How to start a yoga practice at home

At home Yoga practice for Beginners 

HOW TO START PRACTICING YOGA AT HOME

Interval Yoga friend and yoga practitioner Vesela Savova has an excellent new post on How to get started on a yoga journey at home. She offers tips and suggestions on how to improve and further one's practice just by using videos at home. Her journey into yoga is very inspiring and can be a great motivation for both new and seasoned practitioners.
HERE IS A LINK TO HER POST
http://cherryblueberry.com/2014/04/02/advance-with-your-yoga-practice-at-home/

 

I would also suggest to check out my complete beginners classes and make sure to put effort into learning alignment. Alignment can seem boring and frustrating at first but think of it as laying the foundation for a great yoga practice down the line that will perfect your practice, shape and strengthen you body and mind and and help avoid injury as you advance. 

COMPLETE BEGINNERS YOGA CLASS

A power yoga class for beginners 

NAMASTE

Quote OSHO Life Soul Journey

"Hence my insistence not to renounce the world. Be in it, take its challenge, accept its dangers, its hurts, wounds. Go through it. Don't avoid it, don't try to find a shortcut because there is none. It is a struggle, it is arduous, it is an uphill task, but that is how one reaches the peak. And the joy will be more, far more than if you were dropped on the peak by a helicopter, because then you will have reached there ungrown; you will not be able to enjoy it. Just think of the difference. You try hard to reach Everest. It is so dangerous--every possibility of dying on the way, ever possibility of never reaching the peak; hazardous, dangerous. Death is waiting for you at each step, so many traps and so many possibilities there is only one possibility you may reach. But the closer you come to the peak, the higher the joy rises in you. Your spirit soars high. You earn it, it is not free. And the more you have paid for it, the more you will enjoy it. Then imagine--you can be dropped from a helicopter on the top. You will stand on the top and you will just look silly, stupid--what are you doing here? Within five minutes you will be finished, you will say, 'so I have seen it! There is nothing much here!' The journey creates the goal. the goal is not sitting there at the end of the journey, the journey creates each step. The journey is the goal. the journey and the goal are not separate, they are not two things. The end and the means are not two things. The end is spread over all the way; all the means contain the end in them. So never miss any opportunity of living, of being alive, of being responsible, of being committed, of getting involved. Don't be a coward. Face life, encounter it. And then slowly, slowly something inside you will crystallize. Yes, it takes time. But one has to earn it. Let me repeat it: in life you cannot get anything free. And if you do get it, it is useless. You have to pay, and the more you pay for it the more you will get out of it. If you can risk your whole life in love, great will be your attainment. Love will send you back to yourself; it will give you a few reflections of meditation. The first glimpses of meditation happen in love. And then a great desire arises in you to attain to those glimpses, not only as glimpses but as states, so that you can live in those states forever and forever. Love gives you the taste of meditation. A loving, orgasmic experience is the first experience of samadhi, of ecstasy. It will make you more thirsty. Now you will know what is possible and now you cannot be satisfied with the mundane. The sacred has penetrated you, the sacred has reached your heart. God has touched your heart, you have felt that touch. Now you would like to live in that moment forever, you would like that moment to become your whole life. It does become your whole life. It does become--and unless it becomes, we remain discontented. Love on the one hand will give you great joy and on the other hand will give you a thirst for eternal joy." - Osho (From the book called Maturity: The Responsibility of Being Oneself). This passage spoke deeply and directly to my heart & soul.

SOUL JOURNEY

“Though the road's been rocky it sure feels good to me.”
― Bob Marley

The intention for next practice: contemplating our journey as souls; our path as energy clusters...

