Everything Happens for a Reason

"Everything happens for a reason", is the saying that almost everyone says to comfort a loved one when something doesn't go their way. Although it may be annoying, you may be devastated beyond belief, emotional, and/or a complete train wreck or that's just me. I have a little bit of a drama problem, if you couldn't tell with my strong,exaggerated adjectives. Back to the point, you're devastated to say the least and the last thing you want to hear is your best friend saying you didn't get what you wanted, but there is a reason why the didn't happen. You may feel as if you deserved it, there is no reason why you shouldn't get it. You probably did deserve it. There were many opportunities that I didn't get that felt that I deserved them. But, later, with time you will understand that there was a reason. Let's say you didn't get a job you wanted. Yes, right after the rejection, you may feel completely mortified and as if life cannot go on, but later that rejection probably made you a stronger and a harder working individual. The reason may not be materialistic, but mental and the reason may take years to come into effect.

Yogi philosophy agrees with, "everything happens for a reason" . In yoga, one must refrain from attachment. Let's say you broke your foot (based on a true story). With me I was devastated, partly because the reason I fractured my foot was entirely my fault. Who tries to do a quadruple pirouette on uneven floors, without jazz shoes, at 1:00 am, after not taking dance for six years. I mean you have to be a complete idiot or me, either or. I am incredibly active and I love being active. Physical activity brings calmness to my life. My time to workout and do yoga is probably the only time in my day that's not full of stress. Now with my foot broken, and me being confined to an ugly, bulky air caste, I thought there is no positive reason this happened to me, it's just cruel, but I was wrong. I became too attached to my routine. My routine was rigid. With my broken foot I learned how to still exercise and create endorphin/ serotonin while wearing an air caste (FYI my exercise routines were not approved by a doctor, if you broke your fifth metatarsal and want try what I am going to tell you, please I beg of you, ask your doctor).I learned to ride the exercise bike in my basement with an air caste on. I did individual yoga poses/ asanas and modified them to my air caste. Most importantly, this injury helped me become more independent. I am the most dependent person you could ever imagine. I have to be around people 24/7, no exaggeration. I can't practice yoga alone in my house nor can I bicycle all by myself. I have to go to a yoga class or spin class, where I'm surrounded by others. This injury forced me to do these activities alone. After I recovered, yes I returned to yoga class and hardly ever practice on my own, but at least I know I can.

"Everything happens for a Reason", may sound annoying during a time of anguish, but it shouldn't. This saying should be reassuring. Next time, you hear this saying after something doesn't go your way, don't get irritated, think in a year this horrible disaster will work in my favor and go to a yoga class. That always makes everyone feel better.

NOW, atha

One of the first words in the Panatajali's Sutra, the basis for the philosphy of yoga, is atha or now. The word is simple, but direct. The purpose of stating atha, now, is to tell yoga practitioners to live now and not in the past or the future. You may be asking yourself, how do I live now, in the present when my mind keeps fixating on the past or future. Let's say, you're on vacation in Sri Lanka (not as random as you would think, I was just there) and it's the last day before you have to take a long twenty hour flight home. In your mind or my mind in this case you're panicking. I was panicking. I kept thinking how am I going to be able to sit on a plane for twenty hours when, as I stated in earlier blogs, I have an extreme type A personality. I like to be constantly on the go instead of in one place. Instead of ruining my last day on a gorgeous beach in the Indian Ocean, like I would have in the past, I taught and simultaneously took my own yoga class. I traveled with two other yogi and hiking fanatics, which means a perfect group. This not only helped calm me, but in Yoga, I was so fixated on connecting my movements to breath, that I couldn't think about the future, I could only be present. The moral of the story, is to not only never fly with me, (I hold strangers hands during take off, pace the plane, and sleep in a non-wakeable sleep for hours on end), but to practice yoga. Yoga will help instill the sanskrit word of atha, now. Which in return will remove most worries and anxieties about the past and the future. 

Love Yourself

"Oh, baby, you should go and love yourself". 

