Open Arms & Hearts to the Flow of Life

A very special thanks to our friends at Being Yoga in Burlingame, California for this grounding and inspirational article. It's a fantastic reminder of the power and divinity within us all!

Intentional - Align with your Highest Good
(Being Yoga Community News, 6/2/09)

Aligning with Your Highest Good begins in the mind. It begins when you become aware of the personal stories you tell (and repeat) to yourself. Through consciously making note of those stories, you can begin to be aware of patterns of thinking that undermine your best feelings - your feelings of faith in yourself, in others, and in the world. Only after you become aware of such patterns can you begin to change them and awaken to a higher, more productive and more creative level of thinking - thinking that will help you attain your goals and produce positive circumstances and events.

Such awareness takes practice and training. And, is there any better training ground than your own yoga mat? For example, when you walk into the yoga studio, do you get upset when someone has placed his/her mat on "your" spot? Are you convinced that your practice was "ruined" by too much, or too little, heat? Are you distracted by others and become critical if they aren't performing the way you think they should? Are the ceiling fans too loud, too windy, too . . . ? As you acknowledge your thoughts about the conditions of the yoga room, you might begin to realize that you are labeling your external conditions negatively, and that by doing so, you are creating your own internal feelings of discontent and unhappiness.

Roy Eugene Davis says, "Allowing outer events or circumstances to adversely influence your mind and consciousness will result in mental and emotional confusion and interfere with your endeavors to be freely expressive. Avoid thinking that other people or circumstances can prevent you from bringing forth your potential to be fully awake and skillfully functional. With practice, you can become "fully awake and skillfully functional" on your own yoga mat and open up a whole new realm of enjoyment within. For example, instead of focusing on the heat level, you will find much more satisfaction being mindful of how your lungs are expanding and contracting in Pranayama Breathing, or how your hip is opening in Trikanasana, or how your hamstrings are lengthening in Janushirasana with Paschimothanasana. By doing so, you will walk away from your practice feeling far more stretched, toned, cleansed, calm and happy than if you had allowed outward distractions to dominate your attention during class.

So it is with life. It is easy to be in the unconscious habit of entertaining mundane, negative, and unproductive thoughts about anything and everything. But, by aligning with your highest good, and "keeping arms and heart wide open to the flow of life," (as our own yoga teacher Toi Lynn Wyle so beautifully stated) we can begin "seeing the Paradise in the now" (as Krishnamurti so beautifully stated). Instead of negatively labeling and reacting, you can learn to refocus your observations onto higher, more meaningful thoughts.

Our work - when either training in the yoga studio or functioning outside in the "real" world - is to become aware of our thoughts, and work on lifting them to a higher level. "Assume states of consciousness and nurture thoughts and feelings that will constructively influence your actions and produce or attract ideal events and circumstances," Mr. Davis advises, because, he goes on to say, "Whatever you really need or want, first possess it in your mind and consciousness and it can be yours in fact." Aligning with your higher good will lead you to a happier, more productive and more satisfying life in the world. Again, "You have to live your life. Why not do it the way you know to be the best?"

6 Ways to Boost Your Metabolism

Check out this article from FitWatch on 7 Ways to Boost Your Metabolism. I changed my title to "6" because I disagree with the adding caffeine beverages idea. While caffeine can aid athletic performance, I it's not a good weight-loss aid or habit. The metabolic difference is too small of a benefit to counteract the negatives of caffeine such as its addictive qualities and the post-caffeine crash.

Obesity's Big Impact

The incidence of clinically defined obesity in the U.S. adult population has reached 34%, more than double the incidence in 1980. A person is considered clinically obese when his or her body mass index (BMI) is 30 or higher. The morbidly obese -- those whose BMI is 40+ -- represent the fastest-growing sector of obesity. Their average yearly health care costs exceed $7,500, nearly twice the average annual cost for adults who are not obese.

McKinsey estimates that the medical costs associated with clinically obese patients represent about 10% of the sum spent on health care premiums. Reducing the incidence of obesity back to 1980's level would generate $60 billion a year in net savings.

SOURCE: "Three Imperatives for Improving U.S. Health Care," The McKinsey Quarterly, December 2008.

2009 Fitness Trends

Check out this announcement from the American Council on Exercise on the hottest fitness trends for 2009. Give one a try today. Who knows, it could make the difference between resolution and evolution!

ACT LIKE A TRAINER: 9 Tips of What Trainers do for their Own Workouts

This is the time of year when many people decide to make resolutions and hit the health club to get the body they’ve always wanted. To determine the most effective methods of exercise, it makes sense to work with a personal trainer and also look at what fitness professionals do for their own workouts.

20-Minute Yoga Practice Video Series

Even if you only have 20 minutes to spare, you can still fit in your daily yoga practice. Choose from one of Yoga Journal's podcasts, including Core Strength, Balancing Poses, and simple Morning and Evening sequences.

Top Fitness Mistakes & Fixes

Read about the 12 most common, performance-defeating fitness mistakes—and how to fix them—in Oustide Magzine:
Training on Empty
Working Out Just to Work Out
Living at the Gym
Stretching Cold
Going Long and Slow to Burn Calories
Ignoring Weights
Taking it Too Easy
Skipping Recovery
Moving in One Plane
Ab Obsession
Pretending You're Too Busy
Not Keeping Score