Posts In: self-acceptance

guest post by Irene Jones

How does your meditation practice look and feel? We’re highlighting stories of meditation in everyday life to help de-mystify this life-changing practice and share simple meditation techniques with those just getting started. Share your experience in the comments or by email, info@yogaonesandiego.com

These days, my meditation practice is me waking, taking my time, checking in with my emotions, my physical self, and my breath (when I remember, because there is a tendency for the cogs in my brain to start gaining momentum pretty quickly.) I do a little yoga in bed. Nothing strenuous, a few yummy stretches, cat cows and twists and neck attendance to loosen up any stiffness.

I brush my teeth, drink some water, and soon enough I sit comfortably on a cushion facing my window that opens out towards spaciousness and the natural elements. Just before this, I light some incense. I sit nice and tall, roll my shoulders back and lift my heart, starting with a good posture. Of course, it relaxes as I meditate and from time to time, I gently reset the weight in my sitting bones and lift the crown of my head.

Grounding first, I encourage my lower body to be heavy and my pelvic floor to relax. I check in with the Manomaya Kosha, the mind sheath, or how we process our thoughts and emotions. I rest here for a while scanning my entire body head to toe.

I check in with my breath and follow it with my awareness until I get distracted and then I gently bring my awareness back to my breath again.

Most importantly, for me these days, in my meditation practice is opening to my emotional self, so I feel-in. I ask myself, “How am I feeling?” “How am I?” and I patiently wait and open to my experience as it unfolds. I meet myself with kindness and permission for whatever is there and for whatever wants to come to my attention. I hold the sensations of my inner experience in a very sacred and tender embrace. This is my practice.

I rest here for as long as I like. I can then move on to my mental space, check in, honor my mind and all that it does for me and for all its potential. I ask myself, “What would peace feel like in this moment?” I rest in patience for a sense, if it comes to me; if I can cultivate it this morning, if not, no judgement. I rest in the light of my own awareness. Every day is different. 

I especially love when I can get outside early in the morning, when it’s quiet so I can meditate in nature; I’m not sure if there is anything more lovely. Maybe I’ll do some yoga or qigong too. I am blessed to have gained these skills over the years, practicing on and off, making a gradual home for my expanding awareness and my inner peace.

Meditation in itself is not a difficult thing to do – however, to commit to a daily practice, even if just for a few weeks or months can be challenging. Though the rewards are worth it. Meditation can make a huge difference to how we approach ourselves and others; gifting us with opportunities to experience space and patience and self-acceptance while in relationship, it is a fantastic teacher.

Ultimately, we are listening to our own inner teachings and wisdom. I recently heard, that if we can think of it like brushing our teeth, then it will be an easy habit to begin. Five minutes every day is all you need. For me, it depends on how I feel, 20 minutes, sometimes longer, sometimes less, and sometimes I incorporate meditation into my daily activities themselves. Just being present and mindful in each moment is a practice in itself.

by Olivia Cecchettini

“Yoga & Ayurveda: Self-Healing and Self-Realization” 

by David Frawley

Summary: Yoga & Ayurveda is an excellent primer for those new to either topic. Known as the “sister sciences,” Yoga and Ayurveda have been practiced together for centuries to bring the whole person into a state of health and wellbeing. This book summarizes the most important tenets of each practice and gives intelligent ways to implement its teachings into your everyday life. It also contains enough pictures of yoga poses to support a beginning home practice.

Why I Love It: With the rising popularity of Yoga in the western world, I believe it’s important to show how Ayurveda is a necessary and hugely beneficial complementary practice. From the seasoned practitioner to the brand new beginner, both disciplines are relevant to contemporary spiritual practice and healthy living.

I especially enjoyed the chapter on chanting – finding my voice as a teacher has been a journey of constantly going deeper and accessing that true connection within. Using the techniques from Yoga & Ayurveda, I’ve learned so much more about my unique constitution and how I can best support this body from my diet to my skin care routine.

As they say, knowledge is power. Empower yourself to heal yourself.

Recommended For: Anyone wanting to know more about the harmonious interplay between Yoga and Ayurveda and their healing magic for the human body and experience. Even though the two practices are different and unique, it is their combination that will catapult growth and change into your life.

These practices may come and go or may become part of your routine – either way, this book is a good reminder to keep coming back to self-love and self-care. This “coming home” into our own hearts ripples out through our environment and the practice of healing oneself becomes the practice of healing the world. 

