Why should we tell our story

Why is important that we have our voices heard and that we come out of hiding? Men, women and children have been sexually assaulted, humiliated, shamed over many generations  and what is the reaction? More shame and humiliation. Why should we stay hidden and let the Patriarchy put us back in our closet of shame?

To me staying silent amid such courageous Truth Telling going on right now is destructive and regressive. Almost every woman I meet has been victimized by actual or attempted sexual assault. To deny these experiences is burying our pain and hurt and sending it down the generational stream to our children and grandchildren. It is unacceptable!

My Experience

I have had my own experience of a near rape in High School. I was lucky enough to have escaped but it left an indelible mark on me. I felt totally responsible for this event and deeply shamed. It was not my fault but I took it on and did not speak about it for many years.

I judged myself.

This was just one of many experiences that eroded my self esteem and my belief in my own talent. This led to an eating disorder and a stream of bad relationship choices.

Yoga, Meditation and Ayurveda to the rescue!

Finding the path of yoga and Ayurveda helped me and so many others heal from this early life trauma. I discovered an inner strength I never knew I had and provided skills to heal my eating disorder. I was literally trying to stuff my feelings of unworthiness and trauma to keep them from surfacing. I was trying to take control of a place inside that was totally out of control, fearful and traumatized.

By practicing yoga and learning about Ayurveda I was able to bring my body into balance with nature. I was able to connect to the deeper essence of who I am… The place that is beyond personality and ordinary mind.

Through the practices of yoga I learned to connect to my Higher Self on a daily basis. By adopting good healthy Ayurvedic habits, my nervous system calmed down and I began to sleep more deeply. I finally experienced a deep self-love and respect for the first time in my life. I was able to maintain a healthy weight without obsessing about my diet and exercise. I was free!

The behavior of the men who took advantage of me over the years is reprehensible to me.

How do we as a society address this total disrespect and violence?

The Root Cause

What is causing this behavior according to the wisdom teachings of Yoga and Ayurveda?

At the root of this behavior of violence and domination is the feeling of being separated from others. The Yoga wisdom teachings call it Mayiya Mala, the veil that shows us how different we are from each other; a different race, age, culture, generation, class, gender, sexual preference.

Otherness is what triggers our feelings of separation. This veil cloaks our true nature which is totally connected to the Oneness in us all.

It is hard to see the beauty and oneness in someone who belittles, humiliates, and disregards your feelings as worthless.

Both men and women are at fault in empowering the patriarchy.

I heard a woman on a podcast last week laughing at how Trump mocked Christine Blasey Ford. She let out a loud, huge, belly laugh as she shared how funny Trump was when he mocked this victim of sexual assault at a rally.

Where do we go from here?

Where do we go from here on finding the humanity in folks with whom we disagree? Since the confirmation hearing of Brett Kavanaugh, many of my students, friends, and colleagues have sunk into a rage and depression about where do we go from here.

Their own trauma triggered, they are anxious and feeling lost as to what can possibly come from this. What is the lesson we need to learn from this darkness?

The Next Generation

As a yoga teachers and health coaches we need to take a stand for the well being of ourselves, our students, our daughters and granddaughters. We need to ask how do we train our sons, husbands, nephews, and grandsons to be sensitive, aware and respectful around women and girls?

We are  called to discover an inner “Source” that will enable us to become resilient and strong enough to stand up to centuries of misogyny and the all powerful Patriarchy.

The practices and wisdom teachings of Yoga and Ayurveda are pathways to help cultivate an awareness and inner strength in both men and women to find a new way forward.

Finding New Leadership

Knowing at a very young age that independence was very important to me I sought out other independent spirits who had non-traditional paths. They were leaders in a new entrepreneurial feminist movement.

I was totally on board. My new friends were women like Molly Fox and Cate Stillman who have blazed new trails of leadership in the wellness and healing professions.

Why should you find your authentic path, your SwaDharma?

Finding the right path is good for the soul. By becoming an entrepreneur I see myself and many women finding their way around the Patriarchy. Being in professions where women excel and hold positions of power, I see women learning to share their power instead of holding others down in order to feel more powerful themselves.

Taking control of your own destiny

When I became a Yoga Health Coach 4 years ago, I began to work with men and women who want to step into their own power and realize their true potential. I am seeing people blossom and grow in new ways. They become more confident and self possessed. They take on skills to help them find their own inner voice and the source of their creativity. I see my students take on new health habits that bring them mastery over how they feel about themselves.

By stepping into power in your own life you can encourage your kids, grandkids, elders step into their own Swa Dharma. Everyone who steps onto this path affects the well being of everyone around them. It is magical!

The Next Right Step

In order to heal our society we need to share power and authority with both men and women.

We need to share the wisdom teachings of yoga and Ayurveda with the next generation and empower them to step into their own “True Path”.

We need to train the next generation of girls and boys to respect each other and not get caught up in trying to fit in by compromising what we know is right for ourselves and our bodies and hearts.

• Teach them to recognize true intimacy is not only physical but emotional.
• Train our young boys to have emotional intelligence and not objectify girls and women.
• Choose leaders who are awake and want to empower women and men in new roles.

The economies of countries who educate women are much stronger. Women will educate their children and help our society to evolve.

This will free both men and women to to step into their true path.

Let your voice be heard. I welcome dialogue about your own experiences of finding your own voice and true path.

If you are looking to empower yourself and become more independent, I highly recommend the path of a Yoga Health Coach. If you are currently a yoga teacher and struggling financially this will give you more financial freedom and autonomy. Studying with Cate Stillman had been immensely empowering to me and so many others.

“Embrace your suffering and let it reveal to you the way to peace” Thich Nhat Hanh

Did you know this leads to anxiety and depression?

According to Ayurveda, this behavior is associated with a Vata imbalance.The wisdom teachings of yoga teach us that the balance of the 5 elements in our bodies will help us maintain our health and well being.

The air element is  wonderful for moving energy, stoking new creativity, stirring up your enthusiasm. If the air element combined with the space element you can become spacey, ungrounded, and easily distracted. You will find yourself going from one project to the next never completing anything. You will often feel overwhelmed, anxious, and have trouble sleeping.

Usually this imbalance occurs more frequently after women go through menopause or are pregnant. But it also can also occur for everyone as they move into Vata time of life after age 50. Shifting levels of hormones, change of seasons, transitioning into Vata season (Fall) and travel all cause a Vata imbalance.

Lack of Energy & Focus

Your lack of groundedness is causing you to have sleep disturbances which leads to unevenness of energy throughout the day. You can have moments of total clarity and focus followed by feeling spacey, tired, dull or exhausted.

By constantly depleting your body you will feel like you are always running on empty. Napping is said to really improve your heart health. 15-20 minute power naps are really wonderful for rejuvenating your energy. If you need more than a 10-20 minute nap a day you need to get more rest.

The effects of sleep deprivation over time are scary.

The lack of quality rest and not enough REM cycles or deep sleep will adversely affect your memory, focus and concentration.

According to Webmd.com here are the effects of sleep deprivation over time.

• Heart disease
• Irregular heart beat
• High blood pressure
• Stroke
• Diabetes
• Kills your sex drive
• Causes accidents
• Dumbs you down
• Can contribute to causing depression
• Ages your skin
• Messes with your memory
• Puts on extra weight and makes it hard to lose it once it is on.
• Impairs your judgement (you might think you can get away with 6 hours of sleep…. NOT!!)

How Your Belly Disturbs Your Sleep and Mind Focus

What throws a lot of us off balance is chronic inflammation in our microbiome. Digestive issues will contribute to brain fog and sleep deprivation. If you have ever tried to sleep on a full belly you will get how important it is that you eat early and lighter in order to get a good night’s rest.

What causes inflammation in your gut?

• Processed Foods (breads, pasta, chips, cookies, candy ,cakes) anything that does not grow in nature.
• Any food that has been treated with radiation, chemicals, hormones, antibiotics.
• Meat and fish that has been given food that is not in the animals natural diet.
• Heating foods with microwaves in plastic containers.
• Eating too heavy late at night, past 7:00 pm.
• A diet that includes refined sugar.
• Having the same foods every day.
• Gobbling down your food too quickly while walking, standing, or driving.
• Taking a huge amount of supplements instead of eating wholesome fresh organic foods.
• Sitting down for a meal when you’re upset.
  

Ignoring The Problem Won’t Make It Go Away

What if you are complacent or apathetic about your lack of energy and focus?

This syndrome if left unattended over decades will eventually lead to some serious health issues down the road like: immune disorders, chronic fatigue, weight gain, diabetes, heart problems, chronic depression,  anxiety, memory loss, or dementia.

4 Secrets To Solve Your Foggy Mind And Low Energy

1. Early to Bed Early to Rise…

Going to bed at 10:00 pm or earlier every night consistently will help you break this pattern.

By staying up late and being on blue screens (TV iPhones, iPads, laptops), you rob yourself of essential deep rest that will help you keep your mind sharp and help you sustain your energy during the afternoons and early evening. Taking the TV out of the bedroom is the first step.

Watch for Signs of Tiredness. Yawning, eye rubbing, and heavy eyelids. If you find that you are reading the same sentence 10 times without comprehension close the book and turn off the lights!

