We learn something everyday. At least, that's what we are supposed to achieve, "learn something everyday". One day you learn to trust your instinct. One day you learn to treat yourself nicely. One day, you learn to treat other nicely. One day you learn to be truthful to yourself. One day you learn a new approach to an asana. Another you learn the meaning of the posture.

Yoga is more than just a physical practice. It's a choice of lifestyle, a belief, a habit, a way of seeing, a way of thinking and so on. I believe that it'd be ideal if everyone integrates a bit of yoga in their lives. I believe yoga cultivates good thoughts and good intentions. It brings out the best in a person and hopefully you would get treated the same way in return. But not necessarily always the case. It's about unconditionally giving and not expecting rewards. It's a practice of karma.

Yoga is an endless learning process. There is no final exam, but there are always tests in life when you need to apply what you have learned in yoga.
Things that we learn from yoga are limitless and boundary-less. Every time when you practice (physical or non-physical yoga) you learn something new. Even when you are practicing the same thing, you learn different new things every time too. It's a new experience every time you walk into the studio. That's why yoga is so amazing, fun and powerful. So, what did you learn today?

Do you ever?
Do you still go to your practice when you are feeling sick because you think you have to practice that day?
Do you still go to your practice when you have just finished an overnight project and haven't slept but you feel guilty not practicing?
Do you still go to your practice when you have been working like crazy and not being able to eat a proper meal during the day?

When is the last time you listen to your body and let your body guide you what to do? Maybe your body needs the rest than practice. Maybe your body needs to consume more energy before it can spend more.

When you are in your practice, do you let your body guide you and let it take you to wherever destination at that particular moment? There are times in your practice when you don't need to think about your postural performance and just be there and enjoy your breathing and movement.

Try it! Next time you practice, try listening to your body and see where it takes you. You may surprise yourself by going further in your practice mentally and physically without making much effort of hardwork. (Been there :))

Namaste

According to Don Miguel Ruiz's "The Four Agreements", your best differs from time to time.

http://www.miguelruiz.com/fouragreements.html

Your best at the age of ten, would be different from your best at age 20. Your best this morning is different from your best this evening. Your best alters depending on your conditions at that moment. The attitude would be to do the best you can at that moment.
If you think you have done your best in one particular class you did, accept it; acknowledge it; and move on. Avoid comparing that particular class to other classes you did or even the future ones you are going to do.

Simply do the best you can every time you walk into the yoga room. Carry no anticipation; no expectation; no comparison; no judgement; no regrets.

Do the best you can!

We heard about the term "awareness" in every aspect of life.  Do we actually practice "being aware"?

Be aware of your mind. Be aware of your body.  Be also aware of your spiritual state.

What is your mind telling you at this moment? Do you always refer back to your thoughts? Where are these thoughts coming from? Are they from your past experiences or are these thoughts your fear of the future? Be aware of the roots of the thought.

When practicing yoga, listen to your body.  It's your body, your practice.  Only you would know what your body is telling you (except maybe some people who have some psychic spiritual power, and scarily enough, they could tell you what and how you should be feeling sometimes, IF you believe in that area :)). 

Perhaps, on one long tiring work day, you feel absolutely exhausted; then listen to your body and maybe skip a day of practice.  It's okay to skip, as long as you allow yourself to BE HUMAN and listen to your body.  You might be afraid that you might not have the discipline to practice randomly as opposed to scheduling yourself to practice.  However, I can assure you, if the issue of disciplining yourself has crossed your mind, you definitely have the power to do it.  However, if you skip too many times already, then it's another issue.  You have resistance.  And we can talk about it..:)

About being aware of your spiritual state...I believe there is a higher state of consciousness which many of us would not understand nor experience.  It comes into our lives when we are not aware.  Those are the times when we do not understand why we do certain things but just have the feeling that we should or should not do certain things.  For example, taking a different route to work.  Some day, you just feel like you want to walk west instead of east when you leave your door and go to work to break out of the pattern.  And then you discover something new on the way. It brightens your day! Great! If not, you have encountered a new experience anyway.  No loss as well!! :)

Awareness lies in from within ourselves to beyond our surroundings. I believe if everyone does his/her own part and BE AWARE of one's action, emotion, passion, power of connection, etc., we could create an evolution.

