BLOG TRICKS AND TIPS

Well, hello!  This post is a little "housekeeping" reminder to readers who may be new or need a refresher course on how best to interact with this blog.

1.  SUBJECT INDEX: After several years of writing, there are a lot of posts to this blog.  Many, from some years ago, likely go unread at this point, or impossible to find.  Well, there's lots of good stuff in there and here's an easy way to find a post that might be interesting, helpful, or entertaining....

For desktop and laptop users, you will see a column on the left with "Subject Index" near the top.  (Device readers will see this also if you go to the Web Version of the blog).  Click on this and voila!   You will see an index of every blog post by broad category so you can find posts that pertain to that subject.  I especially direct newbie beginners to check this out to find acknowledgement and encouragement!  (P.S.  I do not know why the links are different colors and some are hard to see.  I've tried and tried to fix this.  If you are more techie than I about the glitches in Blogger, please help!)

2.  EMAIL ALERTS: If you would like to receive an email alert each time a new post is up, you can sign up with your email account and it will sent to you.  Easy, breezy, and never miss a post.  You will not be inundated -- only 2-3 per month.

3.  FOLLOWERS/COMMENTS:  Bloggers live for feedback, which is typically very sparse, unfortunately.  If you are so moved, you can register as a Follower of the blog.  Click on the Follow box in the left hand column, follow the instructions, and you will be officially a Follower, which makes it super easy to leave a comment at the end of each post.  I will even comment on your comment!

4.  REACTION BOXES:  OK.  You'd rather not be a Follower, but you do have some thoughts, feelings, reactions to the post.  You can easily let me know your reaction by clicking on a "Reaction Box" at the end of the blog post.   You will not be identified, but I'll know someone read and responded.  Yay!

5.  DATA:  I never see any information about specific readers, unless  you leave comments and even then I only see the name you registered with which may not be your actual full name.  I get data about how many readers per month stopped by, what browser program they used (as if I care) and what country they are from (weird how many are from outside the US!)  So, you are anonymous if you like that sort of thing and actually I do, because I try to protect my privacy online as much as possible.  Just FYI in case you were wondering about what I can see and about whom.

I absolutely love writing the Yoga Circle blog (as well as my personal blog "My View From Here", which you can find by clicking on the link on Circling the Mat), and I especially love knowing what I say resonates with others.  If you know me and sometimes offer any verbal, email, or FB feedback -- THANK YOU!  Happy Reading.  Happy Yoga-ing©

Namaste, donnajurene

Photo Credit:  www.pixabay.com

BREATHING THROUGH PROCRASTINATION

Taking yoga teacher training has reminded me of my tendency to procrastinate.  When I mentioned this to Karen, she immediately helped reframe my accompanying self-flagellation tendencies by pointing out the "power of procrastination".  She said you can literally feel the POWER building and building and building until you know you just have to ACT!  It may be that you even decide to stay up until midnight to tackle the task, but you DO IT!  YAY!

This is a most positive way to look at putting off my homework until the last minute.  Love it!  It's a POWER MOVE! 

It's especially helpful since this month's homework is breathing.  One really should NOT procrastinate this task.  Breathing is sorta important.  And usually automatic, but not in the way we've been assigned to breathe this month.  

We are practicing Pranayama.  It's a very specific breath practice which enhances our concentration and regulates our energy and emotions as we practice yoga...or life.

When breathing happens automatically it comes from the lower brainstem, which initiates and controls our unconscious breath.  But we can override this automatic breath by consciously breathing in a different pattern.  If we are angry or agitated our breath is shallow and fast; we can calm these emotions by consciously slowing and deepening the breath and soon our very emotions are changed.  Magic!

