I cannot believe that this is my last week in Stockholm until the summer.  The next few months in New York will be focused on my mentorship with Kate and teaching my Yin/Yang class each Saturday.  Then, before I know it, I will be back in Stockholm with a work visa,  my pup, and teaching experience under my belt.  Woohoo!

Time keeps on moving and I keep walking down the path towards my goals and pursuing my passion.  I am enjoying the journey and trying to let it all sink in while living the philosophy of having life happen for me and not to me.

As Spring (slowly) approaches and change is all around me, the term 'Spring cleaning' keeps coming to mind.  Recently in my practice I have been incorporating a lot of twists to assist the body in detoxing itself. It is time to dust off the cobwebs of winter and purify ourselves for the upcoming season.  Twisting stimulates and massages the internal organs and leaves us feeling lighter and more energized.  One of my favorite twists is a classic Seated Spinal Twist (or Ardha Matsyendrasana).  The posture is accessible and is a great way for yogis of all levels to get into a deep and detoxifying twist. 

To get into the pose:
 

Happy Spring cleaning, yogis!!

Who is feeling mindful today?  Some days are better than others, right?  Occasionally, I get wrapped up in an emotion or a situation and even though I know I am not being mindful in that moment, it is so difficult to snap myself out of it.  

Just such an occasion that happened yesterday comes to mind.  We are dog sitting the rest of this week for an adorable pup named Tessa (I am loving every minute in doggie heaven!).  Preparing for our arrival yesterday, I packed up a bag of our essentials and schlepped it about 45 minutes across Stockholm to take a yoga class in Ostermalm before walking over to the apartment where we are staying.  I settled in, took Tessa out for a walk, and went to get my iPad out of my bag so that I could work on my playlist for my yoga class, and write a blog post.  My iPad was essential to these activities and it was not in my bag.  I remembered that I took it out at the last minute to type up an email and left it sitting on the kitchen table - all the way in Farsta Strand.  If this was a mindfulness test, I failed.  I was upset at myself that I had been so lost in my own head when leaving Farsta that I forgot to repack my iPad and then just could not get over how annoyed I was by the fact that my afternoon wasn't going as seamlessly as I had hoped.  I got carried away in my emotions and the scenario put me in a bad mood the whole 90 minute trip out to Farsta and back again.  I knew that I needed to let it go and that I should separate my feelings of annoyance and upset from myself but I just couldn't do it.  Finally, after returning and playing with Tessa for a little I was okay and back in a positive mindset.  That small incident though just got me all tangled up!  

So, my point in telling this story is that this meditation and mindfulness business is not a 'one and done' type of thing.  It is a constant, daily, steady practice to which we must stay dedicated.  A core principal in Patanjali's Yoga Sutras speaks about Abhyasa and continuos practice:

Abhyasa means having an attitude of persistent effort to attain and maintain a state of stable tranquility (1.13). To become well established, this needs to be done for a long time, without a break (1.14). From this stance the deeper practice continues to unfold, going ever deeper towards the direct experience of the eternal core of our being.
  
There are no quick fixes, cure-alls, or short-cuts in the pursuit of mental tranquility.  To look at this through another lens, think about how hard we work when we go to the gym everyday to lose fat and build up muscle.  Even if we attain our physical goals, it is so difficult to maintain them.  A few weeks off, a vacation where we drink and eat whatever we want, and we almost have to start all over again the next time we step on the treadmill.  In order for us to continue on our spiritual journey we must make time for it every single day.  Just 10 minutes a day, everyday, is far better than one hour one time a week.  Over time, we will begin to see the positive changes in our mental states, our relationships and in the world around us.  Don't give up!  And remember that small victories lead to big victories.  

So, for this week maintain the seated meditation practice and being mindful of your thoughts and actions throughout the day.  If we slip up, it is okay as long as we have that constant, steady, practice to return back to day after day.

Namaste!

I hope everyone is having a mindful week and enjoying being present in every day activities!  This week, I want to share an excerpt I read the other day in Robin Sharma´s The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari.  It has actually come up in conversation multiple times over the past few days and I keep thinking about it (which is pretty funny after you know what the quote is).  In the book one of the characters, Julian, refers to a lesson that he learned when spending time with wise Sage´s in the Himalayas: 

On an average day the average person runs about sixty thousand thoughts through his mind.  What really amazed me, though, was that ninety-five percent of those thoughts were the same as the ones you thought the day before!

So, this really amazed me as well.  The thoughts that come through our minds shape our perception which in turn shapes how we view and interact with the world around us.  I can think of a few not-so-nice thought patterns that come into my head about 95% of the time.  Negative thoughts and worries can swirl around about my personal finances, if I will be a successful yoga teacher, if I am a good enough friend, daughter, sister, or girlfriend, if I have gained weight, if my arms look fat, when I will have time to do my taxes, it goes on and on.  Right?  Well, it doesn't have to.  Thinking thoughts can be as tangible as walking, for example, and we can decide which thoughts we allow to enter the mind and which we do not.  The mind is like any other muscle in the body and must be exercised and strengthened.   Just as we must have strong legs in order to walk, we must also have strong minds in order to control the stream of thoughts coming in and out each day.  In order to strengthen the mind, we must build a daily meditation practice and develop the habit of being mindful. 

