The Mentality of a Yogi

Yoga changes your brain. Studies are beginning to show this as fact, something that long time practitioners of yoga already knew. Even after practicing for a short time, people will begin to notice results. This is due in part to the meditative effect of yoga, which allows you to focus your mind by connecting it to your breath. I often tell my students, most of the benefits of yoga are found in the breath. We learn it’s ok to slow down and our mind and body enjoy the break. 

Most of the stress and anxiety in our bodies is created from the thoughts in our minds. Our actions and reactions are often initiated without any thought at all. Yoga teaches us it’s ok to slow down and take a second to think, rather than acting impulsively. Whether you’re choosing what to eat, how to respond to someone or how to plan your day, yoga can help change the way you think so that you have a more positive experience.

When you start doing yoga you expect certain physical changes. As with the physical, the mental takes some time to develop. A true yogi isn’t measured by how far and perfect they can get into a pose, but by how they present themselves to the world and how they treat themselves. Sadly there are some people who do yoga and have a beautiful physical practice, but are lacking the true nature of a yogi. They haven’t found the real spirit of the practice and yoga holds many of them, more than I could ever list.

We thrive on patience. It’s a fast paced world out there and our culture has gotten into the mode of got to have it now. Cultivating patience is hard, but the rewards are worth it. If you simply slow down and wait, you’ll still get the same results. The only thing missing will be the frustration of trying to be first. Patience is learned through our practice by working towards a certain pose or building the strength to make it through class. Take a deep breath and exhale slowly. Take the time you have to wait and use it to check in. Notice while you’re calm, how frantic the chaos tends to be around you. How miserable people look when they’re rushing and not caring about their affect on people. Create a moment of bliss for yourself by being patient.

We listen fully, without interrupting. People love it when you listen to them, especially when you make eye contact and don’t interrupt them. It makes them feel important and shows you care about what they have to say. Don’t look at your phone, don’t let your eyes wander but really listen. You’ll be amazed at what you can find out and the interesting conversations you can get yourself into. Yoga teaches us to treat others how we would like to be treated, to be kind and considerate. Listening to someone embodies both of these traits. Yoga has taught us to turn off all the random thoughts in our head so we have more space to listen fully to others.

We rationalize before we panic. Taking a second to take a breath and calm down will help you make better decisions. When we don’t stop to think, we make rash decisions that aren’t always the best. Even pausing for a few seconds can make a difference. Yoga teaches us that we have time and that it’s ok to slow down. The world won’t leave us behind. The difference of a few seconds can have a major impact on a situation.

We find the positive in an impossible situation, because we know nothing is permanent. Even if you’re in a situation that totally sucks, it will pass. It’s how you endure that situation that makes the difference. If you suffer through it and complain the whole time it will only make it all the worse. If you can’t find anything positive about what you’re going through, just remember to breathe and know that it can’t last forever. It’s like when you’re in plank for the longest time. It feels like it will never end and it doesn’t feel good, but like all things you eventually come out of it. You even end up being a bit stronger than when you went in.

We live in the moment. This moment is all you’ve got. If you’re thinking about the past or focusing on the future, you’ll miss a lot of stuff. Being in the moment is better for us emotionally. We aren’t caught up in something that isn’t really happening, but focusing on what’s in front of us. Less stress for the mind makes for a happier body.

We love to share our positive experiences. Whether it’s trying to get someone to try yoga for the first time or getting someone to take a deep breath and calm down, yogi’s like to share our happiness. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not always pure bliss when you’re a yogi, but we aim to not dwell on the bad stuff. Yoga is good at opening your eyes so that you can truly see the world and the people in it. It’s not always a pretty picture. Wanting to share yoga so that others can find bliss like you is natural. We don’t like to see others suffer when we know there is a way out.

We know when to say no. Yoga teaches you that it’s ok to take care of yourself. It teaches you that you don’t have to please everyone, especially if it only makes you suffer. Learn the art of communication. Tell people thank you for the offer, but you can’t do it. Don’t make up excuses, but be honest. You aren’t being selfish when it comes to taking care of your body and your mind. In class you know when to back off of a pose so you don’t get hurt or overdo it. The same applies to your schedule. 

