A Healthy Chick Moment of Yoga: Four Paths of Yoga

Yoga means Union. Union between the individual self and the Universal Self; union between Body-Mind-Spirit. Yoga is not just a system of physical exercises. It is a classical system of personal development of body, mind, spirit. There are four main paths to attain this Union which brings health, happiness and peace of mind: Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Raja Yoga (Hatha Yoga) and Jnana Yoga. Each path is suited to a different temperament or approach to life. All the paths lead ultimately to the same goal. The lessons of each path need to be integrated if true wisdom is to be attained.

1. Karma Yoga, The Path of Action

By acting selflessly, without thought of personal gain or reward, and by detaching from the fruits of actions and instead offering them to God, the Karma Yogi purifies the heart and sublimates the ego.

2. Bhakti Yoga, The Path of Devotion

Through prayer, worship and ritual, the Bhakti Yogi surrenders to God, channeling and transmuting emotions into unconditional love or devotion. Chanting or singing the praises of God form a substantial part of Bhakti Yoga.

3. Raja Yoga and Hatha Yoga

This path is often called Ashtanga, or eight-limbed yoga. It is the path of body, breath and mind control, and meditation. Hatha yoga is part of Raja yoga. It offers a systematic method for controlling the waves of thought. The chief practice of Raja Yoga is meditation. When body and energy are under control, meditation comes naturally.

4. Jnana Yoga, The Yoga of Knowledge

This is vedantic meditation and self-enquiry. Requiring tremendous strength of will and intellect, the Jnana Yogi uses intellect to inquire into his or her own true nature and into the nature of reality. Before practicing Jnana Yoga, the aspirant needs to have integrated the lessons of the other yogic paths - for without selflessness and love of God, strength of body and mind, the search for self-realization can become mere idle speculation.

Keep it Fresh!

- Lauren

Bringing Balance to the Workplace Through Yoga

Babies are born yogis. When we were younger we were all able to pull our toes up by our ears and simply laugh. Then we grew, we aged, we got injured and we began carrying stress on our back, shoulders, and neck. Our bodies became tighter, muscles grew stiff and we lost our balance.

Yoga helps create a sense of union in body, mind and spirit. It brings us balance.

The Physical benefits: Creates a toned, flexible, and strong body. Improves respiration, energy, and vitality. Helps to maintain a balanced metabolism. Promotes cardio and circulatory health. Relieves pain. Helps you look and feel younger than your age. Improves your athletic performance.

The Mental benefits: Helps you relax and handle stressful situations more easily. Teachesyou how to quiet the mind so you can focus your energy where you want it to go - into a difficult yoga pose, on the tennis court or golf course, or in the office. Encourages positive thoughts and self-acceptance.

The Spiritual benefits: Builds awareness of your body, your feelings, the world around you, the needs of others. Promotes an interdependence between mind, body, and spirit. Helps you live the concept of "oneness."

Yoga in the workplace has the added benefits of boosting energy, reducing work related stress, relieving office chair back pain, all of which add up to happier employees and increased productivity. But for the most part, the evidence of the benefits of yoga is anecdotal. They range from the simple "I can touch my toes again" to "it helped me handle my stress." A former student and corporate client in West Patterson said, “I enjoy yoga at the office because it is convenient. By practicing it in the work environment, I can relate the relaxation techniques to my job. I find that I am a better employee when I practice yoga, I can ‘go with the flow’, rather than waste time and energy fighting changes. Especially in today’s business environment, the pace is fast and ever changing.”

The great thing about yoga is, you don’t have to be able to touch your toes to do it. Anyone can do yoga-no matter how young or old you are, whether you're a couch potato or a professional athlete. Size and fitness level do not matter because there are modifications for every yoga pose. The idea is to explore your limits, not strive for some pretzel-like perfection.

If you work in the Metro Park area, you can check out a class at Metro Park Wellness located at 99 Wood Ave South, Iselin, NJ. Classes are offered on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday at 12:15 – 1:00pm and 1:15 – 2:00pm on the 8^th Floor. It's a $10 drop in and yoga mats are provided. Simply wear comfortable clothing that allows you to move. Just remember one thing: the purpose of yoga isn’t to tie you in knots; it’s to untie the knots you already have and bring balance back to the body.

Keep it Fresh!

~Terra

IMperfect...ion

One of my greatest challenges as a yoga instructor is my personal practice. Sounds silly, I teach 5 yoga classes a week, a personal practice should be a piece of cake, right? Wrong. oh so very wrong. It seems as if the hardier my teaching schedule is the less "time" I have for my own personal practice. Teaching yoga is not a personal practice. It is a gift you give to another person, but it is not a gift you give to yourself.

Generally, I am not one for making New Year's resolutions but as we moved through January this was at the forefront of my mind. My practice, and yogic education (which should be never ending) seemed stagnant. So, I consciously made the choice to dive head first back into my practice. Taking 4 classes a week, on top of teaching 5 classes a week, seems like a lot, but it feels amazing. It's my own little way of immersing myself back into the one thing (besides my fiance) that I am in love with.

In many ways I struggle as a heath coach, mostly over my lack of perfection. It's the virgo in me to want to fit in to the perfect healthy mold. I want my belly to be flat, my arms and legs long and lean and I want not to reach for the salty and sweet snacks when emotions run high. Unfortunately, I am not always perfect. Even though my clients are successful and love me as their health coach, inside, sometimes I felt like a failure. Which was not easy for the virgo in me to accept. Virgos are perfectionists.

