Pranalife - Kimberley's Blog

Sadie Nardini's Root Chakra Flow

Fri, 11 Nov 2011 08:42:00 GMT

It’s impossible to explain in words how amazing Sadie’s workshop in Keswick this weekend was. I can’t even attempt to summarize everything I’ve drawn from the two hours with her, but I will share a couple things that really stuck with me.

She spoke about the first three chakras and how one of the main demises of these centers is fear. We talked about the fear of diving head first into your passions and what you really want in life in because you’re scared of failure and (in turn feeling pain), having to do the extra work involved and that of adjusting to new situations etc. But she then laid it out in a big picture sort of perspective for us: what “pain” is really worse? The pain of making yourself vulnerable, or the [chronic] pain you constantly hold with you 24 hours a day 7 days a week because you are essentially always tied down in chains?

Think about it.

Physically, I got a few fundamental lessons from Sadie’s core programs. She taught us that solid core strength stems from proper pelvic alignment – the pelvis should never be tilting forwards or backwards for a solid, stable middle. You can apply this rule to almost every pose as well as use it to your advantage for arm balancing - Sadie got me into a solid straight armed crow for the first time! Here’s how:

DO NOT

Start crow with bent arms. Your center of gravity is too low to begin with and your weight is already too far forward. It is much more difficult to raise yourself to straight arms in this sitch!

DO

Lift straight up from your core balancing on your toes, low belly draws to the back of your spine. Your energy is drawing straight up so your center of gravity is already where it needs to be. Simple set your elbows into your arm pits, shifting your weight only slightly forward. And always remember to look forward in front of you and not to the ground to avoid a spill on your face (I learned this the hard way).

Crow pose is the foundation for all arm balances. Get your crow down and all of the other fancy stuff will follow in a flow.

Namaste!
Kimmi

Yoga and Classical Conditioning

Mon, 19 Sep 2011 12:06:00 GMT

The definition of yoga is "the controlling of the mind." ~ Pattabhi Jois

It is a general belief that our emotions and states of minds are direct reactions to our environment and the situations of which we are placed in. So what does Mr. Jois mean that we can utilize yoga to help us control our minds? Isn't that in the hands of our situation? Well, let me link to you what our wise Indian guru was saying with the experiments and findings of Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov and his famous dogs.

Like practically anything, yoga can be classically conditioned (the pairing of a physical action with a psychological response). These psychological responses can include happiness, purity, compassion, strength, confidence, and on so, depending on the intentions we set, mantras we repeat throughout practice, and the descriptive words our teachers use to flow us through practice. For example, if the teacher cues "loving kindness" every time we bring our hands to heart center, you will eventually automatically just feel those loving, kind thoughts whenever you place your hands to heart center in future practices. If conditioned strongly enough, these thoughts will come even if you pray outside your mat.

Whatever thoughts we condition ourselves with will get stronger and stronger with us after every time we practice. Say you focus on your solar plexus, the chakra of personal empowerment every time you practice for one month. That adds up to 20+ hours of pairing this focused state of mind with yoga asanas and sequences. From then on, every time you do yoga, you'll pretty much feel as though you can carry the weight of the world on your shoulders. Then, whenever you feel weak later in life, you can jump on your mat for an easy, cheap, and effective cure. Yoga is a mighty therapist that will conjure the thoughts and emotions we need to live life with strength, passion, and peace. And the more you do it, the better the therapist it will be.

Such a simple psychological concept can be used with yoga to greatly improve our quality of life. Just another great example of how Eastern mystics and Western scientists unknowingly are in agreement with one another!

Kim

Meditation Utilizes Neuroplasticity to Our Great Advantage

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 08:47:00 GMT

For the last three days, I have been viciously eating this book alive.

In summary, it is a fascinating concoction of stories, experiments, and case studies that prove NEUROPLASTICITY: the theory that the human brain can change it's physical structure from not only incoming stimuli from the environment, but also from IMMATERIAL thoughts and imagination. Stroke patients can be cured, people born with half a brain can be fully function, and an elderly person can have a memory just as intact as a twenty-five year old. It's true. We can exercise our brain just as well as we exercise our muscles. And the hypertrophy is all about more neural networks.

From a meditator's standpoint - this is GREAT NEWS;
Here I present to you the many benefits of meditation based on the fact that our brains are as flexible as play-doh:

For the general population } Improved attention, senses, and ability to feel compassion. This article sent to me by Pranafriend Kristina Lekin - {This is your Brain on... Meditation} - goes indepth on how this works.

