Having a tendency toward the philosophical, I don't often talk about the practicalities of yoga unless I've been asked a direct question. But it also occurs to me that some of my favorite yoga helpers are things people wouldn't ever think to ask about in a hundred years and, come on... a hundred years is just far too long to hold out! So, a list of my very favorite things, in no particular order:
1. Coconut Oil
As a red head, I am dry by nature, and incredibly sensitive to the chemistry of the things I put on my skin. Fragrances and alcohols turn me pink and red, which is both unflattering and uncomfortable, and so coconut oil has become my all-purpose moisturizer. I use it on my face and my body, and places that I have just accepted as destined-to-be-rough, especially in the winter, smooth right out, and stay smooth all day! I also use just enough to coat the inside of both hands on my hair when I get out of the shower, and it keeps my hair from getting staticky or rough when I blow it out.
Coconut oil is incredibly beneficial dietarily, as well, as it stimulates metabolism and eliminates unhealthy fats from the system. Since no one in my family is fond of the taste of coconut oil, I don't cook with it, but I do swallow a teaspoon full in the morning and at night, and notice that my digestion and skin are much happier for it. I use oil refined for medium heat, as it is still fragrant, but slightly lighter than straight coconut oil.
2. Apple Cider Vinegar
This is another dietary supplement, useful for fighting inflammation, and for alkalizing and cleansing the whole system. It is also a significant source of enzymes and potassium, and powerful for stimulating immunity and keeping skin clear. My skin definitely knows when I've run out, and starts telling me all about it almost immediately! It's harsh to take on its own -- I take about a tablespoon 3 times a day -- but is much gentler in apple juice or with water and honey.
3. Vocabulary
As a college English major and a life-long lover of literature, I am keenly aware of the power of words to profoundly affect my mental landscape. The same way songs and images get lodged in our psyches, the words we use and hear create our mental scenery. For me, this is true both on the large scale of things like (deliberate and inadvertent) mantras, and on the small scale in the words I use and hear in my daily conversation. Yoga teaches us to tune our attention to the subtleties, both in the nuances of tension and ease in our body, and to the shifts in our mental chemistry, and there is nothing that changes mental chemistry as quickly or as decisively as a topic of thought.
Take, for example, the topic of forgiveness, and the difference the object of our focus can make: If, in the process of forgiving someone, our goal is to try to minimize the wrong done, then the wrong is getting all of our focus, and is therefore much more likely to grow and become even more grotesque in our minds than to diminish. On the other hand, if we are to focus on the value of the friendship we have shared, and our desire to see that friendship continue on the other side of whatever the impasse or collision, the friendship is what will grow and fill our attention, and forgiveness seems a much more attainable feat.
I apply this to everything, but find it even more relevant on the mat, when I am trying to saturate my body with the chemistry of positive emotions: I talk about health instead of sickness, freedom instead of pain, joy instead of grief, light instead of darkness, and keep my head filled with the images to which I want to grant the power to move me.
4. Facial Expression
This is closely tied to favorite thing #3, but is powerful in its own rite. Just see for yourself whether relaxing your face while you're driving, scrubbing, thinking, watching the news... doesn't change the way your whole body is reacting. My first and favorite yoga teacher told us all the time to smile, and let our bodies feel our smiles, too, and she was absolutely right. Yoga teaches that relaxing our faces allows our parasympathetic nervous systems to relax the things we can't consciously relax, and saturates our bodies with the chemistry of happiness!
5. Barefoot Yoga's Eco Mat
LOVE this yoga mat, even though at $40 it is the most expensive mat I've ever bought. It is make of woven jute, and made soft and grippy with Poly-environmental resin, or PER, which is completely biodegratable. It relaxes out of being rolled up quickly, it doesn't stretch, doesn't slip, and gives just a bit more cushion than a standard mat. And I. Love. It. With all my fingers, toes and knees!
6. Pandora
Music is another powerful influence on mood, and can make or break a yoga session for me. If I'm trying to cram myself into a style of music that doesn't fit my mood, I'm more likely to leave the mat either aggitated or bored. Enter the technological and cultural masterpiece that is Pandora radio! For a girl who is only just finding her own musical muses, being able to kick open the doors through which I've only caught a quick peak (Shazam often provides the toe in the door that I need, and has earned my jumping-up-and-down thanks more than once!) has been such a gift! My current favorites for time on the mat are:
Snatam Kaur or Krishna Das (really interchangeable, as they both bring all the Kirtan singers out to play)
Carlos Nakai (Native American flute... I'm a prairie girl, incurable, turns out)
Mumford and Sons (beautiful lyrics, new indy-folk, equally uplifting and contemplative)
and, on a very feminine day, Astrud Gilberto, the queen of Bossa-Nova :)
7. Local Teachers
I love, love, LURVE (Woody Allen) taking another teacher's class!! And Columbia has grown some beautiful, bright and shining teachers! Everyone who teaches is giving something precious of themselves -- an insight into what makes them love their practice, and so an insight into something lovely about practicing yoga generally. And each student resonates with each teacher differently, and so draws something different out of them. Every class is an organic and entirely unique interaction, and I love it every single time!
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