Yoga as a Home-Base

Yoga as a Home-base

The end of the summer consisted of chaos, the kind of chaos that comes from making memories and from sheer determination. I was determined to finish my yoga training hours before the summer ended, mostly because I thought we would be moving come fall. We did not end up moving the second fall began, but the determination to finish my hours in that time frame motivated me to focus and get them done. 

*In fact this blog post right here, is the last required yoga blog post. From now on the posts that you receive from me could have any subject! What a notion! (We all know, I will still talk about yoga because I love it.) As soon as I submit this post I can submit my packet and will therefore be a Yoga Alliance Certified Yoga Instructor. (Cue Trumpet Fanfare!) I am so happy to be certified, but it is bittersweet. I am sad to leave the student phase of my yoga learning. There is just so much to learn that I will have to continue being a yoga student even though I am done with my training. I digress...

One of the factors of chaos was travel. The first trip we went on was to Canada for a week. (I love Canada! No, really!) My sweet in-laws and Husband and I stayed in a cabin in Banff National Park in Alberta. It was so wonderful to be out in nature and to be experiencing different scenery. It filled my soul with joy and contentment. While at our cabin I told myself I was going to keep up with my personal yoga practice to not lose momentum on my training hours but also to keep my body healthy during traveling. 

I did not bring any of my yoga equipment (except for a racquetball and a slo-mo ball for the Hubs.) so the yoga I could do was only what was in my mind. This was actually perfect. I would sit on the balcony of the cabin and meditate until my body felt like doing some yoga postures. Sometimes the meditation would be short and I knew exactly what I needed that day, other times I would sit and ponder for quite some time before I felt inspired. It was my time and there were no limits. I could go as short or as long as I wanted. 

The next trip was to California my home state. My step-brother got married and all the siblings trekked our way to California to be there for his special day. This trip was more chaotic and on a more of a specific time-frame. There was driving, driving and more driving. (And a train, plane and rail system.) While traveling life back home keeps on going, even if you aren't there to experience it. 

As mentioned before Husband and I were planning on moving this fall. We are working on a career change for him and we were hoping to move out of state to be closer to our families. This will involve so many changes (most of which we are excited about and impatient to happen, but there are some that are scary.) 

How do you deal with changes, chaos, travel and uncertainties? For me, it has been yoga. A quick yoga practice in the airport waiting for flights, a long meditative practice when everyone else is asleep, a yoga practice filled with fear/tears and deep heavy sighs, a surrendering yoga practice or an acknowledging greatness in yourself practice. I've written about my emotions seeping into my yoga in previous posts and I have come to realize that this has been my primary coping mechanism. 

I was talking to my mentor about my situation and she said "Thank goodness you have yoga to help you through this confusing time." I think I understand that better now than I did when she said it to me. Yoga has become my home-base. When I am feeling stuck in life I can feel a release through the movement of a flow. I can find my confidence, my patience and my sense of hope and well-being in my yoga. It isn't always instant, but it does happen. 

I had to write an essay about my Yoga Instructor Training and there is a line from it that I want to share with you. "I have found my home-base in yoga, I have found a piece of my life that helps guide me to work with the other pieces. To have a profession where I can share this knowledge of comfort to others while continuing my journey with it is a dream come true." 

Namaste Bloggers.

-Camille

P.S. I received my Yoga knowledge from www.gobodhiyoga.com 

The training program was wonderful and I am so grateful to have been a part of it.

Teaching Yoga on the Fly

Teaching on the Fly: a terrible idea or a blessing in disguise? 

One of my mentors and dear friends once said "When people find out you are a creator in the arts you get asked to do "favors" in your community more times than you feel comfortable." This woman is a fantastic choreographer and one of my favorite women to dance with, and she does give of her talent on a regular basis. What she meant by her statement is that sometimes there are worthy causes to share your talents and sometimes there are times that just aren't worth your time and energy. (That sounded more snobby than I intend, I'm merely talking about times being worth the energy you put into them. My point is about good energy, not about being an elitist when it comes to your talents.)

In a previous post I talked about Smeagol Brain and how when I get over worked I tend to push away anything and everything and hide in my Smeagol cave. (My living room.) Well, when I am not experiencing symptoms of Smeagol Brain I am usually working on my stuff (Gettin' it done.) I am making goal boards, and checking things off lists, and watching inspiring Ted talks all to keep my fire going. BUT I still hesitate to agree to teaching on the fly. Why? Because of Nervous Camille. She comes and goes sometimes not really for any particular reason, other than I feel nervous to put myself out there. Sheesh between Smeagol Brain and Nervous Camille there are a lot of mental roadblocks to navigate around. (I'm sure I am not alone in this,  we all have our blocks, don't we? So we all have to motivate each other, am I right? I digress.) 