For the chronically stressed } Meditation lowers levels of cortisol, a stress hormone. It also decreases activity in the amyglada, an area of the brain responsible for stress and anxiety.

For those experiencing chronic pain } Pain is felt not at the site of defect, but in the brain. In some odd cases, pain is not an accurate representation of the damage in your body; you could be feeling pain long after the damage site has healed. This type of pain can be treated with cognitive therapy - in summary, simply imagining movement of the damaged part with utmost strength can cure chronic pain. No pain killers and liver damage needed. Just meditation!

He knew about yogis who relieved suffering with meditation and walked barefoot across coals or lay down on nails. He saw religious people putting needles through their chins.

[...]

He has transposed a sense of wonder from the streets of India to Western neurology,

[...]

What is a trance but a closing down of the gates of pain within us?

~ The Brain that Changes Itself by Norman Doidge, Page 195

For injured athletes } A study was done with two groups who trained a finger muscle for 4 weeks. Group A did actual physical training while group B simply visualized doing the training. Group A ended up gaining 30% muscular strength, while group B was not far behind with a 22% gain! Stronger motor neurons attributed to this impressive gain - therefore you do not need to be a hulky monster to be strong! This is fantastic information for injured athletes. They can still train almost just as well without even moving a muscle!

For those practicing virtually any skill } Playing the piano, writing with your non dominant hand, doing a front tuck... all of these things can be practiced by pure meditation and visualization. A similar study as the one above was done with piano players. The two groups (A - physical practice, B - mental practice) ended up being able to play a piece on the piano with equal accuracy. This means that if a professional piano player were to do 50/50 physical and mental rehearsal, they would be much less likely to develop a common wrist injury. This can be said able almost any skill that requires repetitive movement (and therefore puts one at risk of a repetitive strain injury).
For the aging } Our brains have a "use it or lose it" policy. As long as we are using that area of the brain, it will not degrade. Meditation will exercise many areas of the brain and therefore maintains its strength. This puts elderly at less of a risk for developing alzheimers and dementia.

The widespread applications in therapy, training, gaining better peace of mind, and becoming an overall better person as a whole are limitless and I have only touched on a few. I highly recommend this read to get the bigger picture. How mighty our brain can be! Give it as much love as you are willing to give your body as they are very much one in the same. Meditate your way to a healthy whole!

Kim

Feet: Your Foundation

Tue, 06 Sep 2011 20:55:00 GMT

Why do yoga teachers constantly tell us to spread our toes apart and lift our arches ("Pada Bandha")? How is one even supposed to do this? And what is the point? When I first practiced yoga I had no clue why we had to pay such close attention to our feet and because of this and the fact that I had no idea how on earth I was supposed to will my toes to come apart, I brushed this instruction aside and went on.

One random day while I was sitting in bed, I stared at my toes and had a sudden eager goal to try and will them to come apart. (Yes it was a slow day for me) Unsuccessful but determined, I began a mission to undo the atrophy of my toe abductors. Since most of us rarely need to spread our toes apart in everyday life, these little muscles of ours have shrunk and become inactive. Also, the main principle of neuroplasticity: "neurons that fire together wire together" is the reason why it's so hard to move one toe individually. We usually move our toes in unison for everyday function and because of this our neural paths governing toe movement has melded into a few paths instead of ten individual paths for each toe; they have "wired" together. But also because of neuroplasticity, we can train our brains to separate these pathways once again and learn to control our little toesies as freely we do our hands!

HOW

Manually massage and wiggle your toes and feet with your fingers to warm up
Use your fingers to separate the toes apart by placing them in between each one - this shows your unfamiliar brain what it feels like. You can also use toe separators.
In a low squat lift your heels off the ground and hold for a nice toe stretch
Have a seat, extend your legs out in front of you and look at your toes. Look at each toe one at a time and attempt to abduct it. (Think Uma Thurman in Kill Bill - "Wiggle your big toe") You'll have to be patient - this will take a while to achieve. You can also do this while watching TV, on the computer, reading, etc - this will make the patience come much easier.
Finally, during yoga practice while you are standing in mountain pose, lift your toes and try to will your toes to spread apart. Set them on the ground for a greater foundation.

WHY

Alignment principle #4 in my YTT notes - Root to Rise:
Your FEET, ie. your foundation attributes greatly the success of standing balancing postures. In order to experience the grand feeling of RISING in strength and balance, for example, in dancer's pose, you first must firm your ROOTS. With "awakened" toes, they become smarter in detecting the subtle weight shifts in your body, thereby better abling to communicate to your brain and body in how to become more stable. Better communication also means less ankle sprains, and less tripping over your feet (for you clumsy ones).

