Left Brain – Right Brain

Eoin Finn, founder and leader of Blissology yoga, shared the following graphic with our group last week as he prepared his teachings on the FLUID BODY:

Of course, as an artist and an engineer, a feeler and a thinker, an instructor and an outdoor adventurer, I often live in both brains.

I have found professional success living in both.

But, I have floated down powdered mountain slopes, ridden through powerful ocean surf, flown with wings above majestic peaks, pedaled through landscapes near and far, and today, taught my first yoga class.

I have tasted the hands of Divine experience through fluid movement, and feelings of wonder and Oneness…  a peaceful and dignified connection to everyone and everything around me.

I can live in my left brain.

I thrive in my right brain. It’s hard to switch. With my right brain experiences, I feel a relentless and overwhelming pull towards feelings of freedom, happiness, bliss and enlightenment.

Right now, how do I move now from the joy and inspiration of teaching yoga an hour ago, to the required work of determining the structural feasibility of a complex of historic Vermont barns built a century ago?

By taking one joyful step at a time.

Live, learn, and live some more… in both brains!

My next yoga class tomorrow morning is going to be awesome!

September Fitness Goals

A few months ago I discussed having a strength and conditioning coach to help me achieve personal fitness goals. I am at the end of my summer outdoor season during which I work towards leanness. At the end of the month, I’ll switch it up and work on strength and mass gain leading into the winter sports season. In addition to previous friends and mentors, in both fitness and in yoga, I have recently been working with Dave Knight of Spectrum Fitness Consulting in Beverly, MA.

Yes, I’m trying to eat pretty clean (here in Vermont, we’re usually eating organic and local anyway) and cutting my calories down. I am also adding more HIIT cardio to the ends of my workouts… and actually trying to walk more daily. I’m 56; but I’m hoping to get down around 8% bodyfat by the end of the month (I’m currently at 10%) while maintaining strength and lean body mass.

Right now, I’m alternating full-body workouts for strength training, usually every other day. After warming up and rolling, mobilizing primarily my spine, shoulders and hips, my white-board work out is as follows:

I’ll start here, then adjust weights and reps to challenge myself each week. My end of workout cardio will be a series of mountain climbers, lunge leaps and burpees.

Starting in October, I’ll work more on muscle hypertrophy, which will involve working specific muscle groups on alternate days, more specific muscle-group loading, and more calories in my diet. Being outside for many days during the winter on skis or a snowboard, I usually want to be stronger and “thicker”!

Comments?

Another Path Begins: Teaching at HOTV Yoga Studio

After a dozen years of attending yoga workshops and teacher-trainings, usually in the background accompanying my wife, I am finally beginning to teach yoga myself at the Heart of the Village Yoga Studio. My inspiration to teach has been growing for years: I’ve witnessed the healing effect yoga brings to people’s lives through the seemingly simple practice of focused breathing and coordinated movement; I’ve seen how present-moment mind-body awareness can improve athleticism and reduce injury; and I have a keen awareness of how the practice of yoga can put each of us in a better place to deal with stress, aging, changing circumstances, and fast-paced lives.

For 3 years, my wife and I worked out-of-town with combat veterans through our work associated with the Wounded Warrior Project. I was engaged intimately in developing and facilitating experiences intended to help participants transition from combat to community in ways that were holistic in nature and based on our understanding of yoga and mindfulness-based practices. These experiences changed lives (including mine) and I will be forever grateful for these experiences. They form the basis for my understanding of the integrated nature of wellness… and the foundation from which I hope to develop my yoga teaching career.

As an experiential teacher and intuitive person, I am used to feeding off of the natural talents and energies of the group; I hope my teaching style will bring a sense of learning through group interaction as well as personal practice. As an athlete and trainer, I hope to include movements that I’ve learned over the years that will help athletes become both stronger and more mobile. As an outdoor educator and team-builder, I hope my classes will bring a deepened connection to our place in nature and within our community. And as a caring human being, I hope to heighten a sense of inner peace and renewed energy through a flowing and joyful asana practice.

I enter this work with both a sense of excitement and apprehension… I will do my best to live up to the heart-felt standard students have come to expect at HOTV Yoga Studio, and to “co-create” (with students) life-enhancing and educational yoga class experiences!

Sight on the Light: Teaching, Training, Coaching and Mentoring

It’s wonderful how things unfold.

As I’ve written, I recently returned home from a 100-hour Yoga Teacher Training Immersion with Eoin Finn and Blissology Yoga with the intention of doing more teaching, training, coaching and mentoring.

Well, I’ll be finalizing plans this week to work part-time with Abilities Plus at Mount Snow to coordinate staff training and special programs (Special Olympics, Paralympic Sports, Wounded Warriors). Abilities Plus is an adaptive sports program affiliated with Disabled Sports USA, and specializes at Mount Snow in life-enriching programs for people with visible and invisible disabilities. See www.abilityplus.org/mtsnowprograms. More to come soon…

I’ve also committed to start to teaching yoga at Heart of the Village Yoga Studio. I’ll begin with two classes per week focused on yoga for athletes. See www.heartofvillageyoga.com. More to come soon…

I’ve also been approached about doing some mentoring work locally. More to come? We’ll see.

Also, an organization we help start a couple of years ago in San Diego, CA, called Warriors Live On, is planning their first mentoring programs for this fall. I hope to be involved helping to develop these important programs over the next few weeks. This work is very close to my heart. See www.warriorsliveon.org.

All part-time work to supplement my normal design and consulting work, but it’ll be nice to get some traction again doing things that will get me out-of-the-office again, with people, doing more teaching, training, coaching and mentoring… with a sense of excitement and wonder!

Always more to come…When you keep your Sight on the Light!

Change Happens… Celebrate Impermanence

A thought for the day… as I transition from vacation back to my daily work…

Living a full life involves being a part of what is happening around us.

What happens around us changes continuously, eh?

If we desire to change also, and be a part of life as it happens, we can practice present moment awareness…

If we practice yoga, we can calm our bodies and our minds and our abilities to be aware in the present moment…

Life is impermanent… celebrate life… and be a part of it.

You can find your peace… and your piece in the puzzle of the Universe… through your breathe and your yoga practice.

After all, if we do what we always did, we’ll get what we always got.

Namaste.