Take Me on Vacation with You!

Guess what? Now I can go on vacation with you wherever you go. You can even take me on business trips. I don't discriminate. Warm weather, cold weather, northern hemisphere, southern hemisphere -- I'll happily go with you, no complaints. I fit perfectly on your mobile phone, iPad or laptop, and you can stop me if I talk too much!

Joking aside, my students have been requesting a recorded Warrior Flow audio class for YEARS. I finally have one available for download at iTunes and Amazon. Check the links below. (Download on a Wi-Fi connection since it's a 70-minute audio file.)

A big thank you to my producer Robert Gerding and my business partner and husband Dennis Hunter for making this happen. (Music "Sandcastles" and "Shimmer" by S. McCleery licensed by Ambient Music Garden. Music for healing, and background music.)

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/flow-strength-balance/id962208611?i=962208615

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Flow-Strength-Balance-Adrian-Molina/dp/B00SVSIZZK

More to come soon!

Namaste,
Adrian

Thank God for Yoga!

As I embark upon the adventure of teaching my first 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training in March, I can't help but recall the days when yoga was a foreign word to me. When the idea of being in front of people teaching yoga caused me to withdraw into my turtle shell and hide.

I wanted to learn yoga. I wanted to immerse myself fully into learning more about that sequence of postures that, in some way I didn't understand, was making my life more meaningful. I never intended to become a teacher to teach. But life had plans for me that I couldn't foresee at that time.

In early 2003 I was coming out of a relationship that had left me feeling devastated. I was going through the heartbreak and healing process. I remember at the end of that year saying to myself...

"Well Adrian, looking back at this year, Yoga—not people, not places, not money—seems to be the only thing that has brought some sense of comfort and peace and tranquility to your life. I guess you owe it to yourself to learn more yoga, then."

So I signed up to a teacher training program with no freaking clue of who Patanjali was, what the Vedas were, or the Bhagavad Gita was. I had no idea I have chakras inside of me. I barely spoke English and yet I was about to learn Sanskrit!

I honestly I didn't know the depths or the transformational potential of Yoga.

Like most people who practice Yoga these days I thought of doing yoga as a way of keeping my body healthy and strong. And feeling happier and learning how to relax. Which are fine goals in and of themselves. But I understand today that they are only a small facet of what Yoga has to offer.

Those three months were not a “Teacher Training." They were a life makeover.

It was during my training that I began to discover the possibility of a life with less suffering. I didn't realize at the time that I was becoming a seeker, a person searching for liberation, transcendence, self transformation—in a word, a yogi.

Those three months were the first time in my life where I actually spent time with me.
Looking back, learning yoga brought meaning and direction into my life at a time when I felt hopeless and lost.

Of course I kept stumbling with my ego in the years to come, but I regard my Yoga Teacher Training experience as one of the most important decisions I ever made.

As I go over old handwritten notes from that time, and dust off some of my old-time favorite yoga texts, I can’t help but feel a deep respect and gratitude for so many yogis, sages, gurus, disciples, and students who have paved the way for what Yoga is today.

Thank God for Yoga!

Adrian Molina is a yoga teacher, writer and meditation practitioner living in New York City. He developed the Warrior Flow style of yoga and teaches at Equinox fitness centers, in private sessions, and at retreats. He shares inspiration and teachings frequently on his web site Warrior Flow, his Facebook page, and his Twitter feed.  

200hr Yoga Teacher Training

This announcement has been years in the making. But finally the time seems right.

I'm happy to announce that starting in mid-March I’ll be leading a 200hr Yoga Teacher Training at Earth Yoga with my colleagues Yanti Amos and Will Schneider.

Our supporting faculty will be composed of some of the finest teachers in our community, providing a unique, authentic, honest, and compassionate space.

It gets even better knowing that Dennis Hunter will be part of the Faculty, bringing to the table his vast knowledge in mindfulness and meditation.

If you know me... You know I don’t make decisions like this lightly. This 200hr Teacher Training will be a labor of love and a life-changing experience for all the participants.

When I did my 200hr Teacher Training many years ago, it helped me to define the kind of person I wanted to be. To this day it remains one of the smartest decisions I’ve ever made.
I want to give back what I have learned over the years for the benefit of whoever needs it at this moment.

To my students, friends, colleagues, FB acquaintances… We will need your help, your likes, your shares, and most importantly your loving thoughts to support us in this exciting endeavor.
In good spirit,

Adrian

Mind Games.

Someone approached me on the train station very early this morning.

My first uplifting thought was:
-Oh no I am getting robbed.

My second awakening thought was:
-Oh no I’ll be late for class (after I am robbed)

The reality was that this person was looking for directions.

Interestingly, my mind needed as much direction as him.

Practicing for the Long Haul

The worst part about experiencing pain or injury in yoga is not knowing. Not knowing where the pain comes from, what is aggravating it, what to do or not to do, whether you should stop practicing or keep pushing through it.

If you keep practicing with the hope that your hamstring miraculously will heal overnight, or that the pain in your shoulder or chest will dissipate by skipping a push up or two, your ego may be driving your yoga practice. That’s not a good thing in the long run.

Often this just makes it worse and bites you in the rear.

Been there. Done that. Stubborn Capricorn I am. It’s not worth it. Don’t do it.

Why Do You Practice?

The more I practice, the more I understand that the effects of the practice of yoga are too many to name. Whatever your personal reasons are for practicing, I believe that you will always benefit from it. You will always do better with it than without it.

For me, the main interest is longevity, aging with grace, acknowledging my limitations, and ultimately understanding that the practice itself is not an end, but a means, a way, a door leading to a more enlarged perspective of what life is — to self-realization.

Slowing down and learning to live in one breath seems to be the teaching that most masters and yogis of our time are trying to highlight.

Slowing down and becoming more aware of the subtleties of mind, body and breath with less interest in the competitive display of majestic postures and killer flows.