I am a 42 year old mother, wife, studio owner and yogi but if somebody really wanted to get to know me it would be most immediate to climb inside my head while I am practicing yoga. First of all, I love yoga. I teach yoga, I teach teachers how to teach yoga. I write about yoga. I talk about yoga and I practice yoga. Every day that I can, I practice yoga. Sometimes soft and sometimes hard. Right now, at the point of life I am in with two yoga studios, three children (one who is young enough that she still does not sleep through the night, one that is currently obsessed with The Beatles and WOW, a totally addictive computer game, and one that is a stunning preteen totally unaware of her brilliance and beauty), two cats, two parents who live underneath me in an in-law apartment and a husband who is pouring himself into his own business to make it fly, I usually choose the hard. The sweat is merciful and the intensity is what my body and mind needs to release its bitchiness, woes, and sorrows.
After a hot and demanding yoga class complete with hundreds of downward facing dogs, plank poses, wheels and handstands, I finally begin to dissolve my relentless mind and let my body and all of its stories and misunderstandings melt onto the floor. It is only then, in my own personal puddle of sweat, that I begin to understand who I am and what I am clinging to. Isn't it ironic that clarity and softness comes to me in a room heated to 90 degrees after an hour or so of my body and mind stretching, reaching, breathing, folding, arching, jumping, trusting, opening and closing?
One of the biggest wake up calls I got at the end of a yoga class was when I heard the teacher say, “We all create our own suffering.” I create my own suffering? What kind of new age simplified concept is that? And yet when I heard him speak these words while I laid on the floor completely chilled out in corpse pose, I felt a familiar tingle in my belly. I felt an immediate reaction to truth and I knew my teacher's words were right on. Suffering is not something that is done to me by others or by circumstance but rather suffering is my own creation. I can choose how to be in every situation in my life. I can choose to be fine with the fact that today I must pick the discarded cheesy macaroni up off the floor under my daughter's high chair, that I must empty the overflowing cat box, and face a mountain of laundry. Today I can anticipate getting into and driving my own car that I make a hefty payment on each month and recoil as it's interior glares at me with too many empty water bottles, strewn pennies and papers, and various elements of my children such as mismatched flip flops, lollipop sticks, coloring books, topless magic markers, and the remains of a melted cookie baking inside the black fabric of Sadie's car seat. Today I can go into bitterness and resentment as I realize that, yet again, I am too busy to clean up something as basic and necessary to my own life as my car.
I can choose to whine and feel sorry for myself or I can choose to be present in every situation of my life. Being present for daily life does not consist of judging but is instead made up of slowing down and listening. Listening to myself, listening to the cues of my environment, listening to my loved ones and listening to others. Not reacting. Not going into automatic pilot. I can analyze, discern, slice and dice every moment and try to determine how everything and everyone is going to impact me. What kind of deal, good or bad, will I get out of this situation and what will others think of me? What will my yoga students think of me if they catch a glimpse inside my messy car in the parking lot of my studio? What will strangers in the supermarket parking lot think of me if they happen to glance through windows smeared with my toddlers finger prints? I can choose to go into dread and shame or I can choose to not prejudge each situation that comes my way and just go with it.
I can drive my car today, put the sun roof down and the sunglasses on and get where I need to go. I can enjoy the humming and singing of my three children to The Beatles “Hey Jude.” I can take in the feisty spirit of my one year old as she smiles at me with one dimple when I look at her through my rear view mirror and immediately blows a spit bubble to make her nine year old brother laugh. I can also take in that my emo preteen daughter still looks forward to running errands with me and talking about life in-between the text messages that are coming and going, fast and furious underneath her nail bitten fingers.
If I take a moment to slow down and let my immediate reaction of loathing for myself and my messy car dissipate, I take a deep breath and begin to know the truth. The truth is not dramatic but it is beautiful in its own simple way. The truth is that my car will get picked up when I have the time. The truth is that when I pick it up it will be on a day when I actually have the time to do so and I will not feel rage or resentment inside, only pleasure and satisfaction as I take on the task.
The other truth is that my Honda will get messy again. Yoga teaches us that life goes on. Trying to control life is like harnessing a lightening bolt.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Yoga and Security
Are there any guarantees in life? Can yoga guarantee us feelings of safety or security? What would being safe and secure and at home within my body and to have a secure sense of who I am feel like? These are the questions I asked myself in my yoga practice this week after I found myself come face to face with my fears both small and large. Today I write about security. This does not surprise me, especially with the recent news of my nephew being diagnosed with cancer, that I am questioning what is safety, what is security and what does it feel like or look like? Is it ever really attainable?
Lately I have been feeling secure about myself as a yogi, yoga teacher and studio owner. This feeling of self assurance is newer to me and to allow myself to acknowledge and feel “safe” about my own accomplishments is a huge step up the self growth ladder. It has taken years for me to deprogram my belief system that anything I have obtained from my own hard work could be lost in a moment. It has taken me a lifetime to believe that I am worthy and deserving of success. When I talk about this with students, I know I am not alone. Like many women, I am also a person who struggles with self judging and criticism; keenly aware of my areas where I could grow and improve. Through my 10 years of yoga practice, I have learned to see my self-imposed obstacles or “stuck” places as areas of fascination as opposed to faults.
Last week I was feeling safe with the certainty that my small yoga business was thriving and more importantly, providing authentic, satisfying, and meaningful yoga to its clients,when Dawn and I decided to go to Starbucks for a latte so that we could brainstorm our 10 days of Power Yoga classes. We don't usually go “outside the Samadhi building” for our creative process so this was highly unusual.
Anyways, at around 10:30am on a Thursday morning, I found myself content and well settled into an overstuffed dark green chair with my black notebook opened up in front of me. Dawn was sitting in an identical chair in front of me. Our lattes sat half empty on the small coffee table between us. The Starbucks was devoid of customers except for us and we were immersed in our planning session when I felt a strange but familiar feeling wash over me. The recognizable feeling showed up in my belly as a gnawing in my stomach lining and at my confidence. Suddenly my latte was battery acid inside of me. Inadequacy spread through my bones and a flush rose to my face. In that one instant, I was aware that my hair was unwashed and that there was white fur from my cat clinging to the cuffs of my black yoga pants. I felt dirty, tiny, enormous and insignificant all at the same time.
I am embarrassed to say who or what provoked such a strong response of inadequacy and shame in me but I would not be me if I kept it inside. As a yogi whose yoga practice is not only a physical practice but a spiritual practice, whose yoga is a way of life that contributes to me trusting that I can open and be loving and compassionate to myself and others, I believe that all of my experiences are opportunities for awareness. Yoga is an awareness practice. It teaches us how to react appropriately in each situation. We may not always react in the way that has the most grace but we keep trying, over and over again, until we don't have to try anymore. I am not quite there.
What caused this momentary (ok- I admit I was out of sorts for half a day) lapse into feeling small and inadequate and unsafe in my world. It was the unexpected appearance of the owner of a nearby yoga studio breezing into the tiny coffee shop with some of her friends. It doesn't sound like that big of a deal and it really isn't. She is simply another human being running a yoga business- just like me. She's got her strengths and weaknesses- just like me. I will assume she does her job well-just like me and I know that she appeals to a slightly different yoga client. There is no reason why we cannot operate nearby one another. We do operate near one another. Without any problems. So why did I feel inadequate? Why did I feel exposed and unsafe? Why was my security about my identity as a yoga teacher and business women temporarily altered?
The owner of the other studio never did look my way and I wasn't sure how I would react if she did. I don't want to suggest that there is anything deviant about the other yoga studio owner. She is a well deserving, hard working, successful yoga teacher. This is not about her. Being a business women, I fully understand that competition is part of the package and that it can and should be healthy. Nor do I think that it is desirable for any yoga studio to monopolize all the yoga. To feel safe and secure is to believe that “there is enough to go around.” I am content with my studio just the way it is right now. I am open to my yoga business evolving and growing but I am also of the belief system that where my business is in this moment is exactly where it needs to be.
We left the Starbucks about a ½ hour after her arrival. She was still there with her friends and it was weird that we never even acknowledged each other. When Dawn and I got out into the parking lot, I was the lion in the Wizard of Oz before he got his badge of courage but I am also going to be gentle on myself and will go out of my way to say “hi” to this person the next time the situation presents itself. I am thankful to report that once I removed myself from the discomfort of the “sighting,” I gained some clarity. When I brought up the scenario to my partner, he asked me why I did not feel secure about myself an who I am?
Security. I looked it up in the dictionary. It has a few different meanings and they all fascinate me and apply to my life in this moment. Who can claim that they have not felt insecure? Whether we feel insecure around our appearances, our relationships, our status, our jobs, our parenting, etc. Somewhere and at some time in each of our lives we have all questioned our own sense of being secure with what is. Yoga teacher, Michael Caroll (Yoganand) teaches that we all ultimately fear of our own death. In order to avoid thinking about our own death, we spend a great deal of time making ourselves important with our identities and accomplishments,etc. so that we can believe we are too busy or needed or important to die.
Security: to feel safety and assurance. To secure is to anchor or fix. To be secure with one's self is to be self assured. To secure something is to guarantee it.
With the recent news of my nephew facing the uncertain as he undergoes a ravishing yet lifesaving chemotherapy; my family and I have been forced to be with the truth that there are no guarantees in this life about anything. My nephew's prognosis is positive. His type of lymphoma is curable but the road to that cure will be most likely filled with pain. The Buddhist teacher Thich Nhat Hanh elegantly states in his Five Truths: There is no escaping pain, getting sick or growing old. There is no escaping separation from our loved ones. There is no escaping death. The only thing we can be sure of is change. Can I take comfort in these words?
I am learning through my yoga that when life is full of pain or loss or sorrow, our most challenging practice becomes baring that truth. We have to hold our own pain and the pain of others softly in our hearts, keeping our hearts open, positive, and loving.
In light of recent circumstances, it is no mystery to me now that I reacted the way I did to the situation at Starbucks. For three weeks I have been unknowingly questioning security at the deepest level. It is terrifying to think that someone I love so dearly cannot escape pain or loss. I have been aware of my shattered security somewhere deep inside of me yet each day is a new day and I keep myself busy, help out my sister in any way I can and try not to think about that which I cannot control. As a coping strategy, this worked for a while but that which we hold down will eventually reveal itself and usually in some unexpected way. There is a yoga saying that goes something like this, “If the universe is trying to get your attention, at first it will just tug at your arm. Next it will tug at your legs. If you don't acknowledge the universe's calling out to you, eventually it will throw you off the bus.”
At Starbucks, the universe tugged at my arm. I was being called to examine my security with my self and with this precious world. To examine the truth about safety and security and to find my own solace, I turned to my yoga practice. I asked myself what is it that I need to feel secure in my body. I have been called to define my own definition of security. I have decided that to feel secure is to feel at home. To be at home means to feel safe and to be in a community that cares. In other words, to be secure is to feel safe in my surroundings and to be loved.
