Article category: Lifestyle
Setting Your 2009 Intention With Yoga
Friday, January 02, 2009
It’s that time again!
Maybe like you, I subscribe to quite a number of newsletters. One thing’s for sure, this time of year many of these emails will talk about New Year’s Resolutions.
Love them or hate them, call ‘em what you like there IS something very symbolic to turning over a new year or starting a new calendar. For many it is almost as if they start from scratch (AGAIN). For this reason it is worth finding a way to harness the power of positive intention. So rather than lamenting another moment going by where precious little happens, you can back up your intentions with real action that will have you enjoying your successes. In this way you can transform your resolutions from simple WISHES to real outcomes that bring you more of what you want in your life.
Choose your moment
As I said, often these resolutions are made with the best of intentions. You do have to pick your moment and maybe even mark the process with something meaningful or even ceremonial. You could for example, sit down in some kind of quiet or meditative spot by the sea or in a forest or maybe your favorite room or location. You could go for a cleansing walk, do something positive like write your thoughts down. It really isn’t that surprising that if you set your intention during a night of celebration after a couple of drinks that disappointment will likely ensue. Do you really want to make another resolution only to have it fail and be disappointed? No one does.
So why do so many of these things fall by the wayside almost the moment they are uttered? What can you do to make your resolution worth focusing your attention on for more than the time it took to say it?
Resolutions are only as powerful as you make them. And they take some work!
Change is ... more of what works
I often tell people of a fabulous life philosophy that really works. The work of Humberto Maturana really resonates for me. Here it is summarized within a very simply statement:
If you keep on doing what works, then the stuff that doesn’t work will simply fall away. Do what works and those habits, actions and behaviors will stay and the elements that don’t work will be eradicated from the ‘system’. You are not trying to change things that don’t work. Nature will take care of the change if you focus on conserving what works.
Incremental intention works and can start with your yoga practice
Have you ever ‘set your intention’ in class before you practice yoga? These are mini-resolutions. Hey, even getting to class is one of those. And just like having a regular and frequent practice to get results, so too do you need to continue some kind of re-commitment to your cause when you resolve to make some changes in your life. In other words, you can’t go to one single yoga class and expect that you have done your exercise for your entire life and that your class was sufficient to transform you into that calm centered person you always wanted to be!
Let’s illustrate this with a ridiculous scenario: Your intention to go to a yoga class is useless if you don’t actually go! I told you that was silly but still commonsense. You can’t get to where you want to be without actually DOING something!
A new year’s resolution can be the same: we call that a ‘nominalization’ where the ‘resolution’ appears to exist outside of yourself. It may be something you have conceived of and named but in and of itself it IS nothing, just a word: Example? ‘Relationship’. You cannot actually have a relationship you can only be ‘relating’ with someone or something else. It’s what you are doing in any moment that makes your ‘relatING’ succeed or not. You give it the power. Similarly there is no such thing as a yoga practice, only what you are practicING. And as you know that can change from class to class and day to day.
In the next couple of days I’ll share with you a formula we use to transform mere goals into real life outcomes – AND how to use your yoga practice to get there!
Namaste
Gabrielle
PS. Checkout what people have been saying about the Hot Yoga MasterClass Products ...
>> http://www.hotyogadoctor.com/store/hot-yoga-masterclass-complete-set-best-value.html
(See “Reviews”)
Posted by Gabrielle on 01/02 at 04:36 PM
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Yoga Stretching Exercises - 15 Minutes A Day!
Monday, March 31, 2008
Hello fellow Yoginis & Yogis!
I believe practicing yoga asana (or poses) is an excellent metaphor for our emotional, mental and physical state. Stretching is definitely a way to find more space, ease and receptiveness in this world and not be curled up tight into a ball of stress almost cocooning ourselves away from experience.
I have a new friend called Lucas who is also a yoga teacher. We were talking and I was telling him I want to put together another ebook for my readers. The last one was really very popular and we had such great feedback. I asked Lucas if he would contribute an article.
Well, he sent me an article. In actual fact that is wrong. He sent me an ebook! I really love it.
>> No longer available. If you’d like a copy, please contact me privately!
It is a complete at-home stretching guide with interesting facts backing it up, linking diet to flexibility. It is really nicely written and although you may not agree with *all* the dietary advice it is definitely worth working your way right through it.
I did and I started on them immediately after I finished the last page (I really did!). There are some beautifully effective exercises in there that will really advance your yoga practice.
It’s so nice of Lucas to let me offer this valuable guide to you free. So many people read and ask questions on the forum about how to stretch certain areas of their tight bodies, hips, lower backs, shoulders. This is a great way to get you started on a simple effective stretch program. Lucas recommends 5 days a week 15 minutes a time. But you can do whatever you want: before a Hot Yoga class, after a Bikram class, when you get up in the morning; you decide.
Here is the link to Lucas’ ebook again. I am sure you will enjoy it and hope you will as much as I did. Please come back and leave your comments on it too. I would love to hear your feedback.
>> No longer available. If you’d like a copy, please contact me privately!
Oh, now that you’re here, you might notice the entire “hotyogadoctor” website has been upgraded - looks sooo different now. Love your feedback on that too ...
Namaste
Gabrielle
PS. As a result of corresponding, Lucas & I are now working on something special for you ... more soon (in a week or so - stay tuned!)
PPS. Holy Asana! Lucas has just told me he normally
sells this book for $19.95. I had no idea ... so the upshot of that is that I’ll have to take the link down in 10 days time - you’ll still be able to get it by emailing me privately if you are here and the link is no longer active. Wow, thanks again Lucas!Posted by Gabrielle on 03/31 at 04:02 PM
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