KonaYoga.com

Baby Boys Abound

We had a surprise after the Prenatal Yoga class today. Kater stopped by with her little boy, born last Saturday and weighing in over 9 pounds! She stopped by to share her joy with us and to give the mothers-in-waiting a boost of confidence.

Dana (to Kater's right) is due in May and Danielle, in blue, is due in nine days. They're both expecting boys. Shannon, who was in class last Friday, is reported to have given birth to her son later that day.

There's a queue of little boys, just waiting to be born and rows of happy mothers, in waiting.

Self-Centered and Happy

Just because everything is different doesn't mean anything has changed.
~Irene Peter

Whether you use your fingers, an abacus, or a calculator, two plus two is still equal to four. There may be a difference in speed and elegance, but the operation is still the same. It's also like that with the human race: our forms of transportation may vary but we're all headed toward the same finish line. Some get there with speed and grace, some zig-zag the entire way, others just take one diligent step after another.

Those who understand and truly believe this, are the happiest people in the world. They don't allow status or income to define their self worth. These are the lessons that yoga offers for you cannot find balance within your own body while mimicking another person's stance. But, when you find your own state of balance and repose you create no ripples in the pond and others find it easier to do the same.

Wouldn't it be nice to amend the meaning, or at least the connotation, of the term Self-Centered? We have an inherent urge to go home but have been conditioned to play outside.

Photo: Computer Science Lab

A New Green on the Block

Here's another reason to seek out local foods. If you frequent the weekly farmers' markets, your patronage and support will encourage them to offer new and varied products. When they do, you'll have a chance to try foods that you may have never seen before, much less tasted.

I grew up with my Aunty Thelma's daikon-ba, pickled daikon shoots, on hot rice with a sprinkling of soy sauce. Sometimes with hot green tea added for what's known as chazuke.

My aunt grew vegetables in a designated "patch", along side her driveway and around her grey, two-story house.  Wherever she deemed the soil rich enough and the sunlight sufficient for her eggplants, string beans, daikon, etc., she planted an edible landscape and served up some of the most delicious food offerings this side of heaven!

So now, when someone offers me a sealed, plastic bag full of green stuff that I am not familiar with, my taste buds grapple. Is this something we like? Can we associate it with something good that we've had in the past? The curly leaf mustard greens on sale at Manuka Farms' booth today, fit the bill.  It was crispy and slightly bitter, like the raw onion slices that I love in my salads and because I knew that it was grown in Big Island soil, I thought of Thelma as I chewed and salivated.

Mustard Greens: Nutritional Facts

Photo: CookThink

What do I do when I'm short of time?

There are days, I will admit, when my schedule does an inversion. People and things appear in my life that I want to say "yes" to at the risk of saying "no" to the Mother Sequence. Luckily, there is an abridged version that Jehangir Palkhivala, creator of the sequence, developed. It takes all of ten minutes for me, but the amount of focus that's required, feels like an hour's practice.

When my time is limited, I rely on this shortened version:

1. All 12 breath poses become 3 breath poses.

2. You begin with 2 Surya Namaskaras (classical sun salutes).

3. The Tibetan Rites are done 3 times. Do the first rite (spinning) 3 times but keep to 3 breaths, even if you stand still for a breath or two.

4. As soon as you count breath #3, keep count of the next breath even if you have not started the pose.

5. The Intention is not to skip a pose, and not to NOT skip a pose.

6. Let no breath go without purpose.

The beauty of the Abridged Mother Sequence lies in points 5 and 6. Over time, the effects permeate your life off the yoga mat and grace appears somewhere in the middle of erasing a double negative.

Simon Cowell has been usurped.

My Grumpy Girl has been very happy and congenial as of late and I think the Mother Sequence is the reason. The Dog Whisperer, Cesar Milan, has a consistent, universal prescription: exercise, discipline and love. That's been our M.O.for the last two weeks and I have been calm and assertive as we head for the yoga mat. My inner critic  (Grumpy Girl) has been diffused and sated and there's no one to give me guff.

