We do a simple but profound exercise in yoga.  We sit with the spine straight, close our eyes, and bring our hands into prayer position with the palms and extended fingers pressed together.  The backs of the thumbs rest at the middle of the chest, which is often called “the heart center.” Sitting quietly, we draw our attention internally to the heart center, and we form an intention:  to open our hearts to receive and give unconditional love and to grow more compassionate towards all of humanity.

You might be surprised how meditating on opening your heart and infusing your life with more love can expand the way you think of love. Love can certainly be a tender, deep feeling shared between two people, but it can also be experienced as the ground of your whole being.  Meditating on love brings forth the insight that you are filled with love, and as you live life aiming to become your highest self, you are becoming love.

According to yogic wisdom, if there are unwanted qualities in your nature such as greed, anger or lack of self-discipline, instead waging war against them, which rarely works in the long run, you can cultivate the opposite attribute. Eventually the opposite quality will replace the unwanted one.  It occurs to me that what is opposite of most undesirable qualities is love.

Can’t you imagine the presence of unconditional love dissipating anger?  Won’t love result in giving and sharing and thus annihilate greed?  And when you unleash unconditional love upon yourself, won’t it begin to dissolve negative attitudes about the self that give rise to destructive habits?

Meditating on love, broadening your concept of it, and cultivating it in your heart, could further you on the journey to becoming your highest self.  And this is a gift far, far more precious than roses, chocolates and a Hallmark card.

Swamini Lalitananda from Bangalore, India, is a lecturer, yoga teacher and scholar in yoga philosophy and Sanskrit.  When she visits Still Lake Yoga, she will lead us in a traditional Yoga Class and in a deep and healing relaxation exercise (Yoga Nidra).
Swamini Lalitananda, who visits the U.S. annually, operates five orphanages in and around Bangalore. All donations taken at this event go directly to support her important work. The need is very great!
SUGGESTED DONATION IS $25 BUT ANY AMOUNT IS WELCOMED!
(Please make checks payable to Still Lake Yoga)
Refreshments will be served.
Plan to attend!

This evening includes many aspects of traditional yoga:  proper exercise, proper relaxation, and Karma Yoga (the yoga of selfless service and giving).
Swami Lalitananda is of the Sivananda Vedanta Order.  The Sivananda lineage of yoga, which teachers at Still Lake Yoga are trained in, stresses a multi-dimensional approach to yoga practice including not only yoga postures and breath-work, but also meditation, proper nutrition, relaxation, and ideals to live by which include loving kindness toward all.
About Yoga Nidra
Yoga Nidra is a guided relaxation exercise. Participants lie on their backs and remain conscious, yet experience total relaxation of the mind and body. Studies have shown that Yoga Nidra can produce restful effects in the brain similar to sleep in a much shorter span of time. You may bring a yoga mat or towel to lie upon.
Donations to Swamini’s Orphanages
If you cannot attend the event, but would like to donate, we will be collecting donations at the studio from now until Swamini’s visit.   Thank you in advance for your generosity.  With your help, needy children can be housed, fed, and schooled.

But forgoing all that, these individuals drove to yoga class to be challenged on all levels of their being.  Frankly, yoga is tough.  No, not because we manage to twist ourselves into pretzel shapes, although at times students do accomplish some rather unusual feats.  If practiced correctly, yoga is tough because it requires self-observation, patience, honesty, and plain, old-fashioned hard work.  Yoga, as I see it, is all about process as opposed to product. And the process is meant to be challenging.

Whether an exercise or posture primary requires stretching, strength, balance or concentration, serious students seek to go as far as they safely can.  Shunning complacency, they work to their “personal edge.”  Do you realize what this means?  On the physical level, it suggests that regardless of your prowess, you always have further to go.  You can open more, or hold longer, or move to variations that deliver a whole new set of challenges.  Furthermore, to work to your edge, you must carefully observe your process.  I can’t remind students often enough, “Don’t worry so much about the outward, physical form.  Pay attention to what’s going on inside.”

Only you can gauge if you are giving a posture your all.  Only you can discover your fear, laziness, egocentricity, competitiveness or other limiting factors. And with self-knowledge, transcendence begins.  Taking yoga to the edge is not easy; nothing that results in personal growth is easy.  Kudos to all yoga students everywhere who return to the mat year after year to meet the challenge.

I’ve brought these muffins to studio events in the past and recently offered some after yoga class.  They are always well received.  I was asked to share the recipe–so here it is.  Enjoy and marvel in the fact that you don’t need to use eggs or dairy to create yummy baked goods.

