Balls to the wall!

"Yoga is not for the man who overeats..." Ok then, so what are we to do if we do overeat or over indulge or over consume... or are, simply put, Americans? You have to start somewhere, right? We are told by our teachers, "begin where you are." Begin by appreciating your own self worth. Put your oxygen mask on first, etc. Sounds easy enough. Ok then, I'm going to start.... now! Waiting... and waiting... hmph. Why doesn't it magically work? Because like anything else, it requires training. This can be frustrating when we begin the practice of yoga with it's stereotype: twisting into a pretzel while trying to control our minds then mumbling something in Sandskrit as we leave. Then we say, "You know something, I tried yoga and I didn't like it, or it's not for me, or it's too hard, or I'm not flexible, or I hated the teacher or it was boring or too structured or that's not what yoga is because I know everything about yoga..."

Remember that dissatisfaction with learning is a sign of learning failure so a change in curriculum is obviously necessary. Patanjali begins the 8 limbs of yoga, not with asana or posture, but with the yamas: abstention from harming others (ahimsa), falsehood, theft, greed and being chaste. Next the niyamas: the observances of purity, contentment, self-discipline (tapas) and study. So the answer is, not only should you begin where you are, how about this brilliant idea: "begin at the beginning."

In my personal practice of yoga, one of many discoveries has been an imbalance in tapas or the practice of conserving energy for the use of achieving yoga (union of the body and mind). This requires self discipline. Self discipline... yes... I can do that. Deprive myself of stuff, push my body really hard and just go balls-to-the-wall, right?

Through the proper study and practice of yoga, a yogi learns and eventually knows that when we are practicing self-discipline, we have to be very careful that we don't become fanatical and self-punish. True discipline is in quiet self-control. But, that sounds hard! And yes, it actually is. The good news is you can begin again, right where you are. Yoga is simply a method. It's a way to break contact with pain and unify the body and mind. Whether your mind be restless, scattered or overly passionate, every mind can be transformed to be able to attain a "perfect" yoga. It's only a matter of practice.

Who are you and what have you done with Lori?

"You only know how a snake crawls when you become a snake."

As a teacher in yoga, if you have not examined yourself thoroughly, completely and continually, then you can not help your students.

As human beings, it's part of our nature to seek balance and understanding.

Like most of the western population, I've been running 90 miles an hour with my hair on fire, basically living life in a controlled fall. When I began to slow down, I realized just how much I depended on momentum to keep going. Not only did I discover that I was grotesquely out of balance, I learned that if I did nothing to correct the imbalances, they would certainly continue to manifest themselves in my life in exponential proportions and ways that were completely unmanageable.

Yoga provides us the tools to find balance in our lives. From self-awareness to form and asana practice to the bones of yoga: breath. Your breath is the bridge between your body and your mind. When your mind is agitated the fluctuations are reflected in your breathing patterns. Breath not only reflects your state of mind, it also can be recruited to calm your mind. Indeed, there is a neurological sensory and motor response between your breath and your mind. Prana or life force energy is brought into the body primarily through your breath. So, if you aren't getting enough, you are cheating yourself of oxygen AND PRANA. If you are running 90 miles an hour, if you have injuries, disease, stress, a poor environment, unresolved grief (who doesn't?)... all of these things contribute to our inability to breathe fully. The result? Your body becomes stressed and this creates even more anxiety further tipping you out of balance.

When you begin to MANAGE your breath, you can begin to "take the tooth out of the tiger," you can relax your mind and FINALLY come into to balance, the gap, the stillness within.

Is your yoga practice ALL physical? (yes Bikram yogis, I'm talking to you!) Well, then you can rest assured that you are indeed out of whack. If you are out of whack in your yoga practice, guess where else you are screwed up? Do you want to live your life just getting by, dulling the pain with more pain? Pain doesn't cure pain, stillness cures pain - understanding cures pain - freedom cures pain and the recipe for success all begins with balance.