New Yoga Studios

So a group of us have been looking for a yoga studio that can be the right fit for a bunch of us.  We're still working on it.  We tried a new place this week called the Octopus Garden.  Not the right fit.  I was mostly ok with it.  It was hard and more flow than I really wanted to do.  I figured it was extra hard as I hadn't done much in the way of exercise and nothing in the way of flow yoga for more than a year.  Which may be the case, but it is now two days later and I still hurt.  So yeah, not the right place for me at the moment.  The good thing is is really wasn't the right place for the rest.

So onwards and forwards with the hunt.

In addition to doing yoga with the group, I've found myself interested in this type of yoga called Yoga Nidra.    Mostly due to the fact that I do not sleep well so anything to help out is worth trying.  So I may be making a trip or two to the Downward Dog as it seems to be one of the only places in the city that offers this type of yoga.

Now off to see if I can my bike off the wall and go for a ride.  My hubby installed a bike hook this week in the kitchen and we hung it up last night for the first time.

Meditation Bandwagon

I'm admitting it. I've been terrible at mediation lately.  I really have to get myself back on the bandwagon.  Meditation is one of those things you know is good for you and you feel better when you do it but seem to procrastinate about.

I think one of my impediments to meditation regularly is my constant need to be doing things and accomplishing stuff.  Intellectually I know I am accomplishing something with mediation, but it doesn't feel like I am at the time.  Or maybe I'm just not looking after myself well enough.

Things to ponder, things to ponder.

Gratitude Journals

Gratitude journals are an awesome thing.  I learned about them in the second part of the meditation classes I took in 2009.  I was a little on the skeptical side at first.  I often am with these sorts of things.  Mind you I'm slowly changing my mind about being skeptical.

However once I started the exercise I found that it having to think of 2 things or more (depending on the exercise that week) each day that I was grateful for, put me in a more positive frame of mind.  

So you would think I would keep this up if it makes me feel good.  Nope, it gets tossed into the "Roundtuit" pile.  I really do have to make more of an effort to keep it up.

Most of the information on keeping gratitude journals suggest keeping them in a lined notebook.  I being a geekish type tends to use my online journal instead.  I just tag my entries gratitude so they are in the record of everything.  

If you are looking for some resources on how to go about keeping a gratitude journal you can check out the links below:

ehow's guide to gratitude journals

30 Days to Gratitude

The Secret Gratitude Book

Chakra Meditation

One of the types of mediation that was introduced to us in the second meditation course was Chakra meditation.  I was quite interested in it, but both times we had the guided Chakra mediation I fell asleep.  My poor body and mind were exhausted at that point and took that opportunity to get some rest.  I also had a tendency to do the same thing during the Body Scan.

Now i'm reminded that I need to find a good Chakra mediation to explore that type of meditation further.

Wikipedia Entry on Chakra Meditation 

Yoga & Meditation Room - Before

I decided a few months ago that I really needed a dedicated spot to work on my mediation and yoga.  The living room isn't really the best spot for yoga as the space between the two couches is a bit narrow.  Also, trying to meditate in the living room when my husband is at home is a bit on the obnoxious side on my part.

So I'm in the process of converting our smallest middle bedroom into the yoga/mediation/massage room.  My husband has recently taken a course in massage and needs a spot for the table as well.  

The process is going slowly as I'm trying to find homes for all the items that were in the room.  I'm pretty close to emptying it, then it just needs to be painted and all should be good.  Right now I'm considering a colour called pickle green.  

Here is the before picture:

Hopefully soon there will be an after picture.  

Meditation

Last spring I took a Mindful Based Stress Reduction course through a wonderful teacher Heidi Walk.  I took the level I and Level II courses.  Both were eye opening and I found did me a lot of good.  I was a little skeptical that meditation would do me any good.  However, I was proved wrong as I generally found that the more regularly I did my mediation practice, the clearer my head is and the busy bees worrying in my brain didn't buzz so much.  I highly recommend her course.

The Level I course is based on the Mindful Based Stress Reduction course designed by Jon Kabat-Zim at the University of Mssachusetts Medical School.  I highly recommend the program.

It is a combination of meditation and yoga.  Our course used the Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain, and Illness  and the  Guided Mindfulness Meditation CDs.  It takes some work and dedication, there is about an hour's worth of work to do during the course each day.  I found both the book and the CDs highly worth while.  I uploaded the Cds to my iPod and use the audio frequently.

I'm sad to say that since the second course ended in November, I haven't been very good at keeping up with my practice.  I've been very erratic about when I practice.  This has to change as I would like to get back to feeling the way I did while I was taking the courses.

Getting back to yoga is going to help me get back ino this as the yoga and meditation go hand in hand.