The Best Plan Is To Not Have A Plan

As I mentioned in recent post, our teacher training graduates had to write essays on some of the yamas and niyamas. These are principles that go along with yoga and provide guidance on being our best selves off the mat. Although these are assignments, I am often touched by the openness and honesty in which these are written. I am regularly reminded of things about myself that give me, ahem, character. So if you believe that everything happens in the way it is supposed to, there is a reason why these essays are effecting me as I post them, and hopefully you will find that they help you with something in your life, in this moment. At a minimum, I think they are a reminder to give ourselves grace, the way we would extend it to the writer of the essay, who is on her own path of self-discovery:

A trapeze artist must let go completely of one bar, 

waiting and trusting, in mid-air for the next.

Can you let go?

It is not necessarily my physical "stuff" that I am clinging to. The idea of "hanging in mid-air" terrifies me. Not in the physical sense, but the thought of letting go of the things I know I need to let go of, and trusting that the next thing will swing towards me, as it is meant to be. My entire life, I have lived with a plan, a to-do list, and controlled each step as much as I possibly could. Filled with a sense of accomplishment, I checked things off my list and moved on to the next item. I have a plan. Correction, I had a plan. 

My plan has slowly crumbled and my next steps have become unclear. If I continue as I always have, my need for control of my life kicks into full gear and I step up to I “make it right”. 

What if, on the other hand, HOPE takes over? What if I let go of the trapeze and rather than focusing on my plan, just enjoy living in the moment? Could I possibly do this? Living in the moment is becoming less and less of a question and more and more of a necessity. What would I continue to miss while looking so far ahead at my goals? My possessiveness of goals and my master plan can easily possess me! I can often find myself looking forward to something, and forget to enjoy simple day-to-day things along the way. It is those things I will someday miss and wonder how they passed so quickly. 

I am under no disillusions that I can chuck my plan overnight. I won't just wake up and start magically living in the moment. I can however, begin to acknowledge my tendency to possess a plan and simply trust -- trust in others, trust in me, and trust indeed that the best plan is to not have a plan. 

The idea of nonattachment does not mean you don't care, it means you can be freed up to be immersed in appreciation in life and one another. I am at a point in my life where I need to make some changes. My new plan is more open-ended than the others. It is to learn to let go of my trapeze and accept the idea of hanging in mid-air to swing towards a future filled with hope and endless possibilities.

Maintain a Consistent Yoga Practice

Naturally, as it gets warm and sunny we want to be outside: summer sports, long weekends away, barbecues or soaking up some sun. It’s good for us physically as well as spiritually to be out in warm weather. It’s also the time when your yoga practice really begins to open up and blossom like the flowers outside!

A good way to keep up with the expansive and physical energy demands of spring and summer is to maintain a consistent yoga practice.

Year round, your yoga practice helps to keep your body supple and fit, your mind relaxed and your spirit energized. Spring and summer are not the time to stop but continue, especially just because it’s warm and the sun is out.

Here’s why!

1. You'll undo so much of the good you have done by having a regular yoga practice. Most likely, you'll notice you're a little stiffer, less energetic, less focused, more stressed . . . the list goes on and on. By the time September rolls around, you'll notice a big difference in how you feel.

2. Your body opens up in warm weather. You’ve been practicing all winter, keeping your body warm, fit and toned when it’s cold outside. With warmer weather outside, your body will naturally expand and open up.

3. Yoga helps you enjoy the spring and summer. Many of us become more physically active during Summer. A steady yoga practice is a great way to avoid injury when it comes to weekend activities like hiking, water skiing, and even simple rowing.

4. Your health could suffer. Yoga boosts your immunity, lowers harmful stress levels, improves circulation and much more.

It is important to recall the rewards of your yoga practice as they provide so much incentive to keep it alive. Not only do you receive mental, emotional and physical health from it, but everybody you come in contact with or even think about benefits from your practice.

Remember that it is much easier to keep a fire going than it is to start a new one. Make every effort to maintain a regular practice.

Looking into a Mirror: Svadhyaya

This year's yoga teacher trainees were asked to write an essay on one of the yamas or niyamas.  Below is an excerpt of one of those essays edited for length. One of our trainees describes her experience with self-inquiry and reflection:

The fourth niyama in yoga is svadhyaya, which means becoming close to oneself through meditation and self-exploration. It refers to intentionally knowing more about oneself. Svadhyaya teaches us to be centered and non-reactive, to burn out the unwanted and self-destructive tendencies, and not to appear self-absorbed or selfish, but to find the depth of human spiritual reality.

Self-inquiry is a beautiful gift of yoga.