The perfectionist in me also struggles on the mat. In each yoga class I teach, I remind my students "this is your time on your mat. Let go of judgement. Dive into yourself and love your practice." When you teach and neglect your personal practice, it's extremely hard to practice what you preach...or teach.

Coming back into my personal practice is helping me let go of my imperfections. On Tuesday, I took a yoga class with Wendy, one of my beloved teachers. While working on eka pada koundiyanasana variations and pincha mayurasana consciously tried to let go of any "imperfections." I kept my focus inside and on my mat. I let go of judgement, I didn't look around to see the other people in the yoga room and I came closer to my perfect than I ever have. It felt amazing....and a lightbulb went off.

I have short humeri. My upper arms are just short. My elbow doesn't even reach my floating rib. How could I have never noticed this before in my life?

This lightbulb was more like a flood light. It allowed my heart to soften for myself. My palms have never reached the mat in staff pose. I always attributed it to extra padding around my waist and hips. On Tuesday I realized that is not the case. I could be a string bean, with 10% body fat and my palms would still not reach the mat in staff pose. My palms will never reach the mat in staff pose. I have short humerus(es).

I find it almost ridiculous that it took me over 10 years of practice to come to this conclusion. But we're all works in progress right? Each one of us is IMperfect. And that is ok.

Have you ever had a lightbulb moment over your IMperfect..ions?

Keep it Fresh!

Terra

Perky Posture

Don't be a slouch! Sit or stand tall, confident and strong. Sitting or standing up straight will allow the prana (breath) to flow smoother, providing you with more energy while improving the health of your spine. Practice mindfulness of your posture at all hours of your day, in all situations for a taller, prouder you!

1. Take a break. Most office jobs leaves us sitting at a desk for long periods of time, allowing us to sink into our chairs. Set your computer to ding every hour as a signal to stand up, stretch, roll your neck/shoulders and readjust. Get up to grab a drink of water too, it will help get the blood circulating, give your eyes a rest and rehydrate you.

2. Raise your car's rear-view mirror. Angling your mirror up slightly teaches you to sit up straighter behind the wheel and elsewhere.

3. Move your monitor. Your neck is an extension of your spine so tilting your noggin down or back to see your screen can promote poor posture. Adjust your screen's position at your desk so that you gaze straight ahead. Also, be mindful of your position as you use gadgets such as laptops, iPads, even gadgets such as phones for long periods of time.

4. Stand tall in mountain pose. Practice tadasana (the mountain pose) by balancing your weight equally between both feel and imagine they're rooted to the floor. Visualize the crown of your head being pulled from above and you keep your abs tight. An easy way to bring yourself into a correct posture at any time is to tightening your abs, that will always align your spine correctly.

5. Do kegals. Contract your pelvis as if stopping a flow of urine. Working the pelvic floor and other muscles of the core stimulates muscles along the spine that encourages it to lift and elongate. It also is a great exercise to help prevent incontinence.

A regular yoga practice will help correct your posture. In yoga we work on lengthening the spine, increasing the space between each vertebrate, resulting in a taller, prouder you!

Keep it Fresh!

- Lauren

Global Mala 2010 - Asbury Park, NJ

This weekend was the Yoga Festival by the Sea in Asbury Park, NJ. It was an exciting weekend of yoga, yummy vegan food and great people! =) Read my blog post here.
The Global Mala was founded by Shiva Rea to unite the global yoga community from every continent to form a "mala around the earth" by spreading peace in hopes that it has a ripple effect throughout the world. On Sunday, we gathered and practiced 108 sun salutations together on the Asbury Park boardwalk.
All of the money raised for this event will go towards bringing yoga into Asbury Park Schools.
The image above was shot by Kiersten Rowland of Prema Photographic
(she got so many lovely shots of the day!).

Keep it Fresh!
- Lauren

5 Ways to Keep it Fresh (and exciting) in Summer 2010!

Woah, it's HOT on the Jersey shore. As I drove home from my Wise Mamas Prenatal and Mommy and Me classes last tuesday, the temp actually reached 105?! Seriously, I think 105 is out of line! Regardless, summer is here, it's in full force and everyone should take advantage of it.

Summer is like the season of the possible. The plants are blooming (my cantaloupe plant is currently exploding with fruit on my balcony, thanks to the bumble bees!) and the sun makes you feel vibrant and radiant. The longer days and increased vitamin D makes it feel like we can accomplish anything. The funny thing is, when we feel like we can accomplish anything - we can!

All you have to do is harness that energy, ride the wave of summer and try something new!

Throughout the year, most of us live extremely buys lives. We move through our tasks with an intense pace and oftentimes get stuck in a routine. Don't get me wrong, routine isn't always bad. It's great to have consistency. However, if we choose consistency for the sake of efficiency or simply out of the fear of change our chances for the extraordinary drop. Lack of variety stagnates not only our mind, but our body and heart.

Breaking our routine brings the fresh and exciting into our our life. It keeps us on our toes and every aspect of our life, including our health, vibrant! Sometimes change and trying new things can be scary, but almost always it brings health, vitality and excitement to our lives.

