The gift of not knowing

So I step on the mat and sometimes off not knowing if I'm doing the right thing.   Instead of just diving in, I have to take the time to question what is going on with my body, assessing what I did yesterday, and what is happening today.   Then having all that processed with my fluctuating mind and hopefully I come back to the breath---my guide---moving and flowing with change.  Giving thanks that I recognize I don't know what to do and asking help to step back and get out of the way so I can be taught.

I did three weeks strong with my food and then the last week grew tired of it and ate some things not on the plan.   Woke up this morning thinking and wondering where that disciplined energy goes.  I know there are people who say that we have limits to our willpower but I also know that we build habits good and bad and once it is a habit it takes no willpower.   

I know all week that I was hyper-aware of conflicting nutritional information and I seemed to be questioning what I was doing and talking about it to the people around me.   Looking back I was afraid to submit to what I know works for me.  I need to be willing to not know the complete answer and just follow the best I can.   It is okay for me to question what I'm doing but I need to let the questions fly, keep going, and let it work.  I need to remember the reasons I'm eating this way---to make it easier on my heart!

I had a gift last night.   A relative told me they were doing yoga and what they found different about it  was that they didn't think about work or problems during that hour.   They were also doing Zumba and Spin but yoga was the only class they didn't think about work.   Yoga Chitta Vitti Nirodha!

Eating less than you can in the evening

We all have heard the belief about weight loss that you just need to eat less and move more.  Things get complicated when you try to put that into practice.   Our approach is going to be unique to us.

People who have trained with me and been part of my Yoga and Weight Loss Group know that I'm constantly suggesting simple things that allow us to sneak up on the problem.   Therefore instead of making huge changes all at once I ask them to think about simply eating "less than you can."

For example, we know we could eat the whole pizza (or cake, loaf of bread...) but what if we took a breath (probably 3 is better) and ate less than we can.   It isn't easy but it allows us to become aware of what we are eating and what choices are in front of us.  We could choose to eat less.

Currently I'm practicing not eating after dinner.   I was recording my food for a week and noticed that a significant amount of my calories were being eaten in the evening.   Obviously I need to eat less than I can in the evening and know that when I've been in an active weight loss period, not eating after my evening meal has been one of the things that has worked for me.

Keeping it simple, I'm stopping eating after my evening meal.   I'm doing it 3 days at a time and then will work up to 3 weeks and then 3 months.   3 seems to be a magic number for my brain.  If I tell myself it is only 3 days, it is much less overwhelming.

Small change---done with awareness and acceptance.   I felt a shift in even the first 3 days.

Namaste,

Dean

Betrayal and the Body

The body betrays us.   I see it happen all the time--people doing the best they can with diet, exercise, meditation and still the body seems to have a process of its own.  If you believe that the mind rules the body, then you feel the frustration that unconscious factors are completely running the show.

Even if you intellectually grasp that you aren't your body, that it is a neutral vehicle, and some day you will end this dream and lay this body down, you still feel betrayed.

That feeling of betrayal leads to a continuous loop of more anger at the body--more criticism, more judgement, more anger, more mistrust.

What is a conscious mind supposed to do?

Apologize.   Apologize to your body for the times you've abused it, not exercised it, not feed it well, not let it sleep, and especially how often you criticized it.

In my work with clients the universal response to looking in a mirror is to criticize what they see.  Common sense would dictate that if your body was your best friend, they would've dumped you years ago.   Maybe our bodies are so used to being criticized they just don't listen to us anymore.  

It is time to change your relationship.

Start by apologizing.  

Namaste,


Dean

Losing weight as a practice

"I don't stop eating when I'm full.   The meal isn't over when I'm full.   It's over when I hate myself."

Louis C.K.

  

The Yoga Sutras are full of direct and implied commands that the yoga process is that…it is a process.   The only thing we really do in yoga is practice again and again.   We don't really practice to get it right because we are different every time we get on the mat.  We just keep moving through it. 

Don’t you love it when your kids are gurus?  I have a son who is now a piano professor and a performer.   We never had to make him practice the piano.  He loves to practice.   He sometimes drove us crazy with his practicing.   

He has taught me that practice is its own thing.   It is its own reward.   Surrendering to the process is what works.   Of course he practices to make it perfect---he has a goal in mind but he knows he will never reach perfection and he is cool with that.   He loves the process of moving toward it.  

Think about letting go of the goal.   The practice is the goal.   Just process.  