Yoga isn’t a magical pill. It takes work to get your mind to change for the better. Not being harsh on yourself when you fail is priority. Mistakes will be made and bad days will happen, but what’s important is that you try again. Eventually all the good mental habits you pick up from this practice will become the norm. That is why yoga is a good daily practice. You’re reminded every day how great your brain can feel and function when you give it a break. 

Yoga for a Cold

Yoga for this, yoga for that. With all the articles out there you would think that yoga has a cure for everything. Well, I can't say that yoga is the cure for the common cold, but I can say that it has a way of providing some relief.

There are two things about a cold that drive me crazy, the stuffy but at the same time runny nose and the heaviness in your chest that can eventually lead to a nasty cough. Yoga's solution to this is simply to invert you. Dump you upside down so all the snot can roll out of you. Gross I know, but it works.

The picture to the left is of our sinuses. As you can see they are shaped in such a way that congestion can just pool. There isn't anywhere for it to drain. About the only way you can get it out is to blow or invert. By going upside down and hanging there for 5-10 minutes, you'll give the goo time to get out.

One of the pitfalls of this, is the pressure that it can cause. You'll start to feel this shortly after you get upside down. However, if you can hang in there, literally,  you'll eventually feel a slight pop as the pressure begins to release. If the headache it causes is too much, you'll need to come out of the pose and find one that doesn't hang you as vertical. It's the difference of bending half way down verses all the way down.

I can't tell you how many times I've taught class with a cold and couldn't breathe through my nose to save my life at the beginning of class. But after a few sun salutations, where you hang out in downward dog (an inversion), I could breathe clearly.

But what goes up, must come down. So about an hour after class my sinuses would clog up again. I did after all have a cold and it must run it's course. The inverting is meant to give you some relief, not be a cure. But when you can't breathe, even three hours of reprieve are worth it. To help with the process you can also try a steam, like taking a long hot shower, and then invert.

Not only does the inverting help with your sinuses, but also with the congestion in your lungs. The act of coughing is the body's way of expelling what it doesn't want in the lungs. By tilting your lungs up you can help them drain. I use this with my COPD clients all the time as they have chronic issues with fluid in their lungs.

When you first invert your're going to feel a pressure in your lungs and you may start coughing. Within a few moments you should start to calm down. Focus on taking deep breaths and expanding the rib cage fully. Once you come up, be prepared to cough. Again, if you can do a steam before you do this, all the better.

Below are some of my favorite inversion poses. Remember, an inversion is any pose where your heart is above your head. When you're feeling sick, it's not a good idea to do intense inversions like head or hand stand. The goal for your body right now is to relax and rejuvenate.


Good for the lungs and the sinuses:
Down dog
Wide legged forward fold, rest your head on a pillow or bolster if you can. If you can't get down that far, rest it on a chair. The idea is to relax.
Dolphin, for some this is more work than it's worth...give it a try and see what you think.
Puppy dog, (picture to the right) you can place a blanket or bolster under your rump for support if you like. But the steeper the angle of your chest, the better results you'll get.

Good for the lungs:
Bridge, make sure to prop a block under your SI joint so you can relax in the pose.
Supported shoulder stand: (picture to the left) come into bridge pose on your block, simply raise your legs up into the air. Make sure to have a nice arch in the low back to protect it and don't turn your head to the side. Take deep breaths.
Legs up the wall, remember, the higher your hips, the more angle for your lungs. Just make sure that you're stable and not hurting your low back. If you don't have a yoga block, a firm pillow or blankets will work.

Hang out in these poses for five to ten minutes at least. If you have more energy, doing a few simple sun salutations will work nicely as well. Unlike taking medicine, you can do this as many times as you need throughout the day. Works great for kids too.

Having a cold stinks, but at least with these poses you get to lay around and heal and be somewhat productive about it. Yoga isn't a magical cure, but it's a small bit of comfort and when you're sick, sometimes that is all you need.

Finding True Love

The notion of finding love strikes us early in life. My five year old has already told me about two
different boys she plans to marry. Some where between school yard crushes and adulthood, we start to associate finding love with happiness and fulfillment. But can a true, fulfilling love find us if we haven't figured out how to love ourselves? Should our lives be considered incomplete simply because we haven't found our soul mate? Perhaps you haven't found them yet because there is still work left to do.