Check out our top 5 ways to Keep it Fresh this summer:

1. Be In the Moment. We’re human beings, not human doings. Let go of the past and the future in order to savor every juicy moment of the present. Surfing is an amazing way to be in the moment while enjoying the summer sun. Don't know how to surf? Take a lesson! Contact Shawn Zappo at Yoga Basin, hit the Asbury Park Boardwalk and catch some waves!

2. Move Your Body and Sweat Once a Day. It will flush toxins from the largest organ of the body – your skin! Movement gets your endorphins pumping, creates more energy and just makes you feel good! Try Terra's Monday 9:00am Soul Sweat class or Lauren's Thursday 9:00am Gentle Haltha class at Asbury Park Dance & Yoga. If you want to really dust off those dancing shoes, check out the other amazing class opportunities at AP Dance including zumba, belly dance, tap, tango, hip hop and caberet. There's no excuse not to shake your groove thang!

3. Try It Raw. Eat more living, fresh foods in the warm months including unprocessed fresh fruits and vegetables, nuts, seeds and sprouted grains. Their vibrant energy and nutrient density will leave you looking and feeling great! For amazing raw cuisine check out The Cinnamon Snail every Sunday at the Red Bank Farmers Market.

4. Add Music To Your Life. Go see or listen to your favorite artist every chance you get. The vibration of your favorite music is so healthy for your mind, body and soul. The Jersey Shore has a rich music history tons of great venues that schedule talented musicians on the regular! Check out a couple of our favorite venues, the Stone Pony and The Saint to catch a great show and dance the night away!

5. Nothing Left To Do But Smile, Smile, Smile. Everyone has heard the saying it takes 13 muscles to smile and 33 to frown, why over do it? Give a friendly smile to each person you encounter throughout your day. At the end of the day, reflect back on how great your day went. Enjoy the happiness you brought to another person’s day!

Whatever adventure or way to Keep it Fresh calls to you, use the summer months to make it happen and fully enjoy your life! Increasing new experiences and excitement in your life can decrease your dependence on artificial stimulants like caffeine and sugar, this naturally leads to vibrant health! When you try new things and keep your life fresh and exciting you will see massive improvements in your physical well being, mental acuity and motivation. Plus you'll have a whole portfolio filled with summer fun!

Keep it Fresh!

~Terra

5 Principles of Yoga

I was first introduced to yoga when I was 13 years old. I was taught Sivananda's classic sun salute by my Uncle who's a gym teacher and would practice it each morning when I would wake up and also before my swim practices or meets. When I left for college my college yoga teacher was a Sivananda trained teacher who expanded my knowledge of all that yoga had to offer with the Sivananda Companion to Yoga book which was and always will be my yoga bible! The 5 principles of yoga that Swami Sivananda emphasizes made so much sense to me then and only furthered my study and practice of yoga (hence the reason I'm a yogini and teacher now!), and I'd love to share them with you.

Sivananda is one of the world's largest schools of classical yoga. It's follows a set system of asanas, pranayama and meditation with an emphasis on healthy living principles. The mantra of Sivananda yoga is 'simple living and high thinking.' According to Sivananda tradition, the body is a carrier for the soul. This metaphor extends into the 5 Principles of keeping the body healthy throughout it's lifetime. The Sivananda school of yoga devised these points to help encourage yoga practitioners to better understand and embrace all the integral elements essential in order to keep healthy, balanced and centered.

The Essential Practice: Serve, Love, Give, Purify, Meditate, and Realize.

1. Proper Exercise (Asanas)
The modern lifestyle does not provide natural motion of muscles and joints. Because of insufficient muscle length (flexibility) and muscle strength our bodies develop disease and discomfort over time. Our physical body is meant to move and exercise. Proper exercise should be pleasant to the practitioner while beneficial to the body, mind and spiritual life.

2. Proper Breathing (Pranayama)
Most people do not utilize the optimum capacity of their lungs. Yoga teaches us how to use the lungs to their maximum capacity and how to control the breath. Proper breathing should be deep, slow and rhythmical. This increases vitality and mental clarity, while eliminating stress and tension.

3. Proper Relaxation (Savasana)
Because of the fast-paced life styles most of us live combined with external stimuli, we are continually switching our bodies into the classic "fight or flight" syndrome. Stressful situations arise, we tense up, the situation passes and we continue to carry the stress and tension. Over time, this has a tremendous cumulative effect. Yogis of yore devised very powerful techniques of deep relaxation. By relaxing deeply all the muscles the Yogi can thoroughly rejuvenate his nervous system and attain a deep sense of inner peace.

4. Proper Diet (Vegetarian)
Besides being responsible for building our physical body, the foods we eat profoundly affect our mind. For maximum body-mind efficiency and complete spiritual awareness, Yoga advocates a vegetarian diet. This is an integral part of the Yogic lifestyle. (*While I am a vegetarian, I do NOT encourage this diet to all. Everyone has different dietary needs and while the vegetarian diet is pure and beautiful, it may not be practical for some.)

5. Positive Thinking and Meditation (Dhyana)
This last point is the most important point of all. We become what we think. Yoga teaches us to entertain positive and creative thoughts which contribute to vibrant health and a peaceful, joyful mind. The mind will be brought under perfect control by regular practice of meditation.

