What I Learned from 108 Days of Yoga

23 May

magiczone

Here is a list of the things I had done for more than 108 days in a row:

1. Smoke
2. Quit smoking
3. Breathe
4. Eat
5. Sleep

It’s not a very impressive list.

I didn’t intend to do 108 days of yoga. It was something that I had planned for later in the year. But we never get to plan our greatest lessons.

After doing 45 days of hot and vinyasa I decided to keep going. So overwhelming was the thought, I wasn’t ready to get into the details. It was more personal than I anticipated.

Now that I’m done and have taken some time to reflect, I may have learned a little somethin’.

 

1. Flexibility

I’m a reformed partially reformed control freak. When things go as I plan, I’m okay. When I expect things to go awry, I’m also okay. But when things go okay and I expect awry, I’ve been known to fuck bring unnecessary chaos where it wasn’t needed. When things go awry and I expect okay I can also get a bit stubborn. While my body is flexy, not all of me is always so willing to stretch.

Work in progress…

I got sick during my 108 days. Panic set in- all I could think of was missing a practice. Fortunately, I’m not all crazy, so there was a side of me that said chill out.

What is yoga anyway? It’s a uniting of body and breath. Maybe your yoga is to do a few restorative poses that foster healing instead of going balls to the wall in 105° heat. This thought didn’t come until after I had practiced two days with no voice in the heat, but like I said I’m a work on progress.

Change happens- it’s the one thing I can count on. 108 days taught me that I can always breathe through it.

Learning to breathe cultivated my flexibility more than any asana.

 

2. Commitment/Trust

I may or may not be known to twitch just a smidge when it comes to commitment. We all have out shit. This is mine.

But when you show up every single day for 108 days, you learn to trust the process. I wasn’t sure what was going to happen at the end.

Maybe nothing.

Maybe everything.

Regardless, I wanted to see it through. On the days that I really didn’t want to go, I learned the most. There were also days that when I hit my mat and felt like a rock star, only to be humbled, a crumbled sweaty mess.

But fall down seven times, stand up 8.

 

3. Peace

Say hey, doing 108 days of yoga is a row is hard. But, I did it. The act of practicing daily became meditative, down to the way that I prepared my yoga bag the night before. There was a sense of calm that I took with me once I left my mat.
I think I’m most grateful for this.

I realize that while coming to my mat each day is pretty much given- what will happen in that moment is unknown. That is a little scary. And a lot of fun. But no matter what, I can be with whatever happens.

This is yoga for 108 days and beyond.

Namaste y’all.

Adventures in Yoga – Over Correction Reflection

20 May 20130511-090728.jpg

toes:fingers

My chitta vritti or mindstuff has been getting in the way of my yoga.

My asana practice is a microcosm of what’s going on off the mat.

A few weeks ago while taking class, my teacher told me to relax- more feeling, less thinking.

I wonder if this happens to other new teachers… I’m spending lots of time teaching giving adjustments, living in teaching mode has started to takeover my entire practice.

Don’t get me wrong, being our own best teachers is necessary, we grow in our practice because we learn how to find a deeper expression of a posture using our breath. As my body awareness expands both in depth and breadth, I can tweak a previously unfamiliar muscle or make a minute correction.

It’s awesome.

There is of course a downside.

Anything strength overused becomes a weakness.

Over correction can result in a pose becoming distorted. You could even hurt yourself if you aren’t careful. As you start to get more flexible this is even more an issue.

It may come as no surprise then to know that as I work on my business plan I may need to step back a bit, take a breath and remember the satisfaction that comes from building something. It doesn’t have to be all about furrowed eyebrows and punishing myself until 2am. Every thing takes time, I can’t rush to the next thing if I haven’t finished what I’m supposed to in this moment. Additionally, I don’t have to work on a particular aspect of my plan until it’s almost unrecognizable.

Be in the moment, make adjustments be keep it moving.

I’ve said this about myself before- but it’s worth repeating. Sometimes when you are a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

And you know what else happens when you over correct? You lose joy. You lose balance.

