…has arrived, summer’s on its way and Omm is back after a long winter’s rest! Thank you all for your support and kind words. While Omm may look a little different, the intention to bring you tips to practice yoga on and off the mat still remains.
I spent my break putting my yoga practice to the test mostly off the mat…creating space, treating myself with kindness, looking at things with a fresh perspective, and staying focused, calm and peaceful.
Limiting stress - and sugar - allows me to live life a lot less hyped up. Off the mat, that means letting go of some things to make room for other endeavors that bring me joy and make me feel whole.
I freed up my schedule this winter to make time to help Chicago’s only all-girls public school, the Young Women’s Leadership Charter School of Chicago, secure funds needed to offer this life-altering education. YWLCS is Chicago at its best. So if you are looking to find “your cause,” this is it! Click to find out more.
I also made my way to the mountains…skiing in Utah, visiting the energy vortexes in Sedona and sightseeing at a blizzardy Grand Canyon. If you’ve never been to The Canyon, check out this virtual hike.
I made more space to submerge myself in self-study with my teacher, Ramaa Krishnan, and to attend the Tapping Summit – see below. I read books, caught up with family and friends, ate well, laughed a lot, practiced yoga, exercised, organized my house…basically detoxed my life. I’m now hooked to feeling calm and centered and can quickly notice when my engine gets revved. When that happens, it’s time to regroup, refocus and respirate!
As for the space created on Omm…you’ll now find a simpler studio directory off to the right with special attention given to upcoming workshops, retreats, festivals and summits. Subscribers (become a subscriber and be in the yoga-know!)…expect to find Omm in your inbox only when there’s lots to share. Comments welcome as always!
Much gratitude for your love, enthusiasm and support!
A shot of your most #kindawesome yoga pose and upload it to KIND’s Facebook app by June 16th for a chance to win a trip for 2 to Wanderlust California at Squaw Valley (7/18 – 7/21) including roundtrip airfare, 4 nights of lodging and 4-day Wanderlust Sage festival passes! So KIND!
A Super SUP-er this summer with my Stand Up Paddling (SUP) + Yoga workshop series! Taught by me and the SUP experts at Northwest Passage, the SUP+Yoga workshsop series will meet at Gillson Beach in Wilmette 12-2PM on Thursdays from July 11 – August 29. $39/session and $275 for all 8 weeks.
Having grown up sailing on Lake Michigan, I’m beyond excited to find my way back to the place where I first experienced ”moving meditation” now through Stand Up Paddleboarding!
If you’ve never SUPed, no worries. The experts at Northwest Passage will teach you!
If you’ve never done yoga before, no worries. I’ll teach you!
If you’ve never done yoga on a paddleboard, no worries. I’ll guide you and your body will teach you!
If you’re a pro at both, fabulous! You’ll keep honing your skills!
One 2-hour session includes…
30 minute pre-SUP yoga practice
SUP instruction for beginners
Advanced SUP Instruction for Intermediate to Advanced Paddleboarders
On-board yoga practice
Floating savasana-aahhhh!
Teens welcome! And yes, we wear lifejackets…so don’t let fear stand in the way!
In short, SUP is a total blast, a great full-body toner, a moving meditation, and the perfect way to enjoy where we live this summer!
Click here to register for individual sessions! Call 847-256-4409 to register for the whole series.
That loving feeling for your yoga practice? Don’t worry, it’s not gone, gone, gone.
Having suffered this myself…yes, it happens to even yoga teachers… here are 10 tips that have helped me perk up my practice.
Beware…tips includes several “Yoga Yikes” moments, meaning “I know this isn’t ‘uber yogic,’ but I’m saying it anyway.”
1. Re-connect with your first teacher – go to her/his class, send an email, find her on FB. She’ll be so happy to hear from you and just feeling your teacher’s presence will make you surrender back to your mat.
2. Yoga Yikes #1. Take up a new activity – SUP, run, bike, crossfit. Using your body in a different way will help you appreciate the benefits of yoga.
3. Yoga Yikes #2. Lose some weight. Yes, I just said that. Losing even a couple pounds can make big gains in your practice. Twist deeper, jump higher, feel lighter and move more freely.
4. Eat better. When you’re taking good care of your health, your practice becomes part of the overall program to nurture your mind, body and spirit.
5. Yoga Yikes #3. Buy a new yoga top that no one else has. Nothing gets me to the gym faster than a new pair of Nikes, and wearing a new yoga top can have the same effect. Think of it as a fresh slate – a top with no past-practice karma baggage – a piece with no muscle memory. Anything is possible in your new top!
6. Try a new studio. Fresh faces, a new vibe, and a big welcome can push your yoga pedal to the metal.
7. Try a new teacher. After 13 years of doing yoga, I have yet to go to a class where I didn’t learn something new. Each teacher has his or her own perspective, sense of creativity and voice. So deepen your teacher bench and expand your yoga game.
8. Shower BEFORE you practice. I often do. As Gabriel Halpern says, “showering changes your aura.” Not only are you more clear-headed, but your muscles are warm and ready to stretch.
