Moments of bliss

How long can I get away with this?  I just returned from teaching my yoga class this morning, highly uplifted and joyful.  Nine peaceful, beautiful souls graced my presence while I led them through Ananda Balasana (Happy Baby), Virabhadrasana I (Warrior 1), and Sarvangasana (Shoulderstand), which I affectionately call “checking out my pedicure pose”, to name a few.  I met an angel this morning, her name was Mary and for some reason, most likely because we are in the Christmas season, I just felt angelic super power near her mat.  Afterward she gave me her business card and she does have a cross behind her name; so, yes I am convinced she’s an angel!  (No pressure there Mary) ;-)  She said she wanted to bottle me and take me home, what a lovely compliment.  I ran into several others I now call my friends.  We greet and say goodbye to each other with hugs and joy and love and kindness and I think to myself, “Wow if only everyone had this in their lives”.  Think what a powerful impact this could have on our families, our communities; our world if everyone did some yoga. 

I’m nestled down in my favorite, cozy chair in front of the fire with some hot chocolate topped with snowman marshmallows (shhh, don’t tell!) while my angelic baby girl rests in the room next door and the rest of my family is out ice fishing where I can watch them from afar.  I’m experiencing a moment of bliss as we say in the yoga world.  We all experience them, but yoga has this profound ability to help us to pause and notice them, take them into account, give thanks for these blessings; these moments of bliss. 

In the spirit of the season of giving and wishing to add more goodness and kindness to one another’s lives.  Mention you read this blog post, bring a new friend into our ever growing yoga community to one of my classes and their class is free.  Spread the love and wealth this healing practice has to offer with someone you cherish.  I teach 2^nd & 4^th Saturday’s but check Facebook just to make sure there are no changes in the schedule.  Just to clarify, this would only be good for new Yoga Bemidji students with another paid student and for a class with Julie.  No need to print anything out, save our forests, just mention this.

With love…. the divine in me honors the divine in you.  Namaste!

~Julie

Raising Happy Kids

“Abundance can be had simply by consciously receiving what has already been given.” —Sufi Saying

On the day before Thanksgiving, we are all thinking “Today, I grateful for… (fill in the blank)”.  Our Thanksgiving tradition is spending the day making a grand meal with love for our loved ones.  We join hands, bow our heads, and take turns saying what we are grateful for.  A cherished tradition, we typically only remember to carry out one day a year. 

In my quest of raising happy kids through some scientifically backed research, I have found that happy kids usually come from happy adults.  So what makes all of us happy?  It comes from within, nothing monetary or physical can bring us long term happiness.  It comes from being content with exactly what we have been given.  Being thankful and appreciative for all that we have rather than focusing on disappointment which can lead to entitlement.

So how can we implement this more than just once a year I ask?  With my 3 year old Ethan, every night after a good book and some snuggle time, our bedtime routine now includes the nightly question “Tell me what was good about your day?”  We both reflect on what we liked.  Sometimes his 3 year old imagination will run wild, and he’ll say something inventive like “I liked flying to the moon” or “slaying a dragon”.  But I figure, even if he is being thankful for something in his imagination, this gives me something to be grateful.  Raising a happy, healthy kid with a great big imagination, what could be more satisfying than that?

With that, may you be happy, may you be healthy, may you know peace!

Namaste,

Julie

The new smoking

While my parents made the proverbial “bacon”, my brother and I fixed ourselves hot dogs and pizza rolls in the microwave, followed up by Little Debbie’s and diet soda to wash it down.  This type of eating, along with the emotional aspects of weight gain/loss and the impact of genetics led to my being overweight at a very early age.  I remember being put on my first diet in the 1st grade.  I have gained and lost 50+ pounds more times in my life than I care to remember.  While I’ve come a long way, these ingrained behaviors along with the emotional roller coaster that gaining and losing weight has taken a toll on my life and quite possibly my health.  I still have not kicked this monkey off my back.  They say obesity is the new smoking; well I proudly quit smoking 8 years ago.  The difference, however, is I never have to smoke again in my life, never have to learn how to ration myself while not over-indulging, eating is a different story. I have to eat to live everyday, but many days what happens is, I live to eat.  I do my best to embrace conscious eating, follow the yogic path and a bit to my credit, I did just have a baby 5 months ago.  However, I’ve been teetering between 85 and 90 pounds over my goal weight for the past 5 months.  No weight loss since 2 weeks post-natal.  Yes, I should give myself time; yes, I should be patient, but I do not feel comfortable in this body and I desperately want to get back to my goal weight, which is 90 pounds lighter.  It’s about more than just looking in the mirror.  I want to walk up and down the stairs without being winded, I want to be able to fit through the tunnel in the kids play land, in the event my son gets stuck, scared and needs me.  I want my butt to comfortably fit in a chair without squishing and squeezing into it. I don’t want to see people eyeing me up and down when I tell them I’m a yoga teacher with this look on their face like, “you’ve got to be kidding me right?”. 
I hope as this column progresses, people can relate to my story and as I make my way through this life long journey, I may inspire, comfort, support and offer encouragement to others. 

