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    <title>Pranalife - Asia's Blog</title>
    <link>http://www.pranalife.ca/blog/anelson/</link>
    <description>Asia Nelson's blog on Pranalife.ca</description>
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      <title>You never know when a Seane Corn is in your class</title>
      <link>http://www.pranalife.ca/blog/anelson/you-never-know-when-a-seane-corn-is-in-your-class</link>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;One of the toughest things about being a yoga instructor is that yoga is such an intensely personal process, it's difficult to know whether your students are tuning out or going through major shifts inside. Experienced teachers can read some of the signs - tightening or softening in the jaw, quality of the breath - but unless the student is willing to share what's happening, it's a bit like teaching to a room full of black boxes. A teacher can come to wonder whether their classes are really making a difference.&lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p&gt;For years after I started practicing yoga I doubt I gave any indication that anything my instructors taught was landing. My body was tight and my sarcasm was sharp. I&amp;nbsp;was driven to accomplish something physical in class without understanding that it was my mind and heart that needed to be worked on as much as my hamstrings and core. Yet there were moments where I&amp;nbsp;would break open, get it, be inspired, change. In the midst of looking like I&amp;nbsp;wasn't getting it at all in those classes, I&amp;nbsp;was.&lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p&gt;At this point in my teaching career I've learned to assume that, as  Morpheus says to Neo in The Matrix, &amp;quot;Some of these people are not ready  to be unplugged,&amp;quot; but I know from my own experience that some are ready for what they can become through yoga, even if it doesn't seem so from the outside. Before every class I&amp;nbsp;teach now, I take a breath and remember how  grateful I&amp;nbsp;am for those classes, those instructors, those moments where  I&amp;nbsp;came onto my mat a human mess and had the opportunity to  experience the deep transformation that yoga brings. My dharma is effortless when I start from that place, because I know that someone about to devote an hour of their time to this practice could be on the cusp of a change that will forever alter their course, heal their wounds, open their eyes, or give them a sense of true peace and stillness. It is my passion and greatest reward to create moments of opportunity for people to be transformed through this practice.&lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p&gt;Below is a video that expands on some of these thoughts, from Seane Corn, who is one of my favourite teachers and someone who has walked this path and guided me along it in the process. Enjoy and Namaste.&lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;iframe width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/fqlt6rZH-to" allowfullscreen=""&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <pubDate>Sun, 13 Nov 2011 16:48:00 GMT</pubDate>
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      <title>What's Your Style? SweetFit Yoga Expert Asia Nelson helps you find your perfect yoga fit.</title>
      <link>http://www.pranalife.ca/blog/anelson/what-s-your-style--sweetfit-yoga-expert-asia-nelson-helps-you-find-your-perfect-yoga-fit--</link>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;img align="right" style="border: 1px solid rgb(119, 119, 119); width: 325px; height: 168px;" src="../../../../../images/blog/anelson/SweetFitYogaClass.png" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p&gt;Saying,  &amp;ldquo;I should do yoga&amp;rdquo; is like to saying, &amp;ldquo;I should wear pants.&amp;rdquo;  It&amp;rsquo;s an excellent  idea that stands to benefit you in a number of ways.  But with so many different  types of yoga, trying to pick the perfect  kind can be difficult.&lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p&gt;SweetFit  is here to help. Our resident Yogi, Asia Nelson, has put  together a guide to  yoga that will help you figure out which type is  right for you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p&gt;Read the full article - &lt;a href="http://bit.ly/q842P4"&gt;http://bit.ly/q842P4&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.sweetspot.ca/SweetFit/workouts/46734/whats_your_yoga_style/?gal=46733#gallery_header"&gt;http://www.sweetspot.ca/SweetFit/workouts/46734/whats_your_yoga_style/?gal=46733#gallery_header&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 04 Oct 2011 07:37:00 GMT</pubDate>
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      <title>You Are Invincible [Asia's latest Elephant Journal article]</title>
      <link>http://www.pranalife.ca/blog/anelson/you-are-invincible--asia-s-latest-elephant-journal-article-</link>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;img width="200" align="left" alt="" src="../../../../../images/blog/anelson/Kevinhugcolor.jpg" style="border: 1px solid #777;" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;Recognizing that we can handle what life throws at us with grace and  strength means we can approach life with the intention to love more,  harm less, let go, hang on and learn. That&amp;rsquo;s powerful. When we  understand our invincibility, we cease to react; instead, we simply  choose.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p&gt;Read the full piece on Elephant Journal -&lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.elephantjournal.com/2011/10/invincible--asia-nelson/"&gt;http://www.elephantjournal.com/2011/10/invincible--asia-nelson/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 04 Oct 2011 07:33:00 GMT</pubDate>
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      <title>New York, Old Challenges</title>
