A Corporate Getaway - How Yoga and Meditation Super Charge Your Team

Note: This is a guest post from Aliza Unterberg. Some of you know I worked in a corporate environment for over 15 years, and that I love to travel! Although I haven't personally visited this place (yet), please consider it (or something like it) if you are in a position to influence your corporation's sponsored health activities. Remember, your employees' health and happiness affects everything they do!

You know that feeling when you come home after a full day of work then instead of doing all of your errands you just want to crash? You are in a constant need of a massage and fatigue just takes over you? Is there too much stress in your life? How do you get rid of these issues?

The short answer is to relax your body, but what does that entail? Many people suggest exercise in the morning in order to get the juices flowing to energize you. But if you’re anything like me, you would rather hit the snooze button and sleep for that extra half an hour before starting your day. Starting to move your body seems scary because committing to a routine of exercises seems daunting. Luckily for you there is a way that you can improve yourself while not having an overbearing workout.

Chances are that you are not the only one at work who feels this way. There must be at least a few colleagues at your place of work who know EXACTLY what you are going through. What you and your colleagues need is a corporate yoga retreat. Not only will it jump start you on becoming healthier but it is a bonding experience that you can share with people like you. In addition, it is much easier to start working out when you have a support group. Whether it is one or 20 people joining you, the fact that others are challenged just like you will motivate you and in turn you will motivate them as well.

A yoga retreat will take you away from work for a few days so you will have the time to really let loose and learn to take care of those issues that link to stress both physically and mentally. At the retreat you will learn key elements in how to control your body and mind, at least as a starter set.

How can yoga help me? I’m glad you asked. By practicing yoga you are creating an environment for your body where you improve your circulation and balance, strengthen and stretch the spine and legs amongst other parts of our body, learning to breathe correctly, and more.

Good circulation is a key ingredient to feeling better. By sitting at a desk all day your blood isn’t getting proper circulation. Similar to sitting on a 12-hour plane ride without moving, your body will become sore and uncomfortable. Yoga offers positions that by doing them even as a beginner will improve circulation to problem areas. Good circulation and balance can ease those back and leg aches from sitting at your desk. Similarly, strengthening the spine and legs are for those hunched in front of their computer screens for hours at a time. Many people don’t realize that by the lack of posture you are seriously damaging your neck and back. Yoga will work on posture and by strengthening these areas you wont feel the need to get that massage after every day of work.

Now I know what you are probably thinking, “I know how to breathe, yoga can’t help me there.” Right?! You are right and you are wrong. True you are a living being and are only like that because of breathing. However, by controlling your breathing you can sufficiently lessen stress and tension as well as improving bodily movements.

When it comes to practicing yoga, similar to other exercises you can start small. Doing a few poses each morning will have an affect on you sooner than you think. From there you grow and strengthen yourself and you’ll find that the more you do physically the better you will feel mentally.

This seems like a lot to take in and it’s only the tip of the iceberg. Yoga is an extraordinary practice with endless benefits. That is why a retreat is a perfect place to start (or to you yogis out there to continue). This experience will immerse you into the beautiful culture of the Zen and give you the proper jumpstart you need to do it on your own at home.

One such place to do this is the Samahita Retreat on the island of Koh Samui in Thailand. There you can relax, meditate, and even explore the rest of the island. Koh Samui is a tropical paradise that you must see at least once in your lifetime, so why not for a reason such as your health? Whoever said not to mix business with pleasure, obviously never did yoga.

About Aliza

Aliza Unterberg is a design student at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City. One
of her biggest passions and guilty pleasures is to travel the world and learn more about it.

Different Ways to Welcome the New Year

Like many people, I look forward to the "clean start" that a new year brings. Yet this New Year, I'm doing things differently. This New Year, I will NOT:

• Write down a bunch of resolutions or goals that make me feel good temporarily, but then turn into obligations that I can't reasonably meet and resulting in me feeling like a failure.
  
  Instead I will have a loose "intention" to surrender the direction of my life to the Universe, trusting that each step I take is the one that is best for me in the moment that it happens, and is leading me to my true purpose.

• Look back on the prior year, noting all the things that had gone wrong. I will not think "good riddance", because all the trials and tribulations have taught me important lessons, and I'm a better, stronger person for having experienced them.
  
