Yoga Traveler

Written 12/20/2020 Josh was home and we were so excited!  I spent weeks keeping the secret of his homecoming bottled inside because it was so uncertain, and then I had just a few days to prepare for his arrival when we realized it was really happening.  Expectations were high.  And I did not think at all what might happen after we picked him up at the airport.  This happy moment was all I knew to expect. That night, Josh handed me a pamphlet called "Returning Home: Making Your Reunion a Good One."  As I read it, I wondered why I did not have access to the pamphlet in the weeks leading up to his return.  It would have been so helpful!   Josh felt out of the loop in many aspects of our life.  He did not know where he fit anymore.  In many ways I had literally edged him out of our room.  All his little piles were off the dresser.  His side of the bed now had twinkly lights the kids gave me.  Our room had become my online yoga...

Written 12/13/2020 Deployment- A word we  dread.  We all hope that it will not happen, but inevitably, the world we live in will place us in a deployment.  All of a sudden you find yourself a single parent who shoulders all the tasks of the household (housekeeper, taxi driver, teacher, unpaid shopper) and all the emotions of loss, loneliness, anger, anxiety, and exhaustion.  Then you have to deal with your kids emotions and be strong for them. It all sounds like too much!  But then you start to talk to women who have been there before.  You learn some survival skills and you find a new normal.  Here is how I survived our first deployment: 1. Do Yoga - Yoga is huge part of my life.  If you would like yoga to help you like it has helped me, I have developed a program for you, Yoga for Deployment .  But if yoga is not for you- just pick something to move you physically.  This will boost your endorphins which make you happy!  Positive o...

 Written 12/4/2020 Today I was listening to Josh Groban's "I'll Be Home for Christmas."  He has a beautiful version of the song with heartbreaking audio from deployed military members.  All of the sudden, water works.  I have listened to this song for years, but this year, it had a greater meaning for me and my family and I felt grief. How can we use yoga to release our grief and find some peace? In 2020, our lives have been disrupted. We have felt loss and heartache, injustice, and tremendous grief.  My family has been dealing with our first deployment on top of this and I have felt that what I do in this time matters.  I need to be alert to everything that arises and that includes my grief.   Yoga Nidra can help us take the heaviness we feel during grief and turn it into grounding, a connection to the earth that holds us and supports us.  Yoga Nidra allows us to stay awake and aware while we move through stages of consciousness and the tran...

Written 11/22/2020 Do you ever feel your mind focusing on negative thoughts while your spouse is deployed?  It is easy to do because when your mind takes over, it has a tendency to move toward the negative and drown out the clear, positive voice.  My husband was deployed in the middle of the COVID -19 pandemic.  Not only did I not have control of his world as he was across the ocean, I did not have control of the world outside my home and I felt the constant threat of the virus looming.  I had guilt every time I allowed my children to play at a friend's house, took them to dance or gymnastics, or planned a weekend outing.  I felt an extreme amount of pressure as I tried to make decisions for the welfare of my family without the backing of Josh.  It was mentally exhausting.  At times, I definitely needed to shift my focus. Pratipaksha Bhavana is the ability to see things from a different point of view by understanding a higher absolute truth.  I b...

 Written 11/14/2020 When Josh was preparing to go on his deployment, he told me that many spouses will choose a project to complete during deployment to help them stay busy and pass the time.  I thought, "that is crazy!"  I knew that I would be plenty busy juggling the household, my three kids, my yoga teaching and practice, and my religious service.  That sounded like plenty to do.   But then Josh left.  I quickly recognized that I would not be able to use the many mundane tasks of my life to pass the time and feel fulfilled.  I know that what I do day in and day out matters, but it did not feel that I would have anything concrete to show for my time while Josh was gone.  And Josh would come home with a wealth of new experiences.  A ll of a sudden, a deployment project did not seem like such a bad idea. Cecilia Holle, owner of GYM in Enid, OK, told me of Namastream, an online platform where I could launch an online yoga studio.  Al...

 Written 8/9/2020 My husband has now been on deployment for one month which does not seem monumental at all because it is not the longest he has ever been gone throughout his time in the US Air Force.  One day I will be able to say, "I have now been without my spouse longer than I ever have."  Although, I am not sure this is something to celebrate.  Even with just a month gone, I can feel the frantic pace of my life without him.  I often find myself out of balance.  I sacrifice most of my time for my yoga and my children and end up working on other things into the late hours of the night.  But the yoga I am doing is not for myself, it is for my clients.  This does give me satisfaction as I enjoy the creativity and service I feel when I teach, but I find myself wanting solace for my own soul through my yoga practice.  I decided to go back to the book, to find some insight from the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.   When people hear the word...