      <link>http://www.pranalife.ca/blog/anelson/new-york--old-challenges</link>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;Just got back from a week in New York. Here&amp;rsquo;s a taste of how it went:&lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img align="top" style="cursor: pointer; width: 393px; height: 281px;" class="inline_image" alt="Building on Bond" src="http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_loihycqqZY1qkujln.png" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p&gt;Went to a taping of &lt;a title="Iron Chef America" target="_blank" href="http://www.foodnetwork.com/iron-chef-america/index.html"&gt;Iron Chef America&lt;/a&gt; (cheers to the most delicious item in that kitchen, whose name rhymes with &lt;a title="Kevin Brauch" target="_blank" href="http://www.foodnetwork.com/kevin-brauch/index.html"&gt;Heaven Crush&lt;/a&gt;,  for getting us in, and for being an integral part of why the week was  so good); ate some amazing food (so many places, but two words direct  from &lt;a title="Bob Blumer" target="_blank" href="http://www.bobblumer.com/"&gt;Bob Blumer&lt;/a&gt;: &lt;a title="Vai" target="_blank" href="http://www.vairestaurant.com/"&gt;Vai Spuntino&lt;/a&gt;.  Go, and thank me later); spent coveted time with one of my  longest-running soul mates and met a handful of new people I plan to  love for a lifetime; enjoyed the heat of a Central Park meander in July;  explored Brooklyn for the first time (if you love funky design go to &lt;a title="Building on Bond" target="_blank" href="http://buildingonbond.com/"&gt;Building on Bond&lt;/a&gt;,  and thank me later), drank some smashingly good cocktails night after  eventful night, my fav being a little ditty called Absinthe Minded (if  you&amp;rsquo;re a cocktail connoisseur, hit &lt;a title="Employees Only" target="_blank" href="http://www.employeesonlynyc.com/"&gt;Employees Only&lt;/a&gt;,  and thank me later); and indulged in a handful of other pleasures that  make NYC one of my favourite places on the planet. Oh, and then I ate a  whole lot more food.&lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p&gt;Before someone asks, &lt;em&gt;yes&lt;/em&gt; I went to &lt;a title="Eataly" target="_blank" href="http://eatalyny.com/"&gt;Eataly&lt;/a&gt;.  I wanted to shoot myself in the eye. What a gong show. We got there at  7:17pm. We got the text telling us space was opening up and we could  come on in at 10:04pm, at which point we&amp;rsquo;d already contentedly diverted  to &lt;a title="Otto Enoteca" target="_blank" href="http://www.ottopizzeria.com/home.cfm"&gt;Otto Enoteca&lt;/a&gt;. I&amp;rsquo;m sure the new beer garden is amazing; I will enjoy it when it&amp;rsquo;s not so high on the NY Hot List.&lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p&gt;So what of this vegan+yoga challenge you may ask? The yoga is easy,  especially because I had my own apartment in Brooklyn with plenty of  space for some salutations and warriors, but I won&amp;rsquo;t lie: I had a tad  more than one cheat meal a day while on this trip. I did scope out some  very good vegan/vegan-friendly joints - &lt;a title="Sacred Chow" target="_blank" href="http://sacredchow.com/"&gt;Sacred Chow&lt;/a&gt;  being a fave - but more than once during the week I dove gleefully off  the wagon and into steak tartar or Alaskan crab or ribs from &lt;a title="Spice Market" target="_blank" href="http://www.spicemarketnewyork.com/"&gt;Spice Market&lt;/a&gt;. Oh my, those ribs &amp;hellip;&lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img width="225" height="298" style="cursor:pointer;" class="inline_image" alt="New York street" src="http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_loihucmtw01qkujln.jpg" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p&gt;For  me, going to New York and avoiding meat is like going to an art gallery  and purposely averting my eyes from the Picassos. But also great food  makes me very happy to be alive, and I need some of that these days. It  has not been an easy year, which might be the understatement of the  year, and NYC was a delicious reprieve from which I did not want to  return. In fact, at JFK on my way home it took an invite to the Sky  Lounge for a few drinks from a charming man named Scott to keep me from  flat-out sulking. This year has been full of &amp;lsquo;taking my lumps&amp;rsquo; and I  wanted to taste &lt;em&gt;la dolce vida&lt;/em&gt; instead in all its forms, even if just for a week.&lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p&gt;That being said, after a few days I did find myself voluntarily  wanting to get back to my vegan options. I do actually want to make the  personal revolutions in my life that this site is about. It&amp;rsquo;s important,  even more important than New York beef it seems. If you know me, you  know that&amp;rsquo;s a pretty big deal for me to say.&lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p&gt;So now I&amp;rsquo;m home and reality is once again setting in with a thud. Yet  I am more contented than ever to chose a grapefruit over a cupcake. Let  the revolution continue &amp;hellip;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <pubDate>Fri, 30 Sep 2011 11:43:00 GMT</pubDate>
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      <title>What I learned from going vegan for 30 days</title>
      <link>http://www.pranalife.ca/blog/anelson/what-i-learned-from-going-vegan-for-30-days</link>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;Going vegan this month has been a refresher  course in essentials.  What can be pared away to get back to the very  basics - of food, and of  us? Eggs Florentine is a delicious development  in flavours; simply  enjoying steamed kale with a dash of salt reminded  my taste buds what  each of those two flavours were and what they were  together. In the  same vein, my life at 34 is a combination of sweet and  bitter,  well-cooked and raw. With so much of it stripped bare now on my  plate  and in my life, what have I tasted of each day&amp;rsquo;s essentials?&lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p&gt;As always human, I had forgotten as of late the value of those  simple  experiences, the basic tastes of life. I was upset that my bread  lacked  butter, that my meat was not cooked just so as I like. I looked  for a  cook to blame. I felt sorry for myself when my wine ran dry.&lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p&gt;As always human, I then began to remember the delicious simplicity of   flavour, what can be tasted directly from its source like a berry   freshly plucked on a summer&amp;rsquo;s walk. I have this year been struck with   reminders that winter is always on its way. When I heard it I went   silent. I appreciated. I recalibrated.&lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p&gt;Fruits change in flavour depending on what stage of development   they&amp;rsquo;re in. If they&amp;rsquo;re plucked too early, they&amp;rsquo;ll be sour; too late and   they&amp;rsquo;ll have lost their flavour&amp;rsquo;s power. Still-sour, I rest in the sun   now and wonder: will I ripen or rot? Do I die, or do I dare?&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 29 Sep 2011 07:42:00 GMT</pubDate>
