Keep on Keeping on........

No one wants to think about getting old, how life will be for us as elderly people.  I regularly have conversations with my oldest class member Mary (aged 95) about how important it is to keep on with the practice. "You just have to keep moving" says Mary - in fact this is almost a mantra for her!  She has been doing yoga for so many years - constantly and consistently getting back on her mat.

I wish I could take her round to all my other classes, introduce her to all the other class members, some of them in their late teens and early twenties and I want to say "Look at Mary - follow her example, don't wait until it's too late, make yoga a habit for life!"  In fact any kind of exercise regime is obviously good for us but yoga is something sustainable, it can be modified for all the different periods through your life.  During illness, pregnancy, old age, an activity to do with your children, even to help you though hard times and bereavements.  Oh and remember yoga is not just asana (postures), sometimes practice may be meditation, yoga nidra or the yoga of selfless service if that is what you need.

I love welcoming young and some not so young new members into my classes and enjoy hearing how much they enjoyed the session, but often after a few weeks they stop coming.  In my heart I hope I ignited a spark of interest in yoga in them and hope they have kept on with their practice at another class or even at home.  What I fear is that they have abandoned the practice, thinking they may come back to it at some point.  It makes me want to shout - "keep at it - sometimes it will feel like an effort to get to class, sometimes you might find a session boring, sometimes you might decide you don't gel as well with your teacher as you first thought - but just find another teacher!  Please don't give up!!"

When I teach my senior classes, I can see how much yoga has enhanced their lives, how much easier everyday life is due to the fact their joints and muscles are more comfortable.  I admire their stoicism during difficult times and know that yoga has given them this precious gift of being able to cope with whatever life throws at them.  This gift is available to everyone - it is our choice whether we accept it and keep practicing, or if we leave it for another day..........

www.yogiclaire.com

The One Flaw of Woman....

For those of a Hindu faith - this time of year sees a celebration termed as Sharad Navarathri, this is a time when feminine power is celebrated.  Coincidentally we have also seen the young teenager Malala Yousafzai speaking out about her continued fight for education for girls in her homeland, even after the horrendous injuries suffered at the hands of the Taliban.  It has prompted me to dig out another reading from my Mum's vast collection.

She has read this in her yoga classes for many years and it is one which I do on occasions when I am not feeling too emotional, as I know that when I read it, it makes me want to cry!!  I am unsure who originally wrote this piece but will happily credit the author if anyone knows who it is!

The One Flaw of Woman

By the time the Lord made woman, he was into his sixth day of working overtime.  An angel appeared and said, "Why are you spending so much time on this one?"  And the Lord said, "Have you seen my spec sheet on her?  She has to be able to run on cups of tea and left overs, have a lap that can hold four children at one time; have a kiss that can cure anything from a scraped knee to a broken heart and she will do everything with only two hands"

The angel was astounded at the requirements. "only two hands - no way!  That's too much work for one day.  Wait until tomorrow to finish"  But I won't the Lord protested. "I am so close to finishing this creation that is so close to my own heart" 

The angel moved closer and touched the woman. "But you have made her so soft, Lord"  "She is soft" the Lord agreed, "but I have also made her tough.  You have no idea what she can endure or accomplish."

The angel moved closer then noticed something, and reaching out, touched the woman's cheek.  "You have a leak in this model"  "That is not a leak," the Lord corrected, "That's a tear!"  "What's the tear for?" the angel asked.  The Lord said, "The tear is her way of expressing her joy, her sorrow, her pain, her disappointment, her love, her loneliness, her grief and her pride."

The angel was impressed. "You are a genius, Lord.  You thought of everything!  Woman is truly amazing!"  And she is, women have strengths that amaze men....

They bear hardships and they carry burdens, but they hold happiness, love and joy.  They smile when they want to scream.  They sing when they want to cry.  They fight for what they believe in.  They stand up to injustice.  They don't take no for an answer when they believe there is a better solution.  They go without so their family can have.  They love unconditionally.  They cry when their children excel and cheer when their friends get awards.  They are happy when they hear about a birth or a wedding.  Their hearts break when a friend dies.  They grieve at the loss of a family member, yet they are strong when they think there is no strength left.  They have compassion and ideals.  Women have vital things to say and everything to give.

Please share this with your wives, mothers, sisters and any other special women in your life to remind them how amazing they are - because if there is one flaw of woman it is they tend to forget their worth......whether it is something on a grand, global scale, or something within the family or local community - this is for all the women out there working tirelessly for others :)

www.yogiclaire.com

Start Where You Are......

First off I have pinched the title from one of my favourite writers/teachers, Pema Chodron, she has the ability to write simply and effectively without sugar coating anything but making everything in life make sense.

'Start where you are' seems like an obvious statement - where else would you start?  You can't move back or forward in time and start then!  But sometimes we don't want to accept where we are and to use a cliché - we want to run before we can walk.  The same is true of yoga practice and also teaching of yoga, you have to start where you are - you cannot be an experienced yoga practitioner or teacher in an instant, or maybe in a whole lifetime......so just start, that is all you need to do.