Yoga is the union of body and breath.

Sometimes I need to remember that. What I seek isn’t in the best expression of a pose.

It’s what’s inside.

It’s what I do after my asana practice is over.

This is what I love about my yoga. My practice tells me when life and not just a posture is out of whack.

Should I be a bit more self-aware. Yeah, but I’m not. Sue me. I’ll get there one day, or maybe not. But every experience brings me closer to enlightenment.

This is yoga and I stand less corrected.

Namaste y’all.

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Vegan Diaries – Raspberry Sorbet

18 May

one ingredient sorbet

Raspberry sorbet. The kind you can’t find in a second hand store.

Raspberry sorbet, if it were warm I wouldn’t eat much more.

Raspberry sorbet. I think I love her.

This is one or two ingredient sorbet.

Seriously folks, it don’t get any easier than this.

1. Freeze raspberries
2. Add to food processor
3. Eat

In all fairness you may have to scrape the sides a few times. But it doesn’t get much easier than this.

My favorites:
Grapefruit
Mango
Raspberry

If you are dying for a bit more sweetness, add a little agave before number 2.
Number 3 stays the same.

This is yoga- funky and frozen.

Namaste y’all.

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Adventures in Teaching Yoga – Who Are My Students?

16 May

You know what? There’s something that isn’t discussed that I didn’t really hear until after I started teaching. 

It’s been my biggest lesson so far. I’m sorry that I haven’t talked about it earlier.

As a new teacher you teach people who are new to yoga.

Yeah, and you say?

Check it.

I practiced yoga off and on for more than a decade before I did YTT. In the year and a half before I was brave enough to do it, I was practicing several days a week. Then I spent YTT with women who had advanced practices. I started practice at least once a day. Progress in my practice was exponential. I don’t just mean on my mat either. My approach the the entire world was underlined with a broader sense of compassion.

To say that I was livin’ the dream is a gross understatement.

Cool right? I know. I had managed to cultivate a pretty bad ass existence.

Throughout the process our primary teacher told us that we’d be teaching new students and that would mean that we would have to focus on the basics. I heard her, but didn’t listen.

Isn’t always the damn case?

Most of the people I teach have new or newish practices.

It’s my job to help them find the best expression of a pose.

My job break down the connection of body and breath in a way that is accessible, challenging, peaceful and hopefully lots of fun.

Many people I see are just getting started or coming back to their mats after a hiatus. It can be intimidating and scary.

It’s critical that I remember that not everyone has a keen sense of body awareness.

Not everyone knows what the quadricep is or where it’s located.

When you say connect with your breath- you have to explain what that means.

It’s the reality of teaching new folks. And that’s cool. When I’m ready to headstand I will. Right now, I’m learning how to be a beginning teacher who has students who love learning about yoga.

The Answer Man is a fun little film about a curmudgeon self-help guru who learns to love the people he inspired. The woman he begins to date gives him (and me) sage advice:

  1. Don’t take advice from people you wouldn’t trade places with.
  2. Try not to say things that you can’t take back.
  3. Something is what it is, so it can’t be something else.

Number 3 is my mantra.

Modifications, encouragement, space to breathe and a soft place to fall is my job for my students.

I let them know that their best pose in a moment is the very best that there is.

class

 

Not comparing today to yesterday. Not worrying about tomorrow.

I show them how to feel from the inside out and outside in. And it all takes place in the now.

I smile at the thought.

It’s a blessing that this is my new career.

As my own practice grows my students will grow and my style will evolve.

It’s what is. It’s pretty incredible. You can set the tone for someone deciding whether or not to continue with yoga.

It’s a big responsibility. One I do not take lightly.

I keep my sequences simple but interesting, I give lots of modifications. I celebrate. And I make adjustments to my class if it seems too challenging or if a class seems ready for something more.

Life. Is. Good.

This is yoga and it’s for everyone.

Namaste y’all.

