Self Healing in 3 Minutes

I studied massage and other health related topics at the International Professional School of Bodywork in San Diego.  My education there was fun, hands on and full of essential information on health and the body. One of the first things I was taught at IPSB was a series of exercises called EK, short for exercise kinesiology, also known as Brain Gym.  Later I became a teacher at IPSB, and the first piece of knowledge I was allowed to teach was the wake-up exercises of EK.  This Summer I began studying a new health modality called Touch for Health and to my surprise, we began class with EK!  I was starting to get the message, these simple exercises are powerful and should enter my repertoire of movement education.  So I have begun to add these simple opening exercises to my yoga classes and have written this post to help my students remember them.  This is only the first opening exercises of the EK routine and not the complete routine.

We begin with having a sip of water if you have some available.

Next we Zip-Up by drawing a line with our hand up the center of our body from pubic bone to lower lip, you don-t need to touch your body, but just move your hand an inch or two from your body in a strait line up the center and at the top touch the impression below your lower lip with your fingers like you are pressing a button to turn something on.

Now we Switch On by rubbing or circling for about 30 seconds 3 sets of points.  The first points we call brain buttons and these are two depressions you find just below your clavicles, the end points of our kidney meridians.  Next we have our earth buttons, the depressions above and below our lips.  Lastly we have our space button, our tail bone.  For all three points, with one hand you rub the point, and with the other hand you ground yourself by resting the hand on your lower abdomen.

Once we are turned on, we are ready to Tune In.  This consists of a 1-2 minute ear massage.  Get your fingers rubbing and pulling and stretching all the surfaces of your ears.

Here is a link to the Touch for Health website which also explains these exercises and has photos showing more clearly how to do the exercises.

Just Say "YES!" Marketing Plan

I can feel it, I'm getting older, things are changing.  It's a good thing, like the aging of a good California red wine.  I am feeling different about myself and where I have found myself in life.  I am coming out of a decade of play mixed with work and study and I'm feeling proud of where I've brought myself.  For a few years I thought I might just be playing at life, and that was somehow not legitimate adulthood.  But I'm beginning to understand that my playing at life is my greatest skill and it creates a healthy, strong and balanced therapist able to truly help others.  But still I feel the daily struggle of money and recognition pulling on me.  I love my new shop, but it has taken so many attempts to get to my Nest that the growth of my business has been slow, and I feel every day the need to grow things, to make things around me better and better.  This leads me to my new marketing plan.  I have a great location, tens of thousands of people drive by my shop every day, but not so many stop.  Lots of potential, but in my first 3 years, not so many new customers.  So I started putting a sandwich board sign out, decorating it myself with different chalk designs.  It wasn't helping much, maybe an occasional summer rental customer, but not a big surge of new clients.  Then I came up with a great slogan a month ago, and I've probably gotten ten new clients.  People love the sign!  It's funny, relieving some of the anxiety of a stranger giving you a massage.  But the humor is backed up by self-conviction.  I believe my massage is an out-of-this-world experience.  I believe my shop is a cozy sanctuary safe from life's stresses.  I believe I can help others to feel more connected to their bodies, their minds and even their dreams.  It has been a lifetime of deep study into my own body, mind and dreams that has prepared me for this particular moment, 2012, La Jolla, 34 years of age.  I'm saying "YES!" to this crazy skill set God has given me, and I'm asking the Universe for all that I need, and she is responding with a "YES!"  Schedule a massage right now!

This new marketing plan is deeply influenced by my special play time, surfing.  I grew up getting tossed around the ocean with my brothers.  Adulthood and the love of my life (who I met 12 years ago while sitting on a bench looking at my favorite surf spot) elevated surfing to a new level of performance, challenge and opportunity in my life.  For many years I have been laying down the foundations, learning the mystical movements of the Ocean in her different hours and seasons, assessing the crowds, perfecting my equipment, placing myself in dangerous situations I have survived.  And now I find myself entering the Ocean like a Queen, self assured and ready to dominate!  At my favorite surf spot, the waves come in as A-frame peaks, allowing for two surfers on each wave, one going right and one going left.  Sometimes there are as many as 60-80 surfers (almost exclusively of the male type) paddling around the peak, hoping to be graced by God with the perfect position to catch those beautiful waves.  If you don't believe 100% that the wave is coming directly to you and that you are chosen by God to surf that wave into the beach, you won't catch it, the guy next to you will.  As I paddle to the peak chanting in my mind mantras to the Goddess, I am thinking "YES!" and the Universe is responding "YES!"