It's not easy when you want to find love and you see it all around you, especially on Valentines day. When love doesn't find you when you think it should, it can leave you feeling angry and uncertain. True love doesn't just come from another person, but from loving and accepting yourself. When you can do that, you're more open to being honest and loving with a potential partner. If you're single and the image you portray to the dating world is true, you're bound to attract the right person. But if the image you're projecting out there isn't the true you, but the made up version you put out there in an attempt to lure in love, you're probably not going to be happy with what you catch.

Love comes when it comes, you can't rush it. But you can prepare yourself to accept it when it does arrive. You can do this by being truthful to yourself about who you really are and accepting of what you find. Often times we don't take the time to find out who we really are. We get on the path of life and run along without stopping to take a breath. When we're finally forced to stop, that's when we look around and realize we don't know how we got to where we are. In the long journey we may have lost a bit of ourselves along the way. Do you honestly know yourself and if you do, are you ok with it?

A yoga practice will give you many things, but the greatest gift it gives is time with yourself. It gives you time to breathe, process what's happening in your life and check in with how you're really feeling about things. You may know who you are, but not necessarily be happy with that. Yoga helps you to process these emotions and find a way to work towards being a better person. Be it emotional or physical. Generally all we need to find out who we truly are is time to think. Yoga gives us that by shutting off the chatter in our minds so we can hear ourselves think.

Yoga teaches us to accept our flaws, we are after all human and full of them. Learn to embrace them, not belittle yourself for them. Yoga will give you confidence by teaching you that if you keep practicing, you can reach your goal. Yoga helps us to dig through all the crap we tell ourselves to feel better and see what is really underneath. It gives us the emotional strength to face it and the tools to work through it.

The Yoga Sutra 1.1 helps us to find our way to our true selves. "Yoga is the mastery of the activities of the mind-field. Then the seer rests in its true nature." Our mind is a powerful thing, it can either work with us or against us. It can tell us we're beautiful and we'll find love, or it can tell us we're unacceptable and we'll fail at finding it. Change the way you perceive yourself and you will change the signal you're putting out to perspective love.

Interfering thoughts keep us from finding our true selves and thus forming any kind of lasting relationships. As the Sutra pointed out, master the thoughts of the mind and you will find your true self. These thoughts are direct perception, reasoning and validation.

How do you perceive yourself? If you're not putting your best self out there, how is it going to attract others? The big question to ask here is if you don't perceive yourself as worthy of a good relationship, why is that? If you don't think you're worthy, you can bet potential mates will get the same vibe. You may open yourself up as a target for partners that like to take advantage. Getting to the root of this question can open you up to love, not just with another person, but with yourself. Self worth will help you find a love that is true, not dependent or dominant.

What's your reasoning about love? The definition of reasoning is "the action of thinking about something in a logical, sensible way." Our brains like to be illogical. We like to fantasize and make up stories. Turn little things into big things. Are you taking the little things about yourself and turning them into something more? Are you turning down potential lovers because you've told yourself they aren't right for you? Look into the reasons why you're so hard on yourself and the people you won't date. It could tell you a thing or two.

Validation, we all love it, but often don't give it to ourselves. That's why we look for it in others. You can't expect another person to validate you. You have to be able to do that for yourself. Don't be afraid to tell yourself you did a good job on something. Give yourself a nice pat on the back. You're not gloating, you're telling yourself you worked hard and did well. If you have validation, you'll love yourself for who you are and won't need to fill that void with another persons validation. Without the need for validation, there is more room for real love.

In yoga we're taught that when a bad thought arises, to replace it with a good thought. Eventually those bad thoughts will be replaced by good. When the thought arises that you're never going to find love, replace it with, love will find me when I'm ready. Stop for a moment to think why you're feeling sorry for yourself in that moment? What triggered it? Focus on all the good things in your life, not the bad. In your practice incorporate more heart opening poses like chest openers. Bridge, fish pose and camel are three great ones.

Being in a relationship isn't all fun, it's hard work. Enjoy your freedom and relish it, because once you learn to love, be truthful, validate, see yourself for who you really are and be reasonable about the path your life is on, you'll be living honestly and love will find you. It may not always be in the form you expect it to be, but opening yourself up always leaves room for something good to come in. Until that time comes, allow yourself to be the love of your life and live it to its fullest. At least you already know your bad habits.