 

Olivia Cecchettini
Contributing Writer

Olivia’s yoga journey began in 2003. She is certified in Vinyasa, Hatha, and Aerial Yoga and holds a Masters degree in Spiritual Psychology. She believes the mind, body, soul connection is sacred and encourages her students explore and expand within their own bodies and consciousnesses.

by Olivia Cecchettini

“Yoga for Life: A Journey to Inner Peace and Freedom” 

by Colleen Saidman Yee

Summary: Yoga for Life is an amazing memoir written with such searing honesty, it touched me deep within my soul. Colleen Saidman Yee shares both her shadows and her light with vulnerability as she chronicles both her life and her yoga journey. Saidman Yee emphasizes the message “you are enough” and while reading, I felt as though she was writing as my friend, mother, sister, teacher, woman, light worker, but most of all, a real person. She knows the practice and the body inside and out. It’s a book about her life and she shares her story out of a calling to support healing and community.

Why I Love It: Colleen shares her personal journey from rebellious teen with a heroin habit to a supermodel traveling the world to now being called “The First Lady of Yoga” by the New York Times. She’s lived such an interesting life! Most importantly to me, she didn’t hold back from sharing the unedited, un-airbrushed side of her life. We all have sides of ourselves of which we’re not proud, but the path to both Inner Peace and Freedom means bringing those experiences into the light of acceptance.

B.K.S. Iyengar said, “If you don’t want your life to change, don’t get on your yoga mat.” Every time I step on my mat, I come into greater acceptance of myself. Over time, I breathed into the hard, tight places I had stuffed away deep down in my muscles and they began to open up. My chaturangas got stronger and my confidence grew. I took time in savasana to be still and connect to my heart. These simple (though not easy) rituals changed they way I saw things, and the things I saw began to change.

It’s a beautiful, unique process how yoga touches each individual person but it always comes back to the heart. I truly believe that compassion, kindness and love can heal the world and Yee’s book is a reminder of this truth.

Recommend For: Anyone who enjoys yoga and inspirational life stories. Especially in this digital age, it’s easy to compare your day-to-day life with everyone else’s highlight reel. We compare ourselves and feel less-than and unworthy. That’s why the mantra “you are enough” is so powerful because it’s true! We need to be reminded of this over and over again. Without changing one single thing, I believe you are enough, exactly the way you are. Not in a year, not after you get married, and definitely not after you have lost ten pounds. Right this second, you are whole and you are enough.

Sharon Gannon of Jivamukti Yoga sums up Saidman Yee well, stating –

“Like Gandhi, Colleen is stayagraha—meaning possessed by the truth. She tells her story honestly, without pretense, no makeup—totally fearless while at the same time gracefully imbuing every word with infectious joy, gratitude and compassion. You will find no blaming or complaining in this memoir for this is the story of a remarkable woman who approaches life as an adventure, armed with a bewitching ability to transform obstacles into opportunities and the ordinary into something magical. She is living proof that yoga is for life.”

Olivia Cecchettini
Contributing Writer

Olivia’s yoga journey began in 2003. She is certified in Vinyasa, Hatha, and Aerial Yoga and holds a Masters degree in Spiritual Psychology. She believes the mind, body, soul connection is sacred and encourages her students explore and expand within their own bodies and consciousnesses.

by Laura McCorry

The body positive movement means finding ways to respect, honor and love your own body as a daily practice. Feeling positively about your body has nothing to do with your health, fitness or size. (Can we repeat that about a thousand times across the twitterverse?)

The culture we live in is always ready to tell us that we’re not good enough. Sometimes all we see in the media are airbrushed and photoshopped images of women and men that misrepresent the natural body of the model. Not only have we elevated one type of body to an ideal, but often the thin/fit/flawless body is a complete illusion.

So what does it mean to step out of this culture and onto your mat to practice yoga?

Every belief you have about your body will follow you onto your mat. If your thoughts are predominantly negative, this can have disastrous consequences for how you feel about yoga and your likelihood of maintaining a regular practice.

But yoga teaches present moment awareness – which means paying attention and honoring how your body moves that day, without comparison to how it moved in the past or how you’d like it to move in the future. The more you practice this mental shift into the present, the more you can circumvent negative self-talk.

Body positivity doesn’t mean complacency in the face of health risks. It means rejecting the “not good enough” mantra and replacing it with affirmations of love, acceptance and encouragement.

When we feel positively about our bodies, we create an atmosphere of nurturing protection for the body and prompt the desire for more positive change. Sometimes the biggest physical challenge you encounter in life is not the super hard workout or the discipline to stay active – the bigger challenge is the radical acceptance of your body. All of it, without exception.

