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Yoga Bits
Morsels of yogic wisdom and information

 Apr. 1 - 7, 2013   


You aren't imagining it...

Publication of Yoga Bits has been a little sporadic lately.
So please enjoy this week's newsletter.

Yoga West Teacher's Bench
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LongTimeSun
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You Can Leave Your Hat On
Or your turban, hoodie, yarmulke... 

"Man is the only creature who refuses to be what he is."

-- Albert Camus   

 

See if these little tidbits make sense:

 

My favorite book is One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I am also a huge fan of soap operas. I used to be a newspaper reporter and I covered crime -- sometimes extraordinarily grisly crime -- even though I get woozy if I get a paper cut that bleeds a little.   

 

I like to wear sparkly jewelry and maintain a mani/pedi as consistently as possible (French mani, color of choice for pedi). However, I also cut my nails down and surrender all frilly grooming to go camping for 10 days in the New Mexico high desert every summer. 

 

I practice yoga and meditation every day, which allows me to be calm, healthy and happy. Meanwhile, my favorite TV show is Justified, which is a violent Elmore Leonard-style crime drama set in the hills of Kentucky and known for its vigilante hero U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens as well as its pathologically vicious villains.  

 

I'm sharing these few details to make the point that as humans we are a complex matrix of characteristics and tendencies. I, like you, wear many, many hats. Some of them do not appear compatible but each reflect a genuine facet of the total "me." We choose which "hat" to wear at any given moment based on whatever is necessary to fulfill our role at that time -- parent, child, employee, boss, friend, volunteer, teacher or student, to name only a few.  

Justified's Raylan Givens
Raylan Givens (Timothy Olyphant) can leave his hat on anytime

But what happens when those lines get fuzzy, as they inevitably do?  

 

For instance, I find it odd that I am looking forward to the season finale of Justified as much as the 2.5 hour long Ek Ong Kar meditation coming up soon at Yoga West. How does someone who genuinely abhors violence of all kinds find a crime-western shoot-em-up to be her favorite hour of weekly entertainment? The short answer is: I don't know (although one clue might be found in the picture of the gorgeous Timothy Olyphant, at right. Duh!). Now that contradiction may not seem like a big deal to anyone else, but finding a way to reconcile these two poles of my personality has got me scratching my head a bit. But don't worry. Despite my confusion, I have no intention of missing either the Justified finale OR the meditation!  

   

I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that you, dear reader, have your own conflicts in this department. How do we wear all of these hats yet still maintain our authenticity across all these roles? Sometimes we feel comfortable showing all parts of our selves to a particular person or community. At other times, we feel that a piece of us that fits into one area will be ignored, judged or ridiculed in another. Ultimately I can only be me, whether I make sense to outsiders -- although usually it's my own expectations that are much more limiting than anyone else's.  

 

I have learned that I don't have a snowball's chance in hell of being authentic without sitting still and looking at myself as truthfully as possible on a consistent basis. Of course, that's no problem when I feel really awesome. But when I feel "less than" or discontent, it can be extremely painful to take that inventory. It's through my yoga practice that I have learned to stay focused and breathe, even when I feel uncomfortable or something appears to be impossible. My experience on my mat reminds me that no one else can observe and respond to my shifting needs with each inhale and exhale. I get distracted, self-conscious, prideful, confident and even sometimes fearful -- but I keep showing up to the mat to learn and accept more and more about myself in every possible way.  Sometimes I succeed at this endeavor, sometimes not so much.

 

Either way, at least I throw my hat in the ring. 

Sat Nam,
Mary

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Kundalini, Hatha and Restorative classes at my home studio in North Hollywood are now $25 each and can be scheduled upon request. Private sessions are $75 per appointment and consist of a 30- to 60-minute consultation, a custom recipe for a personal practice based on your individual needs, and 30 minutes of follow-up instruction by phone or in person.

 Just email me.


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The techniques and suggestions presented in Yoga Bits are not intended as medical claims or to substitute for proper medical advice. Consult your physician before beginning any new exercise program. If you are elderly or have any chronic or recurring conditions such as high blood pressure, neck or back pain, arthritis, heart disease, and so on, seek your physician's advice before practicing.