Doing my Yoga has already...

Doing my yoga everyday has already helped my...
aches and pains
mind chatter
breathing
relationships with others
appetite
weight loss
and sense of my self

Its been about a month that I have been doing my yoga everyday now...sometimes for 7 minutes and sometimes for 30 minutes. It starts to feel so good that I do not want to stop.

My routine:
Basically I start standing up, eyes closed, hands down by the thighs.
Inhale my hands up above my head gently touching fingertips and look up at hands
Exhale hands down to touch thighs.
Continue this for at least 3 or 4 breaths...up to as many as you feel.
Really hear the inhale and exhale...to the point that the throat is open and mouth is closed.
Ujjayi Breath

The with the exhale fold down, fingers touching the floor
Inhale all the way back up fingers touching the tips and look up
continue with the breath for as long as you like

Then
Extend one leg forward about 2.5 feet, hips width apart
and inhale your hands to the sky and exhale all the way down so they finger tips are touching the floor
tilt your chin to your chest for Jalandhara Bandha

change legs

rest in childs pose

try this for a few days

It seems that my body is being naturally stretched so that the soreness is released, easily. BC every day and night that I do my yoga, I feel looser and leaner. I have not gone to the gym or eaten more or less. But my body is responding to this deep, conscious breathing..and my heart is responding to this time I am putting in for me.

You try.

From Mark Whitwell:
"The ancient wisdom of yoga teaches that Life is already given to you, you are completely loved, you are here now. It teaches that we are not separate, cannot be separate from nature, which sustains us in a vast interdependence with everything. The universe comes perfectly, and is awesome in its integration and infinite existence. This union is our natural state, this union is Yoga."

The Ups and Downs of Relationships, Literally.

After returning from my amazing and fullfilling trip to India...the connection with my boyfriend has changed a bit. I feel this is quite natural, especially considering all the life evolving and transforming that went on with in myself in India while he stayed in his everyday life of NYC.
We seemed off. A lot of changes are happening in our lives and we were not communicating very well...to add my jet lag and culture shock of arriving back to the 'in your face' world of America.
So...we debated, argued, listened, cried...and before we were going to head out the door I said, "Drop your bad and take off your shoes". We stood face to face and I lead him in the simple breathing that Mark teaches. Inhale the hands up and above the head and then exhale the hands to namaste/pranam. We did that for a few minutes and then went on to the next step which is the same breathing pattern but this time as we exhale we bend down so our fingers touch the floor. On our inhale we rose to standing, hands above head and exhale we descended our spine, fingers touching the floor. We continued on with this for a few breaths and then finished with chanting to Lakshmi (Om Shreem Sri Hai Namaha) and many moments of silence with our hands in pranam. I opened my eyes and said to him, "Namaste: The light with in me honors the light with in you" and he smiled. Our energy was sealed and all the past and future dissipated into the heartspace NOW.
Om Shanti!