  Rather, I will say goodbye to the prior year with respect. I will keep the lessons I learned in my mind and close in my heart as I move forward, so I don't make the same mistakes and create the same suffering for myself and others.

What will YOU do differently this new year?

Looking forward to a New Year...

First off, I wanted to say thank you to all my readers who over the past year, supported my "one post a week" goal. Some weeks it was easy, and I was brimming with exciting thoughts to share; others it was just the idea that I didn't want to let anyone down by not having said something. :-) Either way, with the help of all of you, I did what I said I was going to do. And your feedback (on and offline) really helped keep me going.

In some cases, I was very surprised to learn how something I'd written changed a person's life, or gave them new insights into themselves and their health. I've watched many of the people around me take steps to become more mindful, happier and healthier. I've also watched many people struggle, including myself, during 2012. For many of us that journey isn't over--in some cases it's only just begun. But I'm convinced that being able to share with each other, support each other, and receive support from each other is more important than ever before. And, it's critical to our emotional health.

Given all the transitions happening in my life right now I can't commit to a post a week in 2013. But I will write from time to time to share what's going on with me, in the hopes that maybe it will continue to resonate with all of you.  In 2013 I'll be continuing to build my yoga teaching experience (4-5 classes a week!) and diving more into providing Reiki treatments to clients. I'll also be putting more emphasis on my emotional health and self-care.

I hope that any and all of your new year's resolutions help you discover the authentic you, and that you will stay committed to them, making progress one day at a time. I also hope that on days where you backslide, you can find the compassion for yourself that allows you to pick right back up, where you left off.

Here's to a mindful, happy, and healthy New Year!

Clearing out the old; making space for the new

It was completely a coincidence last week that I had designed my yoga class around emotional wellness and healing. Between the events that occurred at Sandy Hook Elementary School, the upcoming "end of the world," and the general stress of the holidays, you can say it went over well. One of my Tuesday students left saying she could "use about 5 more hours of that," and Saturday's class also was well received.

With emotions still running high in my life and in the world, I remembered two things from my yoga teacher training (YTT) earlier this year:

• you always teach the class you need
• shaking releases deep seated emotional energies

I also recalled that in one of our sessions we did the Osho Kundalini Meditation^TM -- it was a really unique and powerful experience, so I went to the web site and refreshed myself on it. I thought it might be the perfect last class for the year -- different, cleansing, fun. (Basically, you spend the first half releasing energy through fast movement--shaking and dancing; then you revel in stillness in sitting meditation and shavasana.) I downloaded the music the led my last Saturday class through it. While I'm am a far cry from the fabulous Jurian Hughes who guided my experience, I managed to keep the class moving throughout the time allotted for each stage. We weren't quite as noisy as my YTT but we were fewer people; plus it can be difficult to completely release all inhibitions, even within one's yoga community!

I'd highly recommend that anyone who wants to clear out the old and make space for the new try this meditation. And stay tuned, I may just lead it again next year. :-)

Happy holidays, everyone!

Reiki in the First Degree

It's been a busy weekend for me--Friday night I taught my Introduction to Ayurveda workshop at Breathe Wellness in Marlboro, and then again on Saturday morning at JoLynn Fitness and Wellness in Dracut. Then, off to teach my regular Saturday afternoon class at Earthsong Yoga in Marlboro.

Today I spent the day with the lovely Betty (and her equally lovely Maine Coon, Little Bear), getting my first degree Reiki certification!

For those of you who missed the Introduction to Ayurveda workshop this week and are still interested, I'll be running it one last time next Saturday, December 8th from 2-4pm at Earthsong Yoga, followed by a special dosha-balancing yoga class for my 4:30pm.

Also, if anyone wants to give the gift of yoga or Reiki as a holiday gift, please don't hesitate to contact me. (It's the gift that keeps on giving--in a good way! :-) )

Is it "taste-worthy"?

We're smack in the middle of the holiday season, and making good food choices has likely already been challenging for many of you. (I know it is for me.) However, I've come up with a very simple question that helps me in deciding whether or not to eat something.

I ask: "Is it taste-worthy?"