Vendanta- End of Knowledge Written 7/26/20 Vendanta is scientific knowledge of how you can have an active and peaceful life.  If we learn Vendanta, we should be able to handle any challenge with grace and objectivity.  Studying and practicing Vendanta can bring about understanding, calmness, and stress reduction in all areas of our life. So why does Deployment feel so opposite of Vendanta?  Perhaps it is because we don't have control over when our loved one will leave, when they will return, what will happen to them or us while they are gone- the list goes on and on.    Vendanta was founded between 1800 and 1000 BCE.  Yoga masters noticed that people were suffering and experiencing stress, even while the external world was being perfected.  Yogis decided to focus on studying themselves as subjects instead of obsessing over objects of the world. So, Vendanta is a study of oneself and the knowledge gained is all one needs to create a harmonious and full ...

Written on 7/19/2020 Namaste is roughly translated as "the light within me honors and loves the light within you." Namaste is an expression of honor and respects the other person as being made as the same Pure Consciousness as you. (Rina Jakubowicz)  When we say and hear Namaste, we feel a sense of union, compassion, and acknowledgment, regardless of circumstances.   So let's say Namaste to our deployed loved one today.  Can I feel a sense of union with my spouse while he is an ocean away?  I have to say that technology helps.  Currently, my husband is quarantined on base in Germany due to COVID- 19 and we have established a good FaceTime schedule when I first wake in the morning and then again before he goes to bed.  Sometimes we do not have a lot to say but I can still enjoy the union of our voices and thoughts being expressed. Can I feel compassion for my spouse?  Yes, I can empathize with his impatience at his situation in a holding pattern a...

Events from 7/7/2020 We have been preparing for Josh's deployment since February of 2020. This is our first deployment so we looked for ideas of things that we could do to help our family prepare emotionally.  It was hard to know how we would actually feel when the day of separation arrived.   I purchased Deployment dolls for the kids and we took family pictures. We also tons of time with Josh in the weeks leading up to deployment.  Due to COVID-19, he completed four weeks of home quarantine in between his training.  We played tons of games inside and outside, watched movie marathons, ordered food, and walked our dog often.  I got very spoiled by both his helpfulness with house tasks and his constant presence.  I could ask him a question whenever I wanted and I could express my thoughts whenever I wanted.  I knew that I was living in a COVID bubble but I tried to just take it all in. Then the morning arrived that Josh was to leave.  I had a h...

 Mudras are symbolic hands gestures that yoga practitioners use to focus energy, bring peace, and enlightenment.  Practicing mudras can calm and bring joy while focusing on the higher meaning of the gesture. They are usually practiced during breathing practices (pranayama) or meditation. Try Jnana (Gyan) Mudra.  Spread your fingers with the palm up.  Your thumb represents the Self, pure consciousness.  The index finger is your ego, the individual self.  The last three fingers represent your three "bodies"- body. mind, and intellect. When we are on the path of Yoga, the ego must always be under the Self.  This is why the index finger curls under the thumb.  The last three fingers stay separate from the others because the body, mind, and intellect are not the absolute truth.   Try sitting cross legged and place your hands on your knees in Jnana Mudra.  Hold the mudra for five minutes and reflect on the meaning of the mudra.  Reme...

 Merry, merry yoga time!! Enjoy🎄

Chair yoga.  What a beautiful thing, doing yoga on a chair.  We all have chairs, but do we think about using them for our physical health and well being?   I started teaching Chair Yoga in 2015 at the YMCA in Las Vegas, Nevada.  I had always done very physical yoga with Ashtanga as my primary base so I did not get Chair Yoga.  I thought (and I am so sorry for this thought), "this will be so easy, doing yoga for a bunch of old people."  I am SO glad that I was wrong.  I found Chair Yoga to be WONDERFUL! Not only did my body crave the break from a million chaturangas, I found an extreme amount of joy, peace, and comfort in sitting and bending.  I felt every joint and ball and socket because I honed in.  I did not have to worry about balance and I could really listen to my breath and feel small muscle groups that were sometimes masked by the larger ones. And the people in my classes were not just old people (again, so sorry!) I had pregnant...