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Posts Tagged ‘Yoga’

Try Something Other Than What You Want

Posted by terrepruitt on February 17, 2016

I know I have said that if you are trying an exercise class go at least three times before you decide you don’t like it. Have you seen me say that before? I think that in order for you to decide you honestly don’t like it you need to try it at least three times. I think there are enough factors in a group exercise class that you have to experience it more than once to make an educated decision. I also think that sometimes what you want is not what you need, so you might want to step out into the unknown.

As I said there are many reasons not to like a class, if you think it is the instructor, don’t condemn the whole modality. If you go to a Jazzercise class and the instructor runs around the room shouting encouragement at individuals and that is not your style, try a different teacher. If the Zumba teacher only plays one type of music instead of sticking to the Zumba formula, try a different teacher . . . but it doesn’t seem fair to you nor Zumba if you claim you don’t like Zumba. If you can, it is really nice to give that instructor another chance, but time is short and so sometimes that might not be the answer. Every teacher has her own style and it might not be one you like, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you don’t like the exercise.

Also keep in mind that you are only seeing one routine, and those change. If you go to a Nia class and think you don’t like it, try it again because the routines can be vastly different. It is good to check out the different routines. Also, find an appropriate class for your level. If you take a circuit training class and it is too difficult try a different one or talk to the teacher.

When it comes to yoga, though, I would like to suggest a way to find the appropriate yoga class for you. Try the opposite of what you WANT. If you want to lie around on cushions in poses for 5 minutes at a time, try a more active class. If you want a super aggressive active fast-paced class try a restorative class (lying around on cushions). If you want gentle yoga try a class that you think might be tough. You might walk out of class thinking, “Wow! That was great. I never would have thought.”

It could be that while you are in the class you are thinking that you wish the torture would end. And by torture I mean, if you are a very active person and you want to be in a power yoga class and you take a restorative class and are having to lie still for ten minutes . . . that can be torture. If you just wanted to lie around on props and you are having to hold your left leg up for 45 seconds while twisting to the right and grabbing your right foot that might be torture. But with the right teacher you will be able to do the yoga that is being taught in the class and you will walk out saying, “That is exactly what I needed.”

There are so many different types of yoga and yoga is only regulated when it is trade-marked and there are licenses to teach otherwise yoga class definitions vary. Classes with the same names can vary greatly.

I am not saying to go to a class that is way beyond your level, but I am suggesting to try something you may not have normally thought of doing. As I said, you might end up getting what you really need when you don’t go after what you want.

What type of yoga do you normally do? What classes have your tried?

Posted in Yoga/PiYo/Pilates | Tagged: exercise class, gentle yoga, Jazzercise, Nia, Nia class, Nia routine, Nia Teacher, power yoga, Restorative Yoga, restoriative yoga, Yoga, Yoga class, Zumba | Leave a Comment »

The Second Is Truthfulness

Posted by terrepruitt on February 10, 2016

So, yoga is more than just poses. Yoga has eight limbs which I listed in my post More To Yoga Than Just Asana. The first two limbs are rules, restrictions, guidelines things of that nature. Things to help you along the path to the divine. The first limb is about the yamas and the second is about the niyamas, I listed them in my post Yoga’s First Two Limbs. Now I am going through and writing a post about each one. I wrote about Ahimsa in Ahimsa And Yourself, which I probably should have title Ahimsa and MYself. I write about this not because I have mastered them but because I am examining yoga ideas and ideals. So if you hear me saying something harmful, please know I am still learning. The next yama is satya. Satya is truthfulness.

Satya or truthfulness can be applied to so many things, right? I mean if I go back to the exercise I mentioned I did recently and think about satya on the mat that can apply in so many ways. Am I really being truthful with myself about what I can do? Am I really being truthful that I am concerned with only myself? I mean, if we are not concerned about what others think about what we are doing in class, does it really matter if we don’t do the advance version of the pose? Can we really do it without causing injury to our self?

And that can carry to off the mat, huh? Are we going to brag (why?) that we did more than we actually did in class? Are we going to tell the truth in all of our dealings?