Better Postural Structure:
Spreading your toes also naturally lifts the arches of your feet. This lifts the ankle, which supports upwards to the knee, pelvis, spine, neck, and head. In a sentence, this simple action of spreading your toes apart can immediately rid of many postural misalignment.

So keep this it in mind! If there's one balancing posture that you've felt like you've worked on forever but just can't get, try spreading your toes! I guarantee it will help you out a ton - Half moon was impossible for me before I tried it with pada bandha.

Kimmi

Posture, posture, posture! Nit Picking Tadasana

Thu, 01 Sep 2011 16:59:00 GMT

Amber is my massage therapist from {Dharma Studios}. She is also a yoga instructor specializing in restorative classes and traditional healing. I have been seeing her quite often lately and as a result she has come to know my body quite well. She was also able to identify many things that were "off" with my body after a few sessions - muscular imbalances, postural problems, and tendencies that I probably would want to rid of ASAP.

For starters, my left shoulder in always in slight medial rotation (turned forward and in) due to 21 years of sleeping on my left side. Both of my shoulders are too depressed (low) because of my silly fear of having scunched up shoulders. My lumbar spine in overly lordodic (low back is too curved) because Stu McGill has scared me probably way more than necessary to ever flex my spine and I do a lot of the opposite.

It was a huge kick in the butt to realize that my posture, that I thought was seamless... kind of sucked. So, how did she propose I fix this?

Mountain Pose.
Aka "Tadasana"

You might recogize this pose as the "beginning posture" to set up proper alignment. Although most think that this is a relatively inactive posture of where we are simply standing, let me tell you that it is NOT! {Tadasana's asana column} via Yoga Journal explains the many crazy things that are actually going on in this pose - though you may not be able to see it from the outside, your motor neurons should be having a party on the inside.

However, these are just general guidelines. If you want to define your PERFECT mountain pose, you must first identify your postural imbalances. A chiropractor, physiotherapist, kinesiologist, massage therapist, or yoga instructor can more than likely assess you.

Once you do so, stand in front of a mirror, and use this reference to align yourself properly with your new found knowledge from a specialist. Keep in mind that when you first do this, it will feel very, very awkward because your brain has been telling you this whole time that your asymmetrical posture was in fact symmetrical. (inaccurate proprioception) But by using this mirror reference and consciously aligning yourself up properly, you can now teach your body where it actually is in space, and what symmetrical actually feels like. Do this for at least a minute several times a day and of course integrate into your yoga practice!

I think that it is so important to be nit picky about a thing like posture because it is literally how your hold your body for almost 2/3rds of your life. So be mindful, and instead of being so gung ho on hitting tittibhasana, step back, and work on getting your tadasana pristine.

Sincerely,
Kim

Transfer and a Billionaire's Secret to Productivity

Thu, 25 Aug 2011 10:26:00 GMT

"Running an ultramarathon can't be good for you. I can't imagine how it's possibly good for your body," I said.

Brian Mackenzie laughed: Good for you physically? No. But you'll recover. And I assure you: if you run 50K or 100 miles, when you finish, you won't be the same person who started."

~ Timothy Ferriss

The closing chapter of {The Four Hour Body} resonated with me incredibly well, as I was once again reassured completely as to why I am so in love with Tim.

This year my best friend and I have been discussing a lot on physical activity and sports, and the difference between participating for the sake of doing your body good, and (not purposefully but) the opposite - "destructive leisure." For example, climbing Everest. Running an ultramarathon. Choosing "play" instead of "rest" when you've got a football game in 3 hours and achilles tendonitis. Why on earth would someone want to put themselves through that? The endless days of grueling, physical and pyschological stress and pain? Well, I can tell you that it's not to get a "good work out."

As much as I choose most of the time to prioritize the health of my body above all things, I feel that sometimes it is appropriate to push your body's limits a bit in order to acquire some other valuable gems.

People climb everest to become fearless. To gain undying ambition. To find a reason to say, "well shucks. I guess I can do anything now."

And it is a life changing thing.

---

When I worked at the Running Room, there was a point where I was injured and was unable to run with my usual group. So I decided to walk instead with a crew there called "Minds in Motion" - a group of several mentally handicapped adults who'd walk their way through a route to Kitchener and back twice a week. As I was walking, I was talking to an autistic fellow named Ben. When I praised him for having perfect attendance for these walk sessions, he told me, "I don't have a choice. It keeps the cob webbs clear from my skull." And I just thought: "Me too, Ben... me too...."

