by elephantjournal.com on May 22, 2013
One way to encourage your husband to join you on the mat is to just let it all be. Stop telling him he should stop smoking, lose ten pounds, not eat hamburgers or watch less football. He sees this as criticism and we tend to not want to spend time with those who criticize us.
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by elephantjournal.com on May 22, 2013
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by elephantjournal.com on May 21, 2013
I debated. Bali is a long way to travel from Los Angeles for just a week, I had never been to Asia, the flight would be the longest I’d ever taken and I didn’t have any extra time off work for further exploration. But a quick trip was better than none, and I was looking forward to a dedicated week of daily yoga, eating healthy and relaxation…
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by elephantjournal.com on May 21, 2013
I recently had to take a serious social media break due to the influx of wellness professionals that so lovingly overflow my news feed with yoga/nutritional goodness.
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by elephantjournal.com on May 21, 2013
And yet, it occurred to me that there is one thing I can do in every moment: Be true to my self. This is a self that is ready to love, ready to shine, ready to be extraordinary and inspire other towards the extraordinary in themselves—because you are all (whether you know it or not) extraordinary.
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by Robert Sturman on May 21, 2013
“Yoga is a dance on the inside.” ~ Tao
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by Amy Ippoliti on May 20, 2013
Is it just me, or have you noticed that the word “forgiveness” has been thrown around this year ad nauseam as a spiritual cure-all in Facebook posts, on Twitter and even on Oprah? Forgiveness has been designated as the number one way to be more spiritual and has been heralded by some as the definition [...]
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by Anne Samit on May 20, 2013
In yoga, how old we are apparently doesn’t matter. Yoga seems to be an equalizer. This might not be evident when walking by each other on the street, but once we are on the mat, it’s really so easy to see.
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by elephantjournal.com on May 20, 2013
Gaining Yogic Wisdom While Sailing Down the Pacific West Coast. I’m a little bit of everything; a yogi, sailor and teacher. In October, I sailed from Vancouver, Canada to Ensenada, Mexico to travel and teach yogic knowledge. When I enrolled at a new studio that was close to the boat before leaving, I thought it [...]
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by elephantjournal.com on May 20, 2013
I became fascinated with this muscle once I figured out that I need to keep it happy to keep my lower back happy.
When the muscle becomes tight from injuries, poor posture, sitting for a fair amount of time or even stress, it can alter how the pelvis, lumbar, thoracic and even cervical vertebrae function and can typically lead to pain down the front of the thigh and along the lower to mid spinal column.
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by elephantjournal.com on May 20, 2013
Beyond getting a tattoo, using a japa-mala as a kind of jewellery, eating organic food, being a thriving vegan or proclaiming yourself as ecologist, among many other recurring habits, among the yogic Kula (community), there is a developed mood of self-well-being that makes you less interfered with by the outside and excluded of what others think of your lifestyle.
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by elephantjournal.com on May 20, 2013
Through the awareness of being we can consciously choose to make successful habits. We can cease the opportunity to break the vicious cycle of laziness.
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by elephantjournal.com on May 20, 2013
Between social media, teaching, writing books and selling houses, I get a lot of questions.
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by Mystic Pete on May 20, 2013
Mystic Pete’s new music video: “In A Dream”
All flavors of sexual union can bring us to the sacred!
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by elephantjournal.com on May 19, 2013
Teaching is a practice too! Part instruction manual and part workbook, Theme Weaver: Connect the Power of Inspiration to Teaching Yoga by Michelle Berman Marchildon is a guide for any yoga instructor wanting to successfully move from teaching an asana practice to teaching yoga. Let me be the first to tell you that you need to be [...]
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by elephantjournal.com on May 19, 2013
We are all safer when we create space for one another.
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by elephantjournal.com on May 19, 2013
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by elephantjournal.com on May 19, 2013
At this point, you may ask, “So what if I identify myself with the material body? What does it matter?”
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by elephantjournal.com on May 19, 2013
Awareness is the greatest gift we can give our children. Sitting on my patio, drinking a glass of wine while listening to the rain fall like soft silver bullets of mercury against my protective nylon shell, I smell the scent of freshness and imagine that I can hear the greenery of my grass, flowers and [...]
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by elephantjournal.com on May 18, 2013
In our society we obsess over numbers and we let these numbers control our thoughts, which then affect our mood. Recently, I was asked by a group of office co-workers about joining a “Biggest Loser” competition at work. I respectfully declined, citing that I was spiritually opposed to the concept of weight loss. I got [...]
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by Walk The Talk Show on May 18, 2013
Walk the Talk Show with MC Yogi at Wanderlust Festival Colorado. Here Waylon talks with elephriend MC Yogi—one of too-few yoga lovers who’s bringing our practice of compassion and presence off the mat and into mainstream culture…with a sense of humor and heart. Subscribe to our Youtube Channel. Like Walk the Talk Show on Facebook.
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by elephantjournal.com on May 18, 2013
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by elephantjournal.com on May 18, 2013
The mind is prior to the body. This relatively simple idea is absolutely crucial for any understanding of subtle body hatha yoga.
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by elephantjournal.com on May 18, 2013
If we try and circumvent or avoid the storm, if we always sail around the rising waves, we remain unskilled sailors in an ocean of troubled waters. Our journey will leave us wet, battered, and salty. Unmarked—but asleep.
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by elephantjournal.com on May 17, 2013
Enjoy summer’s abundance with a yogic mind. When we think of yoga, we usually associate it with practicing on the mat and asanas. While this is an integral aspect of yoga practice, there are many other ways to incorporate different elements of yoga practice, which are often neglected or due to lack of supportive opportunity. [...]