Satya could be applied to teachers. Not just yoga teachers but to any teacher or profession that sets fees. We need to be truthful and upfront about our fees. Now this could help some of us that feel shy when talking about money and fees. Yoga teachers can use satya to help them feel confident stating the fees upfront. Things should be discussed openly and honestly. A client should not be left to wonder about fees for a service.

Also satya can apply to marketing. We don’t need to get caught up on all the hype that is used in a lot of marketing, making promising, and stating unsupported facts just to get people to come to our classes. If we make false claims and that is what attracted the student then they probably aren’t really going to get a lot out of yoga and they are more than likely NOT going to be satisfied. Then, as a teacher, you aren’t either, so no one wins in that situation.

As I stated in my Ahimsa post, I am just barely touching the surface on these things. I think there could be volumes written about them . . . and there probably are. They can be applied to many thing in so many ways.

I think truthfulness is one of the easiest ones to understand. It might not be one of the easiest ones to do in thoughts, words, and actions. But, here we all are . . . on a path of learning.

What do you think? One of the easy yamas to understand?

Posted in Yoga/PiYo/Pilates | Tagged: Ahimsa, Eight limbs of yoga, niyamas, Satya, yamas, Yoga, yoga fees, yoga marketing, yoga poses | 2 Comments »

Ahimsa And Yourself

Posted by terrepruitt on February 5, 2016

Recently I posted a bit about the eight limbs of yoga. Basically a list of the limbs and a sentence about each. Then I followed up with a list of the yamas and niyamas which are the first two limbs of yoga. I am sure each limb can and does have volumes written about them. And I am sure that each of the yamas and niyamas have volumes written about them. I thought I would just do a post on each yama and niyama. I was taught the yamas are restraints or restrictions, while the niyamas are observances or rules. Ethical principles and spiritual practices, respectively. I mentioned one way to look at it is our attitudes toward our environment and our attitudes towards ourselves. Well, this is a bit about Ahimsa. A way to look at Ahimsa. Not the only way, just one way. And not even the entire way, just a bit.

Ahimsa is non-violence, non-harming, and/or non-injury. Now for me, the first thing I think of is non-violence as a physical act. I think of hitting, punching, stabbing, shooting – something physical and VIOLENT. I don’t actually do any of those things. So I think, “I’m good.” I bet a lot of us are. But then when I remember that the idea is to have it apply to our thoughts, our words, and our actions, I realize, “I’m not so ‘good'”. How often do we say that all too common phrase, “I wanna kill . . .” or “I could kill for a . . . ” even though I never really would, am I practicing ahimsa when I say it? I don’t think so. I am not sure that this type of talk is not harmful.

Another way we can look at ahimsa is as compassion. So if we are compassionate we are non-violent, non-harmful, and/or with not cause injury. And this could be applied to ourselves. Are we compassionate with ourselves? Do we get down on ourselves when we don’t do as we expected?

An exercise I participated in recently had us examining how we practice ahimsa when it came to ourselves. Ahimsa and our self on and off the yoga mat. In regards to Ahimsa with myself off the mat I realized I say – to myself – I am stupid a lot. Because of my habit of getting to bed so late the first think I think of on Monday morning is “Oh, I’m so stupid.” I think, “Every Sunday since you don’t have to teach on Mondays you stay up too late and then it is so difficult to get up on Monday. And it sets the tone of being tired for the rest of the week.” What about you? Do you ever find yourself saying things not in keeping with ahimsa in regards to yourself?

On the mat or in any exercise situation, we could apply ahimsa. It could be as simple as not being violent with oneself. It could be as simple as not causing harm – don’t do anything that will harm you or cause you injury. But sometimes it is the compassion that is the challenge. The compassion that says, “You need to be gentle with your body today, right now.” We so often have that other voice saying, “You are here, get the MOST out of your workout. Work harder. Burn more calories.” Perhaps even chiding you for something you ate and so feeling like you were “bad” for eating something “bad” you have to punish yourself with a really hard workout. That is not ahimsa from many angles. Sometimes it is difficult to be compassionate with yourself on the mat or in a workout situation.