Keep it fresh!
- Lauren

Getting the Body Ready for Baby!

Many parent’s to be think caring for baby begins at conception; once you see the little blue line, or the pink plus on the stick, it’s time to quit smoking, stop drinking and start buying organic. The truth is, prenatal health begins with preconception and fertility health. The ability to get pregnant, carry a child, fetal development, give birth naturally and breastfeed are all intertwined. Each is dependent upon lifestyle choices, diet, stress and yes, our environment. As many as one in six couples will experience fertility problems within the first year to trying to conceive, however, you can increase your odds of conception by making a few nutritional and lifestyle changes.

Fertility and preconception health awareness should begin with both parents, ideally six months to one year prior to conception. This starts with two basic tenants; the removal of toxins and the infusion of nutrients. Both male and female reproductive organs are highly susceptible to free radical or oxidative damage from environmental toxins. Environmental toxins include additives and preservatives in our food, toxics in household cleaning products as well as the products we use to clean our bodies and guilty pleasures such as alcohol, tobacco and caffeine.

Simple changes in our diet will boost your fertility and bring your body into top baby making shape. The diet of both men and women trying to conceive should be high in folic acid, vitamin D, Vitamin E and Zinc. It’s imperative that both parents eat clean, organic foods free from pesticides, fungicides, additives and preservatives.

Men and women eating for fertility should incorporate the following foods into their diet.

Whole grains such as brown rice, quinoa, oatmeal are good for insulin function. Refined grains (bleached flour, rice and pasta) should be omitted as they cause insulin spikes.

Dark leafy greens such as spinach, kale, swiss chard and conifers such as broccoli, cauliflower and rabe are high in folate, which is important for conception and fetal development.

Protein. Vegetarian protein from sources like beans, peas, legumes and nuts are high in iron and preferred to animal proteins. You don’t need to become a vegetarian, but meat should be limited to small occasional portions.

The right fats. Omit trans fats and saturated fats from your diet, but include monosaturated and polyunsaturated fats and omega-3 fatty acids. These will reduce inflammation and any insulin sensitivity. The can be found in avocados, nuts, chia seeds and salmon.

Fresh organic fruits and vegetables are packed with antioxidants that will promote general, and fertility health. Many fruits such as citrus, oranges, strawberries (and green leafy vegetables) are high in folate.

Taking a conscious approach to fertility simply by adjusting your diet and lifestyle will increase your chances of conception. Removing environmental toxins and making positive, organic food choicse has been shown to increase the chances of having a healthy, happy and comfortable pregnancy, a positive, safe birth with little or no intervention, a shorter postpartum recovery period and a baby who is healthy and present.

If you want to learn more, join me at Essence Wellness Center for a 4 Part workshop series on Opening the Body for Baby. This series is designed to inform and connect childbearing women to their natural bodies as they prepare for motherhood. It will be led by Terra Pfund (Sprouting Wellness and 3 Healthy Chicks, LLC) Holistic Health Coach/Yoga Instructor/Doula and Jessica Queller Katc, Myofascial Release Therapist/Doula. Each workshop includes discussion on a topic followed by interactive movement exercises integrating Yoga and Myofascial Stretching to support and enhance fertility.

The Yoga of Great Sex: The Big OM(mmmmmmmmm)

Yup SEX. I'm not talking about getting sexy in your yoga class like Ogden, the Innappropriate Yoga Guy. I am talking about using your personal practice to connect with yourself and your partner for the the Big O(mmmmmmm).

It's no secret that a regular yoga practice tones, lengthens muscles and increases stamina, I am not letting the cat out of the bag here. The experienced yoga practitioner tests their flexibility with pretzel like asanas, such as dwi pada srisasana (feet behind the head pose), ananda balasana (happy baby pose) and supta kurmasana (reclining tortoise pose). While the point of yoga isn't to tie yourself into knots, it's easy to associate yoga with the work of contortionists. My yoga teacher likes to call those such poses her "yoga party tricks." Don't worry, in this blog post we won't take our yoga party tricks on the road, we save for the bedroom.

Yoga and sex are easily married. They are both physical and emotional, challenging and uplifting, they both use the body to calm the mind and uplift the spirit and they're both great for the immune system (did you know that orgasms improve the immune system?). If you can think of one amazing and fulfilling yoga class that took, it probably included physical agility, sweat, an elevated heart rate, mental clarity and spiritual openness. The perfect yoga class is a sacred experience. Now think about the last time you had great sex. Every fulfilling sexual union relies on the same characteristics. It's simply up to you and your partner to orchestrate it. When you start thinking about sexual contact and sexual energy as sacred, the act of sex begins to shift. Bringing increased awareness and sensitivity into each sexual experience will not only enhance your pleasure, but bring a closer connection to your partner.

"Yoga focuses people on how they feel, which is something they don't do enough during sex," says Dr. Marty Klein, a sex therapist and author of Beyond Orgasm: Dare to be Honest about the Sex You Really Want. "During sex, people tend to think more about what they imagine the other person is looking at or thinking about. Yoga brings the mind away from judgments, thoughts, speculations, assumptions, anxieties - things that interfere with physical response and emotional satisfaction."