The mind is an excellent servant but a terrible master.  If trained and used well, the mind can propel us into the lives that we want to live.  If we let the mind run rampant with negative thoughts than it controls us in a way that turns our view of the world into something less than pleasant.  Meditation trains us to be the guard of our own thoughts - permitting only the positive ones to enter the mind.

In addition to the daily meditation that we are all sticking to every morning, this week let´s add one more layer of mindfulness that we can use through out the day.  In order to change these negative thought patterns we first must be aware of them!  So, in the next 7 days do just that.  Be aware.  When that anxiety about tomorrow´s presentation at work starts to sprout in the mind take a step back to acknowledge the thought.  No need to berate ourselves for thinking a certain thought or build onto that anxiety by worrying about your negative thought - just acknowledge it and move on.

If you are interesting in reading more, you can find Robin Sharma´s book here.

I would also recommend listening to Gretchen Rubin´s podcasts and reading her book The Happiness Project (though I don´t directly quote from it in this post, I have found it to be an interesting and helpful read) You can find her book here.

Happy meditating my friends!!  

Thinking such positive thoughts about the beautiful weather we are enjoying in Stockholm today:)

"Every act of creation is first an act of destruction.” –Pablo Picasso

 This quote appeared at the beginning of The Art of Yin Yoga chapter in Ulrica Norberg´s book titled Yin Yoga: An Individualized Approach to Balance, Health, and Whole Self Well-Being.  I have to admit that it was not a quote that I would have expected to be in a yoga book so naturally, I became curious about its meaning and its relation to Yin Yoga.

 In the chapter, Ulrica mainly discusses the topic of tension; emotional, mental, and physical.  Yoga enables us to release this tension and therefore create a more peaceful inner self.  The yogis believe that the release of tension can be shown in several different forms.  Ulrica illustrates some of these ways including:

-Emotional Release (good or bad emotions)
-Shakiness
-Lightheadedness
-Feeling ´spacey´
-Muscular spasms or releases

According to Pablo Picasso, this destruction, or release, must happen before an act of creation.  So, in the destruction of tension what are we then creating?  Through a dedicated yoga and meditation practice, positive energy replaces the negative thoughts and tensions that we previously experienced.  Positive energy is what we need to improve our mental and physical health from the inside out.  With that internal change and "when our health stabilizes and we are able to keep our balance better, we can make a larger impact on the world around us” says Ulrica.  

Let's take this back a step though and think about our closest relationships and how this positive energy can affect the people who we interact with day to day.  How many times have we excused our own rude or aggressive behavior by claiming, "sorry but I am just so stressed right now."?  Even if we don't acknowledge it, internal stress and tension is usually at the root of a harsh comment made or an argument that could have been avoided.  If nothing else, tension makes us feel lousy and therefore we are not able to provide emotionally for the people around us.   

In an excerpt from The Monk who Sold his Ferrari the author, Robin Sharma, also adequately addresses Picasso's idea of creation and destruction.  To paraphrase from the book, a student and his teacher are seated together when the student holds out his cup for the teacher to serve him tea.  He fills the student's cup but soon the cup is full and the tea starts to pour over its edges and onto the floor.  The student is confused and asks the teacher why he keeps pouring tea into his already full cup?  The teacher responds, "Just like this cup, you seem to be full of your own ideas.  And how can any more go in... until you first empty your cup."

It can seem scary to 'empty our cups' because it is what we know and with what we are familiar.  Over time, yoga allows us to gradually tip out the past tensions of our emotional, mental, and physical self.  As drops of stress and negative thought patterns are destroyed, yoga replaces them with the positive energy that we need to change ourselves thus changing how we perceive the world around us.  Destruction and creation, yin and yang, sun and moon, lightness and darkness - one does not exist without the other.  

And now to end on a lighter note and as an homage to my true favorite Pablo out there, please enjoy these photos of my adorable pup (Fun Fact: Pablo is actually not named after Pablo Picasso but Pablo Neruda, a Chilean poet).   

