Yogi movie night

If you're standing in a field in Iowa, there's an immense amount of food being grown, none of it edible. The commodity corn... nobody can eat it. It must be processed before we can eat it. It's a raw material, it's a feed-stock for all these other processes. And the irony is that an Iowa farmer can no longer feed himself.  ~Michael Pollan

Yogi movie night tonight! We'll be watching King Corn.

If you're in Philadelphia and interested, you should come! Email for details...

The yoga home

There’s a lot of talk among doctors and policy-makers about creating the “medical home” – where each person would have a primary care doctor to provide comprehensive medical care.

This has got me thinking about the idea of the “yoga home” – where each individual would have access to a yoga teacher and a community for health and wellness.

One way of working towards this is by offering yoga in schools. It seems that teachers/schools can be more effective than doctors/health clinics at making lifestyle change and preventing illness. A few reasons why: 

• Kids go to school every day, for most of the day. 
• Kids eat a lot of food and snacks at school. 
• Schools are places of learning (both in and out of the classroom). 
• Childhood/adolescence is when we develop many of our life habits and goals.
• Teachers know their students: they know what drives them, what bores them, what they think about, who they spend their time with, and what they go home to.

This "yoga home" wouldn't have to be limited to students in the schools, but would be for anyone and everyone in the community: teachers, administrators, parents, community members, etc. 

Vulnerability in practice

I spent a good chunk of the weekend reading Rachel Naomi Remen’s book Kitchen Table Wisdom, and this was one of my favorite parts:

"At the heart of any real intimacy is a certain vulnerability. It is hard to trust someone with your vulnerability unless you can see in them a matching vulnerability and know that you will not be judged. In some basic way it is our imperfections and even our pain that draws others close to us."

I think this is one reason why yoga is such a powerful way to build community. The old practice next to the young, the experienced next to the new, men next to women, teachers next to students. Everyone is vulnerable, everyone is exposed, there is no judgement.

An inclusion diet

The New York Times had a great article yesterday about Scott Jurek – a vegan ultramarathoner. If you haven’t seen it yet, it’s worth the read. 

Photo credit here  

I love seeing articles like this in the New York Times (thank you to the author, Mark Bittman!), because being vegan does not mean you have to be weak and wimpy… Jurek’s easy days are 40-mile runs! 

He says, “When you’re a vegan, to increase your calories as you increase training you need more food. This isn’t an elimination diet but an inclusion diet.”

An inclusion diet, I love that.

Jurek also says: “None of this is weird. If you go back 300 or 400 years, meat was reserved for special occasions, and those people were working hard. Remember, almost every long-distance runner turns into a vegan while they’re racing, anyway — you can’t digest fat or protein very well.”

Many people who get into yoga move in the vegetarian/vegan direction, but it's great to hear about other athletes doing this as well. 

I wonder if there have been any studies looking at how the switch to a vegan diet impacts people's athletic performance?

Moon day

In the Ashtanga yoga tradition, the only days off from practice are Saturdays, ladies holiday (for women), and days of the new and full moon. Today is a new moon and I am loving the time for sleep, coffee, and reading.

I never used to think about the moon. When working in consulting (9-6 office job), the majority of my days were spent under a roof except for the 15 seconds walking to and from my car. Because of Ashtanga, I now keep track of what the moon is up to (just put moon calendar up on blog on the right).

Two questions I’ve been wondering about:

1. What is the reason for resting on moon days? I’ve never been able to find a good answer.
2. Traditionally, are we supposed to fast on moon days? I’ve heard this but am not sure if anyone actually does it.

Yoga: a minimalist's path

I love the simplicity and minimalism of the Ashtanga yoga practice and just wrote about it in this guest post for my friend Ben’s blog, Minimalist Muscle.

I discuss the 7 reasons why Ashtanga yoga is a minimalist's gym (I’m sure I left some things out so please add to this list if you think of anything!):

1. Yoga minimizes equipment: The only equipment you really need is your body. No shoes and no socks. A mat is nice but not even necessary. No need for weight machines – your body provides all the weight and resistance you need.
2. Yoga simplifies food consumption: The practice of yoga brings greater awareness to the food you put into your body. People become drawn towards simple, healthy, whole, vegetarian foods that nourish the body.
3. Yoga minimizes lost time and money: While I may not always have the hours to devote to the physical practice, the practice of yoga helps simplify life habits (minimizing loss of precious time and money), including: 
• What I eat
• The time I go to bed
• The relationships I nurture
• The way I socialize
• The things I buy
• The projects I invest time and energy in
• My professional interests and direction
4. Yoga turns you into your own teacher/trainer/coach: In the Ashtanga yoga style, everybody learns the postures and the correct order in which to do them. This means you can practice anytime and anywhere (i.e. hotel room floor when traveling). 
5. Yoga develops functional muscle: The Ashtanga yoga practice will help you build muscle while also increasing flexibility... the ideal combination for a healthy, lithe, functional body.
6. Yoga de-clutters unproductive thoughts: The physical intensity of the yoga practice makes your mind focused (it’s hard to think about anything besides breathing when your muscles are shaking, sweat is dripping, and you’re trying to hold a certain position). Thoughts, worries, anxieties, stresses that usually clutter your mind are minimized and silenced.
7. Yoga is a traveling gym: The Ashtanga yoga community is a global, growing community of people with shared interests, purpose, and goals. In many cities all of the world, you will find an Ashtanga teacher that offers the same practice…. it’s a traveling gym that meets you wherever you are.

Anger

I’ve been feeling angry with my body lately. Terrible allergies, restless unfulfilling sleep, and now my wrist hurts during practice. The wrist is so essential to yoga and I automatically think of the worst possible scenarios. Ugh!

“Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned.” 

~Buddha

(And the burn is even worse if the person you are angry at is yourself!)

In theory, letting go of anger is the thing to do…but it is HARD in practice!