The style of yoga doesn't matter. Whether you practice, gentle hatha, vinyasa flow, Kundalini, Jivamukti or Soul Sweat Asana, a consistent practice will bring greater awareness to your body and and who you choose to get physical with. The more in tune and receptive you are to your own body, the more in tune and receptive you will be to your partner. This receptiveness will help you recognize the shifts in energy your partner has and tune into what feels good and what feels great for each of you. Add communication to the mix and you'll be on your way to becoming a sexpot in the bedroom and living a life that includes supersatisfying sex!

3 Healthy Chick's 5 Reasons why Yoga makes for Great Sex!
(the list is close to endless, but this post is getting long, I decided to cap it at 5).

Awareness: A consistent yoga practice brings awareness. Awareness to your own body and those around you. VAKGO is a theory my yoga teacher learned and taught me. It's an acronym that stands for Visual, Auditory, Kinestetic, Gustatory and Olfactory. Fancy names for seeing, hearing, feeling (emotions and tactile), tasting and smelling. All real experiences contain these five elements. Yoga helps the practitioner step into VAKGO and living in the moment. This awareness and ability to be in the moment is essential for great sex.

Yogic Philosophy: The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali teach the Yamas and Niyamas, the "dos and don'ts" of living a yogic life. While each of these can be applicable to the yoga of great sex, the first principal (Yama), Ahimsa may be most applicable. Ahimsa translates roughly to non-violence or compassion. It is non-violence and compassion first and foremost to yourself. Bringing ahimsa into the bedroom will allow you to let go of judgment and simply enjoy an uninhibited good time. Remember, he's not watching the cellulite on your ass jiggle, thinking you need to lose a few pounds. He's thinking, OMG I am getting a piece of ass!!!

Bandhas: Bandhas are energy locks in the body. We have 3: Mula Bandha (pelvic floor or root lock), Uddiyana Bandha (solar plexus or abdominal lock) and Jhalandara Bandha (throat or throat lock). Learning to engage your bandhas during your asana practice cleanses and energizes the interior body. Mula Bandha is for both women and men. Engaging mula bandha (which is much like doing a kegel for women or trying to stop the flow of urine while going to the bathroom for men) builds strength in the pelvic floor and improves blood flow and circulation. Blood flow and circulation in the genitals is essential for sexual arousal and orgasm.

Asana: This seems like a no brainer here. Yoga party tricks! Regular asana practice will build energy, stamina, strength and flexibility. Just as there are many asana's out there, there are just as many sexual positions. Have you thumbed through the Karma Sutras? But while there are lots of positions out there, you can't get into them with a tight, stiff body.

Pranayama: Pranayama is yogic breath work or breath control. Yoga teaches that breath is life. Proper breathing bring more oxygen and blood to the brain and helps to harness prana, our life force energy. The practice of Tantric (Tantra meaning two woven together, or two fullness as one) Yoga or tantric sex teaches that though the joining of two spiritual bodies the two poles can be ecstatically merged to reach enlightenment or bliss. This is accomplished through the connection of energy and breath. We don't have to turn into tantric practitioners to use pranayama for great sex. Simply gazing into our partners eyes and breathing together will create a deeper emotional connection. Slowing the breath and using control will increase sexual arousal help to prolong orgasm.


So there you have it. Now go forth, practice yoga and have great sex!!

Keep it Fresh!
~Terra

Sivananda Ashram

Serve. Love. Give. Purify. Meditate. Realize.
I've finally been able to upload my pictures from my beautiful trip to the Sivananda ashram in Paradise Island, Bahamas. It was one of the best trips I've ever been on and I look forward to visiting there time and time again. Please check out my pictures here to see more of the ashram (make sure to press slideshow, then click on show details to read my comments).

About a decade ago, I was blessed to have a yoga teacher at FIT who was Sivananda certified and she introduced me to this lovely philosophy. Living in the city then, I was literally a few blocks away from the Sivananda center on 24th st. so I was fortunate enough to frequent there often for yoga classes and vegetarian meals. It's the one philosophy of yoga I feel most connected with. My Sivananda book that I purchased back in my NYC days has been my bible still to this day.

Sivananda yoga focuses on the 5 points of yoga:
1. Proper exercise (asanas)
2. Proper breathing (pranayama)
3. Proper relaxation (savasana)
4. Proper diet (vegetarian)
5. Positive thinking (vedanta) & meditation (dhyana)

I booked my trip to the Sivananda ashram for 10 days of relaxation, reflection and studying and I was able to do all of that. I filled a whole journal of thoughts and read 3 books! It was exactly what I needed. I practiced yoga 4 hours each day (2 hour class in the morning, 2 hour class in evening) on docks looking out to the water. There was beauty everywhere. I feel stronger than ever and completely blissed out from the whole experience. It reminded me of my love for yoga but I totally did NOT want to come home!

The food was definitely one of the highlights of staying there. Awesome sattvic (pure, clean and wholesome) vegetarian food was served two times a day and I always ate looking out at the water.

Towards the end, Mother Mayatitananda came to give a 3 day course on Living Ahimsa. She initiated us with a vow of ahimsa, a sanskrit word which translates to nonviolence through your thoughts, speech and actions towards all living beings. As a yogi, I have practiced ahimsa for years, but I am human so my thoughts and speech still need a lot of work! I'm excited for this vow and am confident that I can stick to it as best as I can. Being in Mother's presence is always a blessing. Meditating with her was so powerful and the fact that I was able to catch this course in Paradise Islands was so amazing!