The 4HB begins by talking about a group of business men gathered to listen to Richard Bransen, founder of a billion dollar empire called Virgin Group, speak about his number one secret to productivity. He had two words to say:

Work out.

Richard claimed that working out every morning gained him 4 extra hours of productivity a day. Tim Ferriss deems it the term Transfer. Sports and physical activity will give you life skills you won't even know until you do it - until you choose an active (versus a sedentary) lifestyle. And everyday you WILL be more and more amazed at what you can do. This I promise you.

xo Kim

Forward Folding and Dating Stu McGill

Mon, 15 Aug 2011 09:33:00 GMT

Oh Stuart McGill, the most intelligent man who has ever bought me lunch... how do I get more of your time? Some say he is quite a cocky fellow, and sometimes maybe a bit inappropriate with his jokes, but if you asked me I'd say he is for good reason (About the cockiness, not the jokes). A fire drill went off in one of our buildings on campus during class and as groups of us were lingering outside, waiting for the okay to go back inside. It was then, and to my great excitement, where I spotted Stu's oh so respectable mustache. Before smacking myself in the head because I had taken a grand total of five minutes to make myself presentable to the public world that morning, I hunted him down for the kill - and was successful! Although I had to wait half a school term, I lured him to go on a date with me. Ah yes. I was pretty happy with myself that day.

If you don't know Stu, he is a professor at the University of Waterloo who specializes in {spine biomechanics research}. He has also been a trainer for UFC fighters (GSP anyone?), various Olympic athletes, and apparently at one point, the second fastest woman alive. He's worked with the most elite of the elite. Sometimes I dream about being stranded on an island with him with a notebook and pen so he has nothing else available to him but to feed me his brains. Unfortunately this situation didn't occur, but I am here to tell you about my (awesome) hour and a half with him at Tim Horton's.

My primary intent was to have him pin point specific yoga postures and their relative safety level to our often overlooked, low backs. Now for starters, let it be known that the full Ashtanga primary series has us forward fold in 24 different postures (this is NOT including Surya A and B). When we hunch forward at our backs, this is called spinal flexion. Repetitive spinal flexion, especially under tension from external loads, can lead to extreme low back pain, and if it gets bad enough - a disk bulge.

Now spinal flexion in moderation is not a problem. However, Stu had me look around at everyone's postures inside Timmie's that rainy afternoon. Flexed spines, everywhere. Not one person had even a reasonably-okay posture. This might have not been a problem for Vamana Rishi centuries ago, however, NOWadays, where our 9 - 5's and horrible chairs do crap-all for our backs, and where low back pain is experienced by most of the population by the time we reach 50, flexing our spines even more than we do already at yoga class is probably not in our best interest. So how do we get around this? Its very simple. But this is when you'll have to disobey most of your traditional Ashtanga yoga teachers.

Rules:

---

Standing Forward Folds:

NO! >>> YES!

SAD BACK >>> HAPPY BACK

Bend your knees and lay your belly onto your thighs. Do not lose this contact. Work on straightening out your legs on your exhales for your hamstring stretch - fix.

Seated forward folds:

BAD! + lack of uddiyana bandha... >>> GOOD >>> GOOD

NO >>> YES!!

Draw your belly towards your spine and roll your shoulders back. Keeping your heart shining forward, your belly button leads and attempts to touch the floor in front of you. Don't worry if you feel like you can't move forward at all. Remember: We don't care if you can touch your toes!

---

Following these rules will keep your core stable and back protected. Easy enough, right?

Best of luck!
Kim

P.S. Great postures to release low back tension: cat-cow, spinal twists, crescent moon, supta baddha konasana with block or boulster (droool).

The Dangers of a Single Story

Tue, 09 Aug 2011 01:02:00 GMT

Back in my high school days, I was heavily involved with the international development programs with the YMCA, stemmed from my very first job as a camp counselor there. I was flown to Ukraine and traveled through to the Czech Republic where YMCA delegates from 100 or so countries gathered together to exchange ideas, get educated about dozens of global issues, and of course learn about other countries/ cultures/ local YMCAs.

Since this mighty experience, other delegates from YMCA Calgary continue to traveled to various countries annually and have come back for us staff and community to listen to their experiences. Today I was invited to listen to a presentation from a lovely lady who stayed in Bogota, Colombia for a month, assisting with the YMCA community there. It was eye opening, heart warming, and reinforced my feeling gratitude (like these things usually do).

