___

About Kirk Hensler

Kirk Hensler was raised in metro Detroit on a steady diet of meat, potatoes and team sports. As a competitive athlete, he relied on his speed, power and dominant attitude to excel. Years later, when he took up martial arts, he was tossed around a sweaty dojo for months by various women and children. One day, while horizontal on the mat, he had the profound realization that their patience and finesse quietly trumped his strength and aggression. This led to an exploration of ancient Eastern philosophies, which, in turn, led Kirk to Taiwan, where he taught English, studied martial arts and ate a lot of delicious and strange street food. When Kirk returned to the US, he began applying what he’d learned to his Western, urban life and to his career as a wellness coach, martial arts instructor, and yoga teacher.

Special thanks to graphic designer Megan Landry, whose website is designtaco.com.

Click here to read the original story on Recovering Yogi.

We were living with my Grandparents when my Mom realized everyone in the household was feeding me breakfast! She was feeding me before school. My Grandma would feed me again after she left. While my Grandfather was eating breakfast I would stand under the table and he would hand treats down to me.  Of course I didn’t believe this until my Mom produced a photo…low & behold, there I was under the table like a dog taking scraps. I even started walking at 7 months old in the name of food.

Apparently my Mom was across the room eating. I started whining and reaching my hand out (as if I was starving). My Mom said, “If you want it come on over and get it.” To her surprise I stood straight up (without hands) and walked right over for my snack.

Snack…who am I kidding? She said I ate the whole plate of food! I’ve been walking and eating ever since.

Fast forward to present day. Sure, I could stand to lose a few lbs., but I’m super strong and fancy myself an amateur athlete having been sponsored in then past, have a new current sponsor, hiked the Appalachian Trail, and recently ran a Marathon. Problem is I still struggle with being this Yoga/Pilates instructor athlete and trying to balance my love for food and wine. You would think after 39 years I would have gotten over it by now, but NO the thoughts still linger…the guilty feelings when I eat that extra slice of pizza or drink that extra glass of wine…a weekly occurrence.

What’s the problem? I teach 16 classes a week, still maintain my own personal practice, and am usually training for some event. The problem is the constant thinking about food. Whether it’s to pre-fuel, re-fuel, eating as part of a social event, enjoying a nice meal with my husband, or making sure to not eat too close to class…it’s always some mind swirl regarding food. Plus on top of it I like good food… really good food. I’m one of those when visiting a new city I research the “Best of” lists to see where I need to eat or which hot chef has a restaurant there. “We HAVE to eat at this place!” I tell my husband. I write about food and am sure to tell others where they too NEED to eat when visiting. Whether it’s simple food like the best bagels, or where in Seville has the best lemony, saffron laden Paella, I must find it!

I even like bad food…bad for you, bad quality, ooey, gooey sinful food. I don’t eat it often, but the thoughts are there. I want to eat it, but don’t. The closet addict that thinks about it, but rarely does. I am depriving myself, but of what? We all know after you eat that stuff, it doesn’t make you feel better. You only feel gross and usually regret it.

I know the simple solution is to eat everything in moderation, enjoy, live…life’s too short to be so hard on yourself. Really, you can’t tell me anything new. Trust me, I’m stubborn. Of course I know all these things, but following my own advice is another story.

We haven’t even gotten to the wine yet…

“Oh, but a glass of wine is good for you.” Guess what? I don’t want a glass…I want a glass bottle. Not really, but certainly two…OK three glasses of wine is what I have in mind.  I used to be strict when it came to food and wine. I only drank a couple glasses twice a week. I kept a calorie journal and wrote everything down. Yes I was kind of a freak, but hey I was also 15-19% body fat (13% at my lowest thank you very much).

So again, what’s the problem? The problem I think boils down to simple vanity. I am willing to admit this… out loud to readers everywhere!

I am so active I think my body should reflect that activity, but unless I am strict on the ol’ diet it only says “yes I’m pretty awesome, now if I could just cut back on the [fill in the blank] I could really rock it! “ There’s also the responsibility of being an instructor and having students look up to you and feeling like you should be an example. I don’t mean an example of how you look, but how you think about things, how you let go, how you perceive, how you “are.” You can judge me all you want, but the reality is I DO want to look good. I want to look like I work as hard as I do. Is that so bad? I don’t want my Pilates students to think, “Why should I listen to her?” She has a spare tire!” I admire those who are not interested in food, where it came from, or the cultural connections we have to it. I really do, but for me there will always be more to food than just fuel. I will continue to maintain my passionate affair, but in the back of my mind will always think carefully about what I put into my body, how it will affect my performance (mental and physical), and the outcome of my choices.

