I am the type of person that never gets sick. I always tell people at work, especially those that are ill a lot, that I squeeze all my toxins out when I practice yoga through the peace of mind, sweat, twisting and balance that is achieved and practiced through yoga. And, I truly believe that this is entirely true.

In fact, I can’t even remember when the last time I got sick was, but I got sick yesterday. I had a great day, took Shakti Flow with Ashley at Yogani Studios,  photo shoot with photographer Kerry Travilla-Brown, then taught my own yoga class at Serenity Stream, came home made dinner, ate and oh what a feeling.

My tummy began to hurt like a knife was sticking in it and then twirlling around. I thought it was something I ate, but when I only had lentil soup and a salad what on earth could it have been? Even though I am still not entirely convinced that it wasn’t something I ate – maybe the soup was bad (it was from a can, but an organic soup – even so).

So the next day when I woke up and will still really sick, I realized, I can’t do yoga. I couldn’t teach my class last night either, oh no reality set in! I am defiantly not good at sitting around either, even though being sick you don’t have much choice, but beyond watching boring tv, sitting in silence, and talking to friends on the phone there isn’t much else to do. I couldn’t even be on the computer as I couldn’t sit up for very long. And the Blackberry was not working out either while trying to type laying down.

But, there was one thing I could do that is one of the eight limbs of yoga and that is – Dhyana- Meditation! I could do this lying down, I could keep my blanket on me,  and I could be in peace and get my mind off the pain of my topsy turvy tummy.

A good friend of mine, Loraine, gave me a bunch of CD’s from my favorite author, Jon Kabet Zen. You have heard me mention his book before in an older blog post. Inside the batch of CD’s there was one with Lying Down Meditations. Right up my alley!

As I meditated, it was interesting because although I was supposed to revisit the sound of my breath if my mind drifted, it seemed during that particular present time to refocus through the sound of my own tummy grumbling.

So, the moral of the story is, Yoga is something that you can still practice, even when you are sick! And even if you don’t have any meditation cd’s, or lying down mediations, you can do your own meditative practice, or even listen to one from Itunes (Meditation Oasis, etc.)

Uncategorized John Kabet Zen, KB Photography, Kerry Travilla- Brown, lying down meditations, meditations, Serenity Stream, yoga, yoga when you're sick, Yogani Studios

My newest favorite book is titled, Wherever You Go There You Are, by Jon Kabat-Zinn. The authors name just makes sense with the title. The book is the best book I have ever read about meditations. Of course, Shala used it in her Mindfulness training, that is where I got the reference for it from. It has so much information, so many meditations and so much common sense that I just can’t seem to put it down. If you are attending my classes, you will find me using it over and over again, sharing it’s wealth of knowledge and peace with each of you.

Uncategorized book, books about meditation, Jon Kabat-Zinn, meditation book, meditations, mindfulness, mindfulness practices, shala rain, shala worsley, Wherever You Go There You Are, yoga

So since I finally got this site up and running, I am able to release this wonderful post about my recent trip to Asheville for another yoga teacher training. This one was on mindfulness practices, with Shayla Worsley. It was amazing of course! We did some great activities to enable us to be mindful of the present moment. Just a few of the great things we did were viewing an apple and its process (how it came to our hands) before eating it (I couldn’t even mine, wasn’t hungry anyway, but felt bad after all that hard work was put into just get the apple to my hands), we talked about discussing problems and feelings with others and she mentioned a guy named Jerry Donahue that lives right across from the studio and does workshops on healthy/compassionate communication.  And, we did the coolest activity where we took a look at some of the most beautiful Mandalas ever as we participated in Yantra meditation. Look at the one (below) of  the one that I got in class. Isn’t it beautiful?

Of course, I took the picture of it after I meditated.

On Sunday afternoon, I participated in an optional yoga class called Fall Flow. It was awesome too. I didn’t really realize (until I took the class) that the fall season is all about letting go. That totally makes sense because, if you think about it, the leaves fall off the trees and they just Let Go! During the flow class we were able to listen to live music played by a local Kirtan band. It was beautiful and spritual.

To top it off, take a look at some cool pictures I took when I wasn’t practicing. You gotta love NC in the fall.

Recent Posts, Uncategorized asheville yoga center, compassionate communication, healthy communication, Jerry Donahue, mandala, mandalas, meditations, mindfulness, mindfulness eating, mindfulness practices, Shayla Worsley, yantra