LynnAnderson

Feel great, act great and approve of yourself

Self approval is something we all find hard to accomplish.  Accepting ourselves with all our shortcomings and accepting our lives even though we may not be overly happy with the outcome is a fundamental aspect of yoga. It is called contentment with what we have and not craving that which has not come into our lives. Self approval and accepting one’s place in life is a process that begins with observance. More…

All work and no play make Jack a dull boy

Taking the time to play and to rest are probably the most important things we can do to insure we find balance in our lives.  As I am writing this blog I am getting ready to leave for two weeks vacation. We are going to Turkey and Greece.  I feel tired and ready to get away from it all and just relax. One of the reasons we need to play and relax is it allows the body-mind the time it needs to regroup.  Relaxation let’s us escape from the pressures and stresses of everyday life. I don’t know what adventures or wisdom my vacation will bring but what ever happens I intend to flow and move with balance and ease. More…

Charity

Charity begins at home, but should not end there. - Thomas Fuller The practice of yoga is about working on yourself to bring about awareness and improvement.  It is the study of the body-mind and how to apply yoga principles such as balance, flexibility, quietude, and strength in a way that brings a total integration of body, mind, and spirit.  Yoga is not so much about giving as it is about receiving.  However, to receive and then to not give back misses the entire point of growth, awareness, and ultimately the attainment of wisdom. More…

To Be Happy

We all have felt disappointment. With disappointment often comes unhappiness, regret, fear, anger and a host of emotions. Yoga teaches us that we should not be disappointed when that which we wish for does not come into our lives. We should be content with what we have and not desire that which we have not earned. It is the essence of contentment and the basis of happiness. The key word is what we have not "earned." To be happy and content independent of events is not something that just happens -- it is something we must work at every day. More…

Struggle…a year later

It has been a year since my cancer surgery. The year has been both long and fast. I have struggled with my health, both mentally and physically and at the same time felt my health return to a much stronger place. Like all major life events we tend to stop on their anniversary and reflect back. I know what it feels like to struggle. Last year at this time after being sick for a year, then diagnosed with cancer, and with personal issues also looming, I went into surgery not knowing the outcome. Then it was a year of slowly struggling to get back my health. I can tell you that this struggle like any struggle takes patient, determination, and faith. But it also brings fear, depression, and at times feelings of hopelessness. More…

Gracefully Aging

I recently read an old adage; old age needs wisdom and grace. I might change that a bit and say that aging needs to be graceful and reliant upon both wisdom and good friends. More…

Graciousness

The very definition of graciousness is : marked by kindness and courtesy <a gracious host> b: GRACEFUL c: marked by tact and delicacy : URBANE d: characterized by charm, good taste, generosity of spirit, and the tasteful leisure of wealth and good breeding <gracious living>3: MERCIFUL, COMPASSIONATE —used conventionally of royalty and high nobility - Webster's Dictionary. The yogi Bhajan explains it as "grace is the most effective tool. It will bring you love, appreciation and prosperity." More…

Intuit

What is intuition and just how does it affect our health?  No doubt we all have some level of awareness of that sixth sense we call intuition.  Women proclaim it. Men call it a hunch. But for all of us it is that little voice within that speaks to us through a feeling in the gut. We call it having a “gut” feeling. But just what is it and how does it affect our health? Webster’s Dictionary defines intuition as: the power or faculty of attaining to direct knowledge or cognition without evident rational thought and inference. More…

A Material World

Who doesn’t know the famous Madonna song, material World? What does it mean to be living in the 2009 material world? Yoga is and always is whether good economy or not a place of material transcendence and spiritual connection. But in my many years of practice in California I have never seen a yogi’s path that was not connected with the material goods of yoga bags, mats, clothes, studios, and other paraphernalia. Yoga is a business that thrives on participants paying for classes. It is good for students to pay and for teachers to get paid. It is the exchange of money that keeps the world spinning around. More…

The Secret of Staying Young

After my cycle class one of my students came up and wanted to talk with me about feeling age creeping up on her. She is forty-two and beginning to feel the first pangs of getting older. From my perspective I smiled and assured her that forty-two was very young. I had better than a decade on her but nevertheless could understand her plight. I remember my own realization in my early forties that I was aging. It is when the first sign of wrinkles appear and perhaps the first few grey hairs arrive. Suddenly there are mild aches in the joints and energy drops a bit. I could only assure her that everything she was going through in body and mind was totally normal and that everyone feels the pangs of aging throughout their lives. More…