Practicing Yoga Safely During Pregnancy

Once you find out you're pregnant your life changes. Things you never once gave a second thought about you suddenly start to question. What food should I eat, how much sleep should I be getting and what changes do I need to make to my exercise routine? Every woman is different and you should always check with your doctor, but for most, yoga is a great form of exercise while you're pregnant.

While I was pregnant with my daughter I practiced and taught power yoga till the day before I gave birth. I modified as my pregnancy progressed and always made sure that I felt comfortable in my practice. I never once had swollen ankles and only gained 25 pounds. Yoga kept me active and helped with a lot of the aches and pains pregnancy brought on. It also helped my daughter. Yoga not only stretched out my tense muscles and helped keep me strong for the birth, but gave my daughter more room in the womb. After I practiced she felt as if she was rolling around in there. All that movement developed muscle and she was born just about holding her head up.

As great as yoga is for pregnancy, there are a few things you need to know to practice safely. As with any exercise, you can do harm. It's a good idea to let your teacher know that you're pregnant. If you aren't ready to share the news yet, don't let them adjust you. Below are some tips on how to practice yoga safely during your pregnancy.

Don't overstretch. Many hormones are flowing through your body when you're pregnant and one of them causes your body to loosen up so that it's ready to stretch out over the next nine months. Relaxin is released early in pregnancy and although it has great intentions, it can cause some problems. Since your body is flooded with this hormone, you'll be more flexible than usual. With the relaxin hormone your able to go deeper into your poses, but it's not muscle that is stretching. You're actually stretching out your tendons and ligaments which will never rebound, leaving you with loose connective tissue. Many women have chronic back pain after having a baby. It's from stretching too deep into their forward folds during pregnancy causing the connective tissue around their SI joint to get over stretched, leaving the joint unstable.

To practice safely make sure to know your limits. Be mindful of how far you can typically go in a pose. Always make sure that you feel the stretch in the belly of the muscle and not near any joints. When going into a pose make sure to engage your muscles, don't just flop into it. In forward folds leave a slight bend in your knees. As you get bigger, make sure to use props so that you can support your new weight comfortably and not compromise your joints.

Avoid twisting and inversions in the first trimester. Some believe that you should avoid twisting and inversions throughout your entire pregnancy and some believe that you should just avoid them for the first trimester. Do your research and decide what's best for you. The reason to avoid them in the first trimester is to allow time for the egg to attach. Deep twists and inversions may aggravate the eggs ability to attach.

As for practicing twists and inversions in your second and third trimester, use your judgment. Never do deep twists. Your baby is already compacted in there, you don't want to make it any tighter. As for inversions, it's more a matter of balance. Your balance in pregnancy tends to suffer and your risk of falling is higher when your pregnant.

Don't overheat. You know the pregnancy term "I've got a bun in the oven."? Well, you're practically an oven and if you're hot you can bet that your baby is. Yoga is a heat inducing practice so you have to be mindful to watch your temp. Simply take a break and go into down dog or child's pose. Or come into your favorite pose that you can relax in. Drink plenty of water, even if it means leaving class to pee often. Just put your mat by the door so you don't disturb the class when you step out.

Watch the pressure on your stomach. There's no magic time in your pregnancy when I can tell you not to lay on your stomach. You'll know. The pressure will feel uncomfortable. When this time comes just find a different pose to do while the rest of the class in on their bellies. I like cat/cow or you can work on strength by coming onto all fours and extending one leg back. If you're unsure of what poses you should do, ask your teacher before class.

Watch your forward folds. Your blood pressure is sensitive when you're pregnant. Coming out of a forward fold too quickly can cause a drop in your blood pressure making you dizzy. Always come up slow.

As your belly grows you'll need to make room. When doing any type of forward fold just space your feet wider to make room for your belly. Always leave a small bend in the knees and engage your legs as you fold forward, this will help protect your low back.

Breathe. Seems silly to say, but you hold your breath more than you think you do. The last thing you want to be in class is light headed. Plus the yoga breath is calming. Learning to calm yourself with your breath will come in real handy when it's time to give birth.

During pregnancy you'll find that it's harder to catch your breath. You may become winded just climbing up the stairs in your house. Your blood thickens with pregnancy so it takes more work for your body to circulate it. Basically your body is working harder just to do the things it normally does so little things take more effort. Be mindful not to let your breath get out of control. If it does take a breath and let it regulate.