In each “asana” or pose I practiced this week, I asked myself, “What is safety and What is security?” As I intuitively explored pose after pose, I observed how I was drawn to forward folds. This comes as no surprise as forward folds have an emotional quality of feeling safe and cared for. In“paschimottanasana” or seated forward fold, I would tell myself that “I am safe.” and “ I am sound.” In “bahda konasana” or bound angle, I made the discovery that softness deserves a space inside my existence alongside my strength.
I was also drawn to balancing poses, both the standing balance poses such as Warrior 3 and the arm balance poses such as Handstand. My need for these poses did surprise me, because these are poses where I could ultimately falter or fall out of, but when I let myself really stay in each balance pose, I began to understand why I sought them out. Underneath the vulnerability, the hesitation and the doubt of mastering the pose, I observed each sensation, let my truth be absorbed into each inhale and exhale, and when I finally allowed that to happen, I felt strong and steady. As I anchored my hands or my feet to the mat, I felt that I could handle anything that life will present to me.
“I can handle anything that life will present to me.” Those are the words I needed to hear.
05/12/08
During challenging times, I turn to my yoga practice and it calms me and reassures me that I am going to be ok and have the resolve and patience I need to get through each interaction I have with others and myself.
Recently I have been feeling grounded and present in Mountain Pose. In the midst of chaos, I am able to access stillness and a sense of knowing that every thing is all ready "ok." Here is a poem I wrote that captures how I feel lately when I practice :
There is a city within my body
complete with noises,
angry motorists,
busy pedestrians,
smog,
violence,
poverty.
But
this city is humanity
in both its dark and light forms,
in it's day and night,
its outside and inside
sometimes softened
by the night air
where stars shine down
on me.
Come city
lift up your chin
and gaze upward
knowing that you too
have the same stars
singing.
The city never sleeps.
Sincerely,
Anne Falkowski
Recently I have been feeling grounded and present in Mountain Pose. In the midst of chaos, I am able to access stillness and a sense of knowing that every thing is all ready "ok." Here is a poem I wrote that captures how I feel lately when I practice :
There is a city within my body
complete with noises,
angry motorists,
busy pedestrians,
smog,
violence,
poverty.
But
this city is humanity
in both its dark and light forms,
in it's day and night,
its outside and inside
sometimes softened
by the night air
where stars shine down
on me.
Come city
lift up your chin
and gaze upward
knowing that you too
have the same stars
singing.
The city never sleeps.
Sincerely,
Anne Falkowski
05/08/08
Each morning on my early morning run, I consider myself one of the fortunate to be out in nature before most of the world is even awake and I almost always breathe a sense of relief and gratitude for my time alone with my self and with nature. Last Thursday, I noticed that everything was blossoming and temperatures were on the rise. This is the time of year that I usually feel renewed and a sense of hope. Last Thursday, hope and renewal were hidden behind the face of sadness and fear.
This past week my family has been facing difficult and heart wrenching times as one of my nephews was diagnosed with lymphoma that is both aggressive and rampant in his bones and marrow. The lymphoma seemed to have developed overnight. The good news is that we have come together as a family to support him and his parents in every way. The best news is that the doctors believe that this is curable. But the treatment is painful with intense chemo beginning for my nephew on Monday.
Last week before we knew all the facts, my mind had spiraled into a scary place, thinking the worse and with each hour, I could feel despair growing like a weed inside of me. Last week, during one of my panic stricken moments, my good friend, who is not a yoga person but is a cancer survivor, gave me the best advice and it has been her words that have grounded me since.
She told me to "be in the moment," to not go forward into the present or back to the past. These were the words of a wise woman and these words echo the yoga practice I have been committed to for 10 years. They were words I could hang on to and bring me solace. To be in present moment awareness is both comforting and truthful. It keeps us from spiraling into "what if" or "what could be" or into "who is to blame." Being in the moment keeps us in reality and it also fosters a deep appreciation for each moment. In the present situation the practice of "being in the moment" allows me to step into my best self and help my nephew and his parents from a place of calmness and love.
Since the news, my life is changed. Each morning when I wake up and during every mountain pose I practice, I bring my hands to my heart and I set my intention to "be in the moment." I now recognize that this is the path I need to be on for the time being. Each moment, whether it is with my nephew, his mother, my mother, my partner, my children, my students or my friends is a gift not to be tainted with fear. I would rather be fully present, honest, and relaxed that anxious and scared. To be able to hold an intention for myself each day is one of the teachings that yoga has to offer. Creating an intention for ourselves does not mean we will be perfect, instead it means to keep coming back to our intentions over and over again and eventually our road will go that way.
Intentions have great power. We all get off track or, as in my case, have crisis that throw us off track and we lose the path we want to be on. As yogis, we learn to keep coming back to our intention. Here are some sample intentions, but the best way to set an intention is to listen to your own heart and what it yearns for.
Today I will practice generosity.
I will be more patient with
I will notice my feelings and try to feel my feelings instead of pushing them away.
I will listen to other points of view without trying to push my own agenda.
I will respond lovingly when others are upset.
I will remember to stop at moments throughout the day, breathe deeply, and relax every part of my body.
Today I will focus on the blessings in my life.
Respectfully,
Anne Falkowski
This past week my family has been facing difficult and heart wrenching times as one of my nephews was diagnosed with lymphoma that is both aggressive and rampant in his bones and marrow. The lymphoma seemed to have developed overnight. The good news is that we have come together as a family to support him and his parents in every way. The best news is that the doctors believe that this is curable. But the treatment is painful with intense chemo beginning for my nephew on Monday.
Last week before we knew all the facts, my mind had spiraled into a scary place, thinking the worse and with each hour, I could feel despair growing like a weed inside of me. Last week, during one of my panic stricken moments, my good friend, who is not a yoga person but is a cancer survivor, gave me the best advice and it has been her words that have grounded me since.
She told me to "be in the moment," to not go forward into the present or back to the past. These were the words of a wise woman and these words echo the yoga practice I have been committed to for 10 years. They were words I could hang on to and bring me solace. To be in present moment awareness is both comforting and truthful. It keeps us from spiraling into "what if" or "what could be" or into "who is to blame." Being in the moment keeps us in reality and it also fosters a deep appreciation for each moment. In the present situation the practice of "being in the moment" allows me to step into my best self and help my nephew and his parents from a place of calmness and love.
Since the news, my life is changed. Each morning when I wake up and during every mountain pose I practice, I bring my hands to my heart and I set my intention to "be in the moment." I now recognize that this is the path I need to be on for the time being. Each moment, whether it is with my nephew, his mother, my mother, my partner, my children, my students or my friends is a gift not to be tainted with fear. I would rather be fully present, honest, and relaxed that anxious and scared. To be able to hold an intention for myself each day is one of the teachings that yoga has to offer. Creating an intention for ourselves does not mean we will be perfect, instead it means to keep coming back to our intentions over and over again and eventually our road will go that way.
Intentions have great power. We all get off track or, as in my case, have crisis that throw us off track and we lose the path we want to be on. As yogis, we learn to keep coming back to our intention. Here are some sample intentions, but the best way to set an intention is to listen to your own heart and what it yearns for.
Today I will practice generosity.
I will be more patient with
I will notice my feelings and try to feel my feelings instead of pushing them away.
I will listen to other points of view without trying to push my own agenda.
I will respond lovingly when others are upset.
I will remember to stop at moments throughout the day, breathe deeply, and relax every part of my body.
Today I will focus on the blessings in my life.
Respectfully,
Anne Falkowski
04/29/08
Last Friday I was all set to go into the studio for a much needed day of attending paperwork and returning phone calls. Many of these detailed yet essential tasks had been brushed aside over the past week as Dawn, my office manager, was performing with her Kung Fu team in China and I had to call in sick to the yoga studio almost every morning to take care of three kids with a tummy bug. Last Friday everyone in my family was finally healthy for the first time in over a week. I was looking forward to a full devoted to my yoga studios. I was planning to start my morning by taking John's power yoga class and then settling in with my phone and computer. After a week plus of my routines being thwarted, I couldn't wait to bring everything back to normal. I was craving my yoga, my alone time, my habits; all that I receive from a full day of work.
It was at that very moment of longing and anticipation, when I was freshly showered and dressed in my best yoga outfit that I got a last minute phone call from my babysitter informing me that her car had broken down in her driveway. Talk about disappointment. Momentary feelings of self pity washed over me from head to toe. As I have no last minute child care backup, it meant that once again, I must shelf my own needs as a yogi, business owner, and an adult to stay at home.
Last Friday was a gorgeous spring day. They don't get any more beautiful. The breeze was gentle, the sun was warm and kissed my bare arms. Flying high above my one year old daughter and my own head was a large bumblebee. The bee was happily flitting and buzzing up in the sky and could have cared less about us. It was during one of these moments that Sadie noticed a patch of dandelions. She has never seen a dandelion before and her face lit up in inquiry. With enthusiasm and determination she crawled on bare knees across the lawn to examine these new found treasures. At first she explored the bright yellow flowers with her right foot, hesitantly touching the face of one lucky dandelion with her big toe. Soon, she needed more and brought her face down to the ground and began to examine its texture by brushing up against the head of the flower with her cheeks and eyelids. This still was not enough. In a flash of a moment, she brought her chubby fist to the flower and picked the yellow head off of its stem. As she brought the flower to her lips, she looked at me. By this time I was sitting next to her, cross-legged, observing her sense of curiosity and wonder.
She looked at me to see my response. I felt myself wanting to tell her, "No!" "Do not eat the flowers! That is wrong! That is yucky! That is sick!" My mind quickly told me that eating flowers could possibly be dangerous. What will she eat next? Rocks worms, or twigs? Isn't my duty as a mother to teach her how to stay safe in this world?
But in that moment, I chose a different route. Instead of stating the habitual and over used, "No," I chose a different path and let myself soften. In that moment I couldn't help it - I smiled. My own smile emerged from a momentary awakening into what really mattered to me. My own realization of how precious this moment was. After I offered my smile to Sadie, she smiled back. This was no ordinary smile. Sadie grinned in pure delight. She had a light in her eyes and bright yellow flecks of dandelion stuck between her eight teeth. In all of my life, I have never seen a sight more beautiful.
My point is this: we choose our own paths and ultimately create our own experiences. We will never be able to control all of the circumstances in our lives. Each and every one of us cannot escape loss, disappointment, and change. We may not have choices around our circumstances but we do have choices regarding our reactions. Yoga teaches us this. As we practice on our mats, we continuously make choices. "Do I stay in the pose or do I release? Do I let go of perfection in the alignment of my pose and honor my experience just as it is right now?" Do I choose to experience the fullness of the pose by softening or do I choose to keep striving no matter the cost?" Yoga teaches us that we can be both a skillful practitioner and yet embrace our humanity as well.