And here's another fun photo of me catching a big one on my friend's website A Day with BA

Yoga on Your Own

This summer I've had a number of my yoga students asking me for recommendations to keep their yoga practices going while on vacation.  I've handed out a few photocopies from my favorite books and manuals, and am expanding and sharing with you some advice for practicing yoga without a teacher.  These recommendations are not for people who have never practiced yoga before, but are meant for those who have listened to the teacher's instructions enough to be generally familiar with the exercises and poses.  This is some help to organize your practice and remember what to do.

My training as a yoga teacher is in the Sivananda style of Hatha Yoga.  So here is a run down for the basic Sivananda class, which I very often use (but not always) as the foundation for the group yoga classes I teach.  The class can be divided into a few main parts.

1.  Centering yourself at the beginning of class, this can be done seated in sukhasana (sitting with legs crossed) with simple breathe focus.  If you have the time, begin with deep relaxation lying in savasana.

2.  Pranayama, or breathing exercises such as Kapalabhati or breath of fire and Anuloma Viloma or alternate nostril breathing (also know as nadi shodhana).  I won't explain how to do these breathing exercises here, but you can read the links to learn more.  Suggested cycles though are three cycles of kapalabhati with 30, 40 and 50 pumps and 10, 20 and 30 second breath retentions at the end of each round.  You should feel stimulated but not uncomfortable.  For Anuloma Viloma 10 rounds will bring a lot of focus and relaxation.  I use the breath ratio of 4 second inhale, 16 second retention and 8 second exhale.  The breathing can be done at the beginning to focus the mind and prepare the body for the deep steady breathing you will manitain for the rest of class.  If it is too hard to sit still at the beginning of class, start with sun salutations and do your breathing instead at the end of class before your final relaxation.  If you do a full pranayama sequence, rest in Savasana for a few minutes before continuing on.

3.  Suya Namaskar or Sun Salutations is our warm up.  Again, this is just a reminder of what to do, not instruction.  If the body is very cold and stiff, do some simple stretching on the floor, like pulling your kness into your chest, before you begin.  Sun Salutations are a complete practice in and of themselves.  If you do nothing more than Sun Salutations, you will work the whole body.  Do between 2 and 12 repetitions, trying to break a sweat on your upper lip.  After your Sun Salutations, rest in savasana for a few minutes. 

4.  Strengthening Exercises are now practiced, first leg lifts for the hips and torso and then dolphin push-ups for the shoulder girdle.

5.  Asanas or steady poses are now held for 5-15 breathes each with 3-10 breathes of savasana in between each pose.  There are 12 basic asanas that stimulate our bodies from head to feet, they are:

Headstand Sirshasana

Shoulderstand Sarvangasanan

Plough Halasana

Bridge (it's not one of the 12 basic, but I teach it here in the sequence
Setu Bandhasana)
Fish Matsyasana

Forward Bend Paschimothanasana

Cobra Bhujangasana

Locust Shalabhasana

Bow Dhanurasana

Half Spinal Twist ArdhaMatsyendrasana

Crow Kakasana 

Standing Forward Bend Pada Hasthasana

Triangle Trikonasana

6.  Relaxation at the end of class is the great joy of yoga, so don't skip it. It's great to set a timer and not get up for at least 5 minutes, take 10 minutes if you can and you will feel rejuvenated for the rest of the day.  Lay on your back in savasana and begin auto suggestion.  You begin with your feet, think about them and repeat mentally (silently) "I am relaxing me feet, I am relaxing my feet, My feet are completely relaxed."  Continue in this way working your way up your body to your face.  Relax also your mind, your heart and your energy until you are very relaxed all over.

