I ride the peace train

I’ve just returned from teaching the first ever yoga workshop at Kennedy Club Fitness where I both teach and workout at and what a success week one was! I limited the number of people so as to have a small setting where I can really focus on the five people in front of me as opposed to the 30 plus people I sometimes get in a class. And because people associate “gym yoga” with names like Power Yoga, I decided to hone in on meditation and pranayama (breath) techniques as opposed to just sun salutations, standing postures and such. 

My meditation practice has taught me to be more peaceful. And by peaceful I mean quiet. I’m a loud person, I’ll be the first to admit this. When I was in teaching training and had to teach a practice class to my peers, they all remarked about my voice. Now just how loud it was but how clear and direct my choice of words came out during the hour class. Turns out I have a few students who usually wear hearing aids but don’t find it necessary in my class! HA! So being loud is a good thing, is what I’m trying to say… but being quiet is equally as nice.

Instead of focusing on the quality of the meditation, like “it was only 5 minutes” or “I opened up my eyes” or “I couldn’t get comfortable” I instead think of mediation as more of a journey, like yoga practice, and as long as I am feeling calmer, quieter and more at peace at the end of the practice, then it was successful. I also think it’s best to meditate at the same time every day (5:30 p.m. has been working for me) and to set a timer so that you don’t have to keep checking how long it’s been. Also, I am always cold. No seriously, even living in California I still rock the leg warmers my Gram made me while I was still a habitant of Chicago, so I like to wear a long-sleeved shirt so I don’t have to worry about goosebumps!

I’ve also been experimenting with different types of mediation; using a mantra, visualization, body scan, (which we’ll discuss in the weeks to come) but today I introduced the students (and I’ll introduce you too) to Sama Vritti Pranayama which in Sanskrit means equal breathing. Because the breath is the most important and vital part of any yoga practice, and they were all brand new to meditation, I had them start here so that “quieting the mind” wouldn’t seem like such a challenge. You can do it too… follow the steps below!

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1. Choose a comfortable spot and position to sit in. Sit against a wall if you are prone to neck and back pain. Set a timer.

2. For Sama Vritti Breathing: Close your mouth the entire time and breathe only through the nose. Begin to count to five as you inhale. Make these the longest breaths possible. The inhale should fill and last for the entire count.

3. When you get to the top start to count to five as you exhale. Make these the longest breaths possible. The exhale should release and last for the entire count.

4. If you find you can take even longer breaths, make the count higher like 8 or 10 to start.

5. Do this the entire time as you sit, or use this technique only when you cannot still your mind and you start thinking about what you should make for dinner, what you need at the market, etc. etc.!

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Oh! And I really don’t like to eat or drink a lot before I meditate because then you have to worry about “what if I have to pee” and the like and that’s not fun now is it?! So here’s this little Peachy Keen Smoothie I’ve been making with the abundance of peaches my friends have been sharing with me! This is a quick, easy peesy, 3 ingredient smoothie that you can make with any type of milk… Feel no guilt though and use Unsweetened Almond or Coconut milk if you can!