May you be happy, may you be healthy, may you know peace.

Jai Bhagwan!
Julie

An open mind = an open heart

In my former life in software engineering, everything was about zeroes and ones, true or false, black or white, there was no grey.  As a result, there are times in my life when I experience things that I cannot describe as "logical" where I have a hard time keeping an open mind.  Whether it be the latest news headline, or differing opinion, I will be the first to admit, it can easy to be quick to judge.  Perhaps call it passion for my beliefs, but nonetheless it is judgement. 

I have sometimes passed this off as speaking my truth (Satya).  However, in re-reading Patanjali's Yoga Sutras recently, the first Yama really struck a chord.  The particular version I was reading stated, when in question, always refer to the first Yama, Ahimsa or Non-violence: inflicting no injury or harm to others or even to one's own self, it goes as far as non-violence in thought, word and deed.

Many times I end my classes with 3 OM's to represent a week of peaceful thoughts, words and deeds.  But for some reason the book I was reading is what resonated some of my attitudes and beliefs are in need of some work.

My new intention going forward is to first listen, then remember to breathe and attempt to think from another perspective.  My heart opens and the space I feel tension in my temples clears even thinking this way.  I can't say I will be perfect, but that's why they call it a "yoga practice" not a "yoga perfect" and right here I set the intention to put my open mindedness first and set my judgements aside.

Here's to taking your yoga off the mat and into your life.  Much love, peace and prosperity to you and your family!

~Julie

Balance

I’m not talking about Warrior 3, or am I?  Lately I feel like my life is a constant balancing act.  With a vibrant 3 year old and a not yet sleeping through the night, but wonderfully precious 4 month old, cloth diapers, laundry, laundry, laundry, meals, snacks, dishes, groceries, pre-school running, the garden and subsequent canning marathon, constant runs to the compost, 2 dogs, 9 chickens, a husband and oh yeah there’s me who seems to get left in the dust.  I feel like I’m caught in a bit of a whirlwind and a little off balance these days.  I think most could agree, this is to be expected.  I’ve heard from the generation who has been there done that, and they’ve all survived.  I have great confidence I will too, but how do I feel better in the meantime?  Breathe easier.  Find some PEACE and yes, BALANCE!  I keep coming back to my breath.  To help bring calm, I’ve been practicing ujjayi (oceanic) breathing while closing off my ears with my thumbs, and gently placing my index and middle fingers over my eyes for 30 – 60 seconds (or however long I can get).  This has had profound benefit.  To help fuel me when I need energy after an all-nighter with the baby and now I need to chase my 3 year old, I have been practicing bastrika (bellows) breath, again 30 - 60 seconds seems to be long enough.  Please note, go easy or don’t practice bastrika if you are having problems sleeping at night.

When I first found pranayama (breathing techniques), I got a video from one of my co-workers at the time originally from India.  I thought it was kind of a joke, how can all this sitting around breathing give any benefit?  I don’t have time for this silliness; I want to build buff arms and a strong core, that’s what I was looking for from my yoga practice at that time in my life.  Right now, I need some basic techniques to get through this precious, yet challenging period of my life.  I invite you take in what you need in your life at this moment.  If you can use any of my above suggestions to help bring more balance into your life, great!  If not, find what works for you.  As always, this is your body, mind, spirit integration; your yoga.  Enjoy! 

The Joy in me honors the Joy in you…Namaste,

~Julie

Inspiration

Inspiration...where does it come from?  And where can we find it?
Yesterday I was blessed to part of the 2011 Bemidji Women's Expo as an exhibitor for Yoga Bemidji. I met a woman who said she had been reading my blog, and also mentioned I haven't been keeping up with it since having my baby. This along with the hundreds of faces I saw, and many people I connected with, having a passion for yoga in our community was an inspiration to me and a rekindling of getting back to teaching and getting back to writing.

