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Sep
11

Oh Those Canadians: Yoga… ‘Cannabis Enhanced’

Leave it to the Canadians and their legalized marijuana to find yet another excuse to get high:  yoga class!

I suppose to some, yoga and pot are synonymous anyhow.  But to those of us who practice regularly, the high we get from a practice, any practice, from more mellow Iyengar to balls out Bikram, is just so satisfying and remarkable on its own, it keeps us coming back to the magic of the mat as often as we can.

But, apparently there is another faction of yogis that feel there’s just that much more can be achieved through a practice enhanced by the ganja… the herb… the tea… by the cannabis that they’ve developed a series of classes incorporating the hallucinogen to maximize their yogic experience.

Dee Dussault, founder of Follow Your Bliss center and Ganja Yoga classes, told Relaxnews that she has “been smoking marijuana for four years, practicing yoga for 15 years” and “teaching cannabis-enhanced yoga for about one year.”

Classes range in participation from four to fifteen students, and along with mats, towels and water bottles, it’s a strict policy of  BYOP: Bring Your Own Pot.  There is no sharing or mooching and there is certainly no buying or selling.

Classes include “a vaporizer café and chat (approximately 30 minutes), followed by a profoundly trippy yoga class, set to mystical music (approximately 75 minutes). Light munchies served afterward” for about $15 CDN.

Most of us don’t live in the Toronto area to take advantage of this unique approach to yoga, but if you’re interesting in experimenting with your own ganja infused practice, Dee Dussault offers a few pointers:

-  Focus more on the sensations that one feels in the body than on trying to achieve more intermediate or advanced postures while high.
-  Really slow down, focus inwards, let go of your idea of what “yoga” is supposed to look like. Just “be” in different poses. Hang out there, let the ganja take you to new realms of experience. Notice your breath. Notice how the body moves and feels. Do some simple stretches, whatever your body calls for.
- Always listen to your body, and err on the side of doing less than you think you can.
- Stay away from balancing poses unless you are used to them, as marijuana can negatively impact balance for some people. Spend a lot of time in meditative poses.
- If your mind wanders, just come back to your breath. If thoughts interrupt or distract you, see if you can commit to focusing on the breath and the feeling of the body.
- Marijuana is great for making us super-interested in things for the short-term. Be super-interested in things you’ve never noticed about your body before. Continually commit to coming back to the breath, to the body.
- If you feel anxiety or cannabis-induced paranoia, try “Child’s Pose” – kneel on your knees and lower legs, with your hips reaching down towards your heels, and your forehead on the mat. You can have your arms extended over your head, or by your sides. Child’s pose reduces mental tension and anxiety.

Category: Articles, Class-y, health, Just Crazy... In A Good Way, news, Practice, yoga  One Comment
Jun
26

Yoga… Not Just For Size 6′s

heavyweight yogaYoga isn’t just for your average Jennifer Aniston type body anymore.  With obesity in North America reaching epidemic proportions it really can’t be.

But when self-loathing is such a fundamental part of day-to-day life, where do the plus-size go to enjoy the effects of yoga but would rather not have to stare into a size-4 behind for 90 minutes?

Unfortunately, there aren’t many choices.  But, seeing the need, and knowing first-hand the difficulty, Texas yoga instructor Abby Lentz came up with a plan.

As an active plus-size woman, Abby knew the importance of not only a safe place in which to allow such physical vulnerability as learning postures in a body that would be perhaps less than receptive, but also founding principles that would facilitate participation.  She refers to them as the Three A’s-  awareness, acceptance and affection.

For people to start the program, and more importantly continue, Abby’s goal is to encourage women to accept and love their bodies NOW, not when they finally manage to lose pounds or shrink jeans sizes.  It’s about influencing the self-loathing before the weight-loss.

Read more….

Category: beauty, gratitude, health, Practice, Spirit, strength, Trends, weight loss, yoga  One Comment
Jun
24

Importance of Yoga… When You’re a Runner

The nice weather has finally set in and find myself enjoying running again.  After spending the spring trying to get back into a regular routine of morning runs, there’s something about a clear, sunny morning that beckons… rather than the cloudy, rainy, windy mornings of April and May!

It can be tricky adding regular runs, that can last an hour or more, to an already busy schedule without compromising my practice.  It’s all about remembering how integral regular yoga practice is, not only mentally and spiritually, but to the ol’ bod… that in these advancing years needs it more than ever!

Running is a sport that can, in fact, shorten and tighten muscles.  Stretching is encouraged after warming up before embarking on the main running workout as well as after the run itself to ensure proper muscle recovery and prevent injury.

