One day about two years ago I surrendered. I was practicing Flow and I just let go! (Sorry, couldn’t resist the rhyme).
There I was on my mat, moving through my practice when all of a sudden the silliness of my controlling mind became crystal clear to me. I recognized in that moment that my habit of pushing my body in my asana practice had actually been draining my energy. In that moment, I chose to enjoy the practice and to allow myself to be refueled instead of drained.
Interestingly enough, pushing my body for many years had actually been counterproductive. When I finally let go and allowed my breath to guide me in and out of poses I found that was I able to get a good rest while on my mat. I found that by backing off a pose when I lost my rhythmic breathing, I was able to relax and find new places to play in the pose. The wonderful result of surrendering on my mat was that my practice deepened tenfold.
Almost all new yoga students will over-try and over-struggle in their practice. We start out wanting to “be good” at yoga. As I often say in class at Verge Yoga, there is nothing to achieve and there is no perfect pose. Of course, I know that when I say those words, most students are thinking, “yeh right, okay, whatever Cara”. Please trust me that it took me 10 years of committed practice to finally “get it”.
I recognize that it is paradoxical to intend to rest when you come to your “power yoga” practice and I also recognize that most yoga students come to the practice for the physical work out. The good news is that you can rest, sweat, strengthen and re-energize all at the same time!
So next time you step upon your yoga mat whether at Verge Yoga or somewhere else, set your intention to “rest” during your practice. Keenly observe yourself when you begin to force your way into a pose. If your breathing becomes labored or imbalanced then back off the pose physically until you find the precise place where the breathing is rhythmic and unforced.
Enjoy the ride and enjoy the most peaceful savasana you have ever had. Please let me know how you do.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Smile
If we are not able to smile then the world will not have peace. ~ Thich Nat Hanh
I came upon this quote just a few days after the earthquake in Haiti. Just reading this master’s quote made me smile and reflect on how blessed my life is. Sure it was easy for me to smile as I sat in my cozy house in suburban Philadelphia. What about those around the world who were not reading in their cozy house? What about those in Haiti without homes? How do they manage to muster up a smile in the midst of their own poverty and tragedy?
While I don’t have the answer to that question, I believe that we find our ability to smile in hard times when we are filled with faith. Perhaps it is faith in God or in a higher power that assists us. Our faith is our foundation, it is the “rock upon which we build our house” as I referred to in my last blog entry.
My faith is strengthened from my daily practice which includes yoga, meditation and prayer. I believe that this foundation is built one day at a time and I mindfully prepare myself for those days to come when it may not be easy to smile.
For now I feel that I must continue to smile and to pray for those who are having trouble smiling themselves. In the words of the Great Buddhist Peace Prayer:
May all beings be free from suffering and the causes of suffering.
May all beings find happiness and the root of happiness.
Our smiles can help so keep smiling. :)
I came upon this quote just a few days after the earthquake in Haiti. Just reading this master’s quote made me smile and reflect on how blessed my life is. Sure it was easy for me to smile as I sat in my cozy house in suburban Philadelphia. What about those around the world who were not reading in their cozy house? What about those in Haiti without homes? How do they manage to muster up a smile in the midst of their own poverty and tragedy?
While I don’t have the answer to that question, I believe that we find our ability to smile in hard times when we are filled with faith. Perhaps it is faith in God or in a higher power that assists us. Our faith is our foundation, it is the “rock upon which we build our house” as I referred to in my last blog entry.
My faith is strengthened from my daily practice which includes yoga, meditation and prayer. I believe that this foundation is built one day at a time and I mindfully prepare myself for those days to come when it may not be easy to smile.
For now I feel that I must continue to smile and to pray for those who are having trouble smiling themselves. In the words of the Great Buddhist Peace Prayer:
May all beings be free from suffering and the causes of suffering.
May all beings find happiness and the root of happiness.
Our smiles can help so keep smiling. :)
Sunday, January 24, 2010
How Do I Help?
The recent earthquake in Haiti has literally shaken me off my footing. The images and stories are almost too raw and too graphic for me to swallow. Personally, I am overwhelmed. Sure, the $100 sent to the Red Cross will help a bit. Of course, the daily prayers sent to those suffering around the globe and especially to those touched by this tragedy will help a bit. But honesty I am still left feeling “helpless”.
