Week 2: Practice to cultivate Happiness

Well its almost week two of my month long personal challenge. I have to admit, I almost missed a day, as it was full of fantastic shenanigans for a friends birthday scavenger hunt, to which I showed up dressed as a mermaid.  The theme was Neverland characters, which I found so appropriate for me and inner child who remains a major player in my own life. I was worried about missing a good yoga session, but my pal would not fail me,  he included "Bus stop Yoga" as on of our many items to do on our list. So even though my "tail" was slightly restrictive, I excitedly busted out a beautiful  Dancers pose atop a bus stop bench. So that counts right?

Though to be real, I am starting to recognize all of the ways that my practice follows me off the mat and into my life. I find that I am working harder to practice patience, compassion and positivity when I am at work or just out dealing with daily interactions. I mean, if it takes me two more seconds to be a little bit more friendly to checkout person at the store I could both make their day and make my experience more positive. So these things really are not that hard, plus the benefits hugely out-weigh the effort.

I watched a documentary on Netflix, called "Happy", and its main point is to address the thing
 the film covers across many people and cultures in places around the world who come from all walks of life and are considered truly happy people. The documentary comes to the conclusion that it is not things that give us happiness, while they do provide instant gratification it is only fleeting pleasure.  Backed by all areas of study including religious and spiritual leaders, brain science, psychology, and personal interviews with amazing people who have found their pursuit of happiness.

One interesting case study was that on Bhutan, a nation tucked away in the Himalayas. Their philosophy of Gross National Happiness implies that their citizen's level of happiness should be greater than the nations Gross National Product. In the film one leader said that "happiness lies within the self" The government promotes and facilitates the well being of it's citizens instead of being concerned with economic development. They believe that doing so will preserve their culture as well as protect the environment that provides them with what they need to be self-sustaining. This compassionate nation wants nothing more than to be happy and promote sustainable development, preservation of cultural values,  environmental awareness, and good governance.

Other people interviewed in the film come from even the poorest slums in India, a tribe in the African,  deserts, a family in Denmark who live in a 20 family co-home,  the many 100 + year olds in Okinawa, Japan,  and many others. All of these happy people seem to have the same things in common, they are all compassionate people who are not just in pursuit of their own personal happiness but also that of others happiness. When we act with compassion and gratitude we can see a perspective that is so much bigger than ourselves. Each story speaks of the same gratitude for what they have in their life rather than a desire for more and more.

Our brain is quite the marvel, when chemicals are released we feel different physical and emotional sensations in our body. The chemical Dopamine is released that gives a feeling of pleasure and happiness. Physical activity is proven to boost dopamine levels. I immediately thought of my last two weeks. And better yet the last two years. My physical activity has gone up dramatically in the last few years. I have more opportunity and more motivation to be outside and thus I have found my self casually becoming an active person. I don't "go work out" or belong to a gym. But the last two weeks I've been practicing yoga everyday for a least 15 mins but usually allowing myself an hour and half for a solid session. Each day I have more energy, and I feel happier. My heart is lighter, my mind is clearer and I am making the effort to be kinder and more compassionate.

Change your perspective; inverted

While my physical practice is good for my body, its also good for my mind and spirit. Through physically releasing toxins in a cleansing stretch and focusing deeply while I breath energy into a difficult pose I am gaining and unlocking new emotions and feelings and sensations. Im finding my authentic self and learning to love it and making the best effort to send that love right back out into the world. In the film someone said, "You have to practice to cultivate happiness" and you really do have to put the effort in, because there is no amount of money or material thing that can make you truly happy. You create the happy.





Get out there and make it happen. Enjoy living now, not waiting for tomorrow. We are the generation that sends this message out daily because we capture moments and choose to preserve them and share them the world. We celebrate the human experience. So take time to be active in a playful way that is fun and enjoyable so that you'll want to do it again. Build friendships that are honest, finding out that you can be your self amongst friends is a blessing so hang on to them for they will inspire you continue to grow. Taking care of our environment is also taking care of each other; we have to realize that we could all actually care a little more and create a sense of community and invest more time into doing more things for others. It could all circle back, if we could just get on the same page and take more care when doing things.