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      <title>Get off your ass and live well</title>
      <link>http://www.pranalife.ca/blog/anelson/get-off-your-ass-and-live-well</link>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;My pep talk lately - feel free to make it yours as well:&lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p&gt;Work hard and have fun doing it. Meditate every  morning on your goals so that you won&amp;rsquo;t waiver  through the day. Commit to yourself and let the world figure it out.  Live  so that you can look yourself in the eye for a full minute without feeling anything negative.&lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p&gt;It IS hard work; don&amp;rsquo;t let that stop you. Become fit for it so that  it&amp;rsquo;s less hard and more enjoyable. It&amp;rsquo;s not for you or anyone to say  whether your life and work are &amp;ldquo;good enough&amp;rdquo; or &amp;ldquo;the best&amp;rdquo; &amp;ndash; what does that mean? What is  the &amp;ldquo;best&amp;rdquo; version of you? Focus on what you create and let the quality of your experience be the measure of your success. Did you enjoy it? Did  it bring you what you wanted? Did it build your legacy? Did it make you stronger? This is karma - the action, and the result of that action.&lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p&gt;Look outside yourself for information, not answers. When you find something called &amp;lsquo;an  answer&amp;rsquo; it&amp;rsquo;s simply the experience of another. The only  way to know if it applies to you is to know yourself. Maybe you need to  try it and see, or maybe you&amp;rsquo;ve already had the experience and you know  what the outcome is for you.&lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p&gt;Trust that who you are is greater than you may  currently see; this is faith. Stay focused on your goals and vision,  even in the dark times; this is hope. Don&amp;rsquo;t lose yourself in what can become the daily drudgery of existence; work at feeling alive and engaged; this is love.&lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p&gt;Trust. Have faith. Have hope. Live in love. It doesn&amp;rsquo;t have to look like anything that can be graded.&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 28 Sep 2011 08:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
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      <title>Gutsy Yoga Challenge: I'm the one I've been waiting for</title>
      <link>http://www.pranalife.ca/blog/anelson/gutsy-yoga-challenge--i-m-the-one-i-ve-been-waiting-for</link>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;Day 3: I can officially blog with a clear conscience now that I&amp;rsquo;ve  done my run + workout + yoga (originally planned for 7:10am but snoozed  through). All felt awesome, I&amp;rsquo;m happy to report, but even better is what  followed -&lt;em&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p&gt;I did a brief seated meditation after yoga, and about halfway through  I had a subtle, profound experience. I felt a connection to what  meditators call my &amp;lsquo;third eye&amp;rsquo;. My mind instantly went quiet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p&gt;Meditation is a weird and often wandering path to insight, but I&amp;rsquo;ll give it this: It works.&lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p&gt;So what did connecting to my third eye feel like? At first it  resembled looking into the face of God. I felt myself seeking assurance  that I would not be given up on, that I was worth the time and effort my  enlightenment seems to be taking. Then it seemed to be the face of a  &amp;lsquo;Divine Coach&amp;rsquo;, and I felt myself wanting confirmation that I have what  it takes to make the team.&lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p&gt;Then, as I stayed focused on my breath, observing, present, it ceased  to matter whether I had Divine approval - from a God or a Coach of any  sort. If &lt;em&gt;I&lt;/em&gt; know I won&amp;rsquo;t give up on me, and if &lt;em&gt;I&lt;/em&gt; trust I have what it takes to live the life I&amp;rsquo;m imagining, that&amp;rsquo;s all I&amp;rsquo;ll need.&lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;ldquo;We Are the One&amp;rsquo;s We&amp;rsquo;ve Been Waiting For&amp;rdquo;&lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;blockquote&gt;A Hopi Elder Speaks&lt;br /&gt;&#xD;
&lt;br /&gt;&#xD;
&amp;ldquo;Where are you living?&lt;br /&gt;&#xD;
What are you doing?&lt;br /&gt;&#xD;
What are your relationships?&lt;br /&gt;&#xD;
Are you in right relation?&lt;br /&gt;&#xD;
Where is your water?&lt;br /&gt;&#xD;
Know your garden.&lt;br /&gt;&#xD;
It is time to speak your Truth.&lt;br /&gt;&#xD;
Create your community.&lt;br /&gt;&#xD;
Be good to each other.&lt;br /&gt;&#xD;
And do not look outside yourself for the leader.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;&#xD;
&lt;br /&gt;&#xD;
Then he clasped his hands together, smiled, and said, &amp;ldquo;This could be a good time!&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;&#xD;
&lt;br /&gt;&#xD;
&amp;ldquo;There   is a river flowing now very fast. It is so great and swift that there   are those who will be afraid. They will try to hold on to the shore.   They will feel they are torn apart and will suffer greatly.&lt;br /&gt;&#xD;
&lt;br /&gt;&#xD;
Know   the river has its destination. The elders say we must let go of the   shore, push off into the middle of the river, keep our eyes open, and   our heads above water. And I say, see who is in there with you and   celebrate. At this time in history, we are to take nothing personally,  least of all ourselves. For the moment that we do, our spiritual growth   and journey comes to a halt.&lt;br /&gt;&#xD;
&lt;br /&gt;&#xD;
The time for the lone wolf is over.   Gather yourselves! Banish the word struggle from your attitude and  your  vocabulary. All that we do now must be done in a sacred manner and  in  celebration.&lt;br /&gt;&#xD;
&lt;br /&gt;&#xD;
We are the ones we&amp;rsquo;ve been waiting for.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;&#xD;
&lt;br /&gt;&#xD;
