Intrinsic Thinking

image compliments of wikipedia

It's been a long busy while between postings!

Manny is now almost 10.5 months old and is no longer a baby... he's a little boy.  He's his own post, so let's just call him and motherhood amazing (most of the time.)

I went to a fabulous conference in Vermont, the Governor's Awards for Worksite Wellness - this is the annual de facto wellness conference for all of Vermont.  The keynote speaker was Dr. Rosie Ward (http://drrosieward.com/) and she talked a lot about the difference between telling people what to do vs. leading them to their own wisdom in a collaborative environment.  The first treats others as inferiors and oneself as superior, the one with the expertise.  The second way invites a partnership of equals, in which the student is thought of as whole, and contains the knowledge and directions to get where he or she wants to go.

I hope to use some of these leading questions as I teach and as I work with myself in my own practice.

Recently, my practice has been such a boon for me.  I have started doing an hour of yin yoga whenever I can squeeze it in.  Yin is a practice of holding floor poses for 3-5 minutes at a time.  It really puts me into "receiving" mode (as opposed to should/doing/thinking mode, which is absolutely my default.)

Once I quiet down, I find that I can connect with my breath and get into a meditative state through Yin practice or through meditation itself.  My bikram practice has been more spotty recently as I haven't been able to get to the studio as much as usual.  However, the work I've been doing, which I would have thought before as "not doing much" - lying around on the floor yoga takes a long time and doesn't burn calories (but it does tone the organs and stimulate the flow of energy!) has cleared my mind and allowed me to fall into the flow much more than anything else I've ever done.

I find myself more relaxed and less attached to creating the outcome I desire.  

Any time I find myself thinking of what to say next as opposed to listening in a spirit of service these days, I try to breathe and get back to center.  

Progress in lotus and splits!!