When I told my mother about it later that day, she told me, "Oh, I'd much rather go to Europe like you did than a place like that." Immediately I was irritated. Irritated at her ignorance, her closed-mindedness, and her condescending tone. She hasn't even been to either place! How could she possibly know that? It was obvious that like many others, she was just going by stereotypes, when it was actually explained in the presentation how loving, lively, and surprisingly safe the community was. You don't hear about things of that matter in the news though - rather you get the low down the gangs, the murders, and the drug trafficking.

I hear the same thing over and over from other friends who have traveled the world in hopes to make a difference - that what they thought was a run down, dirty slum town full of disease and starvation - was actually quite an amazing and beautiful place. In fact, more than half of them say would some day like to live where ever they traveled too because of how amazed they were of of their cultural values and morals. Yes, every country has their serious issues. But these issues are not their entire story and should NOT be what defines them.

Here's a great TED Talk my friend who recently came back from a year long mission in South Africa sent me. It's called {The Dangers of a Single Story} eloquently presented by Chimamanda Adichie.

Here she explains so well about these misconceptions of the developing world. Watch, share, and let it open your mind.

All my best,
Kimmi

Uend Poverty: One Yoga Event

Thu, 04 Aug 2011 14:53:00 GMT

I feel quite lucky to be apart of the 2011 Yoga in the Park event volunteer adjuster! {Uend Poverty} is a fantastic organization that takes on multiple projects around the world with it's mission to fight extreme poverty. The project we worked to fund was one to bring in clean water and irrigation to Nquileni Village in South Afrrica. When Kim Morrison announced this, I gazed at all the Lulu canteens around me and felt an intense sense of gratitude. It's like now we knew our purpose and why we were here, and this can make our intention throughout practice extra strong - especially when 50 other yogis around you have this intention as well. I LOVED this class, (even though I was adjusting for most of it, we were advised to be a practitioner for the last 30 minutes) - It was 108 minutes of led practice by 3 very experienced teachers in the sunshine, while the vibrations of live music perfected the atmosphere. There were drums, acoustics and a GONG. $2500 (out of $10,000 needed to fund the project) was raised in ONE YOGA class. Not too shabby in my opinion!

One of the organizers also told us about a great way to give. On the website you can {purchase gift cards} for a friend, ie. for a birthday gift, and wIth this gift card your friend can browse the site and choose a project they would like to give that money to. I like this because sometimes when you donate to charities, you essentially have no idea what you are giving your money to. This makes it really difficult to feel like you are being helpful (and therefore people choose not to). But with Uend, you are told exactly how your money is used, and you are informed of the impact you made. I fully love this organization and I encourage everyone to hop on the website and learn more about it! It's very cliche to say but it's so very true: when you give, it feels like you get so more back yourself. Seriously - I am glad to admit that I volunteer for selfish purposes. And it's taken me a while to learn that that's okay.

Namaste everyone!
Kimberley

Crash and Learn

Wed, 03 Aug 2011 08:00:00 GMT

. . . pU nwoD 2 1
A recent car accident sent my car spinning and my left me with a chronic case of neck/ upper back tendonitis.

Since this past year, I have increasingly felt my body and my mind merge into one single entity whereas my mental health has become so heavily dependent on my physical health. The feelings of triumph from physical strength and moving meditations can only be described as liberating; ecstatic; a drug. This psychological fix is very engrained in me. Before this incident, I was spending every ounce of energy for the past year physically training for a personal accomplishment so indescribably important to me. Every hour of my training was so meticulously planned out, I made sure to periodize properly so my body wasn't under chronic stress, I stuck to a strict diet, and made sacrifice after sacrifice to make time for these endeavors. It became the first thing and the only thing I could think of immediately after the crash as I was in shock - that my body will never be the same; that these dreams of mine are gone. I felt like every grain of effort I put in this past year has just been stripped from me in a matter of two seconds. Two stupid seconds of irresponsible driving.

However I'm not here to tell you about my physical activity withdrawal or about how mind blowingly disappointed I am. Rather some very important things I've learned these past couple of weeks.

Vairagya:

"Vairagya: The essential companion is non-attachment, learning to let go of the many attachments, aversions, fears, and false identities clouding the true Self." ~ Patanjali, Sutras 1.15

The Yoga Sutras tell us that we cannot attach ourselves to anything - since the world is constantly changing and nothing is ever certain - holding onto one thing so closely is dangerous because that thing can be taken from us at any time. I knew this all along when I attached myself to this goal and it's expected glory through the outcome, yet I didn't care because all I could think about was how much I wanted it. It defined me and it swallowed my life; I had put all of my eggs into one huge, fragile basket.

I'm not saying that you shouldn't have goals and be diligent about them; but if you go into it feeling as if it's the only thing that dictates your happiness - you're taking one mighty risk.