&amp;mdash; attributed to an unnamed Hopi elder&lt;br /&gt;&#xD;
&lt;br /&gt;&#xD;
Hopi Nation&lt;br /&gt;&#xD;
Oraibi, Arizona&lt;/blockquote&gt;</description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 27 Sep 2011 10:58:00 GMT</pubDate>
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      <title>Why I Live Yoga (instead of just practicing it)</title>
      <link>http://www.pranalife.ca/blog/anelson/why-i-live-yoga--instead-of-just-practicing-it</link>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;i&gt;Yoga is, at its core, a deep-seated trust in one's self.&amp;nbsp; &lt;/i&gt;~ &lt;i&gt;BKS Iyengar, yogi and guru&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p&gt;Yoga is more than moving, breathing, stretching or relaxing. It's a &lt;em&gt;tao&lt;/em&gt;, a way to stop suffering and be free. I have found  this to be both true and more valuable than I could have understood when  I began my practice 13 years ago.&amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p&gt;Before developing a complete yoga practice, I dramatized my life, living in all kinds  of self-created stories.  Before knowing the true power of yoga I often felt lost, angry, frightened, defensive and  powerless. I roamed restlessly through my life unsatisfied, nursing old wounds and replaying older habits. I didn't know  who I really was. Before I found yoga I was, in short, suffering.&lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p&gt;But  through yoga I began to create space in which to be me. In that space came a calm, centered sense of confidence. By finding  balance within the forces of life I'm now able to access the power  of all of them without being powerless to any.&lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p&gt;I live my life from a foundation of yoga's principle of &lt;em&gt;ahimsa&lt;/em&gt; or nonharming in all of my  actions (if not always with perfect follow-through), and understand that part of my liberation is not being attached to the outcomes of  those actions. What people do with my actions is not my focus. Being able to look myself in the eye every day is what makes me free.&lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;h3&gt;Want to take your own yoga practice further?&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://www.pranalife.ca/training/modules/"&gt;Sign up&lt;/a&gt; for our next Pranalife Yoga Intensive &amp;quot;Living Yoga&amp;quot;&amp;nbsp;today.&lt;/h3&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p&gt;[Please note:&amp;nbsp;Pranalife Yoga Intensives are in hiatus until Asia completes her PhD&amp;nbsp;requirements but will return very soon!]&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 26 Sep 2011 21:38:00 GMT</pubDate>
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      <title>The #1 way to get further in your yoga practice (and your life)</title>
      <link>http://www.pranalife.ca/blog/anelson/the--1-way-to-get-further-in-your-yoga-practice--and-your-life</link>
      <description>&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;span id="main" style="visibility: visible;"&gt;&lt;span id="search" style="visibility: visible;"&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;em&gt;&amp;ldquo;If you want&lt;/em&gt; to master &lt;em&gt;something&lt;/em&gt;, &lt;em&gt;teach it&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/em&gt;&amp;rdquo; - Yogi Bhajan&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p&gt;Yoga has been a resource for many approaches to success and happiness, and for good reason. In addition to superior physical health, mental clarity, freedom from suffering, and personal empowerment are the outcomes of a true, dedicated yoga practice. If you&amp;rsquo;re craving evolution, it&amp;rsquo;s time for you to take your yoga practice to a new level with &lt;a href="http://www.pranalife.ca/training/"&gt;Pranalife Yoga's Intensives and yoga teacher training.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a title="Pranalife Yoga Teacher Training" href="http://www.pranalife.ca/training/" target="_blank"&gt;Pranalife Yoga Intensives and Yoga Teacher Training&lt;/a&gt; (YTT) are focused on giving you the information to &lt;em&gt;live&lt;/em&gt; yoga and - if you wish - teach yoga well. It&amp;rsquo;s not important whether you can do full lotus when you begin; it&amp;rsquo;s important that you desire to have a powerful personal practice physically, mentally, emotionally and energetically. Put simply, this training is about becoming &lt;em&gt;fit for life&lt;/em&gt; as much as it is about becoming fit to teach.&lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.pranalife.ca/training/"&gt;&lt;span style="text-decoration: underline;"&gt;Pranalife's Training and Intensives&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt; will deepen your personal practice exponentially, and if you choose to teach you&amp;rsquo;ll be well-equipped and confident to build a vibrant, abundant career based in personal health and supporting others. As the &lt;a href="http://www.pranalife.ca/anelson/"&gt;lead instructor&lt;/a&gt; for Pranalife&amp;rsquo;s teacher training modules I know the value they hold as some of the most well-designed and wickedly fun courses available.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p&gt;Take the first step - Go to our &lt;a title="Pranalife Yoga Teacher Training" href="http://www.pranalife.ca/training/" target="_blank"&gt;Yoga Intenstives and Teacher Training&lt;/a&gt; link to get more information, hear from previous graduates and find out about our upcoming modules. Looking forward to seeing you on the mat with us!&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <pubDate>Sun, 25 Sep 2011 15:06:00 GMT</pubDate>
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      <title>The value of going vegan</title>
      <link>http://www.pranalife.ca/blog/anelson/the-value-of-going-vegan</link>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;img align="right" style="border: 1px solid rgb(119, 119, 119); width: 302px; height: 230px;" src="../../../../../images/blog/anelson/iStock_000003089150XSmall.jpg" alt="" /&gt;When asked by the myriad people who seem confounded that I would go  vegan why I would make such a choice, I finally articulated my best,  truest response this weekend:&lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p&gt;Going vegan is like drilling deep and narrow instead of grazing  shallow and broad. I focus on certain foods and I get creative learning  how to enjoy them. Honing in on the healthiest segment of my diet helps  me easily emphasize it when I&amp;rsquo;m back to eating an array of food&lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 25 Jul 2011 14:54:00 GMT</pubDate>