Please check out my pictures when you have a chance. I would love to share the beauty I experienced with you!

Om Namah Shivaya-

Keep it fresh!
- Lauren

Connection to the Universe through Om

What's up with Om anyway?

Om (pronounced "aum") is a mantra, vibration or vocalization often chanted 3 times at the beginning and 3 times at the end of a yoga class. But what does that chant mean? "Om" is actually a very simple sound with a complex meaning. It represents the whole universe in just one syllable. Chanting om at the beginning of class unifies the people in the class together as one. This fusion is symbolic of the union of mind, body and spirit that happens during your yoga practice. Knowing the background of this sacred syllable will help you understand yoga even more, allowing you to delve deeper into your practice.

Om is one of the most chanted syllables in India. The sound is believed to have a profound effect on the mind, body, and surroundings of the person that speaks it. Somehow the ancient yogis knew what scientists today are telling us-that the entire universe is moving, with nothing ever solid or still. Everything in existence pulsates, creating a rhythmic vibration that the ancient yogis acknowledged with the sound of Om. We may not always be aware of this sound in our daily lives, but we can hear it in the sound of the waves on the shore, the rustling of autumn leaves, even the sound of the ocean inside a seashell.

Chanting Om allows us to recognize our experience as a reflection of how the whole universe moves-the rising and setting of the sun, the ebb and flow of the tides, the waves of our breath and the beating of our hearts. The sound of Om establishes us in universal movement, our practice and connecting us through our breath, self-awareness, and physical energy. As we chant "aaauuummm" at the beginning and ending of our practice, we begin to sense a bigger connection to the universe.

Keep it Fresh!

~ Terra

The Yoga of Avatar

I was finally able to see Avatar in 3D last week. After all the hype, I was interested to see if it would live up to what everyone’s been saying, and boy did it ever! I LOVED it, especially its implication. There was such a yogic presence to the storyline. It’s comforting to see a movie do this well with such a beautiful message!

Here’s a breakdown of the yogic elements of Avatar:

Interconnectedness of all beings – the Na’vi link to other beings on the planet through neural-chemical connections. One of the characters, Grace, the biologist played by Sigourney Weaver, calls it a network. And indeed, the whole planet is an organic neural network. The Na’vi practice and believe in an interconnection of all life in balance with nature. Because of this, everything is viewed as sacred.

Unity – when they get attacked, Jake and the Na’vi realize pretty quickly that they’re going to need allies. They rally up the other clans, and together they fight the humans. Even their former predators, the wild animals of the jungle, unite in the battle against the humans and their corporate agenda.

Goddess worshipping – the Na’vi worship Eywa, and believe that all consciousness is infused with her energy. In yoga, this goddess consciousness is known as Shakti, while yoga isn’t exactly a goddess worshiping tradition, there are strong threads of the divine feminine throughout and sects which are devoted to her worship.

Hindu origins - the word “avatar” itself is Sanskrit and is rooted in Hindu mythology (as is yoga). Presently, the word avatar evokes the graphical representation of a computer user, but it’s original meaning is “descent” and it can be “an incarnation or human appearance of a deity, particularly Vishnu.” These incarnations, including one of the most famous, Krishna, have blue skin, and the blue Na’vi beings are themselves meant to evoke Hindu deities.

Rajan Zed, the Hindu statesman who has appointed himself watchdog of American pop culture, has not overlooked these elements. He expressed his initial concerns about the film last spring, and urged James Cameron to “be careful when handling Hindu concepts and terminology.” But he’s been awfully quiet since the film has been on the screens, so perhaps Cameron did a better job than expected.

Despite the strong yogic components of the film, it has managed to become the most popular movie in years and it has captured the collective imagination. It’s fascinating, really, things like the divine feminine and interconnectedness (while not particularly new or radical) aren’t exactly mainstream thinking, but rather yogic! All I can wonder is if the spiritual ideas in the film might just sink in to the viewers, and affect some kind of change in consciousness, somewhere down the line. Let's all hope.

Keep it fresh!
- Lauren

Keep Your Yoga Mat Clean

Did you know that the Sanskrit word “sauca” translates to cleanliness? In fact, keeping yoga mats clean is an important part of traditional yoga, known as “kriyas,” the cleansing practices of Hatha yoga. Yogis believe that cleanliness helps to open up charkas and deepen the yoga practice and experience.

Regularly washing your yoga mat will kept it soft and sticky, prevent bacterial growth and maximize the life of your mat. The best way to keep most yoga mats clean is to wash them by hand, so here are some tips to show you how to wash a yoga mat easily.

Deep Clean Your Mat

For its first wash, or whenever your yoga mat seems particularly dirty, you will probably want to give it a really thorough cleaning.

- Run a few inches of cool or slightly warm water into a bathtub or large laundry sink and add a few drops of mild, non-oily detergent. Make sure you don’t add too much soap or it will be difficult to rinse away completely, leaving your yoga mat unnecessarily slippery.

- Submerge the yoga mat in the water. Let it soak for a few minutes (the longer you let it soak, the more thoroughly it will be cleaned).

- Gently rub down both sides of the mat, top to bottom, using the soft side of a sponge, a piece of terrycloth, or even just your hands. This will help the mat to develop that soft, ‘grippable’ surface for which sticky yoga mats are so prized.

