yoga

The Moderate Meditator

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#545healthiestme

Meditation makes me impermeable and open.

Meditation makes me observant.

Meditation makes me nicer, more pleasant, more patient.

Meditation makes my mind and my heart strong, open, & resilient.

Meditation reminds me of my truths.

Meditation settles the dust like a light, warm, welcome rain.

This week I am strengthening my (currently very weak) relationship to meditation through daily 5 minute sits everyday for 5 days.

If you have a long and strong meditation practice, 5 minutes may sound insignificant, for me it’s a very digestible amount that does have an impact.

I am setting myself up for success of happily completing my goal rather then reluctantly carving out time for it.

If you have an already strong meditation practice, I’d love to hear about it; do you use a timer? Do always sit at the same time of day? Do you use certain breathing techniques?

If you do not have a strong practice, or one at all, here’s how to join me in this #545healthiestme “game”

  1. find a quiet spot to sit comfortably enough that you can stay in one position for a bit.
  2. set a timer for 5 minutes with something nice at the end, like chimes, nothing to rowdy or “alarming”.
  3. close your eyes, observe your breath, allow thoughts to pass through, attempting to clear them as often as necessary.

Seriously, that’s it.

There are a million different techniques and methods but it boils down to that; observe your internal self with as little control, judgement, analyzing, scrutinizing, hypothesizing, planning, scheming, and thinking as humanly possible in that moment. And that moment. And that moment…

And because community is a sweet & support & encouraging thing, let me know, here or instagram #545healthiestme, how it’s going for you.

Why Handstand?

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Why do I handstand?

 

Handstands are a perfect mix of empowering and humbling.

 

Handstands are a great benchmark of where I am at in my physicality.

 

 

I spent a most of my teens and early twenties with wrists so weak and tender that sometimes I couldn’t even hold a heavy skillet without pain, not a helpful or fun thing for a professional modern dancer, fitness professional, yogi (and this was in the time of all chataranga, all the time), and overall athletic person.

 

Thanks primarily to chiropractic wrist adjustments, I have been mostly pain-free and strong in that area for over a decade. 

 

An 18 year old hamstring injury sometimes prevents me from having the mobility to kick up into an handstand. When I can practice kicking up on each side I know that my hip and hamstring are in a happy, healthy place. 

 

 

 

Handstands are the burpee equivalent for dancers/yogis; they require full body strength and coordination, they are hard, they challenge your endurance.

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Unlike burpees, which I also love, handstands are playful!  The only other activity that brings me the joy of equally feeling kid-like and playful and being very empowered in my own body is mountain biking. 

 

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have always been in awe of gymnasts; to me, that type of athleticism is the ultimate in self-assured, confident, mobile (albeit often way imbalanced, extreme mobility), strong, and graceful embodying. It’s always felt ‘otherly’ to me; unattainable and superhuman. 

Back flips are not in the cards for me but I can taste a little of the magic by playfully challenging myself in handstands. 

 

This is why I always taught handstands when I was on dance faculty at Piedmont; it is empowering to turn your world upside down and learn how to land on your own two feet. 

I would see students go from; “I can’t” “I’m scared” to “wow, that’s fun! I’ve never imaged I would be able to do that”, a little bit of their inner superhuman emerging before my eyes. 

I photograph myself in handstands for the same reason; I still surprise myself that I am capable of this feat. Pictures help me see progress in my strength and form while simultaneously bringing me a sense of my own super-humanness; “wow, that’s fun! I never imagined I would be able to do that!”

Do you handstand?