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.

Eight Simple Words

This week, a quote got stuck in my head like one of those earworms that creeps into your head off the radio and keeps popping up to annoy you and everyone around you each time you catch yourself singing the song.

This quote got stuck in my neck like one of those hungry vampires from true blood.

I found this quote stuck in my head so much that I (selfishly, please forgive me) posted it on my Facebook page twice in a few days to keep reminding myself of it and to explore and entertain all different meanings to it.

“Whatever is happening is the path to enlightenment.” ~Pema Chödrön~

Very few people that I quote on my page have Pema's ability to find the wisdom in everyday life with such clarity and intensity. Everyday life is not all unicorns and glittery angels but the nitty-gritty stuff that we go through each day.

How to Talk to Your Parents About Meditation

 Last Sunday, I was video chatting by Skype with my mom and dad in Argentina. We try to do that every week; in reality, it happens once a month. My husband came to say hello to them for a few moments. There’s only so much they can communicate, since my parents do not speak English and my husband’s Spanish is too basic for him to say much of meaning to them.

After that we had a few minutes of general chat and talked to each other's pets on Skype. Then my dad asked me where my husband went so I told him. He went to meditate.

Mom & Dad: Speechless

Mom & Dad: Still speechless.

Me: He went to the living room to sit and meditate.

Dad: How does he do “that”?

Praise & Criticism

A few days ago, I read a great, sweet, honest online review of my Warrior Flow class from a new student. (No, I won't share it!) Of course reading a good review made me smile and feel warm and fuzzy for the rest of the day.

But then I remembered the times when I received reviews that weren't warm and fuzzy at all. In fact they were kind of stinky and left me feeling like you know what for a few hours.

Criticism (constructive or not / sweet or not) is always challenging to accept. When it comes to online reviews, it's especially challenging because you don't know who else might be reading it. It's out there in the public domain. But that's part of what comes when you put yourself out there as a teacher or a writer or a public figure of any kind. You have to have a thick enough skin not to let the negative reviews get you down, while being open enough to let some of the light in from the positive ones.