Challenge

Yoga & Social Media

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It took me a great deal of time and thought to decide on what I wanted to write about for my first 2020 post. Usually I try to start the year off with intention setting or invite you all as readers to join in on a new year reset yoga challenge. While these things are still happening in the background of my own personal life (Adrienne came out with another 30 day yoga playlist, if you haven’t checked it out, here it is: Home) I thought I would start this year with a different intention. I want to write about more challenging topics. Similar to my recent post about cultural appropriation, I was to discuss issues that matter to me that readers might relate to. Of course, I will keep bringing in posts about specific poses or yoga props, but I also want to dig a little deeper.

So for my first post in 2020, I want to discuss yoga and social media…

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Many of you might scroll through your favorite social media feed and find someone doing a yoga pose. Maybe it’s a celebrity sponsor of a yoga clothing company, maybe it’s your favorite yoga celebrity, or maybe it’s simply a local yoga instructor. Maybe you yourself have posted photos of yourself in yoga poses.

That is great!

Let me state very clearly, I’m not here to judge anyone for anything you have or will do on social media. If you post pictures of yourself regularly in yoga poses…great. If you don’t, that’s great too. What I want to discuss is what the intention is behind these posts.

I have noticed a trend in yoga instructors and yoga celebrities posting photos of themselves in advanced poses. I find accounts online called “Yoga Inspiration” highlighting a very specific type of yoga student or teacher showing off their skills in handstands, scorpion pose, and other advanced poses. So again, I ask, what’s the intention behind these? Is it truly to send inspiration to students around the social media world that they too can get there? If so, that’s great! If it’s to show off a skill you’ve worked hard to achieve, that’s great too! More often than not, I get the sense that this type of imagery creates an unrealistic idea of what yoga is. I also think that these images might actually discourage students because they may not be able to achieve certain advanced poses yet or at the same time as their peers and they may give up. Unlike many other activities, yoga isn’t just about achievement in the physical sense, it’s more (to me) about achieving alignment with yourself, mind, body and spirit. So I think to myself, what is the point of posting these images to show others what poses you can get into when the practice itself is about getting more in tune with yourself? I worry about the long term impact on yoga students as well as the yoga practice itself. I believe that yoga in the western society has already become warped and appropriated in certain ways and I don’t think social media is really helping.

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Now, don’t get me wrong, I myself have posted many pictures in yoga poses. My true intention is not only to inspire students and friends, but also to educate on what yoga might be good for or help with. Part of my recent journey has been to create more awareness and intention around my words and actions. So I’ve toned down on my yoga pose photos and tried to highlight life, the reality of it. I don’t want to promote myself and only my achievements. I want to promote the world and it’s beauty. Especially in these times.

So, I challenge you…the next time you want to post a picture of yourself in a yoga pose, pause. Ask yourself why…then decide whether you want to or not. The choice is yours and yours alone. No judgement, no foul.

Be well!

February – Let’s Promote Self-Care

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Often, during the month of February, we find ourselves surrounded by messages of romantic love. We see candies and cards meant to express how we love our romantic partners. Sometimes we can find the candies and cards to express non-romantic love for others…family and friends. But what about ourselves?

Where are the candies and cards that we are allowed to give ourselves to say thank you, I love you.

Often we forget that the most important person in our lives is us. Me…I…these are important too. It’s not selfish to say “I love myself”. It’s not selfish to want to spend time by yourself doing what you want to do instead of making room to do whatever your partner, friends, or family wants. It’s not selfish to take care of YOU!

 

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Many people work in fields of service. From nursing, teaching, to therapy and social work…these are all fields where we give a little bit of ourselves to the people, communities we serve. How can we do this if we are not taking care of ourselves first? We are like buckets, if you will. We are happy when we are full energetically. So if we keep taking a cup here, a cup there…all these cups for others…we end up emptying out our own energy store. We need to replenish. That’s where self-care comes in.

Here are a few good self-care items that might help you replenish that energy you might be losing:

  1. Take a bubble bath.
  2. Meditate.
  3. Do some yoga.
  4. Go for a walk outside.
  5. Read a book.
  6. Take a nap.
  7. Watch your favorite movie alone.
  8. Make yourself your favorite meal.
  9. Ask for help or space.

These are just a few tips. Generally self-care is doing something you like that’s good for you. So it’s not eating an entire cake or bag of candy. It’s not ignoring things that are piling up on your to-do list. It’s doing something that you love that helps you replenish your own energy store so that you can go out and tackle that class of rowdy teens or that huge to-do list.

New Year – Let’s Dedicate!

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A new year is always a good time to restart. It’s often a time of renewal, recommitment, and rededication. Many of us make resolutions to start working out more, eating healthier, maybe even drinking less alcohol. All these are great! It’s always great to dedicate yourself to YOU!

My resolution is simple. New year, same me. I am dedicating 2019 to ME!

One way I’m doing this is renewing my dedication to yoga. I am continuing my intention to practice yoga on a daily basis. That can be quite a daunting task. Most of the time when I wake up, I don’t want to get on the mat. I want to stay in bed and be lazy…especially on the weekends. I often need motivation to participate in a daily practice. That’s where YouTube and my favorite YouTube Yogi comes in.