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by elephantjournal.com on May 17, 2013
That week in my yoga classes, I was surrounded by the kind of lithe, truly tiny frames that excel immediately at yoga and consequently tend to show up more for class. And, all I could hear in my head was “You’re not a small girl…you’re not a small girl.”
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by elephantjournal.com on May 17, 2013
Learning to Listen from Within A dear friend of mine recently made this post on her Facebook page, “I’m not Superwoman. I don’t have to have it all or do it all.” I’ve been thinking about this a lot the last couple of weeks because her statement rang true for me as well; it spoke [...]
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by elephantjournal.com on May 17, 2013
It is okay not to yoga. You will still go to heaven.
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by Chloe Park on May 17, 2013
Who doesn’t love their yoga teacher? Yoga teachers are the bomb. They’re guiding their students in the classroom to feel and experience the empowering strength and unconditional love that engaging in the practice itself teaches. Who doesn’t love their healer/therapist? They’re showing their clients how to heal themselves, awaken their soul and redefine their concepts [...]
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by elephantjournal.com on May 16, 2013
Each time I step onto my mat, it’s a brand new experience. Some days I feel like a rock star—strong, fluid, graceful, on top of the world; other days … meh, not so much. I’m awkward, tired, unfocused and completely out of tune with my body, breath and spirit. We all have those days where [...]
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by Dr. John Douillard, DC on May 16, 2013
Photo: Jade Beall Photography Do you prefer yoga to meditation? Or meditation to yoga? For many of us in the Western world, moving our bodies is a lot easier than sitting with our unruly minds. For others, a daily yoga practice is just too much to ask, but meditation feels doable. With yoga, breathing techniques [...]
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by elephantjournal.com on May 16, 2013
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by elephantjournal.com on May 16, 2013
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by Rebecca Lammersen on May 16, 2013
“When you know, you know.” I never understood this quote, until I understood it. Nine years ago, I stood in the doorway of the house in which I currently live, and declared, “I’m home,” without ever stepping foot inside. One month later, I moved in. Two and a half years ago, I visited my friend [...]
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by Michelle Marchildon on May 16, 2013
Whenever I travel or teach in foreign places, like Canada, or Boulder, people want to know the same thing: Why do I write for elephant journal? When I published “Finding More,” I thought the public may want to know if it was true (yes). And when I published “Theme Weaver,” I thought they may want [...]
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by elephantjournal.com on May 16, 2013
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by elephantjournal.com on May 15, 2013
I was angry at my body. I felt it was betraying me. I was angry that it showed the cracks in my armor and allowed anyone and everyone to see my vulnerability.
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by Julian Walker on May 15, 2013
The 3rd excerpt from Awakened heart, Embodied Mind: A Modern Yoga Philosophy Infused with Somatic Psychology and Neuroscience.
Because the body is our home, being at home in the body is essential —being “comfortable in your own skin.”
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by Lilly Bechtel on May 15, 2013
I think of PTSD as a pervasive chaos, caused by your safety response, your fight or flight response, which is supposed to happen. What’s not a good thing is that safety response continues after the danger has passed. That’s when the madness starts.
Labels don’t define a person, but the labels are your ticket to treatment and services. For the purposes of treatment and services, I have PTSD. But the label means nothing to me. I can check all those boxes for PTSD, but i’m still an individual.
The problem is that yoga at the end of a deployment is too late. It needs to come before deployments. I often ask myself where I would be if I didn’t have a practice.
I don’t want yoga to be thought of as an afterthought. I want it to be part of the treatment plan. I want to see psychiatry working in tandem with these holistic modalities so that it is an overall part of treatment.
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by elephantjournal.com on May 14, 2013
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by elephantjournal.com on May 14, 2013
Amid the cheap Collegetown cocktails of attraction, scandal and drama that my peers and I indulged in whilst throwing darts at our degrees, there’s a theme I noticed that kept coming up time and time again: mostly, the women to whom I found myself attracted did this thing; it’s either a practice they followed, or, in many cases, they taught: yoga.
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by elephantjournal.com on May 13, 2013
Does your yogi spouse drive you crazy? We often read about the way yoga positively transforms and enriches our lives, but we do not often stop to consider the people who help us make this transformation possible. The partners of dedicated yogis are an unheard voice amongst the ever growing yoga population. This article is dedicated [...]
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by elephantjournal.com on May 13, 2013
New yoga instructors are often given a lot of advice when they are starting out, but few are ever asked about the sort of students that they would like to teach. The fact is, there are as many different types of students as there are styles of yoga.
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by elephantjournal.com on May 12, 2013
It’s difficult to live from this place, to have an open heart and to recognize that the pain you are feeling was caused by the pain someone else felt. This week NPR reported a story about Martha Mullen, the Virginia woman who helped get the body of Boston Marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev buried. Tsarnaev’s body [...]
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by elephantjournal.com on May 12, 2013
The path of bhakti is one that actually reveals to us our shortcomings and gives us the process by which we can overcome them.
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by Yoga Comics on May 12, 2013
Some people think that yoga is only for certain people and is only a bunch of fancy movements. “When actually anyone can practice because yoga is much more than poses (asanas). But if the asanas appeal to you, there are many that are beneficial and potentially possible for elders. You are never too old to [...]
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by Carly Mountain on May 12, 2013
The most important relationship you have in life is the one you have with yourself; that is the relationship on which all our other relationships are built. This is me. I have spent years sub-consciously (sometimes consciously) trying to be perfect. The perfect woman, daughter, mother, dancer, yogini, student, teacher. These photos are a part [...]
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by elephantjournal.com on May 11, 2013
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by elephantjournal.com on May 11, 2013
What I realize now is that my mother lived as a yogini.
She didn’t know of or do any asana, but she taught me how to be true to my path.
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