7.  Closing by sitting up a focussing on your breathe and your present state of being and awareness for a few moments is encouraged.  It takes discipline and sacrifice to practice yoga and it is nice to recognize your own efforts.  You can also offer up some gratitude to the lineage of teachers that has brought this practice to you, making you the final link in an unbroken chain.  Namaste and good luck!

Forks Over Knives

For years I've been feeling pressure to be a vegetarian.  I have practiced for often months at a time a vegan lifestyle, but my husband was not with me on these lifestyle choices.  I would find myself preparing two dinners, one for him  and one for me.  But six months ago he watched the movie, Forks Over Knives, and it completely changed his perspective on food.  Now foods he wouldn't touch he's reaching for at the dinner table, and dinner without any meat is satisfying him in a way it couldn't before.  This movie follows the work of two doctors, one working with patients and one doing data studies on extensive cancer research done in China.  Both of these doctors came to the same conclusions but separately that a diet consisting of 20% animal protein is cancer promoting, but a diet consisting of only 5% animal protein is cancer inhibiting.  For my husband, this scientifically derived data that still allowed him to eat meat was just the right information to make drastic changes to his diet.  Luckily for him, he had an eager vegan chef in his kitchen!  Six months later and twenty pounds lighter, my husband has more energy, almost none of his chronic headaches and feels socially and culturally more involved with the food he eats.  So I encourage you to give the movie a look, and what we now call the 5% diet, a diet made 95% of plant based foods and 5% of organic and sustainably raised animal products, a try!

Flowers in my Garden

Enjoy the final days of the summer with some photos of blossoms that have bloomed and perished in the summer sun...

Sweet Peas

Happy Filler

Tommy loves to sunbathe

I planted 100 seeds and just got this one perfect carrott

American Beauty

The Sweet Peas love the Sunshsine

Mother's Day Brunch: Spanish Tortilla with(out) Zucchini

Spanish Tortilla with (out) Zucchini

My first food blog love is undoubtably Smitten Kitchen.  The recipes are fabulous and the index is extensive and the photos are clear and delicious.  I have ventured into a lot of interesting cooking territory with these beautiful recipes in the last year.  Earlier this summer I choose a Tapas theme for a small dinner party with my some girlfriends form high school and there husbands.  And what is Tapas with out a Spanish Tortilla?  So I looked on Smitten Kitchen, and sure enough she had a great recipe.  I've made it several times since, adding different quantities of zucchini with different amounts of success.

Ingredients

4 large yukon potatoes

or 3 potatoes and 1 zucchini

1 1/2 cups olive oil

2-3 cloves garlic

1 onion

6 eggs

salt and pepper

You begin this recipe by peeling and quartering your potatoes.  Then slice the quarters into this slices.  I don't have many devices in my kitchen, so I do all this slicing by hand.  Dry off the potato slices by squeezing them with some paper towels. Heat up your oil in a deep non-stick pan, I absolutely use my cast iron for this recipe, it works perfect.  Once the oil is hot, add your potatoes in delicate layers and stir gently to keep from sticking for a few minutes.  Next add your garlic and onion also sliced very thinly.  If you are substituting some zucchini (or green beans or kale or cauliflower or...) add that now as well.  Cook for about 15 minutes more at medium low heat.  Keep gently mixing with big wooden spoon to keep from sticking to the pan.  Once the potatoes have softeneed turn off the heat and let cool a few minutes, then strain the potatoes, saving the oil.  Allow the potatoes to cool for a little while so they aren't too hot when you add your eggs.  Whisk your six eggs with some salt, I add some delicious spanish smoked paprika at this point as well.  Put cooked potatoes in big bowl add pour eggs on top then smoosh it a bit, getting the eggs to soak through the layers of potatoes.  Now you will have needed to clean and dry your pan and now you can reheat it at medium high and add 1/2 cup of reserved olive oil.  When it is hot, pour in potato egg mixture and cook about ten minutes.  Keep sliding a spatula around the edges and gently jiggling the pan to keep tortilla from sticking.  When it has begun to cook quite nicely around all edges and is becoming somewhat firm, sandwhich your pan with a big plate and flip tortilla over onto plate.  I then clean and dry my pan and reheat again with 1/2 cup remaining olive oil.  When hot, gently slide tortilla back in pan and coom for another 5-10 minutes.  Flip onto plate again and garnish with some fresh herbs.  This is great the next day served old with salad and baguette!