2. Avoid Drinking Alcohol During The Week & Caffeine After 10:00 am

Drinking alcohol will cause you to wake up in the middle of the night disturbing your REM cycles and preventing you from being on top of your game the next day. Save it for the weekends.

3. Practice Daily Meditation And Yoga 5 Days A Week

Doing 10-20 minutes of body breath practices will help you oxygenate your body and help you keep you mind clear and your energy even throughout the day. Even five sun salutations will help regulate your energy.

Would love to exercise but have no energy to get yourself off the sofa?  Daily exercise will give your more energy so that you can exercise and improve your health and mental clarity.

Daily meditation helps you floss the mind and increases your grey matter!  You get smarter! Read this great blog about Meditation. Meditating before bed helps you process your day and give you a deeper sleep.

4. Eat Earlier lighter dinner for better sleep.

Closing the kitchen after an early dinner and fasting on water between meals will also help you get to bed earlier, leave you well rested and energized the next day.

Stop eating at 7:00pm

Do Intermittent fasting by putting 12-16 hour between the last meal of the day and breakfast. For example, if you eat at 6:00 pm dinner you would fast until 7:00-8:00am the next day.

If you are hungry before bed try making warm Golden Milk recipe with either milk or Almond milk.

The Next Right Step

If you have had it with losing the plot and low energy, invest in your health and well being. Get to know why your daily habits can make a huge difference in how your mind and body ages. You will be able to have the energy to step into your Swa Dharma (the next right step for you and your family).

I have seen folks in their 20’s dragging themselves through the day and elders in their 90’s full of beans still working because it so so much fun. It has nothing to do with age and all do do with your daily habits.

I am a 65 year old yoga teacher and teacher trainer. I just added a new career as a Yoga Health Coach four years ago. I see students adopting this healthy lifestyle and dropping years off their physiological age. I am working with folks 20-80 years young. They are active and sharp as a tack!

You can avoid serious health issues by following the healthy habits that are recommended by Ayurveda. These habits  help to regulate your personal clock so that you are in tuned with the daily rhythms of nature. Read here about  Dina Charya.  

An insightful quote from the Dalai Llama when asked what surprised him most…

 “Man. Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health.”  Dalai Llama

A Challenge

Vibrant energy is your birthright! I invite you to share with me how you are investing in your well being and any challenges you have with adopting a healthier habits. Wherever you are in your life, you can always get this party started!

Let me know what you are doing to keep you mind clear and to have vibrant energy throughout your day.

Where did the celebration of Gurupurnima come from?  

Gurupurima is an ancient practice of honoring the teacher.

A great teacher Veda Vyasa who compiled the 4 Vedas, translated the Maharabharata, and the 36 Paranas was the inspiration of this holiday. His students wanted to thank him for his  contribution to their lives.

They asked him how they could honor him. He said to choose one day to bestow their teacher with gifts and their offerings. They choose the day of the brightest fullest full moon of the year to be Gurupurnima to honor this teacher.

This tradition was set many centuries ago and has been celebrated ever since.

Ways to honor our teachers this month.

• You can make a gift in their name.
• You can send them notes, presents and offerings.
• Contemplate what would your teacher love to receive?

Your greatest gift to them is to live life to your full potential.

My own teachers have had a profound influence on me. When you meet a great teacher, you begin to hear an inner resonance. What they say touches your heart. You begin to see yourself through their eyes. A great teacher will recognize the greatness within you and you will start to see this in yourself.

I never feel diminished around great teachers, however, it’s not always comfortable to be around great teachers. In the presence of a great teacher you feel challenged to move into new territory, to face your inner demons of the small self/ego, and to step into your fullest potential.

Teaching that Wisdom is from Within

Teachers influence our lives through setting a great example of behavior. Sally Kempton, one of my favorite teachers, taught me to recognize that the guidance I am always looking for outside myself comes from within. This is such a powerful teaching. Everything we need is inside us. How can this be? There is so much help out there. I must need a lot of help!! I cannot tell you how much money, time and energy I have spent on self improvement seminars – it’s endless.

Honoring the teacher within and without is really what the month of Gurupurnima is all about. This is  an especially important message to receive at this time in the world with so much chaos and uncertainty.

The other blessing we receive from our gurus, our great teachers is the glimpse of the divine, that feeling of being in the presence of something bigger and larger than us.

Experiencing The Divine Presence

Many yoga teachers talk about the Great Self, Universal Consciousness, Shiva, Shakti, Prana…
There are so many questions as to where to turn to solve issues in your life, for your family and  in our communities.  What is the next right step (Swahdharma) for us as individuals, for our families and for our communities?

A great teacher will connect you to your inner guide… the guru within, the Great Self.

What is the guru within? How do you find it?

How do you experience this inner presence?

Some describe this presence as…

• Swirling lights
• Vast stars in an endless dark night,
• An ocean pulsating with love, emptiness, stillness
• a penetrating blue light emanating from the 3rd eye
• Waves of love washing over the body
• Undulating energy that moves deep inside
• Deep heaviness of the outer body and expansion within
• A blue/black pulsating presence that envelops us
• The seeker disappears into the feeling of love and oneness
• A giant eye peering back at you from within

Some folks see actual saints, sages, gurus who are no longer in a body. They may have never seen nor heard of these people but they show up in their meditations.

Others see spirit guides in the form of animals, totems, mandalas, or hear celestial music or the sound of OM pulsating inside. Some feel a pulsating movement of the Shakti throughout their body.

All these are manifestations of energy that has been awakened.

How does this happen?

Through practices like asana, meditation or chanting. You can also experience this by coming into contact with a realized being like a Guru or through shared practices with a community of awakened beings.

The Hugging Guru

How do we connect deeper with the divine presence within?

I was in the presence of a real Guru recently.  Sri Mata Amritanandamayi or Amma, as she is lovingly called by her students. She is also known as the hugging Guru.

There were huge lines of devotees queuing up to get her hugs. All around the hall people were buzzing with anticipation. Love filled the air as this compassionate realized being gives her devotees individual hugs sometimes for 22 hours straight without breaks.

I have been in this amazing being’s presence and received her hugs 3 times over the past 15 years. The experience was so beautiful. As she hugged me she chanted Namoh, Namoh, Namoh in my ear. It reverberated in my heart for days afterwards.

In this guru experience the divine mother is there holding you in her love and compassion. The name for this devotional love is Bhakti. You feel this divine love in her presence and when you chant with great kirtan masters like Krishna Das. Your heart melts in the presence of this deep transpersonal love.

We are living through a unique time in history when everyone on the planet needs a collective hug. The constant barrage of bad news blasting away at us on a daily basis is enough to drive anyone towards someone who might have the answer we are seeking.

Amma’s teachings are simple and beautiful.
“True love is that which helps us experience life and the life-force everywhere. If your love doesn’t enable you to see this, such love is not real love. It is illusory love.”

When folks ask what do we bring Amma as a gift. She tells them their suffering!

My students come to my yoga classes to find solace, peace of mind, hope. We are looking for something that will help us move forward when the momentum is moving civilization in the opposite direction.

Where are your teachers?

Where do you turn to for guidance? What blogs, websites, books, webinars, seminars, retreats do you attend to help you find your center, your inner guidance?

In honor of the month of the teacher check out this list of inner practices that were given to me by my teachers that will help you find your inner GPS. The practices are a way of reconnecting to your own inner Guru.

There are so many questions as to where to turn to solve issues in your life, for your family and  in our communities. What is the next right step (Swahdharma) for us as individuals, for our families and for our communities?

A great teacher will connect you to your inner guide… the guru within, the Great Self.

Honour Your Teachers

In honour of Gurupurima share in the comments below your great teachers and the gurus that have blessed your life.

Tarpana is a practice that helps to clears your ancestral karma. It is one of the practices of Ayurveda that encourage you to remove the karmic burdens you carry and free yourselves to live your lives empowered and connected to the Self: the place of expansion, bliss, and freedom at the core of your being.

When for example, your family has obsessiveness around food, this could possibly relate to a time when there was scarcity around food and your ancestors were literally starving. Have you inherited an innate fear about not having enough to eat or enough money?

My parents grew up in the depression and had to feed a lot of people on very little money. Saving money, not trusting banks, getting out of debt was not a luxury, it was drilled into our being. We started savings accounts at age nine. They passed on a deep fear around money and a feeling that there was never enough onto us. As a result, I tend to work too much and not have enough time for fun, to hang with family, or cultivate social interactions. I am work and success obsessed.

The practice of Tarpana helped me release some of my fear around money. I found that my heart became a lot lighter. I started attracting more clients and have become more easeful around enrolling my programs. That fear of not having enough has started to lift.

My teacher, Cate Stillman, recommends that you do this process quite frequently. It can be done once a year on an anniversary or birthday. If there is a lot of karma to burn, then practice tarpana once a month.

Family Puja – The Ritual

Sarita Rocco, an Ayurvedic practitioner, and yoga teacher recommends creating a Family Puja or altar. This will help you communicate with your ancestors. She suggests that we should not put any living people on this Puja. You are honoring those who have passed on. This creates more clarity in communicating with the ancestors. Add sacred objects like crystals, candles, incense, flowers to this special ancestral puja..

