This is so timely to read because earlier today I was just realizing how going through a recent similar situation caused me to lose sight of the daily rituals (like Yoga) that keep me together. Yoga is the glue that puts my body, soul and spirit back together.

Thanks for sharing!!
Heidi

the story in both, inspiring and hilarious! especially the naked man :-D. thank you!

Don't worry about the pop tart! We've all been there and eaten things we probably shouldn't have. It's what makes us human. Each day we are given choices about whether to eat broccoli or Ben & Jerry's. Or to hit our mat or sleep in. Or help a stranger or turn the other cheek. I don't think any of us can claim to be "perfect yogis" but I think if we make the better choice as often as possible we're doing our part to make the world a little better - and ourselves a little happier!

I have to thank you for the laughter that this brought me...the tears rolled down my cheeks... the naked guy will never forget the moment you two locked eyes and screamed!!! As I have spent more time in hotels over the last two years due to house hunting in another city, I can only imagine how hilarious this all went down. I two suffer from the not eating what I should....I must say that the POP tart issue is one that I pray I will not have to encounter. I HaVE eaten them back in the years when they were more healthy and they weren't that good then... Blessings to you and again thanks for the naked guy image....so much for Savasana!!! I'm still laughing.
Namaste', debbie

Posted by Yoga Journal Editors on June 11, 2010 11:29 AM Permalink Comments (1)

From: Beginner's Mind
Yoga Babies

June 10, 2010

by Kristin Shepherd

My Tuesday noon class follows a morning of work for me, work which involves reasonably serious conversations with reasonably serious adults.

Then I whip into my office at 11:30, change into my yoga duds, and drive over to the studio, arriving ridiculously early for my 12:15 class. In fact, when I arrive, they're still sweeping up Cheerios from the floor. Moms carry babies on their hips, all of them completely relaxed after a moms-and-tots class.

I love this.

I put my mat down in the back corner, and dream about being a yoga baby. In this dream, my body has no resistance. I flop forward and sweep my hands across the floor. My head turns like an owl. I do somersaults for the fun of it.

In this dream class, I laugh whenever I feel like it. I also sing: This Little Light of Mine, or Baby Beluga, or You Are My Sunshine. I dance while I sing. We all do, in this class.

I eat the odd raisin or Cheerio off the floor. I drink hot chocolate out of one of those sippy cups.I hang out in Child's Pose when I get tired. I have a nap if I feel like it. And someone carries me out at the end. I like that part the best.

I am so into this dream that by the time my real class starts, I am about 4 years old.

Do you have a dream class? I'd love to hear about it.

Thanks to all of you yoga moms and yoga babies for the inspiration,and thanks to you for the conversation.

Posted by Kristin Shepherd on June 10, 2010 10:01 AM Permalink Comments (1)

From: Enlightened Motherhood
Everyday Blessings

June 9, 2010

by Jessica Berger Gross

One nice thing about being sick a couple of weeks ago was that I had time to finish a wonderful book, Everyday Blessings: The Inner Work of Mindful Parenting, by Myla and Jon Kabat-Zinn. Normally I tend to avoid parenting books--when I have time to read I want to read "adult" material such as The New York Times, The New Yorker, Yoga Journal (of course), a novel, or a new smart and funny memoir like Meghan Daum's Life Would Be Perfect If I Lived In That House.

Luckily, I found my way to Everyday Blessings. Myla and Jon Kabat-Zinn (the well known mindfulness meditation teacher) lovingly weave together their takes on parenting and spiritual practice, illuminating how much each can add to the other. They describe parenthood as an 18-year spiritual retreat--complete with a live in meditation teacher. (My teacher's name? Lucien.) In chapters about each stage of childhood--from birth to toddlers to teenagers--they offer concrete ways to bring consciousness and connectedness to parent-child relationships.

Much of what I read in this beautiful book was in line with what Neil and I have naturally been doing with Lucien--making time for the precious in-between moments of daily life by dancing in the living room, singing songs and making music, drawing and creating, listening and hugging, taking walks in nature and around the neighborhood, reading the same story five times over, without complaint, surrendering to the rhythms of childhood in all sorts of ways.

Before reading Everyday Blessings, I'd done these things because I sensed they were good for Lucien, and because the moments just felt right. After reading, I realized that these moments of connection with my child are my spiritual practice. Time to go dance.

