Trying to fit chores and Yoga into one practice? Here's how:

I have always been a list-maker; For trips, for groceries and even from my day to day activities and things ALWAYS get done with what's on the list.

Taking that same concept, making a list of what you want to achieve and get done with your chores and incorporating that into your yoga practice is an awesome tool to help you succeed.  Here's how it's done.

Taking the knowledge of what you want to get done and using it make a short list or even a chart to look something similar to this:


*Day:                      *Chore:                                                  *Exercise:
_________________________________________________________________________

• Monday                • Kitchen Counter/Dishes                        • Walking/Yoga

• Tuesday                • Laundry Room/Clothes                         • Leg and Arm Lifts/Meditation

• Wednesday           • Kitchen Floor                                       • Core Work

• Thursday               • Bathroom (Floor, Toilet, Shower)         • Walking/Yoga

• Friday                   • Bedroom (Bed sheets, Floor, Dresser)  • Leg and Arm Lifts/Meditation

• Saturday               • Child's Bedroom (Sheets, Floor)           • Bike Ride or Swift Outdoors Walk

• Sunday                 • Living/Front Room (Dusting, Floor)       • Power Yoga
_________________________________________________________________________

Of course, this is a rough outline, revise it to fit your home and your needs.  Making a list of what you would like to get done along side what you need to get done will help you succeed on both aspects.  Hope this helps you get into shape while tackling the chaos in your home.

Namasté!

September is Yoga Month

The month of September is known as Yoga Month and through National Yoga Month site you can take advantage of many free yoga classes nationwide. 

Free Week passes are available at over 1,200 yoga studios nationwide! Find yoga near you with the Yoga Studio Finder and Event Finder. Join the global community yoga practice during The Time for Yoga on September 30, 2011.


Pick up your free week of yoga here and enjoy yoga for a lifetime!

Yoga Books to add to your bookshelf

The Mastery of Love By:  Don Miguel Ruiz




Your Body Speaks your Mind
By:  Deb Sharpiro

Mindful Living
By:  Thich Nhat Hanh

Conscious Business (Audio)
By:  Fred Kofman

Nonviolent Communication
By:  Marshall Rosenberg

The Four Agreements By:  Don Miguel Ruiz



Grab your Yoga T-shirt today

Yoga Live Today Side-Tie t-shirt

Finding Strength within when you don't want to be Strong

We all deal with loss, on some level, whether it's the loss of a pet, a job or even a family member.  Being strong through these times is sometimes a bit more than we can handle.  It's a long and painful journey back from this deep, down, hurt we feel.  Sometimes it's more than we can bare and we feel like the pain will never get better.
 
I have recently been hit with a great loss.  A family member passed away unexpectedly and I had a hard time grasping onto strength within myself.  Through yoga I have learned to make peace with my past and learn to hold onto myself and be strong, even in the middle of grief when I didn't want to.  It felt like a wound that would not heal and I had to pull myself up to grasp hold of what was really going on and learn to hold myself up through the pain.

Through yoga we can learn to help ourselves.  It may seem selfish, but we all need to help ourselves more than anyone else around us.  If you continue to just push the hurt down and not deal with it directly, it will pile up on you and cause you to break, eventually. 

The best poses for dealing with these pains are ones that bust open the door to the emotional healing powers through yoga but not in a straining way or through a strenuous practice.  The best ones to cope with what's inside you and try to pull out the strength within your own self are ones that are gradual and not involving your muscles or mental thinking too much.  The poses below can help you tap into what's inside you to help deal with the grief you are currently feeling.  And remember meditation is always a great way to help in this process, as well.  Breathing is the main wonder drug of the body; The more we take in long, deep breaths the more we can bring our bodies back to center. 

Any of the following spine stretching poses will help you deal with grief, but ultimately, the grief process is slow going and only time can heal completely.

• Salambhasana (Locust Pose)

• Sphinx Pose (Passive Approach)


• Upward-Facing Dog Pose:

I hope with these poses you find comfort in your grief.  Time heals all and with yoga you can help ease the pain that time helps heal. 

Namasté!