Patience:

This comes with loving my body, even though it feels like its at its weakest point. This includes understanding that in reality it isn't and was NEVER weak in the first place; appreciating that my neck and shoulder muscles braced themselves only to saved my spine from snapping in half when my vehicle collided, that continuous soft tissue repair is occurring as I am writing this, that it is working real hard everyday to heal itself and protect my body from other injury and ailment. Knowing that I have to wait and let it do what it has to do to; to trust it's intelligence because it is still simply amazing and powerful... and still here to set me free.

Trust in Fate:

A quote from Sadie Nardini via Asia -

"What if things don't happen TO you... they happen FOR you."

She explains about having a "master" mentality rather than a "victim" mentality. Believing that things happen for a reason, reasons that make you stronger in the end. Such like Sadie, who had to deal with an injury that had her crawling on her knees for two years before she had yoga therapy heal her and eventually transform her into... well, Sadie Nardini. This happened FOR me - and no matter how long it may take for me to figure out why... at least I know.

Kimberley

A Breath of Fresh Air

Sat, 23 Jul 2011 09:50:00 GMT

There's nothin' like hiking up a challenging mountain with a yoga mat and some lovely friends! Finally reaching a gorgeous summit with an amazing view of the Canadian Rockies has got to be the most physically and mentally satisfying experiences I've had. Concealing that satisfaction with a yoga practice thousands of feet above sea level, sun beaming down and all, leaves my mind exploding in bliss.

This summer, try taking your yoga outside. It is a totally different experience - and you don't have to climb 7 hours to do this; by a flowing river, a park, a sandy beach. or a still lake works perfectly. The natural sounds give you an advantage by allowing yourself to be more present as it resonates in synch with a calmer mind, the sunlight exposure will hit you with some happy vitamins, and your oms will feel free and not confined in a small space. After all, many studios attempt to mimic a natural space with its music, lighting, and ambience - might as well get it first hand and take advantage of the sweet summer sun while it's out!

Bug crawling on you? Let it help you focus and feel every sensation its tiny limb are making as they tap against your skin cells. Don't want to get your mat dirty? Go without one. Find a space free of sharp rocks and other objects and let your feet experience the subtle variances on terrain. Uneven surfaces help activate secondary/ supportive muscle groups and may actually help strengthen your practice in a unique way. Sun a little too harsh? Lather up the SPF, practice in a shady area and of course, bring at least a litre of iced cold water with you (freeze the whole thing before leaving.)

It's too beautiful outside to not do outdoor yoga! So get at it yogis! Such like my lovely friend above in natarajasana. :)

xo
Kimmi

Introducing the Buddha Bowl

Mon, 18 Jul 2011 15:53:00 GMT

I got this recipe from Ellie, a teacher who runs a mighty class at the {Yoga Shala} (Any Calgarian readers?) This one is for all you warriors participating in the 30 Day Gutsy Yoga Vegan Challenge:

The Bowl
~ 1 cup cooked brown rice or quinoa
~ 2 cups spinach leaves
~ 1 cup shredded carrots
~ 1 cup shredded beets
~ 1 cup cubed tofu
~ 1/3 cup sliced almonds

The Dressing
~ 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
~ 1/3 cup water
~ 1/3 cup tamari or soy sauce
~ 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
~ 2 cloves of crushed garlic
~ 1 cup vegetable oil

Not much to explain about instructions or prep. besides cooking the rice, whipping the dressing together, and sauteeing the tofu in tamari or soy sauce if desired. Arrange the bowl however you'd like and drizzle the dressing on top.

Enjoy!
Kim

Loosening Up The 9-5 Body

Fri, 15 Jul 2011 09:51:00 GMT

The YMCA's Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) program is one that offers free basic English lessons to low income Canadian immigrants and is full of great, hard working people pursuing successful careers. I have worked with LINC in the past and hope to do so more often as they are a group of people I hold quite dearly; My parents were once enrolled in a similar program when they first arrived to Canada as young adults and attribute much of their success a government subsidized language instruction program such as this one. (FYI - LINC is always looking for volunteers! They hold classes all across Canada - you can e-mail me if you'd like to know more) Today was particularly awesome because I got to teach a LINC 3 class here in Calgary “chair yoga”/ yoga for office workers!

