In yoga practice, we begin to focus on learning poses, then realizing that there is more we have not explored about ourselves: body, our mind, our spirit, than we realized. Each day my practice is to direct my mind to what I can do, what I want to create, rather than my fears. This is not easy today. Today I wake up and know that there are many obligations I have. There are bills to pay, a business to grow, and my studio has been too quiet the past few months. I have woken up like this almost everyday for the past 4 years. Every day I shift my attention to what I can create to make a difference in the lives of those I meet.
If you are reading this, you are someone who cares about these things too. So lets focus on this together. What kind of life do you want? What kind of world do you want to live in? I find that when I talk with people about this, whoever is present gets excited about new possibilities. So today, start a conversation with someone. Tell them your dreams. Your dreams will remain dormant unless you share them.
My dream is to see a thriving yoga business in my studio, to see many people coming in and out, sharing their joy in their yoga practice. These people go home and their joy spreads to their families. These families go out into their own lives and activities and the joy is then exponentially spread! Get excited about your dreams and talk about them. What a world we do live in! A world in which our perceptions are what creates our realities. If you want to get inspired, just look around you! There is a world of inspiration waiting for you to just look! Here is a video that inspired me yesterday: Biker
Have a beautiful day!
Showing posts with label exercise. Show all posts
Showing posts with label exercise. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Holistic Health and Yoga
I don't know if you know this about me as I always write about yoga and meditation: before I taught yoga, I taught people about natural healing. Homeopathy, reiki, nutrition, herbs, acupressure, weight loss - these are the tools I taught about. There are so many options available that actually work!
There is also alot of confusion about these options. We read in the media that a certain herb is good for something, then we read somewhere else that a certain way of eating is good for something else and we start to see so many options that we think we can't possibly take all of these in, get overwhelmed and just give up and end up eating what everyone else around us is eating. This can be okay or not depending on how healthy you and your family & friends actually are.
I feel fortunate that I started out pretty sick and now I'm not. I had nothing to lose by trying out different natural healing methods. I was constantly struggling with my weight (my father was very overweight most of his life); constantly getting colds (even bronchitis & possibly pneumonia once) and whenever I exercised, ended up injuring myself.
Before I shifted my diet and lifestyle so dramatically, I had bladder and kidney infections about every other month. I even went to see a specialist - a urologist - to find out why I kept getting sick. After a painful test, when the "specialist" said idiopathic (translation "we don't know why"), I gave up on medicine. I prayed. Then a new friend showed up in my life.
She was a vegetarian and went to a naturopathic doctor. Since I was desperate for something new and intrigued by her health & vitality, I went for it. Within 3 months, my bladder and kidney infections that I had suffered through for 8 years, ended. My healing path began.
I then had a voracious appetite for knowledge of holistic, natural healing modalities. Long story, many years later, I now have a certification in Natural Therapies, Certificate in Holistic Weight Management and Wellness Coaching. I have also studied yoga now and it's therapeutic effects for much of the past decade or more. I also have a B.S. in Psychology and Reiki Master/Teacher.
Healing takes place at many levels - the gross physical to emotional-mental to the spiritual. True healing takes place at all of these levels and if you want to go down that path, the answers you seek will find you.
Since 1986 when I started on the road to wellness, I have completely transformed my own health and also helped many others along the way. I recognize that there also is a political battle and financial battle in this country over health care. Every year the pharmaceutical industry gets some senator or congressman to introduce a bill to take away our right to purchase some vitamin (or all of them) or herbs, or even to take away our right to find this information! Even now, many vitamin companies are in danger of having to close shop because there is a bill that takes away our right to buy vitamins without a doctors prescription!
Now - I know we do not have to take "vitamins" - research shows that whole foods are what the body recognizes for food & healing. However, there are some really great supplements out there that are whole-food based - not chemically created individual vitamins - that are having a tremendous impact on individuals health & wellbeing. And these supplements have decades of research backing up their claims!