Psyllium husk powder (Find in health food store) mixed with water*

2 cups sugar

1 can (16 oz) pumpkin

1 ½ cups canola oil

3 cups flour (whole wheat pastry flour, or half whole wheat and half unbleached)

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon ground ginger

¼ teaspoon ground cloves

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups (12 oz) vegan semisweet chocolate chips (I often use Ghirardelli semi-sweet chips)

*Prepare the psyllium and water mixture approximately a minute before combining with other wet ingredients.  If it sits too long it will become too thick.  Use ¾ cup of water combined with psyllium husk powder.  Start by adding just ½ teaspoon of the powder to the water, mix very well and let sit for a minute or so; you want the consistency of egg whites after it thickens.  If too runny add a tiny bit of the powder at a time until you reach the desired consistency.

If using psyllium husk powder for another recipe, 3 Tablespoons of water plus enough powder to thicken equals one egg.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line muffin pans (standard sized) with paper liners.  In a large mixing bowl, beat psyllium mixture, sugar, pumpkin and oil until smooth.  Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and salt: add dry ingredients to wet ones and mix well until all ingredients are moistened.  Fold in chocolate chips.  Fill muffin cups to almost full.  Bake 16-20 minutes or until muffins test done (toothpick inserted in muffin center comes out clean).  Cool in pan at least 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack.  Makes 18-24 standard size muffins.

Why do yoga students exit class with serene faces, looking like they’re walking on air? They’ve given themselves the gift of deep relaxation in the posture called savasana (shah-VAHS-ahna).  Translated from the Sanskrit, savasana is corpse pose.  In savasana, we surrender the body to the earth and experience stillness.   We take the body into the rest and repair mode.

While experiencing deep relaxation at the end of yoga class is especially wonderful, you can also enter this beneficial state at home whenever you have a small amount of time and a quiet space.

Lie down in a comfortable, quiet spot, preferably on the floor.  Use a mat or folded blanket for padding.  Make sure you will not be disturbed for at least fifteen minutes.  Turn off the phone ringer!  Your clothing should be loose and comfortable, and your feet bare.  Dress warmly or have a blanket handy.

Stretch out on your back, separating your feet about two feet apart.  Allow your hands to rest on the floor, palms upward. Align your head with your spine.  The posture is symmetrical.  Remain still with your eyes closed.  Breathe gently and rhythmically through your nose.

Spend the remainder of your time in savasana giving your body commands to relax.  Bring all your awareness to your feet, and say internally, “Feet relax.”  Move systematically and slowly up the body.  Say, “Legs relax, hips relax, lower back relax,” and so on.  Pause after each command to experience your body.

You can be as specific as you like while taking this journey.  You might include the internal organs.  Definitely attend to each part of the face.  Finally, say, “Mind relax.  My mind is relaxed.”

In the relaxed state, follow the ebb and flow of your breath.

There’s nowhere to go.  There’s nothing to do.  Just relax.  You deserve this.

Cost is $40 before September 21st — $45 after September 20th

Kenyon (Ashvini) Gatlin, certified yoga instructor since 2002

My first thought is, “Before you worry about getting rid of accumulated toxins, stop sucking in new ones.”  Daily, we are exposed to so many toxins.  While this is not particularly pleasant to think about, taking a few moments to assess harmful chemicals in your environment may inspire you to take steps to eliminate or reduce them.

Diet is an obvious source of substances that negatively affect your health.  Have you become complacent about your diet, sliding into the habit of making food choices based solely on convenience or taste?  If you are serious about achieving or maintaining excellent health, it’s imperative that you eat real food—not heavily processed, chemically laden pseudo food.

Read package labels.  In general, the shorter the list of ingredients, the better.  For optimum health, purchase fresh, preferably organic, foods which have no ingredient LIST (such as oatmeal, blueberries, spinach, walnuts and black beans).  And think about what you drink.  Sodas, especially those with artificial sweeteners, have no place in the healthy person’s diet. Nor do so called sports or energy drinks.

An often forgotten source of toxins is indoor air.  Whether you are remodeling and filling your home with new paint, carpet, and other off-gassing materials, are cleaning with a plethora of noxious household cleaners or are spritzing pesticides in your space, your indoor environment can be hazardous to your health.

Forget about your old favorite products, and substitute safe ones which are readily available.  Realize that many cleaning tasks can be accomplished with simple and cheap white vinegar or baking soda.