There is a word in tantric yoga called poorna. Poorna translates as fullness or wholeness. As yogis, we want to experience our yoga practice on the yoga mat and ultimately our lives off of the yoga mat in the fullest possible dimension. We are continuously refining our skills yet at the same time we learn to let go of perfection and realize that there are no mistakes. There is only learning. The physical practice of yoga is an embodiment of asana, breath and meditation. May our lives be an embodiment as well. May we all laugh fully, love fully and live fully. According to the modern day yoga philosopher Douglas Brooks, "Yoga doesn't give you anything new. It gives you the process of engagement with who you are."
Blessings,
AnneFalkowski
It was at that very moment of longing and anticipation, when I was freshly showered and dressed in my best yoga outfit that I got a last minute phone call from my babysitter informing me that her car had broken down in her driveway. Talk about disappointment. Momentary feelings of self pity washed over me from head to toe. As I have no last minute child care backup, it meant that once again, I must shelf my own needs as a yogi, business owner, and an adult to stay at home.
Last Friday was a gorgeous spring day. They don't get any more beautiful. The breeze was gentle, the sun was warm and kissed my bare arms. Flying high above my one year old daughter and my own head was a large bumblebee. The bee was happily flitting and buzzing up in the sky and could have cared less about us. It was during one of these moments that Sadie noticed a patch of dandelions. She has never seen a dandelion before and her face lit up in inquiry. With enthusiasm and determination she crawled on bare knees across the lawn to examine these new found treasures. At first she explored the bright yellow flowers with her right foot, hesitantly touching the face of one lucky dandelion with her big toe. Soon, she needed more and brought her face down to the ground and began to examine its texture by brushing up against the head of the flower with her cheeks and eyelids. This still was not enough. In a flash of a moment, she brought her chubby fist to the flower and picked the yellow head off of its stem. As she brought the flower to her lips, she looked at me. By this time I was sitting next to her, cross-legged, observing her sense of curiosity and wonder.
She looked at me to see my response. I felt myself wanting to tell her, "No!" "Do not eat the flowers! That is wrong! That is yucky! That is sick!" My mind quickly told me that eating flowers could possibly be dangerous. What will she eat next? Rocks worms, or twigs? Isn't my duty as a mother to teach her how to stay safe in this world?
But in that moment, I chose a different route. Instead of stating the habitual and over used, "No," I chose a different path and let myself soften. In that moment I couldn't help it - I smiled. My own smile emerged from a momentary awakening into what really mattered to me. My own realization of how precious this moment was. After I offered my smile to Sadie, she smiled back. This was no ordinary smile. Sadie grinned in pure delight. She had a light in her eyes and bright yellow flecks of dandelion stuck between her eight teeth. In all of my life, I have never seen a sight more beautiful.
My point is this: we choose our own paths and ultimately create our own experiences. We will never be able to control all of the circumstances in our lives. Each and every one of us cannot escape loss, disappointment, and change. We may not have choices around our circumstances but we do have choices regarding our reactions. Yoga teaches us this. As we practice on our mats, we continuously make choices. "Do I stay in the pose or do I release? Do I let go of perfection in the alignment of my pose and honor my experience just as it is right now?" Do I choose to experience the fullness of the pose by softening or do I choose to keep striving no matter the cost?" Yoga teaches us that we can be both a skillful practitioner and yet embrace our humanity as well.
There is a word in tantric yoga called poorna. Poorna translates as fullness or wholeness. As yogis, we want to experience our yoga practice on the yoga mat and ultimately our lives off of the yoga mat in the fullest possible dimension. We are continuously refining our skills yet at the same time we learn to let go of perfection and realize that there are no mistakes. There is only learning. The physical practice of yoga is an embodiment of asana, breath and meditation. May our lives be an embodiment as well. May we all laugh fully, love fully and live fully. According to the modern day yoga philosopher Douglas Brooks, "Yoga doesn't give you anything new. It gives you the process of engagement with who you are."
Blessings,
AnneFalkowski
04/23/08
When it comes to my professional life, I am in the habit of taking on too much. I love to take on new projects, new workshops, and new yoga classes. Taking on new things is exciting to me. In a work environment I love challenge and change. This would be fine if I didn't have a life outside of my professional one but I do. I am a mother, wife, sister, daughter, auntie, friend, artist, writer, knitter, reader, cook, runner, and many other things. Sometimes I take things on at work without even consulting my partner or my calendar. This can be like playing with fire. I would like to say that I thrive on the chaos and to a certain point I do, but taking on every challenge can also deplete me. In the end, taking on too much is a form of self sabotage. You watch a few bridges go up in flames all because you overbooked yourself and can't be and do everything you promised. As I realize I take on too much and will ultimately disappoint someone, feelings of dread and guilt will set in and plant itself deep within my center.
So this week when I made the decision (once again) to slow myself down and not to commit to everything (for a while) and to be home with my family more- I got sick. One of those nasty tummy bugs coupled with some upper respiratory difficulty. This does not surprise me. Although I had made the decision to slow down, I wasn't intending on starting immediately. I saw it as a slow process. A process that I would enter into gradually. Gradual never happened. Becoming pale as white linen, incredibly tired and observing my insides emptying out over and over again happened instead. I believe my "bug" was my body's way of slowing me down and agreeing with the decision I made. Being sick this weekend kept me from attending a workshop at my studio, cleaning out my garage, running 6 miles and trying to act like superwoman as I hosted our guest teacher. Being sick gave me more time with my children as I couldn't do much more than loaf around in my pajamas. My children were also not feeling well so we hung out together under our comforters and drank gallons of ginger ale, sucked on Popsicles and watched movies too silly to name here.
This is what I took from being sick for the past 5 days:
Taking care of ourselves is absolutely essential and sacred. In order to take care of ourselves completely, it is important to clear out of our lives the things that are standing in our way of self care. For example, if you are always taking care of others first before you take care of yourself, then you will lose touch with what you need. This was the case with me. As I added workshop after workshop in a desire to take care of my studio and serve my students. (and also to enable me to grow as a yoga teacher), I lost touch with the fact that I also needed down time, not only with myself but with my husband and kids as well. Before I know it, my 11 year old daughter will no longer want to cuddle with me under a blanket watching "chick flicks." If I am lucky, I can get a few more years in of couch cuddling. If I am lucky.....
Everybody has needs. We have needs for alone time, expression, creativity, to be loved and to love back. These are just a few. A wise yogi understands that he or she has needs that vary and change.
In any crisis situation in our life (for example-an illness, death, job loss, financial setback, divorce, life change, depression, etc.) that has us experience fear, panic, numbness, or pain, it becomes increasingly clear that we need to reframe our relationship with ourselves.
Reframing our relationship with ourselves will set us on the healing path. When we our in a crisis situation, it would be wise to ask, "How can I use this time in my life to enrich my life, to connect me with what is really important to myself?" In other words, "What do I need to get rid of in my life? " What a rich question. "What memory programming do I need to let go of?" For me- the tape in my head that tells me I am not good enough would be a place to start. Let that message burn itself up. Ask yourself , "Who and what do I need to clear out of my life?"
In a crisis situation, consider how differently you would move through it if you ate healthy foods, drank more water, did lots of yoga, stayed grounded emotionally, took deep breaths, and spoke your truth from your heart.
How different would your decision making process be?
Here are four ways to practice yoga that will guide you to feel the sacredness within yourself:
1. Slow down and scan your body. The body doesn't lie. If you listen to it, it will tell you if it is hungry, scared, overwhelmed, hurting, happy, tired, etc. If you don't listen to it, it will eventually scream back at you.
2. Breathe. Use the breath to slow you down, overcome panic, soothe and restore.
3. Practice your yoga. Activity in the body creates energy which in turn creates more energy. This helps us to realign, open up and balance our entire structure. Our emotional backlog is gently released through the motion of yoga.
4. Meditate. Even if it is only in small doses. A regular meditation practice hones our quality of attention, silence, looking and feeling within. Meditation helps us to wake up and follow the direction of our own unique spirit.
Sincerely,
Anne Falkowski
So this week when I made the decision (once again) to slow myself down and not to commit to everything (for a while) and to be home with my family more- I got sick. One of those nasty tummy bugs coupled with some upper respiratory difficulty. This does not surprise me. Although I had made the decision to slow down, I wasn't intending on starting immediately. I saw it as a slow process. A process that I would enter into gradually. Gradual never happened. Becoming pale as white linen, incredibly tired and observing my insides emptying out over and over again happened instead. I believe my "bug" was my body's way of slowing me down and agreeing with the decision I made. Being sick this weekend kept me from attending a workshop at my studio, cleaning out my garage, running 6 miles and trying to act like superwoman as I hosted our guest teacher. Being sick gave me more time with my children as I couldn't do much more than loaf around in my pajamas. My children were also not feeling well so we hung out together under our comforters and drank gallons of ginger ale, sucked on Popsicles and watched movies too silly to name here.
This is what I took from being sick for the past 5 days:
Taking care of ourselves is absolutely essential and sacred. In order to take care of ourselves completely, it is important to clear out of our lives the things that are standing in our way of self care. For example, if you are always taking care of others first before you take care of yourself, then you will lose touch with what you need. This was the case with me. As I added workshop after workshop in a desire to take care of my studio and serve my students. (and also to enable me to grow as a yoga teacher), I lost touch with the fact that I also needed down time, not only with myself but with my husband and kids as well. Before I know it, my 11 year old daughter will no longer want to cuddle with me under a blanket watching "chick flicks." If I am lucky, I can get a few more years in of couch cuddling. If I am lucky.....
Everybody has needs. We have needs for alone time, expression, creativity, to be loved and to love back. These are just a few. A wise yogi understands that he or she has needs that vary and change.
In any crisis situation in our life (for example-an illness, death, job loss, financial setback, divorce, life change, depression, etc.) that has us experience fear, panic, numbness, or pain, it becomes increasingly clear that we need to reframe our relationship with ourselves.
Reframing our relationship with ourselves will set us on the healing path. When we our in a crisis situation, it would be wise to ask, "How can I use this time in my life to enrich my life, to connect me with what is really important to myself?" In other words, "What do I need to get rid of in my life? " What a rich question. "What memory programming do I need to let go of?" For me- the tape in my head that tells me I am not good enough would be a place to start. Let that message burn itself up. Ask yourself , "Who and what do I need to clear out of my life?"
In a crisis situation, consider how differently you would move through it if you ate healthy foods, drank more water, did lots of yoga, stayed grounded emotionally, took deep breaths, and spoke your truth from your heart.
How different would your decision making process be?
Here are four ways to practice yoga that will guide you to feel the sacredness within yourself:
1. Slow down and scan your body. The body doesn't lie. If you listen to it, it will tell you if it is hungry, scared, overwhelmed, hurting, happy, tired, etc. If you don't listen to it, it will eventually scream back at you.
