Yoga Can Change Your Mood!

I was delighted to be able to attend my Hatha Yoga class at http://www.yoga4all.ie/ yesterday evening.

After a few hiccups in recent weeks, and a visit to Sweden, I was really missing guided practice. I get so much more from participating in a class than I do when I practice alone.  There is always something to learn from the teacher.

I have been feeling physically tired and lethargic the past few days but fighting hard against it.  The tiredness was making me snappy with my family, especially my mother and my son. I have been sleeping really deeply and waking with what feels like a hangover!  I literally dragged myself along to yoga, because, although I felt exhausted, I just knew that it would make my mood improve. And as usual, that was what happened.  I went in there feeling tired and a little down in the dumps and came out feeling elevated and alive.Okay, that feeling only lasted a few hours and I was in my bed asleep again by eleven but I was so so glad that I went.



The class also gave me the push I need to get back on the healthy eating track today. Suzanne led the class in a gentle, yet challenging routine and at one stage I had to face the mirror doing postures against the wall.  I was shocked as I looked at myself doing a twisting posture.  My hips looked positively humungous and thats after losing almost 17lbs!   It inspired me to get back to the mindful way I have been eating in the last while. I am not focusing on the losing weight, or focusing on any particular diet. I am focusing on being more aware of each thing I choose to eat in my day.

Yoga is about the best thing I have found to change my mood.  There really isn't anything else that can do so, so instantaneously, except maybe my little son's smile!

Yoga for Asthma And Other Ailments

Now that I am in my forties and I know the ailments that have shown up in my family,  I am going all out to prevent them.

There is heart disease, osteo arthritis and cancer.  My father had heart disease but passed away with cancer.  One disorder that has shown up a fair few times is Asthma. I have a sibling, nieces, nephews and cousins that had it and have grown out of it. But I also have relatives who have developed it again in later life.The predisposition to some conditions may be so strong that I can't avoid them,  but at the very least I hope to be able to alleviate them.

My mother  has COPD (chronic Obstructive Pulmunory disease) brought on by her asthma.  She has never smoked and the asthma itself seems to be a hereditary condition.  However, while recovering from a knee replacement operation due to osteoarthritis a few years back, she had an asthma attack.  This scarred her lungs causing her condition to deteriorate.  She uses various inhalers and tablets and a nebuliser six times a day ever since. She gets constant chest infections and is regularly on antibiotics and steroids which play havoc with her weight and mood. While trawling medical sites, I discovered that if both parents have asthma, there is a 70% chance of the offspring getting it. If only one parent has it then the chances are down to 30%.  I want to reduce that 30% if I possibly can. Yoga may be a good way to help to prevent the condition or at least the suffering that may ensue from it.

Yesterday evening, after a hectic few days, I was all set to go to my new yoga class at http://www.yoga4all.ie/  My  little boy, who is almost four, usually stays with my mother for the short while I am away.  I don't mind leaving him there as my brother or her friend are usually there too. Even if they are not, my mother wears an emergency bleeper on her arm and my little boy knows how to phone for aid. When I arrived at her house, she was struggling to breathe.  She was grey in the face and exhausted from the effort of just being. She had made an appointment with the doctor so I packed her into my car and we headed straight up there. As we thought, she had a severe chest infection and had to have a strong course of antibiotics and steroids immediately.  She was lucky that she didn't end up in the hospital as she has done many times before. We went straight to the pharmacy to get her medication and straight back to her home. There was no way I could go to my yoga class, so extremely disappointedly, I settled in for the night.

Since I started yoga, I have lost 17lbs in weight and for the first time since I hit forty, my cholesterol is normal. Before Yoga, I had been on 40mg lipitor for the condition and had to have an angiogram to check that all was okay with my heart. Yoga, and I am convinced it is yoga that has done it, has changed all that. Through becoming more aware of my body and mindful of what I eat, the weight is coming down and the bad fats with it.  Now I am determined to see what I can do to ward off any respiratory, cancerous or arthritic complaints that may await me in the future.

