Invest in a . . . and save the world.

Fill in the blank yourself.  I just watched a short video saying invest in a girl and save the world.  As if just focusing on girls will do it!  We need to invest in all of our children.  By invest I don't mean money. . . I mean invest your attention and time.  It does not need to be alot of time.  Just a moment when you are completely present with another human being - see and listen to that person - see them as the amazing being they truly are underneath the covering of the body.  When we can do that which each and every person we meet, then the world will not need saving.

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

Day 10 of 40 day challenge

So The toughest part of a 40-day challenge.  The challenge, for me, is staying present to being in a challenge!  I forget!  Then I remember there is a group of people in this with me.  The past few days my challenge has been to stay in this game I have created to play - my life.

There are days, yes even for a yoga teacher/studio owner, where I feel like just hiding at home in bed.  I get overwhelmed by all of the many tasks that I am supposed to do.  My mind gives me multiple lists, I imagine that I must be missing something and that the house of cards called my life will come tumbling down if I miss that one thing!

Then it passes.  In the next moment, the next breath, I pay attention to NOW.  Right now, nothing is wrong!  There is no major disaster happening, the world is peaceful outside of my screened door, I can hear the birds singing!  Beyond those birds, I hear the traffic on the highway.  People driving to work or to vacation (it is Friday) and once again my mind tries to break free to think about all of the energy wasted, the noise, the pollution.  Once again, I rein in the mind and re-direct the thoughts...People will never stop moving!  It's so funny - we will keep traveling and keep seeking a way to do that and we all do care deeply about our planet.
Some of us just are not aware of that at the moment.

So do you see the mind-game?  The mind will not stop thinking.  The discipline of yoga is to keep reining it in, to keep bringing the attention back to the present moment.  To gain control over the monkey mind.  Which, by the way, is an impossible task.  So I practice ignoring my thoughts, re-directing my thoughts, and laughing at my thoughts.  It can be amusing you know - OH!  There's THAT ONE AGAIN! Ha ha ha ha haaaaahhh!

Keep it up - the practice of yoga.  Asana, pranayama, the yamas and niyamas, meditation, keep practicing.

Ahimsa

Non violence in thought, word and action.  Read more on the 40 Day Yoga Challenge blog.

(see previous entry for link)

Being a yoga teacher and the home practice

Being a yoga teacher gives me the added level of commitment to my practice that takes me deeper than I could have done without that.  I am responsible and accountable for a yoga studio (I own the business) being open to our community.  This is not a burden for me.  It is a great honor that has been bestowed upon me.

It also gives me a very powerful structure in which to practice.  What is a structure?  It is something that protects and supports you.

In my teaching I talk about your structures of support, starting on your yoga mat that's what ever body part is touching the mat.

In my life, I see the structures of support are my home and relationships to those closest to me.  This is where you can do your deepest work.  I have been teaching and practicing yoga for many years, and to remain true to the teaching, my teacher within, I must continue to delve more deeply in my life practice.  It is sometimes painful, yet it is the most powerfully rewarding experience imaginable.

Imagine not repeating patterns in your life - over & over - that you know are not good for you.  Imagine your relationships improving, your home life, your career.   Imagine that you live in a beautiful place all year around.   Imagine being very healthy.  Then let it go and imagine the opposite.  The truth is, whatever you are attached to, will cause you suffering.  Pain, pleasure, it is all very fleeting.  When you have an established and deep practice - you know that, you allow it all to flow through you.  You let go of the suffering and you let go of the pleasure.  It is all the same.  What is left, is so amazing.  That is why you see me smiling and tear-eyed all of the time.  What is left is Love, gratitude, joy, beauty and peace.

Namaste

Moodling about the One Year Anniversary of my bike accident!

My new favorite word (about what it takes to write creatively):  moodling.  I got it from a book about writing - that I bought at a garage sale recently - If You Want to Write - A Book About Art, Independence and Spirit, by Brenda Ueland - Brenda was a published author and teacher of writing who first published this book in 1938.  She received an international swimming record for over-80-year-olds and was knighted by the King of Norway.  She died at the age of 93 in 1985.  She's a new one on my hero/heroine list.

In the words of Fievel: (from Fievel goes West)  "Be your own hero".  So I am moodling...get the idea?  If you are still with me, then that's good.  There will be a point to this.

One year later - what have I learned?  I have learned to listen more than talk. (and it is not easy for me)  I have learned that it's okay to cry every single time you feel like crying.  I have learned it is okay to not cry every single time you feel like crying.  It is very interesting having your filter off for a few months - I cried, laughed and talked too much. (and I still cry, laugh, and talk more than I used to)

What I got from being injured that badly, is a renewed belief in the human body's healing capacity.  One year ago today, my face was bruised, scraped, and I could not type.   I couldn't remember anything a second after I said or heard it (short term memory loss).   I could not walk without holding onto the wall, bed or railing (vertigo for 6 weeks).  I had severe bruises on my pelvis and knee and milder ones on shoulder and hands. And lots of headaches.