It could just be a matter of, as Aadil Palkhivala said, not pushing when we should be pulling back, not fighting when we need to surrender, not forcing our bodies to do things they are not yet ready to do. So sometimes it is not just “not doing” more, but surrendering or not fighting.

As with all the Yamas, there is a lot of room for me to improve in practicing them. I am not posting about them because I have them all figured out and I practice them perfectly. I am writing about them to help me remember them. I think I have a lot to work on when it comes to ahimsa in thought and even words.

What about you? Just in regards to Ahimsa towards yourself? How are you with that? How does it differ on and off the mat?

Posted in Yoga/PiYo/Pilates | Tagged: Ahimsa, Eight limbs of yoga, niyama, spiritual practices, yama, Yoga, Yoga class, yoga mat | 4 Comments »

More To Yoga Than Just Asana

Posted by terrepruitt on January 13, 2016

I have often mentioned how Nia is a cardio dance exercise that you can take to another level and make it a practice, like yoga. Yoga is an exercise that you can take to another level by practicing some of the other limbs of yoga. Yoga has eight limbs. These limbs are things that one can work with throughout a lifetime. They are not necessarily things that one masters – well, not things that I can master. There could be days when it feels as if they have been mastered and then days when it feels like you had never even heard of them because the ideas or actions were just not present. So . . . these things get “practiced”. The physical, exercise part of yoga is just one of the limbs. While Nia is not as . . . I’ll say, “preachey” as yoga we do have some things that can be practiced outside of the dance class, off the dance floor. Things like noticing your movement and being aware of your relationship with others and things. But yoga’s limbs are more like rules to live by.

The eight limbs of yoga are:

1) The yamas. There are five yamas. They are often compared to restrictions. Some think of them as restraints or ethical principles.

2) The niyamas. There are five niyamas. They are often compared to rules. Some think of them as observances or spiritual practices.

3) The asana. There are thousands of poses. This is the physical limb of yoga. This is the exercise that has become very popular. Not only are there a lot of poses, there are many different types of yoga. Some are ancient and some are very new. Some types have created new poses. And sometimes I think that the ancient text has been translated so many different ways we end up with different poses.

4) Pranayama. There are various types of pranayama. This is the breath work of yoga. I have posted about two types of pranayama, Ujjayi Breathing and Equal Breath
Since this was originally posted I have posted about additional types of pranayama:
Dirgha 03.12.18, and Sitali 06.19.17

5) Pratyahara. This is the withdrawal of the senses. The idea is that when the mind has control over the senses, can withdrawal them, then it can focus on the other limbs of yoga without distraction.

6) Dharana. This is concentration. The idea of concentration of the mind on one thing leads to meditation.

7) Dhyana. This is meditation. The idea is to be able to concentrate on one point. Being able to breathe to a state of withdrawal of the senses. Having complete control. Then concentration is pure. Meditation is supremely focused and then . . .

8) Samadhi. This is transcendence. When one is in control over mind and body.

Each of these could definitely use a blog post of their own. Not sure I will get to them all. But, I will at least do a post on the yamas, a post on the niyamas, and a post on pranayama. Probably multiple posts on each of them. So, if you are interested stay tuned.

I had heard about the first two, and knew that poses and breathing were apart of yoga. But was not and am not so familiar with the last four. Did you know there were eight limbs to yoga? Which ones are you familiar with?