I could easily blame my family, but this time I accept full responsibility. This is all me! Speaking of…1.5 hours ‘til class…better have a snack!

Every now and then my husband has to have “the talk” with me. We’ve been together over 20 years and married for 13. He definitely knows how I am and what he was getting into. I admit I used to be better when we lived in the suburbs and drove a car to the grocery store. It was easy to just load up & buy a ton of stuff then think later how we wanted to put it all together. Now, living in various cities the last several years have really presented me with a new challenge. The challenge of walking or riding my bike to and from teaching 15 classes a week plus my own personal practice leaves not that much time or should I say desire to then walk back out to get the damn groceries. After all, we always have time for what’s most important to us right? I know, I know…just pair the grocery trip after a class on the way home. That’s a great idea, but I’m usually hungry, tired, already have some sort of heavy bag with me and forget about even thinking about a shower or trying to do something different with my hair besides the “maybe if I leave it in a pony tail it won’t look as greasy” look.

Yes I try to keep some sort of bar in my bag for the post-class snack so that if I do make it to Trader Joe’s I’m not ravaging the shelves in some sort of feeding frenzy then later having to stop on the way home to drop the bags and take a break while thinking “why did I buy all this crap at once?!” Because I was in a post-class hunger trance, that’s why (hence the Garlic & Parmesan Pita & Everything Bagel Chips). Let’s face it, some days I’m just lucky to get myself out the door without having to sprint to class and maybe, just maybe do I remember my water bottle!

How do some of you do it with kids? I really don’t get it!

A natural response might be “Why can’t your husband do the groceries?”

He too is a sports enthusiast and in the summer was cycling 250 miles to and from work per week. Now with the colder weather he’s doing the train/carpool combo making his commute about 3 hours a day. Let’s just say given that he works 50 hours a week at a high stress job while I work less than 20 teaching Yoga & Pilates there’s really no feeling sorry for me! I’m just a deadbeat. That’s all there is to it and admitting it is the first step towards recovery. I don’t cook (although I like to when the ingredients are handy), I clean some, but it’s certainly no hobby. I do laundry once a week (hey, there’s a plus).  While I’m thinking about the positives…I do juice several times a week. That’s huge! Doesn’t that balance out some of the not so greats?

Let me make this clear. I’m not looking for pity. I’m simply voicing a frustration…a challenge I struggle with… another step towards finding that balance that we at YOGANONYMOUS seek. I figure there’s probably others out there like me who’d rather sweat it out on the mat hours than set foot in a freezing cold grocery store that plays hideous music while some unsavory character touches your veggies…no I got it, thanks! [Disclaimer – that was NOT a Trader Joe’s reference].

So, thanks for listening. Who would have thought the path of transformation would include trips to the grocery store?

Shout outs to Manduka, Vinnie Marino, Urth Cafe, YogaWorks, and handful of other prominent LA yoga scenesters in this (fill in the blank) new music video from  Fog and Smog. Yes, the same Fog and Smog who brought you the acclaimed Whole Foods Parking Lot video this past summer. Looks like they have done it again…what do you think?

Click here to view the embedded video.

…and check out the OG, “Whole Foods Parking Lot”

Click here to view the embedded video.

via the Huffington Post:

It’s no wonder that so many yoga poses are named after animals — after all, they were doing yoga long before humans ever got on the bus.

Last year, Finnish bear Meta Penca was caught on camera practicing yoga. Soon after, the Internet was flooded with images of animals in yoga poses. Here’s our animal-inspired yoga routine. These pets will make you laugh while motivating you to bring out your yoga mat and bust into your practice. Laughter yoga, anyone?

Start your practice in lotus pose

Move into downward facing dog

Stretch your core w/ modified baby pose

Things get a little harder w/ modified boat pose

Test your balance w/ tree pose

Move back into downward dog

….ahhhhh savasana…

Click here to see more animals doing yoga and to check out the full article!