Seinfeld joke aside, the point is that whatever I decide to put into my mouth--especially if it's a dessert or other chocolate treat--has to be REALLY good. If I eat it, I have to know that I'm going to enjoy it thoroughly, and that it's not just going to be OK.


Here are some examples of when asking this question helped me make a good decision:

• When out at a restaurant, faced with a dessert menu. Sure, there may have been some options, but were they more taste-worthy than the gourmet dark chocolate bar sitting in my pantry at home? No. I'd rather taste that.
• At pot-luck gatherings. (My company likes to have "cookie lucks", which are even worse!) I can examine a dessert table and automatically exclude any obviously store-bought items. I also know I love chocolate above all else, so that reduces the number even further. And dark over milk (and definitely white -- foul stuff!), any day. Now I can make a few selections I'm more likely to enjoy.
• This morning, when I tried making Paleo pumpkin pancakes. They were a crumbly mess. I took a bite and it tasted like it looked. Initially I was upset about wasting all the ingredients and time, so I thought about eating them anyway. Then I asked the question, realized how gross it tasted and figured my calories were better spent elsewhere.

Like all things in life, if nothing really grabs you, save yourself for something better! Savor what you choose. You won't have to feel guilty, you'll have satisfied any craving for a treat, and you'll be able to partake in the social connection.

How to Replace Complaints with Contentment

A few months ago I was in a yoga class, and the instructor said something to the effect of:

"Complaining is simply a rejection of the present moment, which is all we have."

A Google dictionary search defines "complain" as:

1. Express dissatisfaction or annoyance about a state of affairs or an event
2. State that one is suffering from (a pain or other symptom of illness)
3. State a grievance

Leaving the distinction between pain and suffering for another day, I'll admit it: I'm someone who's gotten into the habit of complaining a lot.

Santosha is the second niyama, or observance that yogis should follow. Santosha means "contentment". In other words, it's the exact opposite of complaining: it's cultivating gratitude for everything (physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual) that's going on in your life, right here, right now, regardless of whether you'd prefer to be / have something / someone / someplace else. It's not jealousy or envy but rather, radical acceptance.

Sigh. Whether or not you feel as though your life as a whole is going well, practicing santosha day to day can present us all with a challenge every now and again.

Much has been written about santosha and how the ego plays a large role in keeping us in a state of perpetual complaint instead of being satisfied and even hopeful about what is. Fortunately, several fellow yogis join us in this struggle, and offer practical advice about how to cultivate more contentment in our lives. Here are a few of my favorites:

• Four ways to focus on contentment in your day
• Pema Chodron "This Lousy World" (really amusing video)
• Suggestions for cultivating contentment
• Changing feelings of discontent into contentment
• A practice of santosha for the Thanksgiving holiday
• Santosha in the Holiday Season (added as part of my radical acceptance that people have Christmas trees up before Halloween :-) )

Hopefully, the more we focus on being content with what is, right now, the less room there will be for complaints! How will you replace your next urge to complain with contentment?

15 & 21: the magic numbers for a happier, healthier you

The time of year when people (including myself) start thinking about New Year's resolutions is quickly upon us. A brand new year is essentially a clean slate--in theory, you can step forward into 2012 as your very best self, leaving any baggage of the old year behind. How fabulously exciting!

If only it were that easy.

As a somewhat regular gym goer, it always amazes me how crowded it gets in January, with all manner of well-meaning people taking a step to improving their health. Yet, in February, most of those folks are gone, and it's back to the regular crowd. A large percentage of New Year's resolutions do typically die a quick death. What happens?

Based on my own experience with resolutions, goals, and attempts to replace less than desirable habits with good ones, I think it happens for two reasons:

• we prioritize quantity over quality 
• we don't focus enough on making space for them

Have you ever said something to yourself like, "starting in the New Year, I'm going to exercise an hour a day". That "hour" may be a half hour, and that "day" might be three times a week, but the point is that the goal you're setting may not be reasonable given your current life style. If you can't seem to get an hour to yourself every day, it's pretty unlikely that starting in 2012, an extra hour will just appear.

On top of setting lofty goals, we often have all or nothing attitudes that make us feel bad about ourselves when we don't instantly and always make the right choices. Have you ever said, "I can't fit in an hour of exercise today, so I guess I'll just start over tomorrow." This doesn't help you any today, and won't help you tomorrow when the same thing happens. Soon guilt and self criticism for failing at your goal creeps in, and it's enough to make you give it up entirely.