Just because your pregnant doesn't mean you have to change your life completely. You can still do the things that you love, you just have to moderate. Always listen to your body. If it doesn't feel right, don't do it. Lots of people will be giving you advice, you'll be reading many articles just like this one, but the ultimate guru is you. Trust yourself. It's the most important skill you'll need as a parent.

Figure Out The Cause of Knee Pain and Start Healing It

Knee pain is a common problem in America. Whether or not your pain is from an actual injury or pain caused by misalignment, the issue is the same. You're limited in the activities that you do because of the pain. As you age, you'll tend to do less and less activities because you would rather avoid the pain than suffer through an activity you used to enjoy. Even certain types of yoga can be aggravating and should be avoided. But yoga in general is great for helping those sore knees and in figuring out what may be causing the pain.

In order to understand knee pain, you'll need to know a bit about the anatomy of the joint.  Our knees are the strongest and largest joint in the body. The medial, lateral, anterior and posterior ligaments in the knee joint help to keep the femur and tibia bones in alignment. The ACL (anterior ligament) is the most torn ligament. The patella, or knee cap, acts like a pulley when we extend our leg. There are a lot of working parts here. If things aren't aligned correctly or we're tight, things can get torn or worn out causing tendinitis and loss of cartilage. Imbalances in the feet, hip and ankles can cause misalignment issues as well.

Practicing safely in your yoga class will help prevent an injury and help build better alignment so the body can heal. Below are a few tips.

• Avoid hyper-extending: If your knees hyper-extend, that means your ligaments are stretched out, which means poor support for the structure of your knees. To see if you have hyper-extended knees, sit on the ground with your legs stretched out like you're going to do a forward fold. Press your knees into the floor. If your ankles and feet lift up off the floor, you hyper-extend. To protect your knees in your practice you'll want to always have a micro bend in your knees and never lock them. Hyper-extending will feel natural to you, so you'll constantly have to check to make sure you aren't doing it, in and out of your yoga class.
• Check your feet: Your feet are your pedestals. If your base isn't balanced, the rest of your body won't be. Check to see that you have even weight on the feet and that you aren't collapsing in your arches. 
• Keep your knees in line: This is so important. When you're knee isn't lined up right, like letting the knee lean inward in warrior two, you're putting a lot of strain on the joint. Also when in poses like Fire Log Pose where you're putting pressure on the ankle and the knee, you'll need to flex the foot to protect the alignment of the knee. This works by activating the muscles in the legs and stabilizes the joint. When you bend the ankle inward it will actually separate the knee joint putting strain on the ligaments.
• Tune into subtle signals: Listen to your body, specifically your joints. How does your knee feel in a pose? If it hurts or you feel a stretch in the knee, you need to come out of the pose. No stretch should ever be felt in the knee joint. Just the belly of the calf and the quads. When you have a knee injury, it's not a good time to test your limits. Moderate your practice and avoid a vigorous flow class where you don't always have time to focus on alignment.

• Build strength by balancing: Often one knee hurts because that leg is the weakest. Build strength in that leg by doing balance poses. Focus on proper alignment of the feet and hips. Use a wall or chair for support if needed. If you aren't aligned correctly in the balance pose, you'll only make the problem worse.
• Be prop friendly: As mentioned above. Love your props. Props help you to get your body in the position it needs to be so that the pose can give you the most benefits. Let go of the ego and do what is best for your body. Give it the support it needs.
• Warm up: In order for all your muscles to work together, they all need to be warm. If you just start working a specific part of the body, but the rest isn't warmed up, you're going to create an imbalance and cause more trouble. Before doing any kind of PT on the body, warm it all up. Not all teachers are good about warming up students before they put them into harder poses. If this is the case, warm up before you go to class.
• Alignment first, then strength and stretch: If you try to strengthen weak quads or hamstrings because you were told they're the culprit to your knee pain, make sure you focus on alignment first. If the knee isn't in correct alignment and you begin to work on strengthening it or stretching it, you'll only cause more damage.
• Avoid prolonged kneeling, squatting or sitting: Basically any position that puts a lot of pressure on the joint. 