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      <title>New York, New Challenge</title>
      <link>http://www.pranalife.ca/blog/anelson/new-york--new-challenge</link>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;There's no denying it: I've done more than one cheat meal each day while in New York - oh my LORD the food is so amazing -&amp;nbsp; and so will be adding another week onto my vegan challenge to make up for it. There you go, Holly, you won't be entirely on your own for August. ;) &lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p&gt;I'm also going to remove the one day a week where I eat what I like b/c my daily cheat meal (which is still pretty healthy, just not strictly vegan) suffices to satisfy my concerns about getting the complete nutrients I need until I&amp;nbsp;better understand how to do that as a vegan, and lets me stay 80-90% vegan through the process.&lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p&gt;If there's one thing&amp;nbsp;I'm learning when I stop eating in NYC and observe, it's that New Yorkers are good at getting to the point and getting what they want. I plan to be more New York from here on in, not just when making better vegan choices (I will name-drop &lt;a href="http://www.sacredchow.com/"&gt;Sacred Chow&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href="http://www.oneluckyduck.com/"&gt;One Lucky Duck&lt;/a&gt; here - go!) but making good choices, period. Whether it's veganism, getting that book written at last, deciding what my next five-year plan is, or just making my mind up about that guy - I'm at a point now where I&amp;nbsp;just need to get doing the damn thing. There's a time to ponder and consider, and then there's just stalling. A lot of my life the past few months has been considering and healing, but it's been moving into stalling. Time to get'r done.&lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p&gt;Speaking of which, this is my last whole day in NYC and I ain't spending it behind a computer. Lots of love to you all! Namaste.&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 13 Jul 2011 12:40:00 GMT</pubDate>
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      <title>Vegan in NYC</title>
      <link>http://www.pranalife.ca/blog/anelson/vegan-in-nyc</link>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;Last night I&amp;nbsp;ate at chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten's &lt;a href="http://www.spicemarketnewyork.com/"&gt;Spice Market&lt;/a&gt; with three of my favourite people on the planet. Tomorrow I'll be in the audience for &lt;a href="http://www.foodnetwork.com/bobby-flay/index.html"&gt;Iron Chef America&lt;/a&gt;. Wandering Chelsea Market and the Meat Packing District's beautiful pizza options ... oh lord, why on earth would I&amp;nbsp;decide to go vegan when I&amp;nbsp;knew I'd be in NYC for a week?&lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p&gt;Because what better time to explore vegan options than in a city where you can get anything you want and some of the best chefs in the world can do it so well? So far I admit I've cheated a bit more than the one meal a day and I&amp;nbsp;have finished off the occasional brunch or supper with a long-drawn esspresso, but overall New York is really a city teeming with fantastic vegan options and I'm excited to try them.&lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p&gt;Talk about taking it to the next level. I will report back with any new, amazing vegan spots I&amp;nbsp;find. So far all I&amp;nbsp;can say is - &lt;a href="http://www.oneluckyduck.com/"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&#xD;
&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.oneluckyduck.com/"&gt;One. Lucky. Duck.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p&gt;In more ways than one. ;)&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 11 Jul 2011 10:22:00 GMT</pubDate>
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      <title>Gutsy Yoga Challenge: Yoga Butt + a Healthy Gut!</title>
      <link>http://www.pranalife.ca/blog/anelson/gutsy-yoga-challenge--yoga-butt---a-healthy-gut</link>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;I'm so excited to get this challenge underway. So far 2011 has been a tough year, with plenty of it falling under the category of &amp;quot;major setback&amp;quot; (aka &amp;quot;what doesn't kill you makes you stronger&amp;quot;) so I'm ready for an experience that once again brings positivity and bonding to this yoga community and supports each other to everyone's benefit. This is what Pranalife Yoga was created to do and I'm so happy to have a fresh, new way of expressing this vision with the newest crew of Pranababes.&lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p&gt;For this Gutsy Yoga Challenge I will NOT be doing yoga every day for 30 days straight,  nor will I be doing a 100% vegan diet.&lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p&gt;What I will be doing is:&lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;ol&gt;&#xD;
    &lt;li&gt;Two (2) regular yoga classes/practices per week.&lt;/li&gt;&#xD;
    &lt;li&gt;Three (3) home workouts (which incorporate yoga) per week.&lt;/li&gt;&#xD;
    &lt;li&gt;Sustaining a vegan diet for all but one of my daily meals.&lt;/li&gt;&#xD;
    &lt;li&gt;Taking one day off each week.&lt;/li&gt;&#xD;