Recently I was chatting to my Mum about our yoga teaching and I mentioned to her how I cringe when I think back to my first teaching experiences (just covering a few classes for her to begin with) that I was barely scratching the surface, just teaching a few poses that I was reasonably confident with and really just feeling my way through.  When I compare the classes back then to my classes now (which I also question at times) I feel these days the classes have much more of my own yoga experiences and practice woven through, along with the several years of teaching experience I have so far, but I am always left feeling there is so much more to learn.  My Mum then reminded me of a class she taught right at the beginning of her yoga teaching career, I reckon it must have been about 1985 and I was in the class (aged 11 or 12 at the time) and she played some really upbeat 80s pop and the yoga postures were sequenced rapidly together, I can remember really building up a sweat!  This was the height of the 80s aerobics trend and she said she felt that it needed to be 'jazzed' up in order to sell the idea to people!  Back then yoga was not really a mainstream practice.

Of course pretty soon she settled into teaching her very traditional yoga classes, with waiting lists of people wanting to join, but she too had to start where she was then.  She is still teaching yoga and the classes are no longer accompanied by Bananarama and Duran Duran songs!

So remember when you begin your yoga practice (or anything for that matter) you just have to start where you are, things will inevitably change and you will most probably look back and question decisions you have made, but remember all we have is now, there really is no point in looking back, or too far forward for that matter.  Just start where you are........take that initial step and begin.......

Growing Up and Dealing with Change......

As we slip into September, I can already taste a bit of Autumn in the air!  I know everyone will be blogging about the change of season and I dare say I am bit early with this observation but I can definitely feel a change in the atmosphere.  I have always loved the transition from summer to autumn, it always signifies change.....going back to school, summer holidays just a distant memory, time to get the woolly jumpers out - I do love a snuggly jumper!  For me this year it seems altogether more significant, my youngest son starting school, my eldest son moving into the juniors and I am adding a parent and toddler yoga class to my schedule. 

It will be so strange with both boys at school, more time to plan my classes, more time to study, more time for my own yoga practice.  I am also feeling the need to de-clutter the house, I tend to feel I can think more clearly when the house is clutter free and my desk is not hidden amongst papers.  I don't know a great deal about Feng Shui but I know the basic rules are if something is broken either mend it or throw it away, and if you haven't used something in a long while then get rid of it.  This is fine for things like an unused fondue set or an old sandwich toaster but I struggle a little with things like baby blankets and toys that the boys have played with a lot.  I realise that I need to practice some 'non-attachment' to these items, but I am a sentimental old soul!!  I have done really well getting rid of our wheelie bug bee toy which my eldest had since he was one and then my youngest used too.  My other half convinced me to put it on eBay and sell it.  It was quite difficult for me to do this but the lady who bought it seemed so delighted that I felt really good about some other kids getting as much joy out of it as my children had  (but I still miss that little bee sometimes, he had been around us for 7 years!)

I do have a box of treasures, things which I cannot throw away, the little cards from the hospital from when the boys were born, their first sleep-suits, many books and photos.   In my opinion it is ok to keep these things so we can look at them when the boys are all grown up and remember all those special times.

Being human involves times of change, nothing stays the same and for the most-part I do love the excitement and challenge of change.  As human beings I think we need it for our spiritual growth and development.  That said, this particular period of change seems very significant for me and a little sad as my babies are now not babies any more and are growing up fast, so my mission now is to do my best to help them to cope with the challenges of change in their own lives so they can welcome it and not fear it........and perhaps not be as sentimental as their silly old Mum!!!

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Ashtanga Workshop on a Rainy Tuesday.....

A rainy Tuesday in Manchester - a day I have waited for since May when I booked myself on the Ashtanga workshop in Manchester with Kino MacGregor.  It seemed like fate that she should come and run a workshop 10 minutes away from my home!

My first knowledge of Kino was when I embarked on my Ashtanga practice about 3 years ago - having practiced Hatha Yoga since being a child and consequently training as a Hatha Yoga teacher I gravitated towards Ashtanga as a way of challenging my self practice.  I bought the Kino DVD and also did a course to learn the history of this particular discipline.

I realised that what I really needed to do was to get to a regular Ashtanga class but with teaching Hatha yoga and being a full time Mum - there just wasn't the time, so self practice was my best option at this point in my life.

My self practice was very sporadic but I made some progress and complimented the Ashtanga style with regular Hatha practice and also further study and work on my meditation as well as my own teaching.

So yesterday came the day of the workshop, during the lead up, I had many self doubts about whether the workshop was really for someone like me......in one of my classes I teach chair yoga to seniors, my other classes are a gentle, slow approach to yoga, but Ashtanga a very strong practice!  I have attended a few Ashtanga classes, but was I deluding myself that I could fit in with the Ashtanga yoga crowd?