There are yoga studios all around Philadelphia that have already had benefit classes to raise money for the relief effort in Haiti. I commend them for their effort. We are considering holding a benefit class at Verge Yoga. I know that it is a great way to raise money. A few years back, Verge Yoga raised a few thousand dollars in this manner for the relief effort for tsunami victims. Honestly, there is something tugging at my consciousness urging me do more. For some reason I am still resisting the obvious avenues to helping the millions of victims affected by this tragedy. As I said before, I am overwhelmed by totality of this tragedy.
The question I ask is how does one help a country that is lacking infrastructure and has been suffocated by corruption for years? There is nothing left in Haiti but a pile of rubble and many souls that suffer yet hope for literally a more stable future.
The only answer that comes to mind is that we need to start by helping to rebuild the foundation of Haiti. My Hatha yoga practice has taught me this truth. By building a strong stable base physically, emotionally and mentally through the practice of yoga, we the ground upon which we can expand upon.
In Matthew 7:24-27 Jesus says the following:
"Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it."
I believe that this is true on a yoga mat, in a family and in a nation. The Haitians have been living on a sandy foundation for too long and I pray that we can help them. The earth shaking beneath that small Caribbean island has exposed just how weak their foundation has been.
So my question to you all is how do we help Haiti build a stable foundation? Money, yes, is necessary. Prayers are necessary. An interim government led by perhaps the United Nations. I also believe, however, that setting a strong example is also necessary. We must solidify our own ground first before we can help others do so. Once again, it begins with us. It begins with taking personal responsibility for our state of being.
So I guess that I have sort of answered my own question. I am still, however, left overwhelmed. I would love any support that you could share with me. If you know of an organization that you believe can make a difference in building Haiti’s foundation, please let me know. Perhaps then the benefit class will make more sense to me. Perhaps it will help me feel less overwhelmed and more confident that we truly can make a difference.
Thank you.
There are yoga studios all around Philadelphia that have already had benefit classes to raise money for the relief effort in Haiti. I commend them for their effort. We are considering holding a benefit class at Verge Yoga. I know that it is a great way to raise money. A few years back, Verge Yoga raised a few thousand dollars in this manner for the relief effort for tsunami victims. Honestly, there is something tugging at my consciousness urging me do more. For some reason I am still resisting the obvious avenues to helping the millions of victims affected by this tragedy. As I said before, I am overwhelmed by totality of this tragedy.
The question I ask is how does one help a country that is lacking infrastructure and has been suffocated by corruption for years? There is nothing left in Haiti but a pile of rubble and many souls that suffer yet hope for literally a more stable future.
The only answer that comes to mind is that we need to start by helping to rebuild the foundation of Haiti. My Hatha yoga practice has taught me this truth. By building a strong stable base physically, emotionally and mentally through the practice of yoga, we the ground upon which we can expand upon.
In Matthew 7:24-27 Jesus says the following:
"Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it."
I believe that this is true on a yoga mat, in a family and in a nation. The Haitians have been living on a sandy foundation for too long and I pray that we can help them. The earth shaking beneath that small Caribbean island has exposed just how weak their foundation has been.
So my question to you all is how do we help Haiti build a stable foundation? Money, yes, is necessary. Prayers are necessary. An interim government led by perhaps the United Nations. I also believe, however, that setting a strong example is also necessary. We must solidify our own ground first before we can help others do so. Once again, it begins with us. It begins with taking personal responsibility for our state of being.
So I guess that I have sort of answered my own question. I am still, however, left overwhelmed. I would love any support that you could share with me. If you know of an organization that you believe can make a difference in building Haiti’s foundation, please let me know. Perhaps then the benefit class will make more sense to me. Perhaps it will help me feel less overwhelmed and more confident that we truly can make a difference.
Thank you.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
National Champions!
On December 18, 2009, the Villanova University Football team won the FSC National Football Championship. Since August these Wildcats have been fierce, focused and committed to each other. I am honored to have been able to train them this year. They are true yogis.Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Villanova Football Heads to National Championship
I have had the honor of training the Villanova University Football team for the past six seasons and this Friday, “my boys” as I like to call them, will be competing against Montana for the Division 1 FSC National Championship. I am an extremely proud strength coach/yoga teacher.
During the season, my boys play their games on Saturdays and train with me on Sundays. Every Sunday evening for the past four months, I have met the players (all 90 of them) in the Butler Annex which resides just 30 yards from one of the end zones in the Villanova Stadium. They shuffle into the annex and respectfully take their places at the top of their yoga mats. I guide them through a series of poses that challenge their strength and stability, I hold them accountable for their focus and I help them to reset their minds and bodies for the next game.
My messages to them have been simple ones:
Go Nova!