Jessica Berger Gross is the author of enLIGHTened: How I Lost 40 Pounds with a Yoga Mat, Fresh Pineapples, and a Beagle Pointer (Skyhorse), she lives in Vancouver, British Columbia with her husband and two-year-old son.

Posted by Jessica Berger Gross on June 9, 2010 3:15 PM Permalink Comments (3)

From: Core Values
The Whole Core

June 8, 2010

by Sadie Nardini

Students often come up to me after my Core Strength Vinyasa Yoga workshops and tell me how surprised they were about what they learned. Many of them didn't expect the kind of information they got during a class they walked into thinking was going to just target their abs for two hours. That's because I teach that the core is more than just the abdominals.

Abs are an integral part of yoga, or any movement form, to be sure. They help stabilize and mobilize most everything we do, on or off the mat. However, they are only one aspect of what gives us the power to be strong and resilient in our practices and in our lives.

Whenever I teach core work, I always interplay the abdominal actions with their muscular counterparts, such as the erector muscles along the spine, which help keep the abs in check. I also discuss and work with the diaphragm to make sure we're able to keep our core resilient enough to enjoy the freedom of the breath.

Anatomy and yoga experts like Tom Myers, author of Anatomy Trains, and my mentor Leslie Kaminoff, author of Yoga Anatomy, tell us that the abdominals link up and communicate with other muscles in fluid lines that run from the feet to the head. I love to see students' faces light up when they find out they have a "core" body running close to the skeleton that they can access to amplify the effectiveness of any pose.

But there's more. In addition the holistic nature of the abs (for example, what you do with your rectus abdominis muscle affects the whole front line of your body) this root area contains so much latent energy waiting to be accessed. It also harbors our most personal fears, the very resistance that often blocks us from realizing our inner truth. Making a core connection might begin with working and releasing the more obvious outer body, but the yogi learns to sense the more subtle world within--whether this is the quietly powerful core myofascial line, the still space between the thoughts, the unwavering heart at center, or the soulful state of being aligned with who you really are.

All of this awareness leads us straight to one place: satya, or the practice of honesty. In my experience, being true to yourself comes from developing a consistent relationship with your inner nature of goodness, clarity, and peace. When you can tap into this part of you, an ocean of energy and wisdom opens. Once you find your way to the deep water inside, you can always return, even as you express what you've found out into your world. Your satya will always be there, offering a sometimes-surprising perspective that can truly rock your world from the core.

CORE POSE: Eagle Curl

Here's one of my signature Core Poses to target your abs that also lets you practice being uber-honestly you. It's hip and shoulder opener even as you work your rectus abdominis (the six-pack) and transversus abdominis (the girdle that wraps from sides to front of the torso) muscles. The bound arms and legs means that you can't rely on them as much for support, so the movement of this posture has to come almost entirely from the abs.

Come onto your back. Wrap your left arm over your right at the elbow, and your right leg over your left leg at the knee, as in Garudasana (Eagle Pose). Both legs are lifted with your left knee stacked over the hip joint.

Inhale with your shoulders and head on the floor. Exhale and firm your belly to curl your shoulders and head up, so just the tips of your shoulderblades remain on the floor. Don't move your knees closer to your arms, but do try to touch your left elbow to them.

Do 5-15 repetitions of this pose then lie flat on your back with legs long and arms overhead. Take a few belly-stretching breaths.

Note: If this variation is too intense on your neck, place your fingertips into the back of your head and do the pose this way. Be mindful not to yank yourself into the pose with your arm strength, but use the abdominals to initiate the movement.

Posted by Sadie Nardini on June 8, 2010 9:44 AM Permalink Comments (5)

From: Beginner's Mind
Release the Hostages

June 8, 2010

by Kristin Shepherd

My lovely man is in the shower. He's got yoga class in an hour. He's pretty excited. Me too.

I do Vinyasa and Ashtanga classes at the moment. He takes Yin Yoga. You probably know more about that than I do.

What I do know is that ten years ago I might have spent time and energy trying to convince him that my form of yoga is so fantastic that he'd be better off in my class. With my teacher. My chanting. At my favorite hour of the day. On my kind of yoga mat. In my corner in the back row. And on and on into ridiculousness.

I was a little bit inflexible, which defeats the purpose, don't you think?

I was also chronically bored, which is what happens when I only listen to what I've already said 47 times before.

I'm happy to say that at the age of 48 I'm just now learning to let the hostages go. To let others choose for themselves and to be happy with what that brings me.