2. Breathe. Use the breath to slow you down, overcome panic, soothe and restore.
3. Practice your yoga. Activity in the body creates energy which in turn creates more energy. This helps us to realign, open up and balance our entire structure. Our emotional backlog is gently released through the motion of yoga.
4. Meditate. Even if it is only in small doses. A regular meditation practice hones our quality of attention, silence, looking and feeling within. Meditation helps us to wake up and follow the direction of our own unique spirit.
Sincerely,
Anne Falkowski
04/10/08
Springtime is magical dynamic and sensuous. The aliveness of springtime is a mirror of the life force that is always pulsing within us. This is a time to shed that which keeps us from feeling most alive and should set the tone for the rest of the year. A proper hatha yoga practice will vary according to the time of year in our life. A springtime yoga practice should follow natures lead by gradually lightning us physically, mentally, and emotionally. A balanced springtime yoga practice will incorporate realistic goals for obtaining our highest form of health and vitality. Springtime is a time to focus on what makes you shine from within. The proper transition into springtime serves as a foundation for health for the rest of the year. Honor the spring as the morning of the year.
Yoga is not only an asana (posture) practice but a whole lifestyle practice. The following Sadhana (yoga practice) recommendations are a combination of lifestyle, diet and yoga practices that will shed lethargy or amma (the toxicity that accumulates during the winter months) and build a foundation for personal strength and vitality:
Lifestyle
1.The optimal time for going to sleep at night is 10pm. The optimal time for waking up is between 5:30am and 6:00am. When we get the right amount of sleep, it wakes up our internal agni. Agni is our internal fire. By waking up our internal fire, we can reduce lethargy which can come from sleeping in.
2.Upon waking-apply warm sesame oil to the whole body. Follow this with a hot shower and a brief cold rinse. This is an ayurvedic springtime ritual that will stimulate the lymphatic system and benefits the mind and emotions. This ritual also increases the immune system.
Diet
3.Eat less( or none) of foods that increase mucus; dairy products, iced or cold food or drinks, white bread, processed foods, and fried foods.
4.Drink detoxifying teas. A good one is a combination of cinnamon, ginger and black pepper. Yogi brand Detox Tea is also very nice. Drink these detoxifying teas one hour after breakfast and lunch. This serves to keep the digestive system healthy and to expectorate excess mucus.
5.Eat plenty of fresh and local vegetables. Local vegetables will serve as a gentle and natural cleansing to your system.
Lifestyle
6.Organize your home or your office.
7.Resolve lingering issues in your relationships. Practice peacemaking, forgiveness and understanding.
8.Find occasions where you can holler and scream with enthusiasm and joy. Kirtan is excellent.
Yoga Practice
9.A springtime hatha yoga practice should be a dynamic style of practice that is warming, stimulates our internal metabolic fire, improves circulation of prana so that excess toxins can be eliminated particularly from the lungs, heart and circulatory system.
10.The best postures for asana during the spring are Standing poses, standing twists, sun salutations and inversions.
11.Smooth rhythmic breathing (ujaii breath) particularly during sun salutations is key for maintaining concentration and spreading heat throughout the body. This inner heat melts away excess tissues in your body
Spring is here. Finally. Whatever your yoga practice, you should come away feeling warmed, invigorated and light. Your circulation should be energized and your chest and lungs open. At the end of your practice, the mind and senses should be sharp and clear and any emotional heaviness released and forgotten.
There is no need to wait. Start your yoga practice exactly where you are. All you need to do is come to the mat. Bow your head and offer a prayer of gratitude to nature and set your intentions for your practice. Chant the sound AUM and begin.
With love,
Anne Falkowski
Yoga is not only an asana (posture) practice but a whole lifestyle practice. The following Sadhana (yoga practice) recommendations are a combination of lifestyle, diet and yoga practices that will shed lethargy or amma (the toxicity that accumulates during the winter months) and build a foundation for personal strength and vitality:
Lifestyle
1.The optimal time for going to sleep at night is 10pm. The optimal time for waking up is between 5:30am and 6:00am. When we get the right amount of sleep, it wakes up our internal agni. Agni is our internal fire. By waking up our internal fire, we can reduce lethargy which can come from sleeping in.
2.Upon waking-apply warm sesame oil to the whole body. Follow this with a hot shower and a brief cold rinse. This is an ayurvedic springtime ritual that will stimulate the lymphatic system and benefits the mind and emotions. This ritual also increases the immune system.
Diet
3.Eat less( or none) of foods that increase mucus; dairy products, iced or cold food or drinks, white bread, processed foods, and fried foods.
4.Drink detoxifying teas. A good one is a combination of cinnamon, ginger and black pepper. Yogi brand Detox Tea is also very nice. Drink these detoxifying teas one hour after breakfast and lunch. This serves to keep the digestive system healthy and to expectorate excess mucus.
5.Eat plenty of fresh and local vegetables. Local vegetables will serve as a gentle and natural cleansing to your system.
Lifestyle
6.Organize your home or your office.
7.Resolve lingering issues in your relationships. Practice peacemaking, forgiveness and understanding.
8.Find occasions where you can holler and scream with enthusiasm and joy. Kirtan is excellent.
Yoga Practice
9.A springtime hatha yoga practice should be a dynamic style of practice that is warming, stimulates our internal metabolic fire, improves circulation of prana so that excess toxins can be eliminated particularly from the lungs, heart and circulatory system.
10.The best postures for asana during the spring are Standing poses, standing twists, sun salutations and inversions.
11.Smooth rhythmic breathing (ujaii breath) particularly during sun salutations is key for maintaining concentration and spreading heat throughout the body. This inner heat melts away excess tissues in your body
Spring is here. Finally. Whatever your yoga practice, you should come away feeling warmed, invigorated and light. Your circulation should be energized and your chest and lungs open. At the end of your practice, the mind and senses should be sharp and clear and any emotional heaviness released and forgotten.
There is no need to wait. Start your yoga practice exactly where you are. All you need to do is come to the mat. Bow your head and offer a prayer of gratitude to nature and set your intentions for your practice. Chant the sound AUM and begin.
With love,
Anne Falkowski
04/03/08
For the Falkowski family, the past year and a half has been a time of building. Since the fall of 2006, we have added a 2nd yoga studio, 2 new business partners, a baby, a major move of our Manchester Studio to a new location,
and another full-time business for Matthew. In that order, we have made all these changes. All though each of these additions have been positive in their own way, they have also brought about a lot of tasks and responsibilities into our already busy lives. As new tasks and responsibilities come into our life each year, it can get easy to lose track of what really makes you happy.
For me, yoga is a blessing. I take one hour and 15 minutes each day and focus on what makes me happy. In my yoga
practice, I pay attention to the little things that make me smile. I set an intention of focusing on what I need to feel balanced and whole each day. My yoga practice not only protects my emotional well-being but that protects my physical health as well.
On my yoga mat, I continue to grow and develop as a woman, mother, and human being. On my yoga mat, I have learned to be truthful, strong, and courageous, even if it is for only five breaths. On my yoga mat, I have learned that I am far from perfect but that perfection is not as important as being authentic and real. On my yoga mat, I have learned that I am happy. I just have to pay attention to what makes me happy and follow
some simple lessons to rediscover my passion for life when I start to get overwhelmed by tasks and responsibilities
of living a full life.
Here are some essential lessons I have learned from yoga and try to follow in my daily life:
Value what you love to do. There are always items to add to your to-do list, but don't forget the diversions that you love. Do you look forward to reading in bed, going out to breakfast, taking long walks, or listening to music?
Make sure that some of your favorite diversions happen each day. Only you can make this happen. It is important
to identify what you need and then follow through and do it. Even if that means slowing down for an hour or so regardless of the size of your chore list. I usually know that I am not getting enough of my favorite diversions when feelings of resentment crop up towards others for simple things like returning phone calls or I feel overwhelmed to take on a small task in my life such as putting away the groceries or folding laundry. In times like these, I seek refuge by sneaking away to my favorite knitting store to sit and knit even if the dishes are overflowing. The army of dishes will still be there when I get home. After a few hours of knitting and purling row after row, the dishes seem to get done with an ease instead of an underlying rage.
Build your strength and independence. We all have low-energy days and have times when we want to skip our regular
yoga practice but if you can resist your urge to bail out on your yoga (or any other exercise you are dedicated to) you will be rewarded both now and later. Just get yourself to the yoga mat. Once you are stretching and breathing, it is most likely that you will want to complete what you started and you will feel good about doing so. Sticking with your exercise plan will help you feel good about yourself and also strengthen your immune system and enhance your body's production of mood-boosting hormones.
Don't let stress zap you of joy. Diffuse daily hassles by practicing stress-reduction strategies. As a yoga teacher, I recommend taking short deep-breathing breaks throughout the day. A minute of Ujaii breath will relax you, get more oxygen into your blood stream, resulting in a greater feeling of calm. Take a brisk walk outside, hug someone you love, have a good laugh, get a massage, sing in the shower, write in a journal. All of these are effective means for reducing tension, stress, depression and anxiety. Find ways to lift your spirits other than eating the sugary and salty snacks you might crave when you are feeling frantic.
Give back to others. This is Karma Yoga or the yoga of service. Share your skills and talents with a local school, club or organization whom you would like to volunteer or participate. Being engaged in your local community is good for your emotional health and will make our world a better place. We all have unique talents and gifts that we can share. We also learn a tremendous amount about ourselves and others when we mentally and emotionally stretch and meet new people outside of our social comfort zone. For instance, when I volunteer my time with people with disabilities, it helps me to break down barriers between myself and others and to see the world from a different perspective.
Appreciate the people around you. Appreciate your family, loved ones, and friends. The openness and trust you share with these important people can help give you the perspective you need to cope with everyday challenges.
Share a good laugh with others. Don't forget about relationships at work. Colleagues and co-workers can provide valuable support during stressful situations. I could not imagine what my life would be like if Dawn and I did not value each other. As co-workers, we spend many hours together each week and I know that our mutual respect and trust for one another positively impacts my happiness at my workplace.
Feeling satisfied and fulfilled with our lives is essential to our emotional and physical well-being. Through my yoga, I have
learned to appreciate who I am and what I need to feel good. When I take care of myself, ultimately I am taking care of my relationships with others and as a result I am putting positive vibes out in this world. Do a little yoga today, on and off your mat, and you will be amazed at just how good you feel.
and another full-time business for Matthew. In that order, we have made all these changes. All though each of these additions have been positive in their own way, they have also brought about a lot of tasks and responsibilities into our already busy lives. As new tasks and responsibilities come into our life each year, it can get easy to lose track of what really makes you happy.
For me, yoga is a blessing. I take one hour and 15 minutes each day and focus on what makes me happy. In my yoga
practice, I pay attention to the little things that make me smile. I set an intention of focusing on what I need to feel balanced and whole each day. My yoga practice not only protects my emotional well-being but that protects my physical health as well.
