Every Day Practice

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Yoga Events around Seattle

Namaste,

Last week was all about backbends. This week we are moving into arm balances.  Last week we lifted and opened our hearts.  This week we are exploring the boundaries of gravity and our relationship to the earth.  That’s right, its getting deep in here and we are having a great time.  And let me just say how much I love and admire my students.  Your strength and heart inspire me.

Come join us at Village Green Yoga, and feel the glow.

Monday and Wednesdays we focus on alignment, and Tuesdays and Thursday we open to the flow.  Hope to see you soon.

Other news and events in the local yoga world:

Steve Gold will be bringing his  beautiful music to Bala Yoga in Kirkland later this month for an evening of Yin Yoga and fine music.  Check it out  here.

Wanderlust:  Good news Wanderlust will also be at Whistler BC this summer.  Click here for more information.  Many wonderful teacher and musicians will be there to make for a fine weekend of play in the sun and fresh mountain air.

Restorative Yoga at Village Green Yoga this Friday evening at 7:00pm.  Wind down and restore yourself with this beautiful and deep practice.

Have a great week.

Namaste

Diana Bonyhadi

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Challenging words, an encouragement for change

Read this and re-awaken to the miracle that is your life.

 

Thanks to Andrea Leber

 

Challenging words, an encouragement for change.

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Even Yogis Procrastinate

Hi Everyone,

I just wanted to let you know that living the life of a good little yogi does not prevent me from being a procrastinator.  You might have noticed that I didn’t update this blog for three weeks.  Guess what, that is not the only thing I managed to put off.  The list is embarrassingly long; I found the most amazing ways to avoid doing house-cleaning chores, desk work, paper work, and I even put off making my new years resolutions.  But  now I am playing catch-up and I thought I would share some of my New Years resolutions with you:

Resolutions for a Procrastinating Yogi

  • Meditate for 15-45 minutes every morning. (So far so good)
  • Cook a new dish every week  – that would be 52 new dishes this year.  Hopefully I will also teach a few of these to my kids.  Here are the cookbooks and websites from which I will draw inspiration:    Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi (http://www.ottolenghi.co.uk/blog/category/recipes/), Natural Cooking Everyday, (http://www.101cookbooks.com/) Eat, Taste Heal – An Ayurvedic Guidebook and Cookbook for Modern Living (http://www.eattasteheal.com/ETH_dosha.htm) , and Terrific Pacific Cookbook (http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=terrific+pacific+cookbook&tag=googhydr-20&index=stripbooks&hvadid=5435336785&ref=pd_sl_39829tmzyo_e).
  • Study more anatomy:   Wow, did you know you can watch human dissections online.  Just type in a body part and the word “dissection,” and you will be amazed at what you can watch and learn.  Yea, I am an anatomy geek.
  • Study with amazing yogis.  I am already signed up for two intensives – I can’t wait till next weekend when I will be studying the anatomy of the neck and shoulders and learning some more thereapeutic yoga approaches for healing common injuries to this region.  Can anyone say rotator cuff?
  • Try out new local activities: We have so much to do here in the Seattle Area, there is no reason I can’t try at least one new adventure per month (hiking, kayaking, canoeing, climbing, museums, wakeboarding, etc).  Really I should make it 2 new activities a month, but if every one is as satisfying as this week’s adventure, I know I will be repeating them.  Friday I went to the Seattle Bouldering Project and did some rockclimbing.  What a blast, and a tremendous work out.
  • Visit a National Park:  Last year I went to Yellowstone, where shall I go this year?
  • Nag Less, Enjoy More:  It is too easy to see what bugs us first, and then try to find that which deserves celebration.  My goal for this year is to spend more time celebrating and enjoying life; my kids, my husband, my friends and my community and less time focusing on the negative.
  • Try not to procrastinate too much…..and then don’t kick myself too hard for being a procrastinator.

