James Walsh Yoga

Friday, December 30, 2016 Woke up in a great mood and am eager to hit my mat this morning. Trite and sugary as it sounds, I think 2016 was a wonderful year and 2017 will be even better. My 2016 had some heart-ache in it, but it also had professional growth, great experiences with friends, wonderful food (I will never deny myself good food), great music, and a lot of time with my family. I intend to fill my 2017 with the same enriching and edifying experiences with my family and friends. Let's talk about yoga!  So far, this blog has been picture-less.  To the right is an image of the second forward bend, padahastasna .  This is one of my favorite forward bends, as it relieves pressure that built up in the wrists from your Vinyasas. Note the hands are completely covered by the feet and the toes touch the back of the wrists. While I can nearly straighten my legs completely in this pose, one of the most interesting things that happens is one's abdomen is pressed ...

Thursday, December 29 2016 Today marks the one month mark for this Yoga Blog!!! A month of waking up and practicing yoga. A month of daily prayer and meditation. A month of going through a wide spectrum of enthusiasm and motivation to hit my mat (don't know what was wrong with me that second week but I wanted to jump in front of a bus instead of practicing yoga, lol). So.....how do I feel.... I feel proud, more than anything.  I know that pride comes from hard work and perseverance and, very often, forcing yourself to do something that you don't want to do. Mentally, I feel that pride and a yearning to do more with the blog!!  I've also used my practice to help sort out any challenges I've had mentally with anger, fear, frustration, etc. (the Dark Side of the Force are they;.......I saw Rogue One again last night) lol. Physically, I feel very  good about the shape that a daily yoga practice has helped create.  Muscle tone in my arms, back, and shoulder...

Finally woke up feeling well enough to have a complete day.  I woke yesterday in agony (nausea, body ache, head ache, cold, general malaise) and didn't feel right until mid-afternoon. A part of me feels disappointment for not attempting to practice yoga and post to the blog for the days that I missed, but another part of me is a little more balanced and knows that it's disrespectful to your body and to your soul to be hard on yourself and continue pushing when you shouldn't. Don't get me wrong, a balanced amount of self-motivation and "buck up and follow through with it" is a very  good thing to have (as there's a whiney and lazy child just beneath the surface that you have to control), but I would not have been able to breath properly if I'd tried practicing on the days I took off. Time to pray/meditate and then hit my mat..... Wednesday, December 28, 2016 (Part II) I'm showered up and ready to start my day after a very nice practice.  My...

Happy Holidays and Namaste to all!  Took the past few days off from practicing yoga for 2 reasons..... It's the holidays. I woke up Friday December 23 with such intense head congestion that I could barely breathe.  Couldn't breathe out of my nose, let alone attempt a yoga practice which would have sped up my breathing; I wouldn't have made it and would have keeled over.  I'm still only about 50% better but will be hitting my mat for at least, a few Vinyasas to see how I feel. Monday, December 26, 2016 (Part II) Having upper chest and head congestion (ears, nose, etc.) I was focusing on extremely strong forward bending which, for me, brings relief from congestion, especially in my ears.  I began sweating almost immediately upon practicing, but it felt good to sweat it out.  Did my standard Vinyasa series and ended with full upward bow. I'll hit the mat again tomorrow to sweat it out and begin posting pictures in the new year. Namaste

Thursday, December 22, 2016 Skipped out completely yesterday morning and had to dedicate my morning to other things that required my attention.  I'm not going to beat myself up about it at all; along with the diligence and perseverance of a yoga practice, I think gentleness with oneself is a good idea too (as long as it's balanced). I'm feeling a little blue this morning but, with a strong practice, I can probably turn that around, at least a little bit.  The intent of this blog isn't to go into my personal feelings and have this be a "diary" of my life so I'll spare you the ridiculous details of what makes me feel happy/sad/anxious/pleased/etc.  Rather, I'll remark on my feeling before and after a practice to see what effect hitting the mat has on me. Final note before I begin meditation/prayer......I went to my Tuesday night Tae Kwon Do class and had my pride handed to me on a platter.  I hadn't been in a few weeks and had forgotten the sore...