The path we as humans walk every day isn't easy. It's filled with uncertainties, insecurities and doubt. We all hope that this journey we are on together brings us contentment, crystal clarity, understanding of the essence of all things and those wonderful feeling of connectedness and liberation. People we cross paths with can greatly affect the outcome of our journey. And sometimes we come across some truly amazing people; and we share a brief moment of eternity with them and they leave imprints so deep that you can't help but see them in everything you come across thereafter. And every time you turn around and look back and remember the steps that got you to where you are at now you see those souls and you can't help but to SMILE. And then the steps you are taking start setting  heavier and deeper into the ground and pain and suffering and sadness and loss sets in. So feeling conflicted you keep going; and you keep growing; and you keep learning and you keep knowing. And the knowing liberates you, frees your soul and wipes you clean again so you can again experience pure joy in spite and because of all that your soul has been through. And your path is what lets the true YOU shine through.

“You take people, you put them on a journey, you give them peril, you find out who they really are.” 
― Joss Whedon

NAMASTE 

THE KEY TO HAPPINESS

OK I am gonna come right out and admit there is no key to anything let alone to happiness. Further more there is no happiness at all. There is ecstasy and there is contentment. Happiness is an elusive idea that is making everyone in the western world so unhappy....

I like to simplify things in a deep way (yes, I meant to say this haha) Once you have spent a sufficient amount of years trying to understand yourself, analyze yourself, go in, go deep then you need to let all of that go and get out of yourself. Look at others, look how you can serve and help, look for ways to listen, to be there for others. Lose your self importance! The most important realization I have had about happiness has been to let go of my self.

So here are my steps to attaining "happiness":

1. Forget about your Self. We live in a ME-CULTURE, ME-SOCIETY. Everything revolves around our own happiness, our own spirituality, our own enlightenment, self healing, self realization, self, self, me, me. The pursuit of enlightenment has become one of the most selfish and self serving behaviors I have observed in my life. It's a trap and a prison that has been laid out by the NEW AGE literature and so many have fallen into it.
Let me explain. We have all heard the concept of the HUNGRY GHOST REALM. A place of insatiable desire/hunger that cannot be fulfilled. Chasing a physical satisfaction, an addiction with a body that does not fully emerge into the physical realm. So physical fulfillment becomes an elusive, self serving desire for satisfaction that can never be attained. So what does all of that have to do with our desire to grow on a spiritual level? Trying to attain happiness through a self serving desire to achieve spiritual growth can become an elusive place where happiness cannot be achieved... THE HUNGRY GHOST REALM. The desire to achieve enlightenment is in fact a selfish desire to begin with. And that's where the trick is because we go into spirituality with this new found enthusiasm to grow when in fact this can turn into a selfish motive. In Buddhism desire is the cause of all suffering. And the key is to seek liberation through enlightenment without attachment to the "wanting" . 

Letting go of your self importance will liberate you. It will not make you less important or diminish your significance as a soul instead it will liberate you enough so that you stop being a victim and become a glowing, serving, caring, loving, burning with inspiration creative heart :D You will not grow to know yourself less just because you think about yourself less. You will instead realize that your purpose here is to grow through serving the whole rather then separating yourself from the whole and you will grow to "SEE" yourself from a deeper place. You will grow to know yourself on a soul level. And the illusion of separateness will vanish.

2. Stop looking for happiness outside of yourself. Stop looking for external validation. Everything you need is within and yoga is here to teach you that. All you need is your body and you can delve deep into the layers of your consciousness. Just be quiet and observe. Don't draw conclusions as that's from the mind.


3. Stop looking for happiness period. You are already happy! You are where you need to be at this moment. And you are missing out on your lessons for as long as you are reminiscing about the past or day dreaming about the future. You are here and now, the sun is caressing your skin daily, the air is bringing vitality to you now, the sky is as blue as ever (minus the chemtrails), and your body is serving you 24/7 so that you can breath, move, smile, taste, think, love and be ecstatic.

4. Be empty. Allow the constant chatter in your head to dissolve into nothingness. Unhappiness is a state of thinking and not a state of being. There is a stream of your own consciousness that can step out and away from the chatter and simply observe the chatter happening. It is called "the witness" 

5. Realize that you are here with a mission and a purpose. And everything else is insignificant. You are here to serve and contribute to the growth of all of humanity and all of your problems are nothing in the great scope of all things.
We are all in fact evolving. And part of your evolution is serving. 