&lt;/ol&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Setting Myself Up for Lasting Success&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p&gt;I've done 30 days straight of yoga before. My Ashtanga practice  improved and I learned a tonne but I also aggravated old injuries and  ultimately did not sustain that commitment. I do yoga because it feels  good, I love it and it keeps me healthy; I want to keep it that way.&lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p&gt;As for the vegan diet, this will be a learning curve so I won't go  100% vegan until I understand how to get enough of the right balance of  nutrients. I'm also a foodie, and eliminating so many of the foods I  love is a tough one. I don't want this to be a month-long mourning  period for all the flavours I've left behind. Instead, I plan to  incorporate many of veganism's healthy practices into a long-term diet  that likely will go beyond its limits.&lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p&gt;Having one free day each week comes from diet experts like &lt;a _mce_href="http://www.fourhourbody.com/" href="http://www.fourhourbody.com/" target="_blank" title="Four Hour Body, by Tim Ferriss"&gt;Tim Ferriss&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a _mce_href="http://bodyforlife.com/" href="http://bodyforlife.com/" target="_blank" title="Body for Life, by Bill Phillips"&gt;Bill Phillips&lt;/a&gt;,  who suggest that a cheat day gives people resolve to stick with the  diet and can help maintain a more balanced metabolism. My experience  with a cheat day is that it's more of a psychological support; if I know  I can cheat I won't rebel, and when it comes to the cheat day I'm too  competitive to actually indulge much so it tends to be a minor deviation from the diet's norm.&lt;strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&#xD;
&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p&gt;I love the idea of coupling yoga and veganism because they address &lt;em&gt;prana&lt;/em&gt; at its most basic: energy  in and energy out. I&amp;nbsp;also love that we are banding together to do this challenge to support our fellow  Pranababe Holly Lotz as she takes greater control over her Crohn's  Disease. Read more about her journey &lt;a _mce_href="http://www.cultivatingtapas.tumblr.com" href="http://www.cultivatingtapas.tumblr.com/" target="_blank" title="Cultivating Tapas"&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p&gt;PS - I am pairing the Pranalife Yoga &amp;quot;Gutsy Yoga Challenge&amp;quot; with my first  Good to Great in 28 habit change. Learn more about &lt;a href="http://asianelson.tumblr.com"&gt;Good to Great in 28&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <pubDate>Sun, 03 Jul 2011 22:28:00 GMT</pubDate>
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      <title>Join the Pranalife Gutsy Yoga Challenge 2011</title>
      <link>http://www.pranalife.ca/blog/anelson/join-the-pranalife-gutsy-yoga-challenge-2011</link>
      <description>&lt;h2&gt;What is the Gusty Yoga Challenge?&lt;/h2&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p&gt;Get a yoga butt and clean out your gut! For the month of July Pranababes are pairing a regular yoga practice with going vegan for 30 days. &lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p&gt;Each Pranababe is making a commitment that's personal and achievable. Some of us will do 30 days of yoga straight, others will commit to yoga 3x/wk for the month. Some will be strict vegans, others will take one day off a week or one meal off each day. The point is to make a change that gives us a boost now and can be carried on for a lifetime.&lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;img width="401" hspace="5" height="250" border="5" src="../../../../../images/blog/anelson/YTTSp11_Gradlaughing.jpg" alt="Pranalife Yoga Teachers in Training 2011" style="border: 1px solid rgb(119, 119, 119); align: middle;" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;h2&gt;Why are we doing it?&lt;/h2&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p&gt;This challenge was initiated by Pranababe Jennifer Bowles, and we've dedicated our efforts to fellow Pranababe Holly Lotz. Holly is making a big change in her life that's coinciding with our vegan challenge - to reduce the negative effects of Crohn's Disease on her life. She's keeping a blog of her full summer challenge here -&lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://cultivatingtapas.tumblr.com/" target="_blank"&gt;http://cultivatingtapas.&lt;wbr&gt;&lt;/wbr&gt;tumblr.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&#xD;
&lt;br /&gt;&#xD;
&lt;a href="http://www.thrivediet.com/"&gt;The Thrive Diet&lt;/a&gt; (our guide book for the vegan challenge) suggests eliminating caffeine; so I've proposed that the Gutsy Yoga Challengers donate the $2-5/weekday that we'd normally have spent on coffee to  the &lt;a href="http://www.ccfc.ca"&gt;Crohn's and Colitis Foundation&lt;/a&gt; in tribute to Holly at the end of our  30 days.&lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p&gt;This cause is also close to my heart because my brother has dealt with the impact of Colitis for years now. It is remarkable how careful people with these diseases have to be about what they eat and how they live, and even then solutions for each person are so unique to the individual that it can feel like a pointless guessing game. It takes a certain kind of strength to do what Holly's doing, and I'm so excited that we can be a part of supporting her.&lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;h2&gt;Want to be a part of it?&lt;/h2&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p&gt;The more, the healthier and this kind of challenge is easier to do with support! Use our &lt;a href="http://www.pranalife.ca/contact/"&gt;Contact Us&lt;/a&gt; link at the top right of the site to send us your info and let us know the details of your commitment. You can blog about your experiences if you wish, and we'll add any financial contribution you make to the final Pranalife donation, which will be done in tribute to Holly on the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation site.&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <pubDate>Sun, 03 Jul 2011 14:52:00 GMT</pubDate>
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      <title>Is Practicing Yoga Spiritual Starvation?</title>