In today's world, there is an idealized body that is idolized. This body is often unattainable by most, but many, including my self would do anything to try. I grew up in the dance and cheer-leading world where aesthetics where of the utmost importance. Not only did the coach/dance teacher place aesthetic pressure on me, but so did my peers (teammates, classmates, too many different names to keep track, all sports should just chose one). When I was fourteen, in cheer-leading, the coach encouraged others to diet in order to become a flier and my friends had  costume size competitions. A costume size competition, FYI there is no prize besides an eating disorder, is when everyone on the team would share costume sizes and whoever wore the smallest size went up in social status. Let's be honest everyone in high school aspires to climb the social ladder and become Regina George, if only Mean Girls was real. Now you may be asking what does this horrid high school story have to do with loving your self? Throughout high school and my early years in college, body image consumed my life, but once I started yoga and enjoying physical activity, I began to love myself. Yoga in particular, focused on the idea of not striving for perfection or comparing yourself to anyone. In yoga you're suppose to understand that you are human,  that you're body can do amazing things, but you're body can't do everything. An example of this is that I am incredibly flexible, as a result back bends are easy for me, but any type of hollow body inversions are near impossible. Where as someone else in the class may be able to do a hollow-body forearm stand and can't do the scorpion version, where I could only do the later. 

Not only did yoga, help me appreciate and love my strengths and weaknesses, but yoga enabled me to love my self enough to treat it properly. Before yoga, I use to occasionally go on mass starvation diets where I would loose an immense amount of weight quickly while being obsessed with my appearance. Yoga cleared my mind. I no longer wanted to induce dukkah, suffering, I now wanted to eat for health. I eat to fuel my practice/other workouts and my brain. Every time I have a meal instead of panicking, whether this meal is going to make me fat, I now think what foods are going to get me through the day and allow my badass body to be able to accomplish all my dreams. BTW, I have a lot of dreams including doing the mud run and maybe running off and joining the circus. The last one is a joke, although I am an aerialist, so most people could see me running away with the circus.

What I hope that you take from the insight into my life and my experiences, is that it's so important to love yourself. If you have trouble, then maybe devout at least an hour a day to do what you love, maybe come to yoga class. Yoga can help I promise, it helped me!

Yoga and Allergies

IT'S HERE! The warm weather has arrived! Finally, I know right? After long dark nights where the temperature dropped below forty degrees (Fahrenheit, if only it were Celsius), the sun has come. The sun brought a few friends to the summer party, leaves and flowers. Leaves and flower, while they may be absolutely gorgeous, come with a not so pretty gift, POLLEN! Now every morning I wake up, my nose is congested and there is phlegm everywhere, sorry TMI, but it happens. Thankfully, there's a non medicinal relief to all this congestion. There are a few poses that can bring relief to this allergy season, which in return will allow you to enjoy the sun and maybe go to the beach (must take me).

POSES FOR ALLERGY RELIEF 

1.) Fish pose

Fish pose clears your nasal passages and lungs. For fish pose, lay on you back. Then place the tippy top of your head on the floor. Doing this action will then cause your thoracic spine, the middle of the back to arch upwards and pull all the way to the ceiling. 

2.) Supported Shoulder Stand

This inversion, opens the nasal passageway, in return breathing is no longer an obstacle, sounds good right?

Lay on your back. place your hands, fingers face up, on your lower ribs. Then, shimmy your shoulders underneath and lift your legs off of the ground while keeping your head on the mat. Pull your belly button in towards your spine, while trying to get your ankles in line with your hips. 

3.)BREATHING

Probably the most important allergy relief pose. Breathing or pranayama increases your lung capacity, which like shoulder stand allows you to breath more efficiently and easier.

Sit in sukasasana, cross legged position, with good posture, no slouching! Inhale through the nose and exhale through the nose while simultaneously constricting the throat. The result should be an oceanic sound (ujjayi pranayama/breath).

I hope all of these asana/ pose suggestions will help relieve the symptoms of those horrid allergies. On a positive note, one benefit, I just thought of this of having allergies, is that you get an excuse to do yoga! I hope to see you soon outside enjoying the flowers and getting some necessary vitamin D! 

