3 Ayurvedic Tips to Boost Your Immune System

With spring around the corner, and the wild temperature swings, there’s no better time to give your immune system a little extra LOVE.

As a Yoga Health Coach™, I want to share 3 simple Ayurvedic tips to support your immune health so that it can support you in keeping you vibrant and well.
For 5,000 years Ayurveda has been teaching us to utilize the laws of nature, in all its forms, to create a unique map to find your most ideal state of health, which in my book, is what immune health is all about. 

These are three tips from an Ayurveda perspective to boost your immune system:

1- Strengthen your Digestive System.

Per  Ayurveda, a strong digestive “fire” is the key to year-round health.  AND the first thing is to strengthen your digestion by eating meals at regular times and choosing foods that are easy to digest.   How do you know you’re digesting well? For me, it’s pretty simple. I just feel good: no discomfort, no gas, no, bloating, no tiredness, and no heavy mind.   I feel light, comfortable, and at ease.  

Ways to strengthen your digestion? Here are my two go-to:

Be sure to include immune-boosting foods in your diet. You can think of foods that boost the immune system in two ways—foods that are easy to digest and foods that offer support. Foods that are easy to digest are  kitchari, a traditional Indian dish made of rice, mung dal, and spices. It is so easy to digest that it is often given to the elderly, to those who are ill, and even to babies.  Other similarly easy to digest foods are soups, stews, and broths.  

Foods that offer support include things that are rich in vitamins and minerals, such as turmeric, ginger, echinacea, and vegetables & fruits.

Be sure to avoid foods that are cold, oily, and heavy. This includes things like cheese, ice cream, yogurt, potato chips, and fried foods.  Yep, I said it and you read it.  

2- Get Good Quality Sleep

If I’m not getting enough sleep, I immediately notice a snowball effect of feeling more and more tired and run-down- think hangover without the fun memories.  There are tons of books and articles about it, but in summary you’ll get good quality sleep by going to bed and rising at the same time daily, aiming for eight hours of quality sleep per night.  A little side note- you can’t force good sleep, you can only invite it.

3. Have a Daily Supportive Routine

Having a supportive daily routine is way more important than you’d think.

Remember last time you went on a trip?  Remember you end up needing as many days to recover?  Well, it’s not always just because the airplane was dirty. It’s because your body is totally confused from being stressed out, from staying  up too late, waking up too early and eating weird foods.   Creating stability through healthy ]habits will make all the difference and keep your body from being out of balance.   Ayurvedic habits to include in a daily routine are things like scraping your tongue, oil swishing, daily self-massage with oil and so on.

If you can nail these 3 basics, you're likely to experience a huge difference in how you feel.   

Lastly, I want to remind you to give yourself permission to slow down, nourish, and take care of yourself.  This is one of the most powerful ways to avoid depletion and support both mental and physical health.

Winter Yoga Guide

The calm, dark and quiet nature of the winter can seem… how do I say this?  Oppressive!  The combination of the winter season and the stress of the times can leave us feeling weighed down, stagnant, or uninspired. 

Here is the BIG Ayurveda tip to counteract this:  double down your commitment to yoga.  

An invigorating and expansive yoga practice during winter can be surprisingly supportive of your overall well-being.   Below are some specific recommendations to practice yoga during winter.

Here are the go-to yoga poses to bring vigor to your life this winter: 

• Sun Salutation (Surya Namaskar)

• Warrior I (Virabhadrasana I)

• Warrior II (Virabhadrasana II)

• Reverse Warrior (Viparita Virabhadrasana)

Forward bends and bacbends are also recommended, as are postures that stimulate metabolism like:

• Cobra (Bhujangasana)

• Bow (Dhanurasana)

• Side Plank (Vasisthasana)

• Supine twists like Revolved Abdomen Variation (Jathara Parivartanasana Variation)

Of course you can adapt your practice on a daily basis to work with your local climate (as you know and your internal needs.  For example if you feel stressed and depleted (Vata imbalance), move at a slower and gentler pace.  Or if you feel unmotivated and lethargic (Kapha imbalance), move at a faster pace, allowing your breath to quicken and your inner heat to intensify.  I know this makes total sense but sometimes you need to read it somewhere.

However you practice, PRACTICE.   Practice with an expansive heart and hold your poses long enough to feel challenged.

