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We've started the 40 Days Program at The Yoga Path again, and with that always comes lots of conversation about food, diet, and how to eat right. Students are full of questions about what is the right type of food to eat to support a strong yoga practice, about whether or not it is okay to eat meat, about how to eat right in this crazy world of processed and chemicalized food.
As I've thought about this more, I've often wondered how my older brother can survive so happily on fried bar food, McDonald's, and everything that you would consider ... |
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| Posted by Lakshmi Das at | | | |
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One year for Mother's Day, my dad made a salad for the annual family gathering at my grandparents house. All the men in the family had their assigned food to prepare, and my father, having recently been diagnosed with diabetes, had a newfound love of healthy food, and thus was assigned the salad.
His salad wasn't anything extraordinary. He included the typical salad staples: lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, some peppers, etc. etc. But, he spent the better part of an hour carefully chopping and slicing each vegetable and arranging it neatly in the bowl. Recently, he had taken a workshop ... |
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| Posted by Lakshmi Das at | | | |
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Teaching yoga, I hear a lot of conversation around the yoga mat about what to eat. Many yogis, especially those who practice Jivamukti Yoga proclaim that a vegetarian diet is vital to the practice of Ahimsa (nonviolence). Others profess that eating only organic is best. And yet others talk about the virtues of raw foods.
Ted and I have been through it all. When we met, I was a chicken lover. Not in that I saved the poor creatures from the doom of the dinner table, but that I cooked and ate chicken in some form or other almost daily. ... |
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| Posted by Lakshmi Das at | | | |
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Yesterday, Ted and I took Sukha for her afternon walk. We never really pay much attention to the weather forecast. Instead, as we prepare for a walk, we look outside, step outside and feel the temperature, and dress accordingly...
We walked for a good forty minutes without consequence. Enjoying the fresh air, and not even really talking much, just enjoying nature.
Towards the end of the walk, Ted started telling me about a friend he met on a retreat this weekend. This retreat was studying with an African Shaman and working with the elements: water, fire, earth etc. As Ted was telling me ... |
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| Posted by Lakshmi Das at | | | |
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I've learned in recent weeks to never have any expectations of what will come of my day. This way, my days are more exciting because really, anything is possible. Take yesterday, for example. I knew I had a full day ahead of me at work, teaching four yoga classes, a Reiki session, lots of paperwork to catch up on from the weekend, etc. etc. etc.
In the middle of it all, my mother called. She didn't answer when I called back, so I called me dad to get the news. "We're flying out to Colorado in the morning," he says, "can ... |
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| Posted by Lakshmi Das at | | | |
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We chant OM at the beginning and end of every yoga class to connect with the universal energy, to feel the vibrations of the universe inside our system, to connect with everyone in the room. Chants and mantras have been given to devotees and spiritual students for centuries as a means of connecting with spirit through the vibrations of sound.
Every letter and word we read and hear and speak has a vibrational energy that has a deeper effect on us than we imagine. Take, for example, the movie "What the Bleep?" which talks about the effects of words taped to ... |
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| Posted by Lakshmi Das at | | | |
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The story and words below are not my own. However, this response to a monthly check-in of my Level 2 Bootcamp buddies is so inspiring, I need to share it with you all. Stacy Dockins owns a studio just outside of Dallas, and she is on the path with the rest of us...
"I've become present to how easy my life has been. I'm always teaching to my students 'effort without tension' on the mat and in life. I teach them that if we practice on the mat, when the "big ones" hit in life, we can more easily ride the ... |
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| Posted by Lakshmi Das at | | | |
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So, I'm back. I apologize to all my loyal readers for my hiatus. I learned a valuable lesson in the challenge of 100 days of blogging, and that is the lesson of "burn out". I had read that blogs tend to start strong and then fizzle because bloggers get burned out quickly. This is what happened. I got overwhelmed by the task of trying to come up with something new to write everyday.
I have learned the same lesson on my yoga mat. I've been practicing for almost seven years, long enough to know that when I do too much, I ... |
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| Posted by Lakshmi Das at | | | |
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| So, one of my "tricks" I'm supposed to learn in beginner's obedience dog training is to pay attention. Mom has me wear this slip collar and pulls on it to get my attention. The dog trainer lady calls it a "pop for attention". If I look in Mom's eyes after a "pop" I get praised, usually Mom using that geeky high pitched voice to say, "Good Girl". If I look away from Mom's eyes, she pops the leash again. If she pops the leash and I don't look, she bites my butt with her fingers. ... |
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| Posted by Sukha Das at | | | |
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| Mom has writer's block...as you can tell from the lack of entries in the last couple of weeks...so here I am, filling in again.I started "beginner's obedience training" this week. I'm learning things like standing on a loose leash, paying attention, sit and stay until released. While at school, I put my performance face on. I think I learned this one from those crazy dogs Mom's parents have (Shadow and Maya). They both perform great while at school, but then they don't take their learnings home with them. At school on Tuesday, the instructor complimented ... |
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| Posted by Sukha Das at | | | |
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