Posted in Yoga/PiYo/Pilates | Tagged: asana, cardio dance exercise, dance class, dance exercise, Eight limbs of yoga, equal breath, Nia, Nia Practice, niyamas, pranayama, Ujjayi Breath, yamas, Yoga, Yoga class, Yoga Practice | 10 Comments »

So Ancient, There Are A Lot Of Differences

Posted by terrepruitt on November 12, 2015

So I was told that Sanskrit is an ancient language. About 14,000 years old. It was not a written language, it was mostly just an oral language. It was not written until 5000BC. Sanskrit is known as the language of the gods. It is a sacred language. It is the oldest language. It is the root of many languages. That is what I was told. I imagine that if it is actually the oldest language it would be the root of many languages. Since it was first an oral only language and is so old I believe it has changed. I believe it has changed A LOT. How I think about it first off is like that game telephone, I mean if the language wasn’t written for thousands of years that is a lot of ways it can get changed. Then once it gets written things get lost in translation. And it just gets more and more morphed from there. So there are a lot of translations out there where it comes to Sanskrit texts.

Originally I found it VERY, VERY annoying that almost every yoga pose I researched had different names or slightly different names. Now, since I can understand how things could have gotten mixed up and changed it is only annoying. Sometimes it makes learning and even teaching difficult because there are so many translations out there, and then on top of that so many versions and modifications . . . but finding one and sticking to it is a good way to keep your practice consistent. For me that translates into meaning when I meet someone who says it different or has a slightly different name for it, they aren’t wrong, it just means that I have my path that I am following and they have theirs. Some words, things, poses are more common and people have seem to agree on them, but some seem to be different no matter what.

One thing that can help with learning poses is to have some of the words memorized. A break down of the asana name.

Here is what I am going with.

adho —	downward
agni —	fire
anga —	limb
angusta —	big toe
ardha —	half
baddha —	bound
baka —	crane
bala —	child
bandha —	formation
bharadvaja —	ancient sage
bheka —	frog
bhujanga —	snake
chandra —	moon
chatur —	four
danda —	staff
eka —	one
go —	cow
hala —	plow
hasta —	hand
janu —	knee
jathara —	stomach
kapota —	pigeon
kararu —	doing, making, action
karna —	ear
kona —	angle
krouncha —	heron
kurma —	tortoise
marichi —	sage / ray of light
marjari —	cat
Matsyendra —	lord of the fishes
mayura —	peacock
mukha —	facing
nata —	dancer
nava —	boat
pada —	foot
padma —	lotus
parivartana —	turning, rolling
parivrtta —	rotated / revolved
parsva —	side
paschim —	west
pida —	pain
pinca —	feather
raja —	king
salabha —	locust
salamba —	supported
sarvanga —	all the limbs
sarvanga —	entire body
setu —	bridge
simha —	lion
sirsa —	head
supta —	reclined
svana —	dog
tada —	mountain
tan —	stretch
tri —	three
triang —	3 parts of the body
upavista —	seated
urdhva —	upward
ut —	intense
utkata —	intense fierce
uttana —	intense
utthita —	stretch / extended
virabhadra —	warrior
varja —	thunderbolt
vasistha —	celebrated sage
viparita —	turned around/inverted
vira —	hero, warrior, chief
vrksa —	tree

I reserve the right to change, too. But for now, I am using these translations to add to my yoga practice and yoga teaching. I am going to learn the Sanskrit names of the asana by this list/translation.

Does your yoga teacher say the poses in Sanskrit?

Posted in Yoga/PiYo/Pilates | Tagged: Adho Mukha, ancient language, ardha, baddha, sanskrit, translation, Yoga, yoga poses, Yoga Practice | Leave a Comment »

Like Seinfeld, It’s About Nothing

Posted by terrepruitt on November 7, 2015

Oh wow! Oh man! You might know from reading past blog posts that I am not a fan of Daylight Saving Time. I actually wish we did NOT have Daylight Saving Time. I also believe that the time change itself is bad for us. I think it is bad for us in the sense that it messes with our body’s clock. “Losing” and “gaining” an hour is just hard on the BMES. So this time change we “GAINED” an hour, but everyone I have talked to is exhausted. I remember this from the past couple of years, too. I remember thinking how odd it is that we “GAIN” an hour, but everyone is so tired. Could be because our animals/pets don’t understand that we have changed the clock so they still want to be on the schedule they have been trained to be on for the last eight months. So they are waking us up, they are expecting to be fed, played with and walked at the same time they have been for the last eight months! I feel that even though it is only an hour it really messes with things. So, I have been really tired this week, how about you?