Well I am learning (slowly) how to navigate around the mental roadblocks and say yes to opportunities. I am trying to move past my blocks, meditate and ponder on opportunities given to me. There are times when I know that I do not have room in my schedule for the favor/opportunity asked of me and I know I need to say no. This is okay. 

Most of the time however, there is room in my schedule I just need to ask myself if there is room in my mind, asking "Can I do this, and will it be worth my time?". This is when learning how to meditate and visualize come into play. In an ideal time frame I would have a couple of days to "sit with it" as my instructor would say. The time frame of my decision varies from situation to situation, but what I am learning is my "sitting with it" (no matter how long) is the important factor in my decisions.

 My time to think, breath, visualize and feel what the situation will ask of me helps me to work past Nervous Camille, soothe Smeagol Brain and come to a healthy conclusion about the opportunity at hand. Sometimes I say no with no reason other than it didn't feel right. This is okay too. As long as Nervous Camille and Smeagol Brain aren't the ones making the decision, it is okay for me to say no. Other times I say yes hoping the opportunity will help me to learn and grow and often I am right. 

Nobody but me can say whether my answers are right in each situation. (God can, and He will one day, but for now I have to listen to myself and when He speaks pay attention.)

What should we take from this? We should take that instincts can be honored when you take the time to understand them. We should take that sometimes our minds block us from opportunities to grow and progress. We should take that when you give yourself the room to process decisions in a way that works for you, you'll find that your decisions will feel more like your own not Smeagol's and not someone else's. Take the time (even if it is 5 minutes) and sit with your thoughts. Your yoga knowledge and your personal knowledge can help you navigate life on and off of the mat. Believe and honor yourself and shine your light.

I received my wonderful yoga training @ www.gobodhiyoga.com

Namaste'

-Camille

Progression in Poses

The Importance of Progression in Poses

Before anyone gets the wrong idea when I say progression, what I am really talking about is the natural progression sequence that takes us to our pose. Natural progression is when we prep our bodies for a specific pose by going through postures that benefit the primary body part used in the pose. 

This may all sound like gibberish, so I am going to give you an example. Today in class one of the students asked if we could work on ways of getting into Lotus pose. The instructor agreed and then guided us as we stretched our hamstrings, out IT bands, our glutes and our hips. We went on a journey of poses as we opened our hips, loosened our hamstrings, warmed up our IT bands and opened up our glutes. We took time, trying to listen to our bodies and heed to what the body needed to do. It was meditative, opening and centering all at the same time. 

Why didn't we just go into lotus? We could have, and knowing how my knees work, I wouldn't have been able to get both of my legs into position. (And I know I wouldn't have been the only one.) We did the natural progression sequence to guide the body into the pose instead of forcing it. What happened after the sequence was magic. Our bodies felt more fluid and malleable and the pose came much more naturally.

In my yoga practice and in my teaching I have realized how important natural progression into poses is for me. Last post I talked about how our bodies are different and have different needs each day, some days a pose may come easily and some days the pose will be impossible. Natural progression can help in both of those situations. Natural Progression can guide the body into the pose in a way that benefits the body whether the pose was already possible or not. The sequence is just as important as the destination, as it can give you the releases the pose would, if you are not able to fully get into the pose. 

Doing yoga this way requires patience and tuning into your body's needs, and in the beginning it can seem tedious. The good it can do is worth the time it takes to allow a journey into your poses instead of just doing a pose. So I say be open to a journey when you need one, you  may even learn things in the journey, who knows?

Til next time,

-Camille

P.S. I received my yoga training @ www.gobodhiyoga.com

Consistency in Yoga

Consistency in Yoga: Does it exist?

Well, yes and no. A great lesson I have learned from yoga is that my body is different every day. This is shown in my yoga practice and my yoga teaching.  There will be days when my body wants to do strength building, focused poses and there will be days when my body wants to stretch and be still. There are also inconsistencies between different sides of my body. This is normal. I've come to expect the differences each time I step onto my mat and I worry less about being even amd just let my body speak to me.

So say you start to notice inconsistencies in your yoga, and you start to get discouraged,  thinking you're not improving. Guess what?  It is perfectly okay! I promise!  Having inconsistencies in your practice does not mean that you aren't progressing and improving.  It actually means you are finely tuning your ability to recognize and listen to your body's needs, which is what yoga is all about. Hearing a body's needs and heeding them will give you a symbiotic relationship with your body that will serve you well in the  long run. So don't fret, every time you get on the mat- listen and  tell yourself you are becoming a better yogi.

Also on the lines of consistency,  yoga practiced for 3 days a week (even as little as 15 min) will benefit you and your body greatly. The consistency of your days including yoga will calm your mind and soothe your body and give you that wonderful symbiotic relationship we all want.

