Do You Trust Your Body?

Maybe you’ve never thought of your body in terms of something you should or shouldn’t trust, but you have an intimate relationship with your body. It’s your vehicle for communicating with the world. Do you trust your body? How many of the following statements do you agree with?

➤ “When I get a craving, I can’t control my eating. I’ll eat an entire quart of ice cream, a huge steak, a pound of chocolate, candy, a whole pizza, and a pie. I can’t stop myself.”


➤ “I’m accident-prone, especially when I play sports or exercise. I always twist an ankle, jam a thumb, or injure myself in some other way.”

➤ “I always get sick just when an important event is about to happen. My body betrays me when I need it most!”

➤ “I don’t know what to think about myself, because what I see in the mirror is totally different than how other people describe me.”

➤ “I’m uncomfortable in most of my clothes.”

If you agreed with any of these statements, you have problems trusting your body. Your body is not your enemy, and it’s not a stranger. While you may need professional help to cure an eating disorder, chronic illness, or negative self-image (you’ll want to enlist the aid of a licensed healthcare professional as well as a yoga instructor!), the wonderful thing about yoga is that it reacquaints you with your physical self. You’ll get to know your body like never before, and you’ll even learn to make peace with your body, enjoy your body, like your body.

Your body will begin to respond the way you intend. You’ll know what your body is going to do. You’ll be paying attention. You’ll have more control over your physical being and mental state, so you’ll be injured less, be more sure about what you think, be in better control of what you do, and be more self-confident.


The Least You Need to Know

➤ Yoga helps you feel better in your body.

➤ Body awareness is an important part of practicing yoga.

➤ The ectomorph body type tends to be tall, thin, and energetic; the endomorph body type tends to be curvy with wide hips and a more relaxed temperament; the mesomorph body type tends to be strong with well-developed muscles and an even temperament.

➤ The more you pay attention to and learn your own personal anatomy, energy cycles, and body image issues, the more you will integrate your mind and body for greater confidence and self-control.

➤ Yoga can help you learn to trust your body.

This is Part Two of a two-part series on knowing your body. Read Part One here.

Your Personal Energy Cycle

No matter how in touch or out of touch you are with your body, everyone has energy cycles. You know, even without consciously knowing, when your energy levels fluctuate. Sometimes your energy peaks, sometimes it lags. Sometimes you wake up ready to go-go-go, and sometimes you can barely pull yourself out of bed. Energy cycles can be affected by increased activity, over- or undereating, or too little sleep. Your monthly cycles, the weather, lunar cycles, and your health, diet, and regular level of exercise can all have an effect, too.

   

Just as people have different body types, they have different energy patterns. Maybe you tend to wake up ready to take on the world, but by nighttime, you can’t wait to crawl into bed. Or maybe you don’t want to see another human face before 10 A.M., but at midnight, you are ready to rock. While individual energy fluctuations can be a matter of habit (you can accustom yourself to working the night shift, for example), working with your natural energy flow will make yoga easier and more enjoyable, and a regular yoga practice will smooth out your natural energy flow.

When energy shoots up or plummets too suddenly, we are left feeling exhausted, out of balance, even confused. That sudden five-story drop on the roller coaster may be thrilling for a few seconds, but those

Eastern Body, Western Body

Is your body different than the body of someone from a different part of the world? Of course not, but different cultures have different theories about the body. The concept that the body and the mind are one is an easy concept for the Easterner. The physical body is merely one of several “bodies.” It’s a temple to house the spirit but should be well-tended and rigorously cared for because of the importance of what it holds. The astral body is the vehicle of the spirit and is maintained through breathing, meditation, and concentration. The causal body is the place where the spirit works. The ego is absent from the causal body, and the spirit can know its true potential here. Ideally, the spirit transcends all bodies and becomes pure consciousness, an individual expression of the divine. To the traditional Easterner, the mind/body is sacred, not to be abused, but to be used as a vehicle for the spirit’s expression, which results, finally, in enlightenment.
 
On the other side of the spectrum is the Westerner. Traditionally, the Westerner sees one part of the self at a time. The body is the body. Healthy food keeps it running, and exercise keeps it strong. End of story. Then there is the mind. The mind is the source of intelligence and thought. Activities that stimulate the mind, from philosophical conversations to crossword puzzles, keep the mind active. End of story. Then there is the spirit. The spirit might be nurtured and maintained by going to church or by a personal philosophy or spirituality. In many, the spirit is ignored. End of story.

Westerners have certainly survived—and thrived. So why should we change a system that works? Because
it keeps us off balance. Westerners are movers and shakers, yet many of us exist on the edge of health and sanity, surviving on caffeine, nicotine, and sugar, wracked by stress and saddled with materialism, ego, desire, and greed. We need something to even us out, calm us down, and get us in touch with ourselves again. Don’t believe that this will slow you down or make you less effective. Integrating mind, body, and spirit can only make you a better and more effective, productive person—Westerner or Easterner.