Happy New Year,

Shalom & Namaste,

Diana Bonyhadi

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Inspiration in the Holiday Season

Saturday Morning Ramblings:

The sunrise was amazing – I no longer sleep in like a teenager, instead I get up, meditate and watch the sunrise.  Pinks and purples on snow-capped mountains.  I know I should have taken a picture to share with you, but I was too caught up in the moment.

Speaking of being caught in the moment, here is a video that should blow your mind.  Balance, Strength Endurance – is this yoga, ballet, dance, or meditation?  Whatever, you want to call it, it took my breath away.  I love Cirque du Soleil.

It has been a busy week for this blogger.  I have found blogging to be like yoga and meditation and practicing piano.  I have to set aside time to do it every day.  Otherwise, I won’t get to it.  It is not that I don’t like doing any of these things, I love doing them all, but they each take careful attention, quiet space, effort and energy.  And I am a perfectionist, so sometimes it is easier to put something off, than take the chance of just not getting it right. Oh there is a whole blog in that last statement. I won’t go into it now, but I’ll give you a hint – how do I let go of that inner judge and just flow in the present moment?  How can I do this in all aspects of my life and not just on the mat?

My son turned 18 this week.  Hard to believe that he can be that old.  And here is something I especially appreciate about him.  He loves being a child.  Not in a childish, whiny, self-indulgent, needy 2-year-old way, but in the love of the moment way.  He likes to play, read, and hang out with us.  He really enjoys each moment, and is not afraid to be silly or sad, quiet or loud, intellectual or goofy.  He is not afraid to be himself.  I wish I was that clear when I was his age.

Gyrokenesis: Here is something new to try.  Developed by a former ballet dancer, gyrokinesis, is a gentle flowing of the body, and lubricating of the spine and joints. After the hour-long session I felt warm, energized, and calm.   “Gyrotonic incorporates three-dimensional circular motion to promote coordinated and efficient movement throughout the body while simultaneously strengthening the muscular attachments and ligamentous tissue.”
The Gryotonic Movement Center in Wallingford is a good place to go check it out – from a yoga perspective, it felt very much like getting in touch with the Kundalini, and if you haven’t done that yet, you should.

Holiday Cheer:  I do love this season.  Well, actually, I don’t like being cold, but I do love the lights, the spirit, the parties and the food.  Speaking of food, you must check out this website.  I plan on making everything in their most recent post.  Another thing I love about this season is the Nutcracker.  Probably because I have two children who are ballet dancers, but also because I really like the music.  Try plugging this in while you do your holiday baking and see if it doesn’t put a bounce in your step.

Holiday Giving:  Another thing I like about this season is the giving of gifts.  There really is something special about finding just the right gift for your brother/sister/husband/wife/best friend, etc.  But sometimes it can be a challenge to find just the right thing.  In this time of extreme abundance and poverty, we don’t want to be cluttering our friends and families’ home with just more stuff.  So, I share with you my go-to, living-in-balance and doing-a-mitzvah gift of the season: Nothing But Nets.  These guys have figured out a way to save lives, fight malaria, and work together with local NGOs and communities in the Horn of Africa to stop the spread of malaria.  A $10.00 donation could save five young lives and that is a big deal.

Okay, I am off to go gather cedar boughs for the home, string up some twinkling lights and watch my children create magic on stage in the Nutcracker.

Have a great week.  Shalom & Namaste

Diana Bonyhadi

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Miracle of Life

Just in case you didn’t get a chance to go outside today and see the beauty of the snow-capped mountains, and the glow of the last remaining leaves, I offer you this short film from TED Talks.  There is inspiration all around us.  And sometimes it takes the mathematicians to show us the way.

 

Also, a poem by Omar Khayyam (11th century sufi mystic) for your enjoyment:

For in and out, above, about, below,
‘Tis nothing but a Magic Shadow-show,
          Play’d in a Box whose Candle is the Sun,
Round which we Phantom Figures come and go.

Enjoy & Namaste

Diana Bonyhadi

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Living Sutra I:33 – Life with Joy and Balance

May I be happy. 


May I be peaceful. 


May I be safe from harm. 


May I enjoy happiness and the root of happiness. 


May I experience ease and well-being in body, mind, and spirit.