What does it bring me?

Hours of discussion about Yin Yoga, for one. It sounds fantastic. I'll try it in the fall.

The second thing it brings me is the idea that although yoga is about union, it is also an enormous and varied collection of beautiful ways to explore and take care of ourselves.

I can hardly wait to hear what yoga you love and why.

Thanks to yoga for helping me release the hostages, and thanks to you for the conversation.

Posted by Kristin Shepherd on June 8, 2010 9:36 AM Permalink Comments (7)

Posted by Yoga Journal Editors on June 11, 2010 11:29 AM Permalink Comments (1)

From: Beginner's Mind
Yoga Babies

June 10, 2010

by Kristin Shepherd

My Tuesday noon class follows a morning of work for me, work which involves reasonably serious conversations with reasonably serious adults.

Then I whip into my office at 11:30, change into my yoga duds, and drive over to the studio, arriving ridiculously early for my 12:15 class. In fact, when I arrive, they're still sweeping up Cheerios from the floor. Moms carry babies on their hips, all of them completely relaxed after a moms-and-tots class.

I love this.

I put my mat down in the back corner, and dream about being a yoga baby. In this dream, my body has no resistance. I flop forward and sweep my hands across the floor. My head turns like an owl. I do somersaults for the fun of it.

In this dream class, I laugh whenever I feel like it. I also sing: This Little Light of Mine, or Baby Beluga, or You Are My Sunshine. I dance while I sing. We all do, in this class.

I eat the odd raisin or Cheerio off the floor. I drink hot chocolate out of one of those sippy cups.I hang out in Child's Pose when I get tired. I have a nap if I feel like it. And someone carries me out at the end. I like that part the best.

I am so into this dream that by the time my real class starts, I am about 4 years old.

Do you have a dream class? I'd love to hear about it.

Thanks to all of you yoga moms and yoga babies for the inspiration,and thanks to you for the conversation.

Posted by Kristin Shepherd on June 10, 2010 10:01 AM Permalink Comments (1)

From: Enlightened Motherhood
Everyday Blessings

June 9, 2010

by Jessica Berger Gross

One nice thing about being sick a couple of weeks ago was that I had time to finish a wonderful book, Everyday Blessings: The Inner Work of Mindful Parenting, by Myla and Jon Kabat-Zinn. Normally I tend to avoid parenting books--when I have time to read I want to read "adult" material such as The New York Times, The New Yorker, Yoga Journal (of course), a novel, or a new smart and funny memoir like Meghan Daum's Life Would Be Perfect If I Lived In That House.

Luckily, I found my way to Everyday Blessings. Myla and Jon Kabat-Zinn (the well known mindfulness meditation teacher) lovingly weave together their takes on parenting and spiritual practice, illuminating how much each can add to the other. They describe parenthood as an 18-year spiritual retreat--complete with a live in meditation teacher. (My teacher's name? Lucien.) In chapters about each stage of childhood--from birth to toddlers to teenagers--they offer concrete ways to bring consciousness and connectedness to parent-child relationships.

Much of what I read in this beautiful book was in line with what Neil and I have naturally been doing with Lucien--making time for the precious in-between moments of daily life by dancing in the living room, singing songs and making music, drawing and creating, listening and hugging, taking walks in nature and around the neighborhood, reading the same story five times over, without complaint, surrendering to the rhythms of childhood in all sorts of ways.

Before reading Everyday Blessings, I'd done these things because I sensed they were good for Lucien, and because the moments just felt right. After reading, I realized that these moments of connection with my child are my spiritual practice. Time to go dance.

Jessica Berger Gross is the author of enLIGHTened: How I Lost 40 Pounds with a Yoga Mat, Fresh Pineapples, and a Beagle Pointer (Skyhorse), she lives in Vancouver, British Columbia with her husband and two-year-old son.

Posted by Jessica Berger Gross on June 9, 2010 3:15 PM Permalink Comments (3)

From: Core Values
The Whole Core

June 8, 2010

by Sadie Nardini

Students often come up to me after my Core Strength Vinyasa Yoga workshops and tell me how surprised they were about what they learned. Many of them didn't expect the kind of information they got during a class they walked into thinking was going to just target their abs for two hours. That's because I teach that the core is more than just the abdominals.