There are so many ways to control the breath.  We are starting by experimenting with our "threshold" -- how many inhales and exhales we do comfortably.  Then we are asked to increase on each side of the inhale and exhale to find our comfortable maximum threshold.  Then we are asked to inhale, hold for as many counts as is comfortable, then exhale and hold for a few counts again...all the while monitoring for comfort and ease.  Once this threshold is mastered, we can begin to experiment with a number of interesting ways to breathe, hold, switch nostrils (one closed, the other open), and on and on in a variety of practices that can help us consciously choose a breathing pattern that is of best benefit at any given time.  

I have a wee little anxiety disorder that is mostly always under control, but sometimes does a big freak out.  I've learned the very basic pranayama practice of inhaling a deep belly breath, holding for just one beat, then exhaling for at least two or three beats longer than inhale.  It sometimes takes several rounds for me to regulate my seeming "need" to breath as if a lion was chasing me, but eventually I am able to calm those irrational fears with just my breath.  It's such a relief to have this little tool at the ready whenever I need it.

So if this is so great, why am I procrastinating?  Because learning any new skill is not easy.  I've got that first one down, but there are others that are more complex and just following the instructions gets me confused.  Also I start to hyperventilate.  And then I want to give up.  So I do.  Until I go back to it and try again.  And the pattern repeats.  

I am sure eventually I will find the Pranayama practices that work for me.  But to do that, I must explore them all, learning their rhythms, their purposes, their joys, and their challenges.  Just like asana practice:  How do you know you like Child's Pose better than Pigeon Pose until you've tried them both?

So, the Power of Procrastination is building in me and causing some short shallow breaths as I see the calendar days passing by until our next class when I will need to report on my progress with Pranayama.  I will take a deep, cleansing breath now and open my notebook.  I will take one practice at a time, doing three a day, until I've covered them all.  I will override my unconscious breathing for brief periods to see what I can do with purposeful breath selection. In this way I will get my homework done...and learn more about myself in the process.   Ahhh....Breathe....©

Namaste, donnajurene

Photo Credit:  www.classroomclipart.com

INTREPID EXPLORERS

SNOWPOCALYPSE 2019 hit this past week, just in time for our Weekend Intensive Yoga Teacher Training.   The monthly schedule is 3 hours Thursday night, and 8 hours on Friday and Saturday,  ending with 8-1/2 hours on Sunday at every Weekend Intensive.  It is not a residential training.  We all commute, from a few blocks to 30 miles or more.  So the idea of a ton of snow falling on local roadways in the usually mild and wet, but not icy and snowy, Northwest was daunting.

On Thursday night we had a long discussion of what we should do, with a big storm to hit on Friday. (Round 2 after snow earlier in the week as well).  We couldn't agree on any doable rescheduling dates, so we decided to forge ahead.  Some found local places to stay for the duration thanks to the generosity and kindness of sister-students, and some braved the commute.

As it turned out, everyone showed up every day!  (Except one student who was ill and stayed home on Sunday, but "Zoomed" in online.)   As each student entered the teaching space, stomping boots and shaking off snow, she was met with a hearty cheer and a round of applause.  We were all so happy to see each other, when virtually every other community event and even places of business and government offices were closed for the duration.  Intrepid Yoginis!

I was fortunate enough to snag a cozy guest room of one of the instructors and settled in Friday night, held in warmth and healing after having had an emotionally challenging week.  On top of that, the whole snow thing filled me with commuter anxiety since I live on a hill that I'd likely not be able to easily navigate in the storm, so I was filled with gratitude for the great good fortune to be able to ride out the storm surrounded by love, laughter, lively conversations, heaping helpings of pasta and rich dark chocolate!

And what does any of this have to do with Yoga Training?  A lot, actually.  As we were winding down on Sunday, I apologized to another student about my "constant whining about the weather all weekend".  She looked at me quizzically and said, "You didn't whine."  I didn't?

I realized the swirling anxiety about the snow and my commute (which I didn't even do!) and concerns about getting home on Sunday had been a constant background noise in my head all weekend, even if I didn't express it out loud.  It was such a racket internally, that I was convinced I'd been complaining and worrying in every conversation I'd had.  Not true, apparently.