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Vegan Diaries – Five Minute Gazpacho

13 May

five minute gazpacho , inspired recipes, a&o inspired recipes, natural hair living, yoga

Oh how I love warm weather!

Aside from it being the season of my birth (what what could possibly be wrong with it), it’s the time of longer days, fresh foods and spring fever.

This means I need to be outside and not inside cooking. Five-Minute Gazpacho is an inspired recipe born out of necessity, but that doesn’t make it any less delicious.

I love to practice at night. By the time I get home it’s too late to eat a big dinner but after doing yoga in a room that is 105 degrees, I’m kinda hungry.

Weird but true. I’m not going to change my routine, so adjustments had to be made. Because I’m up late writing, I figure I can have a light meal but it should be fruits or veggies. And since it’s late I need to be able to make it quickly, preferably in one pot. Preferably without a pot.

But salads can get old.

Ya dig?

And then, a brainstorm (cue lightning and thunder) GAZPACHO! Now, technically you have to stew the tomatoes yourself and then chill them etc, etc. This is too much. I wanted quick refreshing and easy. The result?

Stupendous.

Serve some at your next brunch and don’t tell anyone that it only took five minutes.

Unless of course they too read Oneika’s Yoga Life, then the jig is up.

Sorry and you’re welcome.

 

Ingredients

  • 3-4 Roma tomatoes
  • 1 small red onion
  • 1 clove garlic
  • Small handful cilantro
  • pinch flaked sea salt (I like Maldon)
  • generous helping black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon cumin
  • 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 1/2  fresh squeezed lemon juice
  • 1/4 cup white wine (white grape juice with no sugar added can be substituted for wine)
  • 1/2 Cento San Marzano Certified Peeled Tomatoes
Place items in a blender and blend baby!!
Blend for 30 seconds or until all ingredients are combined.
Serve with crusty bread or salad!
Go now, impress your friends. Go!
Really, go…I’d love to chat more but I have more work to do and then class.
xOx
This is yoga in five minutes.
Namaste y’all.

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Evolution Revolution aka Birthday Yoga

11 May

Evolving

I’m a May baby.

It’s hard not to get reflective around your birthday. On Friday I was walking to class listening to Badu’s Window Seat. This doesn’t make the day unique, I listen to this song a ton, but the weather was finally May warm. Everyone seemed to be rockin’ a lil bit of swag in their steps. It’s awesome when people around you unknowingly are cast in your real life music video.

I love everything about Erykah Badu. She seems to live her life eloquently out loud.

A smile crept on my face…Can I get a window seat, nobody next to me…

I resisted the urge to strip as I walked down Newark Avenue. I was feeling pretty  absolutely great.

I’ve read about women truly becoming who they are when they turn 40, but I was in my 30′s so of course I thought it was utter bullshit.

What we don’t plan for when we are young is our constant evolution as people. I’ve changed so much over the years, each year coming closer to what I believe is my most authentic self.

As birthday 42  up, I realize that I couldn’t be more complete. It’s quite a revelation because for so many years I was always searching.

Searching for the perfect job, partner, weight, look, hair etc…

But as I walked in that warm sunshine, I was exactly where I wanted to be literally and metaphorically.

Ooh-ra.

At first glance it might seem like it’s because of my yoga practice.

To say I’ve met some incredible people because of my yoga journey is an understatement. Yoga people are my people, it’s all good in the hood ( as the kids used to say).

But that’s not the source of my peace.

You might think it’s my physical practice. I’m strong again. I love it. There is a joy my body feels because I practice a few hours each day.

But that’s not the source of the peace either.

As my 108 days of yoga comes to a close I realize that yoga brought me close to me. No matter if you are single or married with 10 kids loving others begins with loving yourself.

My love for self goes beyond the regular self-love that I discovered in my 30′s.

It’s the kind of love that comes with unapologetic acceptance of every inch of your body and soul. I love the good in me. I love the stuff that makes me icky.

And living yoga helps me move closer to a place where it’s all okay.