A Lecture on Meditation with Swami Sitaramananda

In my life I have received so many blessings, not least of which has been learning Vedantic Philosophy and the deeper practices of Yoga from Swami Sitaramananda, or Swami Sita.  A few weeks ago I was in Los Angeles taking another course in Touch for Health, and by divine intervention Swami Sita was visiting the Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Center in Los Angeles for the weekend.  Most of the year she lives at the Sivananda Yoga Farm in Grass Valley and she is director of the Sivananda Organization on the West Coast.  She is a fascinating character, a Vietnamese refugee who moved to Canada with her family as a teenager.  As a young adult working as a social worker she discovered Swami Vishnudevananda and the Sivananda Organization.  She know dedicates her life to teaching others about meditation, the nature of the mind, Vedic Astrology and other yoga topics.  Recently she has begun to travel back to Vietnam to teach yoga there.  I would like to share with you some of the insights from the question and answer session on the topic of meditation at the Los Angeles Center.

For me, the most important statement of the evening was, "Self acceptance is the basis of all yoga practice."  Often when we practice meditation, our expectations of the experience are very lofty and our judgements of ourselves are very harsh.  She talked about releasing our expectations of the experience of meditation, in a sense lowering this concept we have set up in the clouds.  There is no particular experience we should be having in meditation, instead she recommends being open to outcome and experiencing meditation (and life) as a wonderful journey and to be happy to be on this adventure.  Having expectations is filling the mind with thoughts about who we think we are and what we think we should be doing.  But Meditation is the opposite of thinking through your problems and your life.  Swami Sita says "You cannot find solutions for your life from your mind...Mediation is the journey of letting go and opening up to grace..the continuous flow of the presence of god. You cannot open to god if you are too full, full of yourself."  We cleanse this fullness of thought and expectation through devotion and love, love of everything and everyone.   This includes loving ourselves, and she talked about treating our own selves like a young child that needs encouragement and compassion, elevating our concept of our own selves.  In this way we begin to bring these two things, our concept of meditation and our concept of our selves, on a more even level.  

Someone asked a question about detachment versus indifference.  She described detachment as coming from deep understanding and indifference as coming from ignorance and fear.  Equanimity, or detachment, means to remain in yourself no matter what, to not get distracted by the variety of names and forms and experiences, to remain grounded in your spirit and detached from the cycles of pain and pleasure constantly present in this life.  In detachment, half of the problem is letting go, the other half is moving towards the right thing.  As she often does, Swami Sita used a metaphor to illustrate the concept.  She spoke of a hot air balloon rising up, it must throw weight overboard in order to rise. 

So too we must detach from what holds us back if we wish to elevate ourselves through yoga. 

In a line of conversation that felt directed at me and my own experimental yogic journey, Swami Sita urged us to remain diligent with a single practice.  She explained that we must follow the instructions for our meditation exactly each time,  giving our mind specific instructions, like training dog.  Repeat the simple steps, don't worry about where it takes you. Give clear instruction and be very simple.   Yoga is not about choices or varieties of experiences, but instead you must develop a single practice, one path, one method, one teacher.  Don't mix it up with different practices.  And again a great metaphor, You can't be married to ten men...you have to choose one!  Transcend your likes and dislikes so you can go to the core.  And she gave a great technique to develop your will power, do something you don't like and refrain from something you do like. 

I wish my summary could have the power and organization of Swami Sitas talk, but hopefully from my attempt you can recover some gem to help you in your practice.

Namaste!