Live the questions...

Yoga raises more questions than it answers.

Why can’t I put my foot behind my head yet? 

Why am I scared of inversions? 

How do I align my hips in half moon? 

What is the point of Ujjayi breath? 

Why do get angry in Half Pigeon?

It can be irritating and unnerving, especially in a society where we are expected to be, and are rewarded for being, decisive, knowledgeable and forthright. 

However, when we pause and we begin to practice within those questions our practice grows. Instead of forcing a pose, when we ask what’s going on and take the time to breathe and be okay with not really knowing, something magic happens and we find that it gets easier and before we know it we’re in a place we never expected to be.

Similarly, off the mat, when we begin to live the questions we begin to investigate ourselves and we get to know ourselves on a deeper, more authentic level.

Remember the last time you met someone new, perhaps a first date or a job interview – those times are all filled with questions. Often the true answers don’t come until much later when you really experience that person, that relationship, that job.  You find the things you love over time, the quirks, the annoying habits that you’d be lost without, the short cuts and organization you need.

In the same way, life unfolds itself slowly to us, but for some reason we stop asking the questions. We start to believe we know it all.

Just for today allow yourself to challenge that:  ask every question, live every question. Stop preempting the answer, be safe in the knowledge that it will come in time, but for now investigate, experiment and play in the unknown.

As Deepak Chopra says “Accept what you do not know and what you do not know you do not know”. Breathe into those spaces, and in that place of intrigue, of mystery, of magic, find the fullness of life. Return to your childlike innocence where the wonder and the wild things are, the places where everything is new, surprising and fantastic. Let go of the “I know” of the ego and be okay with the “I wonder”. In this place … in the questions … truly anything is possible

The years are short ...

... but the days are long

My birthday always makes me think about what I've achieved, where I am, and what I still wish to achieve.

When St Patrick’s Day rolls around every year I am always surprised it’s here so quickly, it feels like just yesterday we were celebrating the New Year.

I've come to realize that, although time seems to pass so quickly when you’re in the moment, there is so much that you can pack in, it’s really astounding when you reflect.

It always surprises me to think we are already in mid-March, and for a brief moment I worry that time is passing too quickly for me and I wish that I had set out on my dreams and goals earlier. But then I think about what I've done in the past twelve months; the classes I've taught, people I've met, places I've traveled, skills I've learned from scratch and those I've honed in and it makes me realize how much I can and will still achieve.

If you can learn to walk, talk, eat, do your sums, read and write before you’re 5, imagine what you could learn to do now you have all of those skills if you just dedicated yourself to it. The natural aptitude of the child is joyous attention. Before we learn the fear of failure and disappointment, we inherently know the magic and excitement of trying and growing through every success AND every failure.

Instead of slowing down and feeling like you've already peaked, find a new goal, a new horizon, a new challenge and work for it. However it turns out, if you work hard, you'll grow from the experience, you'll learn a lot and you might just find a new dream in the process.

Time does pass quickly: instead of lamenting it choose to keep up. Stay childlike, keep learning, keep growing.

Crowing From The Roof Tops

This year I vow to master The Crow

Um ....

This year I vow to master Crow pose

You’ll often hear yoga teachers introduce Bakasana (crow pose) as the “beginners” or “easy” inversion. For many reasons they’re not wrong: your body mass remains close to the ground lowering your centre of gravity, you progress in small stages with one toe at a time,  well, because Iyengar listed it as an easier posture (and that guy knows his sh*t!). For as many reasons, and more, crow pose is neither a beginning nor an easy posture and it is terrifying, and often times disheartening, for many students (including myself) to be told so.

When I started my first yoga teacher training I was by far the physically weakest, heaviest, least flexible and least practiced / seasoned of the group. Those things played heavy on my heart, I felt less than adequate and constantly told myself I would never manage certain postures no matter how hard I tried. The fun of partner yoga for one was on my list of “looks amazing but not for me” items, most arm balances and inversions went into the “yeah yeah I get what you’re saying but I’m not built that way” category and even chataranga fell into the box marked “sure, when I've started weight training”

I learnt to teach Crow as part of a Level 1 sequence, we encourage students to play and have fun with the feeling of being upside down and being on their hands, even if they are brand new to the practice. I really love that attitude of just giving it a go, and, if positioned properly it allows new yogis to feel like they’re not stuck on the D-team, just craving the day they are ‘good enough’ to move up a level. For me, it was empowering as a teacher, from an early stage to be given the tools to teach a posture I could not yet demonstrate – learning to rely on my words and encouragement to see student after student succeed. It was also empowering for my students to see a teacher fall and smile and keep trying week after week.

For my part I have never not tried, however, I do recognize my inner voice still screaming “okay have a go, but it’s not going to happen”. Physically I have changed; I’m more open, stronger and steadier. I have learnt to enjoy the challenges of new postures and look forward to practicing headstands, handstands, hurdlers, side crow and more, comfortable in the knowledge that I have so far to go. So I know my body is ready for Crow, but my mind has not been (a true testament to the power of positive – or in this case negative – thinking).

So here is my pledge – this year I am going to master crow. Who knows if my crow pose will look perfect, frankly, who cares! I will keep practicing until I no longer fear it. That is my commitment

And if, like me, you struggle with your “beginners” inversion – remember:

1. You can do anything you put your mind to
2. Crow teaches you the basics of core control, how to breathe upside down and how to face the fear of face-planting – but it does not have to be your first inversion, if you’re in a rut, try something else
3. No-one but you cares if you can do Crow or not, you get all the benefits of the arm work in plank pose and all the benefits of an inversion in any forward fold so do what you want to do, not what you think is expected
4. Come back. Let go for a while, play around elsewhere, and come back.

I’ll start a photo log of my progress so you can giggle along … heck maybe I’ll make it a video log  - would love to see you flying high too.

Dare to dream BIG

The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams ~ Eleanor Roosevelt

On Friday night I had one of the most beautiful dreams. So peaceful and simple I was photographing a kaleidoscope of small purple butterflies. (What a beautiful name for a group of butterflies … a kaleidoscope).  All the while the rain was lightly falling but the sun was shining through allowing the brightest rainbow to form over me.

I woke on Saturday refreshed, calm and filled with passion and drive, sublime timing for the kick-off of my Level One Urban Zen Integrative Therapy course.

The weekend panned to be powerful and transformative, jumping in with both feet again into the fountain of healing knowledge … dipping my toes always seems the sensible route but never satisfies my thirst. I feel like my eyes have been opened  to truths my heart has known for some time. The path for me is clearer every day, not easy and definitely not short nor full of surprises, but clearer and more tantalizing than ever before. To hone my knowledge and my skills, to allow my heart to burst open and truly vesslefy the power that is all around us and within each of us to, simply put, make things a little better.

Out of intrigue I looked up some dream interpretations:

The rainbow is also seen as a bridge between your earthly, grounded self and the higher, spiritual self. ~ www.dreammoods.com

The butterfly most commonly is a symbol of transformation. … Taking all of this into consideration it is easy to see that dreaming of a butterfly may mark the beginning of a transformation in your waking life. …Butterflies are also a symbol of spirituality. Many times when a dreamer dreams of butterflies around them, or of observing them, it means that in their waking life they are on the verge of a deep spiritual journey, full of new awareness and possibilities. ~ http://contributor.yahoo.com/user/9341/sincerity_anna.html