Do you know that most air fresheners, whether sprayed or plugged in, are actually air poisoners?  Ditto for most scented candles. Try forgoing fancy, flowery cover-ups and eliminate the source of odor.  Or use high quality, natural incense, real essential oils, or candles scented with them.  Another alternative:  simmer cinnamon sticks and cloves in water on the stove, and use houseplants as air purifiers.  One of the best things you can do is spend more time outdoors where, in general, air is cleaner.

Lastly, stop and think about the substances you slather on your body. Between waking and walking out the door, many people use body washes, shampoos, deodorants, powders, moisturizers, sunscreens, hair spray, makeup, toothpaste, mouth wash, artificial fragrances and insect repellent, dowsing their permeable skin with over a hundred potentially harmful chemicals.  Much of this is making it into your body!

Read labels and take time to research questionable ingredients.  The internet is a great source for such information.   I love the Environmental Working Group website and specifically their cosmetics database: http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/

The key to  healthy lifestyle changes is mindfulness.  Start examining the products that you and your family come in contact with.  Stop the “toxing” today.

Furthermore, yoga’s underlying philosophy stresses that all people are worthy and wonderful by their very nature.  Everyone is successful at yoga.  When under the auspices of a true yoga teacher, you will discover that every effort in yoga and every achievement, no matter how small, imparts self-esteem, motivation, and the dissolution of feelings of helplessness.

Two types of yoga postures are particularly useful when you are in the throes of depression:  poses that open the front body such as the back-bending “Cobra,” and those that are powerful and challenging such as the “Warrior.”

Try the warrior and notice how you feel afterwards.  To begin, stand with your feet three to four feet apart.  Extend your arms out to the sides at shoulder height and open your chest.  Feel wide and strong.  Next, turn your right heel in and right toes out so your foot points to the right and aligns with your left instep.  Inhale deeply, and as you exhale, bend your right knee and lunge.  Bring your knee directly over your ankle.  Keep your torso vertical as opposed to pushing the head and chest to the right.  Your left leg remains straight.

Now, turn your head and focus on the fingertips of your right hand.  As you maintain a soft but steady gaze, take five long breaths through your nose.  Come out of the lunge and rest your arms.  Repeat the Warrior to the left.  While holding the posture you might internally repeat an affirmation such as, “I’m strong and able to meet all challenges that come my way.”

After completing the warrior, step your feet together, stand tall, and take a moment to notice precisely how you feel.  Now smile—you’ve taken one step toward becoming a stronger, happier you.

Yoga teaches that just as our breath is affected by how we feel, how we feel is affected by our breath.   Hence, special breathing exercises are a large part of yoga practice.  According to yogic wisdom, breathing predominately through the left nostril produces quite different effects than breathing through the right.

Take a moment to assess your breathing.  With closed eyes, breathe naturally through your nose. Can you determine if your breathing is primarily through the right nostril or left?  You might like to check again at different times of the day.

The major traditions (or styles) of yoga include an alternate nostril breathing exercise because this practice brings about a sense of balance or equilibrium.  And in our hectic, overstressed world, who wouldn’t benefit from that?

Let’s go over some basics.  Do not attempt alternate nostril breathing if you are congested. Practice this exercise when you are in a relatively neutral mood.  If you are very excited, angry or upset, simple deep breathing is more appropriate.

In preparation for your breath work, minimize distractions in your environment. Always practice while seated with the spine erect, shoulders back and down, head lifted and face relaxed.  Either sit cross-legged on the floor or sit in a chair with both feet planted on the floor.

Bring your right hand up in front of your face, palm facing in.  You will use the thumb and ring finger of this hand to alternately close the nostrils.  The index and middle fingers can either tuck down into the palm or point upward.  Keep the breathing relaxed and rhythmic.  In this beginner’s variation, the inhalation, retention and exhalation will each be four counts.

Now, close off the right nostril with the thumb and inhale through the left.   Gently close both nostrils (use thumb and ring finger) and retain the breath. Lastly, open the right nostril by lifting the thumb and exhale.  Remember the count is 4/4/4.  Continuing, inhale through the right nostril, hold, and exhale through the left.  This completes one round.

You can start with a few rounds daily and work up to ten rounds in a sitting.  If at any time during your practice, you feel physically or mentally stressed, rest and try again later.   If you make alternate nostril breathing a daily habit, expect to feel better on many levels.  This practice may seem simple, but it can be profound.

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