YOGA WITH MIA PARK
  • (H)ohm
  • Classes & Trainings
  • Yoga Nidra & More
    • Yoga Nidra
    • My Newsletter
    • Yoga Videos
    • Yoga Resume
    • Teachers
    • Photos
  • Private Yoga
  • Contact

Eggs and Aadil

9/12/2011

1 Comment

 
I do love studying with Aadil Palkhivala (alivewithaadil.com - link function not working now) Over five years ago, I did a 40 hour training with him before I started teaching yoga and he blew me away. His pure joy of life, his clear explanations, his confidence....his presence. He's inspiring, wise, and filled with joy. I mean, pure joy. 

I've learned things from him that I use in all my classes, like looking at each person in the eyes when greeting them hello or goodbye in every class. Like bringing total enthusiasm to the class and to the students. Like being firm when I need to without apology, but with love.

I'm still processing what I learned with him at http://mokshayoga.comweeblylink_new_window, last weekend. I had the best savasana (resting or corpse pose) EVER - it was 45 minutes long & it completely released the tension in my left arm and shoulder. I learned that so much of our tensions come from not getting enough rest. LET'S GET ENOUGH REST! Few things are more important, truly. And on that note, i'm going to do a yoga nidra (yoga sleep) practice, right now. 

Hail hail to the mighty Aadil Palkhivala! He's as wonderful in person as his name is fun to say. Hail, Aadil!
Picture
Me, Aadil, and his signature Three Minute Egg prop, Aadil Teal. ThreeMinuteEgg.com
1 Comment

Yoga Sleep & Deep Resolutions

5/29/2011

0 Comments

 
Picture
Yoga nidra means yoga sleep and, woah - is this a powerful and effective practice. Pictured is my teacher Rod Stryker's version of this practice of deep relaxation. 

Yoga nidra is sleep with a sense of consciousness. I've certainly passed out and snored my way through yoga nidra practices, for sure, but this is best practiced with out falling asleep. 30 minutes of yoga nidra is like getting 2 hours of sleep, and, believe me, I use yoga nidra instead of napping often to not only deeply rest, but to work on my sankalpa, my resolution.

So, how do you practice this magical relaxation practice and what's up with the resolution hub bub, you may wonder? Well, practicing is easy peasy - you lay on your back, hit the play button on your preferred media player and give your self permission to relax. I even bought an acupuncture-style pad to practice yoga nidra on to get some extra mojo going.  By mojo, I mean prana - life force, chi, breathe, energy. You  know...get your mojo rising! (I don't recommend using the bed of nails pad like I am unless you're used to doing yoga nidra often. You can relax so deeply that your body may feel uncomfortable on the pad, defeating the purpose of yoga nidra.)

The sankalpa, the resolution, is a super important part of this practice. When you're in the process of deeply relaxing, you cultivate the feeling of gratitude and in this fertile soil, plant the seed of your sankalpa or focused intention. This is a positive goal towards your health and well being that you want to achieve in the next 6 months. For example, three years ago, my previous sankalpa was to attract 10 students to every yoga class. I was still anxious about teaching to as many people as I could so I would have better job security, more income, and feel like I was getting the yoga message really out there.

The sankalpa eventually worked to where the classes where I had lower attendance (the 7AM gym classes) started to be populated by the coolest group of yogis around and there are often 10 or more students in these classes. Another great result was that by seeding my sankalpa while deeply relaxing, the anxiety I had around it started to fade. Sure, it's fun to have a full class but this is not as important to me. I'm now more focused on teaching a better quality class to any number of students. The sankalpa and yoga nidra worked for me in many great ways.

Yoga nidra, yoga nidra, yoga nidra. Do this as often as you can, at least twice a week, to deeply relax, set and fulfill  your sankulpa, and to replenish your vitality. 

0 Comments

New Digs, Try This on for SIZE

5/22/2011

1 Comment

 
Picture
So, I'm done done done working with the Three MInute Egg yoga products, for now (duh duh DUH dramatic music heard here). We sold eggs at the NYC Yoga Journal Conference (see the last blog entry) and at the Midwest Yoga Conference in Illinois. 

I met some fabulous, fabulous people, like the good folks at Juil Shoes (WONDERFUL product), a guy who already has a yoga website class directory that I'm trying to build now (eek!) and other neat yoga freaks and lovelies.