(Friday, December 18th ESPN2 8:00 pm)
During the season, my boys play their games on Saturdays and train with me on Sundays. Every Sunday evening for the past four months, I have met the players (all 90 of them) in the Butler Annex which resides just 30 yards from one of the end zones in the Villanova Stadium. They shuffle into the annex and respectfully take their places at the top of their yoga mats. I guide them through a series of poses that challenge their strength and stability, I hold them accountable for their focus and I help them to reset their minds and bodies for the next game.
My messages to them have been simple ones:
- Leave the past behind.
- Breathe deeply.
- Stay engaged in what you are asked to do.
- You are stronger than you think you are so just stop thinking.
- Be present.
- Distraction will drain you.
- Focus will fuel you.
- One collective Villanova mind is undefeatable.
Go Nova!
(Friday, December 18th ESPN2 8:00 pm)
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
This Day Will Never Come Again
“This day will never come again” wrote Thomas Merton, Trappist Monk and writer. I heard my teacher Caroline Myss quote this the other day and it made the hair on my arms stand tall. It literally took my breath away. Merton’s words have been floating in my mind ever since.
I will never have the opportunity to experience this day again. When this day is over, it is over forever. If I truly understood the power behind these words, how would I change the way that I live?
The answer… I would see beyond the nonsense. I would live beyond the pettiness. I would savor the sunsets and the sunrise. I would drink the nectar of every moment. I would live fully on this day and in this moment.
My yoga practice helps me to make these “woulds” a reality. In each and every breath, I have the opportunity to live fully. In every pose, I can step beyond the judgments, doubts and petty thoughts. On my mat, I am learning to live fully and to savor the preciousness of the moment.
Recently, my husband and I lost a friend of many years to a terrible car accident. Suddenly, his life was extinguished. In a split second his children no longer had a father and his wife no longer had a husband. Had Steve lived his last day fully? I hope so.
Can you live this day fully? I hope so.
Can I live this day fully? Weel, I am going to give it my best shot.
Peace.
I will never have the opportunity to experience this day again. When this day is over, it is over forever. If I truly understood the power behind these words, how would I change the way that I live?
The answer… I would see beyond the nonsense. I would live beyond the pettiness. I would savor the sunsets and the sunrise. I would drink the nectar of every moment. I would live fully on this day and in this moment.
My yoga practice helps me to make these “woulds” a reality. In each and every breath, I have the opportunity to live fully. In every pose, I can step beyond the judgments, doubts and petty thoughts. On my mat, I am learning to live fully and to savor the preciousness of the moment.
Recently, my husband and I lost a friend of many years to a terrible car accident. Suddenly, his life was extinguished. In a split second his children no longer had a father and his wife no longer had a husband. Had Steve lived his last day fully? I hope so.
Can you live this day fully? I hope so.
Can I live this day fully? Weel, I am going to give it my best shot.
Peace.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Why Practice?
by Christy Mahoney,
When asked, most people say they practice to build a strong body. This amazing series of poses has comprehensively developed my body better than any sport or exercise I have ever known. Yet, if you ask me why I practice - I may pause before answering. In the pause I will make a decision about how much to say.
Do I tell you that this practice is all that I do and at 40 years old, I am in the best shape of my life? Do I mention that by doing this practice I have dropped from a size 12 to a size 4? (Believe it or not, that answer really seems to impress people.) I could get more personal and tell you I am going through a significant life transition and yoga grounds me. I could tell you a lot of things that are true, but they don’t explain why this full-time-working-single-mother-of-two spends so much of her precious time in a yoga studio!
The real reason I practice is because it strips away everything that doesn’t matter and shows me the truth about who I am. Not a sexy answer – I know. In fact, in most settings it is a pretty effective conversation stopper. That being said, it is why I find time to practice. Further – it is why I make time to teach.
As a teacher at Verge I have 75 minutes to guide you through your practice. My purpose is to cue alignment from the ground up, coach breath, reveal benefits, share personal experience and provide space for you to just be in the pose. This is my purpose and it is very challenging, but it is not my intention. My intention is to share the life changing power of this practice.
Did I really just say life changing? Sounds so dramatic, but that’s because it is! I believe we all have deep down fear that is incredibly powerful. Some of us have lived with the fear for such a long time, we actually think it’s a part of us. We do all these crazy things to avoid it. Almost instantly, and more profoundly over time, this avoidance changes who we are. It compromises our true self and we become only images of who we are meant to be. The avoidance begins a vicious cycle. We fear – we avoid – we are drained – we have no energy to face the fear – we avoid more intensely – we get more drained… Surviving this cycle is probably harder than facing the fear itself, but we don’t realize it. The cycle is so familiar we can’t see it. Even when we do notice it, we do not know another way. That is, until we practice.
