Yoga & Meditation
yoga and meditation
Yoga & Me
I have been on and off doing yoga for the past 7 or so years. I had been getting healthier over the last few years and was working with a physical trainer who suggested that if I wanted to get a bit more flexible that was the way to go. I tried a few local studios and got a idea of what a whole body workout can be! I didn’t realize that yoga had so much to it, it can be as hard as you want it to be in many more ways than weight training and cardio workouts had done for me. Later that year I got an injury bench pressing and that was something I never have gotten over completely, a torn rotator cuff…not enough to warrant surgery, but enough that my weight training days were over, or I so concluded. So, I turned to yoga for my main program to remain healthy into my 70’s. I used YouTube and studios to find my capabilities and flow…Yoga with Kassandra and Travis Eliot turned out to be my favorites and I still follow them today. As a matter of fact, I am doing Travis Eliot’s online teacher training course and hope to get through it by end of 2025! My yoga program, and my life in general suffered a major set back last year…my son died of an overdose, and I fell apart and am just now getting back to a mental state that lets me want to move on…this website died, my yoga got ignored, my eating habits suffered, my photography was forgotten, I was overwhelmed with grief, sadness, and guilt…more on that elsewhere on this site and my YouTube channel. I’ve gone back to the studio to get back in the groove, find my balance, and get that I like this feeling back again!
Breath Control In Yoga
HAVING THE BREATH CONTROL YOUR MOVEMENTS…INSTEAD OF YOUR MOVEMENTS CONTROL YOUR BREATH
CREATING A RHYTHM OF AIR THAT NOURISHES YOUR FLOW PRODUCING A CONCENTRATION OF ONENESS BETWEEN YOUR MIND AND BODY
Meditation will give you the ability to recognize that life does not encompass an event or an accomplishment but is realizing life is happening every single moment…for us to experience and be thankful for….
BEING ABLE TO BE “OK” WITH WHAT IS GOING ON AROUND YOU WHEN YOU DECIDE TO PRACTICE IS WHAT EQUANIMITY IS ALL ABOUT…THERE IS ALWAYS SOMETHING TO BE GAINED NO MATTER THE CIRCUMSTANCES OR YOUR PERCEIVED OUTCOME OF ANY MEDITATION PRACTICE MAY BE….
IT NOT LIKE YOU NEED TO ENTER A SPECIAL STATE OF OMMNESS OR ANYTHING! TAKING NOTE AND BEING ABLE TO FOCUS ON ONES BREATH (MY PREFERRED HOME BASE) EVEN IF IT BE ONLY A FEW BREATHS BEFORE THE MIND WANDERS…WILL STRENGTHEN YOUR ABILITY TO BRING YOU BACK TO THE BREATH FOR A FEW MORE MOMENTS OF RIGHT HERE RIGHT NOW.
WHAT IS SO COOL ABOUT YOGA IS YOU CAN PRACTICE AS HARD OR AS EASY AS YOU LIKE! GOALS FOR STRENGTH, FLEXIBILITY, BALANCE, ENDURANCE, CORE AND MOBILITY ALL ARE FOR THE TAKING…ESPECIALLY FOR US WHO WANT TO AGE GRACEFULLY! I AM 64 AND HAVE BEEN DOING YOGA FOR ONLY 5 YEARS…AND THE BENEFITS KEEP PILING ON!
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my journey into yoga…was overweight by eighty pounds, pre-diabetic and I didn’t even know it! my daughter, who was 16 at the time, became my workout partner and encourager after I tried to tie my shoe one day and was out of breath with the effort! She said “In the car, Dad we are signing up for the gym” I got serious with her help and over the next two years had a great improvement with my health…I discover Dr. Gundry diet system and that really did a lot for me…my daughter moved on to the navy and I became obsessed with strength training…and didn’t mind being 180 instead of 245( now I am 160 after going full-on Keto and now card cycling)…as long as I was strong!!! being a bit older and having let my fitness go to hell for 20 years + I was feeling pretty good…had a great trainer who pushed me to my limits…needless to say injury was bound to happen and it did times two…a mishap on the bench press lead to a rotator cup issue and a car accident hurt the same shoulder…I knew then my goal to press 250 was over…(still have a video of 225 my best!) my trainer and I had talked about yoga because as my shoulder and arms grew my flexibility and mobility was decreasing…but i thought yoga was a weird kind exercise and a kind of religious thing that was in conflict to what I belived not really for strength etc etc etc….finally I said what the hell lets give it a try…sighed up for the 1st of many $30 for 3 weeks or 10 class deals from group-on…what a different feel I got for the discipline…for more intense that i thought and offering much more than strength training that i thought yoga could not give…to be sure there were a lot of teachers and studios that I did not like the style of their teaching but many that were very cool and I soon realized that yoga was an all-around body and mind toner..it has led me to find my body balance and know the importance of working on it as I get older …to tackle and be able to do hand stands(took me 6 months before I yelled out a loud yes!!!) …something I could never do in my youth…finding out how important the use of the breath is…led me to meditation…yoga is for all religious beleifs and faith of any sort it is adaptable and i believe without conflict to your core values. Yoga also let me accept my limitations and learn to modify my practice to suit my body… without feeling like I failed in anything…another form of balance with the practice of yoga… Ill probably never be able to do some poses or crazy balance and strength moves but I can do my own version and be ok with that and I have surprised my myself by keeping at something a little bit at a time it has actually happened! that’s what I call a bonus round!
