Of course part of the way we carry ourselves in the studio and among our fellow yogi/nis is not always something which reflects our most deeply held values.  Amid the beauty of the practice there are some darker aspects of the yoga business and lifestyle which manifest themselves as backbiting, materialism, unethical business practices, exclusivity, cattiness, and passive aggression.

And so often, these aspects are ignored or covered up so as not to disturb the image of peaceful positivity – something that brings so many people to the practice.   So, whenever one dares to bring up these subjects, a palpable tension arises and some will look askance at the person who deigns to open the box that many would prefer we left closed.

According to Yoga For Cynics founder Jay Winston:

 “This is, I think, the inevitable result of the religion of positivity–everybody’s supposed to be “positive” all the time, no matter how they’re actually feeling, and those who honestly express their negative emotions are shunned as “negative people.”

We’ve all heard similar stories; students feeling left out because they don’t own the latest hot yoga fashions, can’t do advanced asanas, and don’t have the kind of bodies their teacher’s “favorite students” seem to have.  Or there is teacher rivalry, the acrimony we so often see when a teacher leaves to start her own studio, or the rumors, innuendo, and gossip in a local yoga “scene” which serve no one.

All too often, such behavior is explained away as something to be expected in any business, or just part of living in society and not in an ashram.  All of these points, while valid and true, lead to a question that we, as a community, don’t seem to ask ourselves often enough:

As we acknowledge the impact the broader society has on the yoga community, what influence do we want to have on society?  How can we change the flow in the other direction? What gifts can we offer to the rest of the world?  How will they know us when they see us?

 “Breathe in experience, breathe out poetry.” ~ Muriel Rukeyser   

I believe our greatest gifts are those things that we discover and develop during our times of greatest difficulty.   Among these are radical self-acceptance, fierce compassion, and sacred honesty (to name a few).  However, I humbly submit that a valuable gift we can offer our society is authenticity; the ability to state without anger, doubt, or fear; this is who I am, this is what I believe, and this is how I will live my life.

So what does authenticity look like?  It’s the yoga teacher with the courage to keep it real and not try to present a perfect image to their students; it’s the person who in the middle of a misunderstanding with someone, chooses to talk to the other person and find out what is going on instead of making assumptions, it’s the person who can apologize when they’ve hurt someone, it’s the yoga community that can admit its not perfect even though its trying its best to live up to its ideals.

There is freedom in authenticity not only for ourselves, but for our students as well. As Dallas, Texas studio owner DeAnna Shires Nielsen observes:

“If you’re not authentic and try to act perfect all the time, your students can put you on a pedestal and make themselves dependent on you.  Eventually, they’ll find out you’re just human and knock you off that pedestal…and they may even become disillusioned with yoga.  Covering up your own faults and insecurities only makes it harder for them to own their own imperfections and insecurities.”

Indeed, along with the freedom of authenticity comes what I call the Ninth Limb of Yoga; responsibility.  Once we learn, without beating ourselves up, to accept responsibility for our actions and intentions, we learn to accept the challenges of daily living as normal, we are less daunted when we encounter difficulty, and we can find peace within the challenges we face every day – instead of trying to escape them.  For this is how the responsibility inherent within authenticity allows us to be fearless and free.

As a boy, my family went to church every week and since then, one song always stuck in my head. It was called “They’ll Know We Are Christians By Our Love.”

What I’m really wondering is how we would apply that to our community. They’ll Know We Are Yogis By Our…what? Hot yoga pants? Great bodies? Organo-groovy lifestyle? Amazing arm balances? Or something more meaningful?

How we, as a community, answer that question will significantly impact what direction yoga in this country will take in the coming decades.  So, until we figure that out, I humbly propose our answer include the following:

They’ll Know We Are Yogis By Our…Authenticity.

Chris Courtney is an Albuquerque-based yoga teacher, writer, and adventurer. His goal as a yoga teacher is to get as many people as possible “off the couch and onto the mat” so they can begin their own journey of self-discovery. Thus, his approach is focused on making the practice as authentic, safe, and accessible as possible.  He currently teaches workshops at studios and festivals around the country.  A former expat journalist, warrior and diplomat, Chris is forever finding new experiences to explore. Find him online on Twitter@CK_Courtney or check out his website at: chriscourtneyyoga.com.