Abs are an integral part of yoga, or any movement form, to be sure. They help stabilize and mobilize most everything we do, on or off the mat. However, they are only one aspect of what gives us the power to be strong and resilient in our practices and in our lives.

Whenever I teach core work, I always interplay the abdominal actions with their muscular counterparts, such as the erector muscles along the spine, which help keep the abs in check. I also discuss and work with the diaphragm to make sure we're able to keep our core resilient enough to enjoy the freedom of the breath.

Anatomy and yoga experts like Tom Myers, author of Anatomy Trains, and my mentor Leslie Kaminoff, author of Yoga Anatomy, tell us that the abdominals link up and communicate with other muscles in fluid lines that run from the feet to the head. I love to see students' faces light up when they find out they have a "core" body running close to the skeleton that they can access to amplify the effectiveness of any pose.

But there's more. In addition the holistic nature of the abs (for example, what you do with your rectus abdominis muscle affects the whole front line of your body) this root area contains so much latent energy waiting to be accessed. It also harbors our most personal fears, the very resistance that often blocks us from realizing our inner truth. Making a core connection might begin with working and releasing the more obvious outer body, but the yogi learns to sense the more subtle world within--whether this is the quietly powerful core myofascial line, the still space between the thoughts, the unwavering heart at center, or the soulful state of being aligned with who you really are.

All of this awareness leads us straight to one place: satya, or the practice of honesty. In my experience, being true to yourself comes from developing a consistent relationship with your inner nature of goodness, clarity, and peace. When you can tap into this part of you, an ocean of energy and wisdom opens. Once you find your way to the deep water inside, you can always return, even as you express what you've found out into your world. Your satya will always be there, offering a sometimes-surprising perspective that can truly rock your world from the core.

CORE POSE: Eagle Curl

Here's one of my signature Core Poses to target your abs that also lets you practice being uber-honestly you. It's hip and shoulder opener even as you work your rectus abdominis (the six-pack) and transversus abdominis (the girdle that wraps from sides to front of the torso) muscles. The bound arms and legs means that you can't rely on them as much for support, so the movement of this posture has to come almost entirely from the abs.

Come onto your back. Wrap your left arm over your right at the elbow, and your right leg over your left leg at the knee, as in Garudasana (Eagle Pose). Both legs are lifted with your left knee stacked over the hip joint.

Inhale with your shoulders and head on the floor. Exhale and firm your belly to curl your shoulders and head up, so just the tips of your shoulderblades remain on the floor. Don't move your knees closer to your arms, but do try to touch your left elbow to them.

Do 5-15 repetitions of this pose then lie flat on your back with legs long and arms overhead. Take a few belly-stretching breaths.

Note: If this variation is too intense on your neck, place your fingertips into the back of your head and do the pose this way. Be mindful not to yank yourself into the pose with your arm strength, but use the abdominals to initiate the movement.

Posted by Sadie Nardini on June 8, 2010 9:44 AM Permalink Comments (5)

From: Beginner's Mind
Release the Hostages

June 8, 2010

by Kristin Shepherd

My lovely man is in the shower. He's got yoga class in an hour. He's pretty excited. Me too.

I do Vinyasa and Ashtanga classes at the moment. He takes Yin Yoga. You probably know more about that than I do.

What I do know is that ten years ago I might have spent time and energy trying to convince him that my form of yoga is so fantastic that he'd be better off in my class. With my teacher. My chanting. At my favorite hour of the day. On my kind of yoga mat. In my corner in the back row. And on and on into ridiculousness.

I was a little bit inflexible, which defeats the purpose, don't you think?

I was also chronically bored, which is what happens when I only listen to what I've already said 47 times before.

I'm happy to say that at the age of 48 I'm just now learning to let the hostages go. To let others choose for themselves and to be happy with what that brings me.

What does it bring me?

Hours of discussion about Yin Yoga, for one. It sounds fantastic. I'll try it in the fall.

The second thing it brings me is the idea that although yoga is about union, it is also an enormous and varied collection of beautiful ways to explore and take care of ourselves.

I can hardly wait to hear what yoga you love and why.

Thanks to yoga for helping me release the hostages, and thanks to you for the conversation.

Posted by Kristin Shepherd on June 8, 2010 9:36 AM Permalink Comments (7)

A good way to ensure a great hotel gym is to check out http://www.HotelGymReview.com before you leave for your next trip. Also be sure to write reviews about the facility. We're a new website so we really need people to write reviews.

Thanks!