I am off to do a bit of research now and will ask some questions of yogis that I admire with regard to the above.  I will be posting the best postures and foods to help with the ailments that  I have mentioned today so please come back!

Namaste

A Laugh Out Loud Video Clip featuring Graham Norton and Yoga!

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I absolutely love the great Graham Norton.  I find him to be one of the funniest comedians around.  I was delighted to find this video clip featuring both Graham and yoga!  I just had to share and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!  It features yoga teacher Emily Collins.

Deep Breathing helps anxiety at New Class

Yesterday evening I started a new Hatha Yoga class at the new Yoga4all studio http://www.yoga4all.ie/ .

Anxious not to be late and not sure of the exact location, I eventually arrive twenty minutes early.  There is parking right outside the building which I am immediately happy about.  As usual, this summer, it isn’t a very nice evening and I am glad to park the car nearby.

At first, I am a little unsure if I am actually in the right place.  The only sign I can see is one for ‘Church of the Word’. I assume this is a religious organisation so I anxiously push open the door, visions of being preached at crowding my mind.  I use my yogic breathing to bring myself to my senses and clutching my yoga mat, I venture up the stairs.

The building is silent and echoey and feels a little creepy.  I feel as if I have walked on to the set of Scooby Doo.   I hope nothing scary will happen! Then I see the studio.  I am in the right place after all.

There is nobody around so I tentatively push open the studio door. Still no sign of life.  It’s 5.45pm and the class is due to start at 6pm. I wonder if I got the timing right since the class time had originally been 6.30pm. The studio is large and airy and I like it immediately.  It looks like there will be plenty of space to stretch out and the anti gravity equipment looks interesting.  That will be for a future post!

There are two comfy seats outside the room, so I take one of these and send a few texts. I start to read my book and just before six, I hear signs of life. Three people arrive together and we have a nice chat about the class.  One girl has just started the week before, another has also taken the anti gravity yoga classes and another is a complete beginner.  I feel myself relaxing and enjoy the chat.  More people come and we wonder why we are crowded outside in a small space when the studio is open.  It seems that everyone saw me there and just followed suit!

We all go in together and the teacher arrives.  She is young and agile looking. My insecurity about my age and weight begin but I push them away with a few deep breaths. She asks us to lay out our mats and relax and then the class begins.

I enjoy the class and I am pleasantly surprised at how I manage the postures.  The only ones I have a problem with are the balancing ones.  I am surprised as I had managed tree pose with no wobbles that very morning. The teacher, Tara, is very gentle and smiley and keeps a good eye on us all to ensure we  are doing the Asanas correctly.  I have a little trouble hearing what she is saying at times, but it could be just down to my hearing. I don’t believe there are any poses to help with that! In saying that, with yoga, nothing would surprise me!

I leave the class very happy and vowing I will return to complete my eight classes. For those who are interested the class was at http://www.yoga4all.ie/

A New Class

Well, since my Tuesday morning Hatha yoga class ended a few weeks ago, I have been attending a class taught by the same teacher on Monday nights. As usual, I am not disappointed with the quality of her classes and have been busy spreading the word.

As a result, I persuaded my friend and her sister to come along to class.  They have done yoga classes elsewhere so were eager to see what this teacher is like.  I am always singing her praises, chiefly because she is fantastic and also because as a woman in her seventies, she is inspirational. You can't blame them being extra curious for this reason!

The evening classes are longer than the morning classes and so, we are learning at a faster pace.  I also find that the evening classes are more challenging for me which is something I am really enjoying.  I am sad to say though, that even though I have been doing yoga for quite a while now, I am still unable for the shoulder stand.  I expressed this sentiment to my teacher at end of class and of course she gave similar wise advice as I received from the wonderful Esther Eckhart over at http://www.yogatic.com/  'Don't be in a rush.  It will come in time. Yoga is about the being and doing not the getting there'

Since these evening classes come to an end for summer next Monday night, I am starting a new class this evening which should take me through the next eight weeks until my normal class resumes again.  If I like it, or it likes me, I intend to do both classes in conjunction  with each other in the future.