(http://www.yogajournal.com/article/health/yoga-poses-seasonal-allergy-relief/)

Compassion

Most of you, don't be ashamed I too was once this person, may love yoga, but merely see it as an enjoyable exercise class. Later I learned, Yoga is much more than an exercise class. Yoga is a philosophy that is thousands of years old. The yoga philosophy is based around a book called the yoga sutras. In the yoga sutras, there is a section devoted to yamas, limbs. One of these limbs, I know this chain seems like it's never ending, is ahimsa. Ahimsa means compassion. In order to be a devout yogi you must not only go to class and practice asana or poses, but you should also be practicing ahimsa or compassion.

Compassion should be the basis of your life. Not only showing compassion to others but yourself. Treat your body in a compassionate way. Eat foods that make you feel good. For example, don't eat foods that make you feel lethargic, eat healthy dishes that make you feel energized and ready to take on the world. For example, after the Thanksgiving meal, everyone wants to pass out and go to sleep, me included, but this is not showing ahimisa to your body. Showing ahimsa would be eating foods such as in my case quinoa or pure bars (they are so good, must try them). These two foods always leave me energized and with the feeling that I could run a marathon.

Compassion should also be shown to others, this doesn't only include humans, but animals too. Try to be sympathetic towards others. Let's say your friend comes to you distraught over a problem. In your eyes that's not a problem and think their nuts. Instead of blowing them off, listen show compassion. You may help them not only with their day, but their life. As for animals, always treat animals with respect. That's not saying become a vegetarian, unless you want to, but may be start by buying cage free eggs. Buy eggs where the chickens have room to live a happy life and are not crammed in inhumane cages.

Ahimsa, compassion, is a core component of yoga. Ahimsa makes you as much of a yogi as going to an advanced vinyasa class. I hope this post will help you add ahimsa into your daily lives.

Yoga and Vacation

It's ALMOST MEMORIAL DAY!!!!!! You are all probably jumping up and down with excitement, thinking I just had the craziest few cold (must repeat the word cold or freezing) months, now time for VACATION!! For some vacation means, a break from the daily routine. You can eat what ever you want, and no yoga. For others, including me, vacations can sometimes cause anxiety. For people like me, who enjoy their daily routine of exercising/ yoga with healthy eating, the idea of not doing it for a period of time can induce anxiety and nervousness. What ever person you may be, there's a solution or compromise. 

If you're dying for a break from your strenuous yoga practice and want to lay in the sand all day drinking mojitos, no shame in that, then maybe you should make a compromise within your self. And say I will do at least five minutes of yoga everyday, not only to keep my body in track, but my mind. This doesn't mean you have to do an hour intensive vinyasa or astranga yoga practice, but maybe just sit in sukasana, cross legged positon, (with good posture, no vacations from posture) and practice pranayama (breathing). Sit for at least five minutes while maintaining the ujjayi breath (inhale and exhale through the nose while simultaneously constricting your throat). 

Now for the latter person, the high strung type A vacationer who fears loosing their routine. Lucky for you, this is person is me and I've experimented with various solutions and tactics and I will tell you what works best for me! First of all yoga mats are small and the cheap ones are easily folded and often free. Take one of these cheap mats with you ( don't take your $120 lululrmon, unless you want to loose it) and pack it on the bottom of the suitcase. TSA will not have a problem with this. However, they may have a problem with eight pound dumbbells, whoops didn't realize that until after. As for the healthy eating, pack tons of snacks. When I went to Thailand, I packed thirty peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and tons of organic bars such as kind bars, pro meal bars, and luna bars. You don't have to go as crazy as me, if you're not the pickiest eater known to man (guilty as charge). Also pack tons of workout clothes. These clothes will encourage you to workout and bring comfort in a new place. Now your all packed, and on vacation. You may be wondering, what do I do now? As for yoga, place the mat anywhere you want to practice, whether that's in your hotel room, on the beach, or in the jungle. Your choice. Then do a sequence. Before the sequence create a playlist of music that you want to practice to. The music will not only encourage you, but help time how long your practice is. For detailed and personalized yoga sequences email me at hannahyaffa9492@gmail.com. After your physical asana, posture based practice, lie down in savasana for at least three minutes. Another option, instead of doing yoga by your self, is if you're going to a big city, look for yoga studios. When ever I go on vacation I love finding new places. Not only do I get try out a new studio, but I get to meet new yogis and as a yogi yourself, you may have realized they are coolest most bad ass people you could ever meet. Now you went to class or practiced yoga, another way to keep yoga part of your day is to do yoga poses in front of monuments or attractions. Maybe try to do a handstand on the beach, the sand is soft and kicking up burns a lot of calories (plus it's fun) or do a headstand, sirsansa b, in JFK airport. If you try the headstand people may applaud for you and think you're an entertainer, true story that happened to me. Or maybe just do a tree pose in front of the Eiffel Tower and not cause a scene. Doing these poses keeps your mind in yoga mode. While you're mind is in yoga mode, you will make healthier choices.

