Polly’s Pearl #12 – Science has proven there are benefits from practicing yoga and deep breathing. From stress relief, balance building, increased flexibility, and an exercise that is easy on the joints, yoga is a great physical activity which is accessible to everyone. Did you know that even a short sequence of yoga postures with conscious breathing can improve the quality of your sleep?

Polly’s Pearl #11 – This is a beautiful practice of gentle Yoga Stretches to elongate the spine and is essential for your daily Basic Back Care Practice!

Mother Earth is awakening from the depths of her winter hibernation with nutrients stirring as she massages and softens the shells of seeds beginning their journey toward the surface. Life-giving compost covering the ground and sap stored in the trunks of trees are beginning to thaw and slowly transition the natural world from the slumber of winter to the first awakenings of spring. This eternal process can provide a roadmap to follow so that we may also awake, flourish and blossom like our surroundings. Chinese medicine philosophy provides some lessons.

The second Yama is translated as Truthfulness, and it encourages us to look deeply inward to see if we are being truthful with ourselves before anything else.

This practice can change your life and the lives of those around you. We need this practice now more than ever. I hope this video encourages you to practice Ahimsa towards yourself and others.

I had the great privilege of studying with Sensei Wataru Ohashi (the founder of the Ohashiatsu Institute and Method of Shiatsu) from 1997 – 2005, and he was one of the most influential people in my life, and one of my greatest mentors.

A LESSON ON GENEROSITY OF SPIRIT!

Swami Rama once said that the body will only open up as much as the mind will open up.

Interesting thought.

Yes, our attachment, even to our thoughts, can translate into rigidity in the body. There’s even some data to suggest that one of the things that prevents people from losing excess weight is because they are holding onto difficult emotions, painful memories, rigid ideas, old, even ancestral thought patterns.

There is a practice in the yoga tradition of waking up each morning and asking ourselves,

“What can I die to today?”

So what does that mean?

It means, what can I release, what can I detach from, what can I let go of in my life, whether that be particular thoughts, certain behaviors, physical possessions, expectations in relationships, expectations in any area of our lives, specific plans, 5 year plans, 10 year plans, grudges, sorrow, pity, anger, sadness, happiness, etc.

We all want it.

We all run towards it.

We all run away from it.

We all need it to flourish.

What is it?

Connection.

People ask me if Spirituality needs to be so serious. Are you kidding me? The Buddha was known for his joy, his laughter, his smile, and his big Buddha belly (which in the culture at the time was a symbol of abundance on all levels and especially generosity of Spirit!!!).

In Sanskrit, the term LILA, or LEELA, describes the entire Universe as a Cosmic playground.

And as Shakespeare famously said, “All the world ‘s a stage, and all the men and women merely players.”