Plus, there is this change going on where I teach that is something to have to think about because it requires a decision. One of those kinds of decisions that make you really think and feel. It is also getting colder, and to me that just lends to hibernation. Also, we had a new Nia class start this week. So more work, both prep and DOING.

Friday, I had a moment where your stomach gets a sharp nauseating pain and you think your heart is going to stop and you can’t breathe. I arrived a few minutes earlier for class than I had been for the past few weeks, but I didn’t really realize that. As I pulled into the really crowded parking lot, I thought, “Where are all the yoga students? They are usually leaving by now.” But I quickly forgot about that thought because I was trying to find a parking place. Then as I was walking to the building it occurred to me again there were no yoga students. So I pulled out my phone to see what time it is, and I realized I was maybe three minutes early, but really the yoga student should’ve been walking out by then. I looked up and the board announcing the day and the classes said, “Happy THURSDAY”. I stopped. My heart sank into my stomach. For a second I thought, “It IS Thursday, and I totally missed my class.” I pulled open the door as I make eye contact with one of my students, I ask, “Is today Friday????” And she said, “Yes,” with a confused look on her face. And I said, “The board-” And her face changed as she realized, and she says, “Yeah, I saw that, too, and thought the same thing.” I think she saw the panic in my face. She had to have heard it in my voice.

Earlier in the week I told a supervisor I would sub a yoga class today because I was thinking I had nothing to do so I could spare the time in the morning. When I got home from teaching I putzed around because I though I had all night. At 5:00 pm we got a call asking if we picked up our tickets to the Shark’s game. We had forgotten we had a game. Thank God, we got a call reminding us. But that didn’t do anything to help me as I was sitting at my computer trying to decide on what to write for a blog post. I had to stop and get ready for the game. We had plenty of time, but that still meant I had to stop so that I could give attention to the cats, one of which was demanding it, get something ready for dinner, eat dinner, and then take a shower and get ready.

It has just been a busy kind of week. Busy isn’t really the right word, but I tend to use that word, it is more like tiring and well, I don’t know. It has me sitting here at 11:17 on a Saturday night writing about how my week flew by, and I forgot about the game tonight so I didn’t write my post during the day when I should have. They lost, by the way.

You? What did you do on Saturday night? How are you adjusting to the time change? Ever have weeks that aren’t really “busy”, but are full?

Posted in Misc | Tagged: Daylight Saving Time, Ice Hockey, NHL, Nia, Nia class, Sharks, time change, Yoga | 4 Comments »

It Is Ok To Do What You Need

Posted by terrepruitt on October 17, 2015

Remember when you attend a class (Nia, yoga, Zumba, Spin, Boot Camp, whatever), it is for you. Remember that it is important to do what you need at the time you are in class. So you don’t have to do the pose, say you are in a yoga class, to your fullest if you need to save your energy for other things you have to do in the day or the rest of your week. You don’t have to prove to your instructor or other classmates that you can do it. It is more important to do what your body needs. Don’t be afraid to listen to your body intelligence.

I might have posted about this before. If not an entire post, I know I have mentioned it, but sometimes we need reminding. I recently took a class in which I was doing more than I should have. It was what I was capable of doing, so I was doing it. I had told myself before the class that I needed to hold back a little because I was feeling a bit fatigued and I had three more classes left to teach in the week, and I had a long weekend ahead. My allergies had been bothering me, and if you have allergies (hay fever) then you know how exhausting they are. I was tired. My plan had been to do modified poses, but then I got caught up in just DOING the poses and not in doing what I needed.

I found myself thinking to myself, “Listen to what you always tell your students. Do what you need to do at the time. You know you need to conserve a bit of energy for the rest of the week.” So I backed off. I was actually more proud of myself for doing less because I needed to, than if I would have done more just to prove that I could.

In saving a bit of my energy I was able to teach my Nia class the next morning with renewed and full energy. It was a great class. So again, I was so glad I listened to what I always encourage my Nia and yoga students to do.

