So today I came out of retirement!

I stopped racing for a long time. My last real event being Ironman Coeur D Alene (I know I probably butchered the spelling but oh well). After I imploded during that race I decided to take a step back and stop all my competitive stuff. After over 10 years of racing and over a hundred events…it was time for a break.
Since then I have done a few half-marathons, a few shorter road races and swam across Puget Sound with my friend Kris, but in all cases I really did not race against the clock. I also didn’t train crazy hard either. I didn’t have a training plan, and just did things day by day. I ditched my heart rate monitor and my watch. I took the opportunity to travel more and deepen my yoga and mediation practice.

Lately, Yoga has been (and is) my passion. However, yesterday I really got this feeling, actually more like a compelling urge, to go running. I hopped in my car late in the afternoon and went to the trails at Cougar Mountain, a wooded area filled with challenging trails about 30 minutes drive from my home. When I was serious about training I would do most of my long runs down here.

This time, I parked at my usual trail head and made it about 200 meters (really) before I was slowed to a walk (hey, the trail starts on a steep hill!). I did about 30 minutes in total, a mixture of slow running and fast walking. This was literally the third run I’ve done this year and I realized how despite my diligent yoga practice, my cardiovascular system was not use to dealing with stress at this level!

In yoga, you get an outstanding total body workout with a mildly elevated heart-rate. However you do not get the same prolonged intensity that you would get from a hard bike ride, swim or run.

I decided then and there that is was time to start running again. I got home and saw that a 5K was going on the following morning (today) through Seward Park on Lake Washington in Seattle, WA, so I went on down there today to see where I was at. As added motivation, the Furry 5K supports the Seattle Animal Shelter, and I love animals so if nothing else I would be supporting an outstanding cause by doing the event.

The race itself was a total blast. Having all the animals around was a huge stress reliever for everyone. It was really hard to take anything seriously when you see all these critters running and playing, their owners trying to get them to go in a straight line and sniff each other! There had to be about 1000 runners and walkers….and at least as many dogs.

Walking over to the starting line, I was pretty late and most all the runners were gathered….waiting for the gun to go off in about 5 minutes. I decided to saunter up to the front of the line, like I always do, but then remembered that I haven’t done any training and would definitely get run over! I still stayed about 10 feet from the front, off to the side (which was a good thing since some of the dogs took of in a mad dash from the start pulling their owners for the ride!!!).

Right before the gun went off there was pandemonium. I am not sure what was going on, I think it was the timing system emitting some sort of high-pitched frequency, because for the final minute before the race start, all the dogs were going nuts and barking all over the place…at each other, their owners, the air, the trees! It was absolutely hysterical.

Anyway, the gun went off and within the first 400 meters I definitely felt that I went out way to hard….and decided to back off and just have fun. I even stopped to use a porta potty, something I’ve never ever done in a 5k!

At different points during the race I was getting passed by all sorts of dogs. A Marmaduke dog, a Wiener dog (very humbling to have this happen I might add), a few Labs…no Poodles though!

In the end, I crossed the three mile point and sprinted like crazy and passed about 10 people in the last 100 meters. I finished in 23min 20sec or so.The course was pretty flat so I can’t blame that on the hills!

I think this is the slowest 5K time for me in 13 years, and well off my personal best of 18:10. Despite that, it was definitely one of the more fun races I’ve done in a long time. I had no expectations going in and the dogs made it a ton of fun.

I am going to start running regularly now, and will see how my body progresses. Would be great to set a new 5K personal best this year. We’ll see how fast my running form returns. If you know of any good 5K or 10K runs around the Seattle area, let me know!

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I’ve been watching Tim VanOrden’s energetic YouTube videos for a while, but just today ventured over to his website. He’s a Raw Vegan and on a mission to show that that you can achieve world class athletic performance on that kind of a diet, and at an older age.

Tim is 40 years old, setting personal records and beating runners over a decade junior to him.Here’s a taste of his goals for 2008:

• 2008 - US Tower Racing Champion at the Empire State Building
• 2008 - US Mountain Running Team - World Championships
• 2008 - World Record - Mile on outdoor track - First 40 year old to break 4 minutes.
• 2008 - US Olympic Track & Field Team - 40 years of age
• 2010 - US Olympic Nordic Ski Team - 42 years of age

I’ve been searching for a top Raw Vegan athlete that managed to improve performance radically after embarking on a Raw Vegan diet. I know of a few Raw Vegans who were top athletes, but they were either super fast before going raw, or stopped racing seriously altogether after cutting out cooked foods.