Enter, one Simon Cowell. I've caught a few of the American Idol try-outs because I love to watch (and listen to) people with great voices. I think it's completely amazing that we all have the same anatomical structures with which to sing and yet the sounds emitted vary from scintillating to caterwauling. Simon's got a good ear but his comments are often piercing enough to deflate any ego. I, however, cannot associate anything mean or aggressive with anyone possessing an accent like his. It's just too proper and civilized.

So now, after I sing along to my current, favorite song, I picture Simon with his thumbs down saying, "Bah-bara, that was ab-so-loot-lee dread-fuhl!" I chuckle and say, "Really, Simon? Why thank you!" No one can bring me down like the Grumpy Girl...but she's been exercised, disciplined and loved. She thinks I sound mah-va-lous!

Photo of Simon Cowell: The Sydney Morning Herald

Yoga for Happiness

Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace and gratitude.
-Denis Waitley

Happiness was the subject of my Saturday yoga class. While we Americans have the right to pursue it, happiness is not mandatory in the land of the free (unless you were in class on Saturday). Most folks find it easy to conjure up visions and memories of the people, things or activities that make them happy only when they are physically comfortable. We might even shy away from certain activities because we think we'll be uncomfortable and thus, unhappy.

Yoga is a perfect illustration. The true genius of the Mother Sequence of yoga poses that I'm practicing, is it's emotional focus: joy and happiness upon inhaling, peace and calm while exhaling. When I was first learning the sequence, I was too concerned about the order of the postures and whether I was to inhale or exhale with a certain movement. Breathe in joy? When do I breathe in? I was focused on getting it right, rather than just getting it. I'm sure the instructions warned me, I just didn't hear it.

The more I practiced, I began to get it right, and then I got it: joy on the inhalation, peace on the exhalation. I began to see the possibilities in life off my yoga mat as well. In traffic, in pain, in the dark hours of the night...one complete breath can bring me a balance of happiness and calm. I am certain that it will soon (with practice) become my default setting, a reflex emotion.

Don't think I'm at the top of my game though, there are some powerful variations to the Mother Sequence that I still want to learn and the process will start all over. The next time however, I intend to remain happy even when my body might be out of balance in a new pose and my nerves are struggling to decipher and carry the messages to and from my brain. Whatever I'm doing, I want my cells to interpret joy and learning, much like a child does; and not fear and doubt, like someone resigned to the process of aging.

Fake It Till You Make It: "Acting Chirpy Makes You Happy, Researchers Say"

Don't like "chirpy"?: 21 Ways of Becoming Happier

There's more: Practicing Gratitude Can Increase Happiness by 25%

Photo: Janoid

This Valentine's Day - Love Yourself

"In prayer it is better to have a heart without words than words without a heart."
-Mahatma Gandhi

Ah yes, it's Valentine's Day this Thursday, and time to speak of matters of the heart. Far removed from its pagan and religious origins, February 14 may well be brought to you by card makers, florists, chocolatiers, jewelers and assorted eating establishments but they're all promoting Love! So I give it a thumbs up.

I'm willing to bet the little ruby ring on my pinkie that as a regular reader, you don't need much coaching in the "how to be more loving" department. We all have learned to say "I love you" in a multitude of ways. But I will propose that we steer our affections inward and speed it up a little. Show yourself some love. It's a lot like driving in reverse while looking in the mirror, the brain has to interpret just one more reflection of light. The more you practice, the better you get and you realize that it's not as dangerous as they say, this bit about loving yourself.

I remember a fairy tale about a woman making porridge and no matter how many bowls she served up, it kept overflowing with more. It flowed out the door and into the streets and people everywhere could pick up as much as they wanted. The supply was endless.

I imagine that loving yourself, truly and with no conditions, is a lot like being the cook in charge of nurturing yourself. If your heart overflowed with love, like that pot of porridge, you wouldn't worry about the supply running out or whether you were giving it to the most deserving. You could stand back in joy and let others come with either pots of their own, their entire village in tow, or with a small slotted spoon. When you give that much, you don't feel offended by those who take too little.