Today has been perfect, and I am only half way through.  I attribute it to my morning meditation on Pantajali’s Yoga Sutra 1.33.

maitri karuna muditopeksanam sukha duhkha punyapunya visayanam bhavanatas citta prasadanam
Tranquility of thought comes through the cultivation of friendship, compassion, joy, and impartiality in spheres of pleasure or pain, virtue or vice.

There are 4 words that stand out for me in this sutra, and they are:  Metta or maitri (lovingkindness); Karuna (compassion); Mudita (joy); and Upeksha (equanimity).  Patanjali places these words in balance with their opposition.  Yes, in difficult situations and with difficult people it is especially important to cultivate joy, compassion and equanimity.  But what really resonated for me today, was the importance of living fully in the moment, aware of the need to bring joy, compassion, kindness and balance into all aspects of my life.

 
Thus, I started today’s class with the prayer/chant above.  We then moved into a practice that allowed everyone to deepen and yes, sweat.  We did vinyasas, we did the sagital series, we did arm balances, head stands and more, but the best came at the end.

Because our focus was on staying happy, and peaceful, and practicing compassion, everyone slipped gracefully into Svasana.  I could feel the room melt.  The pranayama practice and the meditation happened effortlessly.  We were all breathing together.  Breathing in to a place of peace and joy.  There a a tangible sense of letting go and letting in.  It was truly a moment of blessing.

And then after class, I got to totally yoga-geek-out with my good friend Pat.  We played with hand-stands and arm-balances and jump-throughs.  I still have yet to master lifting up into a handstand with legs together but we got awfully close.  And again, I think it all worked so well, because I came to it from a place of Mudita/joy, and Upeksha/equanimity.  I left the need to “conquer/master” and just went to have fun with some cool and challenging asanas.  And it worked.

 
Later in the afternoon, I got to romp in the woods with my dog.  The air smelled so good, and the leaves were just changing colors.  because I didn’t stress out about my to-do list, I was able to get that one more thing in.

So, I just wanted to let you know that, yes, today it worked.  Starting off with a meditation on balance and joy and compassion, can and does make a difference.

Now it is off to feed kids, make dinner, run errands, drive kids and teach again.

Have a great day

Shalom & Namaste,
Diana Bonyhadi

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Changing Your Lifestyle and Yoga Practice to Match the Season

Balancing the Energies of Autumn

Changing your life style and yoga practice to match the season – does it make sense? Yes it does, and adding a few simple changes to your routine can make a world of difference in how you feel.

So, if you are currently feeling any of the following, here is some good news.

Sluggish?
Joints Creaky?
Skin dry and cracked?
Having trouble sleeping?
Harder to get up this morning?

What is going on?

Don”t worry you are not crazy.  Your body is adjusting to the change in seasons.  Ayurvedically speaking we are moving into the Vata season, known in the western world as Fall.  This is one of those times when you are reminded that, not only are we finely tuned instruments, but also that we are all interconnected beings.  Interconnected with each other, and the planet.

As we move from Summer to Fall, as the weather shifts from hot to cool, and as the air becomes wet and blustery, our bodies begin to adjust as well.  We slow down, and begin to let go of the collected heat of the summer.    And depending on our constitutions (doschas) and the balance of stress in our lives, the transitional period may go very smoothly or it may need a bit of fine tuning.

Here are a couple of things you can do to ease the transition from Summer to Fall.

  • Check-in and listen:  If you are tired get more sleep.  Go t bed earlier and maybe even take a short nap during the day. If  you are thirsty, drink more fluids.  I don’t mean to sound trite, but often the first thing we do is turn off the volume and ignore the signals being sent to us by our bodies.
  • Move the system along:  help your body adjust to the change in the season.  Add some cleansing and nourishing practices to your daily routine.  Here are a few things to help bring your body back into balance with the season.
  • Drink a glass of lemon juice and water to start your morning.
  • Brew yourself some ginger tea and drink it throughout the day.
  • Put more twists and longer holds in your asana practice.
  • Spend a few moments in meditation.
  • Take a long hot bath with salts in the evening before bed.
  •  Get a massage – go ahead, you deserve it and it will feel so good.
  • Add oils to your body – both internally (fish and vitamin E), and on the skin (Coconut & Sesame).

