Happy Yoga Monday – Laughter Yoga

Happy Yoga Monday!

Every culture in the world appreciates and understands laughter. It is part of the universal human vocabulary. It also helps us stay healthy by enriching the blood with ample supplies of oxygen. In addition, laughter helps to remove the negative effects of stress and boosts our immune systems. Other benefits of laughter include:

• controlling high blood pressure and heart disease

• increasing stamina through increased oxygen supply

• alleviating pain and giving a sense of well being by releasing endorphins

• serving as an effective antidote for depression, anxiety and psychosomatic disorders (laughter boosts the production of serotonin, a natural anti-depressant)

• massaging the digestive tract and enhancing blood supply to the liver, spleen, pancreas, kidneys and adrenal glands

• ensuring a good night sleep and reducing snoring because laughter is very good for the muscles of the soft palate and throat

Photo Credit: www.laughteryoga.org
Photo Credit: http://www.laughteryoga.org

Dr. Madan Kataria, founder of Laughter Yoga, discovered that anyone can laugh for fifteen to twenty minutes without depending upon a sense of humor or comedy. As a result, he designed a blend of playful, empowering laughter, gentle breathing, stretching, rhythmic clapping and chanting exercises to help release tension. Through his work, Dr. Kararia discovered that laughter yoga is a great way to distance yourself from anger, stress, fear, limitations, and anxiety.

Have you ever tried Laughter Yoga?

Happy Yoga Monday – What is your definition of yoga?

Ananda in her chakra-inspired home
Ananda in her chakra-inspired home

Happy Yoga Monday,

What does the word yoga mean to you?

When I was training to be a yoga teacher at Flow Yoga Center in 2005 and 2006, my teacher, Debra Perlson-Mishalove, gave the class a homework assignment to define yoga. Her assignment me to develop a YOGA acronym.

Y – Your

O – Opportunity to

G – Graciously

A – Accept yourself in the present moment.

I still use this acronym and definition in my classes and workshops.

pinkribbon

In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I am teaching the annual Frederica Leeke and Dorothy Gartin Breast Cancer Awareness Yoga Class on Sunday, October 27 from 9:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. in Malcolm-Meridian Hill Park. Click here for more details. The kind and gentle yoga class honors my grandmothers who lived with breast cancer.

Happy Yoga Monday – Office Yoga: Destress at Your Desk – 10/14

Photo Credit: YogaJournal.com
Photo Credit: YogaJournal.com

Happy Yoga Monday!

Today’s blog features my latest discovery, YogaJournal.com’s office yoga program. It offers 15 videos featuring yoga poses that can help you release tension in your neck, shoulders, wrists, lower back, and hips. Sienna Smith, a certified teacher of Viniyoga and Anusara yoga, provides instructions for each video. Click here to get started with the office yoga program.

Have you ever tried office yoga?

What are your favorite poses?

 

Happy Yoga Monday – Karma Yoga 10/7

Happy Yoga Monday!

Today’s blog celebrates the power of Karma Yoga, the practice of serving others. After I completed my yoga teacher training at Flow Yoga Center in 2006, I created a Karma Yoga project that allowed me to teach a free monthly yoga class to my local community members in Malcolm X – Meridian Hill Park in Washington, D.C.

Yoga Meetup Class in 2008
Yoga Meetup Class in 2008

In 2007, I joined Meetup.com to expand my Karma Yoga project’s audience and renamed it the Kind and Gentle C-OM-MUNITY Yoga  Meetup Group. This year, I am celebrating my 8th year of teaching community yoga classes. If you are in the DC area on October 27, join me for the fifth annual Frederica Leeke and Dorothy Gartin Breast Cancer Awareness Yoga Class from 9:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. Click here for more details.

What type of Karma Yoga projects are you involved in?

Happy Yoga Monday – Yogi Tea – Honey Lavender

Photo Credit: http://shop.yogiproducts.com
Photo Credit: http://shop.yogiproducts.com

Happy Yoga Monday!

Today’s blog is all about my new favorite thing to sip after my evening yoga practice — Honey Lavender tea by Yogi Tea. Tranquility is the best word to describe this magical elixir of relaxation. Each tea bag has a special message attached to it that I use as an evening reflection. It helps me set the tone for a peaceful night’s sleep.

What do you like to drink after your yoga practice or class?

Happy Yoga Monday – Giving Myself the Gift of Kundalini Yoga

Photo Credit: http://yogahousestudio.com
Photo Credit: http://yogahousestudio.com

Happy Yoga Monday!

Since it’s National Yoga Month, I decided to up my yoga game by adding a weekly Kundalini class to my practice. I am taking classes offered by Yoga House founder Elizabeth Greathouse a/k/a Gurumukh East on Saturday mornings.

Elizabeth Greathouse - Photo Credit: Photo Credit: http://yogahousestudio.com
Elizabeth Greathouse – Photo Credit: Photo Credit: http://yogahousestudio.com

Kundalini Yoga is known as the yoga of awareness because it uses body locks, breathing exercises, eye-focus, mantras, mudras, and yoga postures to help you gain control over your body’s mental, physical, and nervous energies. It also helps you to balance your glandular system, strengthen your nervous system, expand your lung capacity, and purifiy your blood. The word “Kundalini” refers to energy located at the base of your spine that can be drawn up through the body to awaken your seven chakras (energy centers).