It's funny I was asked to do this because I myself began working my first (and hopefully my last) office job this summer. As a result of this, my body went into bit of a shock, just screaming at me everyday – “WHY ARE YOU MAKING ME SIT HERE FOR SO LONG?!” And seriously. Who in their right mind thought that it was a good idea for someone to sit and work at a desk for 8 hours straight? It’s one of the most unnatural things you could put someone through! My low back, hip flexors, neck and shoulders were definitely upset with me by the end of each day. Ergonomically friendly chairs and keyboards only go so far. However this new perspective did help me develop a little info sheet on some great stretches and exercises you do could right at your work station! Taking 5-10 minutes every hour of your work day to stretch will combat low back pain, tight shoulders, and carpel tunnel syndrome. And although I'd rather try to help pass a law that dictates 4 hour work days (or weeks, T.F.: you are the man)… this is better than nothing!

(Click the image to enlarge)

Namaste,
Kimmi

Protecting Your Soul from Negative Energy

Wed, 13 Jul 2011 12:47:00 GMT

Many psychologists call them “energy vampires.” Oh yes, BEWARE. We have all at one point in our lives been surrounded by persons or people who are forever dissatisfied, painfully negative, love talking (for lack of a better word) utter crap about everyone and everything they know exist. Energy vampires not only leave you feeling irritated and mentally exhausted, but they can also make you physically ill – whether or not you believe the many existing “human thought has physical power” theories or simply through the stress they surround you with and subsequently its giant database of health related consequences. This may seem extreme; however I believe that these soul suckers should be treated as seriously or even more seriously as you would any physical ailment or virus. After all, your mind IS [a part of] your body.

I had a difficult time recently dealing with negative people to the point where I was constantly angry and getting 1-2 hours of sleep per night. When I knew enough was enough, I went to my teachers for advice, yoga for advice, and to psychologists for advice. I experimented with different possible solutions, attempting to pin point what was most effective - here’s what I ended up with:

1) IDENTIFY:The first thing you need to do is recognize one when you meet one. Do not get sucked into their black hole yourself – negative energy is dangerously contagious and can have you thinking or saying negative things that you otherwise would never. Regular yoga practice heightens your senses and will help you notice subtle energies in social environments – including negative ones.

2) EVADE: As an advocate for upstream, preventative health care, I am all for evasion if possible. Act disinterested in being associated with them and eventually they will stop coming your way. I do not find this to be pretentious and you shouldn’t either – you should have the freedom to choose the people you want in your life. However, if the vampire is a coworker, family member or for another reason cannot be avoided… read on.

3) DISSOCIATE: The concept of dissociation in pyschotherapy is similar to Pure Awareness in yogic teaching. The idea is to allow a third person mentally come out of your body and watch the situation from that perspective - this immediately rids your mind of any emotion attachment and puts you above the situation rather than in it. Placing you back into power, you can confidently and clearly take the next step.

4) CONFRONT: Tell the person upfront that their negative tendencies are mentally draining you. Confrontation can go either way, however even if they do fire back with loose cannons, confrontation is absolutely necessary. I have found that if you give it some time, allowing the person’s initial defensive reaction cool down, they will eventually be willing to reason with you.

5) REACT: You are not their pyschotherapist and it is not your duty to reverse their negative samskaras (engrained thought processes/ cycles). Instead of trying to change who they are, change how you yourself react to them. Do not feed their complains with further complaints, sympathies, or spiteful words. Instead, act disinterested and change the topic stat. Do not look them in the eyes when they speak. Eventually it will become boring to complain or gossip to you, and they will choose someone else to drain.

6) SPIRITUAL SHIELDS: This helpful meditation consists of taking either a comfortable seated position with palms rested on your knees, facing up, or standing in mountain pose. Breathing ujjayi through your nose, focusing on every breath cycle while imagining a shield of light surrounding you. Afterwards, when you are going about your day, bring this shield with you and don't allow any negative energy one may bring cross it. Picture their words bouncing off of it and hum a pleasant tune (such as Monty Python ones - thanks Asia for this one) in your head while they go about their trivial rants.

So there you have it! Always remember that you are allowed to love life and live in its bright side - don't let anyone take that away from you.

Deepest love,
Kimmi

Beauty is (Literally) Skin Deep

Sun, 10 Jul 2011 13:27:00 GMT

"We want to kiss our loved ones, not chemicals" ~ Waylon Lewis

My first published article made its debut a few months ago on Elephant Journal and can be found {here.}

Ever since it's gone up, I slowly began to notice a few pit holes in it, such as how some companies who make it on the animal testing free safelist are simply ultra clever at hiding their unethical practices. I also discovered that the matter is also not as simple – just because you aren't testing the direct manufactured products on animals, you could still possibly slip past the radar by testing separate substances on animals; ie. the label could still read “this finished product has not been tested on animals.” Then there came the issue low economic status workers who feel left without a choice since other forms of expensive testing aren't a viable option... It became all too confusing for me to grasp the entire picture.