Yoga Festivals in 2013

Ready, set, mark your calendars! If your wish list for 2014 includes enjoying asana and music with like-minded folks at a yoga festival, it’s not too early to start planning. The festival season is right around the corner.

You can expect to pay $100-300 a day for a pass that includes asana workshops, live music and kirtan, and outdoor activities in inspiring settings from beaches to mountains. (Often, part of the fee is donated to a charitable cause.) Accommodations run the gamut of prices and amenities, from camping to resort hotels. Pack according to location: swimsuit, water shoes, hiking boots, a sarong or prayer shawl, etc. Because most festivals highlight their natural surroundings, sun protection is as important as your yoga mat and water bottle. And be sure to leave space in your suitcase to bring home some of the cool handcrafted items you’ll find at festival marketplaces.

The ultimate yoga gathering is BhaktiFest, held in Joshua Tree, CA. The lineup includes A-list teachers, and it’s nirvana for kirtan lovers. Past performers have included Krishna Das (a recent Grammy nominee), Jai Uttal, and Deva Premal. But be prepared to test your tapas—summer still has its grip on the Mohave Desert in September—and make plans early, especially if you hope to stay in the retreat center.

Wanderlust, another hugely popular event, heads to both Chile and Oahu in February, with a lineup of yoga luminaries (including Shiva Rea and Baron Baptiste), gourmet food, and surfing. The five-year-old fest

Releasing What No Longer Serves

Do you experience “negative, unwanted thoughts” that may hinder your New Year's resolutions? A new study in the journal, Psychological Science, suggests that writing down such thoughts, and subsequently discarding them, may result in a corresponding mental release. From a yogic perspective, releasing what does not serve invites deeper integrity and alignment with one’s intentions and self.

Spanish high school students participating in an eating disorder prevention class were randomly assigned by researchers to write down either positive or negative thoughts about their body during a three-minute period. Half the students were then asked to contemplate their thoughts and look for spelling mistakes. The other half were instructed to contemplate their thoughts then throw them in the trash can.

For students that kept their thoughts and checked them for mistakes, the positive or negative nature of thought about their bodies predicted their body attitudes. Those who wrote negative thoughts about their bodies had more negative attitudes about their bodies than did those who wrote positive thoughts. Yet among students who threw their thoughts away, no difference in body rating was observed between those who wrote positive and negative thoughts.

The implication? When recording thoughts, the nature of what you write and retain matters. Likewise, when

Top 10 Yoga Stories of 2012

What a memorable year in yoga! We’ve seen stories ranging from controversial to inspirational and everything in between. We look back and highlight some of the year’s most noteworthy topics.

1.) The Anusara scandal…the story of Anusara founder John Friend’s fall from grace shook up the yoga community and dominated yoga news headlines for months.
Anusara Sex Scandal Confirmed
Integrity Interrupted, More on the Anusara Controversy
Anusara: Out of Alignment
Anusara: A Breath of Fresh Air

2.) Oh William Broad…the New York Times journalist made quite a few waves this year with his claims linking yoga’s origins to sex cults as well as his claims that yoga can “wreck your body.” We found his sensationalist pieces in the Times to be misguided, and our own Tosca Braun took him to task.
Can Yoga Wreck Your Body?
Yoga’s Origins: Broadsided
Yoga’s Relationship to (Sexual) Desire: Broadsided

3.) Bikram Loses Copyright
Bikram Choudhury took his former students to court to protect his trademarked yoga sequence. He claims

How To Build Your Yoga Community

9 Ways To Build Your Yoga Community

You sweat together, cry together, and support each other physically during asana practice, but do you and your yoga classmates support each other outside the studio? If your yoga home is a safe space for growth with friends who inspire you, count yourself lucky. If you’re longing to create a yoga family, here are nine simple ideas for starters. Though most are geared toward teachers or studios, students can pitch in to launch ideas and build momentum.

1) Introduce a new teacher, attract new students, and generate good will by adding a low-cost or donation-based community class to the schedule. A loyal crowd of locals and university students pack the $5 YogaHour classes at Yoga Oasis, creating an exciting, positive vibe.

2) Play together with a recurring event that has the flavor of celebration or reward, perhaps a Thank-God-It’s-Friday restorative practice. West Asheville Yoga hosts a Winter Solstice celebration and a monthly kirtan among other community events.

3) Share a cup of herbal tea after class to encourage lingering and conversation. Many yoga studios offer this as a transition time before students dash back out into the world, but it’s also a good way to get to know each other outside of class.

4) Invite feedback and participation during the post-class tea, or add a bulletin board, allowing students to