Using yoga as our vehicle, our metaphor---off the mat, we also practice eating better and less than we can not concerned with the outcome.   We know our bodies will change.   We know that we can trust the process.   If we eat less, move more, breathe and release our stress---we will let go of our excess weight.

Let's surrender to it and love the process we are in.   How fulfilling would that be?

Maybe we can even try on a little gratitude for having weight as an issue in this lifetime.   It is so direct. It is right in front of us.   So in our face!

I trust the process of life and I am safe.

Namaste!

Dean

Eating less than you can when you want to eat more!

I have this a helpful belief that our past is not our future.  

Affirm right now that you are willing to forgive your past eating behaviors and let them go.  You move forward choosing loving, life affirming, eating habits.

Now honestly we know that old habits are hard to let go of.   If I have the habit of eating too many pistachios when it is a rainy crappy weekend like last weekend, I have to find a way to sneak up on myself and think of a new way to under eat pistachios.   

Now, I believe in gateway foods.    I have them and I bet you have them too.   Those are the foods that contaminate my intention to eat less than I can!   It seems that once I give myself permission to eat them, I’ve opened the door, and it takes a divine act to get me to stop from repeating that behavior.   I wonder how quickly I can accept that Divine help!  Instead, I start with guilt, beat myself up awhile, then I reason, I give in, I start over----blah, blah, blah.  My latest thing is I tell myself my body is craving this for a reason that it must need something that pistachios provide.   Really?   Pretty creative.

I wonder what it would feel like to not have a habit of overeating pistachios or any other gateway food?

I’ve found that I have to treat certain foods differently (I stay away from those foods and tell my brain and body, it is just for awhile so I can get myself on track and in touch with what my body really needs---it likes that need thing.)  It allows me to delay my overeating behavior and gives me more choices.   My brain also goes happy crazy with more choices!  

Let’s talk about successful people who have lost weight and kept it off---one of the number one things that they have in common is that they don’t diet.   I find that so irritating somehow but the research is pretty solid.   Even if what they are eating I would call a diet, they call it healthy lifelong eating habits that include eating less and moving more. 

They no longer see themselves as people with an eating problem or a habit of overeating.   They aren’t trying to fix anything, especially with a diet, they are simply moving forward toward a healthier body.

What do they do when they want to eat or drink something they know they shouldn’t?   Well, everyone has their own strategy but a commonality is that they already have a plan in place for avoiding traps and then a plan for getting back on track if they blow it.   They simply think about it and plan ahead.  You know that planning is important because when you get a plan, your mind goes to work to implement it.   Your mind wants you to be successful and now it has the task of finding a way to make you successful.    When we plan to succeed, something inside us wants to lead us and get us to our goal. 

So we can ask ourselves how do we best handle a situation where we want to make a healthy food choice?   I wonder how powerful and successful we will feel when we have a plan to take back the power certain foods have over us.     I wonder how quickly we can learn that saying “yes” to our health and  “no” to certain foods shows our bodies that we truly love and care for them?

Breathe, meditate, do your yoga practice, eat less than you can and love yourself.

Namaste,

Dean

The Scale

So our group, Yoga and Weight Loss, starts this coming Tuesday!  What do we do about the scale?  Remember that we aren't doing weekly group weigh-ins.

We all know the problems with the scale---good days when you are losing and not-so-good when you aren't.  The worse thing is that you can be losing and the last thing to notice is the scale!   You and your clothes notice it.   Your friends and family notice it.   Yet, the damn scale shows a weight gain of .5 ounces!  Maddening to say the least.

Eventually the scale catches up to what is going on but the time lag can be a killer.

We have the option to just put the scale aside for awhile, focus on our yoga practice, meditation (short),  eating "less than we can", and trusting the process.

We will lose weight.

Namaste,

Dean

The "D" Word!

In our four week long Yoga and Weight Loss Group Training we aren't even going to mention the word "diet."   You pick your food plan.   We will reinforce each other that continuity is the key and that means going heavy on planning.  We will plan to succeed!

However, we are going to diet in one area.   We are going to go on a "guilt free diet."   I will be suggesting that if eating something makes you feel guilty that you stop eating it for four weeks.   We feel critical about ourselves way too much.   If we can observe and avoid the cycle of guilt and shame over specific foods for even four weeks we will give ourselves the space to make conscious, better choices and ultimately go easier on ourselves.   

If we don't meet our expectations and feel guilty we're going to breathe in and out and let that crap go.   It is just weighing us down.   We're practicing forgiving ourselves.   We will start by forgiving ourselves for gaining the weight we are now losing.