Think about your problems from a 200, 300, 1000 year perspective. Would they matter? 99% of them won't. So in essence you are happy. You just need to realize it :)
Love is the only thing that matters and the only thing that will matter 10,000 years from now. And I am speaking about universal love, true love that emanates from your heart, deep divine love. 


NAMASTE
LOVE YOU ALL

EXCELLENT ADDITIONS BY YOU GUYS:
An idea:
Stop worrying about things you can not change an accept them how they are.

Change the things that bother you if you can, instead of postponing it.

And have the wisdom to separate one from the other!

Oh and: Making other people happy makes you happy! But try to apply the "can not change thing".. Some people are resistant :D 



...most of the unhappiness we feel comes from the fact that we "constantly seek happiness itself." 

"Happiness is the absence of striving for happiness." Chuang Tsu

"Happiness is not what makes us grateful. It's gratefulness that makes us happy." ~ David Steindl-Rast

HAPPINESS IS NOT THE DESTINATION, IT'S THE WAY :)

THANK YOU GUYS

What to do if you fall off the wagon...

It's the beginning of January and everyone is going strong, running, practicing yoga, working out. I have never seen as many joggers in my neighborhood as I see right now.  Seems like everyone is motivated and excited to make this the healthiest year of their life. Unfortunately by next month half of the people would have backed off, slowed down or given up on their resolutions.
Why are we not able to keep our resolutions?
I am extremely persistent with the things I enjoy and with the goals that are achievable and reasonable. When I talk to friends and yoga enthusiasts who tend to fail I notice a definite pattern!! The people that are most likely to fail usually set unrealistic, big goals that would crush even a yoga pro and once they skip a day they let it all go down the drain. Then they try to "punish" themselves for failing and come back even stronger. Maybe do 2 MONSTER classes in a row because they skipped a few. It becomes this daunting thing we HAVE TO do rather than a fun time that we can dedicate to ourselves, that we can enjoy and benefit from on an emotional, physical, mental, spiritual level and let's not forget have fun while doing it.

So some things you can do to make sure you achieve your goals are:

1. SET REASONABLE GOALS!
You don't need to workout 1 hour a day, 6 days a week to be fit. Check out the post I wrote on workout schedule and base it off on that: weekly schedule  
Walk with friends, walk your dog, clean your house on off days and don't be harsh on yourself. If you are very busy make your goals achievable- 3x week rather than all or nothing approach.

2. Be sure to shift your perception and to "decide" that what you do is fun. COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS. Every time you roll out your mat make sure you realize how blessed you are to be able to sit and stretch and move and breath and goof on your mat while so many people in the world don't have that luxury. Be grateful and enjoy your blessings.

3. If you fall off the wagon don't sweat it. It's not the end of the world. Be kind to yourself. Even talk to yourself as if you are your own 5 year old child. Don't nag yourself. Tell yourself it's fine. And everything you do is enough. That way you are not laying the ground for self sabotaging out of guilt. (the most common reason why we fail is IMO guilt) Free yourself of guilt. It serves no one so why engage in a behavior that's not serving you or helping anyone else for that matter.

4. MOST IMPORTANTLY  when you do fall of the wagon come back to it SMALL. This has been the secret to me being persistent and constant for years. I forgive myself with ease which has helped me forgive everyone with ease. I don't hold on to hurts and grudges and I definitely don't waste precious time beating myself down over small things. :)
Come back to your routine with something so modest and doable that you would actually do without fretting. Do a beginner 10 minute routine, or a beginning of a class only. If it pulls you in of course you can do more than that but my rule of thumb is just get back on the wagon by dedicating 5-10 minutes to it. Next day your energy will be high enough for you to complete a strong 30 minute class. :D I PROMISE

These are my 4 tips on how to make yoga and working out a lifestyle not a fad.

Let me know if you if you have personal tips and secrets for staying in shape long term :)

NAMASTE

SENDING LOVE AND GRATITUDE TO ALL 

The moment of enlightenment! Becoming a really free human being!

