YogaGlamGirl's Weblog

Yogaglamgirl Finds DailyOM

A friend of mine just introduced me to Daily OM (http://dailyom.com). I'm really enjoying it so far. There are daily inspirations and astrology sent to your email and a community of spiritual seekers. How fun.

...if you go there, drop me a note. :) My username is yogaglamgirl.

Yogaglamgirl Suggests Stretches for Foot and Bunions

A fellow bunion surgery survivor asked me about the toe stretcher and my thoughts on it. I’ve never used an official toe stretcher, but it does look like an interesting tool.
The thing I like about it, is that it appears to help stretch the toes and feet. Does anyone else have any experience with this?

Regardless of whether you choose to buy the toe stretcher or not, here are a few suggestions of mine for anyone who has bunions or needs to pay careful attention to the alignment and structure of their feet.

Exercise One: Foot and Hand Circles
Interlace the fingers of your left hand with the toes of your right foot. Try to get the webbing of your fingers all the way down to meet the webbing of your toes. This is often very difficult at first. Keep at it! After you have hand and foot connected, use the hand to make a circle with the foot in one direction, then the other. Next, pretend your fingers and toes are fighting with each other, trying to go in opposite directions. Do this for 20-30 seconds. Then, let them reconcile and gently flow in the same direction for 30 seconds and then flow again in the opposite direction (another 30 seconds). Be sure to repeat this exercise on the opposite foot (regardless of bunions or not).

Exercise Two: Towel pickup.
One of the toughest things I had to do in physical therapy was to pick up the edge of a towel with my toes. If you haven’t done that one, definitely add it to your list. It is easier to place the towel on a smooth surface (not a carpeted floor).

Exercise Three: Massage.
Massage your feet. Kneed them gently and work blood and circulation through them.

My last suggestion in addition to physical therapy is to get Zentherapy Triggerpoint done or Rolfing or some similar form of SI (structural integration) work on the feet. In many cases it can help avoid surgery completely. Or if you’ve already had the surgery I suggest waiting a few months then finding a pratitioner near you (I can help you find one).

**As you all may know, I am not a doctor, so please take all my advice with a grain of salt and dash of your own self-knowledge and if you have serious physical injury consult a physician.

Yogaglamgirl finds Astrology Jewels from Farley Malorrus

Found 2 great posts from Farley Malorrus.
The first is a quick guide to each of the Astrology signs. It says that (as an Aries) I act like a kid, and at my best, this is really true.

The second talks about what to do during a Moon Wobble the phase we are in (Nov 22- Dec 20). Farley advises that we finish projects started before 11/22, clean house, pamper and take care of ourselves. Also best not to start any new projects or make new major changes in our life (ie: decide to break up with someone, buy a house, etc) else the decision could turn out badly....

I find that I am tremendously affected by the moon and appreciate the advice!

Yogaglamgirl on Be the Light

I am on my way back home after the holiday weekend. I am not fond of air travel, and often find myself feeling agitated and annoyed when I fly. So I tried an experiment. I decided I would breathe and be conscious and as positive as I possibly could. I decided that by expecting to be treated badly when I travel I often am.
I have great news to report…my experiment has worked so far (one more flight to go). This trip has been delightful. As I reach out with my positive vibes toward people on the plane or in security or in a cab or on the street, I am touched in turn by their positive response.
I think this is what people mean by be the light you want to see in this world. Be the love. It is contagious.

Oh, and speaking of contagious…I was doing a few yoga stretches before the plane took off. Someone nearby said he felt like stretching too! This tells me that you don’t have to be a yoga teacher to inspire fellow yogis, just doing your own practice helps spread the light of yoga.

Hope you had a wonderful holiday weekend.

Yogaglamgirl gets Environmentally Friendly

Love this post from Danielle at Eco-lovely. She talks about the 10 Things to Never Buy Again to help protect the earth:

Here are the top 5:

1. Styrofoam cups

2. Paper towels

3. Bleached coffee filters instead use reusable eco filters

4. Overpackaged foods and other products

5. Teak and mahogany

Click here to read the rest of the list

Yogaglamgirl's 5 Things...

You don't know about me...
Looks like I have been tagged by Regina at I Still See a Spark in You to write "5 Things You Don't Know About Me". Some of my Glam friends already know about these. Hope they amuse you too.