As we all know yoga enhances our flexibility, loosening, lengthening and strengthening with each posture, and for runners flexibility is key to preventing injury and allowing for full range of motion and increased agility.  Where running works primarily the lower body and some core, yoga engages the entire body, strengthening other important muscle groups that ultimately serve to make a stronger runner.

Often runners fiind meditative benefits to their workouts.  Their is a rythm in the breath and the pace that offers some element of calm and presence, though that is not the focus to running.  Certainly, however, many runners are more likely to find diversion in their thoughts and music pounding through their heads from earbuds allowing the time to pass seemingly faster. Conversely, the goal of yoga is to quiet the mind and focus on the breath offering  a different, deeper, level of meditation providing a valuable spiritual aspect combined with the athleticism.

If runners are looking for an effective cross-training option for their off-days, yoga is a superior choice targeting not only strength and flexibility but also a good semblance of peace, tranquility and quiet in an otherwise hectic day.

Category: health, Practice, running, strength, yoga  Leave a Comment
Jun
19

Ujjayi… Certainly Easier to Do than Spell!

The foundation of yoga is in the breath…. It’s a fact that we who practice are already well aware.  But are we doing it right?

Here’s a little beginner’s guide to achieving the Ujjayi, more fully realized- read: done correctly- in your practice.

Category: health, instruction, Meditation, Practice, Spirit, strength, surrender, yoga  Leave a Comment
Nov
10

The Balancing Series… Love on One Foot. Part 1: Garudasana or Eagle Pose

bal-eagleMaybe it’s autumn, maybe it’s my current serene state of mind, fair & balanced, but I’m all about incorporating the Balancing Series into my practice these days.

So, if you’re looking to cultivate strength, balance and open-ness… look no further!  The Balancing Series provides you with a well-rounded and challenging set of postures to help you achieve all three!

It’s a personal favourite of mine, and one that I look forward to as I’m sweating through the warrior series in anticipation of the sweet serenity and focused stillness of standing on one foot.

I know it may not be everybody’s cup of tea.  Balancing postures, while providing a beautiful payoff, require a heck of a lot in return.  Passive it ain’t.  You will work… your. butt. off!  Heh heh.

But, truly, the balancing postures embody the foundations of yoga and are so worth getting to know better despite the degree of  physical endurance.  The rewards extend, literally, from head to toe and I encourage you to incorporate it, in part or in full, regularly into any practice.

more »

Category: health, Postures, Practice, strength  Leave a Comment
Nov
02

Gentle-ness and Ease… Power in Listening

stream_01After a crazy Halloween weekend, with all of its various excesses, primarily candy and Fireballs (I did say crazy…!) I was eager for this morning’s practice knowing I needed it to clear the cobwebs.

Well, as eager as I may have been, the ol’ bones were not so.  The juices took some time to get flowing, the furnace some time to get warm and therefore the joints, muscles and tendons some time to let go and allow me to move, albeit slowly, through my practice.

What also took some time, was me convincing myself… or shall I say the gentle voice inside my head, when it was finally able to make itself heard over the mean, nasty critical voice inside my head, convinced me after several turns through less than energetic sun salutations A and B, that I could pull back.  That it was quite alright to take it slow.  Let everything move at a pace it- I- needed rather than that which I’d have preferred.

That takes some doing, I must say.  Outside of a vacation, and even then it can be questionable, what with all the activities we tend to plan… we are so not conditioned to taking a step back into ease.  Into letting our bodies say, through their tension and tenderness, ‘go gently’.  Closing the door to the judgment of our own minds and expectations and allowing quiet and serenity through instead.

We are far more inclined to push forward, ignoring the signs and twinges, in our quest for the ‘challenge’ that is often synonomous with yoga, and the ‘workout’ that yoga, in our 21st century fast & furious frame of mind, has become.  Also, as with many of us, I enjoy the feeling of pushing and challenging my body in yoga in the seemingly unlimited ways it can do so.  It’s an activity in which my body typically accepts, embraces and responds to pushing further… hence it’s one I enjoy the most.

But sometimes in yoga- as in life- the challenge comes in stepping back, embracing ease.  Consciously saying, and accepting- that with this general feeling of lethargy, I will pass on my powerful sequence today and enjoy some balance.  Perhaps, with this little twang in my lower back, I might better enjoy some gentle focus on the core.

I’ll revisit this all again in my practice tomorrow… but today I take satisfaction in having done it… and listened.