Also homeopathic medicine and herbal medicines have hundreds of years of success at helping people with minimal or no side-effects.
We MUST learn about these and pass this knowledge onto others for future generations. Knowing how to heal our bodies and help our loved ones too, empowers us. Now is the time to take your life and health into your own hands!
Grow your own food if you can - eat more fruits and vegetables. Cut out meat; sugar & dairy products (all of these can make you sick if you eat them too often). Read about natural ways of healing your body too! Do you know that water is one of the most healing substances ? Many of our ills are from dehydration?!
Since I began practicing yoga daily, I have had little in the way of health challenges. The supplement I have eaten for more than 20 years - is spirulina (I have bought from the same company - see http://karenswellness.rbclifesciences.com - that's me - if you get a $35 lifetime membership it's 20% discount on it and less costly than co-op spirulina!).
When my cat is sick, I use food and homeopathic remedies and water that is reverse osmosis filtered. My cat has not been sick since we started with that water and some food for sensitive digestion that has pro-biotics in it.
When raising my children, their medicine was homeopathic remedies and herbal teas and healthy food. Why does yoga keep me healthy? Well, the daily practice keeps my whole circulatory system, lymphatic and muscular, cellular and neurological system clean (detoxified), massaged inside & out, oxygenated and energized (with breathing/prana) and balanced.
Spiritually, emotionally, mentally I am healthier because of my meditation and spiritual life. I read uplifting spiritual texts, I pray, I take time out everyday to meditate and contemplate and connect with God.
Socially, I stay in communication with the people I love. And I balance it out with plenty of alone time. I rest enough, eat healthy, entertainment is also positive and uplifting. I am in charge of what I put into body and mind.
It is time to do this and to share this with others. I will continue to share with you this knowledge and get into more detail in this blog. Check back again soon, I will post some information on homeopathy next time.
Namaste,
Karen
There is also alot of confusion about these options. We read in the media that a certain herb is good for something, then we read somewhere else that a certain way of eating is good for something else and we start to see so many options that we think we can't possibly take all of these in, get overwhelmed and just give up and end up eating what everyone else around us is eating. This can be okay or not depending on how healthy you and your family & friends actually are.
I feel fortunate that I started out pretty sick and now I'm not. I had nothing to lose by trying out different natural healing methods. I was constantly struggling with my weight (my father was very overweight most of his life); constantly getting colds (even bronchitis & possibly pneumonia once) and whenever I exercised, ended up injuring myself.
Before I shifted my diet and lifestyle so dramatically, I had bladder and kidney infections about every other month. I even went to see a specialist - a urologist - to find out why I kept getting sick. After a painful test, when the "specialist" said idiopathic (translation "we don't know why"), I gave up on medicine. I prayed. Then a new friend showed up in my life.
She was a vegetarian and went to a naturopathic doctor. Since I was desperate for something new and intrigued by her health & vitality, I went for it. Within 3 months, my bladder and kidney infections that I had suffered through for 8 years, ended. My healing path began.
I then had a voracious appetite for knowledge of holistic, natural healing modalities. Long story, many years later, I now have a certification in Natural Therapies, Certificate in Holistic Weight Management and Wellness Coaching. I have also studied yoga now and it's therapeutic effects for much of the past decade or more. I also have a B.S. in Psychology and Reiki Master/Teacher.
Healing takes place at many levels - the gross physical to emotional-mental to the spiritual. True healing takes place at all of these levels and if you want to go down that path, the answers you seek will find you.
Since 1986 when I started on the road to wellness, I have completely transformed my own health and also helped many others along the way. I recognize that there also is a political battle and financial battle in this country over health care. Every year the pharmaceutical industry gets some senator or congressman to introduce a bill to take away our right to purchase some vitamin (or all of them) or herbs, or even to take away our right to find this information! Even now, many vitamin companies are in danger of having to close shop because there is a bill that takes away our right to buy vitamins without a doctors prescription!