In addition to your yoga practice, cultivate a  supportive winter-season diet and lifestyle.  These  may look quite different from one person to the next, but each of us has a great deal to gain from honoring and aligning ourselves with the rhythms of nature.  

Find your best sleep

Do you suffer from irregular sleep? Trouble falling asleep? Wake up in the middle of night? Sleeping more than your cat? All these can be equally problematic.

Let’s be honest, imbalance in your sleep pattern is annoying, debilitating and even unhealthy. Troubleshooting your sleep pattern can seem just as annoying and impossible, BUT with the right guide and tools you can find and return balance to your sleep.

Ayurveda, the science of living, offers simple and practical tools to balancing sleep cycles. Here is my interpretation and take on the ayurvedic approach to sleeping well.

If you are reading this, you know that a balanced sleep cycle (i.e., ~8 hrs of sleep at night) plays a crucial role in your help and well-being. Even thought western science knows this very well, the benefits themselves may be subtle in nature and so difficult to assess. However, every science approach agrees on the possible risks of insufficient sleep:

• Impaired judgment.

• Negatively affected moods and emotions.

• Increased risk of accidents.

• Impaired cognitive ability.

• Decreased libido.

• Increased incidence of feeling depressed (by five times that of the normal population).

• Accelerated aging in the skin.

• Difficulty losing weight.

• Increased odds of developing a more serious health problem or death.

Now that I have your attention, per Ayurveda, each individual may have specific reason for an “imbalance” in her/his sleep and it is important to honor whatever works best for you. Ultimately, you need to feel comfortable in the steps you take to create a sleep environment for yourself. Regardless of your specific needs (your constitution in Ayurveda terms), consider adopting as many of these supportive habits as possible:

Eliminate screen time in the evening.

Screen time of any kind is incredibly disruptive to the biological rhythms that support sleep. If you’re serious about improving sleep, it is best to limit or eliminate screen time from the hours immediately before you sleep—ideally from dinner onward. I’ve opted to delete all distracting apps from my phone at night and if possible move the phone out of the bedroom!

Eliminate stimulants.

In much the same way, stimulants such as caffeine, nicotine, and alcohol tend to disrupt physiological cycles essential to sound sleep.  When struggling with insufficient sleep, it’s best to eliminate them as much as possible from your lifestyle, and in some cases a complete detox may be necessary.

Eat a wholesome dinner early in the evening.

A heavy dinner can interfere with our ability to sleep. I know this goes against current social habits, but this a BIG game changer. The best evening meals are healthy, nourishing, easily digestible, and are eaten at least three hours prior to retiring to bed. Think soup and/or salad.

I sincerely hope that I can continue to support you in finding your way to sound sleep and vibrant health. Just let me know how to support your wellness.

Why Scraping Your Tongue

Tongue scraping is as basic as toothbrushing in Ayurveda. It’s a MUST, really. Tongue scrapping was my introduction to Ayurveda’s daily routines over twelve years ago and it has changed my health as it has become a cornerstone of my morning rituals.

Why the emphasis? To start, in western science, dentists point to post-nasal drip as the cause of bad breath. The post-nasal drip coats the back of the tongue with mucus that is rich in dying, bad bacteria, resulting in volatile sulfur compounds that create bad breath. The white coating on the tongues is what in Ayurveda we call ama (or toxins). Any toxin that has that sticky and heavy quality, causing dysfunction in the body, is ama.

In Ayurveda, our tongue represents our entire gastrointestinal tract and what is going on there. As the body processes the ama and puts it back into the gastrointestinal tract for elimination, it also spits ama out onto the tongue. So scraping the tongue daily is like cleaning the lint from your dryer before you use it.

So for sure with tongue scraping you’ll be eliminating a big cause of bad breath. But bad breath is only one benefit of scraping your tongue. Doing so will support your entire body by helping maintain a healthy bacterial environment in the mouth and by stimulating the cleansing of the entire gastrointestinal tract.

It is also a great way to stay in touch with your health. By cleaning your tongue daily, you will quickly get into the habit of taking note of the coating on your tongue. You will notice a thicker coat after a heavy meal, sickness, or after eating a lot of dairy products the night before. Your tongue becomes a mirror to your digestive health.