Category: health, Meditation, Practice, Spirit, strength, surrender  Leave a Comment
Oct
28

Eka Pada Rajakapotasana, or Half-Pigeon… or, Blissful Agony

pigeon_01

Historically throughout my years of oscillating practice, the pleasure of Eka Pada Rajakapotasana- or One-Legged King Pigeon OR just plain ol’ Half Pigeon- has, quite frankly, eluded me.  In fact, more often than not, when given the opportunity to avoid it, I’ve been more than happy to do so.

Frog Pose: Mandukasana

I tend to be tight, tight, tight through the hips.  Hamstrings?  No problem… there’s nothing like the sweet surrender into a deep and delicious forward bend.  Shoulders?  Mmmmm… Eagle me, baby!  Hips?  Well… another story.  At a Boot Camp a few years back part of the evening practice required we remain in Frog Pose for a seemingly endless amount of time.  By the end of the week I had discovered any number of ways to support myself in the posture: blankets, blocks, complete and utter denial… let’s say, I really came to understand “going to my happy place.”

But, I digress… be these hips as they may, lately, and perhaps it’s a function of now being in an actual class where I am bound, gagged and manhandled more consistently encouraged into Pigeon, I’ve found a little more joy in this wonderful hip-opener.

OK… perhaps ‘joy’ is overstating it a tad, but I am definitely better able to embrace the discomfort a little more, breathe into the tension of the tendon and muscle, and allow some much needed open-ness through this tight area of the hips and groin.  Honestly, after squeezing out three over-sized babies I wouldn’t have thought it ever to be an issue.

more »

Category: Postures, Practice  One Comment
Oct
26

Sanctuary… Conveniently Squeezed into 2X6

yoga_001

As I resume a regular routine of practice- the autumn always seems the season where I am most prone to structure- it occurred to me this morning that, regardless the disorganization or mess surrounding me, on the mat, if I allow, it all seems to dissolve into the atmosphere.

Not having an appropriate space, or an appropriately neat and tidied space, has always provided me with a handy dandy excuse to sit around watching Oprah with a bag of Miss Vickies put off practice, often delaying it until the day just gets away from me and then it’s time for bed and I collapse into the arms of JayLenoDavidLettermanConanOBrianDailyShow a good book and off into dream land with noble yogic intentions for the next day, where FOR SURE I will tidycleanvacuumredecoraterenovate the perfect space to best enjoy my practice.

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Category: Practice, strength, surrender  Leave a Comment
Aug
06

Wham Bam, Thank You… 10 Minutes to Glory!

aaaaagggggghhhhhh!

Aaaaaaaagggggghhhhhh!!!!

This summer has been a BUSY one, unfortunately at the expense of regular posts here at my beloved MommyOm.  But in my BUSY-ness, I’ve come across a life saver.

Regular practice was in grave danger earlier this summer of falling entirely off my radar, with all of the demands overwhelming between work, kids, husband… and well, just plain life.

I’ve written before of how my life is really just a series of ebbs and flows and this summer has truly reflected that.  And while I’ve been having a ball in the other areas of my life, practice, and fitness in general, really weren’t making it on the radar.

The absence wasn’t going unnoticed, however, and I decided, if I was going to keep things together and moving forward most effectively, at the very least, yoga (as the most enjoyable of my physical pursuits) had to given some priority.

But I knew, going from a month or so of doing nothing to all of a sudden committing an hour of my day to a practice around work, home, WAH husband and school at home kids I needed to start gently and set a goal I knew I could meet.

more »

Category: 10 minutes to glory!, health, Practice, strength, weight loss  Leave a Comment
Jul
05

Inlaws… Or Yoga on a Mountain Top? Some Interesting Yoga Destinations!

Whew… It’s been about three weeks since a post.  Time flies when you’re packing three kids to an opposite coast for an in-law EXTRAVAGANZA!!  Visiting… driving.  Visiting… driving.  More visiting… and more driving. It was nice… great fun.  But far from relaxing…

Nothing like this:

Or this:

Certainly, when it comes to adequately serving their harried summer travellers, Delta AirLines could learn a few things…  

As much as she loved the cousins I’m thinking that girl child would have been over the moon for something like this…

Perhaps next year, if a relaxing family holiday is truly what I’m after, I’ll opt for something more like this…

Oooohhhh… that’s right, I said family holiday….

Well, there’s all kinds of interesting choices for more relaxing options, that include family, yoga and unique destinations.

However, I’m thinking that few of  these alternate family holidays would include pizza… or chicken wings… biscuits and gravy… or seemingly endless 6-packs of Mike’s…

So, in-laws it is….

Category: Destinations, Practice, Spirit  Leave a Comment
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