Time to Get off the Nail

At a yoga class yesterday, I met the most interesting man.

First of all, I was impressed when he admitted it was his first yoga class. I've been trying to drag my man to a yoga class for years. After class, I began a conversation with the man and learned that he had only recently begun taking better care of himself. Yoga was only part of his regimen. He was also to participate in a weightlifting competition and began yoga to achieve balance in his body. In fact, he'd lost over 100 pounds since October!

"I finally decided to get off the nail, you know?" he told me.

I'd never heard the expression "get off the nail" so he told me the story....

There was a man who would take long walks every evening. On his walks, he would pass an old house with an old man, an old woman and and old dog on the front porch. The man would wave to the old couple every night but was perplexed at the old dog who lay at their feet. The dog would moan continuously.

As the days past, the old couple would smile and wave when the man took his walks but that dog... just kept moaning. When his curiosity got the better of him, the man finally approached the old couple and asked, "What is wrong with your dog? I've walked by here for days now and he's moaning all the time."

The old woman spoke, "Oh, well he's lying on a nail."

Shocked, the man replied, "That explains the moaning but why doesn't he just get up and move somewhere else?"

"I guess it doesn't hurt enough yet." was her response.

I loved this story. It also reminded me of a quote I heard recently:

"We change our behavior when the pain of staying the same becomes greater than the pain of changing."
~ Henry Cloud

Is there something that you're complaining about that you have the power to change?

Maybe it's easier to forgive yourself for remaining stagnant if you think of this story. It just doesn't hurt enough yet.

So you'd like to know about Yoga?

Because I've been practicing yoga for close to 10 years and many of my closest friends are yoga students or teachers, many reach out to me with questions.

I am BY NO MEANS an expert... but I can give a perspective based on my experience.

If you are brand spanking new to the practice, let's get a few things out of the way first.

1. Yoga is not a religion. - Many of us appreciate the spiritual qualities and history of a healthy yoga practice but some enjoy it for the physical aspect alone. That's okay. No one is going to brainwash you into believing what they believe. Unless you have the wrong teacher. (More on that later.)


2. Yoga doesn't mean you have to be flexible or bend into a pretzel. - There are some longtime yogis who still bend their knees when touching their toes and there are some who can go into the splits in their first class. Every BODY is different.


3. You decide what you want to take from yoga and what you want to leave behind. - One of the most awesome qualities of practicing yoga is allowing it to meet you where you are. It should not be a painful experience. Challenging? Yes. Painful. No.

Again, if you are new to yoga, I would advise starting slowly. Go online and look for local studios. Go visit a studio and see how you feel. When you decide to try a class, try a beginner, gentle or foundations class first. These classes are designed to give you a taste of yoga.

Remember: Be aware of how you feel.

The energy in the room will be perceptible to your body, spirit and mind. The teacher's voice and interaction with you and other students will also affect your experience. If you don't feel comfortable, try another teacher. Or try another studio. Don't just dismiss the practice because one experience didn't feel right.

***

If you're too nervous to try a yoga studio, look into purchasing a yoga video. When I first began my yoga practice, I bought from Gaiam.

Some of my favorite beginner teachers were Rodney Yee and Patricia Walden. There are also videos by Trudie Styler now! (she's married to Sting.) Shiva Rea and Seane Corne are also great teachers.

Once you feel more comfortable with a video, you'll have a better idea of some of the cues the yoga teachers will use in a class. Then go and see if a class feels better for you.

***

Regarding the style of yoga - there are many to choose from!

In Hatha Yoga, you learn the basics of each pose and hold them longer. It builds strength, body awareness AND patience. All yoga, at its foundation, is Hatha. (It's my favorite. You might even see it as Iyengar Yoga.)

Vinyasa incorporates these same poses but you'll move through them faster. It is very powerful but I'd start with Hatha to make sure you're doing each pose correctly before you begin moving from one to the next quickly.

Ashtanga is an even stronger Vinyasa practice. It may even be referred to as power yoga. This type of yoga is fun but takes a LOT of consistency and practice. Most Ashtanga practitioners (like Madonna & Sting) do it every day for an hour or two.

