Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes...

Here come the clouds again, I think Ottawa is competing for some ‘Weirdest Weather’ competition the residents of the city aren’t aware of. Oh well I’m sure sunshine on a day in the office would only make me pout.

I was up early to see my osteopath this morning and he made it really obvious to me how connected everything in our bodies can be. He had one thumb on my jaw inside my mouth (that’s my karma coming back to me for putting off the dentist visits) and his other hand on my occipital bone and as he was moving skull stuff around my right foot just kept falling, falling, falling down. He spent the entire hour moving bones in my head and now my hip bones feel like jelly and he never even touched them. It makes me wonder how people can ever think that any action they take won’t affect other people, or how people can think they have a perfectly controlled scientific study. I mean there are so many variables and we don’t live in a vacuum. Just our breath can affect so many things around us in too miniscule a way to understand fully.

But then it’s easy to mentally put yourself on center stage in your mind and think that as the primary character in the play the only effects of actions that matter are the ones that affect you.
And then on the flip side we can’t consider all the consequences of any action we take mentally because it’s just too much for our brains to consider and coordinate at one time.

For this reason I’ve settled on a middle ground (how Buddhist). In the yoga fashion I will try to make my choices to cause as little harm as possible (ahimsa) but also recognize that when bad things happen to people it’s not always a bad thing.

One of my favorite illustrations of this was when I worked at the Woman’s Breast Health Centre and we spent the whole day telling women they had breast cancer and then counseling them, which could be a bit dreary (obviously). But what was neat was what you saw when the women came in for a follow-up 6 months later. It didn’t matter whether they still had the cancer or not: Their lives were visibly and often drastically changed. Women who always wanted to start a new career had made the changes to move in that direction, women who wanted to spend more time with their kids did so and cherished it, so many alterations and benefits of one piece of bad news.

So I recognize that bad circumstances are not something to wish on people but if my choices unexpectedly bring about negative occurrences I’m choosing to drop the guilt. Who knows what changes that may bring?

Yoga in the Park II

So I finally finished setting up both the charity yogas I wanted to get set up for the summer, one for the East side of town and one for the West side.

Click on the posters below to open, save or print them:

*East side yoga is at the Science and Tech Museum every Wednesday from 7pm until 8pm, running until August 12th.

* West and Central yoga is at the Adult Highschool on Rochester st from 5pm to 6pm every Thursday until August 13th.

Any questions feel free to email me at jayna_moar@hotmail.com

Vegi-nivore

I saw this picture on http://www.failblog.org/ and couldn’t resist putting it up here. I thought it accentuated perfectly all the drama that seems to come up between vegetarians and the rest of the world. I think I definitely understand the attack some vegetarians feel they are under. Being one of the few meat eating yogis I know I get the same questions that vegetarians get from the rest of the world but in reverse. The one thing I notice in common between the two groups is the strong feeling of frustration at always being challenged on your beliefs. Because that’s what food has become, a belief and considering how much eating we do it’s a belief that comes up and gets questioned a lot.

I was thinking about how strongly we identify ourselves with our eating habits and how it’s considered taboo to be a meat eating yogi while I was out with Adam buying a new car last night. Our old car finally decided it could not go any further and unfortunately we had no choice but to buy a new one. As we were looking around the car lot I kept thinking “Is this car the best one for me as a yogi?” As in if I buy this car would my yogi friends say “Oh my gosh! That’s not environmentally appropriate.” Or something along those lines anyways. I think it’s almost more challenging to make decisions as a yogi because if you just choose what you want instead of considering all those who will be affected by your choices you would be being selfish by some people’s standards, but on the other hand if you always chose what others think to be best will you ever be choosing the right thing for you. And it’s the same thing as the vegetarian thing. It’s impossible to always make the “right” choice because we just don’t know how far reaching the effects of our choices will be. And even if you do make the “right” choice how happy are you living under the tyranny of said “rightness”.

When I saw Seane Corn in Toronto one of the most meaningful things she said was “Whatever choice you make at the time is the right choice.” And I think that’s a nice way of saying you can only know what you know and go from there, just trying your best.

I think the best thing we can do for each other is understand that that’s all anyone can do is make the best choice possible with the information they have, and all this fighting with each other over which choice is right or wrong doesn’t change our choices it just puts a wedge between us. Besides we are not our cars, or our diets or even our yoga practices or our favorite TV shows. Categorizing people by the choices they make just creates more of a divide and more of a challenge to see the things people are going through from there perspectives. Just a thought.
I finally received confirmed approval for my second location for my Charity yoga. So starting on July 8th I will be giving donation-only 1hour sessions at the Science and Technology Museum on the grass by the old black freight train from 7 to 8pm, every Wednesday for 6 weeks. I will have the poster done tomorrow and update my blog then.

On another note I will be teaching a session at the Lululemon store in Westboro on Sunday July 12th from 9am-10am as a one time thing. I think it’s free, if anyone is interested.

I hope everyone’s getting excited about the Canada Day festivities. I was told the fireworks are on even if it’s raining so hopefully see you on the Hill. Have an awesome day!!

"NOW"

Sometimes I feel like I must be doing something wrong. I’ve been pretty sick the past few days. The kind of sick where I’ve just been sleeping and sleeping and it’s still there. And I was sick last month too. And the really strange part is that no one else I know is sick. So where did this come from?? I took it easy this weekend, I’ve been exercising, eating right, sleeping… Maybe I should stop licking all the toilet bowls at work…
Then I start looking at my charity yoga thing. It rained last week and it’s supposed to thunderstorm for my class today. I never even heard back from the rental lady at the Science and Tech Museum about the other charity yoga thing I wanted to do on Wednesdays, and that was after a month of back and forth with her. It just kind of became nothing.
I don’t know. I know it’s normal to doubt whether we’re doing things right and to look a challenges that come up as roadblocks instead of things to overcome. It’s always tricky to have perspective in the middle of when these things are happening.

