Fasly-Kam

Edited from a Facebook meme (cursing removed): My thoughts: choose your words wisely if you like good company, good behavior, good friends. Few things are as demotivating being darned if you do, and darned if you don't. This rang so true for me as a parent, as reflecting back as a child, and in a family where some members cannot resist being snarky, either as an attempt to be funny, offer back-handed insults, or even be passive-aggressive (or all). My armchair psychologist stood up sharply and said "Oh my, I never thought of this way! It makes so much sense!"  Do no harm, the yogis say - to oneself, and to others. Do we not see ourselves in others? Can we not forgive small transgressions? Can we be uplifting instead of destructive? Must we always tear down to release our own frustrations, or can we (use yoga) to dissipate that built up tension in other ways (more about that in another post). I am guilty of being party to participation in this activity, and also been victi...

A wise friend, a lawyer no less, wrote this the day after a tragic event. She compassionately brings up a cultural lack of compassion, anger, disenfranchisement and dismissiveness, and in the face of the natural urge to place blame, speaks of trying to make a difference to help us move forward. I quote her directly, and with honor. I will tell you with 100% certainty that our schools are not equipped to deal sufficiently with the mental health well-being of our children and their classmates. And, early intervention is crucial. How about instead of funding a wall and more weapons of mass destruction, we prioritize our schools - the place our children reside 35+ hours per week - the place that is very often the only surrogate for a child's missing stable home? How about instead of pumping money and energy into our prison system, arming guards, and adjudicating criminal behavior post-event, we pump money and energy into bolstering compassionate care for troubled children and their fam...

Every Cell in my body vibrates with energy and health. Loving myself heals my life. I nourish my mind, body and soul. My body heals quickly and easily.

I just read my son a book called  The Yellow Star  - recommended to me by a friend at his school, who read it to their children. I think for me this sums up everything my parents ever taught me about "good" and "right" and being strong, and being a community member. It's how I always felt in my heart and how I want to teach my son to be. It's not just about "standing up for the little guy;" it's about being willing to put yourself out there to make a statement about justice. It's about knowing in your heart that you are part of a bigger community and you must act to support it even if you are not personally needing the direct support. The story was the legend of King Christian X of Denmark. The book acknowledges that the story in it's oral and written history, nor the version in this book, were fully true, but adapted version of an allegory for solidarity and support for ones brethren.  The author writes in the end notes: And what if we...

Yamas are the first of the eight limbs of Yoga; the first of the eight guiding principles for helping to lead a yogic lifestyle, or, more generally, to "calm the fluctuations of the mind" (for whatever purpose you choose). The word "yama" comes from the verbal root [yam] which means to subdue or to control, which implies that these "yamas" are controls or acts of curbing or suppressing our behavior (towards others or the outer world) to help us become more "yogic." There are five of these principles, or disciplines, in the yamas, as follows: Ahimsa: non harming. Ahimsa   is a term meaning 'not to injure' and 'compassion'. The word is derived from the Sanskrit root hiṃs – to strike; hiṃsā is injury or harm, a-hiṃsā is the opposite of this. Satya: truth. Satya   is the Sanskrit word for truth. It also refers to a virtue in Indian religions, referring to being truthful in one's thought, speech and action. Asteya: non-stealing. As...

Is it judgement, as a trained practitioner /instructor, when you are a participant in a yoga class and you see someone doing something so wrong for their body that you want to reach out and say "wait - that's going to hurt...please don't." Or is it concern? Or busybodiness, or nosiness, or just plain invasive? What is the boundary? I have to think about it in this context: If I was a nutritionist, would I stop someone who was overweight at a restaurant from dipping their french friend in cheddar cheese soup, drinking a milkshake then going outside for a smoke? But then again, coming to a yoga class to learn is different than coming to a restaurant to eat. If someone offered me bad quality food, I WOULD want another food specialist to speak up and say "that's not properly cooked chicken you might get sick" or even "those greens weren't washed - be careful." Maybe these analogies fail to describe the issue with which I'm struggling. If t...

So I'm thinking... bullying. yeah, it sucks. stop bullying in schools. Of course - teach children that it's inappropriate behavior to bully. But the problem is, when it comes down to it, managing in LIFE is about managing bullies every step of the way, not just in school. Bad bosses, sleazy car salesmen, angry boyfriends/girlfriends, thoughtless drivers, indignant cashiers, frustrated teachers, ANYONE makes you feel "do it my way or ELSE I'll hit-expose-hurt-embarrass-dismiss-overcharge-belittle-ignore-undermine you. Let's be honest - we ALL do a bit of huffy bravado chest thumping when we tell some customer service agent "If you don't satisfy me I'll NEVER buy your product again and I'll tell everyone you suck." We may be talking about a product, but someone reads that letter - someone is on the other end of that phone call. Have you given a sneer to the cashier at the grocery store when they weren't moving quickly. Yup - that's bully...

A sign at the gym where I was teaching read "Your body is a reflection of your physical standards." That message alone would discourage most people I know from going to the gym. Is the gym implying that someone with a prosthetic or in a wheelchair or who had a congential problem or is trying to get fit but is overweight has low standards? Now I'm sure it was just someone's attempt at being pithy and trying to garner memberships and they didnt' think about it too much. But really, that was pretty shallow and callous. In a cheerful demeanor I suggested they change it to be less insenstive, less judgemental, less superficial. I didn't state this but I would prefer (at least in the context of a "fitness gym"): "Your state of mind has a direct relationship with the health of your body. Elevate the fitness of both!"

I take a small departure from the purely yogic world to talk about something that came up for me at my son's 6th birthday party yesterday. Instead of a traditional candy filled pinata, we filled one with 720 ping pong balls, and told the kids that when the goodies fell out of the pinata, they were to collect whatever they wanted, and then put them in any of six boxes around the party site - 2 each for charities that Eli picked out. Ever ball was worth five cents toward that chartiy. Children were welcome to take some home as well. Though Eli thought the kids would be upset there was no candy, then scramble to shove ping pong balls into pockets and shirts and hands and pants seemed to entertain them well enough, as well as playing "basketball" tossing the balls into the boxes. I was pleased with my cool new idea, saving quite a bit of money by not buying candy, and sparing parents and kids the sugar hang-over as well as reducing the "gimme more candy" scramble th...