Wow! I've been having an awesome time again! I just shared some things I've been learning over at the thread, "2012 and the Mayan calendar," so I've put a link to it here in case anyone wants to read my very last post dated today -- January 1, 2013.
http://www.mothering.com/community/t/1340755/2012-and-the-mayan-calendar/20
"I've recently gotten back into my yoga and regular meditation, after pretty much dropping everything when things got really hot last summer and I got really tired, dealing with no AC and all. When I got the inspiration to get back into it again, I was scared that I'd end up dropping the ball and quitting. But Spirit assured me that if I'm meant to do Yoga, I'll do Yoga. Whatever I'm meant to do I will do"
Susan, I love your last sentence. It seems my faith in the divine plan is being tested every day. I read your post (by the way I am T~V. Facebook often takes over/dominates my mothering sign on, it''s so annoying) I am going to take some heat for mentioning this but I think that it was a mistake to assume that the shift would be recognized by all of humanity. I think that a lot of the spiritual people of all faiths have long since tuned our body energy to the new vibration. People in my life that are committed to the old vibration, and resonating to their belief in their past selves seem to be falling apart. Close loved ones, it's pretty difficult to watch. I pray often that I can just hold on to the thread, and dance with the divine will. Somehow I will be a peace, anyway. I am hooping more than practicing yoga as of late. Yoga is important enough to make time for. I'm still trying.
T--V, I'm so happy to see your response! For some reason, I didn't get notified of your post, and just noticed it now when I came back over to post again. It's so good to know that someone else is still believing in the new vibration.
I am feeling so much better now that I'm back into regular practice. One thing that's helping is that I'm no longer pressuring myself to do other exercise in addition to my yoga. Previously, I'd felt that I needed to briskly walk or march for at least 30 minutes, at least three times a week. Now I've got nothing against getting out there and walking in the fresh air, I do enjoy it when I get the chance, but being so regimented and feeling like I needed it for the 30 minutes of aerobic exercise...well, it's just too time consuming at this point of my life.
My 12yo, who was walking and doing yoga (she would insist on doing it even though she didn't like it) with me before I kind of dropped all exercise last summer, has worked into her own routine of taking a three mile walk nearly every day with the dog, with her headphones on and her music blaring. She is so fast that I couldn't keep up with her at all when I tried to accompany her a while back (when I'd first started getting more active again), plus she seems to really cherish this as something she does on her own. At this time, she's not at all interested in doing yoga anymore so now she has her thing and I have mine.
I feel my Kundalini yoga is my main yoga, and I actually do work up quite a sweat at it and I know my heart is beating really rapidly at times, though I don't know if stays speeded up for the full 20 minutes required for it to be called a cardio workout. But it's helping me to keep moving into a more intense integration between body, mind, and spirit. I do still try to do the Hatha easy floor workout at least two or more times a week, which makes me feel so stretched out and relaxed. When I do my Kundalini, I actually follow it, most of the time, by going to the end of my Hatha video so I can do the corpse pose without actually having to watch the time myself, and then join the Hatha lady, Diane for the little stretches like two-knees twist that she does coming out of that pose. I'm not even trying to do the 5 Tibetan Rites anymore, as they're supposed to be a daily practice, and I've just given up on trying to get up an hour earlier each morning. I usually do my yoga in the afternoons after finishing lessons, or earlier in the day if I have a long break.
A lot of my meditation now takes place in the big closet where we are growing tomato plants that dh started from seed, and basil plants. I feel a real spirit of thankfulness to them for being a part of us and for allowing us to be part of them, too.
I'm preparing mentally for another hot summer, because it looks like we'll be without ac again this time, and I keep reminding myself that yoga originated in India, one of the hottest parts of the world. I'm actually believing that this may be the time when a lot of my excess weight drops off. I just really want to push through and never go so many months without practicing again. Now, I don't want to be regimented about it either, but I just realize that, for me, a big part of my spiritual growth is coming about through learning to more deeply experience the unity between the spiritual and material world. I keep thinking of the phrase "getting out of my head and into my body" -- but that's not exactly what I mean. I want to be in both places at once, and experience that current of energy flowing back and forth and helping me move into what they call "a higher vibration."
I'm also preparing myself for the time when we start fluctuating back and forth between warmer weather and cooler weather, because I did so great all last winter, and then when we had a bit of a heat wave last February, I got really sick, and drained, from some sort of a respiratory illness. I don't want to assume it will happen again, but if it does, I want to push through and keep up my practice, even if it's only for a few minutes at a time.