In practice, we learn to let go. We turn our attention to breath. The breath points us towards Right Action. In my experience, the Right Action is usually pretty difficult (hence, the aforementioned fear.) Sometimes it is so powerful, all we can do is just face it, find our breath and stand in place. This is enough - we can take steps in time. I teach because I have experienced that when I quiet my mind and let go of control, there is a universal energy that becomes available to me. It is beyond my physical self yet it strengths me profoundly. To receive this energy we must surrender, only then can it strengthen & guide us to face the truth. I call this energy the power of the universe.
What you call it isn’t important to me. What is crucial to me is that when we let go, this energy is available and we find true courage. We can pause in the fear and wait for clarity. Once clear, we use our courage to take Right Action. This is what leads to happiness from the inside out, not because something good happened or something bad didn’t. We are happy because we are aligned with all that is real. We know who we are and who we are not. That knowledge is absolutely life changing, some might call it enlightenment.
So, how do these simple poses bring us back to the essence of ourselves? Ironically, I don’t know. Concepts swirl in my mind, but I do not definitively know the answer. Curiously, we are now where we began, “Why practice?” I’ll answer that question another… What would happen if you stripped away everything that doesn’t matter and faced the truth about yourself?
Come to practice – let’s find out together!
When asked, most people say they practice to build a strong body. This amazing series of poses has comprehensively developed my body better than any sport or exercise I have ever known. Yet, if you ask me why I practice - I may pause before answering. In the pause I will make a decision about how much to say.
Do I tell you that this practice is all that I do and at 40 years old, I am in the best shape of my life? Do I mention that by doing this practice I have dropped from a size 12 to a size 4? (Believe it or not, that answer really seems to impress people.) I could get more personal and tell you I am going through a significant life transition and yoga grounds me. I could tell you a lot of things that are true, but they don’t explain why this full-time-working-single-mother-of-two spends so much of her precious time in a yoga studio!
The real reason I practice is because it strips away everything that doesn’t matter and shows me the truth about who I am. Not a sexy answer – I know. In fact, in most settings it is a pretty effective conversation stopper. That being said, it is why I find time to practice. Further – it is why I make time to teach.
As a teacher at Verge I have 75 minutes to guide you through your practice. My purpose is to cue alignment from the ground up, coach breath, reveal benefits, share personal experience and provide space for you to just be in the pose. This is my purpose and it is very challenging, but it is not my intention. My intention is to share the life changing power of this practice.
Did I really just say life changing? Sounds so dramatic, but that’s because it is! I believe we all have deep down fear that is incredibly powerful. Some of us have lived with the fear for such a long time, we actually think it’s a part of us. We do all these crazy things to avoid it. Almost instantly, and more profoundly over time, this avoidance changes who we are. It compromises our true self and we become only images of who we are meant to be. The avoidance begins a vicious cycle. We fear – we avoid – we are drained – we have no energy to face the fear – we avoid more intensely – we get more drained… Surviving this cycle is probably harder than facing the fear itself, but we don’t realize it. The cycle is so familiar we can’t see it. Even when we do notice it, we do not know another way. That is, until we practice.
In practice, we learn to let go. We turn our attention to breath. The breath points us towards Right Action. In my experience, the Right Action is usually pretty difficult (hence, the aforementioned fear.) Sometimes it is so powerful, all we can do is just face it, find our breath and stand in place. This is enough - we can take steps in time. I teach because I have experienced that when I quiet my mind and let go of control, there is a universal energy that becomes available to me. It is beyond my physical self yet it strengths me profoundly. To receive this energy we must surrender, only then can it strengthen & guide us to face the truth. I call this energy the power of the universe.
What you call it isn’t important to me. What is crucial to me is that when we let go, this energy is available and we find true courage. We can pause in the fear and wait for clarity. Once clear, we use our courage to take Right Action. This is what leads to happiness from the inside out, not because something good happened or something bad didn’t. We are happy because we are aligned with all that is real. We know who we are and who we are not. That knowledge is absolutely life changing, some might call it enlightenment.
So, how do these simple poses bring us back to the essence of ourselves? Ironically, I don’t know. Concepts swirl in my mind, but I do not definitively know the answer. Curiously, we are now where we began, “Why practice?” I’ll answer that question another… What would happen if you stripped away everything that doesn’t matter and faced the truth about yourself?
Come to practice – let’s find out together!
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