On my yoga mat, I continue to grow and develop as a woman, mother, and human being. On my yoga mat, I have learned to be truthful, strong, and courageous, even if it is for only five breaths. On my yoga mat, I have learned that I am far from perfect but that perfection is not as important as being authentic and real. On my yoga mat, I have learned that I am happy. I just have to pay attention to what makes me happy and follow
some simple lessons to rediscover my passion for life when I start to get overwhelmed by tasks and responsibilities
of living a full life.
Here are some essential lessons I have learned from yoga and try to follow in my daily life:
Value what you love to do. There are always items to add to your to-do list, but don't forget the diversions that you love. Do you look forward to reading in bed, going out to breakfast, taking long walks, or listening to music?
Make sure that some of your favorite diversions happen each day. Only you can make this happen. It is important
to identify what you need and then follow through and do it. Even if that means slowing down for an hour or so regardless of the size of your chore list. I usually know that I am not getting enough of my favorite diversions when feelings of resentment crop up towards others for simple things like returning phone calls or I feel overwhelmed to take on a small task in my life such as putting away the groceries or folding laundry. In times like these, I seek refuge by sneaking away to my favorite knitting store to sit and knit even if the dishes are overflowing. The army of dishes will still be there when I get home. After a few hours of knitting and purling row after row, the dishes seem to get done with an ease instead of an underlying rage.
Build your strength and independence. We all have low-energy days and have times when we want to skip our regular
yoga practice but if you can resist your urge to bail out on your yoga (or any other exercise you are dedicated to) you will be rewarded both now and later. Just get yourself to the yoga mat. Once you are stretching and breathing, it is most likely that you will want to complete what you started and you will feel good about doing so. Sticking with your exercise plan will help you feel good about yourself and also strengthen your immune system and enhance your body's production of mood-boosting hormones.
Don't let stress zap you of joy. Diffuse daily hassles by practicing stress-reduction strategies. As a yoga teacher, I recommend taking short deep-breathing breaks throughout the day. A minute of Ujaii breath will relax you, get more oxygen into your blood stream, resulting in a greater feeling of calm. Take a brisk walk outside, hug someone you love, have a good laugh, get a massage, sing in the shower, write in a journal. All of these are effective means for reducing tension, stress, depression and anxiety. Find ways to lift your spirits other than eating the sugary and salty snacks you might crave when you are feeling frantic.
Give back to others. This is Karma Yoga or the yoga of service. Share your skills and talents with a local school, club or organization whom you would like to volunteer or participate. Being engaged in your local community is good for your emotional health and will make our world a better place. We all have unique talents and gifts that we can share. We also learn a tremendous amount about ourselves and others when we mentally and emotionally stretch and meet new people outside of our social comfort zone. For instance, when I volunteer my time with people with disabilities, it helps me to break down barriers between myself and others and to see the world from a different perspective.
Appreciate the people around you. Appreciate your family, loved ones, and friends. The openness and trust you share with these important people can help give you the perspective you need to cope with everyday challenges.
Share a good laugh with others. Don't forget about relationships at work. Colleagues and co-workers can provide valuable support during stressful situations. I could not imagine what my life would be like if Dawn and I did not value each other. As co-workers, we spend many hours together each week and I know that our mutual respect and trust for one another positively impacts my happiness at my workplace.
Feeling satisfied and fulfilled with our lives is essential to our emotional and physical well-being. Through my yoga, I have
learned to appreciate who I am and what I need to feel good. When I take care of myself, ultimately I am taking care of my relationships with others and as a result I am putting positive vibes out in this world. Do a little yoga today, on and off your mat, and you will be amazed at just how good you feel.
03/26/08
When spring comes, I am drawn to the more physical practices of yoga. I have noticed that if I don't begin to move my body on a regular basis that as the days become longer, instead of feeling joy, I feel melancholy and out of
sorts. When these feelings of sadness begin to happen I now understand the root cause. Usually it just means that I need to honor my bodies need for shedding the sluggishness that winter can bring on.
Fortunately, the remedy is simple-move my body and eat foods that are in line with the springtime and are slightly cleansing. A gentle purification for the body and eventually the mind. To feel right in my world all I need to do is something physical that brings me joy and incorporate some of the fresh foods that my body naturally craves such as romaine lettuce, asparagus and all the wonderful spring greens that are beginning to show up in the produce aisle. How gentle is that? A simple yoga class and a healthy salad. It doesn't take much and my lifestyle becomes supportive to what I need.
I am a Kripalu Yoga Teacher and I love what the Kripalu tradition has to say about yoga as an exercise. Kripalu views yoga as a
transformative process that acts as an intensive housecleaning for the entire physical and mental systems. The practice of yoga is meant to purify. First a physical purification takes place as the body rids itself of the subtle impurities that stand in the way of vibrant health. Then yoga aims to remove the negative thought patterns that render the mind unsteady. Yoga helps us to feel absolutely right with our inner perceptions of who we are and let our best self shine forth.
If we feel sluggish or not right in our own bodies and minds, yoga is the perfect prescription to remedy this. A regular exercise and moderate eating program allows the body to begin to gradually eliminate its backlog of
impurities.
Swami Kripalu recommended making slow but steady lifestyle changes and deepening your yoga practice at a modest pace.
Here are some of my favorite quotes from Swami Kripalu on yoga, exercise, and food:
"The body plays a significant role in human life. Without a body, we would not be able to perform a single action. With a body that is fully fit and healthy, we can perform many actions effectively. If the body is not fit, the other approaches to growth can not help us all that much"
"Everyone knows that it is best to eat moderately. Most people, however, only understand this intellectually and eat indiscriminately. People also know that it is important to exercise regularly in order to digest their food properly. Yet people rarely exercise enough and their food does not digest properly. As a result, physical waste
products are not excreted completely and go on collecting in the body. In much the same way, negative ideas accumulate in the mind. Purifying the body and the mind is not as easy as one might think. It is necessary to be
very patient."
"Many people mistakenly believe that eating moderately means taking only a small, fixed quantity of food per day. When a person exercises a little, his appetite is naturally reduced, so he should eat less than usual. On days when he exercises a lot, his appetite is increased, so he should eat more than usual. Thus, a person must guage how much he needs to eat at each meal by how much he exercises. One's appetite also increases or decreases according to one's emotions, for the body and mind are so intricately related. In this way, each meal tests our powers of discrimination."
"Exercise is a temple that purifies the body and mind. "
"Find physical exercises that suit your body and temperament and practice them daily."
"Lovers of health and vitality focus on physical exercise and develop their body until it is fit and firm. But their exclusive focus on the body prevents them form developing their minds. Lovers of the mind and willpower focus on mental exercise and develop their minds. But their exclusive focus on the mind prevents them from developing physical strength. The yogi develops the body and mind in a balanced way."
"For those doing manual labor all day, exercise is not necessary as the body needs rest. For those doing mental work all day, physical exercise is a way to give the mind a rest."
and finally..............my favorite quote from Swami Kripalu:
"You may often feel you that are not progressing, but if you are practicing to the best of your capacity that is an illusion. There is always progress being made, but you may not recognize it. In these practices, you need an ocean of patience. It is impossible to practice the big ocean of yoga if you have only one drop of patience."
May we all know true patience with ourselves,
Jai,
sorts. When these feelings of sadness begin to happen I now understand the root cause. Usually it just means that I need to honor my bodies need for shedding the sluggishness that winter can bring on.
Fortunately, the remedy is simple-move my body and eat foods that are in line with the springtime and are slightly cleansing. A gentle purification for the body and eventually the mind. To feel right in my world all I need to do is something physical that brings me joy and incorporate some of the fresh foods that my body naturally craves such as romaine lettuce, asparagus and all the wonderful spring greens that are beginning to show up in the produce aisle. How gentle is that? A simple yoga class and a healthy salad. It doesn't take much and my lifestyle becomes supportive to what I need.
I am a Kripalu Yoga Teacher and I love what the Kripalu tradition has to say about yoga as an exercise. Kripalu views yoga as a
transformative process that acts as an intensive housecleaning for the entire physical and mental systems. The practice of yoga is meant to purify. First a physical purification takes place as the body rids itself of the subtle impurities that stand in the way of vibrant health. Then yoga aims to remove the negative thought patterns that render the mind unsteady. Yoga helps us to feel absolutely right with our inner perceptions of who we are and let our best self shine forth.
If we feel sluggish or not right in our own bodies and minds, yoga is the perfect prescription to remedy this. A regular exercise and moderate eating program allows the body to begin to gradually eliminate its backlog of
impurities.
Swami Kripalu recommended making slow but steady lifestyle changes and deepening your yoga practice at a modest pace.
Here are some of my favorite quotes from Swami Kripalu on yoga, exercise, and food:
"The body plays a significant role in human life. Without a body, we would not be able to perform a single action. With a body that is fully fit and healthy, we can perform many actions effectively. If the body is not fit, the other approaches to growth can not help us all that much"
"Everyone knows that it is best to eat moderately. Most people, however, only understand this intellectually and eat indiscriminately. People also know that it is important to exercise regularly in order to digest their food properly. Yet people rarely exercise enough and their food does not digest properly. As a result, physical waste
products are not excreted completely and go on collecting in the body. In much the same way, negative ideas accumulate in the mind. Purifying the body and the mind is not as easy as one might think. It is necessary to be
very patient."
"Many people mistakenly believe that eating moderately means taking only a small, fixed quantity of food per day. When a person exercises a little, his appetite is naturally reduced, so he should eat less than usual. On days when he exercises a lot, his appetite is increased, so he should eat more than usual. Thus, a person must guage how much he needs to eat at each meal by how much he exercises. One's appetite also increases or decreases according to one's emotions, for the body and mind are so intricately related. In this way, each meal tests our powers of discrimination."
"Exercise is a temple that purifies the body and mind. "
"Find physical exercises that suit your body and temperament and practice them daily."
"Lovers of health and vitality focus on physical exercise and develop their body until it is fit and firm. But their exclusive focus on the body prevents them form developing their minds. Lovers of the mind and willpower focus on mental exercise and develop their minds. But their exclusive focus on the mind prevents them from developing physical strength. The yogi develops the body and mind in a balanced way."
"For those doing manual labor all day, exercise is not necessary as the body needs rest. For those doing mental work all day, physical exercise is a way to give the mind a rest."
and finally..............my favorite quote from Swami Kripalu:
"You may often feel you that are not progressing, but if you are practicing to the best of your capacity that is an illusion. There is always progress being made, but you may not recognize it. In these practices, you need an ocean of patience. It is impossible to practice the big ocean of yoga if you have only one drop of patience."
May we all know true patience with ourselves,
Jai,
03/18/08
I connect with my body in a way that is non-judgmental
healthy and whole.
I need to stand still in the middle of the chaos.
When I am breathing I know that everything will be all right.
I fill my soul when it feels tired and taken for granted.
I can speak my truth
I can see beauty inside me and in you
I practice yoga to feel alive
I practice yoga to feel.