At the Midwest Yoga Conference, I finally got to study with Dr. Indu Arora. I've been interested in studying with her for years after reading her articles in Yoga Chicago and find her to be an authentic yogini who is the Real Deal. I took a mudra workshop with her and a beauty workshop, where she talked about the 8 types of beauty in the forms of Laksmhi, who is the utmost beauty incarnate. Of course, the emphasis is on the beauty of the inside, the type of confident spiritual beauty that keeps us young, vibrant and elegantly effortless.

Who wouldn't want this kind of effervescent beauty emanating from their pores from the inside? I sure do and need to get puh-lenty of rest right now after weeks of yoga-market-mayhem and after hanging out with the Three Minute Eggman, Jason, who has been painfully sick with a cold. 

So, off I go right now (that's right, Mia, get OFF the computer) to make an herbal face mask with Dr. Arora's herbal powder mixed with organic milk, lay on my new Yoga Powermat with 600+ plastic spikes on it and do a yoga nidra deep relaxation with my teacher, Rod Stryker's recording. 

The ONLY way I can sustain and thrive with my busy lifestyle is to PRACTICE and take care of myself. Off I go.

1 Comment
    Picture
    Photo by JimNewberry.com

    Author

    Mia Park is a ParaYoga teacher in Chicago, IL, specializing in teaching Basic Yoga for Advanced Misfits, as well as teaching people how to cut through the junk to shine on.

    Archives

    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011

    Categories

    All
    3me
    Aadil Palkhivala
    Abby Factor
    Abhyanga
    Abyanga
    Ajna Chakra
    Alcohol
    Asana
    Ashtanga
    Autumn
    Ayurveda
    Back Porch
    Balance
    Basic Yoga For Advanced Misfits
    Benefit
    Bhutta Shuddhi
    Bliss
    Blogging
    Bright & Beautiful
    Bright & Beautiful Newsletter
    Bug
    Castor Oil
    Chakras
    Chaos
    Chase Bossart
    Chicago Reader
    Chitta
    Cleanse
    Cold
    Collaboraction
    Comittment
    Communicatie
    Compassion
    Costume
    Dalai Lama
    Death
    Detox
    Dharma
    Dharma Code
    Dr Indu Arora
    Dukha
    Dying
    Elements
    Enlightenment
    Esoteric
    Fall
    Fear
    Flax Milk
    Focused
    Frustration
    Gabrielle Halpern
    Ganesha
    Garden
    Gary Kraftsow
    God
    Grateful Yoga
    Gratitude
    Grounding
    Guru Purnima
    Halloween
    Halmonee
    Healing
    Injury
    Iyengar
    Janet
    June
    King Spa
    Korean
    Leaky Gut Syndrome
    Life
    Life Lessons
    Ma
    Maddox
    Mebmob
    Meditation
    Medmob
    Michigan
    Midwest Yoga Conference
    Mind Is A Clear Blue Sky
    Moksha Yoga
    Moment
    Mother
    Mother Nature
    Mudra
    Mula Bandha
    Navaratri
    Neti Pot
    Newsletter
    New Year
    Nurturing
    Nyc
    Nyc Yog Journal Conference
    Parayoga
    Poetry Of Yoga
    Power Mat
    Practice
    Prana
    Pranayama
    Puja
    Relaxation
    Road Rage
    Robert Svoboda
    Rod Stryker
    Root
    Sangha
    Sankulpa
    Savasana
    Scott Blossom
    Seasons
    Shat Kriyas
    Shiva
    Sick
    Silence
    Slow Down
    Spirit
    Strength
    Stress
    Summer Yoga
    Tamas
    Tapas
    Tattwa
    Tattwa Shuddhi
    Tea
    Teaching
    Thai Massage
    The Four Desires
    Theo
    Three Minute Egg
    Too Much
    Toronto
    Travel Yoga Mat
    Truthful Living
    Uluru
    Vichara
    Viniyoga
    Wall Street
    Whole
    Whole Paycheck
    Yoga
    Yoga Chicago
    Yoga Circle
    Yoga Conferences
    Yoga Journal
    Yoga Nidra
    Yoga Park
    Yogarupa
    Yoga Therapy
    Zero

    RSS Feed

  • (H)ohm
  • Classes & Trainings
  • Yoga Nidra & More
    • Yoga Nidra
    • My Newsletter
    • Yoga Videos
    • Yoga Resume
    • Teachers
    • Photos
  • Private Yoga
  • Contact