Continuing on the Path

I am now in my second month of the 500 hour teacher training at Atma Bodha Yoga.

What I am learning so far:

- how to do proper asana adjustments

- how to do other types of pranayama techniques like sitali, sitkari and bhramari

- chanting various universal slokas including but not limited to the Guru Mantra and Sarvesham Svastir Bhavatu

- how to read and write Sanskrit

- meditation techniques such as Om japa

I am loving it all and my students are benefiting from everything I am learning.

Jai!

The Passing of the Torch

i recently graduated from my 200 hour yoga teacher training program at Atma Bodha Yoga. here is a list of some highlights from the program in no particular order:


- read "eat to live" and learned so much about nutrition and diet

- went to yogaville for the first time

- became vegetarian and then became vegan

- introduced yoga to friends and coworkers and now some are hooked

- learned about patanjali's sutras

- learned about the bhagavad gita

- learned about the differences in anatomy regarding compression and tension

- learned about the benefits of yoga asana on the lymphatic system

- my teacher gave me a sanskrit name, padmamukhi, which translates to lotus face

- pranayama, meditation and chanting

- learning to teach from the lineage of swami satchidananda, dharma mittra, manju jois, david life and sharon gannon



there's more i could list. overall, i'm thankful to have learned the foundations of yoga and deepen my personal practice at Atma and with the teachers there. i'll be starting the 500 hr TT in January. the adventure continues!

breakfast alternative

for breakfast, i made a scrambled tofu dish with curry seasoning, green onions, sauteed baby spinach and quinoa. delicious and packed with protein and other nutrious nomnoms. i only miss eating eggs because it was the most convenient item to cook. when i was at the floyd yoga jam one of the food vendors served "scrambled tofu" instead of scrambled eggs so i wanted to give it a go myself. thumbs up for me :)

building blocks

i started practicing ashtanga earlier this summer. it's been an amazing experience. ashtanga is a physically and mentally challenging practice for me. i strive to find the "balance between effort and ease" while practicing. i've injured my knees by pushing myself past my limits (meaning "it hurts but i'm still gonna do it anyways") in order to achieve the yoga magazine photo look. bad idea. it took about a month before i didn't feel any discomfort in my knees getting into any half lotus poses. i'm fortunate to have teachers that always remind us that we don't have to operate at 100% while practicing or reminding us to back off if we feel any pain or discomfort. even though i hear these words during class, the monkey chatter eggs me on with, "go for it!" maybe i should start chanting yoga sutra 2.46: "sthira sukham asanam" meaning yoga asanas should be steady and comfortable.

we got to practice our jump throughs/backs with blocks during the primary led class recently. it's a long road for my feet to not touch the floor without blocks. i felt like i was flying through with ease. then i woke up the next day (and the next few days) with sore lats. a building blocks practice for sure :) i love it all.

FAQ: Why "The Lotus Mouth"?

a friend of mine said that i speak like i have lotus flowers coming out of mouth... translation: me always saying something positive about any given situation.

of course, i laughed at the whole lotus flower comment actually vizualising lotus flowers coming from my mouth and the more i thought about it the more i thought "hmmmm... what if i could create this image as a tattoo piece?" a tattoo festival was coming up so i thought i would search for an artist to ocme up with the desig and below is what transpired.

my new tattoo created by chad newsom at the 1st annual va beach tattoo festival. a better photo of the tattoo will be posted once it's healed. translation of sankrit at the bottom of image: (patanjali's yoga sutra 1.2) yogas citta vritti nirodhah - "yoga is the cessation of the fluctuations of the mind."

i've been told frequently by others that i have a gift of seeing the positive in things. i never thought of it as a talent of sorts but in retrospect i feel it takes much practice to be able to change your perspective and attitude when you're experiencing negative emotions such as fear, hate, anger, frustration, etc. there's also a practice in not being attached to the outcome of any situation.

it's definitely a challenge to see the positive in every single experience. we've all been frustrated about someone or something that happened and may even go find someone to vomit all the emotions onto or keep them brewing inside. both scenarios result in disrupting your inner peace. it's energetically draining and unnecessary. so why not discover the positive and keep your peace? i forgot where i learned this from but these days to keep myself from spiraling down i ask myself, "will this even matter 20 years from now? no? ok. let it go." i also remind myself of of the impermanence of life much like the metaphor of the sand mandalas created by the tibetan monks.

i witnessed tibetan monks creating a sand mandala for mystical arts of tibet 2013 tour at the american theater in hampton,va.

so far...

it's been about a week since i decided to go vegan. the transition hasn't been difficult. it's just more food addictions i've been able to overcome. i also realized that my choice for restaurants to dine at have decreased. i spend a lot more time in the kitchen learning to make new types of dishes so my culinary skills have increased.(mom would be so proud!) i love the support i've been getting from friends and family. they tell me about new recipes they come across or if a restaurant they ate at has a vegetarian/vegan option. recently, a friend gave me some ichiban eggplants he grew in his garden and i can't wait to find a recipe to devour them (aside, from the ratatouille recipe i love.)

i'm really thankful that my 200 hour yoga teacher training has a strict vegetarian diet requirement. i've been pretty good about not defaulting to pastas and breads so much thanks to reading "eat to live" by dr. fuhrman, which is one of the many awesome books we have to read for YTT. quinoa, cassava and sweet potato are some of my new meal fillers. seriously, it can be difficult eating to live when you have a busy schedule. i really had to adjust my everyday schedule to make time to prepare my meals. it's worth spending less time in front of the television or computer to know that i'm making sure i'm maintaining my carcass vehicle. -love & light

happy new moon

new moon = new beginnings: a new blog and a new diet. this blog will serve as my yoga journal. i'll be sharing whatever insight comes my way as i go deeper into my yoga practice.

i have also decided to become vegan today.

more on all this later. the hard part is getting my first post up. so i'll end this post with a well known quote...

"it's about the journey, not the destination." - anonymous

true story.