The Ritual

The ritual is really specific. You remember the first level of your ancestors. Perhaps it is your parents or grandparents. You then continue to go back up to seven generations. You will not have as many details or a personal relationship past your grandparents or great grandparents, but the idea is to clear patterns of behavior that have been around for many generations.

For example, perhaps there is a history of alcoholism or drug addiction that goes back several generations. Perhaps there is a history of violence (physical or mental), obesity, diabetes, cancer, eating disorders, mental illness, depression anxiety…

Committing to do the work and clearing the patterns you become the “Golden Link”, breaking the generational stream of behavior or tendencies. My fellow teacher, Rudrani Farbman, recommends doing rituals, practices and some serious self-inquiry to become this “Golden Link”. All of this work is a part of the practice of Yoga called Atma Vichara or self inquiry.

Laws of Karma

In the yoga community, we talk about cause and effect and the study of Karma. Carlos Pomeda, a Sanskrit scholar, and teacher of yoga philosophy was clear that most of us have a Facebook understanding of Karma. He explains that you constantly see on Facebook people sharing that they are not worried because the creep that left them, the idiot that cut them off in traffic, or the boss that fired them will get what is coming to them through the laws of Karma. Almost like vengeance is mine!!  

The simplistic vengeance theory is flawed. There is no one counting grace and penance in the sky keeping track on a giant abacus. However, we are accumulating the effects of our choices. If I stay up late working on this blog I will feel really tired and foggy minded tomorrow. I am borrowing on tomorrow’s energy tonight instead of getting my butt to bed to get a full night’s rest.

Right understanding says that cause and effect of karma mean that the behavior and choices we make will have an effect on our health and well being.

How to Break the Samskaras

How to break this Samskara? Samskara is a pattern of behavior that was initiated in early life that becomes automatic and unconscious. 

The Practice

Start by lighting a candle on the family puja. Then place a flower on the altar and light incense. Offer each person something they really loved, going through each generation one by one. It could be their favorite food. A traditional offering which works well if you do not know much about them is to offer them a teaspoon of milk, a teaspoon of water, and a teaspoon of black sesame seeds. After offering it to them, you eat the offering for them. 

No Judgement

Offer them appreciation and gratitude for the gift of life you received through them. Do not judge them for their behavior or choices. Forgive them for what hurt you received around them. Repeat this for each parent, grandparent and great grandparents up to seven generations.

Maya Tiwara recommends “you either carry your ancestors on your back or stand on their shoulders.” When you honor them you stand on their shoulders. When you judge them and carry a grudge about their behavior you are carrying them on your back. 

Notice What Happens

After this ceremony journal and notice, what comes up for you afterward. Keep a dream journal by your bed. Keep track of dreams especially of your ancestors. My Mom appeared in a dream filled with a delicious banquet, beautiful flowers and lots of family members all celebrating. I hadn’t dreamt of my mom in many years. I woke up and did not feel deep sadness. I felt she was there with me celebrating the abundance of love we shared in life that continues now so many years after she has left her body. Her presence was a beautiful gift from doing the Tarpana practice.  

Since doing this ceremony I have experienced a complete shift in abundance in my career. I was invited to present a couple of yoga classes on an online platform called YogaVibes, I won a trip to Antigua at a charity luncheon I attended, I started working with 6 new private clients this week. My summer retreat is almost full and we don’t leave for 2 more months. Wow!

Letting go of resentment and practicing gratitude and forgiveness really works!

I asked my ancestors to please help me release my fear about money and obsession around food and my body. Be careful what you ask for!

Support in breaking Samskaras

To get support in breaking Samskaras connect to a yoga health coach who is skilled at helping to support you in facing the patterns of behavior that keep you stuck in your life.

Yoga Health Coaches help you move through the resistance that is typically associated with our Samskaras. For instance; if you want to let go of your horrible pattern of disturbed sleep, you might need to explore some deep issues you have about not feeling safe in the world.

Through my own journey as a health coach, I am seeing so many folks being able to break bad habits of eating heavier dinners, sleeping 5 hours, waking up groggy with a migraine. They are dropping weight, feeling happier and lighter, letting go of depression and anxiety and feeling more empowered.

These kinds of shifts require us to dig deep. The practice of Tarpana may seem a bit woo woo to you!!  But if it works, woo woo for all your worth! Through this work I am really beginning to feel like the Universe is abundant and there is plenty to see me through my retirement.

If you are ready to get rid of your horrible sleep issues, anxiety, food obsession and overly critical nature that plagued your Mom her whole life, it is time to practice Tarpana.

Start with the family puja.

Be the Golden Link.

Be the Golden link so your kids and their kids will not have a deal with the shadow you have been carrying around your whole life. On the other side is light, freedom and joy.

To connect with me about my next yoga health coaching course, The Body Evolves, go to this link. To find a Yoga Health coach near you to go this link.

My Best Teacher

I was at an Anusara Yoga gathering recently in Tepoztlan, Mexico with teachers from all over the world. The workshop that really challenged me was with Carlos Pomeda. He was teaching Tantric Yoga philosophy of Kashmir Shaivism.  He asked us to think beyond the ordinary mind to connect with our essential Self. It was mind-blowing. In order to really understand the heart of nondual philosophy, you have to give up how you look at yourself and your life and embrace that you are a part of something greater than your own ego. If you can wrap your awareness around this it is like doing advanced asana on steroids!! Afterwards, he led us into a meditation focusing us on our awareness of our awareness.  Carlos challenges us to look beyond ordinary mind to seeing ourselves pulsating as a part of this vast limitless universe. A teacher like Carlos cares deeply about his students and how the philosophy of yoga can help free them from limited thinking. They can begin to see their potential. Carlos is here to serve his student’s transformation not share his own.

Walk the walk…

In order to resonate with a teacher, they need to walk the walk not just talk the talk. Look at how they conduct their business, their skills at a relationship, their humility and ability to honor their teachers. When you compliment them and tell them what a great teacher they are, do they get all puffed up or let you know that they are completely in service to their own teacher within. Begin to look for teachers who provide instruction without being didactic or insisting you do a pose that is beyond your skills i.e headstand!!  Listen to your own intuitive nature. If you feel better about yourself after class then this is the teacher for you. If you feel belittled, hazed, made fun of, run, do not walk and do not go back. Life is too short to take abuse from a yoga teacher. Make sure the teacher is obeying good professional boundaries.

Red Flag – Who is the Teacher?

When you see students with annoying or disruptive behavior in a class, it is a reflection that the teacher has not set proper boundaries. They are guiding asana but not stepping into the seat of authority. I would have trouble trusting a teacher whose students had this behavior: First of all, when you take your first class with a new teacher, notice the behavior of their students. If your teacher gives way the Seat of the Teacher, the students will start to take over the class energetically. You will see them assisting other students, having side conversations while the teacher is talking, trying to steal the attention through their behavior (showing off advanced forms of poses that were not demonstrated).

Questionable Student Behavior

• The student keeps their phones next to them during class and checks for texts arriving throughout a class.
• They take phone calls that come in and walk outside talking really loudly outside the room.
• They do neck rolls during meditation and hip openers during savasana.
• They leave the class before savasana.
• They have their eyes open during meditation and savasana or check their emails.
• They are constantly modifying the practice to “ show off” their more advanced postures.
• Constantly checking the time to see when they can escape!
• There is a competitive atmosphere in class and students try to compete with each other.

Questionable Teacher Behavior

I remember taking a class with a very prominent teacher. I personally like this teacher yet something was always off for me when I took her class. Many students flock to her classes so she obviously speaks to many students. Each time I attended her class, her theme or message didn’t resonate with me, Why are her classes are totally packed? My curiosity was asking what can I learn from this teacher? She shares her inner process with her students. Her process is interesting but has nothing to do with me. During the class I become a part of the audience witnessing her inner exploration. She is very articulate and curious. She studies with some interesting people but there is no unified message. She is a seeker who hasn’t really landed.  A great teacher described students who try lots of teachers like a gardener who digs lots of holes in the backyard but never goes deep enough to find the answers she seeks. It is better to go deeply into one path than dig around in many different holes trying to find the right one. I resonate with teachers who make the class all about their students. They tailor the class to my needs and their themes speak right to my heart.

Signs the teacher is not doing their own internal work…

• Teacher spends more time on their playlist then the sequence.
• Teacher insists on students doing poses even if they are not ready (i.e. Full Wheel)
• Teacher runs in 2 minutes before class.
• Sequence does not feel good and makes no sense.
• The teacher says inhale exhale but does not breathe with students so the pacing is off (usually way too fast!)
• The warm up is not related to the peak pose (hardest pose of the class)
• Sequence is the same from week to week, month to month
• Teachers do the entire sequence with the class and does not walk around to see if everyone is doing the same pose or needs help.
• Teachers do not modify poses for different levels.  
• Teachers do not teach who shows up in the classroom and just goes through their rehearsed sequence.
• Sequence is not appropriate for the level of student in the class.
• Teacher is not connected to the people in the room. If the only person doing the hardest pose in the class is the teacher then the class level needs to be adjusted.
• Teacher is always experimenting with different styles of yoga and cannot seem to land on one style.The classes are technically confusing as they are constantly incorporating little teachings from this class or that teacher.  

Contemplation What Qualities Do You Value in a Teacher?