Every January Adriene from Yoga with Adriene puts out a month long practice to rejuvenate a daily yoga practice. This year, it’s called Dedicate. What a perfect name for 2019??

Some of the videos are long, some aren’t. So far I’ve been able to find time to do all of them. I have to say, this has been a great way for me to keep myself accountable. After 20+ days, it will once again become a habit.

I wish you all the best of luck keeping your resolutions this year. I know I will do my best to keep mine. Here’s to another year, another 365 pages to fill in the book of life!

 

 

 

A Month of Gratitude

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When you think of November, what comes to mind? Fall colors, great food, maybe even family? Another thing that usually comes to mind is gratitude. Many folks use this month as a jumpstart to express their gratitude for the past year. Towards the end of each year we often find ourselves reflecting on the past year and thinking of all the good times as well as the bad. Setting yourself up with a 30 day gratitude challenge is a great way to focus on the good.

It doesn’t matter when you start, doing a 30 day gratitude challenge is great for any time of year.

Here are some great tips on expressing gratitude:

  • Be an active listener
  • Give out compliments
  • Write positive affirmations for yourself
  • Be thoughtful
  • Volunteer
  • Give a hug
  • Share praise
  • Journal on gratitude
  • Donate
  • Say thank you
  • Smile

Remember, expressing gratitude for yourself is just as important as expressing gratitude to others. Loving yourself is often more important too!

Have fun with this gratitude challenge and happy holidays!

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New Year – Opportunity to Restart

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Another new year, another new year’s resolution…right?

Maybe not so much! We don’t have to wait until the new year to restart our dedication to our yoga practice. Each day is a new day and a new opportunity to restart your daily yoga practice.

This year, I began the new year with a 30 day yoga journey created by Yoga with Adriene! Each year a new year’s restart is offered up, allowing us all to start the new year on a new track. It’s important to note, however, that we are not restricted to January to start a new year. Adriene offers monthly calendars on her website, allowing each month to become a restart.

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So get out there – find the calendar for you and restart your life! You’ll only have yourself to thank.

Pose Breakdown: Natarajasana (Dancer Pose)

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Natarajasana, translated to dancer or lord of the dance pose, is a beautiful and challenging pose. Usually incorporated towards the end of a yoga flow, this pose is a great way to stretch out the body, focus the mind, and really challenge your sense of balance. It is a fun pose to play with, attempting to bring the back leg higher or reach the front arm further. Dancer pose is also a great pose for kids. It gives them a fun, challenging pose to try out.

Steps to get into pose:

  • Start in tadasana (mountain pose)
  • Shift weight to right leg/foot
  • Bend left after at the elbow bringing it out to the left side
  • Slowly bend left leg at the knee, bringing left foot into the left hand
  • Lift right arm straight up towards the sky
  • Holding the inside of the left foot, slowly kick the leg out behind out
  • While kicking the left leg out, slowly hinge at the hips reaching right arm ahead of you
  • Repeat steps for opposite leg

 

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Benefits:

  • Stretches the shoulders and chest
  • Stretches the thighs, groins, and abdomen
  • Strengthens the legs and ankles
  • Improves balance

 

 

 

Yoga Revolution

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Throughout the month of January, I participated in the 31 Days of Yoga Revolution with Adriene (Yoga with Adriene). I’ve done many different types of challenges like this at various times of the year, but I have to say this one may be my favorite. Most of the challenges I’ve done in the past have been short term, somewhere between 5-10 days. Last fall I did a long challenge, 30 days, but it wasn’t what I expected.

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I went into this new challenge with an open mind and an open heart. I didn’t want to bring any past experiences into this challenge, so I took the new year as a reset and a restart. I figured this challenge would be a great way to kick start a new year and really make a solid attempt to do 365 days of yoga!

Each day, a short 25-35 minute yoga video was sent via email. It was accompanied by an often very long, but very thoughtful and thought-provoking text. So many mornings, when I was too tired to think about practicing, I would read the email and it would reinvigorate me, help me reaffirm this challenge and my goals for my life. The first email also included this calendar, allowing me (and the other yogis) to see what lay ahead.

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Some of the practice titles looked daunting, I will admit. I will also admit that some days I wasn’t 100%. I did most of the sessions in the morning, before starting my day. Some days I really did not want to practice for 35 minutes. Some days I just wanted to do my own thing…AND THAT’S OKAY! The point is, I stuck to it. Each day, no matter how I felt or what mood I was in, I went to my mat and gave myself up to the practice.

THAT, MY FRIENDS, IS WHAT YOGA IS ALL ABOUT!

Some practices were tough. Some were easy. All were EXACTLY WHAT I NEEDED.

Ultimately, yoga is what you make it. It can help you become the best version of you possible. It can help empower you to take that step towards your career or life goals. Or it can simply be a way for you to get away and be calm.

I highly recommend this 31 Days of Yoga Revolution. You can find the entire challenge on YouTube (31 Days of Yoga Revolution). Adriene also has various other challenges, like Yoga Camp (Yoga Camp). Even if you simply review her YouTube videos and pick and choose which ones you want to do, they are a great way to get started with yoga and to really become more serious about your practice. Adriene also has many instructional videos on specific poses which is great for beginners and advanced yogis (sometimes we need a reminder to prevent injuries).

Here’s to finding what feels good in 2017. Heyyyoooooooo!