With Love,
Anne
healthy and whole.
I need to stand still in the middle of the chaos.
When I am breathing I know that everything will be all right.
I fill my soul when it feels tired and taken for granted.
I can speak my truth
I can see beauty inside me and in you
I practice yoga to feel alive
I practice yoga to feel.
With Love,
Anne
03/04/08
This weekend I snuck into my newly decorated Samadhi Yoga Studio, Storrs during the quietness of a snow storm. We were supposed to be holding our grand reopening celebration this past Saturday but made a heartbreaking last minute decision to postpone the event due to the 6 inches of newly fallen snow and give the Storrs Studio the celebration it truly deserves the following weekend. (We will cross our fingers that the weather will be on our side this Saturday.)
The party was cancelled but I still felt compelled to go to the Storrs Studio anyways and immerse myself in the space, to honor it in my own way. When I opened the door to this newly redecorated space and turned on the lights, I was completely amazed at the transformation that had taken place in just three short days. Heather, our Storrs Studio Manager, poured her heart and talent for making things beautiful into what had been a tired and weary space.
As I sat in the middle of the transformed studio space and breathed in its beauty, fresh colors and new life force, I was overcome with love and gratitude. My heart opened wide and I felt an outpouring of thankfulness to the exceptionally talented and graceful people in my life, like Heather, and I was honored to be part of the positive change and healing space that she had brought to life. I breathed in the aliveness of the newly potted plants, the thoughtful shoe racks, the much needed coat hooks, the mounted speakers, and the scent of pine from the Zen like altar. I basked in the overall simplicity of the space combined with caring details and I felt hopeful and renewed.
Body Connection
If we are lucky, at some point in our lives we find our way to the things that truly make us feel good or healthy from the inside out. And when we do we are bound to think "I can't believe I don't do this every day!" This revelation could come at the end of a yoga class or a walk outside, a satisfying nutritious meal or from a great workout. Whatever path leads us to a healthy body connection, this path is a much needed touchstone for quieting the mind, bringing vitality to our lives, and helping us to move forward in a supportive way and to thrive in everything we do.
Choice
Samadhi Yoga Studio is committed to assist you in reaching your dreams for sustainable lifestyle change. We know that a healthy lifestyle is a path with many twists and turns. We know and understand that compassion and a non-judgmental attitude is at the core of all positive change. We also believe that choice is important because each person's body and experience is unique. What truly nourishes and supports us to be as healthy as possible varies from person to person and may change at different times in a person's life.
Samadhi Yoga Studio's yoga classes and workshops are designed to support choice and renewal. So this spring, renew your body and renew your commitment to your own health. Consider starting your day off with our new Yoga Boot Camp . This is perfect for those of you wanting to revitalize and step up your current fitness routine. Develop the habit of yoga for two straight weeks and emerge from our yoga boot camp your most calm, healthy and vibrant self. You won't believe how good you can feel until you try it.
If morning yoga doesn't work in your schedule, consider recharging in a late afternoon yoga class before dinner. How about a heated evening power class designed to invigorate you and radiate health from the inside out? Consider a rocking Power Yoga Jam on Friday afternoons. A perfect time to unwind, soothe your soul and create deep states of physical and mental health.
And don't forget the weekends. We offer popular yoga classes Saturday and Sunday mornings. Some of our students have commented that their yoga mat is a place of spiritual connection. Sunday afternoons offer an opportunity to give back to your community as you practice Karma Yoga to enhance your local community and give monetary support to non-profit organizations that make our towns better places for everyone to live. Sunday evening yoga is a magical time to practice self reflective yoga as you mentally and physically retreat to prepare for the busyness of the week ahead.
Samadhi Staff
Our teaching staff is unique and dedicated to their craft and each teacher and staff knows firsthand the power of yoga to transform their own lives. Our staff is made up of people who are engaged in their own inquiry for physical, emotional, and spiritual health and want to enrich your experience at Samadhi Yoga Studio by making it as positive an experience as possible. It is our intention for our studio to feel like a safe haven for you to relax into just being yourself in a way that our everyday lives don't always allow.
Community
There is a unique spirit at Samadhi and it brings out the best in people. The Studios are made up of diverse people of all ages and life experiences. Whether you come alone or with a friend or family member, you will find what you need. The environment at Samadhi supports rich profound conversations and it also supports the need for solitude and privacy.
Come to Samadhi Yoga Studio and reconnect to who you really are and what you truly need to empower your health, wellness, creativity and personal growth.
With much love,
Anne Falkowski
Samadhi Yoga Studio Founder and Director
The party was cancelled but I still felt compelled to go to the Storrs Studio anyways and immerse myself in the space, to honor it in my own way. When I opened the door to this newly redecorated space and turned on the lights, I was completely amazed at the transformation that had taken place in just three short days. Heather, our Storrs Studio Manager, poured her heart and talent for making things beautiful into what had been a tired and weary space.
As I sat in the middle of the transformed studio space and breathed in its beauty, fresh colors and new life force, I was overcome with love and gratitude. My heart opened wide and I felt an outpouring of thankfulness to the exceptionally talented and graceful people in my life, like Heather, and I was honored to be part of the positive change and healing space that she had brought to life. I breathed in the aliveness of the newly potted plants, the thoughtful shoe racks, the much needed coat hooks, the mounted speakers, and the scent of pine from the Zen like altar. I basked in the overall simplicity of the space combined with caring details and I felt hopeful and renewed.
Body Connection
If we are lucky, at some point in our lives we find our way to the things that truly make us feel good or healthy from the inside out. And when we do we are bound to think "I can't believe I don't do this every day!" This revelation could come at the end of a yoga class or a walk outside, a satisfying nutritious meal or from a great workout. Whatever path leads us to a healthy body connection, this path is a much needed touchstone for quieting the mind, bringing vitality to our lives, and helping us to move forward in a supportive way and to thrive in everything we do.
Choice
Samadhi Yoga Studio is committed to assist you in reaching your dreams for sustainable lifestyle change. We know that a healthy lifestyle is a path with many twists and turns. We know and understand that compassion and a non-judgmental attitude is at the core of all positive change. We also believe that choice is important because each person's body and experience is unique. What truly nourishes and supports us to be as healthy as possible varies from person to person and may change at different times in a person's life.
Samadhi Yoga Studio's yoga classes and workshops are designed to support choice and renewal. So this spring, renew your body and renew your commitment to your own health. Consider starting your day off with our new Yoga Boot Camp . This is perfect for those of you wanting to revitalize and step up your current fitness routine. Develop the habit of yoga for two straight weeks and emerge from our yoga boot camp your most calm, healthy and vibrant self. You won't believe how good you can feel until you try it.
If morning yoga doesn't work in your schedule, consider recharging in a late afternoon yoga class before dinner. How about a heated evening power class designed to invigorate you and radiate health from the inside out? Consider a rocking Power Yoga Jam on Friday afternoons. A perfect time to unwind, soothe your soul and create deep states of physical and mental health.
And don't forget the weekends. We offer popular yoga classes Saturday and Sunday mornings. Some of our students have commented that their yoga mat is a place of spiritual connection. Sunday afternoons offer an opportunity to give back to your community as you practice Karma Yoga to enhance your local community and give monetary support to non-profit organizations that make our towns better places for everyone to live. Sunday evening yoga is a magical time to practice self reflective yoga as you mentally and physically retreat to prepare for the busyness of the week ahead.
Samadhi Staff
Our teaching staff is unique and dedicated to their craft and each teacher and staff knows firsthand the power of yoga to transform their own lives. Our staff is made up of people who are engaged in their own inquiry for physical, emotional, and spiritual health and want to enrich your experience at Samadhi Yoga Studio by making it as positive an experience as possible. It is our intention for our studio to feel like a safe haven for you to relax into just being yourself in a way that our everyday lives don't always allow.
Community
There is a unique spirit at Samadhi and it brings out the best in people. The Studios are made up of diverse people of all ages and life experiences. Whether you come alone or with a friend or family member, you will find what you need. The environment at Samadhi supports rich profound conversations and it also supports the need for solitude and privacy.
Come to Samadhi Yoga Studio and reconnect to who you really are and what you truly need to empower your health, wellness, creativity and personal growth.
With much love,
Anne Falkowski
Samadhi Yoga Studio Founder and Director
02/21/08
Brrrr. As I write this, the morning is exceptionally brilliant and bitter yet I can feel springtime's presence softly pressing against the tireless cold. I can hear the spring song of the birds as the sun rises each morning a little earlier and I am reminded that warmer weather and newness is just around the corner.
This late winter/early spring we have carefully planned out yoga offerings so that they line up with our natural need for awakening our bodies after a winter's retreat. When I chose what to offer at the studio this season, I asked my own body what it needed and what it was calling for.
My body is calling for movement and new awakening. I feel the need to strengthen my yoga practice and increase my metabolism. I feel the need to move and sweat and inhabit my body from a place of support and strength. Check out our Yoga Boot Camp co-taught by Dawn and myself. We are looking forward to this two- week period of transformation. Another class that I am excited about offering for the first time at Samadhi Studio is Yoga and Weights taught by myself and Allie Capo-Burdick, a personal trainer and the owner of Vita Train 4 Life Fitness Center.
Maybe your body is calling for something slower. We are offering the Yin Yoga Series and Gentle Yoga Series as well.
I am confident that there is something here for everyone. Dedicate your spring to taking care of your body and your spirit. Spring is about coming fully awakened and blooming into your most healthful state, inside and out. Take some steps and do this today. Jump out of your box. Play. Laugh. Sweat. Stretch. Be Grateful. Live and Love.
Namaste,
Anne Falkowski
This late winter/early spring we have carefully planned out yoga offerings so that they line up with our natural need for awakening our bodies after a winter's retreat. When I chose what to offer at the studio this season, I asked my own body what it needed and what it was calling for.
My body is calling for movement and new awakening. I feel the need to strengthen my yoga practice and increase my metabolism. I feel the need to move and sweat and inhabit my body from a place of support and strength. Check out our Yoga Boot Camp co-taught by Dawn and myself. We are looking forward to this two- week period of transformation. Another class that I am excited about offering for the first time at Samadhi Studio is Yoga and Weights taught by myself and Allie Capo-Burdick, a personal trainer and the owner of Vita Train 4 Life Fitness Center.
Maybe your body is calling for something slower. We are offering the Yin Yoga Series and Gentle Yoga Series as well.
I am confident that there is something here for everyone. Dedicate your spring to taking care of your body and your spirit. Spring is about coming fully awakened and blooming into your most healthful state, inside and out. Take some steps and do this today. Jump out of your box. Play. Laugh. Sweat. Stretch. Be Grateful. Live and Love.
Namaste,
Anne Falkowski
01/18/08
I am thrilled to invite you to our winter workshops and events that will take place over the next few weeks. We now have an online store and any event at Samadhi including regularly scheduled yoga classes can be purchased online. You can even add yoga classes to your Samadhi account from the convenience of your own home. Buying classes and workshops online will save you time when you arrive. If you are not computer savvy, do not worry. You can still sign up the old fashioned way-in person.