Namaste

We all breathe to live.  It is a natural habit for all living things.  However, there are times when we hold our breaths and forget to breathe.

Breathing can ease a stressed out moment.  Breathing can soothe a painful experience.  Breathing brings in oxygen which our bodies need to function in daily life.  Breathing is definitely an essential ingredient in exercising.

People tend to take breathing for granted because breathing is involuntary.  However, we can purposely acquire breathing techniques in certain situations and it would help you pass through the process easily and comfortably.

In weight-training, we all know that you breathe out on exertion to help transfer oxygen into desired working muscle group and to help expand the muscle tissues.  In response, the expanded muscle tissue allows blood (the nutrient carrier) to pass through and blood will deliver nutrients such as oxygen to help replenish the consumed energy due to exercising.

In stretching, breathing in to the muscles that you are stretching out would help lengthen the muscle tissues.  Hence, it releases the tension that has been accumulated in that particular muscle group when working out and when that group of muscles is being contracted.

In yoga, different types of pranayama (yoga breathing) are practiced to create inner-calm within our body and soul.  For example, Ujjayi breathing in Vinayasa brings peacefulness within ourselves.  It is just like when we close our eyes and listen to waves coming to shore. In Ujjayi breathing, the length of inhalation and exhalation should be steady and even.

"When the Breath wanders, the mind is unsteady, but when the Breath is still, so is the mind still." Hatha Yoga Pradipika

In pilates, breathing are used to accommodate different types of movements.  For example, when you lie on the floor and practice abdominal breathing, you breathe in and expand your abdominals, feel your rib cage moving upward towards your head and your hip bone pulling downward towards your feet.  And when you breathe out, the rib cage and hip bone are pulling closer. 

Most importantly, is to BREATHE whenever.  Wherever you are going, whatever you are doing and however you do it. 

Relax and take a deep breath NOW.  Do you feel better already?

So what the heck is Mind-Body focus???

If you are a yogi, you may be consciously or subconsciously practicing this kind of technique when you are in your yoga class.  Or maybe not…

However, for those who have not done any yoga class in their lives, this may be something interesting to look into next time when you hit the gym.

Our brain works in a very funny way that we think, no matter we want to or not.  We are actually thinking a lot when we are working out.  Are you aware???

The first step in approaching this mind-body connection is to be aware of what you are doing.  When you are on the treadmill, do you just push the button and start running?  Or would you take a moment and think how intense you are going to do your running this time?  When you are mentally aware of how difficult your training would be, your brain would be sending neurological signals to your body and prepare for the intensity. 

So take a minute to think before you begin and you are stepping into the realm of mind-body focus training.

Furthermore, be aware and focus on what you are doing when training, you are absolutely on the right track to achieve mind-body connection.  For example, you are doing a chest press on a chest machine.  You have adjusted the seat level and the intensity level and everything is ready to go.  You sit down and set your scapulars in their proper postural alignment.  You take an inhale and push out to contract your pectoral muscles.  If you are aware of what you are doing in the preparation mentioned above, you are fine.  If you are even aware of the breathing pattern, exhaling on exertion, you are one step further.  If you are aware that you are engaging and activating the desired muscle group to do the work, you should be so proud of yourself.  Be mindful with a complete range of motion of exercises with good form is what you want to achieve when training. 

Some people go to the gym religiously, but you only do it because they are told to do so.   They know it’s good for them, but they have not a clue what they are doing to their bodies.  Skip a day or two; you go to the gym only because you want to get the exercise out of the way so you can get on with the rest of your days.  Skip a day or two; if you do not have the energy or not even feeling like dealing with weights.  Skip a day or two, if you just simply feel tired and overworked your body.  Resting is good.  Go back and hit the gym, when your bodies are ready; and when you enjoy working out and would put your mind in tune with your body to make your workout worthwhile.