This got me to step back and re-evaluate the actual issue at hand: People are dissatisfied with their appearance - why buy all of this junk to cover up what's “wrong” with it when you could very much specifically work on it?;

Our appearance is a direct the result of our HEALTH.

If we just ate enough omega fatty acids and certain amino acids, we could get the shiny hair without the serum. If we just got our sweat on everyday, maybe did a little bit more yoga, kept hydrated... new skin cells would regenerate more often, our cortisol levels would decrease, and beautiful, healthier skin would naturally make its way to the surface – no horrible caked on foundation needed. After all, what we really are is a complicated a mash of chemical bonds.

Of course this is an unappealing option for most since it takes way more time than a quick 20 minute session of bombarding your face with make up. But in the end - these products won't fix your dry skin or your cellulite. Rather, it exposes you to harmful chemicals and carcinogens, strips your hair and skin of its natural elements and cleaning ability, makes our environment even more toxic than it is, and not to mention, places a huge barrier between you and sincere relationships. Take time to do some research and opt for natural, cruelty free beauty products. For myself, LUSH works quite nicely, biodegradeable hygiene products from Mountain Equipment Co-op, as well as homemade olive oil/sea salt based soaps. Here's a great website with tons of {recipes for natural beauty products.}

And don't get me wrong – I still love dressing up, getting glammed and going out, but If you really want to look beautiful on the outside, you have got to be beautiful on the inside first. Literally - beauty IS skin deep.

xo,
Kimmi

P.S. If you know of any other great environmentally friendly, cruelty-free products, or recipes please do share!

Running & Yoga: Soulmates for Life

Tue, 05 Jul 2011 19:56:00 GMT

Long before I practiced yoga, I was a runner - happily going about my intervals and A skips during high school track practice and racing those 1500 and 3000 meters at meets. But at this time I was not half way through my Kinesiology degree and little did I know the consequences that consistent running could have on my body. Running is a high impact sport of which its repetitive motions can leave you stiff and injury prone. I ended up having to deal with knee problems which took several weeks to rehabilitate before I could hit the road once again. And believe me - there are plenty more running injuries where that one came from.

Nowadays I pair my running up with a nice cup of yoga and have noticed some great improvements. I ran my first half marathon last May - and I know I couldn't have come out of it able-bodied without doing yoga on my off days (I was only limping around for TWO days after). As a former coach for the Running Room Inc., I have done tons of research on proper prep and follow up for safe running. Read on and find out how pairing up even 15 minutes of yoga with your runs can go a long way.

WARM UP
Prepping your muscles for constant contraction and elongation will reduce the chances of straining muscle fibers and put you at a state of optimal oxygen/ blood circulation for the meat of your run.

5-10 minutes of jogging + dynamic stretching/ surya namaskar A and B will leave you feeling energized and pumped to rock those runners!

COOL DOWN
Immediately after exercise, the body goes through several cellular processes to ease itself back to its pre-exercise state. Taking time to cool down will help these different processes, help you recover faster for your next run, and prevent blood from pooling to you extremities (allowing enough oxygen to feed your hard working heart)!

Walk/ slow jog for 5-10 minutes (depending on the intensity of your run)

STRETCH
Repetitive contractions of muscles throughout running phases will shorten and stiffen them. Stiff muscles may cause muscular imbalance which forces the body to compensate in such a way that will likely result in injury! Stretch immediately after cooling down. Never stretch on cold muscles and hold each stretch for at least 5 breaths.

Static asanas for runners:

Quadriceps – Reclined hero, beginner’s dancer
Hip flexors – Dancer, crescent lunge (grab back of foot for higher intensity), pigeon
IT band - Figure 4, lotus
Hamstrings – Uttanasana (forward fold), downward dog, dancer
Calves – Big toe pose, warrior A (with back foot facing forward)
Gluts - Pigeon, half lord of the fishes pose (sitting spinal twist)
Hip adductors - Tortoise, frog, triangle
Back - Cat-cow, cobra, upward dog, full wheel, crescent moon
Shoulders and neck - Rolls, shoulder/heart openings

In conclusion...
Doing a few sun salutations before a run is a great way to warm up and dynamic stretch. Follow this with static asanas and you get a nicely sandwiched running routine that’s energizing, safe, and injury-free. If you are looking for more details on any of these topics feel free to send me an e-mail as I could go on forever about the mechanics and physiology of running! Hope this was helpful and I wish to all some happy runs!

Namaste,
Kimmi