I see many styles of yoga in the world that support a student’s physical journey but leave the psychological/spiritual side of their development alone. Focusing on the physical and ignoring the spiritual is like having a ripe mango and chewing on the skin!  There is so much juiciness inside. Why not crack that baby open? Start to notice and write down the qualities you are seeking in a teacher. Here is my list but I recommend you write your own.

17 Attributes of a Great Yoga Teacher

1. Teacher shifts the poses and sequence to accommodate the folks who showed up today i.e wrist injury showed up and there are openers and strengtheners for wrists. Pregnant gal shows up and the sequence accommodates her. A person with back injury shows up and the sequence of hip openers and hamstring stretches on your back indicates the teacher is on it.
2. The level of class matches the skills of the students. It challenges them but is not beyond their skill level or too easy.
3. There is space for silence in the class. My teacher, Ross Rayburn, said that there should be a couple of moments in the class where you are really steeped in stillness.
4. There is ample time for savasana and meditation.
5. You don’t feel rushed.
6. There is plenty of time for cool down poses before savasana.
7. Your body was properly warmed up for the challenging poses and cooled down.
8. At the end of class, you feel a deep connection to your own essence. You feel energized, mentally alert, and your physical body feels supple, strong and awake.  
9. You feel alive after class and not depleted in need of a nap.
10. Your nervous system is cooled down.
11. Your digestion is enhanced and you are hungry after class.
12. Your mood is elevated and you have no desire to go out for drinks or take recreational drugs after class. You are naturally in an elevated space and booze and drugs would feel toxic to your system.
13. Your mind is quiet.
14. The teacher is tuned into your body and makes the class feel like a private designed for you.
15. The teacher is skilled at weaving yoga teachings and tales into the asana portion of class so that you have something to chew on the rest of the day as you take your yoga off the mat. (A teaching, a poem,  or a sutra that will help you focus your attention.)
16. You feel more positive and uplifted and ready to face whatever life’s obstacles are coming your way.
17. The people that gather around that class feel connected to each other and honored whether they are a teacher, a beginner or have injuries and limitations.

Jackie Recommends

It brings me such joy when I see students connect to their own wisdom body by realizing the true purpose of yoga.The purpose of yoga, according to Anusara yoga, is to recognize our own boundless divine nature (Chit). Through this recognition, we learn to celebrate the mystery of life (Ananda) including its dance of both the shadow and light. Students may still experience obstacles and challenges. These events no longer stop them in their tracks or derail their health and well being. In fact, they begin to cultivate an attitude of “ bring it on”  by meeting life’s challenges with humor and grace instead of dread and fear.

Check and see if there is an Anusara teacher near you who can challenge you in ways beyond just the physical.

Bonus Yoga Teacher / Health Coach

It is a great bonus to find a yoga teacher who is also a Yoga Health Coach. They can help you attune your habits to nature, the rhythm  of the seasons and the times of the day. They can also find out which practice fits your constitution or Dosha.

Yoga for your Dosha

If you have a lot of fire in your constitution( Pitta), hot power yoga is not a good choice for you.You are better off with a slower paced class like Anusara, Iyengar or restorative yoga. For an earthy Kapha a practice that moves your energy is a great fit like a slow flow or vinyasa class. Breezy, scattered  Vata yogis do will in a good slow flow, Anusara, or Iyengar class. Take a Dosha quiz to see what your constitution (Prakruti) is. There is yoga for the season and yoga for different stages of your life. Find a Yoga Health Coach to help you find out what practice will help you manage your hot flashes, soothe migraines, decrease inflammation in your joints, give you energy or deplete you. What kind of practice helps you focus your mind, spark your creativity, calm down or heal from depression?  What do you do when you cannot do physical asana practice but need to connect to the higher self? I would be delighted to answer these questions and more. Here is a list of Yoga Health Coaches / Yoga Teachers near you.

Finding Your Best Teacher

Take this list with you when you explore new teachers. Ask yourself these questions at the end of class:

• Do I feel uplifted?
• Do I feel better about myself?
• Did the teacher take any time at all to introduce themselves to me and find out if I had any special needs today?
• Do the people who regularly take this class seem connected, and treat each other with loving kindness and respect?

All of this is a reflection on the teacher. When I see the teacher there early and staying afterward to interact with their students I know this teacher is really connected to his or her students. Are they socializing with their students or deeply touching them and really honoring the teacher/student boundary. One of my favorite teachers, Paul Muller Ortega, said that the teacher shows up on the inside first. Maybe in our dreams?  Afterward their physical manifestation shows up and we recognize that we have known them from a deeper place all along. If you have this experience then you have found your teacher!

Good luck with finding your teacher. Keep looking for the fit is just right. A good yoga teacher is worth their weight in gold…Let me know how the journey goes for you. As Luke Skywalker says “May the Force Be With You”  Om Namah Shivaya!

I searched for many years before finding the right yoga teacher. After trial and error, I found a great fit in the Anusara Yoga Community. Although John Friend, the founder, left in 2012, the Anusara School of Hatha Yoga continues to grow and thrive with 900 licensed well trained teachers still carrying on the amazing tradition of this yoga path all over the world.

This year as I celebrate my 27th anniversary of teaching yoga, I notice my teaching has shifted dramatically over the years. What I understood to be the gold standard for a successful yoga teacher in 1991 is radically different from how I see it now.

I was a former power yoga vinyasa teacher, who taught a very athletic form of hatha yoga in NYC gyms in the early 90’s. My teaching felt like an extension of my former career as an aerobics instructor. Students wanted a sweaty strong class, yet the class had no contemplation, meditation or opportunity to go inside. My classes had an external focus because I wasn’t meditating yet, hadn’t studied yoga philosophy or met my main teacher. My interest was in creating an atmosphere with movement, music and a lightness of spirit. I had not yet learned the value of deep inner work of self inquiry.

Each Class Takes us on a Journey

 Now life is so different. I have been invited to teach and train Anusara yoga teachers internationally in NYC, China, Europe, Mexico, Costa Rica and Japan.  The yoga sages say that when you go inside, you discover life’s true purpose, or Swadharma. This inner work and exploration taught in Anusara Yoga has added a new dimension to my instruction and a depth to my classes. I always bring my self -inquiry into the classroom. I teach what I need to learn that day. Now each class I teach is a journey within to discover why we are here.

Stay in Alignment

Anusara yoga teachers help us focus on healthy inner and outer alignment. We align our intention and the physical body. There is an emphasis on experiencing a pulsation between engaging muscles and expanding energetically, that brings balance and ease into the pose. We are neither over or under efforting. The knowledge and application of good alignment and the weaving of yoga teachings throughout the class turns the experience of yoga from a fitness regime to an uplifting journey to your own sweet essential Self. This inner journey is transformative and life changing. I am beyond grateful for the amazing gift of Anusara Yoga to me and for my students all over the world.

It’s All Fun and Games Until the Chit hits the Fan!

When you connect to your very own wisdom body by realizing the purpose of yoga, you relax into life and let go of the struggle. The purpose of yoga according to the non-dual philosophy at the heart of Anusara yoga is to recognize your own infinite/divine nature.

(Chit)  By recognizing your own essence as a part of everything in the universe, you begin to understand that the totality of who you are includes the  dance and celebration ( Ananda) of both the dark and light aspects of life. There is a freedom in knowing everything is here to awaken us.

You may still experience great obstacles and challenges, yet even these no longer stop you in your tracks or derail your health and well being.  In fact you begin to cultivate an attitude of “bring it on!” Anusara Yoga seems to help people develop a way of meeting life’s challenges with humor and grace instead of dread and and fear. This inner work prepares you for life’s real challenges (health issues, illnesses, injuries, job loss, transitions, divorce, death..) A fun vinyasa class is a good sweaty workout but will not be of great support when the  @##$% hits the fan!

Look around to see what popular yoga teachers are doing these days. Do you notice many are power vinyasa yoga instructors? There is nothing wrong with this style of yoga, but it seems to appeal to the athlete/yogi who is not interested in going inside. It is possible to experience a flow practice and also to do the self inquiry work that leads to inner transformation. By aligning your intention, every class with your highest ideals,  Anusara yoga helps the student find their Swadharma (their true path).

There are stages of a yogi’s development. When a yoga student is new at the practice they tend to focus on the physical. The spiritual aspects seem intimidating, foreign, weird or affected. After practicing for a while the student begins to simmer and cook in the “Shakti” or energy of the practice and naturally starts to explore the more subtle realms like Pranayama, Chanting, meditation, karma yoga, or Seva (selfless service).  So wherever you are right now is perfect! I will never forget the friend who brought me to my first class. I hated the chanting but loved the way I felt in Savasana!! That was Bliss ( Ananda). And there were no drugs involved!! I couldn’t wait to get back and try it again!

Glass of Wine Yoga Has its Shortcomings

Yoga can easily turn into a palliative healing modality that makes you feel good till the next yoga class. That kind of yoga is like a nice glass of wine. It takes the edge off of a stressful day. I am interested in going much deeper. By incorporating the yoga teachings in classes we are able to take yoga off the mat and into our lives. The contemplation like for instance, Saucha, (purification of the body and mind and our environment) can result in your life becoming more efficient more organized. You will clear up misunderstandings in relationships, and clean up your diet.  All these shifts leads to more vibrant and clear energy.