Years after my first yoga class in high school, I bought a Living Social deal for Bikram Yoga Williamsburg in Brooklyn.  I had not had a dedicated yoga practice in a long time but I was really feeling the urge to get back to the mat.  I had just quit my first job in NYC.  The place where I had worked was (how can I put this nicely?) toxic and brought me home feeling wretched and even in tears some days.  I was mentally and physically drained from a cocktail of workplace stress and, well, cocktails - I was a 25 year old who had just moved to NYC and I was following the prescription of 'work hard, play hard'.   I knew that during the search for a new position and living on a tight budget I needed something that could help me deal with the transition and the stresses that came along with it.  I remember walking into Bikram Yoga Williamsburg and immediately being psyched to be there - the place had good vibes.  I was taken aback when the class was taught in a way that I had never experienced before - first, it was REALLY hot; second, it seemed like most of the students already knew what was coming up next in the sequence (which it turns out they, in fact, did).  That first Bikram class had me hooked and I continued a Bikram practice during my job search and then for about three years afterwards as well.  Despite the controversy surrounding it's founder, I credit Bikram for kicking my butt (in just the way I needed) and getting me back on my yoga mat day after day, week after week. 

Okay, now let´s get to the asana for today.  Despite being hot and confused during that first class, I remember the teacher guiding us into Ustrasana, Camel Pose for the first time.  During the second set, I decided to give it a try and I could quite literally feel my chest opening and expanding.  I thought there must be something to this pose if it feels this intense!  The teacher explained that Ustrasana is a heart and chest opener.  In day to day life (especially if we sit at a desk most of the day), our bodies are hunched over and (subconsciously, perhaps?) guarding our hearts and our emotions, our vulnerabilities.  Thus opening and expanding the chest, Ustrasana can aid in an emotional release for the practitioner.  Have you ever heard a teacher say, 'open your heart'?  After this pose, I understood what that phrase meant.  In Light On Yoga, B.K.S. Iyengar states the effects of this pose as being beneficial for people with drooping shoulders and/or hunched backs as well as stretching and toning the spine.  This is a pose that helps us to change how our bodies are being shaped in modern day society.    

In addition, Ustrasana will help to open the hips, stretches the shoulders, relieves lower back pain, and improves digestion by expanding the abdominal region.  There are a few variations on Ustrasana including stretching one arm overhead and it will promote the chest opening even more.   In terms of where Ustrasana falls in a sequence, it is a great opportunity to transition in between  standing poses and the floor or supine poses - it also feels healing to wrap yourself into Child´s Pose after Camel.  To help with your front body alignment, try doing the pose against a wall with the goal of keeping your hips and thighs pressed against the wall.  

I read an interesting article on the website for Bikram Yoga Vancouver that Camel Pose most likely got its name not from the bend in the back resembling a camel hump but from how a camel kneels to let people on and off its back.  So the pose is probably named more for its setup than the actual backbend.  Also, another very interesting fact from the Bikram Vancouver Yoga website: Camels can kick in all four directions with each of their legs - wow!

Some tips and pics for getting into the pose:

How did it go for my fellow meditators this past week?  Even if you only got in one session – kudos to you!!  When trying something new (that is quite possibly far out of your comfort zone) usually the first step is the hardest so congrats on taking the leap!

The longer I build a daily meditation practice into my life, the more I am able to observe the benefits of the practice in my day-to-day life off of the mat.  The more mindful I become during my daily activities, the easier it is to sit in a formal meditation practice as well.  It is a positive mental carousel to jump on to!

Now the next question is how to actually be mindful in day-to-day life.  I recently posted on my Instagram account an exercise to consciously think about each time you go from sitting to standing and standing to sitting.  This exercise was difficult!  I would usually catch myself a few moments after I sat/stood and be a little irked that I had forgotten.  When I was present during the sit/stand transition, it bordered on an out-of-body experience.  Our minds are so accustomed to thinking about something other than what are bodies or even are brains are actually supposed to be doing.  In our culture, we are constantly being told to multi-task.  Any good office worker can multi-task, any good parent or teacher can as well.  But wait – can we really??

In fact, our minds are only able to think about one thing at a time.  Sure, we have become so familiar with driving the same route to work every day that we are able to have a phone conversation at the same time.  That driving route has become so automatic that we are not actually thinking about it.  Try that same route though when it is sleeting outside or if there is an unsafe driver near you on the road – we hang up the phone because we need to think about what we are doing.  Society tells us that in order to be productive we must do a million things at once but in reality, our minds are simply not programmed that way.   If you still aren´t buying it, here is an interesting article from Forbes to check out.

Our goal for this week:
At least 3 times per day be present in whatever task you are doing.  If you are writing an email, for example, think about how your body feels sitting in the chair, the feeling of your fingers on the keyboard and the words as they are coming into your mind and onto the screen.  At first, it is a trippy experience because we are not used to actually being present in our own daily lives.   Just for 30 seconds at a time, 3 times a day, let´s commit to being present in our own activities. 

Good luck and I cannot wait to hear about your experiences!  Again, if you have any questions or want to discuss your personal practice feel free to leave a comment below or email me at KellyLawson86@gmail.com 

That about wraps it up for this week's asana!  Give Bananasana a try before bed tonight - I promise you won't regret it!