It looks like his diet is mostly fruits and raw food bars during the day (Lara Bars is a sponsor of his), with a monster salad in the evenings. No supplements either! He’s been doing this since late 2005, after several years as a vegan.

If someone like Tim can achieve significantly improved performance at an age where most would say his career as a top runner is over, then I would have to say there is something to his dietary approach. If this diet can power him to this level, just think about what incorporating more living foods in your diet could do to your energy levels at work or school?

Skip the sandwich, go for the salad.

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I’m really into my blender drinks. I start out every morning with one, before work and even on weekends. I’ll add anywhere from 8-10 ingredients…a real mess of things. It’s tasty, organic, cleansing, energizing, alkalizing, hydrating, satiating and yes….I said tasty.

My drinks get pretty crazy because of all the great stuff I throw in there. When in doubt….toss it in. My Vita-Mix does the trick every time. If you don’t have a high quality blender…get one…..my Vita-Mix is one of the best investments I’ve made. I didn’t think there was a difference between a $40 blender and a $400 blender….but now I know that there is. You’ll never taste a smoothie so smooth.

My blender drinks are perfect meals. In the morning, they are so packed with nutrition, that if this one drink was the only nourishment I  had all day, I would be alright. Note that I said if, since I do eat several snacks and lunch every day.

I enjoy the process of eating, but modern day lifestyles make it tough to just sit around and chew all day. That’s why blenders are so valuable. They also take foods that might not taste great on their own (e.g. raw cacao, spirulina, maca root) and make them down right tasty when blended with banana, honey, dates, berries or other fruits.

Blenders also pulverize food to the point where your body can more easily assimilate nutrients. I typically have a second smoothie after my yoga practice in the evening, while I am preparing dinner. This will be lighter drink (about 3-5 ingredients).

I am a big believer that any craving for food is ultimately born from a craving for nutrients. We are so used to eating calorically dense foods are nutrient light. Pizza, pasta, rice, sandwiches, etc. Lacking the nutrients it needs, the body starts to crave more food. This causes us to eat even more calorically dense foods in a desperate attempt to get the right nutrition. In most cases, this nutrition is in the form of key vitamins, minerals, amino acids and enzymes. Unfortunately, our food choices rarely give us what we need. We get tons of calories but not enough real nutrition.

Blender drinks give you a way to consumer natural superfoods in a user friendly way. These superfoods (cacao, maca root, flax, goji berries and hemp are my favorites) are ridiculously nutrient dense. For example, cacao (raw chocolate beans) have > 5x the antioxidants of blueberries and is the top sources of minerals like sulfur and magnesium out of all food products. A high quality meal with these superfoods make food cravings a thing of the past. They make a perfect meal.

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I just watched the old Biography episode on Tony Robbins. It’s available on YouTube in five parts. The whole thing is a joke.

First of all, it is really old and generally focuses on the outward techniques Tony uses without delving into their meaning. It’s definitely made out to make him look like a super salesman out to get rich. Even though they have a few positive statements from Stallone and mention of his foundation, they portray what he does as equal parts cult and pep rally. They totally miss the boat.

Based on my own experience with Tony’s teaching; having seen him in person several times, having attended his Mastery University program now as director of the Seattle PowerGroup (through which I’ve met many others who have gone through his programs)….I find the story told in this program to be misleading.

First of all, the energy and movement used in his programs are done with a purpose. Physiology is an incredible tool we can all use to change out state. That’s why we feel good when we cheer, dance, breath deeply, exercise, etc. Put your body in a state of being where you would be if you were happy and feeling good….and pretty soon you will be happy and feeling good. A key part of what Tony teaches is using physiology as one gateway to make personal change. Along with physiology, your language and mental focus also matter. It’s proper application of this “triad” that becomes a fundamental technology for personal growth. You practice this during his programs so you can develop this skill and apply it throughout your everyday life without trouble.

Second, the firewalk is an incredibly powerful anchor. Think of it as a reference point you can refer back to (consciously or unconsciously) as a proof point that you can excel and achieve even in the most challenging of circumstances. I did this several years ago and will never forget the experience.

Lastly, the Tony Robbins of today is very different from the Tony Robbins of the 90’s. As I’ve heard from some long time students who attended his earliest programs, he’s “toned down” a bit and incorporated more relationship and health/wellness teaching into his programs. One thing about Tony is that he never stops learning. Every year his programs change and adapt as he discovers more effective techniques. He adds new guest speakers and topics to his talks all the time.