I pray often that I can just hold on to the thread, and dance with the divine will. Somehow I will be a peace, anyway. I am hooping more than practicing yoga as of late. Yoga is important enough to make time for. I'm still trying.
I love what you say here about "(holding) on to the thread, and (dancing) with the divine will." Just remember that the divine will, and the divine thread, won't let go of you!
By hooping do you mean with a hula hoop? I think I'll go look it up.
Wow! Just wow...I need to get some hoops for my girls and me.
While meditating a little this morning, it occurred to me that hooping actually seems very "Kundalini," in that it involves a lot of spinal flex. So I googled "hooping and kundalini yoga" and found, along with other things, a post about a class that combines hooping and Kundalini yoga.
http://www.yogistrong.com/hoopdalini-yoga/
I hope to start hooping soon, although I must confess that I was never able to keep a hoop going as a child. It would be so cool it this turned out to be somethng my daughters (or at least one of my daughters) and I could enjoy together!
Does it make a difference what kind of hoops we buy?
Sorry Susan. I made a few hoops last summer. My daughter bought me one for christmas, the bought one is prettier than the homemade but otherwise they are very similar. It's plumping pvc I think I have used 3/4 http://www.psihoops.com/DIY.htm
To be honest, though, the pretty factor is really contributed to my dancing, I love my new hoop:)
By the way Susan, I don't know if you do facebook I just joined a newly formed hooping group. I found them through kindovermatter she just started a page called hooptacular. Namaste
I don't have much time for Facebook, but I did want to tell you that, even though I don't have a hoop yet, I've been practicing some of the basic moves from over at the Kind Over Matter site, and after just a few minutes of that even without a hoop, I feel like I'm really tightening up and getting healthier and slimmer in my core. It's awesome!
I've been using the spinal flex Kriya of Kundalini as a sort of "firemaking" kriya, in that it increases the communication between my fire center and my heart, or love, center. I've been using it to burn out the impurities and make room for new growth...and now I sometimes visualize myself keeping a hoop going with my spinal flex, flexing forward as the imaginary hoop hits my belly, and flexing backward as it hits my back, and I'm remembering that in addition to burning out impurities, fire also brings people together and provides comfort and sustains people during the hard, cold times.
So we "hoopers" are joining in the basic fire dance that keeps our world revolving in the circle of life. What can be more yoga than that?
I don't have much time for Facebook, but I did want to tell you that, even though I don't have a hoop yet, I've been practicing some of the basic moves from over at the Kind Over Matter site, and after just a few minutes of that even without a hoop, I feel like I'm really tightening up and getting healthier and slimmer in my core. It's awesome!
I've been using the spinal flex Kriya of Kundalini as a sort of "firemaking" kriya, in that it increases the communication between my fire center and my heart, or love, center. I've been using it to burn out the impurities and make room for new growth...and now I sometimes visualize myself keeping a hoop going with my spinal flex, flexing forward as the imaginary hoop hits my belly, and flexing backward as it hits my back, and I'm remembering that in addition to burning out impurities, fire also brings people together and provides comfort and sustains people during the hard, cold times.
So we "hoopers" are joining in the basic fire dance that keeps our world revolving in the circle of life. What can be more yoga than that?
I love this! 
Hello ladies
Can I join? Im relatively new to yoga I started practising on and off last year mainly doing sun salutations first thing in the morning I thinks its uch a lovely peaceful way to start the day, although I will admit that I once the winter rolled in I havent practised as much but Im looking to start it up again as part of me and my fiances 'health kick' as he calls it. As for meditation Ive done it since I was a child and love the sense of calm I get from it.
I like vinyasa as the constant movement keeps me focused but Im finding it difficult to find any short routines around 20 mins long so if anyone has any links they could suggest that would be great :D
Thanks
Welcome Yammas! I'm so glad you're here. I haven't found any short videos. However, when I just have a short time, or sometimes to lead into my meditations, I like to make up my own little short routine of Kundalini Kriyas. You may want to do this with some of your vinyasa asanas, but here's a link to the Kundalini video I downloaded from YouTube in case you or anyone is interested.
I'm so excited! My hoop is arriving sometime today. Here's a link to an exciting article on hooping and the second chakra:
http://hooping.tribe.net/thread/4119eb89-3237-4fd7-bb2b-d5f97e3a9168
So tri31 -- how soon were you able to keep your hoop up? I know I need to ease into it -- but I was wanting to at least manage to keep it going for a few seconds before stopping for today! I've watched videos, read instructions, and practiced the movements some without a hoop, but now that it's finally here, I'm just not getting the timing right!
