CindyC Yoga

10/21/2023

My thoughts for an Autumn day:

Smile, Breath, Notice, Feel

Periodically
Close your eyes
And…smile.
Breath so deeply that
You feel life
Energy
Filling
You.
Open your eyes
And…notice.
See so deeply that
You feel details
Slight,
Bold,
Filling
You.

10/19/2023

I celebrated my birthday doing yoga. This flow evolved over 6 months and became a kind of a self expression for me. I wanted to record it as a marker in my life. It represents a lot of growth and development over many years and arrives on my birthday to be “this”. Providentially, I have been practicing a Mozart sonata for the last 6 weeks, and the length of the video, and the length of the first movement are about the same! I played the rendition of this piece directly into video editing software, capturing the real deal, flaws and all! I feel a little vulnerable sharing this, but this is the authentic me showing up for a little yoga and music on my birthday. I really enjoyed myself in the process, because I was doing things I love, not to impress anyone, but just to express myself and mark a place in time. I’m sharing here to make my page real—showing up on the mat and doing my best, non edited. This is my personal yoga practice—it is a practice, that is all.

This flow evolved and became a kind of a self expression this past year. I wanted to record it as a marker in my life. It represents a lot of growth and de...

10/14/2023

Yoga helped me get back to sleep.

I couldn’t sleep the other night. I woke up, and my mind got busy! I tried to direct my thoughts back into ‘sleep mode’, but my usual methods didn’t work. Soon I was compiling a “to do” list and a feeling of overwhelm accompanied by adrenalin began to surge through my body. When I recognized what I was doing to myself, I got out of bed and went into the front room to do some yoga. It was 4:00 AM. I used a deep breathing technique where the exhalation is longer than the inhalation–this helps the body relax. I focused on making the movements coordinate with the breath–opening up and stretching for inhalation, flexing and closing in for exhalation. I moved intuitively from standing to sitting to lying on my back. As I flowed through the movements, I felt the adrenaline leave, and relaxation set in. I was surprised when I looked at the clock and 35 minutes had passed. I went back to bed, fell asleep quickly, and woke up 3 hours later feeling refreshed. My day went great, and surprisingly I did not feel sleep deprived.
Yoga can get the mind and body in sync, and help both to rest and rejuvenate.

10/11/2023

Yoga looks different on each and every body–every day.
Forget perfection!

I have a YouTube channel— Yoga. The other day I hiked to the top of a mesa near my home and recorded a yoga flow to post The peak pose at the end was Tree Pose—a balancing on one leg pose. It went great on my right leg, but not on my left. It took till the 3rd try to maintain my balance. I didn’t edit that out and re-record it. It’s real. It’s life. It’s important to refocus, and keep trying. At the end of the flow, I felt great. I was invigorated, and I felt very flexible.

So, my message to you is: let go of what you think yoga should be in your body, and embrace what it is, or can be.
Love YOUR expression of yoga.

10/07/2023

What Patience Looks Like: Curiosity and Trust.
Recently I went on a hike on a mesa near my home to do my morning yoga routine. I was feeling impatient, and anxious about something I was trying to plan because the details weren’t coming together. As I walked, some of the tension I felt eased up, but I didn’t really feel like doing yoga when I got to my destination. I went through the flow, trying to breathe in peace and to be present, appreciating the surroundings and using my senses fully. I finished the flow, and though I felt more calm, I still felt impatient, and unsettled about the situation.

I began a meditation technique I learned from the HeartMath institute called “Freeze Frame.” I got my heart and brain in tune, or in coherence, and these thoughts flowed as a question/answer session between my heart and brain I guess you could say:
“How am I feeling?” Anxious. “How do I want to feel?” Patient. “What does patience feel like?” Peace. Ease. “How could you feel more peace and ease?” I could be more curious, and sit with curiosity as the plan works itself out. I could enjoy curiosity. I could let go of wanting to control, and trust that it will work out for the best. How do I shift from being anxious? “Be curious! Let go of the need to control! Trust! Trust that everything will eventually work out for the best. Trust that if this is meant to be, God will help out. Focus on feeling peace.”

