"Darling, the legs aren't so beautiful, I just know what to do with them." --Marlene Dietrich

Who knows whether it's Kundalini yoga or the fact I've been back into yoga for almost two years. (Maybe it's affected by summer, menopause, too many eclipses this year. Who knows with these things?)

Boat Pose does it. Chaturanga does it. Kundalini Frog does it. Lion Pose. Breath of Fire with any pose does it.

Whatever it is,  my practice is generating a kind of Marlene Dietrich, don't-mess-with-me-honey energy that rocks my little mat.

This week my lovely man met me on the stairs after my practice and suggested we do something lovely and romantic together. He may have tilted his head toward our room and lifted his eyebrows encouragingly, but he was also distracted by what looked like a receipt or something in his hand. With a formerly uncharacteristic blast of power from my chest and abdomen, I said, "Oh, honey, I like your offer, but I think you can do a lot better than that for this goddess." 

Channeling Marlene. It manifests in more direct eye contact, a greater certainty about what I want and don't want, and a delicious sense of power in my relationship to life in this universe. It smokes. (So did Marlene, in almost every existing photograph. Poor lungs.)

We talk often about yoga's value in calming us, in exploring peace and even tempers, in helping us relax into deep sleep at night.

I'm curious about what you've experienced on the other side, on the side of increased power and gutsy fire through yoga. I'll bet you have stories to tell, and poses that do it for you.

"Courage and grace are a formidable mixture." That's Marlene. She thought the combination only occurred in bullrings.

You shoulda tried yoga, honey.

Thanks to yoga for turning on the power.

Thanks to you for the conversation,

kristin

Dr. Kristin Shepherd is a chiropractor, actor, and speaker (About All Things Wonderful) in North Bay, Ontario.  Join her on the web, on Facebook, on Twitter, and on iTunes.

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We've been chatting about the ending of some practices, during which we chant shanti, shanti, shanti. The first shanti is to beam internal healing or some kind of wonderful intention for ourselves. The second shanti is to send some peaceful, healing energy to someone else.

The third shanti opens up such a whack of troubles for me that I'm reluctant to begin this conversation.

The third shanti is meant to send peace or healing intent to the world, if I've got it right.

That's sweet. Here are my struggles with it:

1. The reality is that if I mention God, gay marriage, abortion, Palestinian-Israeli conflict, should we be killing people for peace in Iraq or Afghanistan, or should we have killed Osama bin Laden, just for starters, there'll be no peace even among this peaceful yoga crowd. I wonder if we are egos who want peace as-long-as. As in, peace as long as I get what I want, peace as long as I feel safe. Peace as long as the world doesn't change too much for me. Peace as long as you don't rock my decisions about what's right and wrong. Which leads me to ...

2. I wonder if the trip to genuine peace for many of us would involve a whole lot of shaking up that might not feel peaceful at all. Is that what we want?

3. Sometimes I don't even like the word "peace." "Keep the peace" sounds like restraint of intent and expression. Perhaps this comes from growing up with five siblings and two strict parents. Perhaps it comes from feeling that a good life depends upon speaking your heart and mind without reservation, without worrying about making waves.

4. On the other hand, the deep, profound contentment and joy I find during the meditation part of my practice is also "peace." I love this version of the word.

As one mucked up human being, I am incapable of figuring this out, of discerning the difference between what is true and what is my own resistance in all of this. And for Pete's sake, there isn't time to figure all of this out when we're chanting shanti, shanti, shanti at the end of a class.

What it means, in practice, is that on that third shanti I stay away from peace. Instead I do my best to open my heart and offer love as I know it to the planet. "Love" is a word I trust. It doesn't carry the ambivalence and unanswered questions that peace does for me.

You're wiser than I am. I know it. I look forward to hearing what "peace to the planet" means to you.

Thanks to yoga for encouraging us to find our way toward all the good words. Thanks to you for the conversation,

kristin

Dr. Kristin Shepherd is a chiropractor, actor, and speaker (About All Things Wonderful) in North Bay, Ontario.  Join her on the web, on Facebook, on Twitter, and on iTunes.

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Thanks for all your beautiful responses for first-person shanti. I trust that the combination of our collective beaming and your willingness to speak your wishes out loud will manifest surprising things.

So. Our second shanti at the end of class is meant to beam something healing and wonderful to someone who needs it.

My list includes the following:

1. I send huge LOVE to my lovely man, who had an eye removed this year because of a tumor. We're going back for our first checkup in August. He doesn't love hospitals. I send his body and heart love every single time I practice.

