Posts made in December, 2010

Over the holidays, I had class requests from people in my neighborhood. On one side, the kids in the hood were bored and remembered that I teach yoga; on the other, elderly relatives of all ability levels fly in from the cold, easing their way into retirement. For the most part, they are brand new students. Peace starts at home– and starts as early as 0 days old. Yes! It’s true. You can start yoga anytime, anywhere. You don’t have to go to a fancy studio or be a size 0. You just have to want to take care of yourself, a lesson peace students learn about working in the field. Even in yoga, it’s important for the instructor to take some classes or some time for oneself. It helps you to keep the creative juices flowing. In fact, I was inspired...

  On the twelfth day of xmas, yoga gave to me: Twelve minutes of savanasa, Eleven yin poses, Ten yamas and niyamas, Nine types of yoga, eight limbs of yoga, seven forward folds, six back bends, five deep breaths, four warrior poses, three woven blanket, two sturdy blocks, and a yoga mat in a shoulder bag. This week, we celebrated the coming holiday– Christmas. We celebrated by reflected back on all the gifts yoga has given us–beyond just a great mat and some time to rest our legs up the wall. Some great poses to use while reflecting and discussing include seal (sphinx), stick (staff), butterfly (bound angle), rock, hero, and cow face. You could have a gab fest While in poses, we discussed “yoga and you”, including: how yoga has...

“Physical touch is essential to the peace-making process.” (Richard Louv, Last Child in the Woods) We all love to get a shoulder rub or a full body massage. Or, maybe a hug? Juan Mann , the man who gave out free hugs, created a world-wide media blizzard a few years ago, and now his work has turned into full-time campaign.  (My friend Sofie is a free hugger too!) The hugging saint, Amma, touches each person she hugs, and people feel healed from this. Hugs and touches can not only heal at the grassroots level, but also provide hope for the future international peace accords. Indeed, when we see a picture of two politicians hugging, we are inspired! Check out these great pictures of some of the big names of our times, hugging, no less! Hugging Away!!! These...

I started this blog when I arrived in Stadtschlaining, Austria, a small village south of Vienna with a castle and a peace studies program. In the words of Maria from the Sound of Music, I was “seeking the courage I lack”. Though I had a lesson plan, I still wondered “What will this day be like?” I wanted to approach the subject of courage and strength, and how you can learn courage from nature. Where do you find courage? I continue to be amazed about my own strength and courage to leave an abusive relationship. I let people know all the time, verbally or through written and pictorial representation of my story done by Bravery Project. You need courage regardless of where you are at in life. In the Peace Field, you need courage to go out...

A lot of people think meditation is something mysterious. Really, it’s just about getting in touch with yourself, and giving yourself a chance to relax. Yin yoga provides a perfect opportunity to introduce a bit of meditation into the yoga practice. Yin is focused on the joints and connective tissues, as opposed to the muscular-based yang classes that most people visualize is yoga. Thus, yin conserves energy, and offers respite to practitioners. My students (especially the little 9-year old girl) were ready for relaxing into the poses and holding them for upto 5 minutes at a time. What better way to also begin the discussion on cultivating characteristics that would help for the future? This is also a huge part of yoga–learning about the world by...