Woke up with a kink in my upper back.  I'll work it out on the mat but I have zero motivation this morning.  I don't believe the kink if from anything other than sleeping on it wrong.  I know that forward bends will help alleviate at least some of the pain I'm feeling now. Also, woke up to the coffee machine full of water and grounds with someone  forgetting to set the "brew delay" timer (that someone is me as I live alone, lulz).  I groggily reached for the pot this morning and the light weight of the empty container threw my early morning brain for a loop. I'll hit my mat here in a bit to sweat it out. Tuesday, December 20, 2016 (Part II) If you're not feeling like doing something and you're not in the mood for it; force yourself to do it and force yourself to do it better than you were originally anticipating.  Without realizing it, your attitude about that task begins to change. My practice was a good one this morning.  I moved very  ...

Had a great week and great weekend and am looking forward to another one coming up. I observe Sunday, instead of Saturday, as my official day of rest so did not practice yesterday. It's 5:43 AM and I'll be hitting my mat shortly to sweat it out. Monday, December 19 2016 (Part II) I may have to bite the bullet and turn the heat on finally. lol  I had a great practice but, even with a lot of focus on heating myself up, I still only broke a little bit of a sweat while on my mat. A weekend filled with good food definitely left my digestion a little out of whack.  I could feel Friday's pizza, Saturday's junk food, and Sunday's Gyro sloshing around as I moved into backbends and forward bends. I'm coming up on the 1 month anniversary of this blog.  That's an achievement I'm proud of!!!  I think it's going to be a great day. Namaste.

Woke a little later than my usual time of 5:00am (a whopping 5:30am) and have had a lovely morning lounging around, drinking coffee, and listening to music while tidying up my place. I'll be hitting the mat shortly to sweat it out and will be following my standard abbreviated Primary Series of Ashtanga Yoga. Mentally, I'm feeling well.  I have a sense of "doom" at times (nothing new) and it's important to reflect on where that might be coming from. Physically, I'm feeling fat and happy as I had pizza and beer with my friend Amanda last night. lol  A bit of time on the mat is just  the thing that I need to speed some of that junk out of my body. Saturday, December 17, 2016 (Part II) Judge a good wine by it's color, smell, and taste and judge a good yoga practice by the quality of your Savasana (corpse pose). "They" say that corpse pose is the, 'most difficult pose of all', and, while I get what people are trying to suggest, corp...

Crawled into my bed at 6:30pm last night and was probably asleep by 7:00 or 7:30.  It felt wonderful.  Yesterday was an odd day where I didn't quite feel like myself (the wine I drank with dinner the night before probably had something to do with it). lulz Today is a new day and I'm going to be hitting my mat in a few minutes to sweat it out.  I'll continue with my abbreviated Primary Series. On a completely  un-yogic note, Rogue One comes out today!!!! Friday, December 16, 2016 (Part II) Post Practice: Following through and hitting the mat is never  a bad thing.  I'll say that my body felt thick and stodgy this morning (as it has many times in the past); imagine overly-cold honey or maple syrup that doesn't want to move.  I warmed up fairly quickly and ended with the deepest backbends I've done yet. My mind was all over the place.  I had negative thoughts this morning so I'm going to be careful as I move and speak throughout the day ...

Overslept this morning and won't be practicing in the am.  I will  be on my mat at some stage today though. Stay tuned.....

I woke up at my standard 5:00am but have lounged around for an extra half hour this morning instead of hitting my mat.  It's 6:30 now and I'm still under my covers. lol I "admired" myself in the mirror while I changed into my yoga gear and, while I'm far  from Michelangelo's David, I am pleased with what my persistence has done to shape my body; I see it primarily in my arms and shoulders but also notice a positive shape change in my legs and back. Practicing yoga for the physical benefits is about as contrary to the principles of yoga as can be, but I do balance my desire to look good on the outside with an even greater desire to look good on the inside; this practice has helped most in that regard, looking good on the inside. Time to hit my mat and sweat it out.  

Not much motivation this morning to hit the mat but, that's what the blog is all about. I may introduce a new pose to the practice this morning to expand upon what I'm doing. Time to meditate/pray/reflect and hit the mat...... Tuesday, December 13, 2016 (Part II) A fine practice this morning with nothing unusual to report.  Upward bow is continuing to deepen (which I'm thankful for but still cautious with), but I've noticed that my forward bends seem to have gone back a step.  While I don't know for sure, I believe that, when you open up one side of your body (the front, in the case of upward bow), you tighten up the other side.  Seems to be the case with me, anyway. Broke a nice sweat this morning (even though it's mid-December) and am looking forward to a good day. Time to shower up and take it on. Namaste.