In fact, when I attended Date with Destiny in 2006, he actually conducted a guided meditation and chakra cleansing. This is the sort of thing that Tony would never have done a decade ago.

I think people who watch an old infomercial or developed some opinion about him through his book or an old seminar experience ought to give it another shot. His teaching today has evolved a lot over years.

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…for 21 days

Read all about it on her blog.

She is on day 4. Go Oprah!

For her, it’s part of a cleanse that’s about cultivating a sense of more conscious eating. In addition to abstaining from animal products, she’s skipping caffeine, alcohol, gluten (wheat products) and processed sugar.

This is actually way better than just going vegan. It’s so easy to go vegan and then just go nuts eating over processed vegan junk food, like I did for a few years. She’s doing it the right way.

In fact, I recently had a food allergy test done and found out that I am (apparently) allergic to Bananas, Almonds, Peanuts and Navy Beans!

The first three I eat by the bushel….so I’m modifying my diet a bit to exclude them for a while to see how I feel.

I don’t apparently have a wheat allergy according to this test, but I was only tested using the IGE antibody test, which accounts for allergies that elicit a response through blood and typically impact the body after a few days (not immediately). However, I am pretty sure wheat doesn’t sit well with me, so I am excluding that as well.

As substitutes, I am going to be eating more cashews, pumpkin and sunflower seeds; and using apples in my smoothies instead of bananas. I don’t eat navy beans much at all so that isn’t a big deal to skip.

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A few months ago, I walked into a tea house in Ballard (near Seattle, WA) and was struck by how positive the barista was. I walked up to the counter and said “Hey, how’s it going?” A standard greeting I used to use dozens of times a day. Hardly ever do I expect any reply, or at most perhaps a “good” or “ok.”

This kid let raised both hands in the air and belted out “Living the dream my brother.” He was beaming with the biggest smile I had seen in a long while.

Turns out this guy had just returned from  a year-long around the world backpacking adventure. Spending significant amounts of time in India and Southeast Asia. This tea house job was just to hold him over until saved enough to go back on the road.

What struck me most about this guy was his super-positive and upbeat attitude. Instead of dreading the thought of coming into work after such a long “extended” adventure around the world, he was taking it in stride.

This short interchange left a big impression on my. So much so, that for the past few months, I’ve committed to never saying “good,” “ok,” or anything remotely negative when people ask me “how’s it going.”

After all, if I can’t at least muster up enough energy to come up with some reason why I am happy about the moment, I’ve got bigger problems to deal with!  So I got in the habit of thinking about all the reasons why things are absolutely 100% awesome in my life on a daily basis…..no matter what..and when people ask me how it’s going….it’s completely natural when I say “I’m super fantastic,” or “having an outstanding day,” or “it’s the best day ever.”

Language has a huge impact on your outlook on life. Despite the hundreds of thousands of words in the English language, we resign to using small fraction. It pays to investigate language that is positive and upbeat, and incorporate it in your life.

With this in mind, and my consistent use of positive language to answer everyday “how do you do” type questions, I’m re-enforcing to myself just how good things are…and even if I am not feeling 100% for some reason, I find that just responding to the question in a positive manner will lift me up.

What’s also interesting is how people react to my responses, especially at work. People aren’t used to someone saying “things are super-awesome, couldn’t be better….but who knows tomorrow might be!” Some people just stare at me and ask more questions….as if they think I am joking! Others seems to get into a more positive state when they hear me.

Either way, it’s a positive outcome. Positive for me since I am consistently reinforcing a positive outlook on my life and how things are going in the moment…and positive for the person asking me the question….since it causes them to think about what is going on in their life that is great too.

Try it out for a week and see how it works for you.

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Giving does bring joy. Giving can also bring some pain. As I’ve been giving some things away, I’ve become aware of emotions that crop up in the process of purging my life of things that are not supporting me. Right now, I’m focused on giving up some material things. You can read about my venture into The Simple Life here and and update here.

Just today, I gave away a few more things. I hadn’t touched these things in ages, little ornamental items hanging around my home, and was fully prepared to give them to someone who would put them to good use. As several friends were leaving my home this afternoon, I asked if any of them wanted these items.

At first, one said no, then another said sure. At that moment, I felt some remorse. I immediately conjured up some potential use for this previously useless object. This particular one was a decorative metal bowl (looked like an ornate pot) with rivets all over it. It was the sort of thing you could use to put umbrellas in, or as a glorified waste bin. In that moment, where I was giving it up, I realized that I could use it to put a large potted plant in it!