Namaste,

Dean

Yoga Weight Loss Group Training

Dean’s Yoga Weight Loss Group Training

Meets Tuesday and Thursday at 6:45 for 4weeks at the WRAC in Wenatchee, WA 98801

Starting Date: September 17- October 10, 2013

Cost: $79 for the entire session, $20 drop-in

Where:  Gym and Studio

What I know:

Research shows that a regular yoga practice along with a healthy food plan can help achieve weight loss and weight maintenance.   I also know that the commitment to weight loss becomes easier in a supportive community.

You bring:

1.     A compelling reason to lose weight

2.     An openness to follow the program for 4weeks

3.     A desire to be part of a community of like-minded supportive people

What I provide:

1.     A twice-weekly group yoga practice including specific asana (postures) and pranayama (breathing exercises) with a Savasana Meditation focusing on improving your body image and achieving your weight loss goals.

2.     A simple yoga practice you do daily at home.

3.     Guidance for a short meditation practice at home.

What you’ll do:

1.     A fun yoga practice in a group twice a week and an easy, quick practice daily at home.

2.     Pick your own healthy food plan and commit to following it with awareness.

3.     Plan your meals and snacks.

4.     A short daily meditation.

5.     Breathe!

6.     Establish some simple lifestyle habits that increase weight loss and maintenance.

Breathe and release your fat!

I wonder if you've had the experience of getting to a certain weight and then plateauing.   Usually what happens is that we know what it takes to lose more and we just don't want to go through it.  We know what we have to eat to get there and how much we have to workout.

I keep running into the belief in articles and on posts that we only have a finite amount of willpower and that is why we can't reach our fat loss goals.  I'm not sure I even know what is meant by willpower anymore.    However, if power doesn't work, will or not, what if we could move the next level of fat weight by simply releasing the breath and letting go of the fat?

What if we were willing to let go of our exhale and our fear of releasing more weight?   What if we felt safe enough to do whatever it takes to get to our weight loss goals?

Being conscious of the breath is the easiest way I know to feel safer.

Before you eat---yes, anything---stop and take 3 conscious breaths.   I suggest using Dirgha Pranayama.  Breathe the 3 part breath 3 times!  If you forget
to take this simple step before you eat, as soon as you remember, stop and take 3 conscious breaths.   Commit right now to taking 3 breaths before your next bite.

I wonder how quickly this will work for you?

Namaste,

Dean

I'm back!

I'm back and I'm leaner. I've lost weight, about 30 lbs, and yes, it has changed my practice. Some poses are more difficult and some are easier.

I used Joel Fuhrman's 6-week plan from his book, EAT TO LIVE, as my food guide. I started out vegan but now I'm even more clean, ever lean, and totally unprocessed vegan Dean!

I'm still strong and brawny---I'm not giving that up----and the journey continues to unfold.

If you are interested, I'll keep you posted.

My first hint for weight loss is you not only have to practice yoga on your mat but also at the dinner table. Commit to consciously breathing before you eat, while you eat, and after you eat.


Namaste,


Dean

Water!

If you aren't hydrating right now, here is more reason to go get a glass of plain water.

It seems that drinking 2 glasses of water before every meal will increase your fat loss by 44%. The more water you drink, the more fat you burn and the thriftier your body becomes with its proteins.

Look at the research here: http://www.ipwr.org/documents/WaterWeightLoss.Obesity.2009.pdf

So raise your glass!


Namaste,

Dean

Gentle Yoga Flow

I was asked me to post my basic Gentle Yoga Flow practice. Here it is. Join me tonight at the WRAC at 5:30 if you want to try it out.


Gentle Yoga Flow

1. Starting on the back with knees bent---3 part breath.
2. Move to sitting---6th Chakra clearing
3. Come to all fours for Cat (Valasana) Flow
4. Chakravakasana---On hands and knees--- lifting alternate legs and extending them back---add arms if okay.
5. Balasana---Child’s Pose
6. Slow Ardha Vinyasa 3X---start on all fours (inhale) lower to the floor (exhale), to cobra (inhale), to child’s pose (exhale)
7. Down Dog to standing
8. Easy forward fold (knees slightly bent) Uttanasana
9. Utkatasana (Chair)
10. Warrior Series----I, II, Triangle, Twisting Triangle, Warrior I---repeat on the other side
11. Standing Poses---Tadasana, Parsva Tadasana—side to side, Gurudasana---Eagle, Modified Utthita Pada Gusthasana---standing hands under thigh, Warrior III
12. Slow easy vinyasa to the floor for Salabhasana---modified Locust pose. One arm and leg at a time. Optional both hands and legs
13. Move back to Balasana and Parivritta Balasana
14. Seated Poses starting with supported boat pose, hands on floor behind you---Navasana
15. Janu Sirsasana and then bend the knee for Marichyasana B
16. Baddha Konasana
17. Paschimottanasana
18. Setu Bandhasana---Bridge Pose
19. Dead Bug or Half Shoulder Stand
20. Jathari Parivartanasana---turning around the body
21. Savasana


Namaste,


Dean

WRAC Class is moving!