I could not do any yoga asanas without falling over. 
I could still teach - and my students still came to my classes and
I learned that they love me and so do the teachers I work with in my studio. (thank you - all of you--I love you too)

I learned that there are crystals in your ear that get out of place and when they do, the whole world spins. 
I learned that spinning causes intense nausea and that anti-motion sickness medicine is very useful and it slows down the spinning.

I learned that even though I hit my head really hard, that my brain would recover fully and
I got to see a picture of my brain on an MRI - with a brain tour given by the Dr. Noran himself of
Noran Clinic-  who, by the way, said I have a beautiful brain and that it is not damaged and I will heal completely.   He is the kind of doctor I like - tell it like it is and can be.

I learned that even the head of a corporate medical clinic is human and can even remind one of St. Nicolas. 
I am very fond of him, and I told him that!

I  learned that a simple maneuver - Epley maneuver - that can be done at home even with your husband helping - can get the spinning to stop immediately.  However, it takes a couple of days sitting up all the time to get them to stay there.  (you can find out how to do it on the internet!)

I learned that I don't need as much sleep as I think I do and that when you have a head injury the brain needs alot of sleep.  I also learned that eating brain food DOES help you brain to heal plus USING IT!

I learned lots of exercises.

What I got out of the whole experience was something that is difficult to put into words.  Anyone who has had a brush with death and lived through it will know what I mean.  My body is not immortal, but I am.  There is a peace about knowing that - no matter what pain you suffer, or circumstance, you, the essence of you, is still the same, unchanged.  Yes, here are the words to describe this experience.  I became connected to the essence of I am.  Sometimes you have to get knocked out of your head to get that.  Do yourself a favor though.  Meditate - practice meditation.  It is really less painful.

To conclude this chapter of my life, this big event, this past year..  It is in the past.  There.

Want me to say more (yes? read on then)  no?  Stop reading!

I want to say more.  I want to say that I lived through a trauma.  Someone hit my bike, then left.  That someone, a school bus driver, probably did not even know he(she) knicked my bicycle.  That person was in a hurry.  How many times are we in a hurry and don't even know what we are creating or destroying because of that?

All of that experience was a trauma.  I also had symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder.  It was not the first time I had this (PTSD) and recovered.  Some people think you cannot recover from that.  You may have heard this:  If you think you can, you can, if you think you cannot: you cannot.   Once again, when I spoke to Dr Noran, a neurologist, about how I was having reactions to seeing school buses and hearing sirens, he said "that's post traumatic stress disorder,  it will fade away, you will heal and be fine".  Thank you Dr. Noran : ).

Now - I still get growley at school buses, then..I laugh at myself.  I still hear sirens and cringe a little, who doesn't? I had to let that go.  I live very close to the fire and police stations and bus garage!
I let that go ...and now?  I am learning internal martial arts, I am planning to teach yoga teacher training in Costa Rica, I am married to a beautiful, loving and spiritual man.  I have a future to live in to that is filled with love, beauty and joy.  Namaste

Reflections on 2010 at the studio

What a year phew!  This year at Yoga Prairie, our studio has seen some tremendous growth.  It is great seeing many new faces and the others who have been with us from the beginning still coming to classes.  In May after my biking accident, my teaching took on a new dimension.  Learning to teach with injuries and vertigo has taken the level of teaching to new dimensions too.  I am focusing more now on meditation and going deeper into the mind/body connections of the practice.  The accident was a blessing even though it has been painful both physically and emotionally.  Right before Christmas I found out that my medical bills were not going to be paid for by my auto accident insurance.  It was a traffic accident caused by me trying to avoid a bus.  The bus may have hit my bicycle, but I was not conscious - I was knocked out.  There was a witness who called the accident in on 911, but police will not release the record because of a law that protects 911 callers.  The caller told the police that a bus hit a bicyclist.  I now am dealing with the not knowing and letting that go.  Another opportunity to release attachment.  I do hope that motorists will be more watchful and careful around bicycles.  Share the road.  I have taken my attention more to the business of running the studio and also to providing a deeper and more authentic experience for all who walk in the front door at Yoga Prairie. 

This winter we did a 40-day yoga challenge and those members who participated took on a whole new level of practice for themselves, seeing first hand how a yoga practice supports not just the physical, but also their mental and emotional lives as well.  This has been a very successful result - I could not have asked for more from this challenge.

The studio continues to be behind on paying our rent and slow on paying other bills, but we are slowly catching up in that area.  It is interesting to note that how I run my business is perhaps unique.  Each day I meditate and focus on allowing the real boss to dictate things.  I am a steward of this space for the community.  The Master - God - holds the reins and steers the business.  It is a joy to be taken along for this ride.  Thank you to all of you who are riding along with us.  Happy New Year!

New Realms of Yoga!

Hi all, today I taught a class and I was happy! I realized in the past few days that whenever I perceive someone else is wrong, it is my perception and I have a choice. When I let go of that perception, all that is left is that I love that someone else - no matter what! Being responsible for how I see people - I am very happy! Be happy today.