On Escapism and Meditation and Doctor Who

How We Escape From Everyday

I have a chalkboard in my living room that I change week to week. I find a message that speaks to me, write it on the chalkboard and maybe draw a picture or two. This week's sign seems unrelated to yoga at first, but if you dive into its implications, you might find that it can be applied to life. 
In short, the companion on the tv show Doctor Who gets in the Doctor's time machine and takes off with her (currently a woman, for the first time!!) to other worlds, other times, and great adventures. They leave their everyday lives behind and eventually, come back to them again as though they've never left. They've changed, but nothing else has.
The thing about the companions is that they are completely willing to risk their lives to escape them.
What are you willing to do to escape the difficulties in your life? What are you willing to do to forget for a little while? Think about how often we escape into our phones, our tvs, food, alcohol, drugs...It's all a form of escapism, of shutting off from our lives.
Meditation helps you to face your life head on, deal with what you are trying to escape from, and LET IT GO. It's scary at first to face what you're trying to escape from, but it's worth it.
In the end, the companions often find themselves (after traveling with Doctor Who for a season or two), let go of what it was they were trying to escape in the first place, and move on with their lives, fulfilled by their time as companion to the Doctor.

Try This

Try taking a few moments every day to SIT with your pain, your troubles-whatever you shut off from with your phone or a drink-and start to face it, breathe into it and let it go. Essentially...break on through to the other side of the doors of perception.

#BreakonThroughYogaandWriting #BreakonThroughYoga #DoctorWho #TheTardis #meditation

***

Excerpt from my book

How about an excerpt from my book "Foul Mouth Yogi: Essays on this Yoga Life" ?

Where It Began

I started yoga sometime around my pregnancy with my first-born son. He’s almost 13 now, but back then, when I was pregnant with him, I searched online, ordered a “Yoga for Pregnancy” book and DVD that turned out to be a pleasant Australian video and started my journey into yoga. 

After he was born and I was back in the swing of things, I slowly started working t.v. yoga shows into my days. I learned a lot from those shows, working my way through basic poses and into a minimal introduction to relaxation and meditation. 

I was on my way to becoming hooked though.

I started taking classes at the library; they were 90 minute explorations of basic poses with a bit of relaxation at the end. Then, I discovered a teacher who taught from her house and added her classes to my schedule as well. That teacher’s focus on alignment is what I now know as Iyengar-based. Iyengar is famous for having created ways to make yoga accessible with props. We used straps to help us keep our joints stacked or to keep our limbs from moving out of alignment. It was like a rodeo show, with all of us trussed up in our yoga straps like lassoed calves.

This teacher also taught me that it didn’t matter than I had trouble with meditation; she said to be patient and that my ability to sit with it would come in time.  

It did come in time but not yet.

She was my friend and my yoga teacher and unfortunately she moved away, back to the city (did I mention it’s not always easy to find a yoga teacher in a small town?) I went back to relying on the yoga classes I could get at the library and yoga t.v. shows. 

I decided to have another baby sometime after this and our house started to seem smaller.

Eventually, we moved to a nearby town to a house with a few more rooms and after baby two, I found another teacher there. She was a fairly new teacher whose focus was anatomy, balance poses and sun salutations. I still couldn’t find my way in meditation and often just left class before it began. I had no idea what the point of it was and headed out. I laugh to think of it now, since meditation is what it’s all about for me now. I attended her classes for a little while until I became pregnant with baby three.

By the time I had baby three, the local teacher stopped teaching classes but my husband was attending a new fight club in a town where one of his co-workers discovered my next yoga teacher. My mom watched the kids and off we went. My husband dropped me off and I walked or ran to his fight club after class.

(Side note: This was also where I started Pilates. I’m not sure I can say I am happy about that-wink wink. We’ll just note that and get back to the yoga. I still do Pilates today but I still don’t like to commit to admitting that.)

At some point in time, she said the words that were like magic for me. She said to lie absolutely still in savasana (corpse pose, during which we relax and meditate. I tend to meditate seated nowadays but beginners do better lying in corpse pose.)

That was it! That was the key. Keeping still helped me to still my mind. That was where it all began for me. I finally started to find that place of bliss everyone is always prattling on about. I would feel myself sink and drop and then rise up into this place of quiet bliss where nothing else mattered.

At some point in time, I started attending any workshops my new teacher offered, especially if they had anything to do with yoga philosophy. I brought home everything I learned to my husband. He found enough of a connection to what I was learning that he then started coming to classes with me. He started to change his perspective on life and his approach to it and we’ve never looked back. We take steps (sometimes many) backwards, but we try to take on the philosophies that our teacher has introduced us to as well as we can. We try to carry the calm of meditation into everyday life with us.

(Now, you’ll remember at this point that I am foul mouthed and caught between honesty & my unmasked self and detachment, so keep that in mind as you picture my calm self.)

How it happened, I’m still not sure but my teacher slowly introduced the idea of teacher training to me. Then she slowly talked me into taking it…coming from someone with extreme social anxiety and a fear of speaking in front of groups, this was a terrifying leap to take. I figured I could learn more about yoga, if nothing else. 