Svadhyaya is self-inquiry.  Most people are too busy to even stop long enough to know who they really are. Until this yoga teacher training, I was not aware of me. Yoga was a workout, and one to get through. Now I am not even aware of the clock, or time at all. Being quiet and being with myself helps me turn within my body, observing how it feels and moves. As I am guided through the practice, I see how each new breath brings different emotions to the surface. The breath I take pushes me to go deeper to my edge, my new edge each practice, my different edge each practice. The thoughts that surface in my mind as I dance with my discomfort of each new pose enhances my being. Then I choose or not, at that present time, to dig deeper and explore. Every practice and breath is different. I enjoy the feeling. I enjoy learning more about who I am, my body and the relationship I have with myself and others.

I am excited about my life right now.

This inquiry is a life long process of understanding myself at the present moment and still questioning if is this is the authentic me. It is like looking into a mirror and seeing me as I am. And I am an awesome mother, wife, Christian and yogi. This self-study has lead me to the realization of my spirit and the fullness of my life. My life is very full, but there is still room for coaching, feedback and improvement. I have God and He is along with me on this journey, too. Through the prayers and His guidance, I have been able to find me. This inquiry has not been entirely through meditation, it has been through actually doing the practice. My meditations help me to stop and breathe. I am working on myself and hope that my daughter learns this lesson from me. I have found I love who I am, who I have become and I am excited about my life right now.

Overall, svdahyaya is about making time to know myself better. The more I know myself, the more I will be able to be in control of my mood and emotions. I am quickly becoming aware of my reactions to situations that sit well with my heart, and those that do not. I am learning to cherish my time on the mat, as well as making time to be on the mat. I am seeking to create these qualities in the rest of my life.

Remember to Breathe

“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as if everything is.” –  Albert Einstein


Life can  sneak up from behind us and  often teach us that things can change in a blink of an eye. One of the many great things about yoga is that it can be with us all the time - it is not limited to a yoga mat. By learning how to cope with difficult poses on the yoga mat, we have the opportunity to carry that same knowledge off the mat.

Photo courtesy of Donamari D'Andrea
of Capture Fotography

When something is difficult or we have a few curve balls thrown at us, when we are being pushed to our limits, we tend to hold a breath or two.  In a yoga class, we are always reminded to breathe. When there is tension, breathe...try easy instead of try hard. There is no point in pushing harder. The magic happens when we understand this on our yoga mats and apply this  in our daily lives, when to stop breathing  and when to keep going.


Did you know that yoga affects the mind and body far beyond the obvious physical benefits? Yoga reduces anxiety, prevents and decreases depression, benefits the nervous system, and affects mental alertness, as well as how you think, feel, and carry yourself.  Did you know the psychological benefits of yoga increases the lymphatic flow which supports a healthy immune system?  Yoga is more than just a physical practice, it is a way of life. Practicing yoga provides the benefits  of happiness, health, focus, energy, and helps you to be the best you every day on and off the mat.

Shake Your Asana Playlist

Chante's Mix

	Feel So Free - Ivy
	#thatPOWER - will.i.am. featuring Justin Bieber
	Days Go By - The Offspring
	Brave - Sara Bareilles
	Set Fire To The Rain - Adele
	Crazy in Love - Beyonce
	Sweet Nothing - Calvin Harris featuring Florence Welch)
	Paradise - Coldplay
	Anything Can Happy - Ellie Goulding
	Tiny Dancer - Elton John

Maebeth's Mix

	Just Breathe - Pearl Jam
	Here Comes the Sun - Richie Havens
	Home - Phillip Phillips
	Rolling in the Deep - Adele
	Ladies Night - Kool & the Gang
	Crazy - Gnarls Barkley
	You Make My Dreams - Hall & Oates
	Beggin - Madcon
	Let's Get It Started - Black Eyed Peas
	Just Dance - Lady Gaga
	Crazy - Seal
	Don't Worry, Be Happy - Bobby McFerrin
	Finally Moving - Pretty Lights
	No Freedom - Dido
	Forever Young - Bob Dylan
	Feelin' Alright - Joe Cocker
	BLAST FROM THE PAST - Diane's Playlist Jessie's Girl - Rick Springfield
	Cruel Summer - Bananarama
	Footloose - Kenny Loggins
	Sweet Home Alabama - Lynryrd Skynyrd
	Don't You (Forget About Me) - Simple Minds
	Freedom - George Michael
	Return To Innocence - Enigma
	Every Breath You Take - UB40
	If You Leave - Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
	Red, Red Wine - UB40
	Hold Me Now - Wayne Wonder
	Don't Worry, Be Happy - Bobby McFerrin

Practice, Practice, Practice

“You’re not going to get it right the first time, that’s why you have to practice.” The first time I heard my dad say that, I was a little girl trying to play the piano. I enjoyed it very much when the song became recognizable.  But when my fingers didn’t know where to go and the melody was unclear, I got frustrated -- especially when my friends were outside playing, or my favorite show was on TV. I’ve been hearing my dad's voice again as we finish up the 40 Days of Yoga.