 

Triangle pose (Utthita Trikonasana) -Supported

Standing in mountain (Tadasana) pose and step or jump your feet wide.  With thumbs facing the ceiling raise your arms to your side and inhale.  Turn your left foot in just a little to gain support of that back leg and to take pressure off your knee.  Turn your right foot out completely and align your knee over your right foot.

With a support block placed beside your right foot, bend at the waist and drop your right hand to the support block.  Stretch your left hand up as you bend your torso to the right.  Turn your head up to the ceiling and breathe. 

Get one week free yoga

September is national yoga month and currently, during the entire month, you can get one week of free yoga at a participating studio.

Yoga can become a daily tradition for you and if you have been putting off wanting to give it a try, now is your chance to act on those wants.

Click here to find a participating studio near you.

Click here to download you free week of yoga card.

Relate plants to your yoga practice and life

We all love plants, even more when our plants we are taking care of look their best enough for others to compliment us on our achievements in making these plants look their very best.

Observing a plant before you water it and then after it has been watered is a great way to connect with the living things around you and your life. If you have recently felt disconnected from all those around you and even with your own self, buy a small plant and connect its life with your own. You will soon relate the benefits to your own body and brain and with this practice each time you water this living creature on a daily basis you will soon see reconnection occur with other living things slowly.

Namasté

 

Yoga Books to Add to your Collection

Personal Healing by Caroline Myss.

Guided Meditation by Jack Kornfield.

Yoga Shakti by Shiva Rea.

Ayurveda by Dr. Vasant Lad.

True Happiness by Peme Chodron.

Supta Padangusthasana

(Reclining Hand-to-Big Toe Pose)

Lie on your back and draw your right knee into your chest. Make sure your left leg is stretched out in front of you.

With a yoga strap wrapped around the ball of your right foot, stretch your right foot to the ceiling and hold. Making sure your left leg and foot stay firmly, but not pressed to the floor.

Hold this pose for 30 breaths and then switch legs.

This pose will open your hand strings and in the process won't put any pressure on your lower back.

Breath and the power behind air-flow

Breathing meditation is one of the very few meditations that is practiced on a daily basis. Breathing should be practiced regularly and the breath should be deep and focused.

Sit with your spine upright and close your eyes. Begin Ujjayi breathing, following your breath until it stills other thoughts within your head and makes your mind feel as spacious as the sea.

After a few moments of complete clearing of mind, return to normal breathing and open your eyes. Try to retain that same awareness and calm as you go about your day-to-day activities. Return to that spacious and calm when you feel as though your mind is straying to other thoughts or when others make you feel agitated or disturbed.

Namasté!

Easy flow-workouts to fit into your day

1. Upon waking up:

Grab some 3-5 lbs. weights and take a walk through your house when you first wake up. Do small bicep curls while you walk to help get the muscles in the arms engaged and to help get the circulation flowing through your body as well.

2. Mid morning:

Do the old standing, against the wall sit. Keep your back straight and against the wall while you look over some paperwork or even talk to a client on the phone, etc. Keep your knees bent in a 90 degree angle and raise your arms to shoulder height. Hold each post for 1 minutes and rest for 30 seconds. Repeat as many times has you can or as time allows.

3. Lunch or Noon:

Tone your lower body before digging into your food at lunch. With your hands on your hips, step with your right foot out and bend both keens into a squatting position. Return to center and step with the left and squat. Repeat 15 times on each leg.

4. Mid afternoon:

Get rid of back pain that comes from working or sitting for long periods. Stand with feet about hip-width apart and fold over till you are hanging over toward the floor in front of you. Bend your right knee and swing the torso to the right then return to the center and swing the torso to the left. Roll up to standing and repeat as many times as needed.

5. After Work is done:

Run with the vacuum, dust mop or mop through your home. Do jumping jacks in between the rooms and bend under furniture. Vacuum every day is a great way to keep the home clean and a great calorie blaster as well. So go at it.

6. Evening or After Dinner:

When the kitchen is cleared of dinner plates, turn on the tunes and bust-a-move with the kiddos. A five-minute song can really help boost your mood, and give you quality, fun time with your kids. It even will help burn off a bit of the dinner calories as well.