We are proud of the community we have built at Samadhi and are always excited to see the new faces that come with January resolutions. We cherish both the new and the familiar. All of our workshops and yoga classes are carefully constructed to support you in leading the healthiest and happiest lifestyle possible. Since Samadhi Yoga Studio opened its doors 7 years ago, our focus has been to teach the best possible yoga using guidelines that foster trust, relaxation within our bodies and mind, and the development of inner wisdom.
Some thoughts about why a regular yoga practice can profoundly change our lives: The relationship we have with our bodies cannot be separated from all we believe about being alive, from the foundation on which every other thing in our lives is built; relationships with ourselves, with others, money, work, love, death. When the basic foundation is understood directly, living takes on a kind of effortlessness and grace. This kind of ease and knowing is available to everyone.
Let your life be a deeply satisfying journey. We always start right where we are because there is nowhere else to start. Yoga allows us to transcend the world of appearances and shed light on what is happening beneath the surface. Everyday life is not apart from this process; it is actually part of it. Raising children, working, being angry, being sad, washing the dishes are all a part of it. We cannot separate who we are from the way we take care of and treat ourselves in our everyday lives.
Through yoga, I have learned that no feeling or situation is unworkable, not heartbreak, not grief, not disappointment, not sadness, not loneliness, not anger. Anything can be felt, sensed, worked through. Through yoga, I have learned how to strengthen my body and make it more relaxed and open. I have learned how to sit comfortably and how to go upside down. My overall posture is improved. My asthma that I have struggled with since I was a child is almost non-existent. In addition to the physical, in yoga I have learned that beating my self up because I am not perfect does not work. I have learned that embracing the qualities of curiosity and openness make me much happier than the qualities of control and fear. Yoga is not mental, not psychological, not emotional, yet is all of these and more. It is a bridge to your own guidance and essential presence.
Join us at Samadhi. One taste of this direct knowing and nothing can ever be the same.
Peace,
Anne Falkowski
We are proud of the community we have built at Samadhi and are always excited to see the new faces that come with January resolutions. We cherish both the new and the familiar. All of our workshops and yoga classes are carefully constructed to support you in leading the healthiest and happiest lifestyle possible. Since Samadhi Yoga Studio opened its doors 7 years ago, our focus has been to teach the best possible yoga using guidelines that foster trust, relaxation within our bodies and mind, and the development of inner wisdom.
Some thoughts about why a regular yoga practice can profoundly change our lives: The relationship we have with our bodies cannot be separated from all we believe about being alive, from the foundation on which every other thing in our lives is built; relationships with ourselves, with others, money, work, love, death. When the basic foundation is understood directly, living takes on a kind of effortlessness and grace. This kind of ease and knowing is available to everyone.
Let your life be a deeply satisfying journey. We always start right where we are because there is nowhere else to start. Yoga allows us to transcend the world of appearances and shed light on what is happening beneath the surface. Everyday life is not apart from this process; it is actually part of it. Raising children, working, being angry, being sad, washing the dishes are all a part of it. We cannot separate who we are from the way we take care of and treat ourselves in our everyday lives.
Through yoga, I have learned that no feeling or situation is unworkable, not heartbreak, not grief, not disappointment, not sadness, not loneliness, not anger. Anything can be felt, sensed, worked through. Through yoga, I have learned how to strengthen my body and make it more relaxed and open. I have learned how to sit comfortably and how to go upside down. My overall posture is improved. My asthma that I have struggled with since I was a child is almost non-existent. In addition to the physical, in yoga I have learned that beating my self up because I am not perfect does not work. I have learned that embracing the qualities of curiosity and openness make me much happier than the qualities of control and fear. Yoga is not mental, not psychological, not emotional, yet is all of these and more. It is a bridge to your own guidance and essential presence.
Join us at Samadhi. One taste of this direct knowing and nothing can ever be the same.
Peace,
Anne Falkowski
01/10/08
"Be comfortable with yourself first - then be comfortable with the world." Susan Abenilla-Brown
One of my favorite ways to make myself feel strong, lean, and healthy is to get outside and hike. I love the hills. I love the fresh air or prana and I love the company I keep. I have a couple of girlfriends who are available to walk with me during the weekday. Their work schedule is flexible and we are well aware of how fortunate we are to be outside in nature while most people are at a desk. We are lucky to steal a little girl time to talk. What do we usually talk about? Relationships. While we are out in nature, stepping forward, away from the everyday sights and sounds of modernity, there is nothing more natural than for us to take the time to talk about our relationships. I thought I would start my newsletter focusing on something so essential to our well-being: relationships.
Whether it is your boyfriend, girlfriend, child, husband, wife, sister, brother or best friend- most people, as social creatures, tend to spend some time turning over these relationships in their minds. Sometimes we turn them over in our minds with relish, sometimes with fury. Either way, there they are. Our significant relationships are oftentimes at the forefront of who we are. Hidden inside of all our relationships is the one we have with ourselves, the ground zero, the ultimate starting place. Who we are is in every relationship we have.
Consider the words of Bill McDonnough, a leading expert on environmental architecture (he's working with Brad Pitt right now on rebuilding New Orleans). He proposed that in this life we need more than just sustainability for the environment; we need kinship. Not only do we need more kinship with our environment, we need more kinship with all of our relationships. How we treat each other will reflect in how we treat our world.
He said, "If I asked you how your relationship with your husband or wife is and you said 'sustainable', is that really good enough? No way. It's not good enough for you or for your spouse. It's time for kinship."
What is kinship and how can I experience the greatest kinship with the people in my life?
Kinship is what happens to relationships when they are functioning with the greatest possible ease at the highest possible return. This means that each party gets back a thousand times what they give in terms of love, happiness, and fulfillment.
Kinship is like planting a small apple seed and getting back a whole tree full of apples. One seed just keeps yielding more and more, year after year. Many of my relationships are yielding apples but if I am to be totally honest, I will admit that I have a few relationships that aren't yielding much fruit. Instead they are yielding struggle and misunderstanding. What do I do with these relationships? Do I just keep enduring these muddy relationships and hope for someday?
For an answer to this, I turn to what I know through my yoga. In yoga, I know with my body. I know if I am bossing it around, telling it what to do, believing that it will never be good enough, then that's a type of dictatorship. If I am ignoring my body and its needs then that is a type of neglect. Kinship is a not a dictatorship nor neglect but a friendship. In order for kinship to manifest itself with others, being friends with our bodies and our selves is a natural place to begin. Begin by loving what is. Kinship with our bodies is a little less self-improvement and a little more self-acceptance. So, in our relationships, once we come to practice self-acceptance and kinship with our own selves and our own bodies, we can extend it to kinship with others. We can extend it out to kinship with our loved ones, strangers, enemies, and this earth. This is the lesson of yoga.
For one day (or for five breaths in a challenging yoga pose such as Warrior 3) can you extend kinship to yourself? I mean that. Starting with accepting your self is the path to accepting your spouse or your father or mother. Once you practice acceptance with your self then you can expand.
Extending kinship to myself is a practice just like the discipline of yoga is a practice. Befriending my self, especially at the beginning of a New Year is not something that comes naturally to me. I am more inclined to be the dictator with myself as I set out to achieve my New Year's Resolutions. (Especially when it comes to eating right and weight loss.) But once I do get into the practice of self-acceptance and self-kindness and do extend kinship to myself, I find that the need to put myself down inwardly and to judge others outwardly starts to evaporate. It disappears. I actually find spoken criticisms of others harsh and uninviting. Through the practice of self-acceptance, I get into alignment with what is. The concept of yoga is simple- as yogis we get into alignment with what is and practice accepting it.
Once you are in alignment with what is- acceptance has the chance to become real love. No one has to change for you to love them. Not even you. Incredible isn't it? That doesn't mean that we don't ever change, that we don't honor our own changes that we want to make in our lives. It just means we don't have to change in order to be loved. That is kinship.
This week I encourage all of us to look at our relationships. Look at the relationship you have with yourself and then notice if this is the relationship you have with others. I challenge all of us to honor the beautiful authentic qualities that exist within ourselves and those that we love and accept the parts that aren't perfect. As yogis, once we begin to walk down the path of self-acceptance, we can start to take some proactive steps toward the love we want and the love we all deserve. Sounds like a great way to begin the New Year to me.
Peace and Love,
Anne Falkowski
One of my favorite ways to make myself feel strong, lean, and healthy is to get outside and hike. I love the hills. I love the fresh air or prana and I love the company I keep. I have a couple of girlfriends who are available to walk with me during the weekday. Their work schedule is flexible and we are well aware of how fortunate we are to be outside in nature while most people are at a desk. We are lucky to steal a little girl time to talk. What do we usually talk about? Relationships. While we are out in nature, stepping forward, away from the everyday sights and sounds of modernity, there is nothing more natural than for us to take the time to talk about our relationships. I thought I would start my newsletter focusing on something so essential to our well-being: relationships.
Whether it is your boyfriend, girlfriend, child, husband, wife, sister, brother or best friend- most people, as social creatures, tend to spend some time turning over these relationships in their minds. Sometimes we turn them over in our minds with relish, sometimes with fury. Either way, there they are. Our significant relationships are oftentimes at the forefront of who we are. Hidden inside of all our relationships is the one we have with ourselves, the ground zero, the ultimate starting place. Who we are is in every relationship we have.
Consider the words of Bill McDonnough, a leading expert on environmental architecture (he's working with Brad Pitt right now on rebuilding New Orleans). He proposed that in this life we need more than just sustainability for the environment; we need kinship. Not only do we need more kinship with our environment, we need more kinship with all of our relationships. How we treat each other will reflect in how we treat our world.
He said, "If I asked you how your relationship with your husband or wife is and you said 'sustainable', is that really good enough? No way. It's not good enough for you or for your spouse. It's time for kinship."
What is kinship and how can I experience the greatest kinship with the people in my life?
Kinship is what happens to relationships when they are functioning with the greatest possible ease at the highest possible return. This means that each party gets back a thousand times what they give in terms of love, happiness, and fulfillment.
Kinship is like planting a small apple seed and getting back a whole tree full of apples. One seed just keeps yielding more and more, year after year. Many of my relationships are yielding apples but if I am to be totally honest, I will admit that I have a few relationships that aren't yielding much fruit. Instead they are yielding struggle and misunderstanding. What do I do with these relationships? Do I just keep enduring these muddy relationships and hope for someday?