The Hindu temple in Whalley Range is a lovely building, I immediately felt relaxed as I entered, I noticed many people had come to the workshop in groups, but I was attending alone.....however there were lots of smiles and I felt the buzz of how excited people were to be attending the class.  I suspect  most of the people there were like me and had watched Kino many times on her You Tube channel to learn new techniques and deepen their practice further.  For some people who find it difficult to get to classes this is a good resource, but it is so important to try to get to classes and workshops whenever you can to experience the energy and challenge of a live class and have an experienced Ashtanga yoga teacher to guide you.

The workshop was geared towards strength, an area that I really need to work on in my practice, so was perfect for me.  I have reasonable flexibility and part of me (probably my ego) missed doing some deep hip opening work, but that is not the area that needs quite as much attention (I need to work on some 'non-attachment' to those hip openers too!!)

Kino was as lively, charismatic and informative as I expected her to be and I have never known 3 hours pass so quickly.  It has really encouraged me that Ashtanga yoga IS for me - even though I am 40 years old and struggle to maintain a consistent Ashtanga practice.  It has inspired me not to just concentrate on the postures and the aspects of the discipline I CAN do but to work more on the areas I am lacking - like strength and technique.

On reflection I think booking myself on the workshop was me testing myself, if I felt out of my depth, like a square peg in a round hole - then perhaps Ashtanga yoga was not for me.  But as tough and challenging as it was, I have learned I am more capable than I thought and I feel that I do not have to wake up at dawn everyday and do the full primary series, it is entirely appropriate for me to break the practice down to work certain areas and just fit the practice into my busy life as best I can, to work towards being the best person that I can be.......

www.yogiclaire.com

 

Escape to the Mountain Top.......

I used to wonder if I could be a real yogi and still live a normal busy, family life.  After all if we are to practice all the 8 limbs of yoga not just the 'asana' (posture) part then we need to be fully engaged in all those other aspects of being a yogi. (see below list)  But as time has gone on I realise it can be possible to practice all eight limbs of yoga whilst being fully engaged with young kids, parents, friends and everyone I come into contact with.  In fact yoga can enhance all those other aspects of life, and it is wonderful and sometimes very challenging to weave ALL aspects of yoga into your own busy life.

I like to think of my everyday life as a busy market place, a hustle and bustle of activity, dashing from one place to the next, preparing meals, planning classes, studying etc. But then when I am doing my own yoga practice, it feels like time out from the rat race.  It feels like a trip away from 'it all' - like a peaceful journey to the mountain top, returning fully refreshed and invigorated ready to take on the world once again.  The yoga practice also serves as a regular reminder to live a yogic lifestyle whilst in the busy market place of our lives.  To engage fully with our kids and our friends and family, to allow and cope effectively with changes and fluctuations in our lives, knowing that we have the relevant tools to deal with stressful situations.

So your little trip to the mountain top may be the sanctuary of a busy city centre yoga studio, it may be your local church hall yoga class, or maybe it is your self practice in your own garden or living room.  Wherever your yoga space is and whatever form your yoga takes, perhaps gentle pranayama and long deep postures, or invigorating and challenging dynamic yoga, it can enhance and enrich your life and shows us the importance of taking time out - even if sometimes it is only 10 minutes a day.......

The Eight Limbs of Yoga

1. yama: moral and ethical restraints - social discipline
2. niyama: observances - individual discipline
3. asana: posture, seat
4. pranayama: control of the life-energy through breath
5. pratyahara: mind withdrawal from senses
6. dharana: concentration
7. dhyana: meditation
8. Samadhi: superconciousness or union with the Divine

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Super Squidgy Super Healthy Brownies

Anyone who knows me well, knows that I love baking especially with the kids.  I am always on a quest to come up with healthy, delicious treats for the family and love to put vegetables into cake recipes!  This year has been fabulous for courgettes and I am lucky enough to have a courgette plant in my garden so here is a lovely recipe for brownies.  They are very, very moist and are sweetened with a small amount of honey and by the prunes.  You cannot taste the prunes or the courgette but they give them a lovely texture.  Also super healthy with the addition of coconut oil and seeds, they are dairy free and gluten free.  You can leave out the honey and then they are great for diabetics too!

Super Squidgy Super Healthy Brownies

100g shredded courgette

80g soaked prunes
250ml water
3 tablespoons seeds of your choice (can be milled or used whole)
115g coconut oil
50g cocoa powder
80g gluten free flour (or almond/coconut flour)
Half Teaspoon Salt
Half Teaspoon Baking Powder
Desert spoon honey

1.     Use a food processor with blade attachment to whizz up the courgettes and the prunes

2.    Add the water, process for a few seconds

3.    Add the coconut oil – I used it when slightly soft but not in liquid form

4.    Mix the flour, salt, baking powder and cocoa powder

5.    Fold the wet into the dry mixture, fold in the seeds, then the honey

6.    Pour into a greased tin (line with grease proof paper as well)

7.    Bake on about 180 degrees for about 20 minutes

8.    Enjoy – these are super squidgy but super healthy and are gluten free, dairy free and suitable for diabetics

You can make lots of substitutes in this recipe, beetroot instead of courgettes, add nuts and chocolate chips for more indulgence!  Just use your imagination....

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