During my practice hours and before the first test (there is a sort of beginner teacher phase of the training I took, which leads into the full 200 EWYT-RYT 350 hour training), I attended a course on Yoga Sutras with my teacher’s teacher. 

I think this is where I started to realize that there was never going to be an end to learning about yoga. It is unending. There is always more. For me, this drew me further in rather than scaring me off. Call me a nerd but I love school. 

And that’s where you come in. That’s how you got into this mess with me. During and after my 200RYT, I took in so many books that it stands to reason that you should have to hear about how they relate to my life and maybe yours.

***

August

Fine-Tuning

July got away from me and August is flying by as though it barely can stop to take a breath.

That said, my summer has been fairly low key; I've only been holding Saturday morning classes at 11 a.m., which leaves me some spare time for kids' activities (swimming, VBS, etc), selling our house and renos on the farm. 

It has given my husband, Dennis, and I some time to fine-tune some of our yoga poses as well:

Dennis did some chaturanga dandasana with my yoga balance boards a few nights ago (And I sat back and enjoyed filming 😍) We had to do some work to get his elbows in line (stacking shoulders, elbows, wrists to create minimal impact on the joints); years of high impact on them from MMA has left them unable to straighten completely but his alignment here in the following video looks pretty great and his balance is obviously very good since he’s using my boards to do it on. 

He’s using his core and keeping his shoulder blades from winging out and keeping those elbows tucked into his sides for a well aligned chaturanga. He’s also using pilates breath to maximize his lung capacity and endurance. 

This is no easy task, especially on the boards, but you can try it with knees down on your mat! Pro tip: add a strap at shoulder width around your forearms for support.

here is a link to the video on Instagram ChaturangaDandasana

Writing & Rewriting My Story

I've been focusing on my personal writing projects; hopefully you see a book by me again soon in the near future. It's been developing slowly as inspiration hits me and I'm fairly content with how it's been coming to me so far.

Recently, I started to doubt the path I am on and pulled some cards (I use them for meditation purposes) for myself from my small tarot deck (meanings are below.) Upon meditating on them, I began to understand where I am heading with my writing. It is a healing process; I'm telling my story, letting it go and rewriting it.

past (telling my story)

present (letting my story go)

future (rewriting my story)

Looking Forward

For the time being, I am going to continue Saturday classes at 11 a.m. I have had an issue with my email lists. Hopefully some of the people on my BoT Yoga list have still been reading my blog even without my monthly reminders and even though my email has taken the summer off.

In class, we have been focusing on strengthening on the yoga balance boards and on practicing the pause. We  notice the transition between breaths in our meditation and then, in life, practice that same transition or pause before reacting. It gives us the chance to become mindful about how we react to the people and situations we're faced with every day.

With that, I leave you with one final thought:

It is not necessary to react to everything you notice. 

***

BoT Yoga in June

May Days/June Sun

Though a lot of May was a bit of a wash, due to illness and emergency (sorry about that!), I'm happy to say things have improved and June looks like it's shaping up to be much more successful.
Now, we can look forward to the beginning of summer and better weather (though you wouldn't know it from the last few days!) I'm pretty convinced we're in for a hot one this summer! What do you have planned for the lazy days of summer?

How About Some Meditation?

If you don't have anything planned for the summer and you're looking for something new, why not start a meditation practice? Sit somewhere you can feel calm and still and really get down to it once a day, every day. It doesn't have to be a long practice; it can be as short or as long as you feel is right. 

The meditation we did last week is a good place to start. 

1. Bring your hands to your heart.

2. Focus on your breath. Let the body's sensations melt away. Let the limbs and muscles become heavy and still. Let the breath slow and lengthen and focus on the in and out breath as you let the body fall away.

3. Breathe in for a count of 4. Breathe out for a count of 4. Let go of negativity on the exhale, enjoying peace. 

4. Keep counting. If you notice that the mind has wandered and you've let go of your count, gently remind yourself to come back to it and start again. 

It's as simple as that. Eventually, your timer will go off or you will realise you're feeling at peace, calm and still and you'll either sit a little longer or you'll move on and go about your day.

Guided Meditation, anyone?

If you've decided you'd like to meditate but don't want to do it on your own, why not let me know? I'm considering adding a 30 minute meditation class (or two) to my schedule. Maybe I'll have it here:

 

I think it would be pretty awesome to have BoT Meditation on the Farm. It's a peaceful spot and it doesn't get much more quiet than this spot on our country road. What better place than this to meditate?

Who's in?

***

Holding Space : April at BoT Yoga

What IS She Doing?

Have you ever wondered what your teacher is doing during meditation? I know I used to fidget and lose focus, because I was wondering if she was looking at me or if she'd dozed off or if she was having a snack...I would peek sometimes to see what she was up to, but now that I teach, I understand what happens during meditation.

As a teacher, I hold space for you. It's as simple as that. I'm breathing with you, meditating along with you, speaking now and then to help you along the way, and enjoying the peace of the moment. That's it. Mostly, I am quietly sitting, creating what I hope is a blissful, safe space for you.