If a tongue scraper is not right next to your toothbrush and floss and it is not already part of your daily routine, now is the time to start. You can get your at any health food store or good pharmacy.

Is your TECH Neck causing havoc in your life?

I hope this isn’t true, but I heard in a report that the average American spends more than 10 hours a day looking at some sort of screen. Anecdotally speaking, I can confirm there is a screen addition crisis, whether it’s our phones, tablets, computers, smart watches or TV’s.

Just the other day I witnessed a truck driver maneuvering a tight turn in one of those very narrow Brooklyn streets. I don’t know how an eighteen wheeler ended up in a neighborhood street, but alas, there it was and a young woman that was walking, hunched over her phone-turtle neck style, kept walking without any trepidation towards the rear end of the truck that missed her by less than 3 feet…OMG I get sweaty palms just typing this…she didn’t even know what was going on when I caught up with her to make sure she was OK.

Hunched over our screens hour after hour may result in a host of physical problems; perhaps the most common of these is what we’re now calling tech neck. The Spine Hospital blog (www.columbiaspine.org) defines the tech neck as basically what happens as a result of the downward tilt in our neck that we often take on when looking at our phones, TVs, and computers. A simple fifteen-degree downward tilt of the head is enough to put twenty to thirty pounds of extra pressure on the neck and spine. A sixty degrees tilt could make your head weight up to sixty pounds!!! Can you picture what that level of pressure is doing to your neck? Ouch.

The consensus among any of us dealing with bodies is laud and clear: spend a long time stuck in one position or repeating a movement and your fascia, or connective tissue, will get “stuck” into that position. The tech neck is the result of “stuck” tissues in the turtle neck or hunched position, which manifest in deep discomfort if not pain. AND I believe that this tech neck also causes stress, tension and negative energy to get stuck in the neck, which contributes to more mental and emotional discomfort.

The solution to tech neck: don’t hunch over your screens. OK, that is the short answer. The solution isn’t that complicated really, it begins with awareness of your posture. If you ears and shoulders aren’t stacked, you’re tilting forward, inviting the tech neck to find it’s home in your life. Whenever you feel yourself getting stuck in a hunch, it’s time to take a break from whatever you’re doing. Go outside. Got to a yoga class. Stretch out. Better yet, learn some fascia release technique like Bodymind Ballwork, keep a few balls by your desk or in your bag and “roll out” for a few minutes and restore your posture.

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The Deal with Low Back and Sciatica

If you suffer from back pain, you know how debilitating and frustrating it can be.  Lower back pain is the biggest cause of disability worldwide and one of the most common reasons that employees miss work. Experts estimate that 80% of us will suffer from back pain at one point or another. WOW.

Lower back pain can result, as you would imagine, from injuries from accidents, but it can result from simple movements like bending over to pick something up or twisting too abruptly.  Other common triggers of back pain are obesity, stress, arthritis and bad posture, of course.  Situational circumstances like stress, prolonged sitting, wearing high heels or not sleeping on your bed can cause or aggravate back pain.  It’s complicated because the back is complicated.  This structure is made up of fascia, ligaments, muscles, bones, emotions and energy.

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AND then comes in “Sciatica”.  The sciatic nerve is the longest nerve that runs from the low back, passes the butt and goes down the back of the legs.  It branches into the thighs, calves, feet and even the toes.  Sciatica pain is caused when the nerve is injured, aggravated, squished or stuck by either scar tissue or congested fascia.  These congested tissue and/or injuries are the result of poor posture, mis-alignment of the pelvis, stress, trauma or fear.  Sciatica pain can also be the result of degenerative disc disease, vertebra slips/herniated, or narrowing of the spinal canal in the lower back (stenosis).

How to tell the difference from just back pain and sciatica pain?  The sciatica pain usually starts in the low back and continues along the path of the long nerve, so it extends through the buttocks, possibly thighs, low leg and even foot (one or two legs).  It’s sharp, electric or numbing pain.  It often feels better when walking and worsens when standing or sitting. 

If you’re suffering intense lower back pain or sciatica, the best place to start is go to the doctor.  As I said, it’s complicated and you may need help figuring out what is the root cause.  Understanding how the problem was caused in the first place can help you with treatment options.  The options for treatment range from physical therapy, massage, Pilates, yoga, acupuncture, structural integration, medication or surgery, in extreme situations.   I’ve tried them all but surgery, and they all help depending on the root cause.