      <link>http://www.pranalife.ca/blog/anelson/is-practicing-yoga-spiritual-starvation</link>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;Yoga's discipline of &lt;em&gt;bramacharya&lt;/em&gt; is often misunderstood as &amp;quot;restraint&amp;quot; or &amp;quot;celibacy&amp;quot; in that way that can make you feel like you're on a spiritual no-carb diet. This is a small and far cry from the intention behind this part of the yoga discipline, and it's about time it stopped being perceived as the bully that makes us give it the Wagon Wheel from our spiritual lunch.&lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p&gt;At its core, &lt;em&gt;bramacharya&lt;/em&gt; means seeing everything from an expansive, abundant, Big Self perspective. The discipline keeps us from becoming petty, from contracting around what we see as our own scarcity, or behaving in ways that make us less than the loving people we're capable of being. It moves us towards living as what yoga calls our &amp;quot;divine&amp;quot; self, embodying the most powerfully benevolent expressions of humanity. &lt;em&gt;Bramacharya&lt;/em&gt; is about being divine, seeking to see the divinity in everything, and committing to interacting with one's self and the world from that perspective.&lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p&gt;So what does living by the tenet of &lt;em&gt;bramacharya&lt;/em&gt; look like? As an example from my own practice, I've become unwilling to foster relationships where someone's - or no one's - divinity is beeing seen. In any interaction, I pay attention. If I feel expansive, hopeful, compassionate, focused on living and loving well, then I'm on the right track. If not, it's time to make a change, no matter how much it might matter to my ego, my financials, or even my long-term goals. Ultimately, if there's no mutual support of each other's evolution, I'm wasting my time where it could be spent giving and receiving that support elsewhere.&lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p&gt;Practicing &lt;em&gt;bramacharya&lt;/em&gt; has become more valuable to me than worrying about being liked or understood, than making sure someone else is happy at my own expense, or forcing a situation I&amp;nbsp;may want when I&amp;nbsp;can see it's diminishing someone. &lt;em&gt;Bramacharya&lt;/em&gt; gives me a blueprint for what it really is to be treated as a divine being having a human experience, and that has given me deep insight into the true nature of the relationships into which I have invested.&lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p&gt;So, I&amp;nbsp;encourage you to not see &lt;em&gt;bramacharya&lt;/em&gt; as a kind of spiritual diet with all kinds of restrictions. Instead, consider yourself and everyone around you as divine beings having human experiences and see how it changes your perspective. I'd love to hear about what you discover! Comment here, or find me on facebook and twitter through the links at the bottom of this page. Namaste!&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 27 Jun 2011 11:16:00 GMT</pubDate>
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      <title>Put the wind in your life's sails and get where you want to go</title>
      <link>http://www.pranalife.ca/blog/anelson/put-the-wind-in-your-life-s-sails-and-get-where-you-want-to-go</link>
      <description>&lt;div class="body"&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small; color: rgb(0, 0, 102);"&gt;Young souls learn to  accept responsibility for their actions.&lt;br /&gt;&#xD;
Mature souls learn to accept responsibility for their thoughts.&lt;br /&gt;&#xD;
And old souls, Asia, learn to accept responsibility for their happiness.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;- Mike Dooley&lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p style="text-align: left;"&gt;I remember my twenties (they weren&amp;rsquo;t &lt;em&gt;that&lt;/em&gt;  long ago) when everything was full of drama. I let  every little breeze rock my boat. I think I wanted it to because I was  so engrossed with the idea of getting somewhere that I&amp;rsquo;d take any wind  in my sails I could get. But over time I started to realize that some  winds took me places I wanted to be and others took me away from places I  wanted to be. I lost interest in being adrift and started the work of  figuring out how to actually get somewhere.&lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p style="text-align: left;"&gt;&lt;img width="200" align="right" alt="" src="../../../../../images/blog/anelson/YTT_KristinaAndrea.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(119, 119, 119);" /&gt;Getting selective about which winds I&amp;rsquo;d  open my sails to has been a hell of a journey, but it helped when I finally set my course. I did it quite spontaneously one day while  driving by my beautiful Rocky Mountains. I thought to myself, &amp;ldquo;Self,  what do I want to look like in 10 years?&amp;rdquo; Not just thinking about it but feeling it,  enacting it. I realized during that exercise that my cardinal trait 10 years into the future was that I was untippable, secure in myself,  aware and stable - nothing shook me. By that point I&amp;rsquo;d learned how to  skillfully steer my own ship, if you will. It was an image that  embedded in me that day and has been with me ever since.&lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p&gt;Yoga has been a fundamental element of not only my stability, but my successful navigation from there to here. If you've been looking for a new wind for your sails to take your yoga practice further, consider Pranalife's &lt;a href="http://www.pranalife.ca/training"&gt;Yoga Intensives and Teacher Training&lt;/a&gt;. You don&amp;rsquo;t have to be interested in teaching yoga to take the training. Pranalife's training is focused on giving you the information to &lt;em&gt;live&lt;/em&gt;  yoga well. Put simply, this training is about becoming &lt;em&gt;fit for life&lt;/em&gt; as much as it is about becoming fit to teach.&lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a title="Pranalife Yoga Teacher Training" href="http://www.pranalife.ca/training" target="_blank"&gt;Pranalife Intensives and YTT&lt;/a&gt;  will deepen your personal practice exponentially, and if you choose to  teach you&amp;rsquo;ll be well-equipped and confident to build a vibrant, abundant  career based in personal health and supporting others.&lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;/div&gt;</description>
      <pubDate>Fri, 17 Jun 2011 10:34:00 GMT</pubDate>
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      <title>Learning Vulnerability [from Asia's post on Elephant Journal]</title>
      <link>http://www.pranalife.ca/blog/anelson/learning-vulnerability--from-asia-s-post-on-elephant-journal</link>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;Pranalife Yoga Director Asia Nelson's article on vulnerability has recently been published on Elephant Journal! Spread the love by Tweeting this link, sharing with your friends, liking the aritcle, commenting, etc. The more the word gets out, the more likely this piece is to get to someone who really needs it today. Namaste! -&lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.elephantjournal.com/2011/04/drug-dealing-ex-boyfriends-threatening-to-kill-your-family-lessons-on-vulnerability-asia-nelson/"&gt;&lt;b&gt;http://www.elephantjournal.com/2011/04/drug-dealing-ex-boyfriends-threatening-to-kill-your-family-lessons-on-vulnerability-asia-nelson/&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <pubDate>Fri, 17 Jun 2011 07:40:00 GMT</pubDate>