This is yoga and it’s always evolving, just like me.

Namaste y’all.

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Be Where You Are, When You Are

9 May

Budha in Garden

“You’re running and you’re running and you’re running away. You’re running and running but you can’t run away from yourself.”

- Bob Marley

I checked out during my hot class. It happens, I’m human.

The slip took place in between poses. The ‘in between’ is a big part of my yoga.

Am I moving mindfully as I transition? Or do I wander somewhere? In the instance mentioned above, go somewhere I did. I wasn’t where I went that mattered. The issue was leaving.

It’s almost too easy to run away. When the going gets tough, ducking out seems like the best option.

In a real or perceived crisis making my exit and kissing it all goodbye seems better than what I used to do- which is fight. Meeting obstacle with obstacle.

Also not a good plan.

There’s middle ground. It’s not all or nothing.
But what would happen if instead of checking out, I checked in? Instead of meeting the heat with a brute force attitude. What if I just hung with it for a sec?

It was only an instant but I came back to the heat. It wasn’t as bad as I had initially thought.

As if she was in my head the teacher started talking about a cabbie who’s sage advice was to be where you are when you are.

I wanted to get up and leave class- not because it was hot, but because that was the answer to the question I didn’t know I was asking.

Un. Freaking. Believable.

Have you had those kinds of moment on your mat?

I checked back in.

Leaving is never the answer.

Deal with being uncomfortable.

Things are never as bad as they seem if you stay.

In fact, things can only get better.

This is yoga and it’s always there for you. So stay.

Namaste y’all.

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Adventures in Yoga Teaching – You Need a Blog.

6 May

YTTP

I’m a baby when it comes to new media. It’s a wild west of  words in a new world.

It seems that everyone is writing. Social media is becoming literary. I know it may make the more conservative readers cringe, but hey it’s true so get on board because the train has pulled out of the station and you better run pretty damn fast to catch up.

I love it. On NPR last week someone mentioned that if Dorothy Parker were alive in the age of Twitter she’d rock that shit. They didn’t say it like that, I did, but I think my emphasis is better. Her quips would be retweeted and favorited in an instant. It makes me giggle just thinking about it. Aside from being a cool medium, it’s a way to engage an active audience who shares the same interests!

This brings me to yoga. I know you’re thinking, what doesn’t bring me to yoga. This list is short and even then with a glass of wine I could Kevin Bacon my way there with a swallow.

Yoga- social media. Right. I still manage to digress even when I’m racing to type and be ‘ret to go’ in time to make the 6:30 Yoga to the People class.

My friend Stephen is a tech guru. His job is pretty cool, he helps companies find their voice and brand build online with unique apps that connect with their audience.

He asked me when I finished teacher training if I had set up a page that talked about my teaching schedule, rates and availability.

I did want to get hired didn’t I?

Um- yes in fact I do.

Blogs are a great way to talk, vent, muse and pontificate but they also can be your calling card and resume.

I don’t know what I was waiting for but I finally added my google calendar to Oneika’s Teaching Schedule section of the site.

Slap me.

Now when I meet someone and hand them my card- they can see that I’m not foolin’, I do actually teach classes and have clients. It’s also a great way to connect with yogis who bump into me online while on their way to some other site. I mean Oneika has got to be the most popular word searched on Google, right?

I also set up a facebook page for Oneika’s Yoga Life. Twitter and I have been friends for awhile, but I do need to remember to chat more about when I’m teaching and where.

As a new teacher I get to let folks know I’m out here and ready to teach! When my classes grow and change, so will my site.

What a great networking tool too!!!

This is yoga. Wired.

Namaste y’all.

oneika stripes

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Vegan Diaries – PIZZA!!!!

5 May

 

20130505-130156.jpg

After class on Friday I picked up some veggies from the fruit market and stopped at the local pizza joint.

‘Dough please!’

They didn’t hand over money, but they did charge me 5 smackers for a enough dough to make an extra large pie. I got another one to store in the freezer.

