Restoring Yoga

This past week I was invited to Portland General Electric & offered a workshop on this topic. Here are my thoughts on a restoring yoga practice:

Effort vs. Ease - Effort in a practice; or anything you do in life including exercise like running, or even how you play with your kids or pets REALLY MATTERS. If you don't enjoy what you are doing or are pushing too hard to achieve something, then what you are doing is destructive; not restorative. This means you need to feel at ease with the moment. If you don't like what you are doing consider why and make some changes to bring more joy and ease into your day. I believe one of yoga's most important teachings is to find ease. The Yoga Sutra's which are ancient texts do not talk about any yoga postures but does mention that in the poses one should find a balance between effort and ease. This may sound like a contradiction but in fact this teaches us to strike a balance between push and pull.

How you think - When you are doing your yoga practice (or exercising, playing with kids, etc) what are you thinking about and how do you feel? You can focus your mind on the pleasant aspects of almost anything. In a challenging (but safe) yoga pose you can focus on the shaking muscle or you can focus on the freedom of the breath or other areas of the body that aren't working (at ease). As I work on training our new puppy I find it can be easy to feel discouraged when we fail but when I stop to think about the successes I relax a bit. I am learning new lessons about practice and patience from my puppy then I ever have from my years of yoga practice.

Being Present - If your mind is thinking about something else when you are practicing then you have lost your vital connection with the present moment. You may think that does not matter but it does as it relates to restoring vs. destroying. Obviously there is always a time for thinking about the past and future but if you always do it then it is simply a bad habit. Practice being present. Savor a good meal or take time to see the beauty around you.

Ease in the body - Tight and/or weak muscles pull on the joints so you need to stretch to find ease. For most of us we are tight in the hips and shoulders from sitting (or activities like cycling, running, gardening, etc)and weak in the back and abdominal muscles. Find a yoga class that will help you stretch. FYI - There are lots of advanced classes out there so do your research and if you have questions please ask me. I would love to help you find the best type of class for you.

It's not just about ease and rest but also finding the adventure and joy in your yoga and life challenges. Embrace life and live it to it's fullest.

All the best.