I didn’t own a potted plant that size, but it was a possibility. I immediately felt a bit of regret for giving the thing away. It’s a silly example, but something I have experienced several times over the past weeks as I have been simplifying my life. Giving brings joy, but you might have to go through a bit of pain to get there.

Now, sitting here typing this post about 1 hour after giving that metal thingamabob away, I feel absolutely no regret about doing that. I’m glad I did. It’s the same thing I felt giving away all those books, shirts and other items that were crowding space in my head and in my brain.

btw….I am doing a little experiment. As of May 3rd, I haven’t turned on my TV once. I never had cable or even any TV stations before, but I did watch plenty of DVDs and downloaded content on iTunes. My rule is simply not to turn on my TV. I might watch YouTube on my computer or something, but the TV is shut down for the entire month! Feels very refreshing. In fact, I’ve draped a big cloth over it so it is literally out of sight and practically out of mind.

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As I wrote in my last post, The Simple Life is going very well. The original enjoyment I got from giving things away to those in need has not drifted away. I still feel the same joy. The momentum is only building.

Let me be clear, this is real joy, not pleasure. There is a difference. Joy is something lasting. It is innate and not based on contrast between you and anyone else, any thing or any situation. That would be pleasure. Joy is happiness and doesn’t cost a darn thing. There is no withdrawal symptoms. It’s the best drug money can’t buy. Anyway….let me get back to the points of this post….

I’ve now gotten rid of 80% of the “loose” things that I am willing to give away. This includes clothes I don’t use, books I don’t read, kitchen stuff I never touch and non-perishable food stuff (unopened) I haven’t looked at in a while. Boxes full of random doo-dads that been dropped off at Goodwill. I’ve got two paper bags full of Tupperware to give to my sister.

For the past month I’ve also not touched my credit card once (I used to have several, canceled them all but one for emergency use). I have a debit card and use that for all my purchases. In fact, since I don’t need to carry around all those cards, I’ve ditched my wallet and started using a very simple money clip.

Life is good.

The act of getting rid of “things” is not the true object of what I am doing. It is all about changing my relationship to things. I appreciate things I get much more. I also am not as attached to them.

This Simple Life mentality has also helped me keep a keen eye out for opportunities to give. I’d rather give things I don’t need directly to someone who would benefit from them. Books that I can give to someone. Clothes that could better serve someone else. It’s about giving not accumulating. Getting rid of things creates space in your life for other great stuff to flow in.

Life is great.

The Simple Life is also not about getting rid of everything to feel significant. It is not about being ultra-contemporary-minimalist just to be unique. It is about redefining what you are about. That is, not identifying your own self-image based on your things.

Once you stop hiding behind all the things you think you need, you are are able to look at yourself with greater objectivity. It’s in this observation that real change can take place.

Life is awesome.

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My friend visited from Portland, OR a few weeks and inspired me to take a massive step toward living a much simpler lifestyle. He has spend the past year or so as a “vagabonding,” most recently returning from a 4 month visit to Fiji, where he lived on about $10/day….and felt that he was living a fantastic life. Surfing, eating awesome fresh vegan food, and meeting great people every day.

Don’t get me wrong, I have no intention to retreat from the world or make such a radical shift to my lifestyle, but I have been adopting some of the concepts he has been using to simplify his life over the past few years.

It all started when he walked into my apartment, and threw down a modestly filled backpack on the floor. He strolled about my place and made an observation that I have a lot of “stuff.” That was the first time someone has really said that about me. Most people have the opposite reaction! My apartment is very new, and pretty sparse by most standards.

He then pointed out that his entire worldly possessions fit in the that single bag that was laying on the floor. It made me think about all the things that I had, and whether I really needed all of them. Over the past two weeks, I’ve found an incredible amount of enthusiasm, energy and happiness around the process of getting rid of things I no longer need to have in my possession.

After getting rid of this baggage, I feel an incredible “lightness” and much less encumbered. Just walking into my home feels much better. Things are better organized (since there is less stuff to clutter up) so I can find what I need and not bear the psychological burden of looking at a bunch of stuff sitting around.

So what have I down-sized in the past few weeks? Here’s a run-down:

• My ward-drobe has been cut in half. I have dropped off at least 6 large garbage bags of clothing to Goodwill. This was tough to do, since many of the clothes were in great shape and fit me, but most of it has not been worn in over a year (and probably won’t be worn anytime soon). My closet now has plenty of empty space on the hangar rack, and my shelves have just a few stacks of clothes.

