Tag Archives: meditation

Mind Full or Mindful?

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Mind Full or Mindful?

published on Greenster

Mind fulll vs Mindful

 29  5

What does your morning say about you?

This is a subject that was on my mind for a while, but especially so today. As I crossed the street on a green light, a car turned right to literally whiz by me, barely 10 seconds away from knocking me over like a bowling pin. It was obvious that the driver wanted to make the green light, but at what cost?  As it is, the street has 5 schools on it and so is a 30km/hr zone, not a 50 or 60 km/hr zone, which is what the average person does – unless the police are posted on a sting operation.

Like the speeder, most people hit the ground running in the morning.  They wake up with fifty different things on their mind, rushing around the house, to errands, and to work. The pace of today is crammed and continuous. When things happen faster than a tweet, it’s easy to get caught up in this go-go-go mindset.  In yoga sutra 1.2, Patanjali says: “yogascittavrttinirodhah” which is understood as “yoga is the ability to direct and focus mental activity.” In other words, Yoga is a practice aimed at taming the mind, which is considered to be a wild animal.

Assuming this racing mind is what’s driving you, you may tip the speed limit, and that has obvious repercussions. If you start your day rushing back and forth, stressed and scattered, what does it do to the afternoon and evening? How does it translate into your body language?  Are you someone who grips the wheel, clenches your teeth, drops your head and shoulders forward…? At any rate, these are habits that wind up causing headaches, stiff necks, back pain and more! The issues are in the tissues! The racing mind never drives the speed limit.

Calm your racing mind: start your mindfulness practice in the morning so that it will set the foundation for your day.

What can you do to stay relaxed while still making it to work on time, getting your workout in, taking the time to kiss your significant other good-bye, walk the dog, get groceries and all that jazz?  Here are a few tips to take you from mind full to mindful in the morning :

  1. Wake up a few minutes earlier- not to loud music or CNN but something quieter and melodic.
  2. Try a few yoga poses (cat stretch is always a great standby) and/or a short meditation
  3. Take a walk outdoors instead of doing cardio at the gym – time permitting… it really changes your perspective
  4. Repeat an affirmation, such as;  “ I am calm and centered as I begin this new day”
  5. Spend a few quiet moments alone and count your blessings.
  6. Start your day by taking a few centering breaths.  Get rhythmic so that your exhale tempo is twice as long as your inhale. You can do this sitting on the edge of your bed right after you wake up.
  7. Set your coffee or tea up the night before so it is ready for you to switch on, giving you time to do one of the above.
  8. Make a to-do list so you are focused, rather than frantic
  9. Eat something healthy for breakfast so you don’t crash and burn.
  10. Never leave home angry.  If you’re feeling angry, stop and count to ten. Be kind rather than right and let the issue go, or at least agree to shelve it til later.

Learning how to tune in to your own inner rhythm and relax is a skill set that has side benefits throughout your day.  Having a more inspired mindset and feeling connected to yourself is really powerful awareness.  Maybe you will get into the car, use the headrest, relax your shoulders, turn the ignition, and be driven by an alert relaxation that is an incredibly preventive medicine, not only against speeding tickets, but other health concerns. Leave your full, wild animal mind behind to a morning of peace and mindfulness.

Photo Credit: Ernest

published January 7, 2013

How To Make Self-Reflection Fun

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How To Make Self-Reflection Fun