For an answer to this, I turn to what I know through my yoga. In yoga, I know with my body. I know if I am bossing it around, telling it what to do, believing that it will never be good enough, then that's a type of dictatorship. If I am ignoring my body and its needs then that is a type of neglect. Kinship is a not a dictatorship nor neglect but a friendship. In order for kinship to manifest itself with others, being friends with our bodies and our selves is a natural place to begin. Begin by loving what is. Kinship with our bodies is a little less self-improvement and a little more self-acceptance. So, in our relationships, once we come to practice self-acceptance and kinship with our own selves and our own bodies, we can extend it to kinship with others. We can extend it out to kinship with our loved ones, strangers, enemies, and this earth. This is the lesson of yoga.
For one day (or for five breaths in a challenging yoga pose such as Warrior 3) can you extend kinship to yourself? I mean that. Starting with accepting your self is the path to accepting your spouse or your father or mother. Once you practice acceptance with your self then you can expand.
Extending kinship to myself is a practice just like the discipline of yoga is a practice. Befriending my self, especially at the beginning of a New Year is not something that comes naturally to me. I am more inclined to be the dictator with myself as I set out to achieve my New Year's Resolutions. (Especially when it comes to eating right and weight loss.) But once I do get into the practice of self-acceptance and self-kindness and do extend kinship to myself, I find that the need to put myself down inwardly and to judge others outwardly starts to evaporate. It disappears. I actually find spoken criticisms of others harsh and uninviting. Through the practice of self-acceptance, I get into alignment with what is. The concept of yoga is simple- as yogis we get into alignment with what is and practice accepting it.
Once you are in alignment with what is- acceptance has the chance to become real love. No one has to change for you to love them. Not even you. Incredible isn't it? That doesn't mean that we don't ever change, that we don't honor our own changes that we want to make in our lives. It just means we don't have to change in order to be loved. That is kinship.
This week I encourage all of us to look at our relationships. Look at the relationship you have with yourself and then notice if this is the relationship you have with others. I challenge all of us to honor the beautiful authentic qualities that exist within ourselves and those that we love and accept the parts that aren't perfect. As yogis, once we begin to walk down the path of self-acceptance, we can start to take some proactive steps toward the love we want and the love we all deserve. Sounds like a great way to begin the New Year to me.
Peace and Love,
Anne Falkowski
01/04/08
2007 was an incredible year for us: the birth of the beautiful and spirited Sadie Jai in early March who has brought much sweetness and change into our family and work life, a new studio space full of natural sunlight, space and warmth, and a new business for Matthew-the launching of tunerooms.com in December.
We are deeply thankful to all of our friends, students and staff who have lent us their time, energy, and support to make it all happen for us. I am humbled when I look back at all of the donated hours of moving, building, babysitting, painting, cleaning, and hard work that our community has offered us this year. We could not be standing where we are today without this support. On the evening before we launched our new studio space, I can remember the words of one of our students who was helping us to paint the new bathrooms. She listened to me as I told her that I was feeling overwhelmed with the amount of work that was still ahead of us for that evening. I told her I was deeply tired and felt guilty that my older children were not going to be able to go on a camping trip that Labor Day weekend but instead had to hang out and assist us as we put the final touches on the new Samadhi Studio. This student listened to me and then said to me the most comforting words. She told me that she thought my
children were getting the best memory that they could get. She told me that when my children look back on this time, they are not going to recall the missed annual camping trip but are going to recall their parents building a studio space with the help of their friends and family. This would be the memory that would have sustainability. This would be the memory that would guide them in their own pursuits. They were learning to honor their dreams and the possibilities of making things happen with the support of others. She reminded me that I was making my own dream come true, that I had a vision and I was following it. No dream is too small, too large, too silly, or too impossible.
Allow 2008 to be the year to follow your own dreams. Let it be the year to practice over and over again what it is that makes you feel the most authentic, most vulnerable, most beautiful, and most alive. The poet Mary Oliver asks us, "What is it you want to do with your one and precious life?" Let yoga be a vehicle to show you the way. Let your yoga practice be the steadiness and stillness you need to hear your inner wisdom. In this chaotic world, it is necessary to have a practice that connects you to your center and to clarity. In this world full of physical and emotional stressors, it is vital to have a practice that makes you physically strong and emotionally healthy. All you need to do is to show up on the yoga mat and trust that the yoga will unfold as it should. This is what a discipline is all about - showing up and trusting in the process.
I find wisdom in the words of Martha Graham. "I believe that we learn by practice. Whether it means to learn to dance by practicing dancing or to learn to live by practicing living, the principles are the same. In each, it is the performance of a dedicated precise set of acts, physical or intellectual, from which comes shape of achievement, a sense of one's being, a satisfaction of spirit. Practice means to perform, over and over again in the face of all obstacles, some act of vision, of faith, of desire."
What is it that you want to practice over and over again? Dedicate 2008 to realizing your fullest potential and exploring that which awakens your soul. Maybe your dream is to dance, to write, to make art, to be in a loving relationship, etc. There is no limit to our dreams. There is no dream is too small. Take in the words of Carl Jung, " A dream ignored is like a letter unopened." We all deserve to honor our own dreams. It is never too late.
Peace and Love,
Anne Falkowski
We are deeply thankful to all of our friends, students and staff who have lent us their time, energy, and support to make it all happen for us. I am humbled when I look back at all of the donated hours of moving, building, babysitting, painting, cleaning, and hard work that our community has offered us this year. We could not be standing where we are today without this support. On the evening before we launched our new studio space, I can remember the words of one of our students who was helping us to paint the new bathrooms. She listened to me as I told her that I was feeling overwhelmed with the amount of work that was still ahead of us for that evening. I told her I was deeply tired and felt guilty that my older children were not going to be able to go on a camping trip that Labor Day weekend but instead had to hang out and assist us as we put the final touches on the new Samadhi Studio. This student listened to me and then said to me the most comforting words. She told me that she thought my
children were getting the best memory that they could get. She told me that when my children look back on this time, they are not going to recall the missed annual camping trip but are going to recall their parents building a studio space with the help of their friends and family. This would be the memory that would have sustainability. This would be the memory that would guide them in their own pursuits. They were learning to honor their dreams and the possibilities of making things happen with the support of others. She reminded me that I was making my own dream come true, that I had a vision and I was following it. No dream is too small, too large, too silly, or too impossible.
Allow 2008 to be the year to follow your own dreams. Let it be the year to practice over and over again what it is that makes you feel the most authentic, most vulnerable, most beautiful, and most alive. The poet Mary Oliver asks us, "What is it you want to do with your one and precious life?" Let yoga be a vehicle to show you the way. Let your yoga practice be the steadiness and stillness you need to hear your inner wisdom. In this chaotic world, it is necessary to have a practice that connects you to your center and to clarity. In this world full of physical and emotional stressors, it is vital to have a practice that makes you physically strong and emotionally healthy. All you need to do is to show up on the yoga mat and trust that the yoga will unfold as it should. This is what a discipline is all about - showing up and trusting in the process.
I find wisdom in the words of Martha Graham. "I believe that we learn by practice. Whether it means to learn to dance by practicing dancing or to learn to live by practicing living, the principles are the same. In each, it is the performance of a dedicated precise set of acts, physical or intellectual, from which comes shape of achievement, a sense of one's being, a satisfaction of spirit. Practice means to perform, over and over again in the face of all obstacles, some act of vision, of faith, of desire."
What is it that you want to practice over and over again? Dedicate 2008 to realizing your fullest potential and exploring that which awakens your soul. Maybe your dream is to dance, to write, to make art, to be in a loving relationship, etc. There is no limit to our dreams. There is no dream is too small. Take in the words of Carl Jung, " A dream ignored is like a letter unopened." We all deserve to honor our own dreams. It is never too late.
Peace and Love,
Anne Falkowski
12/04/07
It is the last month of the year. Time to celebrate, eat delectable food, and prepare for the wonder and possibility of what is to come. This is the time of year where keeping up your yoga practice can become a challenge as carving out time for ourselves becomes more difficult. Consider setting an intention of gratitude each time you sit down to meditate or practice. This is one of my favorite rituals for this time of year. As the days grow shorter and the darkness grows longer, this is the time to align with our natural need for introspection and retreat. As you sit down to practice yoga this month, consider reviewing your year. What are the moments that struck you most? The precious times that where full of sweetness or the ones that offered a challenge that led to growth. If you love words, journal your response. Whether you write it down or simply honor your response in your heart, celebrate yourself, your journey, your light and your darkness. Make time for yourself in a way that has meaning.
As the new year approaches, people often start to experience lowered immunity due to holiday stress, over consumption of low quality foods, and lack of movement. Remember that getting the flu is usually an indication from the body that it needs rest and replenishment.
Here are some simple suggestions for taking care of yourself this holiday season:
Practice gentle yoga when you feel tired to help boost your immune system.
Practice hot power yoga when you feel the need to let go of stress and center and refocus your energies in a positive healing way.
Get out in nature. Even on cold days. Take a walk or a hike every day. Getting outside and moving your body is a natural antidepressant. This increases your oxygen and circulation.
Eat simple meals such as brown rice or quinoa with steamed vegetables/avocado, sprinkled with olive oil, lemon, and sea salt.
Eat lots of greens, squashes, and foods high is vitamin c such as broccoli, red pepper, and crimini mushrooms.
Eat food high in minerals such as warming miso soup or consider introducing seaweeds such as kombu into your rice and bean dishes.
Treat yourself to a healthy whole foods cookbook and make some dishes for yourself or to share with others.
Drink warm or room temperature water with lemon for vitamin C and alkalinity.
Reduce sugar, caffeine and processed foods
Get plenty of sleep and rest
Reach out to others, talk to friends or loved ones if you are feeling overwhelmed or stressed.
Connect with a supportive community of friends who value your commitment to health and healing.
Jai,
Anne and Matthew Falkowski
As the new year approaches, people often start to experience lowered immunity due to holiday stress, over consumption of low quality foods, and lack of movement. Remember that getting the flu is usually an indication from the body that it needs rest and replenishment.
Here are some simple suggestions for taking care of yourself this holiday season:
Practice gentle yoga when you feel tired to help boost your immune system.
Practice hot power yoga when you feel the need to let go of stress and center and refocus your energies in a positive healing way.
Get out in nature. Even on cold days. Take a walk or a hike every day. Getting outside and moving your body is a natural antidepressant. This increases your oxygen and circulation.
Eat simple meals such as brown rice or quinoa with steamed vegetables/avocado, sprinkled with olive oil, lemon, and sea salt.
Eat lots of greens, squashes, and foods high is vitamin c such as broccoli, red pepper, and crimini mushrooms.
Eat food high in minerals such as warming miso soup or consider introducing seaweeds such as kombu into your rice and bean dishes.
Treat yourself to a healthy whole foods cookbook and make some dishes for yourself or to share with others.
Drink warm or room temperature water with lemon for vitamin C and alkalinity.
Reduce sugar, caffeine and processed foods
Get plenty of sleep and rest
Reach out to others, talk to friends or loved ones if you are feeling overwhelmed or stressed.
Connect with a supportive community of friends who value your commitment to health and healing.
Jai,
Anne and Matthew Falkowski
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