Let me tell you about Lucy, a retired nurse in her early 70s who took my Anusara yoga class at World Yoga Center. Her IBS(Irritable Bowel Syndrome) ruled her life. She was exhausted, depressed, irritable and isolated. One of the ways I help people off the mat is through my Yoga Health Coaching course, The Body Evolves which Lucy signed up for. Lucy’s IBS went into remission after taking the course. I was thrilled at the way she transformed in the program. She changed the way she digests food. Not only that her personality changed, she became more positive and outgoing. She began to feel more uplifted and lighter. She was so grateful to have discovered this healing path.  She took small steps. She quit snacking between meals and ate her last meal of the day around 6:00 pm. This calmed down her digestive system allowing it to rest between meals. She ate miso soup for breakfast. Fermented food really helped her gut health.

Lucy now spends time in nature every day filled with gratitude for this life. I am so grateful I  doing a daily practice of Anusara yoga. I was able to guide her and I wonder, had I not evolved as a teacher, could I have helped Lucy get to where she is today?

Take Yoga off the Mat and Integrate Yoga Teachings into Your Life and Your Relationships.

Taking yoga off the mat and into every aspect of your life has been my passion since meeting my teacher, Cate Stillman. Cate is  an Ayurvedic practitioner and a trained Anusara Yoga Teacher. Her course, Body Thrive, based on the teachings of Ayurveda has given yoga a whole new perspective for me and many others. By seeing yoga on the mat as a place to focus your attention on what you want to create off the mat brings yoga into every aspect of your life. ( how you think, how you relate to other people in your life, how you feed yourself, how much rest you get, how you nourish your spirit )

An Example of Healing Off the Mat

An example of yoga off the mat happened when I injured my leg in September, 2016 in a horrible bike accident. I had to use the subtle practices of pranayama, meditation and chanting. I couldn’t do asana for 4 months while I was in the initial phases of my healing. I used the 10 habits I learned from Cate Stillman in her Body Thrive course to heal my body. I connected to my community who reached out with food, love and prayer. I was constantly cared for by body workers,students and friends. I put myself on the Dinacharya ( daily rhythm)  of regular meal times, bed times and waking times. Little by little my bones knitted back together and I recovered my ability to walk, ride my bike and do asana again. It was nothing short of a miracle. My yoga became my healing journey. Everything in my day was yoga. My meals, my bath, getting dressed, walking to the bathroom with my walker and brace. It was a living breathing mindfulness practice. I have never practiced so diligently without doing asana! I discovered that yoga off the mat was life changing for me and for everyone who showed up to do selfless service by cooking,  shopping, cleaning or helping me take a bath. It was an amazing way to see how to incorporate yoga into every aspect of your life.

By incorporating the teachings of Ayurveda and the yoga scriptures in yoga classes, workshops and teacher trainings, I and many yoga teacher/health coaches in Cate’s Community are able to train teachers and yoga students into bringing yoga into every aspect of their lives. This means how they relate with more compassion and sensitivity  to their own bodies and to others in their lives.

Many of us wait for the weekends or vacation to really enjoy and celebrate life. There is so much hidden potential in each of us lying dormant. Yoga that connects you to your essence empowers you to grow into your fullest potential and bring yoga even into your workplace as an opportunity to practice the teachings.

When teachers use groovy music, essential oils, fast paced vinyasa practice, serenade their students in savasana, they are providing entertainment for their students instead of an internal experience.  The dharma of teaching yoga is for the teacher to get out of the way and allow the practices of asana , meditation and pranayama to lead the students into an internal experience.

BTW There is nothing wrong with needing to escape stressful situations in your life  by taking a hot bath, a yoga class, a dance class, go for a run, see a movie that makes you LOL!!

What I am proposing is that the real juice of yoga is experienced through the deep self exploration, inner work that is done on the yoga mat and in meditation. You get to see your mind as  wonderful and interesting companion on your path. It is a part of who you are. Your mind can drive you crazy, can comfort you, can solve many problems, can create a symphony, a book a play, a ballet. It can also bring you into a deep dark place that feels like a prison.

Do the Inner Work

The inner work frees you from the prison of your own mind into the vast boundless presence at the core of your being. This inner state is called Ananda. It means Bliss!! There is nothing better than bliss.  Why settle for fun when you could have Bliss?

I became a health coach in Cate’s community 3 years ago leading my signature course, The Body Evolves, based on Cate’s course Body Thrive and have worked with over 60 people integrating the 10 healthy habits into my life and into the lives of my students. Miracles are happening.

Find an Anusara yoga class in your area by going to this link.

If you are looking for yoga teacher/health coach go to this link.

Ayurvedic Thanksgiving Dinner

Thanksgiving morning I taught a yoga class at the JCC in New York City and delightfully reconnected with students I haven’t seen in decades.  Many of my students from Equinox gym have transferred to the JCC over the years. I started working there in again in September  so Thanksgiving day was a day that I reconnected with many of my long lost students.

Divide and Conquer

I had a plan for my Thanksgiving day celebration and it was to share dinner with my buddy, Pat, who was dog walking over the holiday. We divided the meal up and whipped up an amazingly healthy and delicious Thanksgiving dinner. I was in charge of the pie, the roasted veggies, cranberry sauce, and coleslaw. Pat was in charge of the stuffing and the gravy.  Pat is a vegetarian and I am not that wild about turkey. We enjoyed a delicious healthy and Ayurvedic Thanksgiving. How cool is that?

Make delicious simple dishes

I roasted carrots, rutabaga, onions, sweet and white potatoes in olive oil and sea salt. These veggies came  from my CSA farm share, Roxbury Farm. Pat made a great stuffing with onions, herbs, apples, parmesan cheese, and mushrooms and breadcrumbs.  She made a mean mushroom gravy with veggie broth and ghee! Yummy!
I admit to purchasing a delicious homemade cranberry sauce (cranberries, walnuts, oranges) and the pumpkin pie at Citarella (a wonderful grocery store on Manhattan’s Upper West Side)  Everything was fresh, organic and unprocessed. We  even made our own homemade whipped cream topping.

We had plenty to eat and I didn’t feel stuffed. We ate around 4:30pm and had dessert around  6:00pm. There was plenty of time to digest and get a good night’s rest before my retreat the next day. This is the first holiday meal with no gas, bloating or post holiday dinner stomach ache!  We went out for a walk after dinner as the sun was setting. Wow! I think I like this Thanksgiving dinner!

What was missing?

What was missing? Turkey, gravy made with the fat from the turkey, mashed white potatoes, chicken sausage in the stuffing, green bean casserole with cream of mushroom soup and french fried onion rings (that come in a can), Ocean spray cranberry sauce, Pillsbury dinner rolls and the appetizers of baked brie and crackers.

Christmas Dinner

It might be far fetched to think you can  change your family’s experience of holiday meals. I was free to do this because I was not with them. When I go to my sister’s home in Philly for Christmas, for our traditional  Italian Feast of the 7 Fish Dinner,  it will be a different story.

Our eating marathon usually starts around 7:00pm after loads of appetizers and cocktails, and ends around 9:00pm. Afterwards we try to stay awake until the midnight services at a local church. It is all out of sync with the Dina Charya ( daily rhythm of Ayurveda). I usually feel ill most of the night and the next day even though the food is delicious.

According to Ayurveda, in order stay in sync with the Daily Rhythm, we should have our largest meal between 12:00pm-2:00pm.  The evening meal is a lighter meal consisting of soup or stew or steamed veggies or marinated salads.  When you eat after 7:30pm your food doesn’t digest properly causing gas and bloating. ( I’ll bet A Christmas Carol was written after a huge holiday meal! I guess we will  have to thank the holiday goose that gave Charles Dickens some pretty scary nightmares for this timeless classic!!)

I Came up with…A NEW PLAN

I have a plan to try to move the huge holiday dinner a bit earlier this year and to divide it up into 2 meals instead of one heavy meal late at night. Let’s see how it goes. My great niece, Josie, who is turning 2 in February would so enjoy the kid’s service at our local church Christmas eve at 5:30pm.. Then we could actually go to sleep at a decent hour instead of 2:00am!.

My New Alternative Holiday Strategy

If your holidays portend lots of Alka-seltzer, maybe there is an alternative?

5 Suggestions on how to eat in rhythm when your family is not programed to do this

1. Request that dinner time be moved up earlier in the day ( 3:00-4:00pm)
2. Break up the huge dinner into 2 meals. We could possibly eat one of the 7 fish courses at lunch liked the baked fish we never have room for at the end of the meal.
3. Eat less dinner and have a very light dessert.
4. Take it easy on the booze. Have a glass of wine with dinner but seltzer with lemon for the cocktail hour. ( Save yourself for the dinner)
5. Go for a walk after dinner.  Sitting right after the heavy meal will not help digestion.

ACTIVITIES THAT KEEP YOU MOVING!

Activities that will keep you moving over the holidays and fight the lethargy of TV marathon binge watching.

• Play Charades Too Much Fun!  Get your giggle muscles going!
• Dance party – Turn on pandora and program some great tunes.
• Go for a walk or a hike
• Go for a bike ride
• Play board games- much more fun that staring at your computers all night!
• Play Wii bowling or golf or learn some new dance moves.
• Do some yoga and meditation with your family. ( It might be a stretch but it is worth a shot!) I start practicing and someone usually jumps in next to me.

