yoga humor, yogini style, yoga personality, yoga tips - Y is for Yogini

sanskrit word of the week { #3 }: mukta { liberated }

I know you can feel it ... that certain something in the air. We are lighter. Higher. Stronger. Freer. With the transformative float of Fall { today is the very first day, the equinox }, we drop our heavily laden leaves to the ground. We are beautifully bare, comfortably naked, glisteningly new once again.

 

• In Sanskrit, MUKTA means released, liberated, freed. { Moksa/Moksha is closely related to Mukta, meaning liberation or freedom. I've chosen to bring attention to Mukta as its tense communicates that it has already taken place, just as we are already free. We simply have to recognize it. }
• What has been weighing you down? What muck has settled upon your leaves and made itself at home? 
• It is time to let everything go. Release it all. Free yourself.
• Yesterdays. Expectations. Shoulds. Regrets. Projections. Lamentations. Let them fly away in the breeze.
• Mukta often refers to spiritual liberation, but our spirits cannot find freedom when the mind entraps.
• Where to begin? Find your breath, let it be a release. Pull your boots on, head outside, and kick up a pile of crackly leaves. Take in the crisp autumnal air and watch all your worries disappear with each exhale. Stretch and be expansive with the grace of the weightless.

Free your mind and the rest will follow,

8 ways yoga saves

artwork source: gayatriyoga.com.br

Yoga saves. This is scientifically, spiritually, and pranically proven. Argumentation is futile. Belief comes swiftly.

1. Yoga pulls us out of { and keeps us from } the deep, dark tarpits of despair, depression, and deprecation.
2. Yoga saves the people we love from our tantrums, tongue-lashings, and sour-like-bad-milk moods. 
3. Yoga can help you unplug from a breakneck-paced life...and plug in to self and spirit.
4. When you twist and move your body, you lubricate thirsty joints. This staves off creakiness and brittleness in bones of any age.
5. By lengthening your breath, you lengthen your life. { i know your brain just exploded upon reading this. profound sh*t. }
6. When you get yoga-high, you understand that nothing else can match it. Not malt likkah, not drugs, not horizontal mambo.
7. You are saved from boredom — that old childhood nemesis. You can practice any time, any mood, any place.
8. The clarity that comes from a regular practice is astounding. You begin to know your path.

Gettin' my save on twenty-fo-seven,

don't be an asshole. remember to say "thank you."

artwork credit: strengthplay.com

There is a growing epidemic, my friends, and my sincerest hope is that you have not been afflicted. This serious dis-ease is called Degenerative Thank You Dementia. The cause? Being ungrateful. Expecting. Feeling entitled. And otherwise being an asshole. You don't want to be a cack, do you? No. The good news is, this condition is reversible.

• It takes < 1 second.
• The tiniest bit of your breath + vocal cords = someone deserving feels appreciated.
• Respiration has your back. You will recover perfectly from this "expenditure."
• We have many things to be thankful for.
• Your mouth to the Universe's ears.
• Say it. Spray it. Show it.  

with love, thanks, gratitude, and only a slight amount of accidental spittle,

6 ways to be more regular in life { yogic fiber }

photo credit: fiber.org

I am not regular. This is not to say I need more fiber in my diet, per se, but more fiber in life. More fluidity. More ease. Less blockage. All flow.

How do we get blocked? Let me count { some of } the ways:

1. Chasing, forming, and maintaining relationships which do not feed us.
2. Putting trash into our bodies. Garbage In = Garbage Out.
3. Trying desperately to control...everything.
4. All push, no sensualism.
5. Neglecting self-care rituals.
6. Forgetting our auras/force fields/Jedi bubbles.

1. Re-examine all relationships. Don your reading glasses or your Ray-Bans if necessary. Let go where need be. You'll know where.
2. On the rare occasions that I actually sleep, my best dreams include the fantasmic metallic ice-blue Aston Martin DB-9 that makes my knees go weak. Imagine your dream autoeroticmobile. You sure as hell wouldn't put Jiffy gas in it, would you? Nothing but Premium, baby. Treat your body like that. You need it for life. Fuel: H20, leafy greens (green smoothies!), colorful fruits and veggies, and enough good protein to stoke the vroom.
3. I'm a control freak, and not exactly the shining subject of let-shit-run-its-course or trust, but at some point we just have to faith it.
4. Take at least 15 minutes a day to do something purely enjoyable. Just. For. Fun. Novel, right? And find someone to feed you grapes while you do it.
5. I want to make sure you are bathing. Not just for the sake of your social life, either. And not the usual quickie-dickie shower. Freshly-painted toes, sesame or coconut oil rubbed into your hands and feet, and an awesomely scary avocado facial mask are thoughtful ways to be nice to you.
6. You know what happens when the force isn't strong with this one (meaning you, my friend). Keeping it energized is crucial. Doing just 60 seconds of Aura Sweeping will make your force field glisten and glimmer, with all the strength and brilliance of diamonds.

I'm off to take my own advice. My grape-feeder looks uncannily like Takeshi Kaneshiro.

Peace, Love, and Yogic Fiber,

sanskrit word of the week { #2 }: isvarapranidhana

Sometimes life gives lemons. Not luscious Meyer lemons, but sour, mean, puckery ones. As in, "Oh, hello...it's me, life. Boy do I have a f#ck@%g gift for you!" And if you're anything like me, there are moments when you say right back, "B*tch, I ain't got time to make lemonade!"

This is where isvarapranidhana comes in.

• Isvarapranidhana is the combination of two root words: Surrender (Pranidhana) and Higher Power/Source/Spirit (Isvara).
• Instead of Self or Ego; Spirit. Rather than Clinging or Attachment; Surrender.
• Shiva Rea's thoughts: "Isvarapranidhana is a big picture yoga practice. It initiates a sacred shift of perspective that helps us to remember, align with, and receive the grace of being alive."
• You don't have to carry the weight of the world's lemons on your shoulders. The next time one rolls along, OFFER IT UP. Release it. Let it go.

Nobody wants to hang on to lemons, anyhow. Sure, they're good when squeezed into water, are cleansing for the body, and handily remove stains from fingernails, but holding one at length is not wise. Who needs all that acid?! Instead, I will let go of the bitter and practice recognizing and enjoying all the sweetness around. This is the nectar of surrender.