December 21, 2012 | 12:43 pm

Showing Up

Posted by Michelle Azar

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Mine was a messy practice this morning. And I’m not being hard on myself. I rushed through the standing postures, barely breathing the full 5 counts, just dying to get to the seated stuff, only to find the same issue at hand once landing my bum on the mat (my 7-year-old declared TUSH a bad word so I never know what to call our bottoms anymore!) I was too hungry. Too sore. Too tired. I was just going through the motions. Suddenly, I realized, that was okay today too. The fact was, I had the desire or discipline at least to show up, and anything that happens from there cannot be bad. Who knows how it might have merit later in the day. I thought it seemed akin to a prayer practice too. Sometimes we sit and just go through the motions, repeating a phrase or a mantra or a prayer that might be required of us, and we are not really connected to the words. The meaning and the breath we are offering are out of synch. But if that is all we have to offer that day, maybe that just has to be enough. And again, the fact is that we showed up for it and don’t necessarily know where it will take us from there. Show up. We must show up. Daily. To our obligations, certainly, but also to our desires. To the more elusive practices of our lives. Sometimes it will be a fake it til you make it experience, but there is much knowledge to be gained from those as well. At the end of my practice, I got a gift. A surprise adjustment in savasana. Rest practice WITH a massage? Please, if that is not reward for just showing up I don’t know what is. I wish you all a deeply relaxed winter solstice, with time for the mundane and the holy. In peace, Michelle

December 14, 2012 | 4:35 pm

moon day musings (AND FREE CLASS ON SUNDAY)

Posted by Michelle Azar

Early in my Ashtanga Yoga life, ashtanga meaning the Sanskrit word for eight limbed and the type of yoga I like to practice, I noticed the similarity to Jewish holiday observances. Though it is a daily and unchanging practice, there is no practice held customarily on Saturday. Handy for the Sabbath practicing Jew. Many holy days include fasts, chanting, and then the coming together of people in community with song. And food. Lots of food.

Both traditions also follow the calendar of the moon.  Full and new moon days are observed, a custom which really resonates for me. Like all things of a watery nature, and rumor has it we humans are about 70% water, we are affected by the phases of the moon. Full moons occur when in opposition to the sun’s rays and new moons when they are in conjunction. Both sun and moon exert a gravitational pull on the earth. Their relative positions create different energetic experiences that can be compared to the breath cycle. The full moon energy corresponds to the end of inhalation, an expansive and upward moving force that makes us feel energetic and emotional, but not well grounded.

The new moon energy corresponds to the end of exhalation. This time is of a contracting, downward moving force that makes us feel calm and grounded, but dense and disinclined towards physical exertion. I am sure some of you know what I mean this week; fatigue seemed to abound, as yesterday was such a day in Ashtanga yoga land. A day of rest. Some mark it with abstinence from sex and from certain foods. It is also to be marked with (more) meditation, a tradition given from Chinese Astrology.

This meditation begins with gratitude toward the abundance you have, and then heads into requests. As I sat there yesterday, doing first my breath practice then my own evening prayers in Hebrew, I tried to incorporate this “request” practice. The first part was easy. Abundance always feels evident this time of year. The feeling of being just where we are, and having that be enough greets me as one year draws to a close and another lies nearby in hope and promise. And as I sat with this gratitude, I could not quite articulate the “more” that I might want. Not to say, I don’t have wishes, certainly I have many lists of wants! Books upon books of what I think I deserve greet me in spades, and often. But last night, I could not truly, with sincerity, imagine wanting more than I had as I listened to the steady breath of those in my house, the lingering scent of those who had just left, and the promise of light of the moon and sun to greet me upon waking.

Practicing Ashtanga Yoga over time has made me more attuned to natural cycles. Observing the moon days is a tool to help recognize and honor the rhythms of nature, which I think can offer us our own lives in greater harmony between that which we want and that we already have.

I hope you will think to greet me and others THIS SUNDAY MORNING AT LULULEMON , 335 N. BEVERLY DR., BH for a FREE YOGA CLASS AT 9:30 AM!

With joy,

michelle

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December 7, 2012 | 12:01 pm

Stretches

Posted by Michelle Azar

Hope you all stay warm and dry this weekend, and remember to stretch! As we move into the winter months, our bodies tend to tighten up. Even if you have no time for class, which is always a misleading statement 'cuz we can make the time for anything that feels important!, do this:

 

Reach up to the sky
Fold over in half, knees bent if needed
Slowly, inhale and come on back up.

Repeat a few times, really hearing your inhale and exhale.

 

Then hang forward, making some contact with your toes or ankles, ( shins, calves, whatever you can reach!)
And let your EXHALE bring you more length and release in the backs of your thighs.

If you still have time, do the same thing sort of, sitting down.
And then maybe even a bridge posture or two.

And if you have no idea what I am talking about, COME PRACTICE IN PERSON!

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