• My library has ben cut in half. I love my books, but I had far too many. My bookshelf was tilting to one side from the weight, and they were stacked in piles on the floor and in laundry baskets next to my bed. Many of the books would never be ready (by me) again. They needed a better home, so I’ve given them away to friends or Goodwill. The books I keep are the ones that really matter a lot to me, or ones that I plan on giving away to friends as gifts over the next year.

• My Visa credit card has been canceled. I already have a Visa Debit Card and have decided to use that for all my “card” purchases. I have an Amex card that I will not use, but keep active in case of emergencies.

• My extra checking/savings accounts have been closed. I consolidated all my finances with a single company that is currently my brokerage firm. They have a checking feature to their brokerage, so I closed my separate checking and savings accounts. This way I only need to go to one account to manage my checking/cash balances.

• My extra brokerage account has been closed. I had an additional brokerage account that I used for Roth IRA and special investment vehicles that I have been using for the past few years. These investments have done well (better than S&P consistently), but were a headache to manage (I’ll go into the details of this in another post….maybe). The funds from this account will be consolidated into my single active brokerage account.

• My XBOX and 30 games that I haven’t played in years have been given to Goodwill.

• A box of triathlon and tri-related gear has been given to a friend who is actually racing….since I am not

• A whole bunch (3 large boxes worth) or miscellaneous goos have been given to goodwill.

• Two paper bags worth of non-perishable foods have been given away (non-vegan stuff I won’t eat).

• My iMac now has a new home! I have a MacBook laptop, and decided that I no longer needed two computers at home, so I posted the iMac on Craigs List. 12 hours later, someone stopped by my place and paid cash for it.

So there you have it. Hopefully this post has inspired you to think about where you can down-size. As for me, I am far from done with my own efforts, looking forward to giving away some more clothes, books and some nonsense furniture I have sitting around this week!

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The Dalai Lama is visiting Seattle for a few days, as part of the Seeds of Compassion talks. Just now, they closed down several intersections outside my home (a very busy city road) to make way for his motorcade!

I was able to catch a glance of his ochre colored robe as his car sped by.

You can catch the talks on demand at the Seeds of Compassion website.

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This morning I had my first official class as a teacher! I had a whopping two students participate, but I had a ton of fun…and am looking forward to growing the class as word spreads (it isn’t easy to get up for a 6:30am class!).

If you live in North Seattle, near Mountlake Terrace, stop by the Rec Center Tues/Thursday mornings (6:30-7:30) for a great hour-of-power yoga class!

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Had a good conversation with my management team about our team’s focus and balance of time on things that are important (but not super urgent) vs those things that are important and urgent. Turns out we are spending a lot of time on the later.

The problem with focusing too much time on important and urgent priorities, is that you never really have a chance to think about long-term vision, direction and possibilities. If it is urgent, you’re probably looking for a good-enough answer in a short period of time. It’s hard to make a big breakthrough when you are so hyper-focused in this way.

I’ve made the same mistake in setting priorities in my personal life. Putting things off to free up time for the urgent things. I’ve stopped doing that and have felt a much greater sense of control and achievement. For example, I had to make it to my 5:30pm yoga class today. At 5pm on the nose, after over an hour of discussion, the meeting I was in was running long. Normally, I would just skip the yoga class and stay in the meeting.

Not this time….I just got up and left. The discussion wasn’t super urgent or even important. Yoga wasn’t urgent either, but it was definitely important. My absence was noticed from the meeting, but hey, I if you don’t draw the line somewhere it will draw itself for you!

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I start teaching in a few weeks (power yoga, asana practice). Pretty excited about that.

I’m curious. Is anyone who reads this blog into Yoga? Could be an asana practice, or any other form. If you are, leave a comment and let me know what you are into and up to!

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The more exposed I get to Tony’s teaching, the more I like it.

I really appreciate the fact that he never stops learning, growing and expanding his perspective. While many of his detractors claim that he too often “changes his tune,” I see this as his greatest strength.

He is not afraid to change his approach as he learns more effective ways doing things. I know 20 years ago, he never would have been into meditation or chanting, but times change….and here he is supporting the release of a new collection of spiritual songs!

When I attended Date With Destiny, we did an incredibly profound guided meditation. This was very different from what most people expected (Tony has been known to stay away from things like meditation in the past, favoring other methods to create lasting change)….but the results were there and that was what mattered.