This is the beginning of week 3 and I want to reflect on how I feel. I have felt good and I have felt bad in the past two weeks (as everyone does).  I know that I've failed in areas of my life and I know I've succeeded in areas of my life.  I try to observe my feelings but we put far  too much emphasis on them and allow how we feel to dictate our behavior.  Above all, when I didn't feel  like practicing yoga, I did it anyway and hit my mat.  Above all I've felt pride in my perseverance and my follow-through; don't know why it was torture to get up and practice yoga very morning last week but, it was. Had a great weekend filled with waaaaay  too much junk food, holiday parties, and eating out.  I'll need to step back up to a clean diet throughout this week unless I want to morph into Jabba the Hutt. I have the feeling that today will be a great day.  Don't know if there's any value at all in these little forecasts I give myself but they ...

I observe Sunday, instead of Saturday, as my official day of rest. Looking forward to a wonderful day off spent with family and friends. Namaste

Had a wonderful, and relaxing day off from work yesterday. In re-reading my post from yesterday, I'm remembering how out of control my brain was.  I think it's worth considering what causes one's mind to be all over the place.  Good mind control is one of my pursuits in my yoga practice; on the same level with my desire to see physical changes. I don't believe my hyperactive mind was caused by caffeine, as I've had more coffee this morning than yesterday and can already tell that my mind isn't all over the place.  It may  have been caused by taking a day off from work and feeling like something bad will happen in my absence.  Eliminating fear about something getting screwed up at work is an important hurdle for me (one that I work on almost daily), and I know that it can creep into my mind and cause me undue stress. I'm proud of myself for getting up every morning last week and hitting my mat.  For whatever reason I had zero desire to do so on almost ...

I took another day off from work and have had a wonderful morning lounging about, drinking coffee at an incredibly slow pace, and contemplating whatever nonsense popped into my head.  Again, as Officer Hopper likes to say on 'Stranger Things'. I took an extra step this morning and showered quickly before changing into my gear and hitting my mat. I'm typing this while sitting on said mat, and will focus on my usual strength and endurance building today, as always.  In addition to that, I'll be spending a few minutes meditating, praying, and doing m best to get a hold of my mind and thoughts before beginning the practice. Friday, December 9, 2016 (Part II) Post practice: I'm on my mat having come out of Savasana.  My full upward bows are advancing quicker than I thought and I'm having less and less difficulty pressing up, keeping my knees and feet inline (as you lift your body naturally tries to turn your legs and feet outward so your toes point to the side...

For the, i-don't-even-know-how-many-times-this-week, I woke up and have had zero motivation.  If not for this blog I would not have had the diligence to continue going to my mat.  I shall  go to my mat, however, because, as I said yesterday, this is becoming more a practice of duty, discipline, and perseverance. Mentally, I'm unmotivated.  Physically, I'm feeling good (ate out for both lunch and  dinner yesterday so feeling a bit bogged down in my mid-section).  Arms and shoulders have definitely changed shape since the beginning of the practice.  Time to meditate and pray for a few minutes before hitting the mat. Thursday, December 8, 2016 (Part II) Post practice: Didn't notice the odd little muscle tension in the upper/left side of my back until I started moving.  I recognized this, immediately, as a result of the full upward bows I've been doing.  It isn't a bad thing, but I've had this odd sore/tense feeling many times in the past an...

Third day in a row where I've woken up at 5:00am and have had almost zero  ambition.  Don't know why I'm not springing out of bed as I do much of the time. Why am I doing this blog?  The main reason is to give myself something to report to on a daily basis.  The second reason is to deepen my practice and track the mental and physical changes I'm undergoing.  The third and final reason would be to spread interest about yoga.  I put this as the final reason because, A: I don't believe this blog will be enormously popular, and B, I am not  an expert on the subject of yoga and have a personal practice that I deepen; I am not a certified instructor, etc. I'll be hitting my mat later and I'll be happy that I did but, I can say that, without this blog to report to, I probably would have turned the alarm off this morning and slunk back under the covers. Wednesday, December 7, 2016 (Part II) Post practice:  I'm on my mat having come out of Savasana ...