I actually got a great deal through the website  http://www.dublinbynumbers.com/ which gathers all daily deals in one place.  I purchased 8 classes for the great price of 39 euros instead of 80 euros and I start this evening. Since it is a new studio,  I was delighted to be able to get a deal to try out their Hatha yoga classes.  The website is at http://www.yoga4all.ie for those who might be interested.

Of course, I am nervous starting a new class with new people in a place I am not familiar with.  I also worry that as a fortysomething first time yogini, I will be the most inflexible in class and will make a show of myself!  However, I have been assured this will not be the case, that there are others signed up who are in the same position and it is a quiet class.

In my saner, yogic moments, I realise that it's better to continue my journey of making changes in mind and body than to be worrying what others think.  As I journey on and try to turn around the years of negativity, drinking and eating too much and general self sabotage that I have done to myself, I hope to keep discovering new and affirming things in life.  And Yoga is definitely top of my list so far!

I look foward to sharing my experiences of my new class this evening so don't forget to check back!

If You Can...................................

I came across this recently and loved it.  I think we all strive to be like this especially if we are trying to practice yoga.  I added cat to the last line as I happen to think they are just as enlightened as dogs! Tee Hee!




If you can start the day without caffeine,
If you can always be cheerful, ignoring aches and pains,
If you can resist complaining and boring people with your troubles,
If you can eat the same food every day and be grateful for it,
If you can understand when your loved ones are too busy to give you any time,
If you can take criticism and blame without resentment,
If you can conquer tension without medical help,
If you can relax without alcohol,
If you can sleep without the aid of drugs,
Then you probably are,
The family Dog or CAT!

How Yoga helped me on a Family Holiday!

Since my last entry I have been on a family holiday to France.  I had a great time and thoroughly enjoyed the good weather and being able to swim twice a day, every day.  We rented a house that was literally a stone's throw from the beach. It was also situated quite close to the beautiful town centre of Collioure.

The convenience was paramount, especially with elderly in-laws and a three year old in tow!  I say elderly, but my mother in law is actually a very fit 73 year old human dynamo!  And that's without the benefits of daily yoga practice!

We had the upper floor which was like a huge loft studio with shiny wooden floors and white walls. It overlooked the sea and gave a truly beautiful birds eye view of the medieval castle.  It was a lovely space to practice my yoga in.  I didn't get to practice every single day, but I was delighted to manage five out of the ten days we were away.  After my husband and son would go down to start breakfast, I would lay out on the floor to begin.  

The poses and breathing exercises really helped to start my day off positively. As most people who go on family holidays will know, things can get very stressful at times.  It's hard to please all of the people all of the time and it's sometimes harder when there are family members involved.  The yogic breathing really came in handy at times! Along with a nice glass of French wine of course! I found it especially helped with my Father-In-Law issues.  My husband could have done with some yoga help at times but as he is not ready to embrace the idea of yoga at all, I didn't mention it!

We ended our holiday with a day and a night in Barcelona.  Oh, what a wonderful experience compared to last year!  Last year we had a stalking incident. (see http://www.thewmparentingconnection.com/2010/06/by-claire-hegarty-b.html)   We were also too late to go on either the bus tour or the cable car ride over the city.  This year, it was a far better experience all round.

We experienced the cable car views of the city,visited the beautiful cathedral, almost had free hugs in the square (that's another story!) had a delicious outdoor evening meal and rounded off the night with drinks in an Irish Bar! I know, I know, going to an Irish Bar in Barcelona seems silly but we were curious about the Guinness and it proved to be delish! I felt much more alive and interested in all that was around me this year too.  Another benefit of the mindfulness and awareness aspect of yogic breathing and practice, I am sure!