Get over your disdain for attending a Yoga class. Five tips to get your butt to the studio:

Back from a holiday and New Year's blogging recess! Mmm...Get over your disdain for attending a real, live yoga class. Come join the fun with these helpful tips:


1. Communication - Do this: Before class, let your instructor know if you are a beginner; that way, during class, they can suggest modifications to any poses which will make the moves easier. Also let them know if you have injuries and if you like or dislike hands-on adjustments. On the other hand, you don't have to talk to the teacher at all. Stay quiet as a mouse. Get in and get out, retaining your own contemplative state.

2. Location, Location - Choose a spot on the yoga studio floor that suits your mood; if you feel quiet and dislike hands-on, you might want to lay down your mat in a back corner; alternatively, find a spot near a window for some of nature's energy to help lift your practice without having to think much on your own.

3. Your Mat, Your Kingdom - Make sure you set up your mat with props (blankets, a strap, blocks) if you choose to use them. Beginners might want props; more advanced yoga practitioners might not. Also, unpack your bottle of water and put it by your side, have a tissue or two handy and a long-sleeve t-shirt to throw on when it's time to lay down and (literally) chill-out in Savasana at the end of class. If you're set on having your smartphone nearby, it's cool, just set it on vibrate and put it on a soft surface. If you need to take a call, leave the room to do it. Speaking of mats, most studios now rent them for $2, so you have no excuses. Come to class even if you don't own a mat.

4. Clothing - Feel free to dress your way, comfortably. You can even run into class wearing loose jeans! People show up to yoga class in all kinds of get-ups, so don't worry about what others are thinking or wearing. Some seem all trendy and others downright grungy. Remember, you're not at yoga class to size everyone else up. They're really not looking at you either. Just come to class and you'll witness how uncompetitive it is.

5. Your Way, Always - On that note of personal fashion freedom, understand that yoga really is all about personal freedom, so choose what's right for you. Never do a yoga move just because the class is doing it. Make sure you are comfortable doing a particular yoga pose. If you are not, perhaps try a simple version of the same pose, which in time, will help strengthen you for the more difficult version. And...always take rest breaks whenever you want. The ISHTA school of yoga really believes in keeping yoga a personal experience, for each individual student.

Why go it alone at home with only a yoga video?
Follow these tips as you try out taking a class. Enjoy the benefits today.
Who knows, you might realize how much fun it is to laugh and do handstands with a new community of fellow yogis.

Don't put off yoga any longer! Namaste!

In the Now - The Practice of Being Present

Hi all, I'm officially back from my summer hiatus with this post and the one before it.

I'm reminded that the yoga mindset - being present in the moment - is helping me reground and stay calm as I focus on my search for a full-time marketing job.

I sit down at my laptop and immediately go to work writing to networking contacts. Soon I am reading articles on marketing, SEO and social media, scanning job postings and curious course descriptions, rethinking a line on my resume, checking LinkedIn, etc. I write a cover letter and edit it a third time. The minutes coast by. My promise to take a break and run outside or go to the gym have become delayed for another hour.

I look up and it's almost afternoon. I set little targets. Two or three resumes sent by noon. I remind myself that I'm not the only one allowing the clock digits on my mobile to spin faster and get away from me, nor am I the only one looking for a job.

I brace myself and start over.

This is yoga. Yoga is constantly coming back to the present, grounding and returning to center. It is not the final result, but the work to get there. It is giving your best effort in the moment.

Try a simple meditation at your desk:

1. Feel your back against the back rest of your chair; feet are on the ground.
   
2. Place your hands palm-side down on your thighs or knees; close your eyes.
3. Wet a finger and touch it to the skin between your eye brows, above the bridge of your nose; bring your hand back to your thigh.
   
4. Imagine that touch and the space approximately an inch behind the sensation of the touch - that's your third eye.
5. Concentrate on viewing the third eye as a completely dark space; see how long you can imagine it and stay with it that way; let your breath calm and slow down.
   
6. During this process, colors or bolts of light might flash and your thoughts will surely stray, but return your focus to the blanketing darkness.
   
7. Keep trying to come back to resting your mind on the deep, dark space of the third eye. That is the work, that is the practice and that's all that a simple meditation ultimately requires of you.
   
   Now...can you guess how many seconds it took before your 'monkey mind' began to jump around and you were no longer focusing on the desolate, black space of the third eye, but on a slice of pizza, an annoying colleague, or the new love interest in your life?
   
   
   What should you do to focus your mind? Same thing for everything!
   And then it all becomes a meditation…

As I say it to myself, I share it with you: Reset, restart and dig in.

Now about that resume work...I listen to that small voice driving my intentions. Ahh! I feel my energy shift back into gear. I return to alignment and tune in to my goals. I do not judge myself, nor do I blame myself. I just remain my organized, aware self - returning to the now - and success will come.

This post is dedicated to my friend David for his sage advice
and to the memory of Steve's mom. May she rest in peace.