The ultimate five minute workouts you can do throughout your day

• Start Your Day: Jogging in place is a great way to start your day. It can help get your blood flowing and help increase your circulation. Jog in place till you work up a sweat. For a more advanced workout, try bringing your heels to touch your butt.

• After Your Commute to Work: Try the horse press. This will help tone your legs and butt and can be done anywhere in the office. Place your hands on your hips and spread your legs and squat. If you have knee injuries, don't go down till it hurts; go down to where you can comfortably bend the knees. Squeeze your butt as you come back up to a standing position. Repeat this motion for five minutes.

•At Lunch Time: Take the stairs in your office or anywhere for that matter. Take them one at a time at first then head back down and take them two at a time to increase your cardio workout. Repeat this process till five minutes has passed.

• Before you Head Home: Do simple jumping jacks for five minutes. If you haven't done jumping jacks in ages, you will be surprised at how sore your muscles really are after only five minutes worth.

• After Work: Squeeze that butt in and out for five minutes. This will help tighten your backend.

• Two Hours Before Bed: Roll your spine. Start with a straight back, roll your shoulders to ensure you are properly aligned and reach forward to touch your toes. Make a C-shape with your body as your lean forward. Repeat for five minutes.

It's really easy to get in the proper amount of workout time daily. It's all a matter of doing it and sticking with it.

Do you sit for long periods? Try these yoga workouts

#1: Lay flat on the ground in corpse position and place hands behind your neck just above the clavicle bone. Breathe in and hold then out for three seconds. Repeat with hands on the chest above the breast then once more on the navel. Think about your breathing and if there is any struggle during your inhales or your exhales.


#2: Sitting up straight (roll your shoulders to ensure your ribs are lined up correctly) and with feet flat on the floor, bring one leg up over the other leg. Not legs crossed but where they for a triangle in the middle of each other. lean forward and attempt to reach as far as you can as if you are trying to grab something extended out in front of you with your arms. Repeat with the other leg and repeat this exercise three times.

#3: When sitting for long periods, such as traveling by air, place your carry-on bag on the floor in front of you and place on foot on the bag. This will help displace the way you sit and can help your torso better align when it comes time to stand and walk once more.

The Sitted Twist to Reduce Stress

Sit with legs crossed and a blanket or bolster under your hips to help with support. Inhale for four counts and exhale for four counts. On the next inhale reach up to the ceiling and when you bring your arms down, exhale and slowly rotate your spine without moving your legs to the left. Grab your left knee with your right hand and pull yourself around until you are looking over your left shoulder. Breathe in for five breaths than slowly come back to center and look forward. Repeat with the right side and come back to center.

Repeat this for a total of three counts. Reaching up to the ceiling before each turn.

Do this routine at the end of your busy day. It will help reduce tension in your back, which will reduce tension and stress in your mind as well.

Looking for the Perfect Yoga Mat?

Look to Lotus Pad. The Lotus Pads are 100% eco-friendly and come from a company that knows a thing or two about environmentally friendly and eco-conscious choices. They are lightweight and also biodegradable.

The pads come in an array of colors that are two-toned and also come in organic patterns to help you find the perfect one that suits your yogic and exercise needs.

The company carries the straps the help carry the mat with ease instead of it becoming a burden and they also carry mats for kids as well.

Order a yoga mat from Lotus Pads today for under $40.

Sun Salutation

1. Namaskar - salute. Stand erect with feet together and join the palms in the center of the chest in the style of Indian salute and inhale. Then exhale and push the hands down straightening and lowering the arms until the elbows touch the sides. This standing pose is also known as tadaasana.

2. Chandraasan - crescent moon pose. Inhale and raise the arms above the head and extend the spine backwards arching the back from the waist and moving the hips forward. Let the eyes follow the hands while relaxing your neck.

3. Hastapadaasan - bending pose. Begin to exhale bending forward from the waist and place the hands on the floor besides each foot. Relax with your head and neck in a bending pose.

4. Surya darshan - sun gaze. Inhale and putting your weight on the hands stretch the right leg behind like a stick resting on the toes. Bend the knee and place it on the floor with your weight on the left foot and arch the spine backward. Lift the head and neck first up and then back. Roll the eyes up. The left foot remains between the hands.

