22 September 2014

Why It's Good to "Let Go" and How To Do It

You might be familiar with the words "let go" as they are often referred to during a yoga class. Maybe at the beginning when you might be asked to "let go of anything about your day that doesn't serve you" and also at the end, as you sink into Savasana, you might hear "relax and let go completely". But what do these two words really mean? What exactly do you let go of and how can you actually do it?

This article provides some insight:

18 Fantastic Ways to Let Go

by  via MindBodyGreen
It’s been said that the dharma teachings can be summarized in two words: let go. Letting go is the ultimate zen habit we all must master, sooner or later. Letting go has also become somewhat of a cliche and is often misused in spiritual contexts. But it is the single most powerful, simple (not easy) skill we can cultivate in life. Let’s take a deeper look at what letting go isn’t and is—and some concrete ways to practice it.

What Letting Go Isn’t: 


Letting go isn’t just cliche spiritual advice. Letting go isn’t not caring. Letting go isn’t passive. Letting go isn’t merely saying, “It’s all good” or “whatever.” Letting go isn’t lazy. Letting go isn’t giving up. Letting go isn’t the easy way out. Letting go isn’t always fun. Letting go is the most courageous thing you can do.

Letting go is wise. Letting go enables life, energy, love and learning to flow freely. Letting go takes practice. How can we turn it into a revolutionary daily life practice? Here are 18 ideas for starters. May they be of benefit.

1. Let go of procrastination.

Raise your hand if you procrastinate a lot. I know I do. Procrastination is based in fear: of failure, of success, of sharing our stories, of what other people will think. Let go of these fears and take action. Just do it. All we have is now. Quit procrastinating.

2. Let go of going to extremes.

Walking the Middle Path isn’t easy. Trust me; I know. In my twenties, I was a manic-depressive Gemini yoga-teaching partier who thrived on extremes. But as I’ve aged, I’ve gotten more in touch with my inner Libra, and I believe balance is a worthy intention for daily life. The middle way is balance. Pema Chodron writes, “The middle way is wide open, but it’s tough going, because it goes against the grain of an ancient neurotic pattern that we all share. When we feel lonely, when we feel hopeless, what we want to do is move to the right or the left. We don’t want to sit and feel what we feel.”

3. Let go of clinging.

The opposite of letting go is clinging, grasping, clutching. See how softening your grip, opening your palms and relaxing brings peace and ease into your body and mind. As Buddha teaches, “You can only lose what you cling to.”

4. Let go of complaining.

And meditate on humility. “Remember you don’t meditate to get anything, but to get rid of things. We do it, not with desire, but with letting go. If you want anything, you won’t find it. You won’t be able to find it. But when your heart is ready, peace will come looking for you.” ~ Ajahn Chah

5. Let go of comparing yourself to others.

When judgment, superiority, inferiority, jealousy and envy arise, see them as poisonous and let them go. “Problems are rooted in ideals. Let go of the ideals. Not easy, but letting go of ideals, accepting reality and acting appropriately and with compassion can be practiced.” ~ Leo Babauta from Zen Habits (whose free ebook on letting go is what inspired this post)

6. Let go of busyness and multitasking.

Take time to just drink a cup of tea and be. The world will go on. Meditate. Make letting go a practice in itself. Set aside some time every day to sit and focus on letting go—of thoughts, feelings, ideas, memories, plans, physical sensations—simply letting go of whatever arises in the consciousness and returning to the breath, over and over, each time the mind wanders away. “Just go into the room, sit in the center of the room, open the doors and windows, and see who comes to visit. You will witness all kinds of scenes and actors, all kinds of temptations and stories, everything imaginable. Your only job is to stay in your seat. You will see it all arise and pass, and out of this, wisdom and understanding will come.” ~ Ajahn Chah

7. Let go of clutter and excess.

Get rid of excess stuff. The process of letting go of material things can be both painful and joyous, because lots of our things have both sentimental value. Giving stuff away is a simple yet intense process involving both loss and liberation. “Look at your own mind. The one who carries things thinks he’s got things, but the one who looks on sees only the heaviness. Throw away things, lose them, and find lightness.” ~ Ajahn Chah

8. Let go of trying to control others.

Recognize the difference between influencing someone and changing them. You can do the former; the latter is impossible. “Let go of wanting to control people, of wanting to change them. Instead, focus on yourself and be the shining example. Be the compassionate center.” ~ Leo Babauta

9. Let go of illusion and delusion.

See the damage done by hanging on (and being dragged). “Seeing the harm (of not letting go) allows us to let go, because we have a choice: hold on to the idea of the past and suffer, or let go and accept reality as it is, and suffer less.” ~ Leo Babauta

10. Let go of negativity.

Notice signals of clinging such as irritation, anger or fear. Notice the ideal or expectation to which you are clinging. See the harm in holding onto this negativity. Let go, with love and compassion.