Woke at the usual 5:00am but, just like yesterday, I am not  feeling it today...... Don't know why it was difficult to get up (especially when I woke up naturally at 5:00am this past Sunday morning). In any event, perseverance, and self-control are two good traits to have so, needless to say, I'll be hitting my mat here shortly.... Tuesday, December 6, (Part II) Post practice post.  You'll never  regret exercising your perseverance and self-control.  I feel like, at times, that's the #1 way to boost your confidence and self-esteem.  I hit my mat and ran through the standard series I've been following with the addition of two full upward bows at the end of the practice.  Upward bow is a strong and strenuous pose that is typically done at the end of a full practice so that your back, arms, and shoulders have had a chance to become completely warmed up and limber. While it's one of my favorite poses, and it combats a lot negative aspects (bad posture,...

Feeling little to no motivation this morning.  lol.  I woke up naturally at 5:00am yesterday morning (when I didn't have anywhere to be or anything to do) but, when my alarm went off this morning, I very nearly flipped it off and crawled back under the covers. I didn't  do that, however, and I'm awake and enjoying coffee.  I have a feeling today will be a good day, even though it's started off a lil rough...... Monday, December 5, 2016 (Part II) Had a fairly good practice this morning.  I went running Saturday afternoon and, since I didn't have a physical practice yesterday, today was the first time hitting my mat.  I've known that, after running or biking, the muscles in your legs and back tighten up and have to be re-stretched.  I wasn't too bad off, but the practice was a little sluggish and slow and not the prettiest thing I've ever done. I did  incorporate a full upward bow ( Urdhva Dhanurasana ) into the end of the practice.  Up ...

It is traditional to observe Saturday as a day of rest in Ashtanga Yoga.  I use Sunday as my day of rest and won't be practicing today. Hope your day is filled with relaxation and happiness.  I'll practice an post again tomorrow morning which will mark the one week anniversary of this blog (yay). Namaste

Pre-practice post.  I'm a few cups of coffee in and getting myself ready for the mat.  I didn't pray/meditate before yesterdays practice and just sort of hit the mat.  I remember my brain being a little hard to control in that my thoughts kept flipping around as I was moving through the physical practice.  Again, I am not  an expert on Ashtanga Yoga, but I will say that the physical poses that you/me/everyone on planet Earth associates with "yoga" is one branch of the "tree".  Take a look at the 8 Limbs of Ashtanga Yoga  and you'll see that the physical practice is called "Asana".  Almost all poses end with the suffix of -asana (padahasthasana/utkatasana/savasana/etc.).  To me, a more interesting, abstract, and difficult to grasp, component of yoga is trying to control your mind and withdraw from your senses and yourself.   Pratyahara  is the term for this state of being and, while I am quite certain that my skill level is inadequat...

Took a day off from work and am still in my robe sipping coffee at 9:04am.  I'm grateful for time off to reflect and go at my own pace (which can be fast, or slow).  I've got a wonderful day ahead of me; but first..................I think I'll hit my mat..... Friday, December 2, 2016 (Part II) Post-yoga practice.  I continued the modified primary series that I've been doing since Monday.  It's the same sequence, but it's amazing how one's body is different every day.  The physical benefits of my practice are definitely beginning to show.  My forward bends (always a difficult type of pose/asana for me) are deepening with less effort and my abdomen is tightening up in interesting ways.  One of the core principles of Ashtanga Yoga is a series of bandhas or "locks" in your body.  To put it simply, there's a muscle lock at the base of your spine, the lower abdomen, and just at the neck.  The lower abdomen bandha, officially called "Uddiyan...

Happy December!  It's 5:28am and I'm on my second cup of coffee.  Last night consisted of some pretty awesome tex-mex and some pretty awesome margaritas. I'm in fine shape this morning, but any kind of alcohol will definitely have a negative effect on your body. For the past 3 days, I've gone to my mat at 6:00am and done the same modified/shortened Ashtanga primary series; Sun Salute A, Sun Salute B, Padahastasana, Padungusthasana, Marichyasana C, and a few other poses before closing down with inversions, more intense forward bends, bridge, and Savasana. Take a look here if you're interested in a peer-edited description of Ashtanga yoga. I am writing this pre-practice and I'm feeling a bit more mentally focused that I was yesterday; like anything, some days you'll wake up and it'll flow, and some days it won't Thursday, December 1, 2016 (Part II) So far with this blog, I've been making each post a 2 part-er.  It's interesting for ...