I also ended up with a nauseating migraine that I dealt with all day Saturday and Sunday and I wonder if the internal swirling mind stress, focused attention on learning, and being out of my familiar surroundings at home was a factor in that.   Probably.

I was most at peace during times of meditation, Sutra study, and chant.   I enjoyed moving my body too, but learning the poses from a teaching perspective and learning the anatomical underpinnings of each pose are more challenging for me at this juncture, taking me out of a calm state to one of "stress", as is typical when learning a new skill.

We all agree that at the end of each weekend training we are exhausted.  The added weather challenges this time likely contributed to that feeling.  Yet, I learned that the thoughts in my head (and my headache) were ruling my emotions to a great degree and leaving me spent too.  The purpose of Yoga is to calm the fluctuations of the mind.  I had ample opportunity to practice, with only limited 'success'.  But awareness is Yoga too and my "Seer" inside reminded me several times that I was not in the "Now" but in the future with my fretting.

Maybe I'm not yet able to consistently identify anterior and posterior pelvic tilts in a practitioner's pose, but I got a big lesson in mindfulness, self-awareness, gratitude, and letting go.   Looking forward to our March training for more lessons on the Yogic path.

Namaste,  donnajurene

COMFORT ZONE CHALLENGE

As I announced in a previous post, I'm taking the Yoga Circle/Sarva Yoga-sponsored 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training.  We just had the first of our monthly weekend intensives (Intense!) and now we are on to doing our homework.  I have not done homework in approximately 35 years.

Guess what?!?  The Yoga Anatomy textbook has absolutely NO plot or character development; no poetry or examination of the psychological underpinnings of motivation and behavior; no sociological exposition of group dynamics; no mention whatsoever of Monet and the Impressionists! Just words, words, words (and the occasional diagram) in some language vaguely reminiscent of 8th grade biology class and that yucky frog dissection.  This Liberal Arts major is being a wee bit challenged, I tell ya!  I've already enlisted a tutor or two -- my husband who had a career in the medical field and a good friend who is a Physical Therapist and internationally known Pilates instructor/lecturer.  They find my confusion highly amusing, but they are willing to break it all down for me.

I decided to do the training to deepen my practice, to dive deeper into yoga philosophy, and to challenge myself intellectually with a new subject, knowing the anatomy piece would be out of my wheelhouse.  I was right about that!  But already I find it fascinating to learn what is happening internally, and why, as we move through our poses.

The other main components of the training are to study the yoga sutras (the ancient instruction of yoga and yoga philosophy) and to study asana practice.

Thursday night's Orientation was a great warm-up.  But by the end of the first full day on Friday I was overwhelmed and exhausted.  It all seemed so confusing and difficult.  It really wasn't, but my perception was skewed by the fact that I have taken no formal training in any topic unfamiliar to me in about 20 years.  Comfort Zone Challenge!  I was buoyed by the consistent encouragement of the teachers and a group of sister-students who seem to be equally at the Beginner's Mind level.  I felt held in love, care, and comaradie.  We are in this together!

Saturday was equally exhausting but likely due to the fact that since I retired 8 years ago, I haven't had to be in a "work" environment, paying attention, and engaged on one focus for 8 hours, three days in a row!  I went home exhausted!  But I noticed I was looking forward to Sunday.

Thankfully, Sunday started with an exploration of the Yoga Sutras and an introduction to Meditation. Those are right up my alley!  Then we did lots of asana and sequencing and finally, we ended with each of us taking a turn teaching part of an asana sequence.  Yikes!  Nerves all around, but we did it!  I left feeling exhilarated by the training.

Now I'm noticing my tendency to procrastinate on the homework piece but my meditation practice has taken a turn for the more regular;  I'm aware of so much more intention in class; and I have a far greater appreciation for the excellence of our Yoga Circle teachers.

Now if that anatomy book would stop taunting me....©

Namaste, donnajurene