9. Yoga Yikes #4. Take a yoga break. It’s the “you don’t know what you have until it’s gone” theory. Sometimes creating space, even from your mat, can help you realize the impact the practice truly has on your well-being.
10. Practice, practice, practice. Always the rule for die-hard yogis, practice even when you don’t want to. The days you least want to go are usually the days you have a big breakthrough. Don’t limit yourself to the same-old, same-old. Try a new style of yoga, attempt a new pose, skip vinyasas. As you keep evolving, so will your practice.
Out toxic thoughts, emotions and pain through a simple technique called, Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT). By tapping on the body’s main meridian points, literally tapping with your own two fingers, you tap into your own energy and healing power. During the recent online Tapping World Summit, I tapped to relieve headaches, eliminate self-sabotaging behaviors and stimulate weight loss. Think of it as medicinal meditation. Tappers Nick Ortner and his sister Jessica led the summit and do a great job explaining how and why to tap. Tap here to tap with Nick and Jessica.
Away not so far away. Stonehouse Farm Eco-Retreat & Sanctuary is Chicago’s newest yoga retreat center just 90 minutes from the city. Brainchild of Daren Friesen, owner and director of Moksha Yoga, Stonehouse is a tranquil backdrop for cultivating a conscious lifestyle, hosting weekend workshops, one-day events and week-long retreats featuring renowned yoga teachers, meditation instructors, nutrition and other healthy-living experts.
The historic Stonehouse built in 1863 is set on 37-acres complete with a lush forest, grassy meadow, walking paths, a swimming lake and a sand beach, yurts for overnight accommodations, campgrounds and a sweat lodge.
Workshops are already scheduled for this summer and the first annual Sukhava Bodhe Yoga & Music Festival is set for Labor Day weekend.
Rice. If you’re a carb-free vegetarian, you better sit down. This rice – cauliflower rice – will rock your r-orld! A cruciferous vegetable, cauliflower can be thought of as scrub brush for your gut. This high fiber, high vitamin veg head has both detoxing and anti-inflammatory qualities, and turning it to rice will help ramp up your cauliflower consumption. Sauté or stir-fry rice for the best texture and taste. For more crunch, bake on a cookie sheet after sautéing and avoid overcooking to prevent mush.
Basic Cauliflower Rice Recipe
Ingredients
1 head cauliflower
1 tablespoon EVOO
1 medium onion, diced
coarse salt and pepper
Preparation
1. Rice one head of cauliflower – see video
2. Over medium heat, sauté onion until soft (add any vegetable you’d like at this time)
3. Raise heat to medium-high, add cauliflower rice. Cover and stir frequently until rice is crispy on the outside, approx. 6 minutes.
4. Season with salt and pepper to taste
Out! Chicago’s sunny season may be short, but the list of local things to do outside isn’t. Now, finding your way around Chicago’s trails, waterways, jogging paths, campgrounds, swim areas, picnic sites and equestrian routes is smooth sailing! Click to map out your next adventure through the Chicago Wilderness Explorer.
Your brain. For fellow serial students hungry for more knowledge, get ready to have your minds blown. Moocs (massive open online courses) site coursera.org offers FREE classes on hundreds of subjects with the world’s leading professors from the most prestigious universities. We’re talking Princeton, Stanford, Yale! 70,000 international students and I are currently enrolled in Nutrition, Health, and Lifestyle: Issues and Insights through Vanderbilt University. It’s fascinating.
A Buddha and find peace. Ten Thousand Ripples is a creative endeavor that touched ten Chicago communities and will culminate with an exhibit at LUMA July 20 – October 27.
Seventeen fruits and vegetables in one sitting! Shopping, washing, chopping, eating not required.
Juice Plus+ contains a wide variety of nutritionally dense fruits and vegetables reduced to powder in capsule form. Juice Plus+ Orchard and Garden Blends deliver key vitamins, antioxidants and phytonutrients naturally found in these fruits, veggies and fibers…
To Bhakti Fest in Madison, WI, July 5th-7th! Back by popular demand, this can’t-miss freedom fest is jammed-pack with some serious yoga-lebrities. Truly a modern day Woodstock, BF is sensory smorgasbord of love, light and expression. So grab your BFF and head to BF.
Your own energy bar at youbars.com. Choose your nut butter, nuts, seeds, fruits, spices and a name, and a week later your youbars are delivered! My box of almond butter, almonds, agave and cinnamon bars just arrived!
Taste and nutrition are reviewed before you place your order. My review after I ordered…Fun Yum!
A laser light on your health. This new technology in energy medicine detects what’s happening in your organ system and prescribes a homeopathic remedy to treat your body’s imbalances. Much like a polygraph, readings provide information about the body and its reactive nature to environmental substances, foods and chemicals. Two protocols, including one for weight loss, are currently being used by Dr. Trupti Gokani at Zira Mind & Body Center in Glenview. Each reading takes 5-10 minutes. Once a protocol has been prescribed, subsequent readings are needed to measure the body’s balance.
June 1- June 10. Join the first FREE Hay House World Summit featuring online conversations with world-renowned experts in the personal growth field such as Louise Hay, Wayne Dyer, Esther Hicks and more! Sign up here!
