Bikini Season

Although most of us try to keep in shape throughout the year, the prospect of shorts and swimming suits make summer an exercising frenzy for many. And it's a great time to start a new regime; the sun is up early and sets late, you don't have to battle through snow (usually), and you tend to eat lighter meals when nature turns the heat up. I, myself, have enjoyed adding an occasional 5 mile walk along the Androscoggin River Bicycle & Pedestrian Path. However, as I was watching several joggers pass by me yesterday, the words of B.K.S. Iyengar in The Tree of Yoga came to mind:

It is very difficult for me to explain to Westerners the difference between stimulative exercise and irritative exercise. Take jogging, for example. Medical science says that it stimulates the heart.  But a difference should be made between irritation and stimulation.  The heartbeat increases, but that does not mean that the heart is stimulated. Stimulating means energizing or invigorating, but exercise can also be irritating or exhausting. In jogging, making the heart beat very fast is irritating to the heart... After invigorating exercise there is absolutely no fatigue. Feeling nice after hard work means that the work was invigorating, but feeling exhaustion after ten or fifteen minutes is a sure sign that you are doing irritative exercise. This holds good in yoga too. For example, I might see one of my pupils teaching a pose such as ardha chandrasana (half-moon pose) in an irritative way, with tremendous strain, a tremendous load, a tremendous grip on the fibres. 

I am not saying you shouldn't jog! I know many people who truly enjoy jogging and are even capable of reaching meditative states while jogging. I, on the other hand, would rather be run over by a dump truck than go for a jog. It just doesn't work with my body. What I am saying is that you should check in with your body and find what works for you. Every body is different. Obviously I will advocate yoga to everyone. With a good teacher, literally everyone can have an energizing, stimulating response to yoga! Just remember, whatever exercise you're doing to get into that bikini, make sure you're maintaining ahimsa - non-violence to your body.

 

 

She's Back!

Hello Everyone!  It took far longer to get internet set up in my new place than anticipated, but I am finally reconnected with the world!  So....a quick catch-up:

I have been following my intuition, making what to most would be appear to be impulsive decisions, and have finally found HOME.  And where is home? Drum roll please...... Bath, Maine! I was driving around the coast and was overcome with that feeling I had given up finding. I started looking for apartments that very evening, and within a week I was all set to move!  This is my home.  =)

I have moved into an adorable apartment with a view of the Kennebec River.  Although I am still sleeping on an air mattress, I did get a couch the other day so I was able to put the lawn chair away. I registered with Yoga Alliance (you can search for me on their website, pretty cool), so as soon as I come up with a catchy business name and get some other details sorted out I will be teaching classes in the area!!

Thank you for hanging in there, my faithful followers. I should be back to posting as close to daily as I can after the holiday weekend!

Happy Fourth of July!!!!!


"Sometimes, without realizing, we act like fish searching for water or birds searching for the sky. Then, after hours, days, months, and even years of searching... Aha! It is always there."