Front Porch Yoga » Body http://www.frontporchyoga.com A Place to Pause Thu, 02 Feb 2012 14:42:14 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Yoga With My Niece http://www.frontporchyoga.com/2012/01/18/yoga-with-my-niece/ http://www.frontporchyoga.com/2012/01/18/yoga-with-my-niece/#comments Wed, 18 Jan 2012 14:35:49 +0000 Grace http://www.frontporchyoga.com/?p=2105 When my niece was born, I was overcome with this desire to share all my big life lessons with her- immediately. I wanted her to know all the things that made my life easier, happier, and more peaceful. Obviously, yoga is a huge part of that list.

I discovered this super cute board game on Tiffany’s Green and Natural Parenting blog called The Yoga Garden. It’s meant for ages 4 and up, and my niece is only 3, but I decided I really wanted to buy it for her for Christmas this year.

“The Yoga Garden is a cooperative game where the objective is to plant a flower garden before night falls. As players move the bumblebee marker around the board, they learn classic yoga postures, as well as have the chance to invent their own!”

I think it’s so important to introduce children to healthy habits when they are young, so that they become part of their lifestyle from the very beginning. And not to be too cutesy, but I love the idea of planting the seed of yoga in the garden of her mind when she is so little and then watching it grow as she grows!

It turns out, she loves the game. She loved rolling the dice, planting the flowers, and showing us all the yoga poses that she is familiar with. I think as she gets older, she will enjoy making up her own  yoga poses as well.

Her Daddy has been playing it with her at home, so even when I’m not around, she’s still getting a dose of yoga goodness. Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside! I love sharing the yoga glow…

Did you share your love of yoga with anyone this holiday season?

Choose love,
Grace

[I purchased The Yoga Game on Amazon.com: the opinions I shared here are my own, and I was not paid to write this post.]

]]> http://www.frontporchyoga.com/2012/01/18/yoga-with-my-niece/feed/ 0 Aging http://www.frontporchyoga.com/2011/12/01/aging/ http://www.frontporchyoga.com/2011/12/01/aging/#comments Thu, 01 Dec 2011 12:32:34 +0000 Grace http://www.frontporchyoga.com/?p=1911 “Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Oh, never mind. You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they’ve faded.” -The Sunscreen Song

When did I get so old?

My joints creak, groan, ache. Scar tissue accumulated from old injuries whines and complains. Emotional wounds cause prana (life force energy) to stagnate in my body, presenting frustrating areas of tension.

Each morning I have at least one achey spot in my body when I wake up.

I can choose to be gentle with my body: get a relaxing massage, take a calming yoga class, soak in a tub full of bubbles.

But my body will never feel like it did when I first started practicing yoga. I wish I could go back seven years and have a conversation with the girl that I was then, and remind her to be very, very grateful for her strong, comfortable body!

Despite the “old” factor, sometimes when I’m practicing yoga the term “extraordinary machine” runs through my mind over and over again. I can’t help but think how amazing my body really is.

Today, I choose to be grateful for my body, as it is, right now. A big part of that gratitude is taking good care of my body, so it will serve me well in the years to come. One of my tricks is yin yoga*, which stretches and stimulates the joints through long, restful holds.

Are you grateful for your body, as it is, right now?

Choose love,
Grace

*I teach yin yoga at Emerald Necklace Martial Arts on Sunday evenings at 6:30pm. It’s a lovely way to start your week!

]]> http://www.frontporchyoga.com/2011/12/01/aging/feed/ 2 Healthy Living Event http://www.frontporchyoga.com/2011/11/14/healthy-living-event/ http://www.frontporchyoga.com/2011/11/14/healthy-living-event/#comments Mon, 14 Nov 2011 22:31:03 +0000 Grace http://www.frontporchyoga.com/?p=2028 On Tuesday November 22nd, the Emerald Necklace Martial Arts studio where I teach yoga is hosting an Evening of Healthy Living and Healthy Eating. The night will include a FREE yoga class (taught my yours truly), a veg potluck, and a screening of the film “Forks Over Knives“. If you plan to attend, bring a canned good (or two) for the Greater Boston Food Bank, bring a veg dish to share, and bring some loving-kindness.

In the spirit of the event, I thought it would be fun to compile a list of my favorite healthy eating and nutrition-related resources (in no particular order). Please note, I love the library. It’s one of the first places that I seek out when I move to a new city (obviously, yoga studios are on that list of first places as well!). I’m a big proponent of borrowing books instead of buying them. I live in Boston, so I am linking to the Boston Public Library’s catalog. If you’ve never been to the library in your  neighborhood, GO! Magic happens there- I promise.

Grace’s list of favorite healthy eating and nutrition-related resources

Eat like a yogi:

The Shoshoni Cookbook by Anne Saks
Ayurvedic Cooking for Westerners by Amadea Morningstar (this is on my list of books to read, but I’ve been told it’s amazing!)

Making raw food accessible to the masses:

Ani’s Raw Food Kitchen by Ani Phyo
Choosing Raw Blog by Gena Hamshaw

No more white sugar:

Baking with Agave Nectar by Ania Catalano

Looking deeper at your eating compulsions (for those of us who eat for comfort):

The Writing Diet: Write Yourself Right-Size by Julia Cameron

Michael Pollen. I love him (enough said.):

The Omnivore’s Dilemma

In Defense of Food

A holistic (mind, body, spirit: not just food) guide to health:

Quantum Wellness by Kathy Freston

Fun at Farmers’ Markets:

Local Flavors: Cooking and Eating from America’s Farmers’ Markets by Deborah Madison

The FREE yoga class will kick off this dynamic foodie event at 6:30pm! Please join us for a delicious evening- a perfect opportunity to mix and mingle with the ENMA community!