Have fun listening to your body and experimenting with what it needs in your practice. 

Namaste,
Camille

P.S. I received my yoga training @ www.gobodhiyoga.com

Teaching Children

As part of my wonderful training a www.gobodhiyoga.com I am trained to teach yoga for children if I so choose. 

I have experience teaching young children dance and what I have learned is that the format is very similar. 

A kids yoga class should be structured according to the child's age & attention span. A class for a 3 year old would be different than a class for an 8 year old. : )

I have wondered whether I should offer kids yoga classes in my yoga business.  For a while,  I thought it wasn't my cup of tea. Then when I realized that I already know how to structure a kids class it dawned on me- maybe I should consider it! 

If it is anything like teaching dance to children,  I think it could be very rewarding.  My students exhaust me, but they also inspire me.

Isn't it funny how dance & yoga seem to intertwine in my life? I can't get rid of them. They're too much a part of my heart. Teaching children could be a part of them both for me.

Well, back to the meditation pillow, and of course back to work.

Till next time. 
-Camille

Going with the flow

Life never seems to go according to plan does it? 

We can control our thoughts, our choices, and our actions.  We can work hard to achieve change within ourselves.  We really are so powerful.  We have great evident abilities and we even have latent abilities, waiting to grow.

We can not however,  control the decisions of others.  Decisions can be made that you had no control over and yet they still affect you. This can range from minor inconveniences to tragedies.  Unfortunately this is one of the sad laws of mortality. There are things we can control and things we can not. 

Does this fact make life harder? Yes, it can. Does this fact leave us helpless,  being subject to someone else's whims? No. We always have a choice when it comes to our thoughts and our actions.  (With the exception of slavery.)

The choice is ours to let inconveniences become real frustrations,  or to let them pass by us, not touching us. Even in a tragedy we have the choice of how we respond to the event. 

I think it is very tempting to want someone to blame when life doesn't go according to plan.  Be it God, be it a group of people or one specific person,  we want someone to direct our anger at. I'm not saying there aren't guilty people in the world.  There are, there are plenty. 

But focusing on the blame and only the blame does not give us our power.  It takes away from it. There is a difference between acknowledging a wrong and obsessing over the wrong.

We get the power by not wavering in our integrity and by learning from every situation.  (It is difficult,  but so important. )

Find ways you can learn and move on from things in your life right now. 

Have faith in yourself,  with some reflection, meditation and good work you can get there. 

-Camille

P.S.  I received my yoga training @ www.gobodhiyoga.com

Reinventing The Wheel

Does every Yoga class or session have to be Uniquely different? 

What a tricky question. This is the question that I gave myself when I started teaching yoga. There are just SO MANY COOL THINGS IN YOGA  that I want to show my students! 

I just got so excited to share my knowledge that I wanted every class I taught to change my student's lives. I know that sounds crazy, but if you know me I tend to get over excited easily. Woops. :) 

Though I do believe that yoga can change your life, I had to learn that something that significant can't happen in one yoga class. (Thank goodness I have a husband who not only supports me but knows when to talk me off of my over-excited mountain.) What I learned was that every person who enters my class will be different and their personal yogic journey will be different. Honestly, can you imagine tailor-making a class that will give every person exactly what they need so they can progress on their journey perfectly?

 I can't imagine it either. That is the pressure I was putting on myself when I first began teaching.

 One day when I was so nervous about my yoga lesson plan that I was crying on my stairs asking my husband if I'm a fraud, something dawned on me. Should something I love be this anxiety causing? (A little nervousness yes, but feeling incompetent, no.) Husband's response to me helped me to understand. He said you don't have to reinvent the wheel every time you teach. Meaning, that I don't have to make every class unique and life-changing. 

I took Husband's advice along with the instruction of my yoga mentor (at Bodhi yoga www.gobodhiyoga.com) that I can open the yoga gates for my students and then they can choose where they want to go from there. What happened was I began teaching my classes in this way-beginning with breath work, warming up the tissues, then movement through poses. That was my outline or structure for the class. As I did this I noticed that my classes became unique on their own. Having the structure of the class so that I (really the yoga) can be free to adapt within the structure makes each class a unique blend of what our bodies wanted that day. 

I don't have to reinvent the wheel, in fact I can use the already invented wheel to take me where I want to go.

As an instructor I really do want to give your body what it needs and I do want you to go on your yoga journey. I just can't force it, and I think it is better that way. Yoga will be your teacher and I will just be the person adjusting you and guiding you. The nice thing about each class being unique is that occasionally opportunities arise for new things to be taught, and I try to use those opportunities to guide you and challenge you as your journey (and your spirit) grow. 

Namaste'

Camille