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      <title>A Pranalife Chat with Master Anatomist Blake Martin</title>
      <link>http://www.pranalife.ca/blog/anelson/a-pranalife-chat-with-master-anatomist-blake-martin</link>
      <description>&lt;p style="text-align: left;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=195661520480596"&gt;&lt;img align="left" style="border: 1px solid rgb(119, 119, 119); width: 249px; height: 190px;" src="../../../../../images/blog/anelson/iStock_000015263484Small.jpg" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p&gt;Blake Martin is a gifted teacher who makes movement and anatomy concepts so clear you'll wonder how you have been in your body so long without understanding so well how it works. I chatted with him about his studies, interests, and beginnings with yoga. Here's a taste -&lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://www.vimeo.com/24499150"&gt;Pranalife Director Asia Nelson chats with Blake Martin: &lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;iframe width="600" height="338" frameborder="0" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/24499150?title=0&amp;amp;byline=0&amp;amp;portrait=0"&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://vimeo.com/24499150"&gt;Pranalife Presents Blake Martin&lt;/a&gt; from &lt;a href="http://vimeo.com/gnpmovingpicture"&gt;Lindsay Stewart&lt;/a&gt; on &lt;a href="http://vimeo.com"&gt;Vimeo&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 15 Jun 2011 12:16:00 GMT</pubDate>
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      <title>Brene Brown on the power of vulnerability</title>
      <link>http://www.pranalife.ca/blog/anelson/brene-brown-on-the-power-of-vulnerability</link>
      <description>&lt;!--copy and paste--&gt;&#xD;
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&lt;p&gt;This section of the Tao te Ching was posted in the comments below Brene Brown's talk and I love it, so I've re-posted it here as well. Thanks to B Tak Wai Chan for posting it on the original site:&lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class="commentText"&gt;&amp;quot;To be whole, let yourself break.&lt;br /&gt;&#xD;
To be straight, let yourself bend.&lt;br /&gt;&#xD;
To be full, let yourself be empty.&lt;br /&gt;&#xD;
To be new, let yourself wear out.&lt;br /&gt;&#xD;
To have everything, give everything up.&lt;br /&gt;&#xD;
&lt;br /&gt;&#xD;
Knowing others is a kind of knowledge;&lt;br /&gt;&#xD;
knowing yourself is wisdom.&lt;br /&gt;&#xD;
Conquering others requires strength;&lt;br /&gt;&#xD;
conquering yourself is true power.&lt;br /&gt;&#xD;
To realize that you have enough is true wealth.&lt;br /&gt;&#xD;
Pushing ahead may succeed,&lt;br /&gt;&#xD;
but staying put brings endurance.&lt;br /&gt;&#xD;
Die without perishing, and find the eternal.&lt;br /&gt;&#xD;
&lt;br /&gt;&#xD;
To know that you do not know is strength.&lt;br /&gt;&#xD;
Not knowing that you do not know is a sickness.&lt;br /&gt;&#xD;
The cure begins with the recognition of the sickness.&lt;br /&gt;&#xD;
&lt;br /&gt;&#xD;
Knowing what is permanent: enlightenment.&lt;br /&gt;&#xD;
Not knowing what is permanent: disaster.&lt;br /&gt;&#xD;
Knowing what is permanent opens the mind.&lt;br /&gt;&#xD;
Open mind, open heart.&lt;br /&gt;&#xD;
Open heart, magnanimity.&amp;quot;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class="commentText"&gt;~ &lt;/span&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;span class="commentText"&gt;Tao de Ching&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 31 May 2011 17:48:00 GMT</pubDate>
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      <title>Asia Nelson Yoga Expert for new wellness website DailySqueeze.ca</title>
      <link>http://www.pranalife.ca/blog/anelson/asia-nelson-yoga-expert-for-new-wellness-website-dailysqueeze-ca</link>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;span class="full-image-float-right ssNonEditable"&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;a target="_blank" href="http://www.dailysqueeze.ca/experts/yogi/nelson-asia/bio-asia-nelson"&gt;&lt;img align="right" alt="" src="http://www.pranalife.ca/storage/Screen%20shot%202010-10-30%20at%202.24.57%20PM.png?__SQUARESPACE_CACHEVERSION=1288479901986" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;Director and Advanced Teacher Trainer of Pranalife, Asia Nelson, is the Yoga Expert for the new Rogers Digital Media wellness website &lt;a target="_blank" href="http://www.dailysqueeze.ca/" title="Daily Squeeze [dot] ca"&gt;Daily Squeeze&lt;/a&gt;. Daily Squeeze is &amp;ldquo;a uniquely Canadian destination for the latest, best scoop on health, fitness and wellness&amp;rdquo; (from sweetspot.ca&amp;rsquo;s About Us page). Daily Squeeze is the most recent in a series of successful websites from RDM, including &lt;a target="_blank" href="http://www.sweetspot.ca" title="Sweet Spot [dot] ca"&gt;sweetspot.ca&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a target="_blank" href="http://www.sweetspot.ca/SweetLife" title="Sweet Life [dot] ca"&gt;SweetLife&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a target="_blank" href="http://www.sweetspot.ca/SweetMama" title="Sweet Mama [dot] ca"&gt;SweetMama&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a target="_blank" href="http://www.sweetspot.ca/SweetHome" title="Sweet Home [dot] ca"&gt;SweetHome&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a target="_blank" href="http://www.sweetspot.ca/MySweetBaby" title="My Sweet Baby [dot] ca"&gt;MySweetBaby&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&#xD;
&lt;p&gt;As their &lt;a target="_blank" href="http://www.dailysqueeze.ca/experts/yogi/nelson-asia/bio-asia-nelson" title="Daily Squeeze Yoga Expert: Asia Nelson"&gt;Yoga Expert, Asia&lt;/a&gt; will posts helpful blogs, giving advice on the latest and best in yoga, and is a part of the site&amp;rsquo;s discussion panels and contests. We&amp;rsquo;re very excited to be a part of this Canadian wellness resource!&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <pubDate>Fri, 13 May 2011 13:11:00 GMT</pubDate>
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