11. Let go of the guru.

“Wisdom is in yourself, just like a sweet ripe mango is already in a young green one. You are your own teacher. Investigate yourself to find the truth—inside, not outside. Knowing yourself is most important.” ~ Ajahn Chah

12. Let go of who you think you are.

“When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be. When I let go of what I have, I receive what I need.” ~ Tao Te Ching

13. Let go of attachment to the plan.

“We must let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the one that is waiting for us.” ~ Joseph Campbell

14. Let go of the demons from your past and the worries about your future.

"Breathe. Let go. And remind yourself that this very moment is the only one you know you have for sure." ~ Oprah Winfrey
15. Let go of certainty.

Because we just don’t know. And that is a beautiful thing. “Creativity requires the courage to let go of certainties.” ~ Erich Fromm

16. Let go of the illusion of control.

“But the attitude of faith is to let go, and become open to truth, whatever it might turn out to be.” ~ Alan Watts

17. Let go of what’s gone to let in the now.

“Let come what comes, let go what goes. See what remains.” ~ Ramana Maharshi

18. Let go of trying to let go.

Just let it happen. “Letting go” can’t be taught or explained, only experienced. It is not a numbered list or a step-by-step process like the stages of grief. Life is not neat and tidy. Things get emotional, dramatic, messy. “Letting go” is an awesome intention and a beneficial practice. But it isn’t easy. Take it moment to moment, day by day. “If you let go a little, you will have a little peace. If you let go a lot, you will have a lot of peace. If you let go completely, you will discover complete peace.” ~ Ajahn Chah

This Week I'm Making...Easy Gluten-Free Granola

By Vanessa Vickery via MindBodyGreen

This granola is the perfect replacement for cereal and is gluten free and suitable for both Paleo and vegan. You can make it on the weekend and have it for your breakfast during the week. The best thing about this granola is that will form clusters and will not get soggy when you add milk.




Ingredients:
  • 4 cups nuts (I used macadamias, cashews, pecans and walnuts)
  • 1 cup shredded coconut
  • 1 cup dried fruit (I used cranberries and apricots)
  • 1 cup seeds (I used pumpkin and sunflower seeds)
  • 1/4 cup coconut oil
  • 1/2 cup organic maple syrup
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract
Directions:

Preheat the oven to 150 degrees Celsius (300 Fahrenheit) and line a baking tray with baking paper.

Add nuts to a blender and pulse a few times to chop the nuts. I suggest adding a cup at a time if you have a high speed blender, otherwise you may end up with more of a nut meal.

Add the nuts, seeds, shredded coconut and dried fruit to a large mixing bowl.

Melt coconut oil in a small saucepan on low heat, remove from heat and add maple syrup, whisking to combine. Add vanilla extract and stir through.

Pour into the mixing bowl, stirring well to combine.

Spread the granola mixture on the baking tray and cook for approximately 30-35 minutes, turning every 10 minutes. (Thrive Yoga Lifestyle's note: my first attempt was a little too well done! On the second go I found 20 minutes cooking time was enough)

Remove from the oven and let it sit for 20 minutes or until hardened. Break into chunks and enjoy on its own or with coconut or almond milk.

This Week I'm Visiting...Holland & Barrett

It's the final week of Holland & Barrett's Buy One Get One Half Price offer, so I'm off to stock up on all the good stuff I need for a healthy lifestyle. I love the Dr Organic Vitamin E Body Moisturiser and Body Wash - it smells lovely and I like to feel that I'm not putting harmful chemicals on my skin. I can get all the nuts and seeds I need there and the extra ingredients for next week's blog recipe - Gluten-Free Bread. I'm loving Almond Butter too at the moment (it's like Peanut Butter) and I'm sure some Neal's Yard Chocolate Coated Brazils will somehow find their way into the basket too! If you can't make it to a H&B shop this week, you can still take advantage of the offer by ordering online at http://www.hollandandbarrett.com/ and you'll get free delivery too on orders over £20.



This week I'm Picking...Cosmos



From this one packet of seeds which cost £2.25 I got all these:




and these:




Cosmos are well worth the bit of effort it takes to sow and nurture them for a few weeks before they get planted out in the garden. If I keep deadheading them, which I do only once a week (just snip off the dead flowerheads with scissors) they will keep flowering until the first frosts. Once they're finished that's it - they're annuals so won't come up again next year and they don't tend to self-see. So I will pull them up and put them on the compost heap where they will rot down into compost which will nourish the soil ready for when I sow and plant again next May. The cycle of life - it's magic!