1) Being confined to a small space gives us a great opportunity to practice breathing.
You may want to put in your headphones, select a calm and relaxing playlist
or even a recorded breathing meditation. Close your eyes and begin to breathe
through your nose. Notice the feeling as your belly expands, your ribs stretch to
allow room for your lungs. Since planes are noisy, this is a good time to practice
your Ujjayi breath. Slightly constricting your glottis (like your breathing through
a straw) bring in a slow, full breath. Pause, then exhale slowly. Notice how much
calmer you feel already!
2) Stretch your neck. Start by dropping one ear to your shoulder. Feel that nice
stretch along the side of your neck. Take a deep breath and relax into the stretch.
After 5 or 6 breaths, slowly roll your chin from shoulder to shoulder, making a
gentle half circle. Then hold on the opposite side for another 5 or 6 breaths.
3) Give your hands some love. Using your thumb, give yourself a hand massage.
Kneading the palm of your hand, the large muscle at the base of your thumb, and
the place where your fingers connect into your hand. Roll the tip of each finger
between your thumb and forefinger. Turn your palm up and gently stretch the
fingers backwards, stretching the under-side of the wrist. Then, turn the apalm
down and stretch the back or the wrist. This is a great stretch to counter all of
those downward-facing dogs!
4) Practice your bandhas. Engaging Mula Bandha is an important part of keeping
our yoga poses strong and safe. As you sit in your seat, gently draw up on the
muscles of the pelvic floor. This can be likened to stopping the flow of urine.
Hold the muscles firmly for a few breaths and then relax. Repeat this exercise
often so that it begins to come more naturally for you.
5) Seated cat and cow. Sitting tall in your seat, take a deep breath in and extend
your sternum toward the sky, stretching the belly. Then, exhaling as you
press your lower back into the seat behind you and lower your chin to chest.
Exaggerate the movements and flow with breath 10 to 20 times.
6) Seated twist. Again, sitting tall and erect, draw your navel in toward your spine.
Begin to twist your belly toward one of the armrests, followed by your ribs, chest,
shoulders, and finally your head. Reach your arm across your body and holding
the armrest, breathe into this delicious spinal twist. Hold for several breaths and
switch sides.
7) Pull one knee up into your chest and hold, breathing deeply for 5 to 10 breaths.
Then switch.
Move your attention down to your feet. Remove your shoes if you can. Flex
your toes up toward your kneecaps, and hold the stretch for your calves and
achilles tendon. Then, point your toes like a ballerina, and hold the stretch for
your shins. Flex and point, circle your ankles, spread all 10 of your toes apart

from one another. Ahhhhh.
9) When you leave your seat to go to the bathroom, stand in the back of the plane,
reach your arms overhead and lift your sternum to the sky. Breathe deeply as
your spine soaks up this gentle backbend.
10) Seated Savasana. Close your eyes, rest your hands on your lap, palms up. Tune
in to the sound and feel of your breath. Walk your self through a little guided
meditation, bringing into awareness one body part at a time, and relaxing that
part with an exhalation. Let yourself be aware of how amazing it truly is that
you are 30,000 feet in the air, and in a relatively short time you will reach your
destination. Offer gratitude for the miracle of flight, the beauty of the sky and
clouds outside your window, and your health.

Consider ending your practice, and your flight by telling someone around you the
meaning of the word Namaste. Safe, happy and healthy travels to you.

www.yogafit.com

Joe & Cindi West, owners of the Rockin’ JC Ranch, want to share their mission to ensure the future of agriculture through genetic conservation and the promotion of endangered breeds of livestock and poultry. They also host Yoga retreats throughout the year at their beautiful ranch.

The breeds we have at the Rockin’ JC Ranch are threatened because agriculture has changed. Modern food production now favors the use of a few highly specialized breeds selected for maximum output in a controlled environment. Many traditional livestock breed have lost popularity and are threatened with extinction. These traditional breeds are an essential part of the American agricultural inheritance. Not only do they evoke our past, they are also an important resource for our future. At the Rockin’ JC Ranch, we are working to conserve rare breeds and genetic diversity in livestock through environmental stewardship. We will also provide a 374 acre haven for heritage breeds to come live and thrive.

I get asked this question all the time. I am a guy; I served my country, I went to war, I do Crossfit, my best friends are two Doberman Pinschers, and I do yoga. I am not the biggest amongst my friends at the gym yet I lift just as heavy and hard, I am a marathoner, and I do yoga. My gym workouts must be effective, tough, and take me to my limit, and I do yoga.  My schedule says easy run; however, the word easy is not in my vocabulary and I do yoga. I am a man and I do yoga.