All That is Super-Cool & Human in Me (and Other Variations on Namaste

Two sharks swim around in the ocean, being fierce and majestic and all-things-shark. Suddenly, one shark halts, mid-swim

“Dude,” he says to the other shark. “We’re sharks.”

He is suddenly, overwhelming, wholly struck with the magnitude of being a shark. To the point where he has to tell the only other being that will get it. Another shark.

This is the concept of Namaste. The idea that, “Dude. We’re humans.”

It doesn’t always get relayed this way. Sometimes it gets confused with other popular pro-human phrases, like, “Peace,” or  “Love,” or even “Thanks for coming to yoga class.”

In the studio I practice in now, there is a sign in the bathroom reminding students to “Keep the toilets clean, Namaste.” Huh?

My mom forwarded me an email written by her friend and colleague, Jerry. A newbie to yoga, Jerry had just attended his first class wherein his young teacher had concluded practice with the familiar Sanskrit word and Jerry asked her what it meant.

“Oh, well, that’s just how you end yoga class,” she responded. Jerry left unsatisfied.

“She didn’t even know the meaning of the Sanskrit she used in class,” he bemoaned to my mom as he forwarded a link to an article about the demise of yoga. He worried that the youth of the yogic community signaled a shift away from the original blend of body, mind and spirit, and toward a solely physical practice.

I think Jerry’s teacher was just left out. I think Jerry’s teacher was like a third, unseen shark, swimming along just out of earshot. When the first two sharks had their moment, all Jerry’s teacher-shark saw was a little shark-style wink.

To get that other piece, the piece behind the secret yoga wink, you have to be able to translate the abstract Sanskrit. What makes language immensely entertaining also makes it endless and frustrating; one simple word can be deconstructed as fourteen different words in seventy-five different combinations.

“Namaste’s” essence then sometimes gets dressed up at the end of a yoga class in fancy, flowery words like, “The light and love in me honors the light and love in you,” or, “The student in me bows to the teacher in you.”

As a yoga instructor, I usually close my own classes with, “All that is good in me honors all that is good in each of you.” My friend and yoga colleague, Nell, uses the same version. She asked me why I chose it.

“It helps me remember why we’re all in that room together,” I said. “We might all have different intentions for practice, but deep down, we all have this nut base that’s essentially the same.”

Nell nodded. She agreed. She took it further.

“It’s not like, ‘I believe in your power to be good,’ but like ‘You’re so human,’” she said, pausing to think about what might be great about humanity. “Like, ‘All that is super-cool about being human,’ that’s what we’re honoring.”

Light and love makes me think of glitter and painted hearts. Bowing to the class and telling them they are teachers makes me feel condescending. Telling people there is a nugget of human-powered superhero at the base of their spines? I relate to this.

“All that is super-cool and human in me, honors all that is super-cool and human in each of you,” I said to conclude the last yoga class I taught in Chicago before I moved to Boston.

Because, Dude. We’re humans.

Namaste.

About the Author

Kate is a life-long yoga student and recently ordained Power Vinyasa yoga instructor. After eight years of teaching children and one year of teaching yoga in Chicago, Kate packed up her mat and moved to Boston where she writes, bartends and goes on auditions to teach yoga again. You can follow her current published articles and potential teaching schedule on Twitter @kstonetraining.

Almost too often, we stumble on the same old blog with the same old “yoga news”. However, this one is just a bit too real and too funny not to post. Today, we ran across Time’s Healthland blog to discover that they found the same ingredients in McRib Sandwiches as you may find in Yoga or Gym mats! Read more below via Time Healthland.

“Blink and it’s gone. The ephemeral McRib sandwich appears at McDonald’s infrequently and only for a limited time. If you haven’t indulged in one yet, here’s what you’re missing: azodicarbonamide, ammonium sulfate and polysorbate 80 — those are just three of the 70 ingredients (34 in the bun alone) that go into the BBQ pork sandwich, according to the restaurant’s website.

