Sunny Friday Gratitudes!

Today was a sunny, lazy day. Those two are enough to be grateful, but let's try for a full list.

1. sunshine in the Big Apple. I'm still wearing my winter jacket and it's almost May, but heck, it's at least sunny.

2. a day off to go to the movies! I really don't remember the last time I went. So, I made it a double header.

3. more catering work in the kitchen vs. being on the floor - so less heavy lifting

4. keeping my apartment tidy

5. fresh beets, ginger and apples. A yummy, fresh combination.

And you? What  do you appreciate? Please share your list below.

The Benefits of Barefoot

Today is Tommy Housworth's birthday. For those of you who do not know, Tommy suggested a number of really great blog posts over the past few months. He has a blog called Barefoot Zen and is an avid barefoot runner. Therefore it's no surprise that he wants to spread the gospel of the naked foot. So, Happy Birthday, Tommy and this post is for you!

The Benefits of Barefoot

While it's difficult to be out and about without shoes in New York City, they're the first thing that I remove when I walk through my apartment door. First, I don't want to track the dirt and grime from the street in my home, but without shoes I am more comfortable. It's less formal and I can stretch my feet out from long days standing or walking on unforgiving pavement.

While I love a nice shoe, I cannot wait for the warmer months so I can be barefoot more often. Luckily there are a plethora of parks close by so I can doff the shoes and walk in the grass. I also had the opportunity to visit Coney Island twice last year and dig my toes in the sand and allow the tide to come up over my feet. As a yoga teacher I talk lots about the connection of the feet to the floor, but it's truly a connection with the Earth. Finding the groundedness and stability from the Earth and bringing it in to the body. Pushing into the Earth to find length upwards as we stand or balance on one leg in vrksasana or garudasana. And I firmly believe we cannot find this connection with our shoes on.

I've had major foot and ankle injuries over the years. I first sprained my ankle in these cute red clogs when I was 5, but I broke my foot twice and sprained the ankle at least 6 times. It wasn't until I was in physical therapy from the last injury in 2009 that I was told I don't walk evenly. In fact, I put little weight on my left foot and my right foot had to make up the difference. I finally knew why people kept asking me if I was limping! It's no surprise that I kept re-injuring since I did not use my feet efficiently. You can tell how you do by the way your shoes wear. Mine tended to wear out on the lateral or outside first, because I used to put my weight there. Due to physical therapy and my yoga practice, I'm more conscious when i walk, and make sure I'm giving each full foot it's due. My balance is certainly better and I know it's because of my barefoot focus.

Last year I did work study at the Yoga Journal Conference here in NY. During the 3-day conference, I had the good fortune to take 2 of Leslie Kaminoff's classes. With my years of foot and ankle injuries, I was excited to focus on the feet from a yoga standpoint. The feet and ankles have an amazing amount of bones, muscles and ligaments holding them all together. This gives us an unbelievable range of motion in the foot. Much of it we don't use because our feet are always in shoes. 

I could say a lot more, but I do think that Yoga Anatomy guru, Leslie says it better. Take off your shoes, roll your feet around on a tennis ball or ask your partner for a foot massage and watch these two videos. You can also check out one of his websites here.

Go.


I suggest starting with this one. And then go here.

Have questions, comments or suggestions? Please add them in the comment section below!

Friday Gratitudes

I feel like I'm grateful for much of the same week to week. Not that that's bad, but I'd love something new. Perhaps I'll change something up this coming week.

Here's what I'm thankful for:
1. starting to work with a new couple in counseling - and they are delightful
2. catering leftovers
3. Spring in NY! And yes, it will kick your city's Spring in the tootie!
4. connecting with some friends this evening
5. a bit of catering this week, but a full schedule next week.

And you? Care to share your gratitudes? Please do below.

The Chakras Explained - THIRD EYE

I don't believe any of you have been waiting with bated breath for the next installment of The Chakras Explained. But it does surprise me that I have not explained any chakras since January. Apologies. We're almost done as we hit #6 of 7.

When I teach yoga I tend to use the heart chakra more than any other. I summarize anahata as the center of love, compassion, forgiveness and acceptance. However, only recently when creating a meditation for a workshop did I create summaries for all seven. The Third Eye (or Ajna in sanskrit) is the center of our intuition, imagination, intellect and faith. It's located in the center of the forehead, but since our energy radiates 360 degrees, it's also in the back and sides of our head.

This chakra for me has always been very open. It allowed me to intuitively teach over the years and as a child I had a very vivid imagination. I guess I still do. Other ways to tell that ajna is active and healthy are empathetic connections, open mindedness, powerful dreams, mental stamina and easy meditative states.

If the 6th Energy Center is under-active, you may not be very good at thinking for yourself, and tend to rely on authority figures. You may be rigid in your thinking, relying heavily on your beliefs and not open to new ideas. You might even get easily confused, have poor memory, experience eye issues and have difficulty recognizing patterns. When the 3rd Eye is over-active, we may experience nightmares, headaches, have difficulty concentrating and even hallucinate.

Don't fret. If your Third Eye is not in balance, there are a number of things you can do to heal and cleanse ajna. Try these.