Now, I am not saying not to push yourself, I am just saying that there might be times when it is necessary to do less than you are capable of and that is ok. I think you do more for your body, mind, emotions, and spirit if you respect your needs. I have a feeling this is not new information to you, that is why I started out this post with “remember”. However, it is one thing to know something and to actually do it. As I said, before class I told myself to be mellow and then once in class I didn’t listen to myself at first. I understand how easy it is to get caught up in the moment of doing, but with some modalities, like Nia and yoga, they are mindful practices. A great exercise in a mindful practice is to do it mindfully, which could mean doing less. Don’t be afraid to listen to your body intelligence.

Have you ever needed to do less in an exercise class? Did you? Did you have to keep reminding yourself?

Posted in Misc | Tagged: body intelligence, Boot Camp, exercise class, modified poses, Nia, Nia class, Spin, Yoga, Yoga Pose, Zumba | Leave a Comment »

Sound And Common Business Ideas

Posted by terrepruitt on October 1, 2015

Recently I attended a Business Training type of workshop. It was specifically for women. The trainer feels that women – for many reasons – could use business training specifically for woman. She didn’t get into explanations regarding her reasons, but some that have been tossed about before are things like, some woman are challenged in business because they are mothers/wives . . . just like any working woman, time used for work is time taken away from the family so they may feel guilty. Plus . . . business is a “man’s world”. Often times women are not taken as seriously as a man. Some women have a difficult time stating their worth. Some women are inclined to help so they feel “bad” charging for their services. Those are just some reasons I’ve heard before. Perhaps one or some of them are why this workshop was strictly for women. It was a nice workshop. The woman who presented it was very fun and had a lot of good information. But, if you have taken the Nia White Belt Intensive, most of the same information was in that. If you have taken any type of certification and it was a good one, then they would have covered the same type of business information that was in this workshop. But if you have never taken anything before then it was a great one.

The first thing all the business trainings I’ve taken say is to diversify. So in the context of Nia, the idea is to not just teach Nia classes. But to do Nia Workshops, Nia retreats, Nia personal training, Nia sessions, Nia talks/webinars, in other words the idea is you have this great gift to share – don’t hold back. And for something like Nia there really is so much to it, it can’t be all shared in just the dance exercise classes. This training had to do with yoga, so she was using examples pretty much the same. You could do all the same things; classes, workshops, retreats, sessions, webinars . . . etc.

The one thing that was different about this workshop was that the steps she recommended that needed to be taken she aligned with Goddesses. So with the first step she said to “claim your power and passion with the Goddess Durga”. Which according to the first thing on the internet Durga “is the root cause of creation, preservation and annihilation”. Since, I am not going to be using Goddess in my business or my life, I didn’t take many notes that had to do with the Goddess part. But this step was also the part that was connected to finding your niche. Again, in context, there are a lot of different types of yoga so find one that is your passion. Or find something that can complement yoga and concentrate on that. With your passion you will be able to connect to people. So let’s say you love to crochet, you could have a yoga crochet class (and workshop, retreat, sessions, webinar, etc.).

The next step was to release fears and doubts (with another Goddess). And during this one we did a really great exercise. She had us speaking from a place of fears and doubts, then she had us speaking form a place of confidence. We all could really tell the difference. This was a great (and very important) reminder for me.

The next step was to create your offering (with another Goddess) and she shared ideas on that. She shared actual testimonies or information from some of her clients. Step four was marketing (with another Goddess). As you probably know there are many places to market. With social media the ways to do it are encouraging. So much of it can be free.

She shared some mistakes that people make, like no marketing or not doing enough, or boring marketing. Not diversifying, not having a plan, trying to reinvent the wheel, and trying to do it on your own and not ask for help.

Like I said, it was good. It was great if you have never heard any of it before. As you may have read before on my blog, Nia has awesome training and business is one of the 13 principles in the Nia White Belt so they cover these things. These are typical business ideas, attaching Goddesses to them, was new to me.