If you are interested in learning more about Ayurveda, your doscha, and more ways to stay in balance with the season, here are a few good links.  Also, I know there are many of you who read this blog that know way more than I do, so please chime in.

http://www.ayur.com/about.html

http://www.holisticonline.com/ayurveda/ayv-basis-harmony.htm

http://ayurvedaseattle.com/index.php?CID=28

Have a great day,

Shalom & Namaste,

Diana Bonyhadi

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One – The Event

The tenth anniversary of the bombing of the World Trade Center in New York is this weekend.  September 11th changed the course of American history.  This was the first time we felt any physical effects of war upon our own soil.  We were struck by surprise; at the hatred and animosity that engendered the attack, and by our own fear and hatred in response.  Thousands of lives were lost in an instant and many thousands more have been lost over the years as we sought to assuage

our pain through war.

But war is not and never has been the answer.

And I am happy to announce that in Seattle this weekend, there will be an historic event of remembrance for September 11th.

This September 11, Choose Love and Unity.

Tens of thousands of people will be joining musicians, speakers, and celebrities, both live and on the web to intentionally send love, compassion and unity to all of humanity. Come to he Memorial Stadium at 3:46 PM Pacific Time on September 11th, and be a part of this monumental transformational event will be happening in Seattle at exactly 10 years and 10 hours after the 9/11 tragedy.

Click on the link in blue and learn more.

ONE: THE EVENT

WE ARE ONE
ONE with ourselves
ONE with each other
ONE with our planet
MAKE THE SHIFT

This is Karma Yoga, yoga of action.  This is living your yoga.  Make this September 11th truly a day of remembrance – remembering our interconnected with all beings.

Shalom & Namaste,

Diana Bonyhadi

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Surfing the Big Waves

Okay, so this not really a yoga post. It is a post about being present.  It is about letting go and connecting with the sacred space.  It is about tapping into the energy of this glorious planet.  It is about doing what you love in full awareness. It is about fluidity in motion.  It is about strength and flexibility.  It is about connection.

Riding the Wave

This is a link to some of the most amazing surfing I have ever seen.  Talk about being present.  Check out this link, and be prepared to be amazed.  The footage is from the Billabong Pro championships in Tahiti, and clearly these guys are doing what they love and doing it with complete integrity.

Wait I take it back.  This is about yoga.

So, go out and do something you love today.  Embrace it fully and have fun.

Shalom & Namaste,

Diana Bonyhadi

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Sunday Salutations

Thought for the day

“You’ve got to wake up every morning with a smile upon your face, and show the world all the love in your heart…”  Believing in the good is not naive, it is a recipe for wellness and profound change.

Believe in the good.  I know it sounds like all the platitudes of your childhood – but it is true.

When we begin to doubt others and ourselves, we quickly become stuck.  We soon find ourselves unable to move forward in almost any endeavor because we do not, cannot, believe that any good could come out of it.  You can almost hear Eyeore from Winnie the Pooh saying “why bother, nothing good will every happen to me…”

But when you least expect it, your belief in the innate goodness of humankind is restored.  A check for first and last month rent is returned, an event you dreaded turned into an amazing success, a friend calls and reminds you of the strength and determination of the human spirit, someone makes you a delicious dinner.

So, as sit upon your mat today, I encourage you to nourish the light within.  Blow upon that little spark and let it shine forth.  Your spirit is bathed in goodness and innate beauty.  Know this about yourself and others.  And now breath.  Breath into the beauty of your heart, into the beauty of your asana, into the beauty of the world.  Let your practice be a celebration.  Allow it to shimmer and shine and sparkle with all that is good in you.  The rest will follow.

And for a little encouragement dig up that old song by Carole King – Beautiful.

Have a great week.  Enjoy the sunshine.

Shalom & Namaste

Diana Bonyhadi