Hiking Yogini

Posts Tagged ‘mindfulness’

I once took a management seminar in which the facilitator was discussing how to deal with the ubiquitous “How are you?” in the work place.  We all know that the person asking has simply expanded, “Hello”, and they don’t really want to know how you’re doing unless the answer is, “Great! That project proposal you need is all set.” or “Great! I just scored tickets to the Superbowl!”  They don’t want to know anything else — they’re busy with their own angst-ridden day.  The only folks who may really want to hear your true answer when they ask are your girlfriends, buddies or loving family members  …  So how do you answer your coworker when your day isn’t great and still practice Right Speech … In other words, not be a liar? Read the rest of this entry »

Commitment is a large word, or perhaps, I should say a difficult word.  It’s a word that conjures up many different shades of meaning for many different people.  I’ve thought of myself as a commitment phobe for most of my adult life.  I suppose you could say I was soured on the word early on when my marriage — married right out of college at the tender age of 22 – failed spectacularly and painfully.  And without much conscious thought, I found myself scared to commit.  Didn’t like a job? I’d leave it.  A relationship … or first date(!) … not working? I’d leave it.  Not happy about where I was living? I’d move.  By the time I hit my mid-thirties, I was exhausted. Read the rest of this entry »

Hiking in the Spring offers its own unique gifts — copious mud, budding trees, and the awakening of all the little, flying, biting, swarming insects that can turn a brief stop along trail into a very annoying thing, indeed — IF you let it.

We went hiking on Saturday at Wachusetts State Reservation, picked for it’s variety of relatively easy trails … Perfect for breaking in new boots! The sun was warm, there was a slight breeze, all in all, perfect weather for a Spring hike. Oh, but the bugs! I don’t even know what kind of bugs they were, some type of fly, but they were prolific! The moment we stopped to take a break, they descended, and let’s face it, we were hot, sweaty and probably a fly’s idea of a tasty treat. Read the rest of this entry »

One of my own phrases came back to haunt me this past weekend, “Expect the unexpected” … Or rather, “Suspend expectation.”  (Mind you, I’m sure I’m not the first Yoga teacher to utter those words!) I’d do well if I took these words and embraced them on a regular basis myself … If this was a daily mantra to which I turned. I know as a yoga teacher I’ve said this to my students many a time in class, “Suspend your expectations of what you think your practice … this particular asana, should be, and simply allow it to be what it is.”  So much of our suffering, angst, worry, anxiety stems from a situation, person, or an interaction not meeting our expectations. And two things in my life — hiking and yoga — repeatedly, and continually, remind me of this bit of wisdom. Read the rest of this entry »

I’ll be honest … I’m not entirely sure what’s behind my motivation to blog about my Yogic journey, why I want to share the rawness of it. Choosing to live “yogically” isn’t easy, although it’s somewhat of a simple decision.  Incorporating yogic values into one’s daily life seems, at face value, an honorable, basic and high-falutin’ endeavor.  However, at it’s core, I’m sometimes thinking it could have masochistic leanings…  Ok, so apparently I’m starting my blog at a particularly cynical moment… Read the rest of this entry »