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Yoga for Kids

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Why is Yoga good for kids you may ask.  Children get a lot out of  yoga physically, mentally and emotionally.  Physically yoga works to  enhances their flexibility, strength, coordination, and body awareness.  When your child is able to display great agility and flexibility, it does wonders for their confidence. The practice of yoga is fun for your children, teaching them the importance of  exercise and play and assists then to connect more deeply with the inner self, and develop an intimate relationship with the natural world that surrounds them.   Even very young children love the interaction and practicing yoga with your babies allows you to keep up your own strength and fitness while interacting and spending some special bonding time with your baby.  Many yoga centers hold Mum’s and Bub’s classes which will be enjoyable for you and your baby

 

Thousands of years ago when yoga was developed,  yogis  still lived close to the natural world and used animals and plants for inspiration— i.e. the grounded stature of a tree (Vrkasana), the snake stretching its head like a Cobra (bhujanga).   When children imitate the movements and sounds of nature, they have a chance to get really get into the emotional and physical form of the animal, and for a short time take on its qualities.  The physical aspects of Yoga introduce kids to yoga’s true meaning: union, expression, and honor for oneself and one’s part in this beautiful world in which we live

 

I have 6 nieces ( 3 live around the corner from me and are always popping in 🙂  and 1 nephew, as well as many friends with kids.  Most of the people I know and spend time with know of my love for yoga and that I am a yoga teacher, and of those most interested in this part of me are kids.  They never stop asking me ” can we do yoga”  to which I alway respond YES of course ( their enthusiasm is infectious ).  A childs natural inclination is to learn,  and they are forever asking for new poses, or games to play.   Kids teach me so much,  I am always learning from them.   Teaching  kids is one the most challenging of all types of yoga teaching (they can sometimes be restless and more inclined to their own whims and  imagination)  but also the most rewarding.  For a child will always be honest with you (sometimes alarmingly so ” no, not that one I want to do another pose) and be the most giving  displaying some of the best qualities of human being which sometimes we loose or perhaps forget as we get older.   To watch a child’s imagination and creativity thrive is a wonderful joyous thing.

 

Yoga allows them to use their imagination, express various emotions, build strength and courage, learn to Quiet the mind and still the body and most of all its fun, so look check your local community for classes and let the fun begin 🙂

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Corn Chimichangas

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Yum!! 🙂

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For the longest time (when I lived in the States) I didn’t like Mexican food (silly me!) In my college days I was probably the only who would not get excited about going to Chipotle. Then I discovered guacamole, and all of a sudden I had hyperactive  taste buds for Mexican cuisine.

In Orlando my girlfriend and I would drive up to the closest Chipotle to our office (about 30 miles) and pig out on burrito bowls & tacos. Later, of course with all those carbs in the tummy, focusing on work would be a nightmare. But I just  love the burrito bowl at Chipotle – Oh man, how I miss that food!

So in memory of those heavy duty lunch days – I made chimichangas but instead of  deep frying them, I just threw them in the oven! The stuffing for these is pretty simple and is made with fresh corn sauteed with some garlic, red and…

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embrace every new path: be a beginner again

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What makes you feel alive and dynamic? Likely, its not the growing pains of being a beginner.

the beginning

At the beginning of something new, there can be an excitement. Then the learning curve crashes down. You realize how much you have to grasp for things to not feel like a whirlwind. Patience is frustrating–can’t I just be an expert already!?!

Or, maybe you’re forced into something new–you break up with a partner, move, lose your job– you must navigate the beginning of this new path.

Being a beginner can seem like you’re giving your energy into an abyss with no end in sight. You must be broken down until your mental and physical muscle-memory rebuilds.

Despite the hardship, isn’t this what we seek in being a dynamic, soulful human being– not feeling stagnant, experiencing movement and growth? In other words, being a beginner, as difficult as it can be…

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Sadhana

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One  definition of Sadhana according to Wikipedia in  Iyengar (1993: p. 22) in his English translation of and commentary to Patañjali‘s Yoga Sutras defines sādhanā in relation to abhyāsa and kriyā:

Sādhanā is a discipline undertaken in the pursuit of a goal. Abhyāsa is repeated practice performed with observation and reflection. Kriyā, or action, also implies perfect execution with study and investigation. Therefore, sādhanā, abhyāsa, and kriyā all mean one and the same thing. A sādhaka, or practitioner, is one who skillfully applies…mind and intelligence in practice towards a spiritual goal. 