These components are in small enough quantities to be innocuous. But it’s still a little disconcerting to know that, for example, azodicarbonamide, a flour-bleaching agent that is most commonly used in the manufacture of foamed plastics like in gym mats and the soles of shoes, is found in the McRib bun. The compound is banned in Europe and Australia as a food additive. (England’s Health and Safety Executive classified it as a “respiratory sensitizer” that potentially contributes to asthma through occupational exposure.) The U.S. limits azodicarbonamide to 45 parts per million in commercial flour products, based on analysis of lab testing.”

….Wait, what?!

Click here to view the embedded video.

We are firm believers that whatever gets you on the mat is generally a good thing – but we’re not too sure about this one!

Most of the women I speak with are frustrated.  They are powerful, hold amazing jobs, have gobs of responsibilities, they make time for charity and fashion is not lost on them. Yet with all their sparkle and charm they are frustrated with chores, and dating, with marriage, and their jobs, paying the bills, and the government, and that really awesome yogi, god bless her soul, that can do every posture with ease and doesn’t seem to think it has anything to do with the fact that she is shaped like a twig (yet eats like a trucker).

How does she do that anyway?

Speaking of Frustrating: How about beach bugs and sand in your butt, and bad take out, and that one yogi who’s an all high & mighty sorta fake zen type of gal that picks fights with others yet smiles to your face?  How about the fact that our education system is broken?… Though I should mention there is a man in Harlem who is actually trying to do something about it in spite of the unions…mostly women… Frustrations from mothers everywhere that had no idea that they had a birth choice, not to mention the sisters who are perfectly happy being “cool aunt so and so” and are sick and tired of being made to feel like they are less of a woman if they choose not to push one of those little suckers out of her yoga uterus…

Then there are the elections that are still months away and yet for some reason we have to hear from them (the wanna bzz) on the news singing their salvation songs in between occasions when they are speaking down to us poor folk who couldn’t possibly make a decision for ourselves (never mind we run companies and households thank you very much)….and when was the last time any of you had the opportunity and energy to shave your legs and go out on the town with the girls in hopes of being flirted with by somebody who actually has a college education or a job they are passionate about; never mind the prospect of a naughty jaunt to the ladies room for a quickie between courses…It’s been so long for some of us that we’d even take a same sex fling under the right conditions thanks to Katy Perry.

Which brings me to the biggest frustration I hear every single day… something about passion, and touching, and some stretching assistance that does not include a yoga mat or the need for a ponytail; which is bad from what I understand and really only a gateway drug to other disastrous hair options like feathers and glitter and the double pony….

I guess what I have to say is that there seems to be a lot of negativity that could be solved with a little heavy breathing (if not ujjayi) but then we have to maybe worry about all those pesky party prizes that we really don’t want to bring home from a weekend at the coast, or the bar, or from the random guy that lives on the fifth floor for that fact… even though his blue jeans fit oh so perfectly and he is only mildly low on self esteem (which most of us could handle under the barren circumstances of the past few months).

Not that I have a solution mind you, but I would love the brothers out there to hear it from at least one of us publicly that though we love to do a hundred vinyasas three times a week we would also, if not more so, love to not be in charge and to be pleasantly surprised by something other than bad breath or a tone that is condescending…or speaking in general because words are not really necessary for what we want….let me break it down boys….we are horny.  We do yoga all the time and we want to dance like rocks stars with moves like jagger and knock our socks off! So, if you can help with that then that would be great…

If not, got any friends cause we are feeling somewhat desperate.

Clearly.

I hear it many times a week.  Since you boys have been all doom and gloom over the end of the world and since you don’t seem to have anybody new to drop your fancy explosives on let me take a moment to remind you that you’ve forgotten to tend to your gardens and we are wilting over here in hot yoga…can’t a girl get an O without the OM?!!

That’s another thing I should address that as a yoga teacher I am baffled and honored and highly entertained by the stories you each share with me and so let me take this opportunity to wave my “you are awesome” banner high and praise you for your bravery, your spunk, and your very clear need to make out more.

I heard you.  Hopefully some of the men will hear this and take heed.  ( I almost wrote head…also funny and morbidly appropriate)  Good Luck With That!

Looking forward to connecting on Twitter @shelleyadelle to hear how it goes ;0)

No, really, we’re serious. You hear it all the time in class — Engage Mula Bandha.