This was a great new insight to me: Shift away from impatience using curiosity and trust! After sitting with these thoughts for a while, I really felt peace. I’ve been able to sustain that peace over the past several weeks, by revisiting these ideas as I’ve been waiting. I’m happy to say that things are finally coming together for the project I’m planning. This is going to be my “go-to” method of dealing with waiting and impatience in the future. I hope that by sharing I might help you too!

10/05/2023

My purpose for this page is not to teach you how to do poses, or give you technical information. My purpose is to share motivation, and tips for how you can have a successful practice.

It’s important to know that there are many ways to express a pose and reap the benefit of stretching or flexing muscles all coordinated with breathing. Here is an example of 7 ways to express a basic pigeon pose—forward on the mat, standing, with a chair, and on the back. They all stretch the glutes and open the hips in basically the same way, but with different intensities.

The point is: you can show up on your mat, do your on version of a pose and get great benefits. The point is show up. Do something. And remember to focus on the sensation your are getting and breath purposefully as you do it!

10/04/2023

We have a vacation rental with a pomegranate tree growing next to the driveway. The first year I pulled a few small, 2 -2 2/2 inch pomegranates off it and let them dry on the kitchen counter. One ended up in a picture my husband made of wood and rocks because it was a cool shape and texture. I haven’t seen any significant , store size, harvestable fruit until this 5th harvest season. The tree is loaded with huge, red, tasty fruit. What changed? Well, this dessert has seen a lot, I mean a lot of rain since last spring!

What do we have in our life that just needs more rain to fully develop into fruit? Rain is sometimes seen as a downer, a ruiner of plans, and can even be destructive. Most of the most of the time however, it brings life and cleansing, and even after destruction there is positive growth and change.

For me yoga has been rain. It has helped me grow in my physical and mental health. It has helped me to get in touch with a deeper level of spirituality and intuition. What is rain for you? Is there something you need more of to really grow? I invite you to consider yoga and meditation as a source of growth and strength in your life as well. Let it drench you, and see what fruit you bear.

10/02/2023

Aspen Meditation
Aspen trees are intriguing to me. Whenever I’m at elevations where they grow abundantly, I am mesmerized by the beauty of the fluttering, light reflecting leaves. The sound of the wind in the trees is calming, and simultaneously invigorating. I just want to sit on this rock and breathe the sight of them in and think.

In the fall as they shift from green to gold, it reminds me how life is always shifting and changing. There is so much beauty in change. As I sit among the aspens, the wind settles to a gentle whir. The sounds quiet down, but still the aspens quiver their beautiful glow. As I wax philosophical, I wonder what it is like to be an aspen tree—soaking in the sun, quivering and shimmering, with a trunk straight and strong. I think I want to soak in the light of the Son, firmly rooted in the earth of faith, feeling the wind of experience pass over me, bending, shimmering and quivering with energy as life moves forward and beautifully changes with the season.

10/02/2023

Farm to Table!
An important part of my life in addition to yoga and meditation is eating clean, healthy, fresh food. About 2 weeks ago, I decided to try growing microgreens for salad. I bought a little kit from the store and in a week I had a nice little container of sunflower sprouts. Then I watched a YouTube video on how to sprout buckwheat, and tried my hand at that. It was super easy, and in 8 days I had this super beautiful tray of buckwheat greens! I just grew these on the kitchen counter, centered under a ceiling light. I sprayed them with water, and gave them a few tables spoons of direct water several times a day. They are mild, and very tasty on this chicken salad I made for dinner. Also of note is the purple sauerkraut I made very easily also!
Microgreens are loaded with vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, and harvesting them minutes before you eat them has got to be optimal for their nutritional benefit! I can‘t believe how easy, fun and tasty this experiment was for me!