Photo Credit: http://yogahealthfoundation.org/yoga_month
Photo Credit: http://yogahealthfoundation.org/yoga_month

Are you trying any new types of yoga or yoga poses during National Yoga Month?

 

 

Happy Yoga Monday – Yoga-Inspired Music & Deva Premal & Mitren DC Concert

Photo Credit: http://devapremal.com
Photo Credit: http://devapremal.com

Happy Yoga Monday!

In honor of National Yoga Month, I’ve been listening to some of my favorite yoga-inspired music, especially the Password CD by Deva Premal and Mitren. I have been listening to their sacred chanting music since 2004. My favorite track is “Narishima.” The song repeats a strong and powerful mantra that removes negative energy and protects those on the path to light from negative influences: Narasimha Ta Va Da So Hum. I have adopted it as my theme song for the autumn season.

Deva Premal and Mitren’s music opens my heart and allows my spirit to surrender and be present to the “now” moment. It is also very healing and has taught me how to use mantras as healing tools in my Reiki healing touch, meditation, and yoga practices.

devapremal concert

My National Yoga Month celebration is really special this year because Deva Premal and Mitren will be performing on September 24 in Washington, D.C. Click here to learn more about the concert. Hope to see you there!

yogamonth-september

How are you celebrating National Yoga Month?

 

Happy Yoga Monday – Celebrating Yoga Teacher Kimberly Wilson’s New Book – Tranquilologie: a DIY Guide to Everyday Tranquility

Photo Credit: www.kimberlywilson.com
Photo Credit: http://www.kimberlywilson.com

Happy Yoga Monday!

How is your National Yoga Month celebration going? Mine is doing great. This week, I am excited about the release of my yoga teacher and friend, Kimberly Wilson’s new book, Tranquilologie: a DIY Guide to Everyday Tranquility. I love the name and the artwork on the book cover (especially the fleur-de-lis, a French symbol that refers to the lily flower)! Don’t you?  

Photo Credit: www.kimberlywilson.com
Photo Credit: http://www.kimberlywilson.com

Kimberly’s limited edition book (only 1,000 copies) combines two of my favorite things: joie de vivre and tranquil living practices. Based on her e-course, Tranquilologie offers readers a guide that covers mindfulness, self-care, nesting, do-gooding, work, style, creativity, and dreams for an entire year. It makes for a perfect birthday, holiday, or  “me” treat gift.

Photo Credit: http://blog.kimberlywilson.com/2013/07/youre-invited-910-charitea-in-dc.html
Photo Credit: http://blog.kimberlywilson.com/2013/07/youre-invited-910-charitea-in-dc.html

PS: Kimberly’s D.C. book release party will be held on September 10 at 7:00 p.m. at the Darlington House, 1610 20th Street, N.W. (Dupont Circle Metro). Be sure to RSVP to Kimberly@kimberlywilson.com. Hope to see you there!

Also, she is launching a Tranquility Tour across North America beginning September 14 and ending on November 16. Click here to learn more about the tour.

Happy Yoga Monday – Celebrating National Yoga Month in September

Photo Credit: http://yogahealthfoundation.org/yoga_month
Photo Credit: http://yogahealthfoundation.org/yoga_month

Happy Yoga Monday!

September marks the annual celebration of National Yoga Month. It’s a great time to recommit to your yoga practice.

What are you planning to do?

yogame3

I am going to use the month to practice yoga outside more and take more yoga classes at my gym, Mint (like the Sunday evening flow yoga class I took earlier this year). I am also going to schedule some yoga dates with a few friends at local yoga studios.

Photo Credit: http://yogahealthfoundation.org
Photo Credit: http://yogahealthfoundation.org

If you are new to yoga, check out the Yoga Health Foundation’s free week of yoga available during September.

Happy Yoga Monday! — My Home Yoga Practice

yogainternationalHappy Yoga Monday!

Have you visited YogaInternational.com? It’s filled with a variety of yoga resources. The site also offers a helpful guide for creating a home yoga practice that I think you might enjoy. The guide shares the four benefits for creating a home practice. They include self-knowledge, self-help, self-indulgence, an exponential growth. I totally agree!

yogame2

When I started practicing yoga in my home in 1995 after I attended my first yoga class during an African American studies trip to Egypt, I hired a private yoga teacher to guide me through the asanas (poses). Her name was Gloria. She was a kind, firm, loving, and knowledgeable woman I met in my monthly meditation group. She showed me how to embrace yoga as my own healing balm for anxiety, stress relief, and tight hips, hamstrings, and legs that needed stretching after my long runs. She showed me how yoga when paired with meditation could help me focus my energy on my creative projects. She pushed me to try poses I was afraid of (at the time I was afraid of downward facing dog) in my home practice. She encouraged me to take my yoga practice outside and into my local park.

yoga-me-malcolmxparkShe also taught me how to create a five-minute practice that includes seven deep breaths in a seated pose followed by child’s pose. When I have more time, I add in a few rounds of sun salutations, cat/cow, lots of standing forward folds, cobra, plank, twists, squats, pigeon, and alternative nostril breathing.

Photo Credit: Cyndi Lee
Photo Credit: Cyndi Lee

Cyndi Lee’s OM in a Box was one of the first resources I used to deepen my home yoga practice.

Photo Credit: Yoga Journal
Photo Credit: Yoga Journal

Yoga Journal is another resource I use. What does your home practice include?

yogacollage

I have created many collages over the years to remind me to practice yoga daily. What do you use as a yoga reminder?