Meditating before a personal yoga session

What is Meditation Like for Me? 

Now maybe you're wondering what meditation is like for me. Sometimes, I sit peacefully, just enjoying a quiet moment. Other times, I become caught up in it, aware of my surroundings but dropping into a state of bliss, where I feel content and still. Sometimes that only happens for a second. Even when I cannot reach that state of bliss, I allow myself to just sit anyway, no judgement of my state of mind and no expectations. No one meditation session is right or perfect; what matters is that I take a moment to accept whatever comes up for me without judgement, attachment or reaction.

How Long Did It Take?

Now maybe you're wondering how long it took to get to the point I'm at now in my meditation journey. A few years ago, I actually used to leave class before meditation started! I thought I just wasn't into it, it wasn't my "thing," I just couldn't lie down for that long... Man, was I wrong. I WAS able to lie still and it definitely was my thing. What changed? My teacher now, who I've been with consistently for about five years, told me that I needed to lie still and just let it come. That changed everything. No one had ever told me just BE completely STILL. Once I learned to lie still and accept what came, I started to really find that few seconds where I'd drop and drift in blissful solitude. 

Most importantly, I'm learning to take that ability to accept what comes without judgement, attachment or reaction into my every day life. I mess up sometimes, forgetting what I know and reacting to situations, but it gets better and better all the time.

No one is perfect, right?

That said, I haven't answered the question. I have been doing yoga for over 10 years, off and on for pregnancies and whatnot. It has really been the last five years that have made the difference. I had my moments here and there over the years but it all really came together after that "aha" moment in which my teacher told me to be still.
There really is no timeline. It doesn't matter. This isn't a race. 

Yours,

T.

March at BoT Yoga

In Like a Lion, Out Like a Lamb?

Let's hope March brings warm temperature, mild weather and no more snow. My fingers are crossed,  but I have a feeling Mother Nature has more in store for us. We'll keep practising warming poses and relaxation exercises when it's dreary or cold for now and look forward to cooling, chill poses in warmer weather.

We'll also keep practising poses on the yoga boards. I not only have a fun, surfer-style playlist for yoga board classes but the boards have a tendency to warm a person up pretty quickly! It takes work to stay "afloat" on the boards, especially in the legs and abs! 

Best of all? Classes are 2 people for $25!

And, for you, all of my favourite people, the playlist I mentioned: 

Speaking of Groups...

I've been back at the Kettle & Stony Point Well Being Program since February to work with another outstanding group of ladies. We've been focusing on meditation & relaxation and using poses to release tension. So far, everyone enjoys starting off their week focused and relaxed. Every week, the group grows.

We have a warm, welcoming space to practise in :) 

I had a great group from our local Best Buy in for Sunday Yoga at Forge Training Centre. We worked on alignment and balance when transitioning from sunbird/downward dog to lunge. I look forward to seeing them all again for more team building, alignment and focus. 

Personal Yoga

My husband tried out a Personal Yoga Session one quiet Sunday at Forge. He needed to release some tension in his hips and back, so we used poses I learned while at a Yoga for Back Care & Scoliosis course at Yoga Bliss Fitness. 

Side lunge hip stretch

Restorative fish/butterfly

On this side, Dennis was experiencing elbow pain, which limited his ability to support himself in the pose. We modified with two blocks under his forearm and the pose was much less difficult for him. His alignment looks excellent here, with his elbow in line with his shoulder and his top arm lined up with the bottom arm.

Modified side lunge hip stretch

Ujjayi Breath

Lastly, I'd like to add a note on ujjayi breath, sometimes called "Ocean breath." It can be used all the way through practice, calming the body through poses and into relaxation & meditation. Mark Stephens (author of many yoga teaching manuals) says in his book "Yoga Sequencing" that ujjayi breath is used to warm the body internally and to create a soft mantra-like sound. He notes that the mantra-like sound helps students to develop steadiness while moving energy through the body. He describes ujjayi as a "slow, smooth, lightly audible, conscious breathing through the nose" technique. 

To do ujjayi breath, we:

1.       Inhale through the nose, open the mouth while lifting/contracting the back of the throat slightly and make a "haa" sound as if fogging a mirror as we exhale.

2.       Repeat.

3.       Close the mouth. Breathe through the nostrils only but continue to make the "haa" sound with each inhale and exhale.

4.       Repeat.

5.       Repeat step one.

This month, I started a new sequence journal, which I'm excited to fill with new class sequences. Underneath is Mark Stephens' Yoga Sequencing book, which my teacher loaned to me.

See you all again soon,

-T. 

Valentine's Day Meditation

Breathe deeply in and then exhale fully. Focus on your breath moving and and out of the body. 

Notice the abdomen rising and falling as you breathe. 

Find calm & stillness in your gentle focus on your breath. 

Then, repeat the words below to yourself:

May I be peaceful, 

May I be happy,
May I be well, 

May I be safe,

May I be free from suffering.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Love, T.