Our bodies have a memory. Just like my fingers know where to go even now when I sit down to play a song I haven’t played in 10 years, my body begins to memorize those yoga poses so I don’t have to think about them anymore.  I think that is what our teachers mean when they say, “Don’t think about it, just go.”
Once I began to clear out those cobwebs, I could focus on new challenges, like finding my edge and approaching poses that scared me before. As I got more comfortable in warrior and side angle, I would consider headstand and bird of paradise. And now that I understand {again} the purpose of practice, it is OK if I don’t get these new poses on the first try (or two, or three), because I know that with enough practice, I’ll get it.

Spiritual Practice

In addition to practicing yoga 6 days a week, we also had to meditate twice daily. Although I am sure that I am a better person when I meditate, I don’t always get it done. Which is a reminder to me that just like my yoga practice, my spiritual practice requires, well, practice. If I happen to wake up one morning feeling extra zen, that doesn’t mean that I’m going to stay that way, just like I can hang out in tree on one day, and the next day fall out of the same pose.  In order to stay balanced, I need to practice at my spirituality as well. Meditation may mean prayer, or it may mean studying a spiritual text, or it may mean sitting in a quiet room calming my thoughts.  But it has to be done regularly for it to work.

Practice, practice, practice.

Fruit Fast Survival Kit

There’s been a lot of buzz around the studio about the 40 Days. You might have heard something about the fruit fast we took part in last week.

What is it?

At the beginning of the 4th week of the 40 Days program, we go on a fruit fast. There is a lot of trepidation about the whole thing as we wonder ask ourselves what we can eat and if we can do it.

Yes, you can!

We all have different bodies, and the purpose of the whole thing is to pay attention to your body. If you have any sort of medical condition at all, you should have reservations and consult your doctor.  Then there are the rest of us, the ones that fall into the how-can-i-live-without-meat/alcohol/coffee category.  In a recent post, I went on and on about chocolate cake, so you can guess I was in the second variety. But most all of us who participated in the fruit fast were surprised that we survived.

How Will I Survive?

So exactly how will you get by eating just fruit? The first thing we should do is establish the definition of fruit. There are a few things on the list that may surprise you, including avocado, cucumbers, eggplant, zucchini, tomatoes and peppers.  Furthermore, if you find your body asking for protein, you may want to keep in mind that nuts and beans are also considered to be fruit. Fruit juices count too! Or you can go for a tomato or butternut squash soup. So adding a little variety will keep you from feeling deprived.

If you are like me, food is a production. It is an opportunity to relax or to bond with others. That’s okay! The fruit fast doesn’t mean that peeling a banana and calling it a day. With a little creativity, you can make a fruit salad. Mixing avocado with a little tomato and lime juice creates a guacamole.  Dip peppers or cucumbers into the guacamole and it feels like a party. Since olives are fruit, olive can serve as fruit juice, giving you an chance to sauté your peppers, eggplant and zucchini. Or maybe throw some fresh pineapple on the grill.

Is it hard?

We all have different levels of challenges with the fruit fast. Physical responses included headaches, lethargy and a bathroom camp. For others, myself included the fruit fast caused a major attitude shift – and not for the better. I was consumed with the idea of what I couldn’t have. For others, hunger-induced crankiness came on. We all acknowledged that these responses were, at worst, uncomfortable.  In fact, that is the best way to describe it, uncomfortable.  It is in this discomfort that we learn about ourselves.

Tips for managing the fruit fast

• Be prepared. The occasional apple or banana won’t keep you satisfied. 40-Dayer Robin made sure she had enough fruit to keep her from getting hungry at work.  If you are watching your budget, canned and frozen fruit, 100% juices and all natural soups provide an alternative to fresh produce.
• Be creative. You may be one of those people who eats to live and doesn’t attach emotions to food. For the rest of us, this is an opportunity to get creative in the kitchen with the way you plate and present your food. Grape juice in a wine glass may make you feel like you’re getting what you need.
• Listen to your body. If your body indicates that it needs protein, don’t beat yourself up for straying from the plan.  Conversely, you may find that your body responds well to less caffeine, alcohol and saturate fats.