SUI GENERIS AGING HANDBOOK

Three Key Core Exercises for Runners On The Mend

Sometimes I wonder what might happen if we could hand out journals to all the people in the world and ask everyone to take ten minutes from their busy lives to write in the pages of their journals. What would they write? What would they say?

If they were starving, would the flow of words and ideas nourish their spirits, if not their bodies?

If they were fighting, would the words distract them from battle? Would they forget their anger and wounds and be able to see the beauty in their lives? In the world?

Would people find peace in their journals in the same way that I find peace in the pages of my journal?

This month marks the first anniversary of Writing Yoga’s arrival into the world, and I’m still amazed at how the moment I open to a fresh page in my journal, I feel peace descend on me.

It’s a feeling of peace that comes with a sense of possibility, a sense of what the future might bring. My pen moves across the page, and the world slows down, no longer racing by.

In the pages of my journal, I can take time to reflect on what’s happened in my asana practice and what’s happening in my life or just muse on the swaying of a pine tree’s boughs in the wind.

I can see the world in a different way–through my heart, not just through my eyes.

It doesn’t matter what may be happening around me–waves crashing on the sand, a motorboat speeding offshore, the blare of a boombox down the beach–I can open my journal and find peace.

That sense of peace, I’ve discovered, doesn’t come from cutting myself off from the world but rather from immersing myself in it.

Instead of swaddling myself in silence or distancing myself from the world, my practice of keeping a journal inspires me to move deeper and more fully into the experience of life.

Instead of being disturbed by the sound of an ambulance, for instance, I’ll notice the siren and feel a sudden compassion for the person in distress and for the people who are helping the person in distress.

Instead of finding myself impatient at the slowness of the check-out line in the local grocery store, I’ll notice a woman in a wheelchair at the front of the line struggling to bag her own groceries and feel a sudden sense of gratitude for my ability to walk and for witnessing the amazing courage displayed by someone confined to a wheelchair.

These are the kinds of connections that my journal helps me make.

I never know where my pen will take me on any given day. As long as I have enough paper and ink, or a fully charged laptop, I can go anywhere, explore any subject, ask any question, each word pulling me deeper into the world and into myself.

The deeper I go, the more peacefulness I find, a peacefulness that is, oddly, beyond words.

Each time we pick up our journals and begin to write, we are inspiring peace in ourselves and in the world.

In this way we are all journaling for peace, helping to bring peace to our souls, as well as to the world, one page, one word, at a time.

Practice Journal:

Here are a few questions to help you explore the notion of peace in your life and in your practice. They may serve as useful writing prompts to get you started, or they may inspire you to ask your own questions.

Find a comfortable seat on your mat or in your favorite chair, take a few moments to review the questions, select one (or more), then open your journal and begin writing.

Try setting aside a minimum of ten minutes for each question that you decide to explore.

1. How do your yoga poses inspire peace? Which pose do you find most peaceful?

2) How can you incorporate the peace you find on your mat into your daily life?

3) Where does peace come from? What needs to be present for peace to appear? And what makes peace so shy, so reluctant, to appear or make itself known?

4) If you had the power to bring peace into a troubled area of the world–a war-torn country, perhaps, or your own neighborhood (or even your own home)–where would you bring it and why?

5) How do you make sure peace will endure?

6) How do you act if peace is absent? What can you do to bring peace into the world?

As technology has advanced, some tactile joys have fallen by the wayside. Books have gotten competition from ebooks/wireless reading devices. Writing has given way to typing. Letters have been virtually replaced by emails. Written planners have been abandoned in favor of online calendars. Online contact databases have gained popularity over address books.

I am a technology geek and I enjoy using email, online contact databases, word processing programs, the Internet, and all other sorts of technological advancements. But I still enjoy breaking out my pen and paper and writing. Just recently, I bought a phyiscal planner so that I can write (in fun colored pens!) down my daily agenda and to do lists. I've been using it for a few weeks now and I absolutely love it. I continue to put major appointments in my online calendar (which syncs to my phone), but the physical act of writing out my plans gives me something that typing doesn't.