Why buy dough you’re asking?

Easy- because I don’t want to make it.

Please. Don’t get it twisted- I can make a mean pizza dough. But as I get closer to the end of 108 days of yoga, I’m learning to be efficient with my energy. Also the pizza guys make dough better than I do.

I had grand plans to make the pizza that night. A fat slice with a glass of wine and Netflix was my idea of a sexy evening.

My body had a different story to tell.

But I did manage to make the toppings.

Grand plans moved to Saturday.

No biggie.

My friend and I caught the 7pm hot class at Yoga to the People and headed to my place for pizza and wine!

Whoop!

She looked at me dubiously- no cheese on pizza?

What fresh hell this?

I whipped up some basil oil and put the dough in a deep dish.

Shredded vegan cheese? Blech.

My eggplant/onion/sun dried tomato mixture was going to be so good cheese wouldn’t even be necessary.

Why ruin it with fake cheese- file this under the category of learning to let things go.

It was on the money honey.

When people wander over to the kitchen to sneak more of something I’ve cooked, I know it’s a hit.

Going the deep dish rustic route was also a good move- sometimes delicious food is best when it has a homey feel.

Good food, conversation and wine. It doesn’t take a lot to live a great life.

This is yoga. Keep it simple.

Namaste y’all.

20130505-130058.jpg

 

 

Eggplant filling for deep dish vegan pizza

Ingredients

 

  • 1 eggplant- cubed
  • 5 cloves of garlic minced (I know it sounds like a lot- do 8)
  • 1 medium onion sliced in rings
  • Sun dried tomatoes 1/2 cup chopped
  • 1/2 cup roasted red pepper soup (or pasta sauce)
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon red pepper flakes
  • 1 handful oregano roughly chopped
  • 1 tablespoon italian seasoning
  • 1 large pinch sea salt

 

Preparation

  1. Sauté onions and garlic
  2. Add eggplant tomatoes- stir for 5 minutes
  3. Add soup or sauce and spices
  4. Turn heat to low and cover for 20 minutes checking every 5 to stir
  5. Place filling in a bowl

 

Pizza Prep

  1. Sauté 3 cups spinach with olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper
  2. Work dough in a cast iron skillet or big pan
  3. Distribute eggplant filling evenly
  4. Layer spinach on top
  5. Pour basil oil on top
  6. Add any additional toppings

Cook pizza in a 450° oven for 17 minutes

 

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It’s Not the Size of the Pose but the Motion of Your Flow

4 May

mudra white outfit

I love Friday night yoga. The vibe is mellow. The playlist always has a moody, sleepy, sexy feel. I may have made up the sexy part, I’m projecting.

Whatever.

It’s also a hot class. Vinyasa in a heated room on a Friday night. So yeah- it is sort of sexy. Scratch my previous apology.

Last night the focus was about alignment and looking inward to find a deeper expression of a pose.

Juicy stuff.

My stance was wide in my warrior and I felt like I could float up and root down as I tried not to make my head bop too much to Alana Davis and Queen Badu. But damn, music can provide that little shift that changes my head space. It gets me all up inside a pose. Tickling it from the outside in while my breath zigs and zags magically and collides with my heart.

Sometimes class is that good.

Sometimes it’s just cool to fcuking groove on your mat.

Yaknowwhatimsayin’

What a way to end the week.

Because Daba was teaching, I knew I’d be in for some aha moment- it was just a matter of when.

It came after a focused standing series. We transitioned to the floor and did a hand workout.

Hand relevés and finger splits.

By mindfully stretching the fingers and shifting weight to the fingers I was able to take adho mukha svanasana to another place. By rooting my hands into the mat, my hips felt like they could reach up to the ceiling while my booty headed to the back windows…

I know, right?! There’s such a thing.

Will I ever stopped being amazed by discoveries in yoga? I hope not.

Subtle but powerful movements make the difference both on and off the mat.

This is yoga, providing tiny movements and big changes.

Namaste y’all.

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