Today, I decided to take the advice of the lady over at the "Kind Over Matter" site, and get as close to naked as possible in order to increase friction. And, remembering her reference to her hoop as "her" or "she" (I think), I decided to stop thinking of my own dear hoop as "it" and to give her a name. Ever since someone told me recently about the Italian name "Verdiana" (after the patron saint), that name has just been in my head.
It means green -- which is, of course, the color of life, and seems a very appropriate name for my partner who is helping me join in with the dance of life. Since I also see fire generation as a huge part of this dance, and we all depend on the Sun's fire for our very being, I decided to give her, as a middle name, the Italian word for sunshine, so her full name is Verdiana Luce del Sole, and her nicknames are Sunshine and Green Flame.
I worked up quite a sweat in my few minutes of practice and -- JOY! -- I was actually able to keep her going a few times for just a few seconds. This feels wonderful!
One reason I'm really excited about eventually becoming proficient at this is because my daughters are seeing me struggling so much to get this right now, and I think seeing me eventually really shine in an endeavor that was so hard for me at first will help them have the determination to persevere in their own goals.
By the way tri31, I was wondering which motion works best for you? I've been trying both front to back and side to side, and so far, the only times I've been able to keep her going were when I was moving side to side. It feels easier for me right now to swing my hips from side to side, but it seems like front-to-back may be the more frequently-advised stance. Of course, I want to become proficient at both, but I was wondering which worked best for you in the beginning?
Of course, any other hoopers are very welcome to chime in, too!
I'm so excited! My hoop is arriving sometime today. Here's a link to an exciting article on hooping and the second chakra:
http://hooping.tribe.net/thread/4119eb89-3237-4fd7-bb2b-d5f97e3a9168
This is the coolest link!! <3 <3 <3
Today, I decided to take the advice of the lady over at the "Kind Over Matter" site, and get as close to naked as possible in order to increase friction. And, remembering her reference to her hoop as "her" or "she" (I think), I decided to stop thinking of my own dear hoop as "it" and to give her a name. Ever since someone told me recently about the Italian name "Verdiana" (after the patron saint), that name has just been in my head.
It means green -- which is, of course, the color of life, and seems a very appropriate name for my partner who is helping me join in with the dance of life. Since I also see fire generation as a huge part of this dance, and we all depend on the Sun's fire for our very being, I decided to give her, as a middle name, the Italian word for sunshine, so her full name is Verdiana Luce del Sole, and her nicknames are Sunshine and Green Flame.
I worked up quite a sweat in my few minutes of practice and -- JOY! -- I was actually able to keep her going a few times for just a few seconds. This feels wonderful!
One reason I'm really excited about eventually becoming proficient at this is because my daughters are seeing me struggling so much to get this right now, and I think seeing me eventually really shine in an endeavor that was so hard for me at first will help them have the determination to persevere in their own goals.
By the way tri31, I was wondering which motion works best for you? I've been trying both front to back and side to side, and so far, the only times I've been able to keep her going were when I was moving side to side. It feels easier for me right now to swing my hips from side to side, but it seems like front-to-back may be the more frequently-advised stance. Of course, I want to become proficient at both, but I was wondering which worked best for you in the beginning?
Of course, any other hoopers are very welcome to chime in, too!
Susan~ sounds like you are off to a rocking start! My daughter (19) is watching me learn more and more and she is anxious for spring ( our house is not built for space) as I am. Practice will create body memory and you will develop personal preferences. I dance with the hula hoop for stress release, creativity, exercise. I REALLY meditate very well, within the circle "in orbit". Life will never be the same. I don't get notifications, sorry computer time is taboo, the little ones don't approve. I will have to check back in more often, I am totally digging the vibe here. Namaste.
tri31 -- did you have any problems with knee pain when you were first learning to hoop? I've been practicing for almost 2 weeks now, and it's been exciting when I've been able to occasionally keep it going for a few seconds at a time. I'm also past the point of getting too sweaty or out of breath. I'm still only doing it for a few minutes a day.
But the knee pain just seems to be getting worse and worse. At first I thought it was just an adjustment thing -- but now I'm thinking that I may need to stop until I lose more weight. I've heard that some obese people develop a form of arthritis in their knees that goes away when they lose weight.
I hate to have to stop and wait, but the pain interferes with the rest of my life, so I'm not sure what to do right now.
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