Benefits of Writing it Down A few months ago I read Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way after having the book sit on my bookshelf for years. I loved the book and started doing her prescribed morning pages each day. The morning pages ritual consists of free writing 3 pages each morning. After doing this for a few months, I've fallen in love with the process and I look forward to propping myself up in bed each morning and writing. I've journaled on and off throughout my life, but this is the first time that I've actually scheduled the activity into my day.

It's no wonder that I'm finding this practice so useful. Studies on the power of writing down your feelings have been done and -- surprise, surprise -- it's been found that writing down your feelings increases your physical health, improves your emotional well-being, and boosts your immune system.

Applying Writing to Your Yoga Practice When we think of journaling, we often apply it to this type of freeform writing in which we do an emotional dump on the page. What if we changed this idea and instead applied the practice of journaling to our yoga practice? All it would take is a simple notebook and a writing implement of your choice (mechanical pencil, colored pen, irridescent pen, Bic pen -- you decide what's the most fun for you), which is a minimal investment (you don't need to spend a lot of money on a bound, hard cover journal). It would also require a minimal time commitment of 5-10 minutes.

I suggest keeping the process simple (you can always add to it later on if you're finding it valuable):

Put the date and time of your yoga practice at the top of the page

Write down an intention for your yoga practice

Write down what poses you're practicing or what areas of the body your practice is focusing on

After the practice, write out what came up for your during and after your practice -- these could be physcial, mental, or emotional.

Write down any observations about your breath -- did you notice it or did you lose track of your breath? Was your breath forced? Was it relaxed and smooth? Did you find that staying aware of your breathing was difficult?

Write down ideas for next time -- what you want to concentrate on more, what was beneficial from your day's yoga practice, what you'd like to do differently in subsequent yoga practices, any a-has that came to you as a result of your practice, etc.

Simple Practice, Big Insights Rather than establish page writing limits and attaching requirements to journaling about your yoga practice, think of it as a worksheet. That way you don't feel as if you have yet another task to complete. Instead, look at it as a nice pre- and post-yoga practice ritual that nourishes you and can teach you helpful things about yourself and your practice.

Taking this extra time before and after your practice just might lead to a deeper practice. Perhaps you might discover that the practice you're currently doing isn't serving your body and that you may need to switch yoga styles. Or you may learn that your attention is wandering during your practice and you're moving more out of memory than attention and awareness. You'll most likely gain more insigh about the link between your body and breath, which is a key foundation of your practice.

There's power in the physical act of writing things down. We've been told this by motivational speakers and the self-help set for years. Yet, why don't we do this for our yoga practice? I had never thought about doing it myself until about 3 years ago during a yoga therapy training. I had brought a journal with me to capture my thoughts during what I was sure was going to be a powerful personal experience for me (it was). As I received yoga therapy sessions, I would write down my experiences after the fact. The insights that I found in those pages blew me away. I still reread those notes every now and again -- and the wisdom that I find in those scribblings is still helpful.

Helpful Resources If freeform writing or the questions above doesn't resonate with you and you'd prefer something a bit more formal, the folks over at MyYoga2Go sell a wonderful yoga journal that help you track your progress throughout your yoga practice. Here are a few other books that I adore and can inspire you to capture your experiences on paper:

Writing Down Your Soul -- this wonderful book will transform your journaling into a spiritual practice. The practice described in this book goes beyond the simple journaling I wrote about here, but it's well worth exploring. Because of this book, my morning pages have morphed into something much deeper and more profound.

Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life -- this delighful little book offers funny advice for bringing out the writer in you. This book is great help for anyone suffering from writer's block.

Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within -- this classic has been sitting on my shelf for years and I come back to it again and again. This books reads like a Zen text. Wonderful!

If you're wanting to get more out of your yoga practice, I suggest putting your body on the mat and your pen to paper.

Why to keep a yoga journal

When I first started keeping a yoga journal I didn't really have any specific goals in mind. I just wanted to track my practice, but I found journaling allows me to connect deeper with my practice.

Writing down details about my practice held me accountable, but also forced me to examine my practice in a way I might not have otherwise. I have a stronger awareness of my yoga and how it has progressed over the years.

Keeping a journal has mental health benefits. It gets your creative juices flowing and can give you an outlet you might not otherwise have. Are you feeling frustrated with your yoga practice? Write it down. Are you feeling joyful about your yoga practice? Write it down. Don't keep those feelings bottled up. That won't serve anybody, especially yourself.

