Day 42,43,44,45 - Desert Carols

Thursday, Day 42 - Morning Mysore

Friday, Day 43 - Friday Led Primary with Nea

Saturday, Day 44 - Home practice + deadly Christmas shopping

Sunday, Day 45 - Morning Mysore


This Happened. We sang carols in the desert and got cozy with hot tea and a real camel!! Sand dunes instead of snowy hills once again. I kind of miss Christmas in Canada. Kind of.

Day 31,32,33,34,35 - Vegetarianism and Yoga

Day 31,32,33,34,35 (Week 5)

I did horrible this week you guys. I ended up getting about 2 home-practices in and it was not enough. But this was one of the defining moments of my diet helping me get through. I can blame about 80% of it on work, but 20% was just me. It honestly bothers me so much when I can't get on my mat, it's almost to a point of OCD right now (which is what I'm aiming for, let's be honest). I need. I crave. I want.

Points of redemption when I can't get my daily practice is my diet and an added effort to control my thoughts. I know the fluctuations of the mind are so much more intense on days where I haven't practiced but I made a great effort to control my diet and it worked. Green veggies and lots of water go a long long way. For the most part, just saying I'm "vegetarian" does the trick. I get judged and then left alone.

I just got through Friday morning led class with Nea and it was painful!!! I mean physical actual ouch. My mind is on a whole new level though. I can't wait to have a good week back!!

On that note - I am still waiting for the Christmas spirit to set in!!!

Day 28,29,30 - Have Faith.

Day 28 
Ladies Holiday aka Bitches' day off, but this time with NO PAIN. yoga cures cramps y'all

Day 29
Home practice. I had an allergic reaction to some chickpeas. It wasn't the nicest of days.

Day 30

I'm half way there. Writing has been really helpful to my practice as it gives me a chance to reflect. Maybe I should just have a journal and not bore you guys? Just kiddin, I love the attention.

Today was Friday led class with Nea and it felt amazing as always. I felt light and I did my Bhujapidasana and back bending with new found vigor. Today's yoga sutra topic was interesting

"clarity is preceded by faith, energy, memory and equalminded contemplation" 

-Yoga Sutra 1.20

Clarity = Samadhi.

Clarity of mind.
Are you there?
Does it come naturally?
Or do you have to work on it? How far do you go every day to achieve it?
Ashtangis generally go too far.

This is a beautiful piece to watch: 

Day 22, 23 and 24 - Samskaras

Day 22:Shitty Practice 

Day 23

Friday morning led class with Nea followed by Yoga Sutras - it was interesting. The topic at hand was:

samskara 

= deep impressions,

 imprints in the unconscious

, deepest habits,

 subliminal activators,

 traces

(positive/negative)

Ashtanga yoga is such a deeply meditative practice that you would pretty much be working out your negative samskaras as you go deeper into the practice. I know I'm preaching to the choir right now, but if you want to learn more about this : Read Kino McGregor's article here.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone :)

Day 24

Morning practice with Tonya,  followed by lunch and beach with an old family friend who's in town. I love living in a city by the beach.

Namaste xo.

Day 16 - Never Give Up / Always Let Go.

Day 16

Thought-streams are controlled by practice and non-attachment.

Patanjali's Yoga Sutras say that practice is the effort to secure steadiness. So this may be through any form, yoga, meditation, breathing, etc. It is not necessarily 2 hours of Ashtanga primary or half primary every day. But that is what it is for me. A solid half primary practice - that is what brings my steadiness. And yes, I am attached to it. I am on a quest to be devoted to it, without interruption, over a long period of time.

Yesterday, I missed my practice and I was upset about it. But today, after a nice, sweaty, Friday morning practice followed by studying Yoga Sutras with Tonya and Nea - I feel much better.  My practice is the EFFORT to secure steadiness. It will always be an effort to get on the mat (some days more than others). And it will and should always be an effort to practice non attachment. We are all human, we are attached to places, people, things, shoes, lululemon, lovers, etc - we need this to keep us human. But in the end, we need to stop looking for an outcome or expected result. That's where we fuck up.

So yeah, to sum it up:

Give it your everything but expect nothing.

Never give up, but always let go.



Namaste x

Sheikh Zayed Road after the storm  is actually kinda gorgeous.

Day 9 - "my insanity is my sanity"

Day 9

Today, after yoga, we talked yoga sutras and the dynamics of our mind. The practice of controlling your emotions, which ultimately affect your body, comes from bringing awareness to your thoughts.

Are you still with me?

Thoughts --- Emotions --- Physical reactions.

Thoughts may be of the past, the present, or the future. They may be real, they may be projected, they may be delusional. The thoughts that we should focus on are those that represent reality. That means we accept things as they are, not what we want them to be. This acceptance and awareness is a constant battle for most of us, but things like yoga and meditation are tools to guide us. Just Breathe :)

My friend Lily, who is a big fan of Mike Tyson, spent some time last night explaining to me the "rawness" of Tyson's personality and character as depicted in his documentary. I just watched it and I could not agree more. Tyson embodies this concept of yoga to the tee. His awareness of reality is astounding and his story will definitely identify with some part of you. I cried *shrugs*.

Namaste and have a good Friday!



 PS.  Watch his documentary "Tyson" below, you won't regret it!!

Day 2 - Yoga Sutras and Commercialism

Another 5am wake-up call, but not for yoga - to the Dubai Women's Run!

It was a great venue, great turnout and well organized. I met a lot of lovely ladies and tons of interesting people pitching cool "health related" businesses. On the down side, it was commercialism at it's finest. Anyone will sell you anything and claim that it's healthy. I'm not one to preach about health and fitness, but I wish more people did their research and made a conscious effort to look through the bullshit.

By noon I was done Friday morning led class and sipping on some homemade chai with a group of like minded souls. Between day dreaming and reading yoga sutras with Nea & Tonya, I caught something about "the stillness/essence underneath it all" - that's what matters. Bingo.

Commercialism is well & good, branding is great; we all have a brand - a worldly identity. But that's not our essence or our true selves. Look through your own bullshit now and again.

Namaste.