Not only does engaging mula bandha enhance our asanas, but engaging this root lock can slice through brahma granthi, (the energetic knot in our first chakra) that fosters resistance to change and prevents growth and acceptance. So next time you hear the familiar cues “root down, lift up from your pelvic floor to engage…”

Engage Happiness.

Our friends at Flavorpill stumbled upon these images by Verdura, an Argentine clothing company. This proves you can do almost anything when you pair a pop culture icon with a well-executed pun. Yet another reason to love those fruits and veggies!

Scroll down. We dare you not to chuckle at least once.

Click here for more pics and the original article via Flavorwire.

No really, I was in such shock I actually got back into bed for twenty minutes then got out again to see if it was indeed true.

At just before 7am I felt my beloved leave my side and get out of bed. Shocked at his early wakeup and my atypical “late” arousal, I got out of bed soon after only to find him in our yoga room not only casually stretching but seriously doing yoga…mat rolled out, deep breathing, down dog doing.  I was in such shock at this sight I brushed my teeth and washed my eyes to make sure I was seeing correctly. I was. I promptly returned to bed sure I was dreaming. A bit later I got up again and yup there the was…on the mat …in parsvokonasana.

“I’m going to get some mate. I”ll be back.” I said

I was so weirded out I had to leave the house and caffeinate myself. I mean “WTF!” I thought. “I can’t believe he is doing yoga in MY studio, on MY mat! I mean, who the hell does he think he is? Swamielliotananda?!” These thoughts quickly turned their back on me. “Well Livia, why aren’t you doing your practice right now? BAD YOGINI BAD YOGINI” was the mantra that quickly flashed through my morning monkey-mind.

When I returned with tea in hand, sure enough he was still there all twisted up on that mat. But his eyes were as sweet as ever, smile bright and shiny. (I mean gosh darn it don’t you just hate it when those shiny happy folks just flash you an undeniable smile!) I did not want to disturb such an angelic sight I stepped into the yard to answer emails, drink tea, read the New York Times Online.

A little while later I was re-greeted by a relaxed blissed out engineer. He told me he was “hooked” on practicing yoga and that it really felt great to start his day breathing, stretching, and connecting in that way.

It should be noted that my sweetie had done plenty of yoga before meeting me, and he is a spiritual seeker in his own right. BUT he had never done Anusara yoga before and more importantly (of course) he had never been with a “yogi” and certainly never had a yoga studio in his house before!

What stood out to me the most this morning was not so much the shock and awe of “Holy Crap my boyfriend is doing yoga!” but more the importance and the potency of simply being ourselves. Throughout my courtship and union, I have upheld my daily practice of asana whether at home or at a studio. I meditate. I go off and see my teachers, sometimes taking me far away for days on end. My beloved not only does fine with this, but actually promotes it. Imagine someone who says to you “NO really, please go be yourself.” Imagine someone who respects you and loves you more for who you are and are becoming.

Lets face it. We have all been in relationships romantic or platonic or familial where just being ourselves was an essential problem to the other person. I personally have never been with someone who lets me be myself more than my magical (now yoga doing) mountain man. It is fear that keeps us believing our essential wholeness and unique interests are the problem when attempting to commune with the other. It is our fear that keeps us thinking we must abandon ourselves to commune with the other.

I am reminded of a quote by marrion Williamson. She says to us. “…as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

Now do I think my beloved engineer is going to do an Anusara yoga teacher training? No. An immersion? Maybe. Take a John Friend workshop? To be determined. But really none of that matters. What matters is that I can be myself, and so can he.

What I care about is that he has become inspired to take something dearly essential to me and make it his own. HIS OWN. He has a practice. Its not my practice. It’s his. Similarly there are activities that he stands by that I have been inspired to infuse into my life as well (but that’s another post).

The process I am inviting you to contemplate and practice dear ones is not to go out and find a boyfriend or girlfriend who will do yoga because you do it. The practice is to be yourself and watch the magic that unfolds inside you and around you as you stand tall in your own light. The pictures that will appear may astound you to the point where you think your dreaming…I can assure you, you are not mistaken.

BLESSINGS ON YOUR JOURNEY!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Last time we spoke with John Friend he had mentioned that he played drums in a band during high school called “Spectrum”. Of course we believed him, but we needed to see it to really believe it. Unfortunately, we came up empty handed after spending some time scouring the internet for pictures of an early John Friend playing drums on stage.