I had a friend that used to tell me when I was whining to look at all the good things I have in life which was, coincidentally, the theme of my yoga class on Tuesday- Gratitude.
Even thinking the word always makes me smile, because it’s easy, especially in Western culture to want more and to expect more. Everything should be faster, everything should be easier. We’re like little kids who want that ice-cream cone they asked for “NOW” and if we don’t get it “NOW” we’ll throw a hissy fit or pout the rest of the day. When I put it like that I feel a little silly. So what if I’m not feeling 100%, so what if I didn’t get two charity yoga things started for the summer?
So, on my list of things to be grateful for: I’m super blessed and lucky because Adam’s taking me to Niagara Glen for climbing this weekend, which if anyone knows me they know this is my most favorite place to climb, ever. That’s pretty awesome! And actually the longer I sit at work the better I’m feeling so that’s good news. And I don’t see any crazy storm clouds in the distance yet, so I just might make it through the evening without getting too wet. And on the plus side of being sick I get the whole sympathy thing going for me. Most of my coworkers are Moms so everything I sneeze or cough they all comfort me and ask if I’m ok. Maybe I just needed a good Whine-and-Complain Fest in my life, a little sympathy for the Devil. Gratitude for that!
Namaste!

Yoga- not for the 'sweet' of heart...

I know it’s not very nice out now. I’m looking at the flag outside my window and it’s become so soaked it’s all caught up in itself and looking more like dirty laundry than a sign of patriotism. That’s what I’m going to look like in a few hours when I head out to teach charity yoga in the park. Now I realize no one is going to show up for my session in the park in this weather and I realize I’m going to look a little crazy standing out in the rain doing headstands and all my pretzel poses, but I’m still going to go (And not just because I’m the one teaching and organizing it), because yoga in the rain is a really great opportunity to be present.

It’s also a great opportunity to be not present.

It kind of fits because I’ve been thinking about how I will get my students to be more present when I teach them and also how to get people I spend time with to be present too. If someone ever asks why yogis insist on doing all their crazy poses it’s not because they’re showing off (usually), it’s because when you challenge yourself physically you force your mind to be quiet and focused and whether you know it or not you are being present. I’d say this works about 50% of the time. The other 50% it actually causes a person’s mind to go into hyper drive. They start questioning why they’re doing this hard activity or thinking about where they’d rather be. Both effects can be good. If the practice causes their mind to clear then Yay! Goal achieved. In contrast if it causes their brain to start shouting it also offers a great opportunity for a person to take a look at their thoughts and ask themselves why they’re getting so irate. This gives them a chance to sit with their discomfort and learn to be present with it.
What happens more often though, and the reason I know no one will show up tonight, when people do something that challenges and they find they are having a mental reaction of either silence or irritation they become uncomfortable with this new sensation and reject it. They then vow that they did not like this activity, it sucks, and they will not do it again. That’s the typical human response to all things that make them uncomfortable. And that’s how I know I will be the only ‘crazy’ one standing on my head in the park tonight. Which, from a ‘logical’ point of view, makes sense. Who stand in the rain? But from another perspective it’s 15 degrees C out right now. There’s not a ton of wind and the rain is less than you would experience in the shower. This isn’t going to be the thing that kills me. I’m not sugar, I won’t melt. But it makes people uncomfortable and it makes them present.

I just found out I’ve been accepted for a position at Algonquin College. They’re opening a new Kickboxing/Boxing facility and starting in September I will have the pleasure of teaching classes two nights a week. I’m pretty excited about this because it’s outside the usual realm of yoga and I’ll get to bring yoga to a new group of people. Now I have to come up with a quick blurb about what Hatha Yoga is for their website or newsletter or something. Hmmm, should be an interesting one to sum up.

In the meantime, I’ll be outside if your looking for me. I’ll be the soggy one balancing on one foot, just standing there enjoying the moment.

*Squishy hugs*
Later.

Crazies...

I can feel myself getting a little crazy these days. I find myself getting caught up in the stories people give me and the stories I tell myself. Clients call me on the phone and I get all freaked out. I’m trying to solve all their problems and save them from their own crazies. *Laughs* here last time I blogged I talked about how people like to collect things and I’ve discovered that I’m collecting crazies. Not crazy people, just crazy stories and situations, crazy energy. I’ve been trying so hard to get this charity yoga thing right I’m driving myself a little crazy. It’s pretty easy to get the brain spinning. It’s like a pinwheel where the slightest breeze of change sets things in motion. So today I’ve decided instead of being the pinwheel (Instead of being the crazy) I’m going to watch the crazy. Because I’m pretty sure I can’t make it all stop but if I step back and watch instead of letting myself get sucked into the spinning it’s a little more enjoyable.

Tomorrow’s my first charity yoga class and I think there’s still a good chance I’ll be able to get a Wednesday charity class started at The Science and Tech Museum. I’m excited to teach yoga in such a free format and for something other than my own benefit.
The weather looks good so far. Cross your fingers.
Namaste!

Yoga in the Park

So I have things set up for my one charity yoga thing for Thursdays this summer and I’m still looking to get one started at the Science and Technology Museum if I can. The poster above can be saved as a .jpg and then opened and printed (It will come out regular paper size) if anyone wants to put one up where they work or whichever.
I’ve been spending all my free time trying to get this stuff set up but I promise to get back to blogging bloggish stuff once all my ducks are a little more in a row.
Hope everyone had a beautiful weekend.
Sending sunny weather vibes out.
Catcha…

Link to the charity money will be going to: Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Ottawa