The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, not to worry about the future, or not to anticipate troubles, but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly.
Yoga pose of the day: Viparita Karani
This pose is a great restorative pose, usually after a rigorous practice and done towards the end of a practice. I like this pose at night sometimes. One of the benefits of the this pose is relaxation and calming the body and mind, which is why it is said to be a good sleep aid and reduces anxiety that you might have. The name of the pose translates to turned around (viparita) and doing/action (karani). When done, it can help relieve tired legs and provide a nice stretch for your back legs, front torso and the back of your neck. I also like doing this in the morning if I slept funny and my back hurts a little bit.
See more about this pose and variations from the Yoga Journal.
Fitness tips for autumn from Livestrong.com
If you are like me in southern California, you are probably wondering where yesterday’s record breaking heat was this summer! With a cooler morning I took a run, which is one of the fitness tips for the coming autumn season. The days are going to seem a bit shorter, and one way to keep with your fitness is to move your workouts to the morning. Even though here in San Diego we do not experience too much of a weather change, I thought there were some great tips!
Don’t let the fear of shocking someone stop you from taking the jump
Ever had a fantasy of living in trees? This is the hotel for you! The philosophy of the hotel is set around the idea of bringing people closer to nature and increasing the respect that people have for the nature around them. I feel a trip to Northern Sweden to visit this tree hotel is in order.
who cares if you can touch your toes if you can’t touch your heart?
setting intentions
Many successful people are successful because of the goals they set and work towards. Setting goals and having the ability to work towards in order to achieve them is a valuable skill set. At the start of most yoga sessions, the instructor will invite you to set intentions for your yoga practice. This is an opportunity to set goals for yourself in your physical practice, your mind set, or to dedicate your practice to a particular emotion you are feeling or even a negative emotion which you would like to eliminate or lessen. Now, there is a difference between setting goals and setting intentions. While goals are more future oriented, intentions are more about making a commitment to living in a way that aligns with your inner values. Setting intentions allows you to gain a sort of mental footing that allows you to establish a frame of reference that is more meaningful that simple goal-oriented activity. The goals may still guide you and help in your effectiveness, but the intentions provide the unity in your actions and thus increasing your ability to be effective.
I am returning to my practice and this blog after a bit of a break. With this has come the new design implementation. For me yoga is about creating a strong foundation for myself and I wanted the redesign to reflect the feeling of vitality that yoga gives me. What better way to represent that than with fresh, living grass. Also, with my return, I am bringing a greater focus to what the difference is between my intentions and my goals. I will be starting a new job in a week, which represents an exciting career change, so it will be more important than ever to stay grounded and focused on both my intentions and goals. I will admit the difference between intentions and goals still remains a little fuzzy, but perhaps we can explore this together. Here are some intentions and goals for the next month as well as a couple more long term goals:
Intentions
- bring greater consciousness into my actions
- accept and show love in my actions
- show greater acceptance of myself and others
- stay in the present of activities in which I participate
- give my best effort in what I set forth, without being disappointed in the outcome
- continue to see the humor in all situations
- bring focus to my new career
Goals
- practice yoga several times each week
- improve my skill level at difficult postures
- write about my yoga practice in this blog and provide helpful resources
- take a long run at least once a week
- finish my certificate programs at UCSD Extension
- find useful resources for and about market research and social media integration
- start my new blog (I won’t say too much about this since the idea is not fully thought out!)
- finish and polish my personal website
- keep my apartment and car clean environments
Long term goals
- become yoga teacher certified
- explore graduate schools
- work on a variety of personal projects
- maintain a healthy lifestyle
While some of my goals and intentions are a bit vague for my own privacy, I think it is best to be as specific as possible in goals while the intentions may be a bit more qualitative. What sorts of intentions do you set for yourself? Do you use goals to focus your actions? How do you feel about the difference between setting intentions and setting goals? I would love to hear your thoughts and any feedback you might have!
Cambridge parking tickets get a yogic redesign
The Cambridge parking tickets now include some calming yoga poses. This made me laugh, but it also is an interesting view into how yoga is integrating itself into popular culture. Also that people are starting to recognize that we are a stressed out culture! We should be stopping to smell the roses, stopping to do a little stretch, and stopping to breathe out that frustration.
(via fuckyeahyoga)
What a great bottlecap quote! It is so important to evaluate those you let into your life and decide if they are healthy influences!
- Page 1 of 12
- Next »