It is hard to change the family rhythm to align with the Ayurvedic clock. We will all feel less hungover and less bloated!  Happy Holidays.

If you want to learn more ways to align with the Ayurvedic clock and the seasons check out Jackie’s course The Body Evolves, based on Cate Stillman’s course, Body Thrive.

Jackie’s next  10  week course is starting January, 2018. She will help you release patterns of behavior that will lead to more vibrant health, more energy, deeper more nourishing sleep and a stronger and more pain free body. Join the evolution!

For many years I have taught a workshop called “Finding your Authentic Voice.”  I have done so much research, workshops, seminars and self inquiry practices, I thought had a direct connection to my own inner wisdom. I assumed after 64 years on the planet and being an elder in the Anusara Yoga and Yoga healer communities I had it down. I had done many decades of navel gazing.  I thought I knew myself pretty well. And then the retreat happened…

Yoga Healer Retreat in SD

I came back from the amazing gathering in South Dakota with the Yoga Healer Tribe feeling empowered and completely torn open. My inner introvert came out of the closet. I haven’t  seen her in years. I have been suppressing her for decades. The expressed ex-actress/ singer extrovert I have embodied for the  past 50 years went into hiding. It was surreal!

Our hike to Mt Rushmore after a week with Cate Stillman’s Yoga Health Coaching tribe in South Dakota Fall 2017.

 My Journey out of the Cocoon

I remember my first opportunity to break out of my painful shyness. I was in the 8th grade. It was 1968. I was invited to perform at a talent show in front of the whole middle school. I was terrified!  I took my guitar on stage and sang “As Tears Go By” by the Rolling Stones. I was a huge hit. People reacted to me differently after performing in that assembly. My mom was there and began to treat me with a bit more respect and recognition.

I got the bug and wanted get back on stage. I became a folk musician and then an actress/singer. My deep desire to get that attention that I never got as a small kid eventually brought me to NYC where I pursued an acting career.

Pivotal Moment

This pivotal moment in middle school broke me out of a painful shell. Here I was in South Dakota wanting to go back in. What the heck was going on?

Unleashing unprocessed grief

When I came back to NYC and went to my PT appointment, I found out that the woman that helped me to walk again after a painful bike injury was quitting her job and going on a huge year long adventure with her fiancé. I burst into tears. I am happy for her and realized something got punctured in her parting. The self directed, together, forward thinking, organized, goal oriented successful business woman was falling apart.  

Where was all this grief coming from?

Wake Up Call

My accident was the most significant wake up call in my life so far. It was as momentous as that moment on stage in 8th grade. My life will never be the same. I am beyond grateful to my PT, Beth Delman. I wish her well in her new adventure and her new marriage.  Her leaving revealed something to me.  (Back on my Bike Again- How I Recovered after a Traumatic Injury)

Graduating PT

For the past year since my injury I have been in overdrive to achieve my goal. I am closer than ever to attaining it. Beth shared that she was so happy that I had come so far that she felt I was close to graduating from PT  in the next couple of months! Om Namah Shivaya!

Once I saw that I was nearing the end of my ordeal I was able to let my guard down. I have actually come close to achieving what I set out to do. I am now mostly  walking without a limp, I am able to demonstrate a lot more in my yoga classes and do more yoga. I am back on my bike and definitely improving my strength and flexibility.

Letting my guard down

I realized that I was overriding my emotions all those months to accomplish my goal … this phase was over! I began to let my guard down and start to process the trauma, the loss, the pain and fear that I was suppressing all those months. They were tears of relief and deep sadness the had been stored in my body for 12 months.  It felt so good to let er rip!

Unleashing my Inner Introvert

Jackie finding her balance on a hike near Mt Rushmore. This was my first hike after my accident a year ago 9/13/16. So happy to be hiking again and with such sweet company!

It is so interesting the timing of this. I was shocked to discover that my authentic voice in South Dakota was unleashing my inner introvert. Now that she has been outed I can be more myself in this amazing community of women. What a relief! If I want to be a star I can do that. If I want to stay in the background I can do that as well. I gave myself permission to be exactly where I was without judgment. There is no pressure to be anything more than I truly am.

Again my PT has been such an amazing teacher in my life. I am beyond grateful for this journey. How can I be saying that about that near fatal accident that could have ended my career as a yoga instructor and put me on disability the rest of my life?   It was the wake up call to my Authentic voice. May she come out in all her shyness, goofiness and sweetness.  
I am getting to like this part of  myself more and more.

Lessons Learned

Being in a tribe of like minded people who really get you and allow you to be who you are will give you the courage to face your inner demons. The place inside you that lies hidden behind the mask we show the world. This Radical Self Acceptance  will help you find a hidden power. You will experience more confidence, more empowerment, more authenticity. When you tell the truth to yourself and others you become very peaceful and at home in your own skin.

Cate Stillman’s Yoga Healer’s tribe is highly recommended. I feel so much love and support in this group and it is not competitive or catty!  Whats UP with that?!!

Finding my Own Unique Voice

The vulnerability that came out in South Dakota in front of my colleagues was so surprising. I was peeling away a layer of my self image that I had manufactured 50 years ago.  What was underneath was a part of me that was ok with my discomfort about being on stage. That was fine to not be the center of attention.

That was comfortable stepping into a more support role than a starring role. That was happy to be in this great company.

I was comparing myself to others. I was not particularly thrilled with not being able to go on daily hikes with the group. I wanted to share my talent as a gift to the group, but was not up to it physically or energetically. I felt that navigating my energy with my 3 roommates, the energy of the group and the long days was enough for this trip.

These two beauties, Neve and Jessica, are in my mentoring group for Yoga Health Coachng. We are enjoying the fruits of connecting with Cate Stilman’s YHC tribe in South Dakota.

Intergenerational Community

Before the injury I haven’t especially felt “older.” I always feel young for my age. I went to a class reunion last summer before my accident and was in much better health than my contemporaries with a few exceptions. In Cate’s community there are elders but there are also a great gathering of Millennials!  I love the diversity and intergenerational nature of this group.  I am inspired by all these amazing women. 

Take Away – Find your Tribe

I am OK as I am. When I see the fullness of who I am and what I did to break out of that shell and where it took me in my life, I am so grateful for my courage and sense of adventure. I look what this shy little introvert has accomplished and I am dumbfounded!

What I want everyone to know is whatever you have been hiding from the world whether it be some secret persona like me or a place inside you that doesn’t feel safe, if you surround yourself with the right tribe, they will encourage you to be yourself. In that coming out you will find your own Authentic voice. It will empower you. I invite you to find your tribe. It is well worth the journey.

Neve and Jackie finished our hike Blissed out on a day with the Yoga Healer Tribe in the Black Hills of South Dakota.

5 Tips for your Inner Introvert/ Call to Action

1. Join a conscious community. Ask to join the Vibrant Grace-filled Warrior’s Tribe on Facebook (a facebook group I monitor and contribute to every week) Participate!.
2. If you feel like being alone, ask for alone time from your partner, kids, family members. Take some time to journal, meditate, walk in nature. Enjoy the stillness. Set boundaries.
3. When you are in the mood to step forward accept that this is a part of you. Acceptance is a daily practice. Journal your tendency to judge yourself.
4. Check out this article about amazingly successful  introverts ( Barak Obama, Rosa Parks, Albert Einstein, Bill Gates…)
5. Each step along the way is here to help us awaken. When an obstacle arises notice your reaction. Do you want to hide? Face your inner demons of unworthiness head on. Develop strategies to help through life’s challenges. You don’t have to sacrifice your personal power because you feel drawn to being quiet and in the background.  

Our Hostess, Batool with the 4 roomies, Marcia, Jackie, Neve and Jessica. We felt so welcomed and cared for by Batool and her staff at the Rushmore Hotel in Rapid City.

You can also join Jackie for her next Body Evolves, Yoga Health Coaching course, January 2018. Jackie is also co-lead a yoga retreat  Empower your Life Vision with Tiffany Wood Thanksgiving weekend November 24-26 at Kripalu. Jackie is also presenting workshops at  Samavesha in Mexico March 1-4.2018 , the next Anusara Yoga Gathering.

Chen Ya’s yoga  studio  is a beautiful studio  filled with light. Originally the studio offered facial treatments and massage, but recently  Chen Ya shifted  her business  to teaching yoga and training  yoga teachers. A group of Chinese yoga teachers offer Anusara yoga classes in her studio . The downstairs room is a bit darker and is great for the restorative classes that are so popular there. The upstairs room is larger and brighter  and mostly used for training teachers and workshops. The modules I taught in Chen Ya’s yoga teacher training included 50 hours of Ayurveda, Meditation, how to teach yoga classes with Heart Themes and teaching yoga to Seniors.   

I  Focused on the Habit of Meditation

Prior to the training, I made the decision to use one of the most important Body Thrive habits I learned from Cate Stillman, meditation, as the foundation of the week long intensive I would be teaching. When the training began, I told everyone to act as if we were on retreat, and do the following, stop drinking alcohol, eat lighter meals at night, go to bed early and get up early. I asked everyone to start and end their day with meditation to assimilate all of my instruction and to prepare for the following day. 