It's memorial day unwrap those white shoes and the yoga mat, and pack them with you. Yoga is now invited on your vacation

Kapalabhati Breath

Kapalabhati Breath, is a type of breathing exercise that is done in many yoga classes. The English translation of Kapalabhati pranayama is skull shining breath. Kapalabhati is intense. This form of breathing will not only release toxins and stress from your body, but it can also strengthen your abdominal muscles. Who doesn't want strong abs, seriously?!?!?

You may now wonder, why should I do Kapalabhati breathing? One reason and probably the most important in my eyes, is that Kapalabhati clears the mind. In all fairness, how could you think about the one hundred million events that happened to you, while you are focusing so hard on contracting your diaphragm in synchronization with your breath?I guarantee you, your mind will be so focused on preforming this breathing exercise, that you will not think of anything else. Another reason to try skull shinning breath, is that it strengthens your diaphragm and abdominal muscles. Strengthening the abs should be a reason enough, but the diaphragm is important too. Let's say you're an endurance athlete. Oxygen fuels your body and keeps you from getting fatigued. If you strengthen your diaphragm which in turn will improve the oxygen flow in your body, then you can preform your desired sport for even longer. Did I hear anyone say double spin followed by a yoga class?

So now you're probably jumping up and down screaming I want to try the Kapalabhati pranayama, but you don't know how to. Lucky for you, I do and I'm willing to teach you.

STEPS FOR KAPALABHATI PRANAYAMA:

1: Sit on your knees (with good posture, no slouching please) or for an added challenge go to chair pose. 

2: Take a deep breath in through your nose and out through your mouth, easy enough.

3: Inhale deeply through your nose, filling your body only 3/4 of the way full.

4: Very quickly, release air from your lungs while contracting/ pulling your belly all the way towards the spine. Preform this motion about 8-10 times for every exhale/ inhale cycle. At first try to do this 20 times, then as you become more advance, try for 100.

I hope that this explanation of Kapalabhati pranayama was helpful. Now if you want to clear your mind or strengthen your diaphragm and abs, you can  say, pheww I have a solution, I'm going to do Kapalabhati breathing, see you in five minutes (that's all it takes). 

Strength Training That Compliments Yoga

If you have ever been to a yoga class or seen yogis practice online, you must know that they are beasts. Yogis are strong. Going from adho mukha vrksasna (handstand) into kudinyasana (arm balance) requires an immense amount of strength. Forget about these advance arm balances for a second, even to do a chaturanga you have to be fairly strong. 

First off, any posture/ asana in yoga requires well developed abodminal muscles (iliopsoas, rectus abdominus etc.) Your abs are the center of your body, hence the main location for stability and enabling balances of all kinds. The most basic exercise to strengthen these muscles is the plank. If you have lower back problems, the plank pose puts little strain on the lumbar spine. Start out by holding a thirty second plank. Once you feel as if you are getting strong, keep adding thirty seconds until you get to five minutes. Once you reach five minutes call me, so I can congratulate you and stare at you enviously in person. If you've tried plank and like me, if you get bored after twenty seconds let alone two minutes, then do a straight arm plank for thirty seconds and switch to a forearm plank for thirty seconds. Keep repeating this sequence until you've reached your time goal. Another excellent abdominal exercise, is navasana/ boat pose. Hold navasana for two breaths, then lower half way down to a hollow body hold. After holding the hollow body pose contract your core and come back up to navasana. Repeat this ten times. Keep adding more sets as you get stronger. 