The best thing you can do to prevent back pain is to look after your back.In case you missed it, HERE are my 5 Easeful Ways to Prevent Back Pain.Prevention will be your biggest asset in avoiding back problems altogether.I’m very committed to instructing bringing prevention and management techniques to the low back in my Roll+Restore workshops.

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Breathing Better : roll and restore is back and we're aiming for deeper breathing

JANUARY 19TH, 2019 - 2:30 PM to 4:30 PM

ABHAYA YOGA - GOWANUS, BROOKLYN

Roll + Restore : breathing  focus (abdomen + ribs)

Do you feel restriction in your breathing? Do you want to feel connected to your center but there is some tightness in your chest muscles or back?  Releasing tension in your abdomen and ribs area can increase your sense of groundness and release emotional holdings.

Looking, feeling, and being your better self, requires far more than just working out and eating well.  Without embodied self-awareness, you’ll not only never enjoy the physical results you want, but you’ll also never experience the inner space that leads to peace and joy.  Roll+Restore combines my sixteen-plus years of practice in wellness, yoga and engineering to access this embodied self-awareness.  The workshop takes the best aspects of Biomechanical Alignment Principles, Therapeutic Yoga, Bodymind Ballwork© and Metaphysics to experience a unique and holistic approach to understanding your body.  Students who’ve attended this workshop leave feel empowered to access deep understanding of their physical, mental and emotional state. They leave feeling “taller,” “brighter,” “relaxed” and “younger” (yep, these are their words).

In this special Breathing edition of Roll+Restore you will learn techniques that involve therapeutic yoga postures and laying/moving on rubber balls to self-massage tight fascia around your upper back, abdomen, iliopsoas and ribs. You can incorporate these techniques in your fitness routine to open your spine and your breathing.  You will feel physically, emotionally and mentally better.

$35

REGISTER

*contraindications: this techniques aren’t recommended if you are pregnant, had a recent abdominal surgery, serious intestinal or pulmonary issues.  Please ask if you aren’t sure.

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Connect with your Nature ( or why a plant-based diet)

Would you guess what is the most frequently asked question I get as a Yoga Health Coach?  Yep, you guessed it: WHAT SHOULD I BE EATING? Every time one has to ask that, one should be translating it as I AM DISCONNECTED FROM MY NATURE.  

Everything we consume becomes us.  All food has a sustaining force, a force that animates and activates, a life force that we yogis call Prana.  The moment we aren’t consciously connecting with the state of our Prana, we’re moving away from ease and towards dis-ease. If you want to connect with your life force and experience good health, energy, trim physique, a livable planet, compassion and deliciousness - a PLANT-BASED DIET is an excellent path for you.

While vegan and vegetarian diets are defined by what they exclude, a plant-based diet is defined by what it includes:  lots of plant foods.  What this means is that you tap into the abundance of PRANA-rich veggies, beans, peas, fruits, lentils, whole grains, nuts, and seeds AND you eat less animal products and processed foods.  

My Yoga practice ushered me to become a vegetarian and my Ayurveda studies got me to go beyond being a consumer of vegetables and be more of a collaborator of my Prana intake.  The only way to really experience this connection with your nature is by experimenting and feeling how the Prana that you consume affects you, how it becomes you.

Maybe you need more motivation to try a plant-based diet,  here are my five reasons to eat a Plant-Based Diet.

1. It’s good for your health.

Unless you are living under a rock, research and statistics confirm what yogis have known for thousands of years: eating plants make you feel good!  But in case you need some formal convincing:

• Dr. Dean Ornish’s research showed that eating a very low-fat, plant-based, vegetarian diet and other lifestyle changes could, in fact, reverse heart disease. Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn also succeeded in reversing heart disease in patients who were seriously ill.

• The Adventist Health Study-2 found that vegetarians had a lower risk of Type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure. While about 50 percent of Americans will develop high blood pressure by the age of 60, research shows that populations that consume a diet comprised mostly of vegetables or who are vegetarian have “virtually no increase in hypertension with age.”

• Eating red meat (beef, pork, and lamb) is associated with increased rates of cancer and heart disease. And the American Cancer Society recommends eating a healthy diet for the prevention of cancer “with an emphasis on plant foods.”