The regular meditators were on board right away. Non-meditators, not surprisingly, experienced and expressed resistance! Each day I asked who meditated, and everyday more and more hands were raised. When we got to the heart theming module, the students realized that meditation actually helped each of them to have the contemplative ability necessary to weave heart language into the physical practice of asana.

As the meditation “energy” grew deeper and deeper, the group reported experiencing seeing lights and colors, feeling a vibration and rocking sensations. These experiences are called Kriyas. They occur in deep states of meditation, as meditation energy begins to move in the physical body. I became aware of the powerful Kriya energy moving through the group as the training progressed.

Meditation Creates a Fire

One of my meditation teachers, Rudrani Farbman, talks about the field of energy of the kula (sacred community) becoming like a lens for meditation energy or Shakti. If you put a lens over dried leaves, the leaves will catch fire. The lens of shared energetic practice intensifies the meditation energy in a group. Once a student has experienced meditation energy moving inside the begin to awaken to their true essence. Getting a hit of this inner blissful state,they become more and more curious to meditate to find it again.

The group began to share their dreams. The meditations were affecting their subtle bodies. One teacher came back after teaching meditation in her class for the first time. She described how it tremendously shifted her yoga instruction. Every day I had the teacher trainees practice teaching meditation to a friend in mediation dyads. Their confidence and love for meditation grew and grew during our time together.

Once Upon a Time in China 

The students were asked to bring in stories from their lives and their culture to share with the group in order to learn the art of storytelling. The stories began…  “Once upon a time…” A sweet look came upon the yoga teacher trainees as if they were all in Kindergarten gazing upon the teacher reading from a story book.  As they got more confident, the trainees practiced telling their stories to the group. Giggles and looks of recognition came upon each  of their faces as they found universal themes in everyday circumstances to share with their students.
As their confidence grew, humor emerged to bond the group, everyone began to relax and have fun together. An ease settled over the KULA. We were bonding.

The Week was Dedicated to Hannah

In the beginning of the training, I learned that a favorite kula member had died over the summer and that not everyone knew of her death. Hannah was 28 only years old and a mother of 2 young children. Tragically she had died of an unusual heart disease. I took time the first day of the training to connect with everyone in the group through a healing circle. We made a puja, an altar filled with sacred items that I brought from home. The altar had Mala beads, a small Nataraja, some healing crystals, Padukhas-the guru’s sandals, a candle and some incense.)  I asked people to put items on the puja that had meaning to them. My translator bought Hannah, the deceased student, a sweet woven straw sun hat from Taiwan. We put the hat on the puju and honored Hannah, dedicating our week together as an offering to her. We invoked blessings to her and from her for our gathering.

I led everyone in creating a magical pot in which each person put in a word that described Hannah.  Some of the words placed in the magical pot were “Sweetness,” “Love,” “Compassion,” “Loving Kindness,” “Steadfastness,” “Adhikara – great studentship.” I told the students to emulate these qualities during the week as a tribute to Hannah. I also told them that embodying these qualities was a way for Hannah to live on through us. As the tears flowed and some of the grief was processed, the group bonded in a deep and authentic way. We dried our tears and felt a renewed rigor in our work together.  

This is the essence of the first Principle of Ansuara Yoga. “Open to Grace.” Open to the teaching that was already present the moment I walked in the door of Chen Ya’s studio for the training. My job was to guide the Kula to open to their tender-heartedness and their love for their classmate. We were able to turn the grief into a powerful honoring of Hannah’s legacy.

Take a Dosha Quiz in Mandarin

When the Ayurveda module began, the students were fascinated. I asked them to take a dosha quiz in Mandarin. I introduced the idea of the Ayurvedic clock to them and asked them to start eating heavier meals during the day and lighter ones at night.  Within the group, there were kula members with digestive issues, sleep issues, one cancer survivor, and a few with chronic respiratory infections.  Smoking and pollution are the two main causes for respiratory issues in China.

The modern Chinese diet has a lot of sugar and salt, causing hypertension and diabetes. The newly prosperous Chinese are now prone to many chronic illnesses, such as obesity and heart problems. These health issues were not as prevalent in China in the past. I taught the Chinese yoga teachers many of the 10 health habits of Body Thrive. As a result, the Chinese students in Guangzhou were able begin to understand how to take care of their own health challenges. During that week they shared that they were sleeping better, their digestion felt more efficient and some students were able to quiet their minds for meditation for the first time in their lives. Regular meditators found that their practice deepened and became more fruitful. They had more kriyas and insights about their Sadhana (spiritual path).

Time for Chair Yoga in China

When I finally got to the ‘Yoga for Seniors’ module, we studied Osteoporosis and Ayurveda. Since many Chinese people do not trust taking medication (I wonder why!!) I was told that because many children have died or have become ill eating formula from China. As a result parents often go to Hong Kong and bring back safer formula from overseas. Medications in China are sometimes tainted with industrial chemicals making people ill. I learned that there is great fear of medications and baby formula in China For this reason, having alternative treatments for Osteoporosis, rather than drugs, was appealing to the Chinese yoga teachers.

I taught the traines how to teach chair yoga. One of my students said that Chinese people were skeptical about the causes of Osteoporosis and rebelled against taking medication or doing any weight bearing activity. I assured them that education is the best medicine. I also explained to many of these teachers who are now in their 20’s 30’s and 40’s, that the time to build muscle and bone  mass was right now! I discovered they loved inversions and were now inspired by the ‘Yoga for Seniors’ module to build muscle and bone to prepare for the aging process and life post menopause.

Meditation opens the Heart

At the end of the modules, they were teaching each other meditation, sharing their heart themes with each other, planning to either teach chair yoga to a relative or start a senior yoga class. All of the students were anxious to delve deeper into the study and practices of Ayurveda. They had conversations about Agni, Ama and Ojas and could really articulate these terms along with the Doshas, the gunas and the 5 elements. I taught them many of the 10 habits of  Body Thrive. These habits made a difference in their ability to openly receive the teachings of our week long intensive. It helped the students find that inner opening and trust that allows the heart to “Open to Grace.” Most of the students opened their hearts to the teachings. I did see some resistance. One student who saw herself as very advanced got up to share her heart theme. It needed help. I volunteered to help her outside of the class and invited her to do it over. She not only did not do it over, she did not show up for the rest of the module. She was mortified of having to do it over again. Every other student was able to take coaching in their stride.

When it was time for me to say goodbye I felt so fulfilled and grateful for this experience. I hope to be invited back in the next year or so.  I am so happy to see this inspired group of Chinese Anusara Teachers moving towards become Licensed Anusara Yoga teachers and spreading the good news of Anusara Yoga, Ayurveda and Meditation in their communities. They now have skills to teach seniors and many new skills to share with their students.

Advice for Teaching in China and Beyond

For anyone planning to teach yoga and Ayurveda in China, the Chinese students are diligent students. I discovered that by asking questions constantly during my modules forced them to focus and pay attention. I quizzed them throughout the workshop and they loved being tested. They are accustomed to studying very hard.

Discipline comes easy for the Chinese student. Give them homework.  Spontaneity and creativity needs to be nurtured in them because this is not a skill that Chinese students learn in the formal education system in their country. Chinese yoga teachers are open to discovering the best way to teach and learn easily. Their education system teaches them to study. They are bright and motivated and used to studying hard and really absorbing the material. As a teacher you may need to remind them to turn off their phones and stay alert and focused. I found the students in my training got distracted and start having side conversations.  I know they are comfortable with me but I still had to hold the boundaries of the student /teacher relationship.

Honor the Teacher

They are affectionate and generous. They wouldn’t let me pay for my meals. They picked me up from the airport and ordered me a car to take me back. Meals arrived at the hotel room the evenings when we didn’t go out and lunch was ordered for us every day. I didn’t have to brave the heat or look for some food at lunch time.

I felt like an honored guest and what was even more fun was my discovery that Chen Ya, the owner of the yoga studio  and host,, had a tea obsession. One day I had a queasy stomach and she brewed up some special fermented tea that was so soothing. Someone explained that they can digest all the fat in their food because of the tea. Somehow the tea helps them digest the heavy fatty foods.

Chicken Feet and Other Teaching Challenges 

According to many of my friends, Guangzhou is the foodie capital of China. I found the food a bit too heavy for me. I loved the veggies, soups and fish. You had to be careful of bones in the fish dishes. I saw a lot of chicken feet, but did not feel tempted to try eating feet! Chicken feet actually makes their Chicken soup quite tasty!!  We ate around  huge round tables with a lazy susan in restaurants. Everyone dipping into the serving dishes with their chopsticks. It is no wonder that a cold spread around the community. We share food and germs family style.

I surrendered and knew I would probably be taking some kind of cold home with me. Our day of visiting Hong Kong was in the 90’s with over 80 % humidity. It was really uncomfortable. I felt as though I were literally baking in the sun. My translator who was from Taiwan said she came down with some heat stroke symptoms from our day in Hong Kong. We had to spend a lot of the day in a mall as it was smoggy and hot outside. Hong kong is a port built  on the side of a mountain. We went up to Victoria Peak to look at the skyline and the day was hazy and sunny.

This was the last day of my trip. I could feel a cold coming on. Disturbed sleep, weird diet and too much Pita energy. I had a great time but couldn’t wait to get back home to the 10 habits and my green smoothies for breakfast.  Being out of rhythm while traveling is difficult. I did get to sleep early but would wake up way before dawn every day.