- Rinse the yoga mat out very thoroughly in clean water, making sure you get rid of any soap residue.

- To dry your yoga mat, lay it on top of a dry towel and tightly roll mat and towel together like a cinnamon roll. Squeeze out excess water by pressing with your hands or feet. Unroll and hang to air dry. Make sure you let it dry out completely before storing to prevent mold.

Homemade Yoga Mat Cleaner

For lighter, more frequent maintenance cleaning and a quicker drying time, you can just clean your mat with a spray bottle and soft cloth. Here are two easy recipes for your own all-natural mat cleaning spray:

Lovely Lavender Spray

Take an empty spray bottle and add 3 drops of tea tree oil, two drops of peppermint oil, and two drops of lavender oil. Fill the rest of the bottle up with distilled water. Shake well. Spray your mat lightly with this solution and wipe it down gently with a damp sponge.

It is very easy to make a spray-on mat cleaner that will break up sweat and dirt and kill odor-causing molds and bacteria while at the same time extending the lifespan of your mat. Try either of these recipes.

Water/Vinegar Spray

For an even simpler, natural antibacterial/antifungal mat spray, simply mix 1 part warm water with 3 parts white vinegar. You can also try adding a few drops of essential oils like eucalyptus, lemongrass, lavender, mint, or tea tree oil to add a nice aroma and increase the germ and odor-killing potential.

Now that you have a clean yoga mat, put it to good use! Check out a yoga class in your area or stop in to a yoga class taught by one of the 3 Healthy Chicks! See below:

Fair Haven Yoga

Wednesday's with Terra – 7:00pm Gentle Hatha – a combination of traditional Hatha yoga asanas, breath work and meditation. Yoga alignment and modifications of poses accessible to all. $10 drop in fee.

The Yoga and Healing Center

Hot Mamas Prenatal Yoga with Terra - 8 week Session starting May 4, 2010 - Wise Mamas Prenatal will help you reconnect with your innate female wisdom and the natural process of birth, guiding you through a class specifically designed for the journey of pregnancy.

Mommy and Me Yoga with Terra - 8 week Session starting May 4, 2010 - Post-natal yoga class (babies and mom's 6-8 weeks postpartum) focuses on strengthening the spiritual, emotional and physical bond between parent and child. This practice will enhance your sense of well-being, connect with your body, gain strength and flexibility and connect with your baby.

Asbury Park Dance & Yoga

Hot Mamas Prenatal Yoga with Terra - 8 week Session starting June 23, 2010 - Wise Mamas Prenatal will help you reconnect with your innate female wisdom and the natural process of birth, guiding you through a class specifically designed for the journey of pregnancy.

Brahma Yoga Spa

Friday's with Lauren - 5:30pm Gentle Hatha - traditional Hatha asana, breath work and meditation. $15 drop in fee.

Keep it fresh!
- Lauren

Top 10 Reasons to Try Yoga for Life

This past Saturday was Yoga Day USA! I participated in a few of my favorite yoga classes in my area this weekend in honor of Yoga Day and also went to a lovely Kirtan last night at a new Yoga studio in Asbury Park. It was a great weekend! =)

Yoga Day USA's website had a really great list of 10 reasons to try yoga for life. I thought this was worth posting since we could all benefit from hearing the reasons why yoga is great for everything. If you already have a steady yoga practice, rock on! If you are wishy-washy these days with your practice, plan more time for yoga in your schedule each week. If you are not practicing yoga, consider it!

The health and fitness benefits of yoga have long been reported by practitioners and are now being confirmed by scientific research. Give yoga a try and discover what it can do for your body, your mind, and your soul.

Top 10 Reasons to Try Yoga for Life!

1. Yoga for STRESS RELIEF: Yoga reduces the physical effects of stress on the body. By encouraging relaxation, yoga helps to lower the levels of the stress hormone cortisol. Related benefits include lowering blood pressure and heart rate, improving digestion and boosting the immune system as well as easing symptoms of conditions such as anxiety, depression, fatigue, asthma and insomnia.

2. Yoga for PAIN RELIEF: Yoga can ease pain. Studies have demonstrated that practicing yoga asanas (postures), meditation or a combination of the two, reduced pain for people with conditions such as cancer, multiple sclerosis, auto-immune diseases and hypertension as well as arthritis, back and neck pain and other chronic conditions. Some practitioners report that even emotional pain can be eased through the practice of yoga.

3. Yoga for BETTER BREATHING: Yoga teaches people to take slower, deeper breaths. This helps to improve lung function, trigger the body’s relaxation response and increase the amount of oxygen available to the body.

4. Yoga for FLEXIBILITY: Yoga helps to improve flexibility and mobility, increasing range of movement and reducing aches and pains. Many people can’t touch their toes during their first yoga class. Gradually they begin to use the correct muscles. Over time, the ligaments, tendons and muscles lengthen, increasing elasticity, making more poses possible. Yoga also helps to improve body alignment resulting in better posture and helping to relieve back, neck, joint and muscle problems.

5. Yoga for INCREASED STRENGTH: Yoga asanas (postures) use every muscle in the body, helping to increase strength literally from head to toe. And, while these postures strengthen the body, they also provide an additional benefit of helping to relieve muscular tension.