You are only given this one vessel with which to experience the world. Treat it kindly. Allow it to feel the warmth of the sun and the caress of the breeze. Take it on adventures and let your body carry you through a world of new experiences.

Know that all change starts within. If you can change one thought, you can begin to change your way of thinking. If you change your thinking, you can influence others to do the same. Maybe one day the cultural legacy we leave behind will be one that affirms the value of all bodies and contributes to the health and happiness of all.

(Here’s a great place to start, 10 Ways to Practice Self-Love.)

Laura McCorry
Contributing Writer

Yoga and Laura had an on-again-off-again relationship from 2004 until 2009 when they decided to move in together and there’s been no looking back since. Passionate about both yoga and writing, Laura loves to introduce others to the joys and benefits of yoga and healthy living.

Contact: laura@yogaonesandiego.com

by Monique Minahan

I don’t teach you yoga.
You are yoga.

You are that sweet exhale,
that expansive inhale
that pause in between.

You are that unified breath,
that connected mind and body,
the observer and the observed.

What I teach you is how to remember
because we forget.

I forget.

So I invite you back to your breath
back to your body
back to you.

You accept my invitation
but it’s not me you are saying yes to.

It’s you.

You say yes to you.

Yes to your inhale,
Yes to your exhale,
Yes to your tight hamstrings,
Yes to your aching heart.

Yes to your wobbles,
Yes to your strength,
Yes to your past,
Yes to your Now.

Yes to your failures,
Yes to your triumphs,
Yes to your hopes,
Yes to your dreams.

Yes to your anger,
Yes to your peace,
Yes to your fear,
Yes to your courage.

Yes to you.

You say yes to you. I see that happen before my eyes and that is why I bow to you.

It is my privilege to witness your return every time

to your mat
to your heart
to you.

Namaste.

Monique Minahan
Contributing Writer

Mo is a writer and yoga teacher who believes in peace over happiness and love over fear. She likes to set her sights high and then take small steps to get there. You’ll find her walking the dirt path behind her house with her little fluffy dog, practicing walking her talk by keeping her head high and her heart open. 

Read more from Monique on her blog, mindfulmo.com

This month we’re checking in with the talented and oh-so-sweet Sharyn Greenberg! Sharyn is not only an awesome yoga instructor, she’s also one of Yoga One’s wonderful massage therapists. Whether you schedule a massage with her or drop in on her Wednesday night class at 7pm, you’re sure to enjoy every moment. Check out our full class schedule here, no reservations required.

1. What is your favorite style of yoga?

I like all kinds of yoga, it’s hard to narrow it down to just one style! On my own I practice Hatha/Vinyasa, but the classes I take range from Power Flow to Kundalini. I enjoy a class that challenges me physically and then puts me to rest.

2. What first attracted you to yoga when you began your practice?

I enjoyed the peaceful feelings that I got after practice, as well as the deepening sense of self-acceptance that began to develop. It was a way for me to connect with my body that is kind and forgiving, challenging and healthy. Yoga helped me realize that we are all exactly where we need to be at any given moment; and this discovery allowed me to release a lot of anxiety in my life.

3. What is your favorite yoga pose right now?

I’m really into twists right now. I like Parivrtta Trikonasana (Revolved Triangle Pose) because there is so much going on! The subtle sensations are kind of overwhelming at times but I enjoy breathing through all that, experiencing it, and letting it go after a few deep breaths.

4. What pose is still the most challenging?

Hanumanasana, also known as the splits. I’m a runner, so this pose is a challenge! It scares the shit out of me when teachers announce that we will be working on this in class…

5. If you were an animal, you would be: a hummingbird. They represent healers, messengers, and warriors and their wings move in the pattern of infinity! They are vivacious, present, and they get to spend all day smelling flowers. I think I’d enjoy flying through the sky as my main source of transportation.

6. Describe what yoga means in your life using just 6 words: Connection. Experience. Expression. Peace. Balance. Acceptance.

7. What might your students be surprised to learn about you?

I’m a Scrabble fanatic and love to play board games.

8. Do you have any words of wisdom or advice for new students?

Don’t be scared to take a risk every now and then, even if you are uncertain of the outcome. Be kind to yourself and others and do your best to embrace all the ups and downs that you encounter. Don’t take life so seriously… it’s okay to smile, laugh, and dance multiple times throughout the day (even in yoga class).