So how do you know if misalignment is causing your knee pain. Check these things either in a mirror or have a friend take a look:

• Do you have any restricted movement in the feet, ankles or hips?
• Instability in your posture. Do you lean to the side, forward or back?
• How is your walk? Is it uneven?
• Do you have low back pain (usually from either tight hamstrings or quads).
• Do you have a range of motion difference from one leg/hip to the other.

Most knee misalignment's begin in the hips, usually because they are tight and weak. Below are some poses that you can do to help open up the hips and strengthen the muscles that help keep the knees in alignment. 

Low lunge or high lunge

Warrior II

Tree

Bridge

Camel

Fire logs or four square (picture to the right)

Supine leg stretch, abduction (drop the leg out to the side away from the body) and adduction (drop the leg across the body to the other side). To work on strength, don't use a strap and lift and drop the leg by engaging your muscles. Make sure not to strain.

Windshield wiper legs: lay on your back with knees bent feet a little bit wider than hip distance apart. Swish the knees to the left as far as they will gently go and then swish to the right. Keep the hips on the ground, if they're tight they'll try to lift up. Continue this motion slowly. Repeat 5-10 times.

Remember to focus on alignment and keeping your feet flexed when necessary, like in the above picture of four square. Notice where you're feeling the stretch and modify if needed. Write down any imbalances that you notice in your practice such as your right legs seems stronger than your left or your left leg seems tighter than your right. Perhaps your hips aren't level when you're standing evenly on both feet. These are all clues to why your knee is hurting. Writing them down allows you to see the pieces of the puzzle and will help you to figure out the cause of your pain. The answers are all in the subtle details.

Don't Let Excuses Ruin Your Health

There's a circuit class at my gym that I love to take. I've been going for about a year now and have gotten to know a few regulars. By now they know that I teach yoga and they've begun to talk with me about it and mention that they've been meaning to try it. When I ask them why they haven't taken a class yet I get a variety of excuses, ranging from I just don't have the time, or I can't find an intro class, etc. The list is endless. My theory is, like Nike says, Just Do It.

The teacher in me tends to watch other students in my circuit class. I can easily see how tight and restricted most of them are. They're working on strength and cardiovascular, but their muscles are so tight that their bodies are being pulled into a slumped position. Yoga is a great compliment to strength training. It helps to balance out the body putting us into a healthy posture. More and more people are coming to realize this, but yet they still find ways to talk themselves out of going to a yoga class

Part of this is due to the fact that when you think of yoga, you picture the slender, usually female, bendy student contorting herself into all kinds of crazy postures. A lot of advertising has gone into debunking this myth. Yoga is for every body. More and more studios are catering to the average person as there are more of us than there are yogi stars.

So what's your excuse? Perhaps you've tried yoga at this point, but do you practice regularly? Do you have an injury and rather than switch the type of yoga you do, you just let it slide? There are so many obstacles to having a regular practice. If we choose to let the hectic pace of our lives determine our health, we're all bound to end up aging not so gracefully. The choices that we make on a daily basis regarding our health will have a life time of impact. If your body is telling you to do yoga, it's in your best interest to tell your mind to do so.

Next time you find yourself making an excuse not to go to a yoga class or roll out your mat at home, stop and question it. Are you tired? Yoga will actually help rejuvenate you. Just do a slower practice to fit your energy level. Are you rushed for time? Do a short practice. Just ten minutes on the mat will make a difference in your body and your day. Do you have an injury? Modify your practice. Just because one part of your body is hurt, doesn't mean the rest should suffer. Did you already go to the gym? Yoga will help to stretch out the sore muscles and keep your posture healthy. Are you in a bad mood and just want to slump on the couch in front of the TV? Perhaps you've had a fight with someone and you're upset? Yoga is great for clearing the mind of unwanted emotions. Do a practice that focuses on your breath and letting go of your thoughts. Do a slow deliberate practice.


No matter how I've felt, either emotionally or physically, my yoga practice has always made me feel better. There are times when I make myself roll out my mat and sit in child's pose for five minutes before I summon the energy to move to another pose. But I'm on my mat and I always feel grateful after my practice that I did it.

Whether you're stalling going to your first class or just rolling out your mat for a regular practice, stop to think why you're making an excuse. See if it's valid. Push through it and go to that class or roll out your mat. I think you'll be happy with the results.