09/29/2023

Yesterday I went on a walk around my neighborhood. I didn’t tune into a podcast or a book on my headphones. I wanted to truly be present in my walking. It turned into a mindfulness meditation. I began feeling the cadence of my stride, noticing how I rolled my weight through my big toes, how my leg muscles straightened and flexed. I scanned myself through my lower back, swinging arms, relaxed shoulders and jaw. I enjoyed the rhythm of each step and the sound of my sandals on the sidewalk. I filled my lungs deeply, and as I walked I noticed different smells and different fragrances from the flowers in peoples yards. The sun was shining brightly, and it warmed one shoulder and leg more than the other. I focused on sounds and heard birds, a distant airplane, a back up beep signal, a car. I noticed so many flowers with distinct colors and textures, and such variety in the houses and yards I passed. I felt gratitude in my heart: for my body, for the use of all my senses, for feeling appreciation for common—yet amazing things. The rhythm of my sandals on the sidewalk tapped out a mantra: I am peaceful, I am happy, I am so blessed.

IF you are one who always employs your phone on a walk, maybe try a mindfulness walk. See if you get a meaningful mental lift and heartfelt boost along with the physical benefit of walking.

09/27/2023

Going through yoga poses without meditation is like quickly eating a steak dinner without thinking about how good it tastes! There’s physical benefit, but no pleasure or gratitude. Yoga needs mindfulness and heart to be fully beneficial too.

Yesterday, I had the privilege of doing yoga up on a desert mesa near my home. My flow of poses was very invigorating, and I was inspired by the view around me. As I leaned forward in a seated straddle position, I noticed many small blades of grass, and several very delicate leaves poking out of the desert clay. I looked out a little farther and saw tiny, perfectly symmetrical yellow flowers. After the intense summer heat, a bit of rain and cooler temperatures had caused new life to spring up. I surmised that the seeds for these tiny plants had probably been lying on the ground for a long time, but the recent conditions had caused them to finally germinate and grow.

I asked myself, “what seeds are present in my life right now, just waiting for the right conditions to grow?” As I look back over my life, I can see times where the circumstances were just right, and I grew in a certain way. I have seen the seeds of meditation, yoga, and wellness grow in my life in the last 9 years. I never new they were there before that, but rain came in the form of opportunity and exposure, and now I have some awesome plants in my life. I wonder what other seeds are lying on the surface of my potential, waiting for me to notice them and nourish them with the rain of interest, curiosity and opportunity.

09/25/2023

Moving the body through yoga poses while breathing conscientiously, and opening the mind and heart to become in sync is the purpose of a daily practice of yoga for me. Even just ten minutes a day can calm the mind and body, and help you manage stress.

Just try this sequence if you don’t have any back or shoulder injuries. Start out by taking 3 deep breaths that make your abdominal muscles move out. Think of a state of being that you’d like to be in such as calm, grateful, or creative—this is your intention for your practice:
1. Inhale deeply and lift your arms over your head. Exhale and fold at the waist and reach your hands toward the floor, or rest them on your lower legs. Bend your knees slightly as you stand again breathing deeply and stretching your arms up as far as you can. Repeat a few times. Keep thinking of your intention.
2. Inhale and lift one arm over your head and lean to the side, dropping your other hand toward the floor. Inhale the lower hand up over your head, and then lean again to the opposite side. Repeat a few times with each arm lifted up and then down.
3. Inhale and raise both arms shoulder level, palms turned down to the floor. Exhale twist your torso, and look behind you, or just over your shoulder. Inhale back to center, then exhale and twist the other way. Repeat a few times.

Repeat the 3 poses. Listen to your body, and modify as needed: maybe your hands don’t go above your head, or maybe your arms can’t go up to shoulder level. That’s okay! Stretch yourself, but don’t cause pain. Twist your torso only so far, protect the back, and pay attention to the way you feel!

Finish by breathing 3 deep breaths again, and commit to continuing to feel your intention throughout the day or evening