one week, and turning them down in a time where most of us will take anything we can get. The elusive butterfly: chase it and it eludes you, sit still and it will land on your shoulder.

Aparigraha is the yogic term for non-grasping. While opening your hips and shoulders in Cow Face Pose take big exhales out of your mouth and meditate on the concept of letting go.

Use the mantra "so hum," "I am that," repeating out loud or silently "so" on the inhale and "hum" on the exhale. (If you know the "So Hum," chant you are welcome to repeat that.) A mantra is a sound, syllable, word, or group of words that is considered capable of creating transformation.

If you like, you may fold forward in this pose and place your head on the floor beyond your knees or on a block, but please be sensitive to your shoulders. I recommend holding for about 5 minutes after warming up, and do both sides equally.

"Super Market" Sugar Cookies

These are fluffy like the ones you would get in the store, but sans additives and preservatives. They are certain to impress your friends. They are not very sweet and after taking this picture I glazed them with a simple powdered sugar + milk + vanilla extract mixture using a paint brush. A sugary topping of some sort is a must.

4 cups Flour
1 tspn Baking Powder
1/2 tspn Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/4 tspn Nutmeg (I only had and used pumpkin pie spice.)
1 cup Butter, softened
1 1/2 cups Sugar
1 Egg
1 tspn Vanilla Extract
1/2 cup Sour Cream (I only had and used plain yogurt.)

1. Sift together first 5 ingredients.
2. Cream together butter and sugar.
3. Beat in egg, vanilla, and sour cream.
4. Combine dry and wet ingredients.
5. Wrap in saran wrap and chill overnight.*
----
6. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
7. Roll dough out (I used a wine bottle) on a floured surface.
          -Work quickly.
          - Leave a little thicker if you would like the store-bought cake-like effect.
8. Cut into desired shapes.
9. Bake on un-greased cookie sheet for 7-10 minutes.
          -The perfect amount of time to meditate or try a yoga pose. 
10. Cool. Decorate.

*Make the dough into a cutable roll like Mr Pillsbury if your not much for rolling or don't have any cookie cutters. Or make balls and flatten... anything is possible. Also, you do not need a mixer or fancy equipment. Elbow grease will get you where you want to go and burn some cookie calories in the process.