Below is a little blurb from Tony’s newsletter…I have seen Deva Premal and Miten in concert, and they are truly wonderful singer/songwriters. This will be a great CD.
—-

Tony’s New CD in Stores March 11

Sacred Blessings, a new collection of spiritual songs personally selected by Tony and Sage Robbins, will be released March 11, it was announced by Kosmic Music. This music, inspired by the great faiths and traditions from around the world, has been chosen to create a sense of peace and harmony within you and around you.

Featuring best-selling mantra singer Deva Premal and well-known songwriters Miten and Craig Pruess, the CD features songs such as “I Love You Lord,” “Devi Prayer,” “So Much Magnificence,” “Gayatri Mantra,” “Moola Mantra” and much more.
—–

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I’m on my way to the Arnold Sports Festival. It’s one of the largest Bodybuilding and Fitness competitions in the world, with a very large health and fitness expo. For four days I’ll be hanging out with thousands of other health and fitness enthusiasts……looking forward to meeting people, getting motivated and learning some new things!

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The past week has been a tease, and I am actually starting to believe that the sky is indeed blue and the sun does actually exist! Winter in Seattle can be an ordeal. It feels like you are hunkered down in a bomb shelter. I remember my first winter here7 years ago; we had 70+ consecutive rainy days.

Today was awesome though. Warm (high of 55 or so) and very sunny. I originally had plans to go snowboarding, but given the weather,…opted to hit the driving range instead. A fair trade I think.

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I just got done meditating. I’ve had a fairly consistent meditation practice for the past 4 years or so and I’ve written about my experience at length in previous posts. Meditation is nothing if not infinitely challenging. Today was no exception.

People use different methods for their meditation. Some just focus on their breath. For me, I’ve been consistently using the same mantra, or symbolic phrase, to help guide me. I’ve found that using this consistent mantra, one that has a deep meaning for me, has been a great help. I’m able to get focused more quickly and easily.

At the same time, I’ve often wondered why it would even be necessary to use any mantra at all. This was the topic of my mind’s endless chatter today. After all, if the goal of meditation (if you could even say there is one) is ultimately just to”be,” completely aware to the present moment, than concentration on a mantra or one’s breath seems like the opposite of this goal

I had a realization during my mediation experience today. I flashed back to high school, and then to our cafeteria (yes, I was hungry before I started) where we used to get milk served to us in bags.

These bags were pretty much indestructible. You could sit on them, put your chair on them, throw them….but they wouldn’t bust. Occasionally someone would manage to get one to explode (who knows how….) but that took some serious effort.

Despite the resilience, you could easily puncture it with the sharp end of a small straw and suck the thing dry. There is my answer!

The purpose of an object of concentration (provided through a mantra, breath, etc.) is just to serve as a tool (and a necessary one at that) to help you pierce through your mind’s endless chatter so you can arrive at your ultimate goal (absolute present moment awareness, happiness, whatever you get out of meditation). Without this tool, you’d just keep pressing up against massive resistance.

OK, now that I’ve learned something for the day, I can go eat .

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I just stumbled across this stuff at Whole Foods, and yes it is killer! I got the Dave’s Killer Bread sprouted grain variety and have already had 6 slices today….boy was it tasty.

It’s locally made, organic, healthy and Dave’s story is super compelling (it’s on the back of every load). Gotta love that mullet. Go Dave!

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My yoga practice has been progressing very well the past few weeks. I’ve recently rediscovered my breath. This might sound odd since we can’t go more than a minute or so without breathing…but I’ve gotten into this funk during my practice for many months where I just haven’t been concentrating on it.

For the past few weeks, I’ve been making a conscious effort to make a very strong Ujayi breath…it is loud enough where I am certain than those practicing around me can hear it, and they are probably a little disturbed by it!
Ujayi is a breathing technique where you inhale and exhale through the nose, while focusing on channeling the air down the back of your throat in a manner that creates an audible “haaaa” sound. You can learn the technique by imagining that you are fogging up a mirror by exhaling through your mouth, and then close you mouth. Maintain this same sensation on the inhale and exhale.

I’ve noticed that the more I do this, the more I start noticing others doing the same. Breathing loudly and deeply.

Anyway, the more I do this, the better my yoga practice has become. My balance is much better, and I’m able to go much deeper into my poses. I’ve not chanced my practice in any other significant way (same frequency, effort, etc.) so breathing must be the trick!

Related Posts:

• Increase Your Endurance and Reduce Stress With One Simple Technique
• The Cleansing Power of Breath
  
• Meditation and Fasting Retreat Experience
• My Date With Destiny Experience

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