The other major muscle that is used fairly frequently in yoga is the triceps brachi. Most poses including chaturanga dandasana require a well developed tricep muscle. There are many exercises that could preform this task. One of them is just repeating the chaturanga series with added tricep pushups. Come to a downward facing dog, I mean now, stop reading this and try it, roll your hips like a wave into plank, hold here with your heels pressing towards the back of the room  for an inhale, on the exhale, lower halfway down (KEEP YOUR BELLY OFF THE FLOOR AND ELBOWS SQUEEZED IN SO TIGHT THERE SHOULD'T BE A GAP) then raise back up to a planck then lower again, un-tuck the toes and pull your chest through to an upward facing dog (DROP THOSE SHOULDERS AND NO SICKLE FEET), come up to a downward facing dog, adho mukha savasana (gotta learn sanskrit). Repeat this, but now do three triceps push ups before coming to an upward facing dog, ardha mukha savasana. Keep doing this sequence until you get to ten. Once your triceps, say man I've had enough, don't stop, drop your knees. MAKE SURE YOU GET TO TEN, unless you break a bone then stop. Other tricep exercises include adding weights, either in the form of dumbbells, the tricep rope, or using your body as a weight such as doing a chin up or using a TRX. 

I hope these basic exercises will not only improve your yoga practice, but also make you feel stronger and more like a badass, in a peaceful yogi way. If you want to share any other exercises, feel free in the comment box.

How Yoga Can Change Your Life

Yoga is not just for the flexible. This statement drives me crazy. Every time I ask my friends, come to my yoga class, they always say, "I can't I'm not flexible". They'res more to yoga then going into a king cobra and bringing your feet your head ( which I can't do, help is appreciated). Yoga is about focus, breathing, and creating/ following a journey to a more fulfilled life. 

Even if you're the most rigid person, yoga can change who you are. For example, let's say you're a marathon runner with the tightest hamstrings and calves known to man. You may think yoga is not for me... WRONG. Yoga can help with breathing which will only make you more efficient as a runner. Another positive, is if you have regular practice it will increase your flexibility and prevent injury. Nothing a runner hates more then lying in bed and being out of commission for months because of an injury.

In addition to the numerous athletic benefits, yoga has mental benefits too. For me, when ever I get in to a dispute with anyone whether that's my friends or my mom ( you all understand me on this), I go to a yoga class and detach from the world. My phone is off and my mind is in asana/ posture and pranayama/breathing mode. No one can call or contact me, I can become one with my self. This can change the way you deal with problems which in return can change your life. Instead of fighting, back away and take yoga. After you'll have a clearer mind and wont do anything that's self destructive.

If you want to change your life go to a yoga class. It doesn't matter if you are a contortionist or can't even reach the floor, yoga will change your life for the better. Take that chance and sign up now, I guarantee you there's at least ten classes near you with in the next 12 hours!

What to eat after a hot yoga class?

Everyone is always curious what do I eat after a hot yoga class? Let say you just spent sixty minutes in a one hundred degree room, sweating your day away, and after you leave you get hungry and thirsty. Like with any workout, refueling determines your recovery time. During a hot class, you and especially me, sweat a lot, which you may notice from your sopping clothes and hair. If you sweat that much, that means you loose electrolytes. After class it's a necessity not only to re-hydrate, but also replenish your electrolytes. They're many options to quench your thirst while getting a potassium pick me up. The first option is the ole reliable banana with a big, hefty glass of water. If bananas are not your jam, then they're are a number of juices which you can have. Examples of these juices are coconut water, maple water, or watermelon juice. Or if you happen to go to a class before a meal, then you could have a salad (love sweet greens, I always get a falafel salad with veggies and goat cheese... delisioso) with a coconut water or a hearty smoothie like a blue velvet smoothie from liquiteria or a cashew baby smoothie from juice generation. And if you're feeling ultra decadent you could get a peanut butter acai bowl from the juice shop. This bowl has carbohydrates, liquids, vitamins, and proteins, which will ensure that you can decrease the recovery time.  

Yoga Blog

Check back here at least once a week for an interesting fascinating entry that will include not only yogi philosophy, but also insights into my and other yogi/yogini's lives.