I've experienced this myself. Yet, it all changed when I started using the 15-minute rule.

The 15-Minute Rule
I started using the 15-minute rule because I'd heard about it before, and when it came back to me from several different and independent sources, I felt like the Universe was just screaming at me to stop and pay attention.

I'd been working on writing a book (in my copious spare time), dedicating two-hour blocks on weekends to the effort. One beautiful, sunny weekend in July, I actually spent most of both days writing and editing furiously--when it was over, I felt exhausted, resentful, and angry at myself for missing some really beautiful days. Other times, when I didn't really feel like writing I'd get angry with myself, forcing myself to the computer. If life got in the way, I'd become anxious until I could sit down and fit it in. Fortunately, I soon realized that this was no way to make progress on something I was supposed to be enjoying! After leveraging some online resources and talking with a local writers group about their challenges, I kept hearing that I should set a timer for just 15 minutes, and just write something every single day. That I should stop before I finished what I wanted to do. Initially I resisted the concept, but when I felt like giving up the book idea altogether, I decided to give it a try.

What happened? I used this wonderful mindfulness bell and incorporated 15 minutes of writing into my morning routine. My goal was to do this every day for the month of November (even when on vacation in Costa Rica over Thanksgiving week). I gave myself permission to re-evaluate the whole idea, and decide whether to continue after doing that. 15 minutes seemed manageable. And so I wrote. Every single day, for 15 minutes. When the bell went off I stopped, feeling excitedly bummed that I couldn't continue. Which meant that every day, I looked forward to that 15 minutes. When the month was up, I was happy, had made more progress than ever, and decided to continue (taking weekends off this time).

A similar experience happened with my yoga practice. While having dinner with a friend and chatting about teacher training, she asked how long I practice. My answer? Usually about 45 minutes (when I do it at home), or 90 minutes (at the studio). And naturally, I couldn't do that every day. She gently asked me why so long, and coached me to think about doing less more often. A light bulb went on here too. Why do I do that? Why not do less, more often? I changed my routine to try this, and I'm feeling amazing benefits from having a short, focused daily practice.

Making Room for the New
The second problem with goals is that to have any hope of achieveing them, you really need to make room in your life for them. For example, if I added 30 minutes to my morning routine (for writing and yoga) without taking anything away, how likely is it that I'd be successful? I could get up a half hour earlier, but if I'm not a morning person, that is a sure path to failure. Turns out, taking my 45 minute yoga practice down to 15 gave me 15 minutes for writing, and 15 more minutes to spare! Sometimes it doesn't work out like this though, and you have to find other ways to create the necessary space.

There are many approaches you can take to this. One idea is to list the typical activities you do every day, objectively evaluate whether or not these things align with your goal, and re-prioritize your activities so they do. Sometimes this will bring up negative feelings (like selfishness, guilt, or sadness about giving up something else you love to do). But to focus on what you want, sometimes you have to let go of things that just aren't serving you as well as they could be. For example, I love West Coast Swing dancing, and I used to go out dancing four or five nights a week. But over the last six months or so, I've realized that staying out late isn't compatible with getting up early and doing my morning routine. Each time I had to evaluate what I valued more, and because of all the wonderful benefits I was getting from the latter, I made the choice over and over again to let more dancing go. It's sad, yet I see the benefits of my morning routine even when I dance, and I appreciate dancing more when I do.

Letting go of some less tangible things can help too. I found this great article called 30 Things to Stop Doing to Yourself. A lot of the things the author mentions do take up space in terms of both time and mental / emotional effort, so they can provide you with more ideas about how to make the room you need for your new goal.

So What's the Deal with 21?
Although I often try things in month-long increments, 21-days is what experts say is needed to adopt a new habit. So, if you want to be successful and achieve your goals, try making quality choices for just 15 minutes a day, for just three weeks. Tell yourself that after this time has passed, you will reflect on whether what you tried worked or didn't work for you, and you can make adjustments. You may find you need to try something different, that small tweaks make something good even better, or that you want to continue as is, because you're feeling so much happier and healthier for having met your goals!