1. Eat purple foods. Grapes, blueberries, purple carrots, plums, purple cabbage and eggplant, for starters.
2. Play with lavender. Dab some essential oil on your wrists, lather on some yummy lavender lotion or steep some lavender with your favorite tea!
3. Have an herbal oil treatment (Shirodhara). Some spas offer this treatment where warm oil is poured on the center of your forehead. Trust me, it's a pretty remarkable experience.
4. Do yoga. When I teach a class that focuses on Ajna, I take time in child's pose with the forehead touching the floor. I also make sure to do our surya namaskar or sun salutations with our eyes closed. 

What's going on in your 3rd Eye? Did any of the cleansing suggestions work for you? Anything you want to share? Please add your comments and questions to the comment section below.

Rainy Friday Gratitudes!

It's been quite a week.  I worked A LOT of catering jobs and my feet hurt and I am exhausted. I decided to skip yoga this morning, stay in bed and eat a real, yummy breakfast. While I cannot think fully straight, I am thankful for a good number of things.

1. Completely settling my workers comp claim
2. Lots of catering work and some yummy food on the job
3. The strong hands of the massage dude in the nail salon around the corner. I treated myself to a 30 min. reflexology and chair massage session yesterday.
4. Meeting or speaking with a few potential wedding couples
5. Warmer weather - even two 70 degree days - and some well needed rain.

And you? Where do you find thanks? Feel free to share it below.

Friday, friday, thank you!

I got home last night and there was a flash of inspiration to write my gratitudes. But no, it never happened. I guess the gratitudes are now on Fridays.

Here's what I'm thankful for this week:

1. A lovely evening with a colleague. Thanks for sharing a great dining experience at Maialino, Lise!
2. Slightly warmer temps - Spring in NYC
3. Finally setting a date for my NY cabaret!
4. Booking another wedding for the fall
5. Moving forward on The Zen Bride

What are you grateful for this week? How 'bout sharing ONE in the comment section below. Go.

How Much is Too Much?

My good buddy Tommy Housworth suggested a number of blog posts to me. Some he's already written about here. Others are new challenges.

At the end January, he gave me 5 post ideas. I've posted two of them here and here. And then in the middle of March, he threw in another one:

When does enthusiasm or passion for something good for you become a tad like evangelizing or beating your own drum? How do we support one another in our journeys without sounding like me-monkeys and know-it-alls in the process?

Tommy asked from the point of view of someone newly returned to vegetarianism. He wants to shout it from the roof tops. Similarly, my friend Michele sells Arbonne products and is afraid of being too pushy. And in February I challenged myself to avoid plastic. I wanted to make it personal goal, but here were a few times that I wanted to (and did!) question others on their use.

I can really only speak about my experience. And there are 4 blog posts where I talk about my No New Plastics Challenge. I did make it a personal goal and announced my successes and challenges most days on social media. There were a number of people following along and I hoped that sharing my experience would start a discussion. I wanted people to question their own habits and make some gentle changes. Did that happen? I think so. At least on a small scale. However, I approached it from a purely personal place. I did what was right for me and I never judged others around me. I answered questions when people asked and explained what I was doing if someone wanted more information. I guess the biggest thing is that I didn't make a big deal about it. While working a catering event they put out plastic plates and utensils for us during a meal break. I quietly went around, asked for and received a ceramic plate and real silverware. I also offered to wash them to make it easier for the guy handling sanitation. When I returned to the eating area, I didn't flaunt my plate or ask why people didn't ask for one themselves. I did what was right for me.

The only time I walked the line was bartending an event that only used plastic cups. I encouraged people to reuse their cup, but didn't make a face if they didn't want to (which only happened twice.) I did see the realization in a few people's faces that they could indeed reduce their use of plastic. A few thanked me for offering to refill their glasses, so they didn't take a fresh cup. It was a fine line. One of the other bartenders overheard me and started doing it, too, but I certainly didn't announce it to the rest of the staff or ask the bussers to allow people to keep their cups.

So, Tommy in terms of your first question, I think you just know. It's a gut thing. You know when you cross that line and start evangelizing. If you find some pro-veggie information that you feel would benefit others - post it, email it, snip and mail. If you are trying to change someone's beliefs, you may question that - unless what you think they are doing is dangerous.

The second question is my favorite. How to support? And the answer is ASK. If you want help spreading the word about one of your passions, let people know. Those that can and have an interest will do so. Those that don't want to, won't. Most people want to support, they just need to know HOW. Be specific with what you want. Conversely, if you want to support a friend in his/her mission, ASK how you can best assist. If you have a suggestion on a way to help another, ask too. Just be prepared for a gentle (or not so gentle) rejection.

If you are enthusiastic about something, I feel you do need to shout it out loud and proud. If you are truly passionate, there will be interested parties around you that will want to know. They will want to know because it's working FOR YOU. Others can either look on your actions as something that may work for them or be motivated solely by your passion to find something equally meaningful.

Anything to share? What are your thoughts on the issue? Please add to the discussion below. And if you have a blog post suggestion or a question, email me: hope@perfectunionny.com