2. You will feel and look trim.

Let face it. If you are eating a lot of plant foods, which have less calories and move with more ease through your diggestive track, you are going to lose weight. If you eat plant-based foods instead of fast, fatty, processed, and sweet foods, you will cut out a ton of calories — and the best part is, you will feel satisfied and less inflamated.  

3. You are helping the environment.

According to an article by Elizabeth Weise for USA Today, it takes about 15 pounds of grain to produce 1 pound of beef and about 5 pounds of grain to produce 1 pound of chicken. You can see how we would use less water and other resources if we ate the grain ourselves.

An article in Scientific American reveals that the amount of beef the average American eats in a year creates as much greenhouse gas as driving a car from NYC to Denver!

4. You will become rich!

OK, maybe not immediatly, but you will imediatly save lots of money.  Many people think eating a Standard American Diet (S.A.D.) is the cheapest way to eat. But actually eating plant-based foods can cost even less.

For example you could have lentil soup, salad, fruit, and sparkling mineral water for four people for about $10!

Beans, peas, and lentils are some of the cheapest foods you can buy.  Even buying organic fruits and veggies at premium health food stores is more economical than one may think.  Do the math.

5. You’re moving away from animal cruelty.

I know it can be devastating to think about the cruelty and unfairness that goes into acquiring all the goods we purchase at the grocery (or fashion) store. I think it is important for all of us to understand how animals are treated so that we can make a conscious choice.  If nothing else, a Plant-Based Diet is all about raising one’s consciousness.

No guilt. No shame. Here is one example as a case study: gestation crates for pigs. Once the sows are artificially inseminated, they are put in crates with just enough room for their bodies for their entire pregnancy. As the sows get larger and larger, they often develop pressure sores. They urinate and defecate through slots in the bottom of the crate.  Once the sow delivers, it is back in the gestation crate. When the animals are spent, they are taken to slaughter. They use these horrific practices to save money and produce more meat. But at what cost? Pigs are intelligent animals, and who wants to be part of this kind of suffering to save a few dollars?

I am not a vegan and I do occasionally eat animal products, but when I do eat them I go out of my way when possible to buy products from animals that have been humanely raised. Yes, I pay more for them. However, for the very small amount of animal products I do eat, it is worth it and does not break the bank.

It’s hard to argue with a plant-based diet when it benefits your health, waistline, environment, wallet, and conscience. Any movement toward more plants and less meat is a big step in the right direction. Why not skip the meat and eat some veggies today?

You are what you do. #habits

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” – Aristotle

Hmm? So what is Aristotle talking about? Let’s go there, habits are the small actions you take and the decision you make every day.  Research by Duke University scientists suggests that habits account for about 40% of what we do on any given day.  I think the other 60% is driven by the MTA.  But seriously, your Dharma and/or your current life is essentially the sum of your habits.  In other words, your health or your malady is a result of your habits; your joy or fear is a result of your habits; your alignment with your Dharma or sense of failure is a result of your habits.

40%.

What you are repeatedly thinking about and doing each day creates the persona that you display to the world, your beliefs and who you are.  Everything I teach starts with better habits: my yoga teachings through abhyasa (repeated practice over a long period of time to obtain spiritual connectivity), my organization coaching through performing repetitive tasks to obtain productivity and my yoga health coaching through daily aligned routines.  All habits.  When you learn why you are doing what you are doing, you can learn to transform your habits and you can transform your life.

Best Habits Reads

• The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg – After seeing it on every subway rider under the age of 30, I gave in.  Totally worth it!!!
• Any Article by James Clear – my habit go to guru – he does all the research and his science base approach is nerdy galore.

To explore more and playfully engage into your personal prophesy, you can come or call in to the next DHARMA SESSIONS – a free workshop about clarity and practicality!   You’ll explore technologies like Yoga, Ayurveda, Professional Organization, A Course in Miracles and Yoga Health Coaching to design the lifestyle that will help you thrive in your career, creative endeavors and relationships.  
 