Basically Sadhana is discipline in pursuit of a goal.  Yoga for me is a lifelong journey, which has continued to evolve.  Your yoga precise or sadhana is a special time to focus on your own growth by creating a time and place for your own development.

As a yoga teacher my sadhana is very important for me, maintaining the practise I was taught, maintaining physical discipline in order to teach well and grow as an instructor.  Sometimes maintaining sadhana is easier said than done.  With a busy full time work life and work travel time, some semblance of a social life (albeait barely at times) and the demands of running a part-time yoga teaching job .  I found when I became too busy the first thing to go was my sadhana.  I continued to teach and plan class practise in preparation to teach my Students, so I figured it was ok.  This also gave me more time to prepare special notes and handouts tailored to people attending class.  Then along came my wedding plans, preparations and organising that took over even more time and I found myself without my sadhana.  I was whilst I was overseas on my  honeymoon that I met someone who truly inspired my sadhana again.  I believe there are no coincidences only a reason for the people you meet, we all have messages to impart and in some way we have all inspired others, so should we too be inspired.   On the occasion I found myself practising yoga for the love of it, I was often feeling down heartened by my decrease in flexibility and physical awareness.   I again realised the importance of Sadhana in my daily life and am now back on track and enjoying my lovely morning practise again.  This is a time I truly look forward to, a nurturing space I have created in a spare room in my house, always set up, clean and ready for me to practise any time I feel like it.  I can only strongly recommend that you too create such a space to nature yourself (a lovely sunny space, or a well organised corner of your room)  it is a lovely way to start the day and leave prepared with  a feeling of  calm, physically lighter and more energetic for whatever the day may bring.  The dreams in my heart had never died, only my physical offerings towards them faltered, Continue your daily Sadhana, whatever you dreams may be and you will eventually find yourself on the path you intended.

So I leave you today with a beautiful picture of my yoga space and some inspiring words left to us through the ages  to motivate, encourage and feed the soul! – enjoy!

Namaste!

Lucinda x

Love, love, love, that is the soul of genius.
Wolfgang Amedeus Mozart

 

Encouragement is the oxygen of the soul.
George M. Adams

 

Without inspiration the best powers of the mind remain dormant. There is a fuel in us which needs to be ignited with sparks.
Johann Gottfried Von Herder

 

Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved.
Helen Keller

And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music
Nietzsch

We are still masters of our fate.
We are still captains of our souls.
Winston Churchill

Trust the process of the subtle push toward art and creative expression from inside you – it is the gentle call of your heart and renewed search for soul. It is an opening to expansion of your expressive abilities and the discovery of hidden limitations ready to be challenged. Be open to what it means, it has many possibilities for action in every part of your life. Ultimately it will lead to significant personal changes – to living life in a new way with new tools of creative expression.
Donald William Mathews

 

Nothing contributes so much to tranquillize the mind as a steady purpose–
a point on which the soul may fix its intellectual eye.
Mary Shelley

 
Whatever satisfies the soul is truth.
Walt Whitman


Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark, in the hopeless swamps of the approximate, the not-quite, the not-yet, the not-at-all. Do not let the hero in your soul perish, in lonely frustration for the life you deserved, but have never been able to reach. Check your road and the nature of your battle. The world you desired can be won. It exists, it is real, it is possible, it is yours.
Ayn Rand 

 

Trust the process of the subtle push toward art and creative expression from inside you – it is the gentle call of your heart and renewed search for soul. It is an opening to expansion of your expressive abilities and the discovery of hidden limitations ready to be challenged. Be open to what it means, it has many possibilities for action in every part of your life. Ultimately it will lead to significant personal changes – to living life in a new way with new tools of creative expression.
Donald William Mathews

The Meaning of Namaste

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Namaste what does it mean?

The word Namaste, often heard spoken as a commonplace greeting in places like India or Nepal.  It is also used at the end  and/ or beginning of a yoga class in India and sometimes in Australia but what does it really mean?

The definition of Namaste is “ I honor the place in you where the divine dwells, when you are in the place and I am in the place then we are one” The gesture of Namaste ( hands clasped at the heart in prayer in Anjali Mudra,  and with a  slight bow of the head)  is an acknowledgment of the soul in one by the soul in another.

In Sanskrit “Nama” means bow, “as” means I, and “te” means you.   So literally Namaste means “bow me you” or “I bow to you.”   When talking to someone when you greatly respect, place the hands in front of the forehead, reverence for a god or the holiest of persons may be indicated by placing the hands completely above the head.