Bikram is yoga practiced in a heated room. Some people love it. I don't. Bikram incorporates the same 26 poses over and over again. I found it too stifling but others love that they don't have to think about where they're going next and they sweat A LOT. I find it too rigid for me.

Kundalini is really different and incorporates more chanting, chakra alignment and various yoga techniques.


Hope that helps! Remember, don't worry if one type of yoga, teacher or studio doesn't feel right to you. Listen to your body and see what feels good to you. Everyone is different!

Let me know if you have thoughts or questions!

The "If Only" Trap

Many times I've found myself thinking or saying, "If only (insert something), then I'd be happy."

I've learned over the course of life experiences and much spiritual study to at least have an awareness of this. I'm also aware when I hear others say it as well. We all do it. We all fall into the "if only" trap.

Lately, I've been leaning more towards a little game my daughter likes to play. It's called, "What if".

What if... everything is exactly as it's meant to be in this moment in time?

What if...things could change tomorrow and be exactly or BETTER than what you believe it could be?

What if... you stop, look around and realize, things are really quite good?

What if... you're really happy right now?

There's something about surrendering to the "what is" that makes the "what if's" so much better than the "if only's".

Don't you think?

Triathlon - Complete!

The triathlon I’ve been training for all year was this past Sunday. Here is the post I wrote on our co-authored triathlon training blog…

The culmination of this blog happened this past Sunday with the 31st annual River Cities Triathlon.

I was disappointed that Scott, Tammy and Gwen weren’t going to be racing with me but did have other friends who would be. I’m still amazed that I can do a triathlon that has over 1000 participants and STILL run into people I know. So very cool!

Read more....

I'm not really a triathlete...

Well, that's what I tell myself when I'm mid-triathlon and surrounded by uber-athletic quality triathletes with expensive gear who are keeping a much quicker pace than I do.

Then I remember that only a small percentage of people commit to pushing their bodies through the three disciplines of swimming, cycling and running. USA Triathlon's statistics show a 2010 membership surpassing 135,000 members - an all time high compared to numbers from 1993 - 2000. I trust this stat because in order to participate in any multi-sport endurance event, an athlete must purchase a year long or single day membership to USAT.

135,000 people. Compared to a US population of 311 million people.

When I think about it that way, it makes a difference. When I consider the fact that not one but three people committed and registered to compete in this weekend's triathlon with me... and all of them backed out, it makes a difference. When I know that not just me, but ANYONE, can do a triathlon if they can set their minds to the goal and set their bodies in motion and I've been committed enough to see it through to the finish line, it makes a difference.

Sometimes I feel I will be found to be a fraud when I tell others that I am a triathlete. I feel an irritating nudging to explain that I'm "not that fast" and that "I'm a single mom who doesn't have that much time to train."

Even with all of that, I still wish I could encapsulate the feeling of pushing my body further than I thought possible. I wish I could bottle the sheer exhaustion and exhilaration of crossing a finish line. I wish I could wrap up the Zen-like state that descends upon my mind within an hour of completing an endurance event.

I may not always feel like a triathlete. But finishing a triathlon is the one of the most bad ass feelings this not-quite-so-uber-athlete has ever experienced.

And that's something that can't be faked.

I want my MTV

Growing up, my dad and I didn't share much in common. Looking back, I now realize I envied those friends who referred to themselves as "Daddy's girls". I simply... wasn't.

But I do recall sitting at breakfast one morning 30 years ago and my dad telling me about something new he was reading in the paper.

"It's a new channel where they'll play music...and mini movies for each song. They're calling it Music Television."

We were both intrigued by the concept so much that we sat in front of the TV that night and watched the new channel begin with this video:





It was the launch of MTV and for a brief moment, my dad and I shared a common interest. Three years later, he would drive me 200 miles away to watch my favorite band in concert. The band was Duran Duran and if it wasn't for MTV, I may have never known they existed.





Ahhh yes, those were the good days of Music Television when my friends and I would sit for hours upon end watching the mix of music that would be deemed eclectic by today's standards. One girlfriend had her television tuned to MTV 24 hours a day.

A 24 hour a day music channel? That was something back then.





Happy 30th Birthday MTV.

Thanks for the memories.