No More Turtle Head (or how to decompress your neck and upper back)

Next time at a pack of teenagers on their phones, you’ll notice their necks slumping forward. Ouch. Then go to a mirror and look at your own posture, double OUCH.  Regardless of our age or gender, living in the 21st-century means that we’re asked to multitask: phone calls, emails, meetings, working out, driving, being a partner, being a parent, cooking, meditate, detox, binge watch and many more demands. We’re often leaning our heads forward as we peer at our phone or the computer screens, which can be the cause of muscle strains, tension stiffness, compressed neck, disk herniation, spinal compression or a pinched nerve.  AND aesthetically speaking having one’s neck sticking out like a turtle’s head makes one look and feel slumpy and dumpy.    

Some of our current habits are compressing our upper back and shortening our neck.

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• Sitting for long periods of time: According to a study in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, not only has inactivity like sitting at a desk for long periods of the day been linked with diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular disease, it can also increase the risk of certain cancers. Our human body evolved to move, stretch and breath, not to sit all day long.  Sitting for long periods slows down all our systems and decreases energy.   Not only do we sit at our desk (or at home watching TV) but we are hunched over our viewing devices, which causes the connective tissue to become “glued” into a slumped posture that actually damages and compresses your entire body.   Are constantly achy around your shoulders and neck?  This could very well be the cause.
• Phone usage: The average human head weighs about 10 pounds when held upright, but for every inch that your head is tilted forward, extra weight is added to your neck and spine. So guess what we are doing most of the time while trying to read our phones’ screen; we’re titling our head forward!  Additionally, if you make phone calls (Yes, a few of us still do), holding the phone in the crook of the neck, wedged against the shoulder can cause structural imbalances, tightening your fascia and shortening the neck, which can turn into all kind of  pain.  

As I said, our bodies aren’t designed to stay slumped and suffer the aches and pains of this forward posture, these are simple strategies that can help you battle the turtle-head epidemic:

• If you must sit for long periods of time, first and foremost sit up and avoid slump at all cost! Then every 20 minutes or so (set an alarm) Take deep-breath and roll your shoulders up and down and twist your neck from side. Then every hour (set an alarm) get up and move around. Go outside, and get some fresh air! This will encourage you to realign your body and posture.
• When using your phones and computers, choose the zoomed display on your phone to make the font bigger, try to avoid writing long messages from your phone, or lean back in your chair and hold the phone up to eye level so that you don’t pitch forward.  Avoid holding your phone to make phone calls, instead Try using a headset, speakerphone, or a hands-free set.
• Correct the damage done, a very effective way to do this is to stretch and massage the tight muscles along the back of your neck and well as strengthening the muscles at the front of the neck.  Correcting the turtle head starts with strengthening the core and upper back muscles Yoga and Bodymind Ballwork do wonders here!!!

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Caterpillar Soup or how a messy transition could be the path to a better you

“Through yoga, we’re not transforming into something we aspire to, we’re transforming into the very thing that we are innately: our best Self.”

— Rod Stryker

Did you know that when a caterpillar begins her transformation into a butterfly, she doesn’t just grow antennas and wings?  No, no, the caterpillar actually fully dissolves in some sort of cocoon-soup and it’s from this DNA-broth that the caterpillar’s cells will re-arrange into a butterfly.  

There is a clear message here, my friend, when things dissolve into a hot mess and it's hard to tell how things will re-arrange themselves, it's because a new, brighter, beginning is around the corner.

How many times have your life look like a hot butterfly soup?

I've had a few of those moments when everything around me had to liquefy to begin the metamorphosis of my better self.   One of those moments was when I moved to New York City.  I had to leave behind my very comfortable "young professional" lifestyle in the ever gorgeous Savannah, GA and listened to my soul call  towards a "soul-full hustler" lifestyle in NYC.  That was a rough lesson in what leisure is and  what disposable income means.  Through the few years of adjustment, when my mind was in agony and doubt, my surroundings and my heart opened in ways that I couldn't have imagined. How did I manage? Yoga helped, meditation helped, new friendships helped,  self-help books helped, it all helped!  

By the time my self-made lifestyle wings had emerged, I was a new man.  A more confident, kinder and more resourceful man emerged from that cocoon.

That's the thing with transformation, if we aren't practicing awareness, we'll miss the gorgeous colors of our new wings.  

I've learned to to recognize the signs and results of self evolution, to look with loving eyes those moments when things fall apart, and  to remember that when things fall apart is because they need a new foundation.  I’ve learned to LOVE these butterfly moments and, almost enjoy the effort it takes to unfold my new wings after each transformation. Yes, I'm saying almost because it feels like hell every time.