Feeling pretty inspired today.

Namaste

T

Check out the film "Happy" at  http://www.thehappymovie.com/

Fall in to Yoga: Week 1...looking up

 Wednesday October 8
So its been one week since I began my #fallintoyoga commitment to my practice for the month of October. Through the week I have made a strong intention each day to practice for at least 30 mins. I am proud to say that I have completed one full week of daily practice and I am feeling fantastic. I have already noticed and incredible amount of progress, going deeper in to each pose everyday.

I have been focusing on hip openers and heart openers this week. There is physical connection to our hips and our mental and emotional state. We store emotion in our hips, therefore tight hips indicate that we are holding on to emotions without allowing them to pass fully. Hip openers have most certainly allowed me to release a lot of emotional tension.  One of the things about yoga that still has me in awe is it's incredible connection of the mind, body and spirit. They are all working together, therefore they must all be balanced to work effectively.

I have also been experimenting with the time of day that I practice and practicing with others. I have found that an energizing practice in the early morning will give me the boost of energy that I need for the day and a calming quiet series in the late evening allows me to sleep like a baby and get the rest I truly need. I have also been practicing with my friends and husband which is a fantastic way to stay motivated and through teaching others I am learning even more about each pose and how to be more present in the pose. It's not about how deep you go, everyone of us is in a different phases in our life and has different levels of flexibility and endurance. Practicing with others helps to be more aware of that fact and reminds us to stay true to our own path and practice a pace that works for us individually.

But by far the greatest benefit I have experienced from 7 days of practice has been seen in my mental state. I find my self pausing for a moment to take a breath and think before reacting to adversity. A perfect example of this came yesterday. Having the day off and being fairly broke after paying rent, I decided to take the bus to my work to pick up any tips I still had there, hoping for at least twenty dollars. After my half hour bus ride, I found a whopping eight dollars waiting for me. Then I received a phone call from my husband telling me that our car had to be taken to the mechanic that day so that he could get home safely. So here I am, disappointed with my eight dollars and devastated at the idea of how much bad news the mechanic will come back with. I had a choice, to sit there and worry and be pissed off about my situation or I could stay calm. I chose to be calm and be supportive to my also concerned husband. He was incredibly surprised at my calm state of mind as well as appreciative to my not adding to his stress. From here I began to look at the situation in front of me, in the end it only cost $400 for the car to be fixed as well as a full check up which gave me serious peace of mind and my car no longer screeches at every right turn AND because I went into work that day my boss asked me to work an extra shift this weekend. I would have never had that opportunity if I had not gone in. In the end things actually worked out ok. The car would have needed to be fixed regardless and we took care of it before it got even more expensive.

A friend of mine is going through a very difficult time in his life, his situation parallel to mine really emphasizes the true density of a problem. His problems are massive compared to mine, yet he still smiles everyday. I felt like I could not let this day of minor setbacks derail my entire consciousness to be negative and distraught. So I keep looking up.

This is what I saw.

In my travels on foot, outfitted with my hippie back pack and always pumping tunes on my headphones I have enjoyed the opportunity to enjoy the trip to my next destination. Being given the chance to look up and see amazing architecture, beautiful sky, and exotic plants and birds, has allowed me to find a sense of peace above the noise of the street. My personal positive affirmation became "Look Up" and I try to remind myself to do it often.
Yesterday my husbands text read "There is a part in the clouds, lets go jump in the puddles". I texted him these pictures to confirm his words.

So much beauty is passed by when we are drudging through our daily lives with a chip on our shoulder because we are having a bad day. There are so many times when I stop and look around and what I see takes my breath away.  I have to remember that even on the bad days, I can still have those moments.

So far so good on the journey to a better me. I'll keep yoga-in' away and take my practice off the mat into my daily life.

Namaste

T