But first, feed yourself and have a Happy Valentine's Day.

"How to Love Yourself" - Louise Hay

Photo: Tommy Gunn Photography

Green Flash Coffee

  Nearly a week into my Year of Living Delightfully, I'm finding it easy to fit the Mother Sequence into my day (I'm usually dressed for the occasion- all day) but eating raw has been challenging.  If I want a variety of fresh fruits and veggies available for me, I have to go grocery shopping more than just once a week OR come up with a better plan. There are days though, when I leave the studio after teaching a yoga class or giving a couple of massages that the thought of walking into a cold supermarket sends chills up and down my entire vertebral column.

But there's an oasis between the studio and home for me and it's called Green Flash Coffee. They make the best real fruit smoothies! Located in front of the Sea Village Condos on the makai side of Alii Drive, they offer a variety of coffees and teas, panini sandwiches, and ice cream as well as the smoothies. My favorite is the Green Flash Smoothie with spinach, fruits and some protein powder! It's just what I need to hold me over until I can get up enough motivation to go grocery shopping.

This is supposed to all be fun and delightful, right? So I searched through my memory cards and remembered a time when drawing up weekly menus, shopping and cooking (believe it or not) were fun for me. I owned a couple of cookbooks by Pierre Franey and just about every meal I made was great! Leftovers even found there way into my son's pre-school lunch box. He detested peanut butter and jelly sandwiches but loved rigatoni with shrimp cooked in a fresh tomato/basil sauce, sprinkled with feta cheese and capers!

Those were my pre-yoga days, before cholesterol was "invented" so there was a lot of meat, and butter, and eggs, etc., and it was good. My taste buds have now matured, along with the rest of my body, so I am in search of a new cuisine and a 2008 Pierre Franey model. In the meantime, I'll often be found at 75-6000 Alii Drive, picking up my smoothie brunch at Green Flash Coffee.

A Zen Story

There's a Zen story in which a man is enjoying himself on a river at dusk. He sees another boat coming down the river toward him. At first it seems so nice to him that someone else is also enjoying the river on a nice summer evening.

Then he realizes that the boat is coming right toward him, faster and faster. He begins to get upset and starts to yell, "Hey, hey watch out! For Pete's sake, turn aside!" But the boat just comes faster and faster, right toward him.

By this time he's standing up in his boat, screaming and shaking his fist, and then the boat smashes right into him. He sees that it's an empty boat.

This is the classic story of our whole life situation. -Empty Boat, by Pema Chodron

I can think of a few ways to interpret this story but it's too elegant and perfectly concise, as it is. Send me your thoughts and I'll share them on the Kona Yoga blog. Let's continue.

Photo: Peter Van Allen

The Empty Boat. Pema Chödrön, Start Where You Are, from Everyday Mind, edited by Jean Smith, a Tricycle book.

Groundhog Day

It's Groundhog Day and Phil says six more weeks of winter! Even those of us in Hawaii could feel that coming. Our mountains are snow capped and it's cold even at sea level, where I live.

Despite that, telling me that winter will be around for another six weeks is as meaningful as saying that it's "20 below" where you live. "60 above" is cold to me so we're talking thermal undies and hula skirts here.

The significance of Groundhog Day for me this year, is that it's the start of my 2008 - The Year of Living Delightfully. Inspired by David Seah, to whom Groundhog Day serves as "a reminder to maintain a flexible, magical perspective on life", today is the first day of my wild expectations for the year. I plan to maintain a daily practice of the Mother Sequence of yoga postures and keep to a basically raw-until-dinner eating plan.

While it may not be as romantic as say A Year in Provence, as experienced by author, Peter Mayle, I'm excited about it as though I were embarking on a long trip to a distant, unfamiliar land. It's time for me to allow yoga to be light and entertaining as well as profound and fathomless.

This afternoon, when I got to the end of the sequence my only wish was that every practice session would be as stimulating and fresh as the day before. I want a new experience and another step to be waiting for me, everyday.

Follow along or join me at: 2008 - The Year of Living Delightfully

Photo: National Geographic