Ten years ago I would have laughed at the thought of doing yoga, let alone the thought that I would become a yoga teacher. Just like many guys, I felt that yoga was a girls only club; and certainly not a workout or effective training tool. The day I completed my first class was a very humbling yet life changing experience and I left with a sense of inner peace I had never experienced. My friends give me a hard time when I ditch them for yoga class, but I do not mind because I grow stronger.  I often get funny looks walking with my yoga mat, but I hold it with pride because the mat advances my fitness. Yoga is my secret weapon.

If you are a guy, get a yoga mat because it will advance your training even if you are simply training for life! Professional male and female athletes do yoga to gain an extra advantage in the field, for strength, and to prevent injury. If professional male athletes have found gains through yoga what is holding you back, guys? Yoga has many benefits; it will help you sleep, increase strength, increase flexibility, improve balance, and work different muscle groups. A great place to start is a beginner class where postures are broken down and alignment is addressed, this will guarantee your success in other classes. The beginner classes are not easier and you will certainly get a workout so do not let the “beginner” title keep you away. See you on the mat!

Brandon Garnett

YogaFit’s Master Trainer

www.YogaFit.com

Our biomechanical alignment, encompassing our physical, emotional, mental and spiritual bodies, can sustain our health and well being throughout our aging process—for sure!

Attention and Repetition are ‘buzz’ words in order to create our optimal biomechanical alignment.  First:  Assessment and observation of your own body.  How does your observation integrate into your lifestyle?  Second: Begin with 3 areas of misalignment that you want to work on.  Transform these issues into postural alignment exercises embodying each one into a routine everyday if possible.

Lastly: With repetition and attention to conscious biomechanics in daily life, you will feel better and better and your quality of life will expand.  You become a model for others, particularly the younger generations!

The importance of ‘Breath’ is all around us.  It is the life force or ‘chi,’ ‘prana’ that begins at birth until it leaves our body at death.  Not only does it sustain our bodies but our homes, buildings, nature, all of our environment.  Breath is more important than either food or water; which we can live days without, but we can only survive minutes without oxygen.  The rich flow of chi within our body is equally as important as the proper flow of chi surrounding us in our homes, offices and environment.

In yoga, the breath is the most important part of each pose as it influences our energy level, our memory, and concentration.  Deep breathing is an excellent tool for keeping our bodies in optimum health and reducing stress levels which in turn can ward off such things as high blood pressure and heart disease.

In Feng Shui, everything that we have a reaction to, or an interaction with is infused with energy, a magical flow.  The flow of chi within our homes, offices and environment has great impact upon all areas of our life.  If the ‘chi’ is blocked in our home it can negatively affect our health, our career, relationships and much more.  In our work environment, stuck energy can affect our productivity, advancement, employee interaction and increased income. Clutter in the home or office is one example that can impact ‘chi’ in a negative manner.  Clutter can cause blocked opportunities, health issues, lost opportunities, accidents, arguments, etc.  Once clutter is removed it opens up the channel for energy to move freely and fill all the spaces that were once blocked.  It is a good idea to let go of anything that does not serve you or the space any longer as it welcomes new opportunities to enter.  An additional area to note is the front door or entrance to your home, office or any room.  If the door is stuck or the entrance is difficult to find then the ‘chi’ or breath cannot enter at all, therefore blocking the life force to fill the space.  This is the key to movement for all areas of one’s life.

Lastly, in regards to ones yoga practice, the flow of ‘chi’ within the body is just as important as the flow of ‘chi’ within the space.  Make sure your space is free of clutter; the entrance is wide and clear of any blockages.  Simple placement and art allows for better flow and less distraction, and an inviting path to the door allows the ‘chi’ to find its way to you bringing you happiness, joy and fulfillment.

Judy Fritz

Feng Shui Consultant

Integrated Spaces

www.integratedspaces.net

Lila

The value of fun and the power of playfulness. The truth is that life is fun. Playfullness is powerfully transformative, healing, and life giving.

Lila is the playfull creation of life. In some of the Hindu mythologies, the universe is believed to born out of the playfulness of Bramah, the creator. In the Tantra yoga philosophy, it is the dance between Shiva and Shakti that continually creates, destroys, and sustains the universe. The value of fun can sometimes be overlooked.

Think of the of the glory of uncontrollable laughter, humor in a seemingly negative or undesirable situation, young animals just beginning to get their barrings on life, learning skills in playing with their brother’s and sisters.

