Category: Nama. . .What? Yoga. Blog.

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Know Thyself Part 2: Enneagrams and Coping with Your Personality

woman taking photo through textured glassoriginally published in Limestone Post

These days, it seems everybody has advice on how to live better and be more successful. Much of this “help” seems centered on correcting something about ourselves or acquiring some book, drink, diet, or machine to “fix” our problems. But, in this series, we will explore accessible, thought-provoking ways to cultivate a deeper sense of ease and clarity of purpose by drawing from methods rooted in both scientific and spiritual traditions from East to West. Click here to learn more about goals, values, and intentions by reading Part 1.

How we cope with the world reveals as much about our personalities as it reveals about the things we value in our lives. Our personalities comprise a complicated mix of genetics, experiences, emotions, values, and the ways in which we perceive and process the world around us.

In this second installment of “Know Thyself,” we will use a personality test called the Enneagram (pronounced IN-ee-uh-gram) to explore the ways in which we filter our values through the lenses of our personalities. Variations of the test’s geometric symbol date back to Plato, and its arithmological influence is seen in medieval Judeo, Sufi, and Christian philosophies. Today, the Enneagram has a broader appeal as a tool for recognizing and understanding our personality type, interrupting conditioned patterns of behavior, and taking advantage of our inherent strengths. Read on. . . 

 

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On Bluegrass, Monroe and the Beauty of Music

My yoga teaching mentor Rolf Gates recommends we cultivate what we find to be true and beautiful as a practice of aligning with ourselves.  Music, in particular Bluegrass music, is part of the beauty I see in the world.  In my most recent article for Limestone Post Magazine, I write on the importance of celebrating the influence of American music innovator Bill Monroe.  

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Killing ‘Martha Stewart,’ or Letting Go of Goals and Relentless Perfectionism

I have a problem.  I struggle with perfectionism and more often than not, it stops me in my tracks and prevents me from accomplishing more.  I’ve decided to kill my ‘Martha Stewart’-like tendancies and live from a more centered place by focusing on my intentions and purpose.  Read more about my adventures in killing ‘Martha’ by clicking on the article photo below!

 

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Can Yoga Save The World?

 

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Recently I was invited to write for The Limestone Post Magazine, a local online magazine celebrating Bloomington, Indiana and the surrounding area.  As any of my friends can tell you, I am in love with Btown and all it has to offer.  Often taken for granted by life-long residents, and not as well-known outside of the mid-west (unless you follow basketball), Bloomington is a hotbed of intellect, music, art, culture, cuisine and comedy.  To my friends back in Denver who asked why in the world I would move away, I described my town as a little less weird than Boulder, CO and without mountains.  But honestly, without a doubt, this is where the deepest part of my heart resides.  Limestone Post gives me an opportunity to share my thoughts and views on the things I love most and introduces me to other perspectives about this place called home.  Click on the photo above to read my first article.

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Yoga Doesn’t Give A Shit!

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Yoga doesn’t care if you can touch your toes. . .
bend your knees.
Yoga doesn’t care if you have read the Sutras chapter and verse. . .
you are welcome.
Yoga doesn’t care who Lulu or Lucy are or if your pants are vegetable dyed hemp. . .
you are not your clothes.
Yoga doesn’t care if you are having your best day or your worst. . .
any day is a good day to practice.
Yoga doesn’t care if you believe you are physically broken or emotionally bankrupt . . .
come as you are.
Yoga doesn’t care if your pants are see-through. . .
and they are, trust me.
Yoga doesn’t care if you speak English, French, Korean or Sanskrit. . .
just speak your own truth.
Yoga doesn’t care if you are Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Muslim, Aetheist, Agnostic. . .
as long as you walk in love.
Yoga doesn’t care if you think you are “all that”. . .
it will humble you.
Yoga doesn’t care if you are fat or skinny, tall or short, brown or white. . .
you are not your vessel.
Yoga doesn’t care if you do not believe in yourself. . .
it will show you the way.
Yoga doesn’t care if you’ve been a jerk your whole life. . .
it will reveal your inner light.
Yoga doesn’t care if you practice yin, Bhakti, Bikram, vinyasa. . .
this practice offers so much.
Yoga doesn’t care if you practice in the heat or cold, in a bed, on a cushion or in a chair. . .
it cannot be contained.
Yoga doesn’t care if you practice one limb or all eight. . .
you have to start somewhere.
Yoga doesn’t care if you can’t shut off your mind. . .
that is why it is called a practice.
Yoga doesn’t care about Chaturanga, Adho Mukha Vrksasana,
or Eka Pada Rajakapotasana. . .
those asanas are the illusions to which we attach ourselves.

Yoga doesn’t give a shit. . .

you do.
Let go of judgment, labels and perfection. . .
simply practice.
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