[ On a side note for those searching souls that want to quit it all and start anew:  Was my drastic lifestyle change useful in my Spiritual Evolution?  YES!  Was it necessary?  NO. There are less dramatic and less painful ways to grow new wings. If your caterpillar is feeling antsy, reach out for help.]  

*this content was inspired by a newsletter I sent in September 2015...a good example of how change is part of everything

The Miracle of Committing to a Specific Action

In our noisy world we are constantly bombarded by infinite ways to be distracted.  We're are asked to stay connected all the time and to make room for introspection. We're asked to be fit and to carve time to restore and relax.  We are asked to be mindful and to multitask.  And that is just my inbox today. No wonder it's very easy to live in a constant state of confusion.  

It doesn't have to be that way.

Instagram @eduardolifegram

As I savor my green smoothie this morning, I'm thinking of the power of committing yourself to a single actionable goal.  You see, a few years ago I was having a hard time eating breakfast consistently and now for over a year, I have eaten a nutritious breakfast every single day.  As I type I can feel the nourishing Prana (life force) of my green smoothie hitting my veins and I'm reminded of an important life lesson that is often ignored:  if you commit to an action rather than thinking about a desire, you actually get to experience your intention.

The mistake we all make.

As soon as I began my yoga journey, I learned about setting intentions.  Simplified, your intentions are the energetic starting points for your goals.  If you come to my yoga class, as I learned it from my yoga teachers, I'll ask you at the beginning to center yourself and then set an intention.  The intention usually reveals itself naturally and in a simple form: "I will breath fully," "I will be strong," or "I will feel peace."  Whether in a yoga class or not, intentions are the seeds for our desired outcomes.

For example from my intention to "feeling nourished," I arrived to my goal of "eating breakfast."   I really wanted to honor my intention so I would think about "feeling nourished" every day.  Thinking about my intention did bring me to eat breakfast, sometimes.  I figured my spirit would guide my consciousness and it would unveil how breakfast would happen.  This resulted in zero progress and lots of self-disappointment.  Finally, I changed my strategy, I committed to plan my breakfasts for a week ahead of time.  I made the commitment by braking down my goal into small actions.  I studied options that would work for me.  I started focusing on the daily tasks that would make me eat breakfast till things aligned with my intention.

My mistake was that I assumed that because I wanted to eat breakfast to honor my intention, I would end up getting a desirable result.  That wanting to do something was enough.

How often do you do this in your own life?

We often think about our intentions without committing to goals . And if we have goals, we think about them without breaking them into specific actions.  The bottom line is that without an action we won't experience our intention.  We want to "be of service" without committing our time and talents to helping others.  We want to "feel strong" without considering what part of our body we want to focus on and what exercises we'll be doing.  We wish to be "more creative," but we never work or finish a particular project.   In other words, we don't commit to a specific goal: a goal with tasks and a time frame.

Specific Actions Lead to Direction

All those intentions we set for ourselves will point us to important, but broad questions "what should I do with my life?" or "will I learn what love is?" or "how is God guiding me right now?"  Very important questions in our spiritual quest but non of these questions will clarify our next step.

When you commit to action driven goals, these are easy to break into tasks and then the steps are clearer to follow. You want to eat a nutritive breakfast tomorrow morning?  Next step:  what will constitute a nutritive breakfast?  So you found out what you want to eat? Next step:  do you have the ingredients at home or do you need to stop at the market?  OK, you got the ingredients? Next Step: how long will take you to prepare breakfast? At what time do you need to wake up? etc., etc.

Your intentions are important as a way to honor your deeper self, but if you only concentrate in your vague desires vs. specific goals, you'll end up confused and frustrated.  

Once you begin to commit to specific actions that work towards your goals, these will inform you of your next step and then the next, etc.  

So often, we avoid formulating a specific goal out of fear that we aren't sure if this goal will align with our intentions. We somehow forget that we can always change our mind later on.

This is perhaps the miracle about committing to a specific goal: if you concentrate in the actions to achieve your goals and not the goal itself, then you’ll begin to thrive and achieve something greater than you ever imagined.

Commit to something and begin it now.

Once you fully decide to start, to paraphrase Pablo Coelho, the universe will find ways to help you finish.

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