2. I send huge LOVE to my kids, who don't seem to need a thing, but I love the moments spent with them.

3. I send love to my parents, who are slowly  approaching their exit from this life. I wish them wonderful time here and a peaceful transition.

4. Occasionally I send love to my ex-husband. I have a vague sense that somewhere in the cosmos we're connected to each other forever. I'm also extremely grateful for the sperm-and-egg thing we did together. Twice.

5. This morning I'll send love to whoever needs a bit of love: the frantic woman I met on the trails behind our house whose dog disappeared over the weekend, the striking postal workers, the folks who want mail (including yoga DVDs) delivered, the friend who's at a funeral today, the friend who's struggling with depression. You need love, I've got heaps of it at the end of my practice.

That's my list. Who do you send something to at the end of your practice?

Thanks to yoga for reminding me that love is too big to keep to myself, and for giving us the opportunity to put love to use at the end of each practice. Thanks to you for the conversation,

kristin

Dr. Kristin Shepherd is a chiropractor, actor, and speaker (About All Things Wonderful) in North Bay, Ontario.  Join her on the web, on Facebook, on Twitter, and on iTunes.

Posted by Kristin Shepherd at 8:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (12) | TrackBacks (0)

At the end of one of my classes, we chant shanti, shanti, shanti. Three times. The first is to beam something wonderful and healing for ourselves. The second is to beam something wonderful to someone else. The third is to send peace to the planet.

My goal this week is to share a bit of that first one, our wishes for ourselves. I figure we can name them, and then collectively beam them for each other. If yours are private, just type in @#@#@, and we'll beam that your private wish comes true.

Okay. My yoga wishes for myself:

1. I'd like a good body out of this. I want good legs, a good bum, strong shoulders and abs, and one of those ultra-peaceful foreheads you see on the yoga models. I'd like to be one of those yoginis who looks 47 years younger than she is. That means I'd look like a two-year-old, but I'm okay with that.

2. Because my shallow vanity is exhausting, I'd like to care less about everything in #1.

3. I'd like to remember to be grateful for my excellent health.

4. I'd like to feel as intoxicated by the rest of the day as I do during my practice.

5. I'd like my trip toward a peaceful mind to be faster.

6. I'd like to become patient if #5 doesn't happen soon.

7. I'd like learn to take excellent care of myself consistently, and not in spurts which only partially make up for the times I'm drawn to salt and sugar like a bloodsucker to an open aorta .

8. I'd like to be a walking, talking, shining advertisement for the benefits of yoga.

9. I'd love to lean so selflessly into capital-L Love that you couldn't look my way without seeing yourself as the Love you are.(This is a perilously loose paraphrasing of Meister Eckhart.) This is the one I care about the most. It's possible that it is least likely to occur while I give a fig about the others. What can I say. I am a work in progress.

Those are my naked first-person shantis. I'd love to hear yours. Next time we'll do our wishes for another.

Thanks to yoga for making me aware of who I am, from the tawdry surface to the tenderhearted interior.

Thanks to you, always, for the conversation,

kristin

Dr. Kristin Shepherd is a chiropractor, actor, and speaker (About All Things Wonderful) in North Bay, Ontario.  Join her on the web, on Facebook, on Twitter, and on iTunes.

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A good number of people wrote this week to ask about Kundalini Yoga.

For those of you who aren't interested, hang in, and I'll do my best to return to wonderful thoughts on all things yoga next week, despite my Kundalini delirium, from which I hope never to recover.

For those of you who do want a bit more Kundalini Yoga, here we go.

Kundalini is an energy form said to contain the feminine potential (shakti) stored in the first chakra, at the base of the spine. The idea behind Kundalini Yoga--a mental, physical, and spiritual discipline--is to awaken that energy, help it whoosh up through our spines, and somehow connect us with the energy of the gods/Love/Grand Poobah/Universal Truth, whatever your name is for the best of everything in the universe.

Kundalini Yoga uses kriyas, or specific series of exercises, along with meditations throughout the practice, some chanting, and pranayama, including the intoxicating and detoxifying Breath of Fire.

All yoga will eventually arouse kundalini. But practitioners of Kundalini Yoga believe that this practice shifts that energy directly and quickly.

When you Google Kundalini Yoga, you'll read words like mystical, creativity, spirit, as well as power, aerobic, and gentle. It's no wonder we're confused.