Now - I know we do not have to take "vitamins" - research shows that whole foods are what the body recognizes for food & healing. However, there are some really great supplements out there that are whole-food based - not chemically created individual vitamins - that are having a tremendous impact on individuals health & wellbeing. And these supplements have decades of research backing up their claims!
Also homeopathic medicine and herbal medicines have hundreds of years of success at helping people with minimal or no side-effects.
We MUST learn about these and pass this knowledge onto others for future generations. Knowing how to heal our bodies and help our loved ones too, empowers us. Now is the time to take your life and health into your own hands!
Grow your own food if you can - eat more fruits and vegetables. Cut out meat; sugar & dairy products (all of these can make you sick if you eat them too often). Read about natural ways of healing your body too! Do you know that water is one of the most healing substances ? Many of our ills are from dehydration?!
Since I began practicing yoga daily, I have had little in the way of health challenges. The supplement I have eaten for more than 20 years - is spirulina (I have bought from the same company - see http://karenswellness.rbclifesciences.com - that's me - if you get a $35 lifetime membership it's 20% discount on it and less costly than co-op spirulina!).
When my cat is sick, I use food and homeopathic remedies and water that is reverse osmosis filtered. My cat has not been sick since we started with that water and some food for sensitive digestion that has pro-biotics in it.
When raising my children, their medicine was homeopathic remedies and herbal teas and healthy food. Why does yoga keep me healthy? Well, the daily practice keeps my whole circulatory system, lymphatic and muscular, cellular and neurological system clean (detoxified), massaged inside & out, oxygenated and energized (with breathing/prana) and balanced.
Spiritually, emotionally, mentally I am healthier because of my meditation and spiritual life. I read uplifting spiritual texts, I pray, I take time out everyday to meditate and contemplate and connect with God.
Socially, I stay in communication with the people I love. And I balance it out with plenty of alone time. I rest enough, eat healthy, entertainment is also positive and uplifting. I am in charge of what I put into body and mind.
It is time to do this and to share this with others. I will continue to share with you this knowledge and get into more detail in this blog. Check back again soon, I will post some information on homeopathy next time.
Namaste,
Karen
Monday, July 11, 2011
Ahimsa
Non violence in thought, word and action. Read more on the 40 Day Yoga Challenge blog.
(see previous entry for link)
(see previous entry for link)
Monday, January 17, 2011
Motivation: Freedom from Pain
Six months after my bike accident I am dealing with new developments in healing. If you are new to my blog, I was in an accident in May 2010 when trying to avoid a bus. I don't know if the bus actually hit me, although the 911 caller said a bus hit a bicyclist. I was knocked unconscious and suffered a concussion, neck injury and serious bruises. I am doing well considering. My head injury doesn't affect me much anymore, headaches are mostly gone. My typing skills are almost back to normal, although when fatigued I type some words with vowels reversed. I also sometimes have trouble getting the words out when I talk too much - so on long teaching days that shows up too.
The healing process is slowed by my scoliosis as I am also working on improving that with my chiropractor. As my body unwinds and my nervous system repairs I sometimes feel more crooked than I did before the accident, although it is greater nervous system feedback I am experiencing - that's a good thing. My lower back is currently the pain giver.
On Sunday I was practicing yoga and I seem to be getting much of my strength and balance back, but I cannot practice as long and hard as I used to. So I am heading to the gym at Snap Fitness to walk on the treadmill and use the machine that is like an elliptical machine. I put the setting on 12 minutes to warm up on the treadmill, then switch to the elliptical for 12 more minutes. As I watch the timer count down (I set it on the strength training setting), I am experiencing pain in moving. I take it slow so that I can keep my movements symmetrical as possible. This is a challenge with a twisted pelvis (from scoliosis). I think about pain and how I tell my students that they needn't experience pain to make progress in a yoga practice.