Wishing Loving-kindess on Others

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Wishing Loving-Kindness to all x

Namaste. . .

“Loving-kindness is the wish that others will experience happiness and find the causes of this happiness.  All beings long for happiness, but hardly any achieve it.  So to wish them as much happiness as possible and to wish that they may find the causes of happiness is called “loving-kindness“.  Loving-kindness has immeasurable qualities.  If you have ths love deep within your being, you naturally benefit others.  And there is no way that any kind of evil influence can harm you, for compassion is the most powerful weapon against negative forces.”

~~ Dilgo Khyenste Rinpoche

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Yum!

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Za’atar Manakish or Zaatar Bread is a simple Arabic recipe – which is basically a kind of flat bread baked with Zaatar and olive oil spread over it.

When I lived in Kuwait, my dad and I would go to a bakery and get this bread and it was freshly baked right in front of us. I would eat one in the car on my way back home. It is so unique in flavor and is soo Yum!

Zaatar is a mixture that is made out of mostly dried thyme, oregano and sumac….there are many variations to it that consists of sesame seed (my favorite), cumin, coriander, fennel seeds etc.

You can buy it at a Middle Eastern grocery store or maybe in the ethnic section of the regular grocery store, I get my supply from Kuwait. You just have to mix the zaatar (powder) with some good quality olive oil and smear…

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happiness NOW!

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happiness NOW!

POSTED ON MAY 8, 2012 BY 

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We have all experienced those moments of fundamental joy and love of life, or, more colloquially, “happiness.” How can we tap into that consistently? Here is what I know:

First, happiness is not a place. It is a process.

The other day I admitted to my friend an insecurity about blogging on these big life ideas. I was concerned about people who have known me in times of struggle and difficulty. “What if they think I have no credibility because I’ve experienced pain in this process?” In the next breath, I heard what I said and smiled. “I couldn’t have learned what I’ve learned without the pain. My process brings my joy.”

There will never be a place where you’re free from hurt and insecurity. When you see those uncomfortable times as part of a long process, you’ll tap into your joy.

Of course I shouldn’t care what people think. I shouldn’t think that I’m above feeling pain…learning from these insecurities is part of my process.

Second, you will never achieve happiness by waiting for it. You must be active in the process.

“People tend to think that happiness is a stroke of luck, something that will descend like fine weather if you’re fortunate. But happiness is the result of personal effort. You fight for it, strive for it, insist upon it, and sometimes even travel around the world looking for it. You have to participate relentlessly.” -Elizabeth Gilbert

You’re never going to find a consistent joy without participating in seeking it.

If your reality consists of constantly complaining, lots of work, little to no reflection, and escape through television, alcohol, etc., will you wake up one morning and feel consistently happy? In my limited experience, I have never seen or heard of this happening.

When I have seen and consistently felt happiness, three things are present: meeting the body’s needs lovingly, learning and reflecting on reactions, and seeking wisdom from various sources.

Practicing constant and active self-care will achieve joy. Practicing being a victim of unhappiness will not. It is that simple.

Third, you will not find happiness by always feeling pleasure.

Have you ever said to yourself “I have to feeling pain AGAIN??!!”; “can’t I be done with the pain already?”; or “I don’t want to go through the dark another time!”?

Look, shit happens. No matter how much joy you bring into your life, it will continue to happen. We are faced with challenges not to break us, but to teach us. Turn those questions around and say, “If I’m experiencing this, there is something I have to learn.”

Take the sports metaphor… In The Power of Kabbalah, Yehuda Berg speaks about the process of winning. He asks whether in athletic events, is the goal actually winning?

“Suppose there were a magic formula that allowed your team to win every single game. No matter what happened, no matter who you played, you always won…What would that really be like? You’d quickly discover that the game had lost its appeal. Excitement would turn into boredom. So can we really say that winning is the ultimate goal? No. What we really want from the game is risk and challenge–that requires the possibility of losing. More than winning, it’s the test of our ability that makes the game meaningful.”

Happiness, this feeling of success, comes from challenge, a sense of accomplishment, and growth. You don’t want this to be easy. You don’t really want me to tell you how to get “happiness NOW!” …Otherwise, you wouldn’t know growth.

Love this ongoing process to achieve joy. Love your genuine effort to figure out this process. And, most importantly, love your ability to go through the dark, because your when you again experience light, you will know your depth. In that depth, is where you will find happiness.