Here's what I've noticed after about two weeks of immersion:

1. A definite buzz in my third eye after practice. That's the sixth chakra. It feels delicious.

2. A persistent warmth, rather than a buzz, in my neck and in my chest and upper back. Fifth and fourth chakras.

3. A fluttery thrill just below my navel. Feel a bit sexy. I like this.

4. The enormous attention paid to core work is changing the way I stand and the way I move. Bizarrely, it is changing the way I feel about myself. I feel powerful.

5. The movements are rhythmic. It feels like dance, which satisfies a desire for physical creativity.

6. Some of it is killer hard. I was ready for that.

That's it for now. Apologies to the experienced Kundalini yogis out there who may be cringing at my introduction. Please feel free to send in corrections and whatever crucial information I've left out.

On the other hand, if any of this tickles that spot below your navel, give it a try. You might fall in love.

Thanks to yoga for being varied enough for all of us. Thanks to you for the conversation,

kristin

Dr. Kristin Shepherd is a chiropractor, actor, and speaker (About All Things Wonderful) in North Bay, Ontario.  Join her on the web, on Facebook, on Twitter, and on iTunes.

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I've got a bad, bad case of Kundalini Crush. There's no pride in saying this. I haven't said much about my last crush, on Javier Bardem, for example, even though he is the best actor in the WORLD, because it sounds, well, a bit trashy to have crushes when you're older than 13. 

Whether or not you admit it, though, people catch on when the only movies you rent feature Javier Bardem, you compare all men's eyes to his (unfavorably), and all you can talk about is the incredible depth of feeling in his incredible face. (The overuse of superlatives is the number one sign you've gone over the crush cliff.)

So, too, do you give yourself away when you convince your fellow actors that breath of fire is the best stage warm-up ever, when you stare up at your own eyebrows, when you start thinking you'd look fabulous in a white turban.

I've got it bad, and there's not a thing I can do about it except to ride it out. I'll try not to recruit you. I'll try to respect that you may love your own yoga to the same depth and breadth my soul can reach with Kundalini. (Lapsing into Shakespeare is another sign you've gone over the cliff.) You, for all I know, may think that Jean-Claude Van Damme is the finest actor in the world. You may have your own yoga crush.

Truth is I'm only a week or so into it. Perhaps I'll have some perspective down the line. Or not.

Has this happened to you on your yoga path? Have you ever jumped into a new form of yoga, one that knocks your socks off?

I'd love to hear.

Thanks to Kundalini yoga for being AMAZING, brilliant, the best of the best. Of the very instant that I saw you, did my heart fly at your service. Sorry. Shakespeare.

Thanks to Julie and Kelly, in the photo above, for giving breath of fire a whirl right before going on stage. Thanks to yoga, and to the fact that we love to fall in love.

Thanks to you, always, for the conversation,

kristin

Dr. Kristin Shepherd is a chiropractor, actor, and speaker (About All Things Wonderful) in North Bay, Ontario.  Join her on the web, on Facebook, on Twitter, and on iTunes.

Posted by Kristin Shepherd at 10:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (11) | TrackBacks (0)

Yoga exists on the other side of the known universe from television. That's my opinionated opinion.

Or was. Yesterday's mail changed that. I received my first three yoga DVDs, the ones I ordered after my introduction to Kundalini yoga. There are no Kundalini classes in my town, so I did what anyone would do: I went to Amazon, read four billion reviews, and ordered a few DVDs.

My practice has been in classes, mostly Ashtanga or Hatha, or on my own in my living room. What a departure to head to my lovely man's yoga room in the basement this morning and pop my Kundalini teacher into the DVD player! Music! Encouragement! New moves! New teachers! New approach to yoga!

I loved it.

Will it replace classes for me? Not a chance. I've just recently been inspired once more to go back to classes.

Will it replace silent solo practice? I don't think so. Silence is good. So is calling my own asanas.

I do foresee an immediate binge, though, of DVD Kundalini classes in the basement. (As binges go, one could do much worse.)

I'm curious. Do you do yoga by DVD? Do you have favourite DVDs? I'd love to hear.

Thanks to the yoga DVD industry for taking good excellent care of so many people at home. Thanks to the Raviana Kundalini videos in my basement (they are a blast) and thanks to you for the conversation,

kristin

Dr. Kristin Shepherd is a chiropractor, actor, and speaker (About All Things Wonderful) in North Bay, Ontario.  Join her on the web, on Facebook, on Twitter, and on iTunes.