1) I got into a fistfight in college
2) I wear a fuzzy hat to bed at night sometimes so we can keep the heat lower (65degrees)--I'm always freezing, or sweating, but never quite temperature balanced.
3) I sometimes eat rice and jalapenos with vegenase as a snack or for breakfast!
4) I started a non-profit (youth mentoring program) a few years ago
5) I have a black belt in Tae Kwon Do

I have to tag 3 people...so I choose:
My dear friend of Cherry Coloured
Danielle of Eco-Lovely
and
Susan of Work from Within

Yogaglamgirl on Zen Triggerpoint Anatomy Training

We just completed the 4th weekend of Triggerpoint Training this past weekend. We covered the muscles of the lower leg, the achilles and the foot. By working the attachments to these various muscles practitioners can help relieve common problems like bunions and shin splints. I wish I had a practitioner available to me back in high school and college. As a soccer player I was constantly tormented by shin splints and had to soak my shins in buckets of ice for hours before and after practice. It was horrible and rarely helped. I also underwent massive foot surgery (both feet, 1st and 5th metatarcil on each) for bunions back in college. I could have avoided both if only I knew about this work.

One of the great things about Zentherapy trainings is everybody receives the work. The format of the Zentherapy trainings (both for Triggerpoint and Bodytherapy) is such that everyone in the class has a partner. For the first half of class one person is pratitioner, the other is client. In the second half of class partners switch roles. That's how each person learns how to give and is able to receive. Even if you have no desire to become a practitioner, I highly recommend going to a training b/c the amount and depth of the work you will receive goes beyond what any practitioner covers for a client in a normal session.

I left Albany, CA (the location of our training) feeling softer, lighter, and full of joy and gratitude. Amazing how much cleaner and clearer my body is now. I also notice how much more "juice" (energy, love) I feel in my body. I'm ready to go out and give.

Yogaglamgirl Seeking Suggestions for a Listing Directory Tool/App

I would like to create an directory listing/database tool that will allow any active Zentherapy practitioner to go to a website and list their info (name, address, phone, email, certifications, date of certification, links, websites). This would also allow people who are interested in finding a practitioner to come and search by any and all of the fields listed above.

I am just starting my research...I am pretty sure I could use FileMaker with a recent enough version that is web enabled. Does anyone have any thoughts/suggestions? Are there any free plugins out there? Any help or advice is greatly appreciated!

Yogaglamgirl on Posture and Sitting for Zazen Meditation

I found a very detailed description of how to sit Zazen. It was written in Zazen Posture by Taitaku Pat Phelan. Here are a few quotes that really stand out in to me in my practice of sitting:

Many of the instructions for Zen meditation are directed to the physical details of our posture. The culture that Zen grew out of made much less distinction between the body and mind than our culture does. So, the idea is that by sitting with a straight back, and aligning our spine, and being still physically, this will support our mind in settling and becoming focused. To a great extent in Zen, we practice with our mind indirectly through our body. -Taitaku Pat Phelan

Zentherapy bodywork is more complete with Zazen. The emphasis in both practices is to feel as if the body is being lifted straight up from the top of the head. The rest of the body: neck, shoulders, and down are hanging effortlessly from this point.

For most of us, the back should be upright with a sense of lengthening and extending the spine through the back and neck up through the top of your head, and the top of the head should be parallel to the ceiling, or, if you like, parallel to the sky. Sometimes people find it helpful to imagine or visualize a string coming down from the ceiling that attaches to the top of the back of their head like a puppet, which allows their shoulders and back muscles to relax and hang down from their spine. The point isn't to get the back into a well-aligned position and then go on to forget about it. In zazen we stay present with or connected with our back and spine throughout the period of meditation.-Taitaku Pat Phelan

Here's a great picture of someone sitting from Zen-Road.org

Yogaglamgirl on Giving Compliments is Giving Love

If you've read some of my earlier posts, you may know that I have been feeling pretty run down and burnt out the past few weeks. I decided to do something different when I taught a yoga class today and I incorporated some alignment exercises that I do in my personal practice. Because it was different and new, and because not many people were in class today I felt a little down by the end of class. My head told me, "Maybe I am not dedicated enough to be a good teacher and that maybe I should give notice to stop teaching yoga and just focus on bodywork."
Just as soon as I started believing the voice in my head telling me I was no good one of the participants in my class asked if there were additional classes of mine that she could attend. She said: "I think you're an excellent teacher." Another student said, "well I hope you continue to teach, even if bodywork is your focus. I would be so upset if you stopped."
All of a sudden I felt lighter, and fuller, with a warm feeling in my belly. It was as if I could feel their compliments literally lift me up and fill me with love.

I share my experience today in the hopes that if you notice someone, in some special way, please speak up. Tell them. Let your compliment come out and lift their spirit with love.

In gratitude
Namaste