posted in MindBodyGreen

By Rana Waxman

Something caught my attention on Twitter the other day. It was a tweet by a woman who said that she didn’t see the point of self-reflection because she did a bit over the holidays and it was depressing.
My “yoga-teacher-radar” went off immediately, because to me, “self reflect” does not = buy a pint of Haagen-Dazs, stay in your bathrobe, and have a pity-party.
Not that this last form of entertainment is a bad thing if it’s a stepping-stone on your path to The Other Side of whatever issue you’re working through.
If so, at least buy the best quality junk food, set aside a fixed amount of time to cry and feel your feelings, get it all out, summon your inner strength and positive outlook, perhaps apply a bit of lip gloss (gentlemen: shave?) and move forward.
Someone once said to me “better out than in” which, in retrospect may have been advice about sneezing, but it seems appropriate to fit it into this conversation.
In fact, the yogic system recognizes that suffering is part of the human predicament, and awareness of this is the foundation to change. In this context, suffering is at the level of the mind.
For example, if you are going through a break-up, and you become so lost in the negatives, the inadequacies, the failures that you become all that, you are allowing yourself to become suffering embodied.
On the other hand, if you perceive that every obstacle is a blessing in disguise, you free up your mind, and are able to let life move through you, you identify with the BIG picture not the temporary drama. This radically changes outcomes in your life.
How to go about this? Yoga is a practical methodology; an action plan for wellness, if you will. As humans, we can either reinforce conditions which maintain frantic or which awaken calm within us.
Hence the “plan” is three-fold, called in the Yoga Sutras, Kriya-Yoga, and transformation through Practice. These three aspects are to:
1. Purify the body and mind (Tapas)
2. Self-reflect (Svadhyaya)
3. Recognize our Source (Isvara pranidhana)
The word Svadhyaya translates to “move forward to one’s self,” to borrow from Gary Kraftsow. If a wave were looking in the mirror, it would see itself as the wave but also as the ocean… Poetic, yes, but also practical.
If you see only the small self, your journey can be mired by insecurities and stress. When you elevate and nourish the perception of self, you are likely to feel that everything on the journey happens for a reason. I call it “research and development.”
You will likely cultivate objectivity, friendliness and an empowering attitude to nourish and adopt behaviors and strategies to further peace, positivity, and clarity.
A new year is always a new beginning. 
If you can start to make a few healthier choices (food, beverage, meditation, yoga postures, nature, weed out toxic relationships and behaviors) your inner life will reflect these changes, and when you self-reflect, your vision will no longer be distorted.
Elevate and you will be elevated. Embrace and cultivate the inner dimension, and the outer will follow…
As always, it is important to let go the old, to make room for the new. 
A great breathing practice to help foster your new attitude is Kapalabhati Pranayama (pronounced (kah-pah-lah-BAH-tee). Kapala = skull and bhati = light (implying perception, knowledge).
This wonderful breathing exercise will clear the mind, release emotional tensions, improve digestion, and leave you feeling energized and “brighter,” almost as if your brain was standing in a warm and happy sunbeam.
Build up slowly!
Step by Step Guide: 
Sit comfortably, using any support or props.  Try seated tadasana on a chair, if you like.
Focus on your lower abdomen, placing your hands there, one atop the other. Breathe in and then try laughing.
Notice the activity under your hands, as the belly contracts in short bursts.
Inhale, and as you exhale next time, repeat the same “ha ha ha” action but using short exhales through the nose.
Your inhales can be long, passive and slow, the exhales will be shorter bursts.  You can keep your hands on the belly and use them to pump the abdomen until you are comfortable and feel more adept at the rhythm.

Photo Credit: Shutterstock.com

Published January 2, 2013 at 9:11 AM
About Rana Waxman
Rana Waxman is a Yoga Therapist, who has taught in Montreal for over 17 years. Her background in the healing arts of massage have earned her the nickname ‘the muscle whisperer.”  Often called, the “modern yogini,” Rana likes to empower students to take their practice home with them so their yoga becomes a tool for transformation. Her inspired style is a blend between alignment, vinyasa and restorative yoga to promote healthy posture, peace and positivity. Follow Rana on Facebook and Twitter.More from Rana Waxman on MindBodyGreen

yoga – just do it

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yoga just do itToday I will be who I am and do what I can…

Whatever Yoga means to you -whether a certain flow, a class, a prayer, a chant, an action, a stillness, today fit it in… As B.K.S. Iyengar says in Light on Yoga, “As a well cut diamond has many facets, each reflecting a different colour of light, so does the word yoga, each facet reflecting a different shade of meaning and revealing different aspects of the entire range of human endeavour to win inner peace and  happiness”