I also think about the person next to me - she seems to be working hard & strong. It is not easy for my ego. My ego says I am going too slowly and I don't look so good (and I'm glad they don't know who I am - a yoga teacher!).
I realize that the pain I experience in this work must be experienced because it isn't the pain of over-doing. It is the pain of getting the muscles to obey and re-learn smooth movement. It is also discomfort - my body isn't used to working that hard right now. It is from being out of shape. So I work through it. I keep going, I begin to feel warm, as my muscles warm up I experience more freedom of movement.
I fantasize running a race again. I used to run 5K and 10K races, years ago before I was a regular yoga practitioner. I realize that when you reach a certain level of fitness and are working the body aerobically, the muscles and organs are pumping with oxygenated blood and the brain begins to experience endorphins. That is the pain relief I have been seeking. The flush of healthy muscle, oxygen flowing into the body, sweat.
It is an experience I have when practicing a more vigorous form of yoga: Ashtanga yoga. Yet, I cannot yet practice that form of yoga fully because of my injuries. I want to let everyone know how great it feels to really move the body. I want to let everyone know that there is a point beyond the initial pain of starting to move like this - that you will experience a sense of euphoria - after you have worked through the "I don't want to move" part.
I realize that we are all seeking freedom from pain. Exercise can go a long way toward freedom from physical and emotional pain - and this is a real way to achieve that - with no pain killers or anti-depression drugs. Rest doesn't work all by itself. Yoga isn't the cure-all. I wish it was - it would be easier for me. But healing isn't easy. It's simple, not easy.
The healing process is slowed by my scoliosis as I am also working on improving that with my chiropractor. As my body unwinds and my nervous system repairs I sometimes feel more crooked than I did before the accident, although it is greater nervous system feedback I am experiencing - that's a good thing. My lower back is currently the pain giver.
On Sunday I was practicing yoga and I seem to be getting much of my strength and balance back, but I cannot practice as long and hard as I used to. So I am heading to the gym at Snap Fitness to walk on the treadmill and use the machine that is like an elliptical machine. I put the setting on 12 minutes to warm up on the treadmill, then switch to the elliptical for 12 more minutes. As I watch the timer count down (I set it on the strength training setting), I am experiencing pain in moving. I take it slow so that I can keep my movements symmetrical as possible. This is a challenge with a twisted pelvis (from scoliosis). I think about pain and how I tell my students that they needn't experience pain to make progress in a yoga practice.
I also think about the person next to me - she seems to be working hard & strong. It is not easy for my ego. My ego says I am going too slowly and I don't look so good (and I'm glad they don't know who I am - a yoga teacher!).
I realize that the pain I experience in this work must be experienced because it isn't the pain of over-doing. It is the pain of getting the muscles to obey and re-learn smooth movement. It is also discomfort - my body isn't used to working that hard right now. It is from being out of shape. So I work through it. I keep going, I begin to feel warm, as my muscles warm up I experience more freedom of movement.
I fantasize running a race again. I used to run 5K and 10K races, years ago before I was a regular yoga practitioner. I realize that when you reach a certain level of fitness and are working the body aerobically, the muscles and organs are pumping with oxygenated blood and the brain begins to experience endorphins. That is the pain relief I have been seeking. The flush of healthy muscle, oxygen flowing into the body, sweat.
It is an experience I have when practicing a more vigorous form of yoga: Ashtanga yoga. Yet, I cannot yet practice that form of yoga fully because of my injuries. I want to let everyone know how great it feels to really move the body. I want to let everyone know that there is a point beyond the initial pain of starting to move like this - that you will experience a sense of euphoria - after you have worked through the "I don't want to move" part.
I realize that we are all seeking freedom from pain. Exercise can go a long way toward freedom from physical and emotional pain - and this is a real way to achieve that - with no pain killers or anti-depression drugs. Rest doesn't work all by itself. Yoga isn't the cure-all. I wish it was - it would be easier for me. But healing isn't easy. It's simple, not easy.
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