Bonding and Laughter at the DMV

Everyone hates to wait at the DMV...or do they?

Its November 30th. The last day of the month. And also the last day before my driver’s license expires. The reminder pops up on my calendar that I must head to the dreaded DMV. On a good day, middle of the month, visiting the DMV is akin to visiting the dentist for a root canal (which I actually did yesterday). But on the last day of the month? I was in for trouble.

New Relationships: Random Act or Divine Intervention?

Yoga helps us turn every interaction with others into an opportunity for growth and enrichment.

Let’s face it: there are times when you just want to be left alone. You just spend five hours in a mind-numbing business meeting in which you had no interest whatsoever, or your computer just erased a report you had been working on for the better part of a week – for whatever reason, it just hasn’t been your day. It’s at these times that, for some reason, the cheerful stranger on the elevator who tries to strike up a conversation or the coworker who wants to show you pictures of her daughter playing the lead in her elementary school’s production of “Snow White” both seem particularly unwelcome. Can’t they see that you’re just not into it right now?

The Heat is On…Am I Feeling Good?

Yoga is not the means to undo the damage of hard living.

It’s exhilarating.  You’re up against a deadline, you’ve been working ’round the clock, and just when you think you can’t go make it another minute, you get that burst of energy that propels you through to the finish line.  Project completed, your boss is amazed, and you feel the rush…the euphoria of beating the challenge.  Boy, does it feel great… That is, it feels great until the next project is upon you with the same crushing deadlines and the heat is on again.    

In today’s fast-paced business environment, we’re constantly pushing ourselves to do more with less.  Less time, fewer resources, faster deadlines.  Beyond the boardroom and into our homes, the rush doesn’t stop.  We have families, responsibilities, and endless to do lists.   While many of us rise to the challenge, and some may even do their best work while under the gun, prolonged exposure to this kind of work (and home) environment can lead to burn out and fatigue, and ultimately, leads us to live in a state of high stress and anxiety.  No need to expound upon the many health reasons, both physical and mental, why this is not an ideal way to live, nor why it’s not sustainable. 

Stop, Thief!

"Indolence is a delightful but distressing state; we must be doing something to be happy." -- Mahatma Gandhi

Everyone knows procrastination is the thief of time, yet we continue to let it steal precious moments from our daily lives.   We often continue to leave things to the last minute; or we have become so proficient in our procrastination that we prioritize other items on our to do list rather than our most immediate and pressing tasks. 

  

When we procrastinate, we lose our energy, passion and enthusiasm for the task at hand; we suffer from stress and anxiety.  By letting a task drag on, we worry and fret about it, even though it is in our own power to free ourselves of this worry.   Procrastination is a roadblock; a barrier that prohibits us from being present in our lives and hinders our ability to acheive our goals.

 

So, why do we procrastinate? 

Impossible and Perfect

Even the most challenging poses are not impossible...

In Yoga, Strike Two Words From Your Vocabulary: Impossible and Perfect

I just read in one of my marketing business discussion groups an interesting post that highlights a discussion by Seth Godin.  For those of you who may not be familiar with Seth Godin; he writes a popular marketing blog, is the author of several best-selling marketing books and often gives inspriational / motivational speeches to organizations around the world to help people change the way they think about marketing, change and work.   I have pasted a paragraph below from this discussion group as it captured my attention…and I saw an opportunity to connect the thinking to my yoga practice. 

Starseed Students Do “Sidewalk Yoga” at the Montclair Sidewalk Sale

Starseed Yoga & Wellness' Susan Herman leads a sidewalk yoga demonstration

This past Saturday, June 12th, Montclair locals roamed the downtown streets checking out the 8th Annual Montclair Sidewalk Sale. The Sidewalk Sale featured fabulous bargains from over 50 shops and boutiques in Montclair Center and live music from Bossa Brasil. But curious shoppers who ventured down Glen Ridge Avenue found Starseed Yoga & Wellness students doing “Sidewalk Yoga” demonstrations to interest and invite the local Montclair community to come try a free class at the studio that is the “A-List Editor’s Pick for Best Yoga, Pilates and Fitness” from New Jersey Life Magazine. 

Yoga Teacher or Bust!

To officially launch the Captivate Yoga blog, I thought I’d share the final personal reflection I wrote during my teacher training at Starseed Yoga and Wellness in Montclair, New Jersey.  Happy reading:

I can’t believe that I am sitting here writing my last personal reflection in the teacher training program.  It’s unbelievable how fast the time flew by.  While I find myself totally excited about the “what’s next” possibilities upon graduation, I also find myself trying to hold on to every last minute of the training and not wanting another day to pass by.  It’s interesting how easy it is to be “present” when you are trying to hold on to the last few moments of something great, and when the future seems so full of opportunity.  If only it were that easy all the time!