This workshop was just a taste of a longer more in-depth workshop. The weekend one sounded amazing and fun, but my abundance doesn’t come from Goddesses, so I wasn’t interested.

I do have other things I want to share, but this post is long enough. In another post I’ll share some things that this workshop didn’t cover but I think are good things to think about if you want to teach classes (like yoga or Nia).

If you have a certification in something did the training cover any business training? Are you familiar with any of these business ideas?

Posted in Misc | Tagged: business ideas, business plan, business training, business workshop, dance exercise, Goddesses, Nia, Nia class, Nia Intensives, Nia retreats, Nia workshop, women in business, Yoga, Yoga class, yoga workshop | Leave a Comment »

Equal Breath

Posted by terrepruitt on September 3, 2015

You may be familiar with yoga. You know those stretching exercises people do? That is what many people think of as yoga, stretching and bending and making your body a pretzel. Well, the poses, the postures, the asana are a part of yoga. That is really only one part of eight. There are eight limbs of yoga. Another part is pranayama. I mentioned one in my post Breath: Quiet and Safe. In that post I also mentioned why I often compare Nia and yoga. First of all I believe that Nia has incorporated many things from yoga into Nia, so that is one reason why I talk about yoga and Nia. But I also talk about them being similar because Nia is a dance exercise and for many people that is all it is. And since cardio exercise is beneficial I think that is fine, if that is as far as people want to go with it. The same with yoga. Yoga is an exercise. You can just do the moves and, I believe through movement, gain many benefits. However, if you want to get more out of it, there are these other things that you can practice, and one of them is pranayama.

Now, Iyengar says “attempt pranayama only when the yoga asanas have been mastered.” Because that is what Patanjali says in the Yoga Sturas. But for many of us that means we would never do pranayama or if we did it would be years and years AFTER we have been practicing. Now, I am just starting to learn more about pranayama, so if you want to heed the master, by all means, please do. I think, however, that pranayama is beneficial so I don’t want to wait until I have mastered the asana, because, quite honestly I might not “MASTER” them at all.

Now some people might hear pranayama and think that is just to woo-woo. What is that anyway, just a bunch of crossed-legged people breathing? Well, there are specific pranayamas. And there are specific ways to do them. And even specific times. But let me ask you this: have you EVER, EVER, just stopped and held your breath? Perhaps someone said something that made you angry so you stopped and held your breath. Perhaps someone in a store cut in front of you in line so you stopped and held your breath. Or have you ever stopped to took a breath? Perhaps you were just going, going, going and you realized you wanted to slow down so you took a breath? Perhaps you looked outside your window and realized what a beautiful day it was so you took a breath. Now, as I said, pranayama is specific so I am not saying THAT or THOSE breaths were pranayama, but I am saying that if you have ever stopped breathing or stopped and taken a breath for any reason you might be able to see how pranayama could be beneficial.

I mentioned the other post I wrote about pranayama, Ujjayi specifically. Well there is another one that I think of as “easy”. It is Samavrtti. Sama means equal so it is a practice of equality in breathing. But in this type of breath there are FOUR parts. Typically I think of breathing as TWO parts, inhale and exhale. Well, with this the other two are retention. As in holding. Pausing after the inhale then pausing after the exhale. The reason I say this is “easy” with quotation marks is sometimes the retention is stress inducing. Some people don’t like to hold their breath on the inhale and some people don’t like to hold their breath on the exhale. So while the idea is that anyone can do this at anytime, you want to make sure that this is not something that will cause you anxiety.

With this, the idea is to inhale then hold, exhale then hold. Keeping the SAMA in mind, the goal is to inhale, hold, exhale, hold equally. So there are many ways to do it if you are counting as a way of keep track you can inhale 1,2, hold 1,2, exhale 1,2, hold 1,2. If the holding causes anxiety, it is ok to build up to it. Perhaps just holding after the inhale. Or maybe just hold on whichever retention causes less anxiety. Then perhaps graduating to inhale 1,2, hold 1, exhale 1,2, hold 1. There are many combinations to do while you work up to EQUAL parts.