5. Himalayan - mountain pose. Exhale and bring the left foot back in line with the right. Lift the hips up high like a mountain. Push the heels and head down and look at the toes with the head down between the arms.

6. Sashtang dandawat - lie down. Put the knees down first and then bring the chest down. See that eight parts of the body are touching the floor including two feet, two knees, two hands, the chest and the chin or forehead. Sashtang means eight limbs and dandawat means paying homage by touching the floor. Make sure the hips are slightly raised above the ground. Inhale and exhale in this position. Keep the feet together.

7. Bhujangaasan - cobra pose. Lower the pelvis and abdomen to the floor. Inhale and stretch the toes on the floor. Raise your head slowly up, arch the spine and neck and look up. Keep your legs together and the elbows alongside the body slightly bent and keep the shoulders down.

8. Himalaya aasan. Exhale and wiggle your toes forward allowing your feet to rest on the soles while your raise the hips as your did in number 5.

9. Surya darshan. Inhale and bring the right foot forward and assume pose number 4 exactly as before.

10. Hastapadaasan. Exhale and bring the right foot forward and assume pose number 3.

11. Chandraasan. Inhale and stretch up in a standing pose with your arms up and bend backwards like in pose number

12. Namaskar. Exhale and stand erect bringing the hands back to the center of the chest with palms together as in pose number 1.

Making some Changes

Diary of a Yogi has been mostly about changing your life for the knowing of yoga better, but Diary of a Yogi is changing. Instead of just being about Yoga, we will tip the scales in changing your life as a whole. We will have more contributing writers and even more stories on how you can change your life in every way, shape, fashion and form. Hope you follow along for the journey and help us all achieve whole body happiness!

Family Maintenance through the Art of Zen

To be a Zen Parent, calm, tranquil and at peace with those in the house around you in never an easy task. Never has anything been so difficult to just....be. Slowing down and taking on one task at a time, one issue at a time and even one person at a time can at times take a toll on even the most positive person under the sun.

To maintain a great, functional and ever-so-loving family setting you must first slow down and focus or pay attention to the "big picture". The Solid picture if you will. Forming bonds with each other and not what is around us as far as objects that we can do without, may be difficult to children, but can be easy to teach.

Devotion in the path of revulsion when a bump happens in your family's way of doing things. Your family will become more healthy and Zen-ful through the art of listening, looking, and doing. Other's family ways are different from yours and will be forever, no matter what. Do not ever try to create a family style through someone else's eyes. Even if the mother-in-law is telling you one thing and the grandmother saying another, stand your ground firm for your family’s Zen maintenance. The family you had then isn't as important as the family you have now. Be happy with what you have not what you could have.

Not all family bonds are perfect and trust me yours won’t be either. Work through the challenges and in the end YOU will be happier through the art of Zen. Buddha tells us, "Everything dear to us causes pain". Working through that pain and struggle is what keeps your family solid. Families who play together do ultimately stand strong together!

Work through the trials and tribulations and breathe through the stress. Then laugh why your son drops ice cream on the couch cushions.

Namasté!




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Create your own Mandala for Healing

Mandalas are geometrical shapes that allow you to see the clearer side of stress, hurt, anger, etc. Through shapes and colors it help to direct your mental thinking to focus on something else while you see the "clear" picture of what is bothering you. If you would like to learn more about healing mandalas I suggest this following book.



Without the book pictured above you can create your own mandalas with a bit of creativity and patience. Here's how.

What you will need to get started:

*Sharpened pencil that is of medium weight
*Clear ruler with grid lines
*Compass
*Colored pencils
*Sketch paper that has a rough surface



Begin drawing something similar as above, but use your own mind and draw what you see in your head and heart. Keep the following mandala directions in mind while you draw.

• Radiance (Sun): East
• Nourishment (Moon): Northwest
• Passion (Mars): South
• Intellect (Mercury): North
• Expansion (Jupiter): Northwest
• Bliss (Venus): Southeast
• Organization (Saturn): West
• Uniqueness (Rahu): Southwest
• Spirituality (Ketu): Southwest