Having fun in your relationship to yourself and others, and finding a light-hearted playful attitude towards your world, I believe to be key to feeling happy and healthy. Trying not to take ourselves and our situations too seriously, especially if it’s not so serious as we may think. It’s easy to forget to just relax, have fun!. Some of my favorite yoga classes are the ones filled with playfulness and laughter, this element tends to lift me very high in my spiritual experiences. Many of my greatest memories are painted with smiles and high spirits.

Enjoy yourself without hesitation! In love, with the highest intentions… Namaste.

Molly McLaughlin – Kohala Yoga

Sound and Light are the building blocks of the universe, the very framework upon which all of creation is hung. Every molecule of matter is intoning its tone. Every leaf, atom, particle, planet, galaxy, every cell in our body is humming it own tune. Even as we were being born, as our bodies were being formed a chord was being intoned, our own individual chord.

Music affects the physical body in profound ways. Sound waves enter into the physical body and move atoms around, rearranging our cellular structure and putting us back in order. Music – in its higher forms – has the power to lower blood pressure, alter the breathing rate, reorganize and harmonize molecular structure, elevate mood, take us beyond the everyday world to the spiritual world, transform consciouness and ultimately liberate our spirit.

“Without music, life would be a mistake.” – Nietzsche

Some music will actually dis-arrange or de-range the embodiement, and there have been studies done by Dorothy Retallack on plants to prove this. Dorothy placed three groups of plants in glass enclosures, and played various types of music to the plants for a period of 30 days. The first group of plants were played acid rock music, and actually leaned away from the speakers in an attempt to get away from the sounds, becoming disheveled, with stunted growth. The second group of plants listened to Bach and similar music, and experienced better than normal growth. The third group was played devotional music, and leaned towards the speakers, twining around the speaker wires to get closer to the sound. They had the most luxurious growth and most organized coherant patterns of all. Dorothy’s comment on the experiment, in regards to the first group of plants: “If this is what this music does to plants, what is it doing to our children?”

There is a report of doctors in the south of France who prescribe specific pieces of music to be listened to three times a day in place of medicine. There are reports of cows yielding more milk when played classical music in the barn. Higher consciousness music enhances life affirming decisions and results. Lower vibration music can direct the listener towards negative destructive thoughts and sometimes even suicide.

” A tone is a living cell… It is a microcosom reflecting faithfully the macrocosom, its laws, its center. A tone is a solar system.” – Dane Rudyar

Music holds the key to remembering our origin and reconnecting with source. Our spirit, regardless of nationality, creed, time or space recognizes sound as the doorway to the infinite. Hence, music is the universal language.

“Sound is God” – Nada Brahma

Dis-ease, dis-harmony within the cells, is ultimately spiritual in nature. The separated self, feeling separate from Source, begins creating dis-ease-ment from this feeling of separateness. Certain kinds of music can help one remember that connection with Source, and the listener can only go as high, as deep and as wide as the composer went when receiving and composing the music.

“Through music, one can reach God.” – Ravi Shankar

Phonetically, aloha can be broken into two parts. “Alo” can be translated as “to be with” or “presence”. “Ha” is the Hawaiian syllable for “the breath of life”. When Alo and Ha are placed together, the meaning is “to be in the presence of the breath of life”. Aloha is to trust in the rise and fall of life. Aloha is to live harmoniously in the present moment. Aloha is to respect the land and its people, for the understanding is clear that we are all inter-connected. For those of us who are from or live in Hawaii, and count this blessing often, understand that Aloha is much more than one word. The Aloha Spirit is the guiding force in the islands, and the Hawaiian people are by nature welcoming, loving, accepting, and generous. The Aloha Spirit is similar to the spirit of Namaste, for all beings are recognized as sharing the same light, breathing the same breath of life.

Whether you choose to interact with our site for travel to Hawaii, Texas, or Chicago, we hope that you will always feel the Aloha Spirit here on your journey with OmStays. Our valued community members extend their homes and hospitality, share their love and friendships, offer their warmth and respect. With OMstays, you are always part of the family. We encourage you to follow your bliss. We hope that your bliss leads you to join, to become a part of our wonderful woven basket. We smile with the possibility that you may enjoy giving and receiving the OMstays spirit as much as we do. May you feel supported on your journey, and ride these glassy waves with ease. Let’s say it together one more time, ALOHA!

Now put the lime in the coconut and drink it all up…