This past week we arrived at Wanderlust Festival Vermont a night before it began to catch the last bit of the Anusara Grand Circle and to check out VT locals Barefoot Truth whose concert ended the event. After an amazing set, guess who decided to join the band on stage for one of their final songs? None other than John Friend himself! Check out this amazing video of John rocking the bongos on stage! Guess he really is a “rockstar” yoga teacher after all! We cannot wait to rock out with him and all of the other amazing teachers and musicians in Lake Tahoe for Wanderlust California!

The first ever Hanuman Festival went off with a bang this past weekend in beautiful Boulder, CO with hundreds of inspired yogis uniting in celebration to raise the vibration.

We were rocking it all weekend long at the YOGANONYMOUS booth – it was so nice to connect with the local Boulder yoga scene,  we are super grateful to have been involved in helping to spread the word about 2011’s inaugural event and cannot wait to see what team hanuman has instore for us next year.

Check out these one-of-a-kind  video recap compliments of our favorite two monkeys Kasey Luber (www.BigHappyDay.com) and Waylon Lewis (www.ElephantJournal.com) live from each day at the Hanuman Festival in beautiful Boulder, CO!

“we came, we saw, we rocked it” – MC Yogi

Thursday

Click here to view the embedded video.

Friday

Click here to view the embedded video.

Saturday

Click here to view the embedded video.

Sunday

Click here to view the embedded video.

]]> http://yoganonymous.org/hanuman-festival-boulder-co-video-recap/feed/ 0 http://yoganonymous.org/whole-foods-parking-lot-rap-video/ http://yoganonymous.org/whole-foods-parking-lot-rap-video/#comments Wed, 15 Jun 2011 15:00:41 +0000 Dan Wilf http://yoganonymous.org/?p=15402 It’s gettin’ real in the whole foods parking lot

Check out this hilarious rap video parody from fogandsmog about sh*t gettin’ real at the whole foods parking lot. This video surfaced earlier this week and has already gotten upwards of 400,000 views on YouTube – it’s going viral people!

Watch the video and check out the lyrics below – what’s your favorite line?

Click here to view the embedded video.

Lyrics-

Intro (spoken)

Yo man…
Yo I know you see me here dude!!
I’ve been waiting here like 10 minutes, man!
No, no no… this is MY parking space man.
What you need to do is put your little hybrid in reverse,
And go out the way you came in.
WHAT?!?!
Yo its about to get REAL in the Whole Foods parking lot man…

Chorus (with feeling)

It’s getting’ REAL in the Whole Foods Parking Lot
I got my STEEL and you know it gets sparked a lot
Im on my grind homie… It’s on my mind homie!
These fools with clip boards are lookin’ at me like they know me!

It’s getting’ REAL in the Whole Foods Parking Lot
You know the DEAL with the little shopping carts they got…
Check out what I say, it happens every day…
It’s how we LIVE on the west side of LA!!

Verse 1

… Im ridin’ slow in my Prius…
all leather, tinted windows… you cant see us!!
Everybody’s trying to park, you can feel the tension
I’m in electric mode… can’t even hear the engine (Shhhhhhh)

Just then I saw a spot open up,
My timings perfect… Im creepin’ up…
But then this other dude tried to steal it going the wrong way
Yo man, I’ve had a LONG DAY!

Chorus
(same as before)

Verse 2

Now I’m on this inside, looking at my list
Organic chicken, Kale Salad and a Lemon Twist.
Some girl in yoga pants is lookin at me funny
I’m just trying to find a decent Pinot Noir for under twenty!

Then I take it to the cheese counter, Humboldt Fog?
We just ran out sir! Really Dog?
Take it easy man, I try to calm myself…
I’ve been on edge ever since they took Kombucha off the shelf…

Chorus

(same as before)

Verse 3

This Busters on his iPhone talking to his friends,
Picking up some cayenne pepper for his master cleanse.
You’re the most annoying dude I’ve ever SEEN brah…
Could you PLEASE move? You’re RIGHT in front of the Quinoa.

Damn, I’m about to check out.
Pay my 80 bucks for 6 things and get the heck out.
The express lane is moving hella slow…
Man, these fools don’t know… that shit is getting REAL….

Chorus