Here are a couple more of photos from Thrive Yoga Blog readers. This time they're of home-grown flowers. Please keep sending me your photos to share - they're so beautiful and inspiring, and I hope you've had as much pleasure from growing and picking your own as I have.


Sandra C's dahlias

Suzanne F's Sweet Peas

Finally, here's a link to a video clip about feet by US Yoga and Anatomy teacher Leslie Kaminoff. It's interesting stuff and it might inspire you to "let go" of our cultural habit of wearing shoes a bit and go barefoot. Click here to play the video then go out in the sunshine and feel the grass between your toes!






8 September 2014

It's been a while.....


.... since I last wrote a blog post! A lot has happened in the past two months - holidays, birthdays, exam results days, lazy days and many, many lovely warm sunny days.

Whilst holidaying at Lake Garda in Northern Italy, I learned to windsurf (sort of!). This was an enlightening experience! It's been a long time since I was a complete and utter beginner at something, and it was very humbling. There were times during the course when I wanted to give up because it was just too hard and I wasn't making progress, but the discipline I've learned from my yoga practice came in very useful and I was able to breathe, dig deep and see it through.

It gave me an insight into how it might feel for someone coming to their first yoga class, unsure about all the unfamiliar postures, transitions, Sanskrit words etc., and it was a reminder how important it is for a teacher - yoga, windsurf or any other type of teacher - to be patient and reassuring with their students and to give clear instructions.

It was a reminder too about the value of practice. Practice helps you build your skills, and to improve rather than stay the same. Practice helps you to travel along your chosen path. I struggled to stand up on my own two feet on a windsurf board just as I used to struggle to stay balanced upside-down in headstand. I practiced my headstands consistently and now I'm completely comfortable with them - steady and strong, and if I practiced windsurfing often I'm sure I would become comfortable with it too. As yoga master Sri K Patthabi Jois is famous for saying, "Do your practice and all is coming".


Holiday Headstand at Lago di Ledro

This Week I'm Making...No-Bake Energy Bites

I found this recipe on Pinterest and tried these yummy snacks this weekend. They have healthy ingredients, are really easy to make and they taste soooo good. They got the thumbs up from my friends too.






This week I'm Visiting...Triyoga Soho's new cafe

Triyoga Soho has had a refit. A new studio has been added complete with infra-red heating for hot yoga classes, the changing rooms are more spacious and there is now a lovely little cafe with a super-healthy menu. I tried a delicious chickpea salad and a beetroot and carrot salad and went for a Green Inversion juice (cucumber, celery, spinach, apple, lemon and ginger).


Triyoga Soho - in Kingly Court off Carnaby Street


What to choose??....


Green Inversion juice


This Week I'm Picking...

Verbena bonariensis, cosmos, fuschia, black elder and dahlias. There is so much late summer colour in the garden, with the dahlias still producing masses of flowers - keep picking and they'll keep flowering. 



This Week I'm Loving...your photos

Have you got a photo of yourself doing yoga in a stunning location that you'd be willing to share? Or a photo of a stunning location without the yoga that simply took your breath away? Send me your photos (email hi@thriveyoga.co.ukand I'll share them with our yoga community over the next couple of weeks.

Claire T saluting the sun as it rises at Stackpole Quay, Pembrokeshire
Claire T doing a mighty fine Revolved Triangle pose

Two beautiful pictures from Jacqui P's summer holiday


Kath rocking her Warrior II pose by a lake in Ireland

I've just noticed that all the above photos show earth, sea (or lake) and sky and it reminded me of this lovely quote:





And finally... A Tribute to BKS Iyengar

You may have heard that BKS Iyengar, the guru who brought yoga to the West, died a couple of weeks ago at the age of 95. He was a very well respected teacher and author and I, amongst many, owe him a debt of gratitude for his teaching.

His method of yoga focused on the correct alignment of the body and introduced the use of props such as blocks and straps to enable people of all abilities to practice the postures. I was trained by Ruth White who was one of Mr Iyengar's first western students in the 1960's, so my own classes have an Iyengar influence.

He was, apparently, a demanding and fierce teacher who expected a lot from his students. He was known for his eagle-eye and attention to every minute detail of the body's placement, and would correct a person's pose if even one finger was out of place. However, this level of discipline yielded so many transformations of health and mental attitude that his teaching spread far and wide, and is now practiced by thousands of people around the world. To this day, Iyengar yoga is synonymous with a strong asana-based practice, with correct alignment of the body being paramount.

He published one of the most important yoga books, Light on Yoga, which is found on the bookshelves of most yoga teachers as it is such a clear and succinct reference to so many postures. He has a teaching centre in Pune, India and his work will be carried on by his daughter Geeta and his son Prashant.


BKS Iyengar 1918-2014


One of Iyengar's most famous quotes


Picture Quote of the Week