Care to share any of YOUR favorite healthy living resources?

Choose love,
Grace

PS You don’t have to come for the whole thing. If your schedule only allows time for the movie: no worries! If you can only squeeze in time for the yoga class: sounds great! And if you just wanna chow down on some food: perfect-o! Make it YOUR night out. Customize the experience to suit YOUR needs.

]]> http://www.frontporchyoga.com/2011/11/14/healthy-living-event/feed/ 0 Ear Plug Idea http://www.frontporchyoga.com/2011/11/02/ear-plug-idea/ http://www.frontporchyoga.com/2011/11/02/ear-plug-idea/#comments Wed, 02 Nov 2011 11:13:48 +0000 Grace http://www.frontporchyoga.com/?p=1997 One day this past week I wore ear plugs during my morning home practice. This simple trick is an excellent tool to help you focus on your breath. The sound of the breath is amplified, so it’s hard to ignore. It also helps you to distinguish where you tend to hold the breath. We often hold our breath in balancing postures to try to prevent ourselves from falling over. It’s like when someone says “Don’t move!” and we instinctively suck our breath in and hold it! I often tell my students that if you are breathing with awareness, then you are doing yoga (so it doesn’t matter if your asana falls apart, as long as your breath is steady).

My breath observation from this past week was that after chaturanga dandasana I tend to get less air on the inhale when I am lifting from low push up to upward facing dog. Anyone have any suggestions on how to receive more breath in that transition?

Next time you’re at home practicing, put a pair of ear plugs in, and see how that changes your experience on your mat!

Choose love,
Grace

]]> http://www.frontporchyoga.com/2011/11/02/ear-plug-idea/feed/ 0 Midnight Tummy Ache http://www.frontporchyoga.com/2011/09/23/midnighttummyache/ http://www.frontporchyoga.com/2011/09/23/midnighttummyache/#comments Fri, 23 Sep 2011 11:47:27 +0000 Grace http://www.frontporchyoga.com/?p=1923 I woke up suddenly last night at 11:45pm with horrible cramping in my low belly. I immediately took some digestive tonic to soothe the aching (which is my go-to elixir for tummy ailments), and I figured I would just fall right back asleep once it calmed down. But the cramps got worse, and the pain began to have a pattern: it would strengthen and recede, strengthen and recede. Laying down made it more intense, so I had to sit up in bed, propped up against my pillow. I started belching really loudly (I know, gross!). My next plan of attack was to cover my belly with a heating pad to see if it would help release the tension in that area, but that seemed to only increase the level of pain.

At this point, I had probably been up for an hour, and it was technically the middle of the night for me, and I could barely keep my eyes open. I started to feel frustrated that I couldn’t figure out how to ease the pain, and I didn’t really know what was wrong with me. I was annoyed that I couldn’t get back to sleep because I didn’t want to be tired for work the next day. I was looking at the past, and projecting into the future. It occurred to me that I could focus on the present moment, accept what is, and let it go.

So I tried walking around a bit (albeit slumped and hunched over) while breathing into my belly and repeating the phrase: “I am willing to accept myself as I am.”

After all this, it suddenly occurred to me to try some yoga postures for the pain. I blame the reason it took me so long to think of yoga as being that I was half asleep the whole time. I did a few twists, hugged each knee into my chest (appropriately, wind removing pose), and then finished with hero pose. Still hurting!

So I had my special guy (he was an absolute doll the entire time) check out my favorite reference material for when I am not feeling well, You Can Heal Your Life by Louise Hay.
Probable cause of belching: fear, gulping life too quickly
New thought pattern she suggests: There is time and space for everything I need to do. I am at peace.

I thought it was a bit ironic that this was her “emotional diagnosis” because I haven’t been feeling particularly stressed or rushed these days. But perhaps on some deeper level, I am racing for some imaginary finish line.

Then I figured I’d check “constipation” because it was beginning to feel like that must be the cause of my pain.

Probable cause of constipation: Refusing to release old ideas, stuck in the past.
New thought pattern she suggests: As I release the past, the new and fresh and vital enter. I allow life to flow through me.

Now, I don’t necessarily take her suggestions super seriously, but I just feel comforted knowing some helpful mantras that are available to me. So I repeated over and over in my mind something like this, as a mantra to help me feel better and stop focusing on the pain:

I am flowing through life, with plenty of time, and I am at peace.

The last trick up my sleeve was to drink some detox tea. Now, I don’t know if it was the tea that did it, or if it was a combination of all of these things I had previously tried, but I finally started to feel some relief! And after 2 hours of experimenting, I had finally found something to soothe the pain! I fell asleep within minutes…

I prefer to reflect upon the rosy parts of yoga and life, but I also think it’s important to recognize that there is a balance, and sometimes life is painful. By sharing my experience from last night, I am hoping to offer alternative suggestions to “taking some pills and stifling the root cause of the pain by just attacking the symptoms”. And I also always like to point out that teachers are human, too…

When you’re not feeling well, are you gentle (and kind!) with yourself?

Choose love,
Grace

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