6 steps to truly mindful eating

Regardless of the time of year, I often find myself inhaling my food. When I'm at home, I'm in a hurry to get on with some chore that needs doing, or a relaxing activity that I'm excited about pursuing. When I'm at work, I'm shoving food into my mouth while working at my desk, or participating in a meeting. When out to dinner with friends or my husband, I'm often so busy socializing that my plate seems to go from full to empty without me having any recollection of having eaten what was on it.

Over the past couple months, I've realized that this kind of mindless eating is the cause of many physical and emotional discomforts. For me, overeating is often a precursor to poor sleep (especially when I eat too much too late). Eating too fast causes my stomach to balloon out, and is accompanied with unpleasant sensations like indigestion, bloating, and occasionally, painful gas. Eating foods that don't sustain my body with proper energy leave me feeling empty, shaky, and tired. Not only do I end up physically miserable, but my mental and emotional states are impacted as well. Sometimes I feel fat because of the bloat, end up chastising myself for overdoing it, or just generally feel bad about failing to really enjoy my food. Also, when I really pay attention, I notice that some foods can even make me feel anxious!

During the holidays, I think mindless eating becomes even more problematic because there's so much more food around. Often, this "celebratory food" consists of cookies, cakes, and other tasty and tempting treats I often regret eating once the new year rolls around. Instead of setting arbitrary limitations about how much (or what kind of) food to eat, I decided to focus on becoming more mindful when I am eating.

This morning while eating my breakfast, I came up with a 6-step method that helped me employ more of my senses and really savor the food. I thought I would share this for anyone else who wanted to try and eat more mindfully during the holidays, or at any time during the year.

Before You Begin
Set up your environment so that it's calm and free of other distractions, so you can really focus on practicing this technique. Sit down at a real table, turn off the TV, move mobile devices like phones and tablets out of reach, and put away those books or magazines. Try doing this alone at first too--having other people around can also be distracting. Over time, you may be able to reintroduce small "multitasking" elements back in, but first you need to make these steps part of your conscious awareness.

At minimum, take a few deep breaths. You may want to set an intention for yourself about eating more mindfully, or offer up some gratitude for the sustenance that's available to you (or to the person / people responsible for its availability and preparation).

Start by looking at and really taking in what's on the plate. What are the colors and textures of the food? How is it arranged? What are your thoughts and feelings about the presentation? Does it look like a lot, or a little? How hungry do you feel at this time? How are you feeling in general?

Using the 6 Steps
Now, repeat this sequence of steps for each forkful or spoonful of food you take:

1. See - As you put some of the food onto your fork or spoon, really look at it. How much food fits easily into the utensil? (I often find myself piling more onto the utensil than it can really handle.) Do you have a mixture of items from the plate, or did you take one item? How did you decide which item to select?
2. Smell - As you raise the food to your lips, inhale and take it in. What does it smell like? Does it smell good, just OK, or not so good? Can you predict how it will taste based on how it smells?
3. Bite - Put the food into your mouth. How does it feel sliding off the fork? How does this initial bite make you feel? Was the first impression what you expected?
4. Chew and Taste - Really chew the food in your mouth until it's easy to swallow. Pay attention to how the taste changes as the temperature and consistency of the food changes with your chewing. (Some people find that counting to 20 or 30 helps them chew their food more. Because I sometimes find myself swallowing my food whole, I repeat "chew and taste" to myself like a mantra.)
5. Swallow - Swallow only when the food has really disintegrated. Do you find yourself wanting to swallow sooner? Notice if you hold your breath here, like I sometimes do. Also notice whether you've already put more food onto your fork or spoon before swallowing the bite you were working on!
6. Breathe - Take another deep breath. Notice any physical reactions in your body, such as your stomach rumbling. (Personally I find that toward the end of a meal, my chest gets tight because I feel like I should hurry up and finish.) Also pay attention to any feelings that come up for you. For example, does the taste of the food take you back to some other point in your life? Do you feel good about your selection?

Being Compassionate
This is intentionally a very precise, methodical way of eating and if you're like most people, you'll find it really difficult to do. Please be patient compassionate with yourself as you explore and increase your ability to eat more mindfully. Like any other meditative practice, if you find yourself drifting off, simply notice that you did (without judgement), and pick up with whatever step makes sense at the point at which you remembered.