Gratitude

As I packed up to come home I felt as though I passed the torch on to next generation of Chinese teachers who want to make a deep impact in their communities. I am beyond grateful for the experience of teaching yoga in China and look forward to my next journey there in 2018 or 2019.. Hopefully I will go at a cooler time of year! Teaching yoga in China has so enriched my life and made me a better teacher . It has given me confidence and valuable experience in presenting new  Advanced Teacher Training modules to these enthusiastic students. I look forward to my next adventure.  Another Advanced Anusara 300 hour teacher training is being planned for next year.

My Advice for My Fellow Yoga Teachers and Presenters 

If you are invited to teach in China or anywhere in the world, welcome the opportunity and ‘Open to Grace.’ Let the experience bring you to a new space in your life and your teaching. There will be challenges and amazing gifts. Be prepared and let your deep connection to the Shakti lead the way. I was nervous preparing, but so uplifted by this experience.  It is like skydiving.  You jump out of the plane and your life will never be the same.

How Did this Happen to Me?

On September 13, 2016, I jumped on my bike at 9:45am racing to my 10:00am yoga class having left my house clearly 15 minutes late. I was barreling down the street on my red folding bike I affectionately call Rocket, when my sweet bike hit a pothole. I went flying through the air landing on the pavement hitting my shin with the force of my momentum as well as my body weight. As a result of the accident, I shattered the top of my tibia, tore my ACL and PCL and split my tibia down the middle. Ouch! Here I was lying on the ground on my own street a half a block from my house. I had done the same bike ride thousands of times before. This time my life was totally turned upside down.

I had a lot to ‘learn’

My livelihood depends on my body to be healthy, flexible and strong. I am an Anusara Yoga teacher, yoga teacher trainer, Certified Yoga Health Coach and a massage therapist. I depend on my body! I had no idea how I would be able to work again  after this serious injury, but the pain I was feeling in my leg was like nothing I had experienced before. Having studied yoga for 25 years,  I know that every obstacle given to us is for our growth. Unfortunately, I was learning this lesson in spades!!

Ouch I Hurt!

The first picture you see is one month into my recovery, in October of 2016. I still have the external fixator device on keeping my right knee from bending. My bones, at this point, needed to knit back together. I have three plates in my leg and nine screws to hold the tibia in place as the bones heal. I was devastated and completely uncertain of my future in terms of my ability to heal and return to work. I can get around with a wheel chair and a walker. I have very little endurance but my spirits are high. Even though I felt the most pain I have ever experienced in my life and  my prognosis for my healing process is undetermined I am so grateful to be alive!

At the time of the accident, my doctor cautioned me that my prognosis for a full recovery was not great. He was afraid that I would be disfigured or permanently disabled by this accident. He felt  confident that I would improve, but so much depended on my nutrition, my body’s ability to heal and my own self care. For these reasons, I took on the project of healing myself after this accident with my whole being.

Baby Steps

I started very simply taking small steps. Every morning I chanted with my teacher as I managed the pain in my leg and body. I built back the strength and mobility of my joints through daily exercise, stretching, yogic breathing practices, abdominal strengthening and lifting small weights. With the support of so many friends, students and yoga community members I healed more quickly and fully than anyone expected.

My attitude from the start was “I am going to get back on that bike again.” I was determined to heal as best I could from this accident and use it as a tool to open my heart to others who have gone through serious trauma and recovery. This injury and accident has been one of my greatest teachers.

I got the external fixator removed at the end of October 2016, but couldn’t bear any weight on my leg. I discovered that a key aspect of my healing was Community Support. If you are going through loss or trauma, you must reach out to your friends and neighbors. Let them help you! It is not only great for you but is a great contribution to them!

All Aboard the Meal Train

One of my students organized a Meal Train. This organization helps folks sign up to deliver meals to your home. I was signed up for three times a week and had plenty of food for lunch and dinner for the whole week. You can specify what kind of foods you need. I asked for mostly plant based meals like soups, stews and fresh salads and homemade salad dressings. I also requested lots of cooked veggies and grains.  

Late Fall last year I was out in the wheelchair practicing on my crutches. How could I have done this without all that support? I cannot even imagine. It brings tears to my eyes.

Early to Bed, Early to Rise

As grace would have it, I became a certified Yoga Health Coach a couple of years ago.
By practicing the 10 habits from the Ayurveda based course, Body Thrive, I was able to put myself on strict schedule of consistent bedtimes, waking time and meal times. I have learned to set up a regular schedule by studying the science of habit change I have learned as a Yoga Health Coach. My daily schedule for healing: Wake up at dawn, go to bed around 9:00pm every night. I consistently ate breakfast around 8:00am, lunch at noon and a light dinner at 6:00pm My body and immune system started regulating itself and as a result, my healing has been nothing short of miraculous.

I started exercising as soon as it was possible, doing restorative yoga and strengthening my supporting leg, my arms and my shoulders. I started doing some simple yoga postures. Oh My God it felt so good to be able to do my yoga!!. 

Give Thanks!

On January 1, 2017 I returned to the World Yoga Center to teach my first class. 

The students and I  were greeted with by the sound of three fire engines and told to evacuate. It was luckily a false alarm.  The possible gas leak turned out to be fresh paint! What a dramatic homecoming! Thank God there was no fire. My class was filled with students from World Yoga Center and Equinox. That day when class resumed after the interruption, we gave thanks for the miracle of having a body!

Practice, Practice, Practice

Fast Forward to Spring 2016. By staying consistent with my healing process, the 10 Body Thrive habits, and going to Physical Therapy three times a week, I was able to travel to Italy to teach at the Anusara® yoga festival in Morano, Italy in June. It was so delightful to teach and connect with the Anusara community in Europe and to share with them my healing process. Because so many of the yoga teachers in my Anusara community from Europe were sending their support throughout the year, it was powerful to be able to show up in person after my accident and teach at this festival. It was challenging to navigate going from the hotel to the venue. I walked a half a mile each way every day. My slow walk to and from the venue every day helped me get stronger and gain more confidence. I was able to take my first public class at the festival. I was up in handstand and headstand for the first time since the accident. Amazing!

More Surgery

When I came home I was scheduled for arthroscopic surgery on my knee. My surgeon, Dr. Lon Weiner, cleaned out scar tissue and bent my knee while I was under anesthesia.  My knee bent to 130 degrees. I woke up with one really sore leg!!

I kept to the 10 habits of Body Thrive, including  daily meditation, physical exercise, morning hydration, earlier lighter dinners and more full nutritious lunches.  My exercise included three sessions of Physical Therapy per week as well as yoga, stretching and strengthening on my own.

The structure of the 10 habits and the support of my amazing  PT, Beth Delman helped me accomplish more strength, stamina and flexibility. She is blown away by my progress. Beth has never had a client be able to bend their knee beyond what the surgeon accomplished during surgery. I am at 140 degrees and still going! I know these 10 habits have helped my body to heal and allowed me to go further than expected. The sky’s the limit!

I have learned more about how the body heals, how important community  support is for folks going through trauma and injury, how much a positive attitude impacts your healing, and how a regular regimen and good daily health habits impact your ability to recover.

Here I am back on my bike again after 11 months, a lot of clean eating, lots of exercise and good rest, tons of encouragement from my sweet students. They came bearing gifts, flowers, food and their company. I had folks visit me, drop off supplies, pick up groceries and cook for me. They brought their love and support. What a gift these students are to my life!

Slow Down

My wish for my students is that you do not have a traumatic injury like this. The accident was a huge wake up call for me,  I was over-scheduled running from one appointment to the next. Since the accident, I have slowed down considerably. It has also impacted my teaching. I am more interested in bringing people into their hearts, than accomplishing advanced poses.

Many of us have been traumatized by what is going on in the world. We can learn to heal ourselves and actually thrive in an environment that is challenging us to grow and expand. Hurricanes and political storms surround us. How can we find the stillness to move forward, to expand and grow? This accident has taught me patience, faith and diligence. By committing myself to regular practices of meditation, asana, exercise, breathing practices and a healthy diet, I experienced a profound healing of my body and my spirit.

Daily Gratitude and Appreciation

The trauma of losing everything and slowly bit by bit recovering my life has made me appreciate every day. I am so grateful. I say a chant before I get on the bike. I am very present when I ride the bike and walk the streets of New York. I am walking a bit more slowly these days. My right leg is still weaker than the left.

I got rid of the chair in front of my yoga classes. I can sit on the floor now. My students are amazed at my progress. I am profoundly grateful to my own spirit for not giving up, to all my teachers, to my students, friends and family who supported me. To the yoga community who came together to support me through this trauma and recovery. Every day I remember that a year ago I couldn’t walk. A year ago, I was using a walker to get to the bathroom and back and was sleeping on my sofa. A year ago I did not know that I would be here today. A year ago I had faith that I would heal.  

The Body Evolves

If you or a loved one is going through trauma or has had a serious injury, the way out is the 10 habits. They will make all the difference. In order to find out more about my 10 week habit changing course, The Body Evolves, based on Cate’s class Body Thrive, go to this link to schedule a one on one Coaching session with me. These 10 habits literally saved my life and got me back on my bike and into my life again.