How to keep a yoga journal

1. Find a blank book you enjoy writing in.

For me, this was the hardest part. I'm particular about those sorts of things. I happened to have a blank book lying around that I bought...oh, 7 years ago, so I used that instead of going out and buying a new one.

2. Find a pen you enjoy writing with.

I hate writing with regular ball point pens. I like gel pens or fountain pens. Right now I'm particularly in love with the recycled pentel pen. It writes smoothly, and I love that it's made from recycled water bottles.

3. Make a commitment to log your practice.

I get out my journal and write down every time I yoga. I do 3 warriors while waiting for the tea kettle, I write it down. Without the commitment, you'll stop journaling.

What to write about

Each of my journal entries includes the following information.

Date and time of practice

Practice details: Did I go to a class? Did I do a home practice? Did I supplement my home practice with a yoga video? What style of class was it? How long did I practice? Who was the teacher?

How did I feel before practice?

What asanas did I have difficulty with?

What asanas did I finally conquer?

What do I want to work on next time?

How do I feel after practice?

I like to get creative with my journaling. My pages are covered with yoga inspired doodles that help tell the story of my practice more than just words.

If you want to get started yoga journaling, I encourage it! To help you out, I put together a free download that will get you started journaling. You can print as many of these as you want. Download: Free yoga journaling template.

Yoga is about living a more mindful and intentional life.

I started doing yoga in 2004, and the idea of living a more mindful and intentional life was partly the reason I got into it. I was certainly attracted by the physical side – from the outside, it looked a bit like gymnastics, and ever since kindergarten I had always wanted to be gymnastic star.

However, the body-mind connection I had heard so much about is what really brought me to that first class in the yoga studio. De-stress? Quiet the mind? Develop better awareness? I didn’t know how we were going to do any of that, but it sounded good to me.

The first thing the teacher said in the first class was, “We’ll start by taking a moment to set an intention for your practice.” I drew a total blank. I had no idea what setting an intention meant. I intend to get better at yoga. I intend not to look like a fool in this class. I intend to pick up a latte on my way home. Clearly I didn’t quite get it.

Over the following years, as I learned and grew in my yoga practice, I continually struggled with the basic concept of setting an intention. I would often throw something out there like, “I’m here to dedicate this hour to myself”, “I’m here to escape my stressful life”, “My intention is to sweat” – usually not with a lot of thought behind it and always with a self-centered approach.

It wasn’t until I attended my yoga teacher training with the inspiring Paul Dallaghan that I finally really got some value out of setting an intention for my practice. He didn’t actually word it as “setting an intention” – and perhaps that’s why it seemed less confusing for me. But every morning, before practice, we spent a few moments reflecting on three powerful categories, which I share with you below.

It’s important to note that we didn’t spend 10 minutes thinking about this stuff everyday (who has that kind of time in the real world anyways?) – but two to three breaths per category, which is enough… especially if you’re doing it everytime.

1. Gratitude: Even in stressful or impossibly tough times, we are lucky to have something in our lives. These are the things that make life a little easier, a little more enjoyable and that make you a happier person. Take a few breaths to focus on the things, the people and the situations in your life that you are grateful for.

2. Forgiveness: Let’s face it: none of us are perfect. We’ve wronged people, and people have wronged us. Its not always intentional and unfortunately, it’s just the way the world works. Take a few breaths to reflect on the things you’d like to be forgiven for, and sending a few forgiving thoughts towards people who have wronged you. In short, this just means letting go. Holding onto bad feelings just doesn’t do us any good.

3. Guidance: In life, we can’t do it all alone. Sometimes we just need help. Reflecting on this helps us to realize that we need help (which is half the battle sometimes!) and makes us much more likely to look in the right places for help. Take a few breaths to think about what you need help with.

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Class: Yoga for Beginners | an introduction to beginners yoga (26 min)

Here’s the latest and greatest Yoga for Beginners video – an introduction to beginners yoga from Michelle Goldstein. Understand the basics of yoga asana and establish a strong foundation for your beginners yoga practice with this simple yet thorough beginners yoga workout. In this video, Los Angeles based yoga teacher Michelle Goldstein leads you through a focused and understandable 25 minute yoga sequence that will assist you in building your strength, flexibility and balance.