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My daughter's master's thesis has to do with the effect of yoga on heat shock proteins, if I understand her correctly.

What it means is that she cycles across Windsor, Ontario, every morning with a portable centrifuge in her backpack, and a basket filled with other science-y tools. She calls herself The Hobo Scientist. She cycles to a 6am Ashtanga yoga class where she takes blood samples, skin temperature readings, etc., from her participants half-way through each class.

Then Kali cycles back to school where she inputs her data and does the rest of her school work. She repeats her morning routine for a 6pm hot yoga class.

Her participants, reportedly a wildly enthusiastic and formerly inactive bunch, are doing three classes per week for the eight-week trial. Everyone expects amazing results. I'll keep you posted.

The yoga teachers involved in the study prefer that Kali participates in the classes rather than sitting on the sidelines, staring. (Talk about creating nervousness on the mat!) In the interest of science, then, Kali has flung herself into an intense yoga life.

Here's the bit I love. Kali is a fabulous athlete. Always has been. She runs, swims, cycles, and plays basketball, volleyball, and extreme Frisbee with a kind of bring-it-on ferocious joy. If you ever, ever find yourself in need of a cheerleader/coach, Kali is your woman.

It turns out she's humbled by yoga. "It's HARD," she said yesterday. "I'm working really, really hard."

She mentions two goals at this point. The first is to have her heels touch the floor in Downward Dog by the time she finishes her master's degree. They're nowhere near the floor at this point, she says.

The second goal is to figure out why she begins to cry every time they do hip openers.

On Skype yesterday she was radiant. I felt proud of her (this is the norm) and proud of yoga (this is bizarre). Some great shift happened in the universe when Kali and yoga got together.

It's one thing to love yoga myself. It's another to see the same thing happen to my kid. Have you experienced that?

Thanks to Kali, my beautiful, brave, radiant daughter for taking on yoga. Thanks to yoga for taking Kali on. And thanks to you for the conversation,

kristin

Dr. Kristin Shepherd is a chiropractor, actor, and speaker (About All Things Wonderful) in North Bay, Ontario.  Join her on the web, on Facebook, on Twitter, and on iTunes.

Posted by Kristin Shepherd at 8:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (13) | TrackBacks (0)

Oh, I adore yoga today.

Over a 20-year career in health care practice, you can't help but see that health care, indeed life care, has everything to do with management of energy.

Some people have a strong sense of their own power. They're generally unafraid of their bodies, other people, and life events. They trust. They're the optimists, the resilient ones who know that even when things look bad, they're headed in a great direction. They act out of confident joy. They are motivated by fun, happiness, feeling good. ("It makes me feel fantastic," they say about traveling, about new careers, about highland dancing, photography, about going back to school.)

At the other end of the spectrum are those who are afraid of life, of their own bodies, of viruses and bacteria ("Of course I'll get that cold, I get all the colds"), of the unknown, of scarcity, of the future. They don't trust--they suffer. They act out of fear. Their choices are based on just-in-case scenarios and preventing bad things from happening. They're all about anti-cancer, anti-poverty, anti-aging, anti-heart disease ("My mother had it, my father had it, my brother's going to get it, he eats so badly, god, I might as get on the transplant list now."), and on and on.

Some days we're at one end of this scale, and some days at the other.

We also manage our energy differently in different areas of life. Think of finances, parenting, work, death, career choices, sports. Think of your mother, your ex, your taxes. Think about going back to yoga class.

This is a huge subject, worth far more than a wee blog, and my intention is not to trivialize.

I raise it to say this:

I love that every morning brings us the chance to find out where we are in terms of managing our energy, and the opportunity to make a new choice.

On those days when the monkey mind, before I have even opened my groggy eyes, is chatting about stiffness, getting older, and what I can't do, I remember this difference between fear and joy, and that's enough to stop my nonsense.

Most days it's enough to snap me into joy so that by the time my gnarly feet reach the mat, I'm managing my energy in a way that takes good care of my body and of the rest of my life.

I'll bet anything we were born to learn to manage our energy through love and joy, and to leave fear behind.

What are your thoughts?

Thanks to morning yoga for teaching me about choice, and thanks to you for the conversation,

kristin

Dr. Kristin Shepherd is a chiropractor, actor, and speaker (About All Things Wonderful) in North Bay, Ontario.  Join her on the web, on Facebook, on Twitter, and on iTunes.

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