6. Yoga for WEIGHT MANAGEMENT: Yoga (even less vigorous styles) can aid weight control efforts by reducing the cortisol levels as well as by burning excess calories and reducing stress. Yoga also encourages healthy eating habits and provides a heightened sense of well being and self esteem.

7. Yoga for IMPROVED CIRCULATION: Yoga helps to improve circulation and, as a result of various poses, more efficiently moves oxygenated blood to the body’s cells.

8. Yoga for CARDIOVASCULAR CONDITIONING: Even gentle yoga practice can provide cardio-vascular benefits by lowering resting heart rate, increasing endurance and improving oxygen uptake during exercise.

9. Yoga for FOCUS ON THE PRESENT: Yoga helps us to focus on the present, to become more aware and to help create mind body health. It opens the way to improved concentration, coordination, reaction time and memory.

10. Yoga for INNER PEACE: The meditative aspects of yoga help many to reach a deeper, more spiritual and more satisfying place in their lives. Many who begin to practice for other reasons have reported this to be a key reason that yoga has become an essential part of their daily lives.

Adapted from www.yogadayusa.org

Keep it fresh!
- Lauren

Friday Friend Shout Out - Brahma Yoga Spa

This Friday Friend Shout Out is to Brahma Yoga Spa in Sea Girt, NJ!
When I first moved to Red Bank, I dropped in for a class at Brahma one morning and knew as soon as I got there that this was a place I wanted to teach yoga at! Luckily, I was able to join their staff and have been teaching the 5:30pm Hatha Yoga class each Friday night. I feel so blessed each week that I hold a class there. The studio is so beautiful!

Lisa Aquino, owner of Brahma Yoga Spa, is such a wonderfully pleasant person. She has an eclectic group of teachers who teach regularly at the studio, as well as special guests such as Wah!, Mahan Rishi Singh, Jacci Reynolds, Gurudev, etc., who come to host workshops, classes and events. Her spa staff is also exceptional, offering therapeutic massages, reflexology, hot stone massages and more.

Brahma has many exciting new events coming up in 2010, along with their own yoga teacher training certification program beginning this weekend. I am so proud to say that I'm a member of their staff!

Brahma is located at 1050 Ocean Ave. in Sea Girt, NJ. Please check out their site for more information and try to stop in for a class, workshop or spa treatment sometime soon!

Keep it fresh!
- Lauren

Use Yoga to Control Holiday Eating

Food and the holiday season go hand in hand. Use the lessons from among the "Ten Commandments" of Patanjali's Yoga Sutras to control your eating habits this year. Patanjali, a great sage of ancient India, is the compiler of the Yoga Sutras, the guidebook of classical yoga. Written at least 1,700 years ago, it's made up of 195 aphorisms (sutras), or words of wisdom.

The Yamas and Niyamas, the first two branches of Patanjali's Eightfold Path from the Yoga Sutras, are very useful this time of year. Of particular interest are Ahimsa and Aparigraha from among the Yamas, and Santosha and Swadhyaya from the Niyamas.

Ahimsa - Non-Harming
Whether you are vegetarian or not, there is one being you can seek to refrain from harming all of the time: Yourself.
This applies to the choices you make about what you put into your body. Remember, most things are not going to harm you in moderation. The danger of this time of year is the quantity of food, alcohol, and sweets available - not to mention the additional social engagements involving eating. Plus, with less time to get everything done, more people skip their workouts - when this is the time we should be working out even more! Commit to keeping yourself healthy this entire holiday season and you will feel less stressed and have more energy to spread the joy.
Ahimsa also applies to negative self-talk. So don't beat yourself up if you can't do it all this season!

Aparigraha - When Enough's Enough
Sometimes, the toughest part of eating during the holidays is simply pushing away from the table. Aparigraha reminds us to listen carefully to our bodies and stop eating when we have eaten enough. Try to put your fork down between each bite of food and focus on chewing your food while you eat. If you are afraid of wasting food, or feel obliged to make excuses, ask for a doggy bag for leftovers to take home. Many home cooked or restaurant meals can be dinner and lunch the next day. Hostesses will be flattered if you say you're full, but perhaps could pack a few leftovers to take home? As long as you will eat them later, it isn't greedy to ask for doggy bags to save food from going to waste.

Santosha - Contentment
What's more important about the Holidays: the food or the company? Okay, so the truth is most people think it's a little bit of both. But just because you love holiday food, that doesn't mean you have to heap your plate to overflowing. If you practice contentment with the present moment, living in the "Now", you will be able to eat mindfully. Taste the smaller portions to their fullest, and truly savor each bite. Enjoy the sights, smells, sounds and the company that create the Holiday atmosphere as much as or perhaps even more than the food.

Swadhyaya - Save Room for Dessert
You know what your favorite holiday foods are. If you are certain beyond a shadow of a doubt that you will have a slice of Auntie Darlene's Black Forest Cake at the end of a meal, be aware of that throughout the meal. Eat only a bite of stuffing to appreciate the flavors, perhaps skip the mashed potatoes and gravy entirely. We all know how to make good decisions about eating, but we forget our sense of moderation in the melee of Holiday hubbub. Even if you choose to celebrate with merry abandon, please remember to be kind to yourself above all else.

Keep it fresh!
- Lauren