We've outgrown the studio space at the WRAC! Class will be in the gym this coming Monday night. Same time, same building but in the room next door. It won't get as hot---which might be a relief to some people.

Moving to the gym will also solve the problem of the basketball noise going on during class. The best news is that the back row just got lots bigger!

Please come try it out and let me know what you think.

Namaste!

Dean

Walk outs!

Metabolic Training is HOT! Here is a move that incorporates asanas that will get you going.

Start in Uttanasana (yoga hangover) and then as quick as you can, walk your hands out to Down Dog. Keep going into plank and then keep going by walking your hands as far out as you can. Reach your max and then walk your self back to Uttanasana and repeat. See if you can work up to 10 times. Keep breathing and keep going is your mantra.

You can also do it starting from your knees for an easier version.

Here is a YouTube to inspire you from Roman Fitness Systems.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxIb4T60-cU&feature=player_embedded

Namaste,

Dean

Vegetables!

Vegetables and lots of them. I watched Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead last night. If you have Charter-On-Demand it is there. It is an incredibly inspiring documentary on the extraordinary---and for these people quick---transformation through eating, juicing, and drinking plants. It is funny and touching and never boring. It isn't preachy at all and extremely practical. There are a couple of spots where it looks like they are doing some yoga poses!

Website here: http://www.fatsickandnearlydead.com/

Watch it!

Its a rainy day. I've got my yoga toes on. I just finished my morning practice including 50 Chauttaranguas! Time to throw some fruit in the Vitamix!

I'm on the schedule to teach next Saturday, the 21st at 9 am at the WRAC. New, earlier time---come join me.

Breathe deep and eat your veggies!

Namaste,


Dean

SQUAT!

You have to do Malasana and you have to do it a lot. This pose is amazing and totally brawny.

In Malasana you surrender to gravity, your hips open, and your back smiles. Do it at least 3 times a day and hold it for as long as you can. Start with 10 breaths. Make sure you let your tailbone sink down and stay in the pose long enough for those hip flexors to feel safe enough to let go.

Here is the link to Yoga Journal (where I got the picture) and explicit instructions for getting into the pose. http://www.yogajournal.com/poses/2472

Breathe and reap the benefits!

Namaste,

Dean

Chatturanga Namaskara!

Chatturangas! Sexy for pushups and we're going to salute them!

Do a normal Sun Salutation (Surya Namaskara A) but after you move from standing to a plank position add 6 pushups, lower to the floor, come to Cobra or Up Dog, do another pushup and finish up in Down Dog. That's your first round.

Do 4 more Surya Namaskara A's and add one pushup each time. On the 2nd salutation you do 7, the 3rd you do 8, the 4th you do 9 and finally on the 5th one you do 10. If I did the math right, you just did 5 Surya Namaskara A's and 40 Chatturangas.

Not a bad workout.

Move to the floor and do some of your favorite seated poses and have an incredible day.

Namaste,

Dean

Results

My mantra is do what gets results.

I've lately seen way too many people reading on the on the aerobic machine of their choice for hours on end to lose weight and nothing changes.

Number one on my list of asanas that get results are the Surya Namaskaras. It is no surprise that the Ashtanga series starts with Surya Namaskara A and Surya Namaskara B----5 of each. If that is all that makes up your daily home practice, you are going to get stronger, more flexible, have greater balance, and your mind is going to get quieter.

Salute the sun! Vary the tempo. Go slow and then do some fast. Mix it up. Do them outside. You can take them with you when you travel! Get your breath and body moving and lose yourself in the process.


Namaste,

Dean

Your practice is everywhere!

Try these two moves to increase your hip mobility!

1. Spiderman walks---a form of Banarasana.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VreocgjJ36A&feature=player_embedded

2. Cradle walks---kind of a walking form of Ardha Baddha Padma Padottanasana.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifn8Nclbz_U&feature=player_embedded

Fun!

Now take a minute to be conscious of your breath.


Namaste,


Dean