In perusing the paper this morning on the 10th anniversary of tragedies of September 11th, 2001, I was inspired by the stories of those who had the courage to deal with their grief and move on to do meaningful things.  One woman started a charity in her husband's honor to help disadvantaged kids through flight training.

I was blessed to meet a woman this morning that had 5 foster girls with her, all sisters.  The youngest was 5 weeks old.  She could tell by the puzzled look on my face I had questions.  I didn’t ask, but she offered up that there was a drug problem with the mother and the new baby tested positive for drugs at the hospital and was put into foster care at just 4 days old.  Despite watching this helpless little baby go through detox, she still has love and compassion in her heart for the mother and hopes the children will be able to go back with her one day.  Wow, I say!  Perhaps I’m too primal, too much of a protective mommy; but I found this foster mom so moving because the level of selflessness she shows is truly inspiring.

My kids, everyday inspire me.  Their innocence, their ability to forgive and forget almost immediately, their amazing honesty and their never ending love for me makes me strive to not only be a better parent, but a better human being.

If you are lacking inspiration lately, look around you.  Make a connection, start a conversation with a stranger.  Listen to the words of a meaningful song.  Read or watch something poignant, it just may put a smile on your face and warmth in your heart.

Namaste (the joy in me, honors the joy in you),

~Julie

Practicing Patience is certainly not perfect

After having my second child recently, my patience has certainly been tested lately...dealing with the crying, the pains and trials of nursing, keeping up with my very spirited 2 year old, letting my body heal, and somehow trying to love this body.  All of these stressors are out of my control, learning how to deal with them without creating stress to my body, mind and spirit is my choice.  This is where I try to come back to my breath.  Learning to breathe fully and slow down my constantly spinning, hamster wheel of a mind is such a blessing!  I recently discovered closing off my ears while doing Ujjayi or oceanic breathing is such an amazing relaxer.

Ujjayi is a diaphragmatic breath, which first fills the lower belly (activating the first and second chakras), rises to the lower rib cage (the third and fourth chakras), and finally moves into the upper chest and throat.  Inhalation and exhalation are both done through the nose. The "ocean sound" is created by closing off the back of the throat with the mouth closed as air passes in and out. As the throat passage is narrowed so, too, is the airway, the passage of air through which creates a "rushing" sound. The length and speed of the breath is controlled by the diaphragm, the strengthening of which is, in part, the purpose of ujjayi. The inhalations and exhalations are equal in duration, and are controlled in a manner that causes no distress to the practitioner.  Don't try this if you're having cold or sinus symptoms as it may aggitate the situation.

I hope this helps you slow down for a moment and Breathe! 

May you be Happy, may you be Healthy, may you know Peace!

Namaste,
Julie

Transformation

With all this talk of New Years resolutions, from diets & exercise to learning a new language or going back to school, whatever the goal may be, opening a new chapter to self improvement can be very powerful.  Unfortunately most of these well intended resolutions usually fall short, whether the goal is unclear or perhaps it is unattainable within our busy lives.  We long for our old, safe habits. There's comfort in the familiar, even if the familiar is a painful, limiting idea of who we really are. How can we move forward, though, when every step toward change is rooted in a toxic relationship with the Self?

The hardest part about creating change for me is the concept of Self-acceptance: loving myself despite my flaws. It is only from a place of Self-acceptance that we can hope to rewrite our own story. To accept oneself lies in the ability to see oneself clearly–without judgement–which requires stillness, willingness and courage.

Patanjali, author of the Yoga Sutras, offers us five tools to help us on our path. The first is faith: faith in the process, faith in oneself and maybe (if this resonates with you) faith in grace or something infinite that is beyond our perception. It takes faith to get through those moments when it feels like all is lost. It also takes tremendous strength, which is the second sutra. The third is memory, which is crucial because without memory we cannot consider the lessons we've learned (but tricky, of course, because memory is seductive, holding the power to trap us in the past). Contemplation is the fourth sutra. Contemplation implies a commitment to really sit with yourself and listen for the answers. Discernment–the final sutra–is probably my favorite because there's immense value in the ability to know when to act and when to be still.

Embarking on the new year, I'm inspired to love, respect and trust myself. My New Year's resolutions are only as good as the soil in which they're planted and I believe my real work lies in the tilling, watering and weeding of that earth. It takes so much courage to be honest with ourselves, but perhaps even more to be okay with what we see. A healthy and respectful relationship with the Self fosters the skills we need to take the appropriate action–the one that's best for us.

May you move forward in the New Year with peace in your heart and a renewed commitment to loving yourself.