I love fairies and I love yoga…
April 26, 2012I love fairies and I love yoga. I was thrilled when I found this artwork online. 
http://t.co/sq5o0fmU
» Yoga Makes Me Feel… calor…
April 20, 2012Yoga Makes Me Feel…
April 20, 2012Yoga makes me feel…so many ways. When I go to a yoga class, I experience a rush of emotions. I can feel positive as I move through poses that have become familiar to me. My arm muscles are sore in anticipation of the work out that I am about to put them through, but it is a good soreness and I revel in it. My body quickly finds its muscle memories of each pose and I flow through them, sometimes with grace and other times, with a fall. But that’s okay. Yoga is about stretching and trying and not always succeeding. That is one of the main reasons that I like yoga. If I can’t do something, that’s okay. It’s often similar to what I tell children: “try it, just try it and see.” Yoga allows me to try, and succeed or fail, at least I’ve tried.
Yoga also makes me feel powerful. When I finally succeed at a pose that has been difficult for me, I feel so strong and impressive. Not all the same poses are difficult for all people. Hip openers are usually pretty easy for me, but winding my arms around each other in front of my chest is extremely demanding. It also depends on my day. Some days, I can fly right into airplane and other days, I cannot balance on one leg to save my life. Yoga gives me the flexibility of practice as well as of limbs. I don’t have to be everything to everyone everyday. I don’t even have to be everything for myself everyday.
Yoga can make me feel inadequate. And let me be clear, I know that this is not yoga. This is me. There are days when I go into a class and I can’t shake what has been bothering me from the outside world. Those days are the days when I look at the girls around me with no bellies or boobs, putting their bodies effortlessly into poses that I cannot even think about getting into without crying. Those are the days that I lose my yogi perspective and I temporarily forget that I have a formidable body full of healthy muscles that has given birth to three beautiful children. I temporarily forget that I love my body, period. (And so does my boyfriend)
The best part of yoga is not the practice, which may surprise many of you. It’s the feelings that I have when I leave the studio. I feel so healthy, vibrant, sexy, in my own skin. I have never been a drug user, but I’ve often thought that I might be feeling what drug addicts feel when they get high. I continue to go to yoga, even when I don’t always want to, because when I leave, I am high on what my body has just done. Maybe if more drug addiction programs had them try yoga, it would help addicts with recovery. It is very hard to dislike oneself when you have just seen how amazing a person can be. Yoga makes me feel…amazing, and who doesn’t want to feel that way?
Yoga does this for me. http://…
April 20, 2012Doggie Yoga http://t.co/jSAiIf…
April 19, 2012Birthlight – Yoga with Babies …
April 16, 2012Yoga With Babies http://t.co/I…
April 16, 2012» Yoga and Detoxification cal…
April 15, 2012Yoga and Detoxification
April 15, 2012Recently, I took a yoga class after a week’s break (not by choice, but by schedule). For two days after the class, my body was sore. And it wasn’t just sore, it was painful to move and I felt a little nauseous. I have been carrying a lot of stress on my shoulders these past few weeks and while I try to feel positive, the weight of my worries had been affecting me in unseen ways. I realized that my yoga class had pushed my body to rid itself of the toxins that had built up in my system. This led me to want to learn more about how yoga helps me, besides the obvious physical effect.
I have heard about and read about people detoxifying their bodies, using herbs, teas, and eliminating all foods but water and/or fruits and veggies. My friends have talked about how good they feel after doing a fruit fast for three days or just plain fasting for 24 hours. What does detoxification do for a person’s body? Does it help or hurt you?
Detoxification is the process of removing the materials from the environment, food and chemicals in society that are in our blood and are not beneficial to our bodies. Our livers are our natural filters for our blood, along with our kidneys, intestines, lungs and skin. When any of these symptoms are under stress, the toxins won’t be properly filtered and the rest of the body is affected. For proponents of detoxification, it is necessary to remove the impurities from the body’s system which protects us from diseases and renews the body to the best of health. A detox program helps the body’s cleansing process by a variety of ways that include resting the organs through fasting, stimulating the liver, promoting elimination, improving circulation and refueling the body. Proponents advise that everyone should detox their systems at least once a year.
Opponents say that detoxification can have negative effects on a person’s health. By forcing the liver to filter more than it is supposed to, the liver is under more stress than is typical. Our bodies are already dealing with more toxins than previous generations. Today’s population is exposed to toxins in the food that we eat, the shampoo, conditioner and soaps that we use, the personal care items such as deodorant and toothpaste, make-up, cleaning products, household furnishings, plastics that hold everything and even in our water. Our livers are already working hard to rid our bodies of normal everyday materials. When a person goes through a detoxification, they are putting more stress on an already stressed out organ and what the liver cannot filter ends up stored in fat cells for future processing. Those who don’t believe in artificial detoxification processes believe instead in supporting the detox procedures that are already set up in our bodies. They recommend doing this by making sure you move your bowels once a day, eliminate many of the sources of the materials that are harmful such as smoking, alcohol, artificial preservatives and refined sugars.
Yoga offers a natural way to support the detoxification process that already exists in your body without the dangers to your liver as well as providing physical and mental benefits. Hot yoga has a reputation of not only detoxifying your blood but also your skin with the intense perspiration that occurs when actively exercising in a 92 degree room. When I am really stressed out, I know that a yoga class will help me feel better as well as clean my system out. The biggest thing for me to remember is that when the weight of world is pressing down on me, I have to be gentle with my body. There are certain poses that are more difficult when I am under pressure than when I am feeling relaxed and while those poses do help, I have to remember that I need only push myself to where I am, not where I think that I should be.