“I'm simply saying that there is a way to be sane. I'm saying that you can 
get rid of all this insanity created by the past in you. Just by being a simple 
witness of your thought processes. 

It is simply sitting silently, witnessing the thoughts, passing before you. 
Just witnessing, not interfering not even judging, because the moment you 
judge you have lost the pure witness. The moment you say “this is good, this 
is bad,” you have already jumped onto the thought process. 

It takes a little time to create a gap between the witness and the mind. Once 
the gap is there, you are in for a great suprise, that you are not the mind, that 
you are the witness, A watcher. 

And this process of watching is the very alchemy of real religion. Because as 
you become more and more deeply rooted in witnessing, thoughts start 
disappearing. You are, but the mind is utterly empty.

That’s the moment of enlightenment. That is the moment that you become for 
the first time an unconditioned, sane, really free human being.” 
― Osho

Intention for the next Advanced Vinyasa Class - THE SECRET

In this very breath that we take now lies the secret that all great teachers try to tell us.
Peter Matthiessen

VINYASA INTERVAL FLOW FOCUSING ON BACKBENDS, HEAVY PLANK SEQUENCE, ARM BALANCES, DEEP DEEP DEEP HIP FLEXOR STRETCHING, HIP OPENERS AND INVERSIONS.
SCHEDULED TIME FOR THE CLASS TO BE UPLOADED ON http://www.youtube.com/user/YogaIntervals19 - THURSDAY JUL 18th, 2013

The class was very challenging yet brief- a lot of core and leg work, very deep stretching throughout the class. After the class I actually felt as if I just got a deep tissue massage and a lot of toxins were released specifically from hips, hip flexor area. A lot of areas in the hip regions opened deeper for me. 
Looking forward to hear your experience with it after Thursday.  :)

Namaste 

SAVASANA CONTEMPLATION

While in SAVASANA SURRENDER TO YOUR HIGHER SELF. Allowing all judgement and self criticism to dissolve. Letting go of self doubt.Allowing the heart to open and allowing yourself to love freely, openly and fully. Free of fear and judgement. Because only Love is real... everything else is an illusion...Magical things can happen when we allow ourselves to let go of illusions. :)

NAMASTE 

AS WITHIN. AS WITH OUT

CONTEMPLATION OF TODAY'S YOGA PRACTICE!
 OUR BODY IS A REFLECTION IMAGE OF OUR STATE OF MIND AND EMOTIONS. WE ARE NURTURING THE SOUL TO EXPRESS IT EXTERNALLY AND BUILDING THE BODY TO NOURISH THE SOUL.
NAMASTE

THE ESSENCE OF YOGA

 THE ART OF LIVING! YOGA TEACHES US TO BE PRESENT AND MINDFUL. EVERYTHING ELSE IS RE-DISCOVERING OUR OWN PROFOUNDNESS.

YOGA MEDITATION OF THE DAY

A contemplation during our yoga practice today!

I aspire to be inspired, to inspire and to serve humanity!
Hold this thought in your "heart" during your yoga practice. Or set it as an intention in the beginning of your practice and at the end sealing it in!

NAMASTE

NO LINEAR EVOLUTION

NOTHING IS LINEAR!!!
NO PATH, NO SPIRITUAL TEACHING TEACHINGS, NO LEARNING CURVE!
WE HAVE TO WALK A WINDING ROAD TO SELF DISCOVERY!

QUOTE OF THE DAY

AMEN!

Contemplation of the day!

Lets bring our hands a few inches over the heart and allow the energy between the hands and the heart to flow and circulate freely! Turning our gaze towards the heart and just silently observing the moment. Stay in a place of no inner dialogue, no judgement, no doubt no self-criticism. Fully loving and embracing yourself with no judgement. Contemplate this feeling for a few moments. Set an intention for your day to fully and completely love and accept yourself today. To not judge yourself and then go on with your day and extend this attitude towards all sentient beings.
Namaste