Remember that the breaths should be relaxed and even. So the idea is not to inhale then hold so long that your exhale is a rush of air. It should all be even and relaxed.

Yogacharya B.K.S. Iyengar states in his Light On Pranayama to practice in ratios retain only on the inhalation. Once you achieve his stated ratios THEN move onto the retention after the exhalation. But he begins that instruction stating you will not be able to retain on the exhale. So it could be he means to follow the ratios is you really are unable to hold your exhale. While in general I love to follow the instructions and guidelines of the masters and experts, sometimes if I restrict myself to their instructions I end up not doing it at all. So . . . my recommendation is to try it and do what is comfortable for you. Being mindful and cautious.

Some say the samavritt calms the mind and can help to create steadiness and focus even in the most challenging asanas. And others say it calms the body and focuses the mind.

Do you practice any pranayama? Do you ever take a deep breath?

Posted in Yoga/PiYo/Pilates | Tagged: B.K.S Iyengar, cardio dance, cardio exercise, dance exercise, equal breath, Nia, pranayama, stretcing, ujjayi, Yoga | 4 Comments »

Double The Goodness

Posted by terrepruitt on September 1, 2015

What better way to start a month than with a Goodie Jar check in? Any of you still doing a goodie jar or any version of one? A Goodie Jar or a Good Things Jar is where you make a note of a good thing and put it in the jar to read later. That is the basics so how you go about it is up to you. The possibilities are endless. You could decide upon guidelines on what is allowed in the jar or just put whatever you want. My idea is whatever is a “good thing” that makes you smile. You can assign yourself a schedule as in “you have to do it once a day/week/month”. Or you can do it whenever you experience something that makes you smile. When you read them is also something unique to you. Our Goodie Jar is read on December 31st. It is kind of nice since we are past the age of going out and getting crazy. We usually are home all night and so this is a little tradition, a way of celebrating. Now, many of you, perhaps people who frequently read my blog, already know about this because I think I am on my third year of doing it, but there are many people out there that don’t know about it. And for a lot of people it is a good way to keep focused on the good things in life. There is always something good so it is nice to have a way to keep that at the forefront. So, I am happy to report that I have had to go back to using my first goodie jar. But that is in addition to the new container I had moved, too. We now have two “Goodie” locations!

How awesome is that? Our Good Things filled up one container so we had to move it to another one! That is good stuff. Granted some of our things are full sized pieces of paper. John used that as documentation for one or two good things. Plus we use all types of paper and all types of sizes. There are also a few tickets in there. So they take up a lot of space, but still! A lot of good things.

There are always good things to say about the Nia classes because of the fabulous students that come to class. In fact, as I type this I was reminded that the attendance I had at this past Nia class on Sunday at the NW YMCA was the largest I have ever had. So that is going in the good things jar. That was a good thing!

My yoga classes are a consistent good thing, too. There seems to be a lot of good revolving around those, too. Currently, yoga in the park. So nice to be out in the gorgeous day . . . even when the lawn maintenance people are there.

Our cats are doing well. We decided to stop the medicine for the little cat. We had three days left and we decided that she was just getting, too upset and it was just causing too much stress in the household. So we stopped that. She has yet to realize that evening time is not “torture” time. But she will get there. I even got an exposed belly and purrs today. The whole situation around us getting the cats and all that mess was really a great time to utilize the goodie jar because that is when I need it. When a happy situation turns to muck, it helps to have a process in place to help concentrate and focus on the good things. So we are rolling along.

So, what about you? Are you doing a Goodie Jar? Do you have a way to help you stay focused on the Good Things? How is it going?

Posted in Good Things in the Goodie Jar | Tagged: adopted cats, focus on the good, good things jar, Goodie Jar, Nia, Nia at the YMCA, Nia class, shelter cats, things that make you smile, YMCA, Yoga | 8 Comments »

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Terre Pruitt's Blog

In the realm of health, wellness, fitness, and the like, or whatever inspires me.

I teach yoga, Nia, and stretch online!

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