Hiking Yogini

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 »

It’s that time of year at my company when all good corporate employees must evaluate their own performance as a precursor to the annual performance review given to us all by our various supervisors. I dread this time of year. Every year. I procrastinate. I allow myself to get distracted. I help everyone else with whatever else needs doing — anything to avoid sitting down and honestly evaluating the good, the bad and the everything in between. And this year was no exception. Knowing it was coming, knowing it was coming two months in advance, didn’t prevent it from still being an adrenaline-deadline-driven project again this year. Read the rest of this entry »

One of the greatest impediments to my daily practice seems to be an ingrained habit of staying up way too late.  Even an hour (or a half hour!) past bedtime effects my ability to get up and find enough will power to get out of bed, let alone go to the gym for a cardio work out or get on my mat for some Sun Salutations.  And there are too many evenings I’m up much longer than an hour past bedtime. 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 »